The Detroit Investment Fund has invested $3 million in ProAir as part of its program to support the growth of companies located in Detroit or willing to relocate there, the carrier said. The three-year-old, $52 million private equity fund believes ProAir "has proven to be a viable asset to the community" since it was founded July 4, 1997, according to the fund's president, Peter Weipert.
US Airways traffic for November increased 4.7% on 4.4% more capacity, resulting in a record load factor for the month, 69.2%, up 0.2 percentage points from November 1997. Domestic traffic rose 3% on 1.5% more capacity, while international traffic grew 22.1% on 33.4% more capacity. Despite the large capacity gain, the airline's international sector comprised only 11.5% of total capacity in November. The airline boarded 4.7 million passengers last month, up 3.2%, and 53.5 million for the year, down 0.9%.
Slowdown signaled by Boeing production cutbacks "differs markedly from the aerospace recession of the early 1990s," AlliedSignal says. The earlier downturn was "manifested by simultaneous declines in the commercial air transport, business and general aviation and military markets." Also, the third-party market was relatively undeveloped then and preceded "widespread moves by airlines to outsource their aftermarket parts and services functions." (See story to follow.)
The City of Fort Worth's latest motion to dismiss DOT's Dallas Love Field proceeding is the 20th attempt by American and its allies to "delay and disrupt federal law and airline competition," Legend Airlines charged in a response.
National Business Aviation Association named Dolores Johnson, manager of Signature Flight Support in Santa Barbara, Calif., recipient of an award for her significant contribution to NBAA's REACHBAC - Regional Effort to Advise, Communicate with and Help the Business Aviation Community.
Northwest is not involved in the tumultuous negotiations to invest in Philippine Airlines. "There are no ongoing discussions and none planned," said Northwest spokesman Doug Killian. But the carrier has served the Philippines for 51 years and views the country as vital to its Pacific operation. Last week, it added capacity to the market via new Nagoya-Manila flights.
ProAir named Eric Steinwinder VP-marketing and communications, Jim Walsh VP-customer service and Andrew Sherry manager-advertising and public relations.
Continental traffic for November rose 9% on 6.8% more capacity, boosting the load factor 1.4 percentage points to a record 69.7%. It was the second straight month of record load factors. Domestic traffic gained 8% on 7.5% more capacity, resulting in a 69.7% load factor, up 0.3 points. International traffic grew 10.9% on 5.4% more capacity, forcing the load factor up 3.5 points to 69.7%. Nov 98 Nov 97 11 Mths 98 11 Mths 1997 RPMs 4,229,892,000 3,882,054,000 49,471,874,000 43,835,248,000
DOT instituted a show-cause proceeding last week to allocate the seven U.S.-Italy frequencies available April 1 under the new U.S.-Italy agreement, consolidating proposals from American (daily Chicago-Rome roundtrips), Delta (Orlando-Atlanta-Rome, daily), US Airways (Philadelphia-Milan, daily) and Tower (New York Kennedy-Rome, twice weekly, seasonal).
FAA Flight Standards Division managers' meeting last week in Washington was overshadowed by apprehension that FAA may merge it with Regulation and Certification. "The two cultures cannot merge," one source said, noting that Certification's engineering philosophy allows for little deviation, which differs sharply from Flight Standards, "where compliance is an issue in which you have to be flexible."
The Global Pilot Alliance has strengthened provisions in its compact for support of a member group involved in a strike or job action. Meeting in Rovaniemi, Finland, representatives of pilots at Delta, Swissair, Sabena, Austrian, Finnair and TAP Air Portugal approved an amendment encouraging member groups to include language in their collective bargaining agreements that would prevent their employers from requiring them to perform flying related to another member's industrial action.
Lufthansa Cargo, taking delivery of new MD-11 freighters from Boeing, notes that they have "reduced specific fuel consumption on a yearly average by 30%, compared with the fuel burn of Boeing 747-200 freighters." Lufthansa Cargo says it is "confident" that it will "further extend its market lead in the international air cargo business."
Pratt&Whitney-Rus, a Pratt&Whitney Canada subsidiary, was granted a developer's certificate by the Interstate Aviation Committee of the Russian State Aviation Register, permitting it to design, develop and support aviation engines in Russia.
AirTran is offering one-way fares between $39 and $99 for travel between selected points in its system. A three-day advance purchase is required, and the deadline for buying tickets is Thursday. Travel must be completed by Jan. 31, and Dec. 23-27 and Jan. 3 are blacked out. Sample fares include $39 Atlanta-Fort Walton Beach, $49 Philadelphia-Boston, $59 Atlanta-Dayton and $99 Dallas/Fort Worth-Buffalo and Houston-Boston.
Fairchild Corp. said it proposed to acquire the remaining 15% of Banner Aerospace it does not already own through a merger of Banner with a newly formed subsidiary of Fairchild.
Three of Boeing's major suppliers said they expect no measurable impact on earnings this year or next from production cutbacks by the airplane maker announced last week (DAILY, Dec. 2,3). Pratt&Whitney said it took action in October, announcing the elimination of about 2,000 positions over the next two years. "Nothing that Boeing said surprised us," a spokesman said. The layoffs at Pratt were "driven not only by the Asian situation but by a dip in military orders.
