Korean Air has launched a program that gives instant upgrades to business travelers and offers travel agents commissions as high as 25% for bookings. The Prestige Plus program is free and requires no coupons or certificates. Once signed up, members who purchase a full-fare economy-class ticket will be upgraded to business class if a seat is available, and those buying full-fare business class will fly first class.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is running a six-part series this week on the Aug. 21, 1995, crash of the ASA 529 Brasilia in Carroll County, Ga. Staff Writer Gary Pomerantz details the feelings of the 21 survivors - of 29 crew and passengers - including acts of heroism. The accident happened when a propeller blade on the left engine separated, resulting in excessive drag from distortion of the left nacelle after engine shutdown. The series does not denigrate the carrier. Internet access is http://ajr.newslink.org; newspapers; by state; Georgia.
Blue Dogs welcomed Bob Livingston (R-La.) as House Speaker and promptly pressed him to correct what the conservative Democrats consider underrepresentation of their party on House committees.If Republicans keep as many committee seats in the 106th Congress as they had the 105th, an allocation according to overall party ratios would increase Democratic seats by 56, including six on the Appropriations Committee and four on Transportation.
Qantas will add London Gatwick and Birmingham, U.K., and other points to its code share with British Airways. Qantas will code share on BA's flights from Birmingham to Australia six times a week and Frankfurt and Australia-Birmingham three times a week, all via Paris. Gatwick-Australia operates via Paris and Frankfurt as well. The connections will help with the new Qantas three-times-weekly Sydney-Paris service. BA will add its code to more Qantas connections in Europe on flights from Brisbane to Auckland and from Sydney to three cities in New Zealand.
Load factors for 16 regional airlines increased an average 1.7 percentage points during October, to 57.2% compared with 55.1% for the same month a year ago. United Express Air Wisconsin led the gainers with the biggest increase and the highest load factor. It posted a 69.96% load factor, up 7.7 percentage points from a year ago. Delta Connection Comair was second with 64.1%, up 1.4 points, followed by Horizon Air, up four points to 63.5%, and American Eagle, up 2.1 points to 61.8%. Only two carriers fell below the 50% level.
Air France flight attendants, who concluded a two-day strike Wednesday, said they will strike again if the airline's management does not respond to their demand for more money and fewer hours. Also, a fractional pilots union is threatening to strike next week to protest a management agreement with the larger Syndicat National des Pilotes de Ligne (SNPL).
Leaders of United's Air Line Pilots Association unit and representatives of pilots at the six United Express carriers are meeting in Chicago to develop a coordination structure similar to that of pilots at the Star Alliance airlines. The meeting, organized by the United ALPA Master Executive Council, began yesterday and is scheduled to end this afternoon. Coordination efforts are to include scheduling, training and safety. ALPA represents pilots at three of the Express carriers and the Teamsters at two.
Canadian Airlines said yesterday it will pay U.S.-based travel agents an 8% commission for international tickets capped at US$100 for roundtrips and US$50 one way. Canadian follows United, Delta and its code-share partner American, which capped international commissions this week. In a statement, Canadian said it "sets its commission policies independently and will make no further comment on this announcement."
BWIA International Airways of Trinidad has signed an agreement with Bombardier Aerospace to buy two 50-passenger Dash 8 Q300 aircraft and take two options, Bombardier announced. The two firm orders will be delivered in January; the optioned aircraft, if taken, could be delivered before the end of next year, Bombardier said. The deal was valued at about $27.2 million.
St. George, Utah-based SkyWest declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of three cents per common share, payable Jan. 15, 1999, for shareholders of record Dec. 31, 1998.
U.S. National Carriers Traffic October, 10 Months 1998 October October % 1998 1997 Change Air Wisconsin Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 83,163 49,214 69.0 Available Seat Miles (000) 118,864 79,075 50.3 Load Factor (%) 70.0 62.2
Confirming long-standing reports that a deal was brewing (DAILY, Sept. 2), American agreed yesterday to buy Reno Air for $124 million in cash in a move that turns the fiercely competitive West Coast into a four-carrier race, with Southwest, United and Alaska Airlines firmly bunkered from San Diego to Seattle. Reno's board unanimously approved the merger and recommended that stockholders tender their shares to American.
DOT Office of Inspector General said this week that a plan by FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association to reduce the number of supervisors by one-third "will not have an adverse impact" on safety. But FAA must first identify and implement the duties that bargaining unit members acting as controllers-in-charge (CIC) will assume from supervisors, the IG said.
The right mix of infrastructure and environmental policies can enable Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to more than double its level of operations by 2010 without breaching current noise limits, according to a report from the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (NBEPA). The report, issued this week, said Schiphol could increase its "environmental capacity" to 450,000-500,000 aircraft movements per year by 2010 by adapting operations within current noise restrictions.
Salomon Smith Barney analyst Brian Harris yesterday downgraded the Big Three airline stocks - American, United and Delta - due to weak unit revenue performance reflected in October data revealed on Wednesday. After U.S. stock markets closed Wednesday, U.S. carriers said via the Air Transport Association that revenue per available seat mile (RASM) fell 3.1% year-over-year in October to 9.66 cents. The decline was driven by lower yields, which fell 4.2% as load factors rose 0.8 percentage points to 69.4%.
ERJ-145 manufacturer Embraer posted net earnings of $65.7 million for its first fiscal three quarters ended Sept. 30 on gross sales of $934.4 million. Those figures compare with a $68.3 million net loss on $425.5 million in gross sales for the comparable period in 1997. The September 1996 nine-month period was worse still - an $88.6 million net loss on $187.2 million in gross sales.
Virgin Atlantic Chairman Richard Branson has outlined plans to use the airline as a catalyst for an expansion of the Virgin Group of companies into mainland China. Branson was in Shanghai yesterday on a trip "designed to develop closer links with governmental and commercial organizations with Shanghai." Branson said, "Today's visit has reconfirmed my long-held ambition to fly on the inaugural Virgin Atlantic scheduled service into this inspiring engine of the Chinese economy.
Politicians are using the threat of competition legislation to shore up service to their states and districts. US Airways Express Mesa Airlines recently reduced fares between Pittsburgh and four West Virginia markets after talks with Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.). American Eagle launched regional-jet service from Chicago O'Hare to Duluth, home district of Rep.
FAA yesterday began using a new Precision Runway Monitor (PRM) at St. Louis Lambert Field. The Raytheon-built $8.5 million PRM enables air traffic controllers to monitor the landing of aircraft more effectively by providing a positional update every second. The high-resolution radar will enhance operations during closely spaced parallel runway approaches. The first PRM was commissioned last year at Minneapolis/St. Paul. Other PRM sites are New York Kennedy, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Sydney.
Mesa Air Group is looking for more Canadair Regional Jets for its US Airways Express operation on the East Coast. Once limited to the 12 already operating, the number is now up to 25 and potentially going higher since US Airways has taken back all its furloughed pilots, CEO Jonathan Ornstein told analysts Wednesday. He said there are three used CRJs available at "significantly higher prices" than the carrier is paying for new CRJs. Mesa has 14 of 32 remaining on order, which are being delivered at one per month through December 1999 (see related article below).
Charles Barclay, president of the American Association of Airport Executives, will discuss AAAE's "Statement of Principles on Airline Competition" on Aviation News Today, to air Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Pilots at Reno Air and American, not surprised by American's acquisition of Reno, view the move as positive but requiring a cautious approach. One consideration is merging pilot groups from two unions - Reno's Air Line Pilots Association unit and American's independent Airline Pilots Association. "Although we need more information before we can provide a definitive response, from what we do know, the outlook appears favorable," said Reno ALPA Master Executive Council Chairman Larry Cox.
