Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic June 1998 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (Miles) (000) Change AirTran Airlines 480 33.75 489 235,000 10.08
DOT granted Queen Air, Aeronaves Queen, S.A., an initial one-year exemption to conduct scheduled foreign combination service between Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and the co-terminal points San Juan, Puerto Rico, Miami and New York (DAILY, Oct. 23). The Dominican carrier also received charter authority. All services must be operated under wet-lease, because the Dominican Republic's civil aviation authority is rated Category 3 by FAA. Queen Air plans to operate services with an A320, configured for 170 economy seats, wet-leased from TransMeridian.
Air France expects to cancel 45% of long-haul flights and 40% of intra-Europe service today and Wednesday due to a strike by many of its 10,000 flight attendants. The union supporting the group is conducting the 48-hour work stoppage as a negotiating tactic to push for more money and shorter work days. Other unions among the airline's 14 labor groups are expected to join the flight attendants. The strike comes after the airline received a pledge from pilots not to strike for three years.
British Airways is expanding its electronic ticketing to all 21 U.S. gateways following a six-month trial on routes to London Gatwick. E-ticketing is available for travel starting Wednesday, and the airline has installed self-service check-in machines at New York Kennedy, which will speed check-in for all passengers as lines get shorter. Using a credit card or BA Executive Club card, passengers choose their seat and print their own boarding pass. BA has made e-ticketing the preferred method of ticketing from the U.S. to the U.K.
Federal Labor Relations Authority has agreed to mediate the dispute between FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association over free familiarization flights in the cockpits of airline aircraft.The DOT Inspector General, which pointed out the possibility for abuse (DAILY, Aug. 5), agrees with this approach. FLRA is trying to schedule the issue within a couple of weeks.
Reactions to United's decision to cap travel agent commissions at $100 on tickets for international travel booked from the U.S. ranged from surprise to combativeness friday and prompted vows to seek legal intervention. Air New Zealand's U.S. and Canadian regional managers said they were surprised and have no plans to follow suit.
SkyWest Airlines reported a 50.9% leap in traffic on 35.8% more capacity in October, increasing the load factor 5.6 percentage points to 55.9%, a record for the month. SkyWest flew 94.3 million revenue passenger miles and 168.9 million available seat miles. Passenger enplanements jumped 78.7% to 479,126. Year-to-date, RPMs grew 22.7% and ASMs 12.3%, boosting the load factor 4.7 points. Passenger enplanements surged 50%.
As part of a three-year corporate restructuring program, Ansett Australia will shed 1,700 staff by selling its inflight catering operations and door-to-door retail freight business. According to Ansett Executive Chairman Rod Eddington, the program is aimed at lifting annual profits to 10% of revenues. Negotiations for both divisions are expected to be completed by April 1999. Eddington said the sales would help free capital funds for high-priority uses, such as aircraft acquisition and airport terminal expansion.
Litton Industries said FAA has approved its LTN-92 inertial navigation system for operation as long as 12 hours unaided by Global Positioning System, VOR or Distance Measuring Equipment updates in Required Navigation Performance-10 airspace, where aircraft are separated by 10 nautical miles in any direction. This capability enables an aircraft to make long overwater flights using the most advantageous routes.
Air Canada reported an 8.4% rise in systemwide traffic on 4.6% greater capacity for October 1998, compared with October last year, increasing the load factor 2.7 percentage points to 75.3%. The carrier flew 2.1 billion revenue passenger miles and 2.8 billion available seat miles. Domestic RPMs grew 11.9% to 798 million and ASMs 8.9% to 992 million, boosting the load factor 2.1 points to 80.4%. International RPMs went up 6.4% to 1.3 billion on 2.4% more ASMs to 1.8 billion, causing a 2.8-point rise in the load factor to 72.5%.
Japan Airlines is introducing a "Skytime Cocktail" on domestic flights despite an industry outcry over alcohol abuse by passengers. JAL's drink is a blend of vodka and Skytime, the airline's blend of kiwi fruit extract and royal jelly. Passengers must be 20 years old to order it.
B/E Aerospace's board adopted a shareholder rights plan to guard against a disruptive corporate takeover. The plan provides for the distribution of one preferred stock purchase right for each share of common stock held. The company said the move is designed "to deter coercive takeover tactics and to encourage anyone attempting to acquire the company to first negotiate with the board." The rights plan is triggered if an investor acquires 15% or more of B/E Aerospace.
Airlines all should be making money in the U.S. market, even though some have found ways not to, according to Boyd Group President Mike Boyd. "A duck with a chair on its back would make money in this market," Boyd said.
Interactive Entertainment Limited (IEL) is refocusing its business on Sky Play personal computer games and non-gaming inflight customers. The company has not been able to make its Sky Games gambling product commercially viable as inflight entertainment, so it will focus on gaming for the home computer market. "Although we still believe in the business case of inflight gaming and its potential to generate revenues for airlines, we would need additional capital, which the company has not been able to raise," said Chief Executive Gordon Stevenson.
Rolls-Royce will supply upgrade kits to convert 108 engines on British Airways 747-400s to the new standard of RB211-524. The work, worth more than $200 million, involves engines for 25 of the aircraft and eight spare engines, Rolls said Friday. Richard Smallwood, Rolls-Royce senior VP-airlines, said in a statement that "British Airways has already chosen to fit six new 747-400s on order with the new G/H-T standard of engine. In total, the airline has committed to 132 G/H-T engines, making it the largest operator of this engine in the world."
First flight of Russia's Tu-334 100-seat airliner is slated for late this month, according to a report from Moscow by Itar-Tass. The news agency quoted Vasiliy Aleksandrov of Tupolev as saying the preliminary cost of the aircraft is $14 million to $15 million. It said that 14 Russian companies have submitted preliminary orders for the airplane, and China and Iran have expressed interest. The Tu-334, with a range of about 2,000 kilometers, is intended to replace the aging Tu-134.
Qantas has dismissed Asian media reports that it is contemplating withdrawal from Asia altogether due to persistent low yields and the collapse of regional currencies. The reports, which quoted Qantas and British Airways Thailand Manager Nick More, said the carrier favors forging an alliance with an Asian-based carrier to fly regional routes. Two months ago, Qantas dropped Sydney-Kuala Lumpur, Perth-Singapore, Perth-Bangkok and Perth-Hong Kong routes. Services to Korea and Indonesia were terminated early this year, and more will be suspended before yearend.
DOT on Friday renewed, for an indefinite period, allocation of nine weekly frequencies for Northwest and 14 weekly frequencies for United to provide scheduled combination service in the U.S.-China market. (Dockets OST-96-1934, 1915)
Boeing said Lorenzo Morata, director-Tankers and Commercial Derivatives Program Office in the Military Transport Aircraft Division, was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference.
FAA -- In Federal Register dated Nov. 9...Proposed an airworthiness directive on Boeing 747-400 aircraft to require strap assemblies on ceiling panels and rails that support video monitors. - In FR dated Nov. 10...Proposed to supersede an AD on certain Fokker F28-70/100 series aircraft concerning inspection for heat damage to the fuselage skin and stubwing structure.
