McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Aircraft Operating Costs Second Quarter 1998 Dollars Per Block Hour DC-10-10 American United Average Crew Cost $1,131 $1,131 $1,066 Fuel&Oil 1,149 1,175 1,165 Rentals 0 13 8
The Allied Pilots Association (APA) is asking DOT and the Justice Department to block the Northwest-Continental alliance, terming it a "virtual merger" and "the first step toward a large-scale consolidation of the airline industry." APA, which represents pilots at American, has insisted that American give it a vote on entering domestic code-share agreements, and American's marketing alliance with US Airways is not expected to include code sharing because APA likely would not approve it. DOJ filed suit in U.S.
Denver-based Frontier is launching service to Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth and Las Vegas, effective Dec. 17, operating two daily nonstops to Atlanta and three to DFW and Las Vegas. VP-Marketing Jeff Potter said the carrier targeted the three points "in order to continue our successful strategy of serving top business destinations from our Denver hub." Sample one-way fares are $89 Denver-DFW, $193 Las Vegas-Chicago Midway and $159 Atlanta-Seattle.
American is offering low fares for travel between the U.S. mainland and Hurricane Mitch-ravaged Honduras or Nicaragua. Fares are about 50% lower than the regular midweek excursion tariff and require no advance purchase. Travel must take place Tuesday through Friday, and tickets must be purchased by Nov. 18. Travel must begin by Nov. 30 with a three-day minimum and 60-day maximum stay. Sample roundtrip fares to Managua or Tegucigalpa are $299 from Miami, $399 from New York, $349 from New Orleans and $399 from Los Angeles.
Atlanta-based Atlantic Southeast Airlines reported 13.3% more traffic on 7.2% more capacity for October 1998 over October last year, which pushed the load factor up 3.1 percentage points to 56.9%. ASA flew 94.7 million revenue passenger miles on 166.5 million available seat miles. Passengers flown grew 6.5% to 365,420. Year-to-date RPMs rose 12.5% on 1.6% more ASMs, boosting the load factor 5.4 points. Passenger enplanements gained 6.2%.
AirTran Holdings Inc. said its airline subsidiaries posted a 32% increase in traffic on 14.9% more capacity last month, compared with October last year, which boosted the load factor 7.4 percentage points. AirTran flew 253.1 million revenue passenger miles on 446.5 million available seat miles, creating a 56.7% load factor. Enplanements jumped 49.9% to 474,765. Year-to-date, AirTran flew 36.3% more RPMs and 29.7% more ASMs than in the same period last year, boosting the load factor 2.9 points. Enplanements grew 17.6%.
DOT granted TWA an initial two-year exemption to provide scheduled combination service from New York to Nassau and Freeport, Bahamas. The carrier plans to begin daily MD-80 nonstops from New York Kennedy to Nassau on Feb. 11, 1999, and to Freeport on May 1, 1999. (Docket OST-98-4646)
FAA - In Federal Register dated Nov. 2...Issued an airworthiness directive on Fokker F28-100 aircraft requiring inspection of the nose landing gear main fitting. - In FR dated Nov. 4...Superseded an AD on Cessna 180/185 series aircraft concerning Airglas wheel skis.
Federal Express hasn't lost any business yet despite the threat of a Fedex Pilots Association strike in December. A FedEx spokesman confirmed that service levels remain "exceedingly high." FedEx told its pilots last week it needs a contract commitment to head off defection among jittery customers who want assurance that their packages will be delivered during the holidays (DAILY, Nov. 3).
Air Traffic Control Association named John Richardson, director of Computer Sciences Corp.'s software development and design group, recipient of the Clifford Burton Medallion lifetime achievement award.
National Air Transportation Association has asked FAA to revisit "outdated sections" of the rules on weather reporting and runway requirements for on-demand air charter carriers. For these operators, FAA requires approved weather reporting at the airport for an instrument landing and the runway must allow a full stop within 60% of the effective length of the runway. NATA President James Coyne said technological advances in weather reporting and operational experience show it is time to change the rules.
TWA Chief Executive Gerald Gitner is calling for Washington and Brussels to end antitrust-immune trans-atlantic alliances because they are "licenses to plunder the marketplace." In remarks prepared for an airline forum in Cannes, France, Gitner said open-skies agreements that permit antitrust-free alliances "allow the participants to engage in forms of price-fixing, schedule coordination and capacity pooling that would otherwise be illegal - and that remain forbidden to other competitors."
Spencer, Iowa-based Great Lakes Aviation reported a 59.2% growth in traffic on 57.9% more capacity in October 1998 from October last year, boosting the load factor 0.5 percentage points to 51.3%. Great Lakes flew 24.5 million revenue passenger miles and 47.8 million available seat miles. Passenger enplanements jumped 63.8% to 85,773. Year-to-date RPMs climbed 19.3% on 5.8% more ASMs over the first 10 months last year, causing the load factor to increase 5.8 percentage points. Passenger enplanements grew 23.4%.
GB Airways ordered nine A320 family aircraft for delivery between 2001 and 2003. GB Airways, which operates as a British Airways franchise carrier, took options on five more A320s. All will be powered by IAE V2500 engines.
Lufthansa subsidiary LAGS (USA) has exercised an option to increase its interest in Hudson General LLC from 26% to 49%, the U.S. company said. The exercise price was $29.6 million. Hudson General, through Hudson General LLC, in which it now has a 51% interest, provides services at airports in the U.S. and Canada.
