Air Dolomiti, based in Trieste, has awarded FlightSafety International's Houston training center a new three-year contract for ATR 42/72 training of both flight crew and maintenance technicians.
Mesa Air Group is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service for tax adjustments to filings made for the years ending Sept. 30, 1993, and 1994. The IRS has issued a report to the company calling for a proposed settlement of $1.9 million. "Although the ultimate outcome of the examination cannot be predicted," Mesa said in its securities filing Jan. 12, "management is of the opinion that adequate provision exists in the consolidated financial statements for the estimated impact of the examination."
Fiji's national carrier Air Pacific plans to increase capacity about 70% this year, according to Chief Executive Michael McQuay. The move contrasts directly with actions by other Asia/Pacific carriers that have shelved expansion or scaled down operations because of the economic crisis in the region. McQuay said despite a drop in air travel in most Asian countries, leisure and business travel to and from Fiji is on the rise. "As we have the landing rights for expansion and with the rise in air travel, this is an opportunity for Air Pacific to expand," he said.
Japan Airlines and British Airways intend to code share only on Osaka-London in their alliance. London-Tokyo and Nagoya-London have not been named as code-share routes (DAILY, Jan. 14).
Continental's web site has been ranked No. 1 for user friendliness among all major carrier web sites, according to a survey by the NPD Group, a marketing research firm. The survey ranked Continental's web site as first in customer satisfaction and loyalty. The survey compared travel experience, site usage and overall satisfaction. Of travelers surveyed, 78% ranked Continental's site as excellent to very good, 62% said it was better than other airlines', and 79% said they would revisit the site.
French manufacturer Aerospatiale booked a record US$15.8 billion worth of orders in 1998, but the ATR consortium in which Aerospatiale is a partner with Italian firm Alenia contributed little to the overall success.
Delta asked DOT for an exemption to provide Atlanta-Istanbul service as part of its expansion of service to Europe beginning this summer (DAILY, Jan. 6). It plans to start nonstop service on the route June 1, operating three weekly roundtrips using MD-11 aircraft. (Docket OST-99-4997)
Detroit-based Pro Air this month will add service from Detroit City Airport to New York and Chicago - one daily flight to LaGuardia Jan. 17 and four to Chicago Midway each business day Jan. 28, all operated with newly acquired 737-400s. The airline also will start direct flights from Chicago to Atlanta, Newark/New York and LaGuardia. The new service will increase Pro Air's weekly departures at Detroit City to 108 from 51 two months ago. With the new schedule, Pro Air will offer service to eight cities from Detroit.
Jet fuel has begun to rise from December's rock-bottom levels. At the end of last week, a gallon sold for 38 cents, up 13% from the prior week but still down 24% from a year ago, according to BT Alex Brown.
St. George, Utah-based SkyWest posted a 42.8% increase in traffic last month to 87.6 million revenue passenger miles, compared with 61.4 million in December 1997. Capacity increased 37.2% to 165.8 million available seat miles, boosting the load factor 2.1 percentage points to 52.9%. Passenger boardings were up 63.3% to 422,896. Dec. 1998 Dec. 1997 12 Mths 1998 12 Mths 1997 RPMs 87,632,480 61,359,739 938,171,889 744,716,673
An asterisk indicating a code-share next to a flight number takes away about 25% of the revenue for that flight, says Continental Express President David Siegel. It can be up to 50% for an international flight, he added. There are several reasons. To many, especially travel agents, the asterisk simply means a turboprop. Or it scares people because they think it is a different airline than the one they are selecting. In addition, travel-agent commissions typically are not paid on the code-share portion of the trip.
Malaysia Airline System Berhad lost 432 million ringgit ($114 million) pre-tax in the six months ending Sept. 30, 1998, compared with a profit of RM47 million in the prior-year period. The company posted revenue of RM3.4 billion ($897 million), essentially flat from the previous period. Malaysia Airlines had revenue of RM3.3 billion ($871 million) for the half-year period, up from the RM3.06 billion ($808 million) during the six months ending Sept. 30 1997.
Caps on passenger facility charges (PFCs), whistleblower legislation, foreign repair stations and essential air service (EAS) are among some of the issues the Regional Airline Association will be working on in this session of Congress. RAA Legislative Affairs Manager Faye Malarkey said the association is "always happy to see new folks on the [House] aviation subcommittee" and is planning a series of comprehensive staff and member visits to introduce RAA's agenda. "We've really enjoyed good relations with the folks on the Hill.
FAA Office of Airports has set a March 1 deadline for filing airport grant applications to use entitlement funds under the fiscal 1999 Airport Improvement Program. It said the deadline is being moved up from the usual June 30 date because the fiscal year AIP is authorized only through March 31 instead of Sept. 30. AIP funding for the first six months of fiscal 1999 is $1.205 billion, of which FAA can issue only $975 million until Congress extends the authorization beyond March 31.
Northwest affiliate Mesaba Airlines yesterday signed a code-share agreement with Continental which calls for certain Mesaba flights to carry the "CO" designator code. The code-sharing service includes all flights in and out of Detroit International Airport and Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, which connect to Continental flights in their Newark, Houston and Cleveland hubs.
Continental Express managed to meet the FAA emergency airworthiness directive prohibiting cold-weather starts on Embraer ERJ-145s on all but three of its 36 regional jets overnight last Friday (DAILY, Jan 11). The other three were overnighting at out-stations and were completed on the next inbound, said VP-Maintenance John Prestifilippo. COEx had suffered one inflight shutdown and American Eagle two after the Allison AE3007 starter-shaft O-ring created oil leaks in the accessory gearboxes when the engines were started in freezing temperatures.
American Trans Air pilots voted this week for representation by the Air Line Pilots Association, ousting the Teamsters as the representative union. More than 87% of the 855 flight deck crew members eligible to vote returned ballots, and 619, or nearly 83%, voted for ALPA. All ALPA votes were write-in because ALPA was not on the ballot. There were 107 votes for the Teamsters. The current contract is amendable in October 2000.
Delta Air Lines' Air Line Pilots Association unit met Wednesday with pilot union leaders of its domestic code-share partners to talk about career progression, job security and job protections. Union representatives from Atlantic Southeast, Business Express, Comair, SkyWest and Trans States were present. Delta ALPA Master Executive Council Chairman Charles Giambusso said as code sharing continues to grow, the pilot groups need to maintain close ties and work together.
Fairchild Aerospace has had another shake-up in its marketing and corporate communications department with the departure after only three months of VP Gina McAllister. Coming from United Technologies, McAllister replaced Mike Cardellichio in a reorganization of the department. Bob Hawk, long-time public-relations executive with Fokker Aircraft and subsequently with FAA, left the post of VP-corporate communications last year after only four months on the job. Emerald Media Services of Arlington, Va., is helping to fill the temporary void.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said yesterday he does not believe the time consumed by the Senate impeachment trial of President Clinton will force the committee to accept a six-month FAA reauthorization. Asked if he thought the trial left him with no alternative but to accept a short-term reauthorization, McCain replied, "No." He noted that the Senate last year approved the FAA authorization 98-2 and added, "We can appoint conferees and pass it quickly if we want to." Sen.
Aloha is expanding its first-class seat configuration by 50% to offer frequent flyer business travelers more upgrade opportunities. The carrier will add four first-class seats on all 167 daily flights and remove a row of seats to expand leg room by two inches. The modification of its 18 Boeing 737 aircraft will be completed in the second quarter of this year.
A sampling of 15 regional airlines reported that December revenue passenger miles increased an average of 30.7%, 4.4 percentage points ahead of a 23.3% increase in available seat miles. United Express Air Wisconsin was at the top of the list with a 71.3% jump in traffic, a 20.7-point spread over its 50.6% increase in capacity. United Express Atlantic Coast Airlines, another perennial leader, saw traffic increase 67.7% against a 55.5% gain in capacity.
American Eagle will launch nonstop Knoxville-Dallas/Fort Worth service March 29, operating three daily roundtrip flights aboard 50-seat ERJ-145 regional jets.
American and its Allied Pilots Association will continue meeting next week in an attempt to resolve conflicts over the carrier's faster-than-expected acquisition of Reno Air. The union discovered through a Dec. 23 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that American had acquired 85% of outstanding Reno shares and placed four AMR Corp. executives on Reno's board (DAILY, Jan. 11). The move in effect means AMR owns and controls Reno, and Reno pilots are flying in competition with American's, APA spokesman Gregg Overman said.
Code-Sharing Regional Carrier Schedules Announced Or Implemented, November-December 1998 Carriers Added Dropped New Shared Alaska Airlines Horizon Seattle-Fresno - - Seattle-Moses Lake, Wash. America West Mesa Airlines Las Vegas-Palm Springs - - Phoenix-Monterey, Calif. American Airlines
