Reporting an operating loss of more than $1 million in seven months because of competition in the Baltimore/Washington-New England market, Atlantic Coast Airlines asked DOT for permission to terminate its Dulles-Worcester service Nov. 30. If DOT does not waive the requirement to provide 90 days' notice, the carrier would cease the service Feb. 12, 1999. ACA blamed its losses on increased competition in the Baltimore/Washington-New England market.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic October, 10 Months 1998 (000) October October % 1998 1997 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 857,000 769,000 11.4 Available Seat Miles 1,417,000 1,252,000 13.2 Load Factor (%) 60.5 61.4
American Association of Airport Executives President Charles Barclay called yesterday for more airline competition, saying markets can be restricted by airline domination just as effectively as by government regulation. Deregulation is endangered when it faces "too many closed markets, and it doesn't matter who closed them," he said. A key method of keeping them open, he said, is to expand airports' independent funding sources, boosting their power to expand congested facilities.
Japan Airlines said yesterday a last-minute agreement avoided a strike by flight attendant and other unions that was scheduled for today. Unions have been upset over wage issues and had planned the strike to protest. Under Japanese law, unions must publicly notify their intent to strike, which JAL employees had done. A spokesman said JAL is moving forward plans to take delivery today of its 100th 747, becoming the first airline to reach the century mark.
DOT granted ICC International Cargo Charters Canada Ltd. d/b/a ICC Canada Ltd. a one-year initial exemption to conduct charter cargo service between Canada and the U.S. and other charters to and from the U.S. (Docket OST-97-3168)
Britannia Airways has leased three new 737-800s from International Lease Finance Corp. for delivery in early 2000. ILFC said the carrier has options to lease five more aircraft in 2001/2002.
DHL Worldwide Express said it chose British Aerospace Aviation Services to convert seven A300B4s from passenger aircraft to freighters that will enter its U.S. fleet over the next two years. The contract also includes heavy maintenance and full stripping and repainting. Patrick Foley, DHL chairman, called the seven A300 purchases a "significant fleet expansion and the first widebody aircraft introduced" into DHL's U.S. network.
United States Travel Agent Registry (USTAR) filed a complaint with DOT yesterday charging American with discriminatory and unfair practices in the sale of air transportation. USTAR already filed against United and Delta. The latest filing comes after Delta and American said they would cap travel agent commissions on international ticket sales at $100 per roundtrip and $50 one way. United began the process by announcing the caps on Nov. 12 (DAILY, Nov. 13), and USTAR filed at DOT against the airline Nov. 15.
Gearing up for the post-holiday travel slowdown, TWA is offering a fare sale on flights between 76 points and New York City. Tickets must be purchased by tomorrow and travel completed by Feb. 10. All travel must include a Saturday night stay and the maximum stay is 30 days. Sample roundtrip fares include $298 New York-San Francisco (down from $562) and $248 between New York and Denver ($503) or St. Louis ($325). TWA is offering double miles for travel completed by Dec. 15.
Alitalia has stopped flying from the Asia Pacific region to Rome and has made Milan its gateway to Italy instead. As a result, it has stopped flights to Manila, closed the station and moved its Far East hub from Bangkok to Singapore. Alitalia general manager for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, Vincenzo Cappelluto, said the low traffic to and from Manila could not sustain the station. The traffic from Bangkok to Italy also was low.
Airbus has had nine orders for 20 or more aircraft in the first three quarters of 1998, amounting to 288 aircraft or 69.1% of its total, according to consulting firm MBA.Boeing has had seven such orders for 208 aircraft or 58.1% of its total. Almost all the orders came from North and Latin American and European customers. "Absence of large orders from Asian carriers, with the exception of Korean Air's order for 22 737s, is ominous," MBA says.
KLM has tapped Henny Essenberg, chief executive of its U.K. subsidiary, KLM uk, to lead a new KLM division responsible for the airline's joint network development with marketing allies. The new function, Network Organizing, will absorb KLM's current passenger and business systems divisions eventually. Essenberg will oversee the reorganization, starting Dec. 1. He will be replaced at KLM uk by Floris van Pallandt, KLM Cityhopper's managing director.
Lufthansa will start service from Munich to London Stansted Airport with three daily roundtrips, beginning Nov. 23. The airline is offering introductory fares with few restrictions to secure a foothold at Stansted. Competition at Stansted already is fierce from low-fare operators such as Ireland's Ryanair, which is expanding its network into continental Europe. Lufthansa's lowest economy-class fare for the roundtrip will be 149 Deutschmarks (US$89) and require a minimum two-day stay, while a fully flexible economy-class ticket can be obtained for DM299 ($179).
Mark Anderson, United's director-federal affairs, was appointed by the carrier to the new post of director-governmental affairs, based in Washington. He will report to Shelley Longmuir, named last week to be senior VP-governmental, regulatory and international affairs (DAILY, Nov. 12).
FAA hopes to propose by early next year a rule implementing legislation to ease industry fears about voluntarily releasing safety information, Chris Hart, assistant administrator for system safety, said yesterday. The agency also hopes to produce in the same time frame a second rule, the Flight Operations Quality Assurance rule, "in which we say it is important not to shoot the messenger, such as a mechanic, except for intentional gross negligence," Hart said in an interview.
The Sabre Group has launched its new design for Travelocity's travelocity.com web site in time for the holidays. The new site is faster and easier to use, said Terry Jones, Sabre spokesman. The site offers: -- Increased speed with an express buy feature, reducing the number of clicks required to book air travel reservations from 12 to three, beginning in December, for members who store key information in their profiles.
Bucking recent doom-and-gloom predictions from Wall Street, the Air Transport Association expects higher traffic growth next year and continued strong earnings for U.S. airlines, ATA Chief Economist David Swierenga said yesterday. The association, representing the largest U.S. airlines, forecast 2.8% passenger traffic growth in 1999, higher than the 2.1% expected for 1998.
London Luton-based Debonair has finalized a contract with Houston-based PROS Strategic Solutions for revenue optimization technology. The carrier will use the PROS Rembrandt system for revenue forecasting and optimization.
Air Tahiti Nui begins operations Saturday with its 286-passenger Airbus A340-200, offering three weekly flights between Tahiti and Los Angeles. Air Tahiti will use Delta's Terminal 5 at LAX.
Royal Air Maroc (RAM) expects to launch additional service to North America next summer, when it receives new 747-400 aircraft, and is exploring alliances with several carriers. The 747-400 will enable it to increase capacity to Casablanca and explore other longer-haul destinations. Senior VP Mustapha Benkirane said RAM grew 19% in the first half of 1998 and is in its third consecutive growth year. New aircraft will lower RAM's average aircraft age to five years by 2001.
DOT, in identical letters, advised Northwest and Continental of recent statutory requirements concerning their proposed alliance. The department warned of provisions in the Omnibus Appropriations Act, which apply to agreements entered on or after Jan. 1, 1998, but not yet in effect when the bill was enacted, requiring joint-venture agreements to be filed with DOT at least 30 days before they may take effect. The act applies to code sharing, frequent flyer programs, blocked-space agreements and certain long-term wet-leases.
Chang Yu-hern, the new director general of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), says his first priority will be to improve safety. Chang intends to increase CAA monitoring of airlines, improve air traffic control operations at airports and upgrade the ability of airports to deal with emergencies.
United's cap on travel agent commissions for international tickets booked from the U.S. is a discriminatory and unfair practice, the United States Travel Agent Registry (USTAR) said in a complaint with DOT. USTAR's Canadian counterpart, Canadian Standard Travel Agent Registry, filed with United, the International Air Transport Association and the criminal matters branch of Industry Canada, claiming that United violated Canada's Competition Act and IATA rules governing travel agent commission rates.
