UPS yesterday said revenue for the September quarter grew 28% to $6.2 billion from $4.8 billion the same period last year, when there was a 15- day strike against the company. Net income rose to $449 million from a loss of $10 million. For the first nine months, revenues jumped 11% to $18.1 billion from $16.3 billion and net income surged 126% to $1.3 billion from $558 million. Domestic revenues for the first nine months totaled $15.8 billion, up 11.2% from $14.2 billion, and international revenues amounted to $2.3 billion, up 10.1% from $2.1 billion.
LanChile posted lower third quarter profits but said cargo yield and demand improved. The airline's profits for the quarter fell to US$2.1 million from $17 million and net margins dropped to 2.5% from 9.2%. The carrier, which foreshadowed the lower earnings last week (DAILY, Nov. 3), said increasing international competition hurt earnings and weaker regional traffic hurt demand. Passenger yield declined 14%, but cargo yield grew 11.4% and cargo revenue 16.8%. Cargo comprises 30% of revenue. Total revenue rose 1.3% to $255 million. For the nine months ended Sept.
International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA), meeting in Palm Springs, Calif., yesterday adopted a resolution to promote the use of Loran -C for "augmentation and as a back-up" for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as GPS and Glonass. IAOPA noted that FAA was threatening to abandon Loran but that a European Loran-C chain "will be extended and improved." IAOPA supported the development of t he next generation of GNSS but said GNSS frequency protection from competing uses is critical.
British Airways had the lowest 1997 operating cost per available seat kilometer among the major European airlines, 8.4 U.S. cents, followed by KLM with 8.8 cents and Lufthansa with 9.6 cents.But Austrian Airlines had the best spread between breakeven load factor and actual, 5.2 percentage points, followed by KLM and BA, according to Merrill Lynch data.
TWA will begin nonstop service from New York Kennedy to Nassau in the Bahamas on Feb. 11. The roundtrip MD-83 service will operate every day except Wednesdays and TWA will be the only airline in the market. The flight is offered in cooperation with the Bahamian Ministry of Tourism and New Jersey-based tour operator Nassau Paradise Island Express.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic April 1998 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (Miles) (000) Change Alaska 84 2.08 1,105 92,912 3.00
United States Travel Agent Registry (USTAR) said the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) abused its trust and the confidence of travel agents recently when it abandoned plans to allow U.S. travel agents to operate satellite ticket printers (STPs) outside the U.S. The plan, which USTAR said was under study for five years, would have enabled agents to generate tickets to STPs for corporate or networke d agencies on a global basis.
Delta, Continental, Tower, TWA, US Airways and United filed a joint motion yesterday urging DOT to "take immediate action to dismiss" the American-British Airways immunized alliance application and cautioning against any action that would allow the two carriers to implement a phased alliance in advance of full U.S.-U.K. open skies.
Cincinnati-based Comair, which flies as a Delta Connection carrier, reported 18.5% more traffic and 15.6% more capacity in October 1998 than in the same month last year, which caused the load factor to rise 2.5 percentage points to 64.1%. Comair flew a record 195.5 million revenue passenger miles and 304.7 million available seat miles. Passenger enplanements jumped 15.4% to 568,462. Year-to-date, the carrier reported a 16.1% gain in RPMs on 8.9% more ASMs, which raised the load factor 6.6 points. Passenger enplanements increased 15.9%.
DOT Office of Inspector General (OIG) told FAA it is conducting an analysis of assumptions used to project aviation trust fund receipts, and it plans to begin an audit Dec. 7 to determine whether FAA has effective oversight over manufacturers' quality assurance systems for threaded fasteners.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Traffic April 1998 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (Miles) (000) Change Alaska 971 7.56 829 804,684 9.85
ProAir announced yesterday the beginning of service from Detroit City Airport to Atlanta and Seattle pending government approval. Service to Las Vegas "has been postponed indefinitely" because of the new service, the carrier said. ProAir also announced the acquisition of a fourth 737-300. The aircraft will go into service with eight first-class and 118 coach seats. Chairman Kevin Stamper named Jim Walsh, formerly with Reno Air, VP-customer service and Eric Steinwinder, from Northwest, VP-marketing and communications.
American parent AMR Corp. closed the deal to acquire 10% of Interinvest, the Argentinian holding firm that owns 85% of Aerolineas Argentinas and 90% of Austral. AMR now owns 8.5% of Aerolineas and 9% of regional Austral.
Midwest Express posted a 12.2% gain in traffic and a 13.2% increase in capacity for October 1998, compared with October last year, which depressed the load factor 0.6 percentage points to 65.1%. The carrier flew 146.1 million revenue passenger miles on 224.4 million available seat miles. Passengers boarded grew 10.4% to 169,259. Midwest Express connection carrier Skyway Airlines reported a 6.6% gain in RPMs to 7 million on 2.5% fewer ASMs to 14 million, which lifted the load factor 4.2 points to 49.8%. Passengers boarded rose 10.6% to 32,385.
The White House has laid the foundation for waiving economic sanctions against India and Pakistan, a move that would permit the Export-Import Bank to reinstate its guarantee of financing for six remaining 737-800 aircraft, part of a 10-aircraft order of new 737s by Jet Airways of India. The actual waiving of sanctions has not taken place, White House sources said yesterday. The White House, in a statement issued Saturday, said President Clinton decided to ease sanctions in response to "positive steps both countries have taken" to address U.S.
Paradise Island has terminated its participation with the Airlines Reporting Corporation. The carrier in August was acquired by Gulfstream International Airlines. ARC processing of Paradise transactions will cease on Nov. 22.
American Aircarriers Support, Fort Mill, S.C., a supplier of commercial aircraft engines and spare parts, announced acquisition of the assets of Condor Flight Spares, which is in the landing gear business. Karl Brown, chairman of American Aircarriers, said that "as we continue to grow our spare parts and engine business, we are aggressively seeking strategic acquisitions." The landing gear spare parts and maintenance business is "highly profitable and estimated to be approximately $1 billion a year," he said.
Boeing Commercial plans to keep its production lines running during the Thanksgiving and Christmas-New Year's holidays, when employees traditionally are given time off. The company said it is committed to producing 550 aircraft this year and is "working hard to meet aircraft delivery commitments in the fourth quarter." It said 7,700 employees will work during the Thanksgiving weekend at Everett, Auburn, Renton and Wichita, and some 4,700 will work through the 11 days between Christmas Eve and New Years weekend.
Frontier Airlines' flight attendants have rejected representation by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). Of 184 possible votes, AFA received 62. It needed at least 93 to call for a representational election.
Lufthansa Cargo this month will expand the time-definite services it launched last April. The number of time-definite export stations increased by 60 on Nov. 1, the day the carrier launched its new "td.SameDay" service. Customers can send urgent small consignments of up to 32 kilograms within hours to 40 destinations in Europe. Next year, all stations in Lufthansa's global network will offer time-definite services.
British Airways signed a purchase agreement for 59 single-aisle aircraft, Airbus Industrie announced yesterday. The carrier said last August it would break its tradition of ordering U.S.-made aircraft and buy as many as 188 aircraft from the Airbus consortium of European companies. The current order is for 39 A319s and 20 A320s. BA also switched from a longtime engine supplier, General Electric, and selected International Aero Engines' V2500 to power the new orders. GE and Snecma make the competing CFM56 engine.
American's growth next year will emanate from its hubs, according to BT Alex Brown analyst Susan Donofrio.One-third of the carrier's 1999 capacity increase will be at Dallas/Fort Worth, 16% each at Chicago and New York, and 10% each at Los Angeles and Boston. Scaled-back growth plans now call for American's international operation to grow four times faster than the domestic system - 10% versus 2.5%.
