After a tumultuous ride, eight regional-airline stocks settled for a 20-cent average gain in November, to $18.76 per share. Total market value of the eight issues fell $50 million to $4.77 billion. The average price per share for the eight carriers climbed from $18.55 at the October close to $19.52 on Nov. 6, dropping to $17.43 on the 12th and riding a bumpy road to $18.76 at the November close. Four of the stocks were negative, four positive. Biggest gainer was Mesa Air Group, up $2.94 per share to $8 from $5.06, a 58% jump on the month.
Jet Airways will introduce three new destinations in India this month - Khajuraho, Varanasi and Imphal, all tourist centers. The carrier also plans to add frequencies on a number of routes by Jan. 3. Jet Airways, India's largest privately owned scheduled airline, will serve 29 cities across the country, including the new points. Its fleet of 19 737s includes the first of 10 new 737-400s and -800s currently being delivered.
Fedex Pilots Association (FPA), back in contract talks with the company, has set up a team to inform members about contract proposals.The team will obtain sections of the contract as they are completed and post them on the union's web site. The entire contract comprises more than 200 pages. The union says it is not concerned that its decision to postpone a strike until after the holidays will hurt its chances to negotiate an acceptable contract.
AMR Eagle is evaluating the potential acquisition of Business Express, its code-sharing partner at Boston, according to reliable sources. The "due-diligence" process has not been confirmed by either party. "We are in a no-comment mode," said a spokesman for BizEx. "We are always looking but cannot comment," replied a spokesman for American Eagle. The major question is the future of the marketing agreements BizEx has with Delta and Northwest. Boston is not a hub, as such, but sends a lot of traffic to the New York airports Kennedy and LaGuardia...
Regional operators called "grossly inaccurate" FAA's cost estimates for requiring terrain awareness and warning systems (TAWS) on all turbine aircraft with six or more seats and asked the agency to change the compliance schedule. FAA issued the proposal to require installation of TAWS - also known under the AlliedSignal name of enhanced ground proximity warning systems (EGPWS) - last summer.
Texas lawsuits involving commercial operations at Dallas Love Field "might have been settled some time ago" if Legend, Continental and the City of Dallas were not so confident that they will benefit by DOT's intervention, the City of Fort Worth said in a supplemental motion to dismiss the department's proceeding. When DOT launched the proceeding, it said it was trying to settle issues over which it has jurisdiction and clarify the Texas suits, and Fort Worth opposed the move from the start (DAILY, Aug. 26, 27).
American has asked DOT for a waiver of the 90-day dormancy condition on its frequency allocation for New York-Cuzco, Peru, via Lima. The carrier initiated service April 13 but because of unfavorable economic conditions, suspended the service Sept. 30. American in its filing said it plans to resume service when economic conditions improve. (Docket OST-97-3073)
US Airways said this week it has "resolved issues" with the Labor Department stemming from an audit of historical pay practices concerning women. DOL found no problems with upward mobility for women at the company, but US Airways agreed to make payments totaling $390,000 to 30 women to resolve the audit.
Canada 3000 will expand its summer 1999 U.K. flight program to include two additional weekly flights from Dublin to Toronto, plus an extra weekly London Gatwick flight to Montreal. The Dublin service will operate Mondays and Fridays between May 3 and Sept. 27, and the Montreal service Sundays from Gatwick, using new Airbus A330-200 series aircraft. The airline also will offer flights between Canada and Australia via Honolulu and Fiji this winter, serving Sydney from Toronto and Vancouver.
FAA estimates of the cost of modernizing the air traffic control system have increased $3.8 billion since February to nearly $42 billion, the General Accounting Office (GAO) said yesterday. The increase was attributed to new funding levels provided by the Office of Management and Budget that allow for acceleration of the modernization effort, it said. GAO said it has identified 18 projects that are key to FAA's efforts to replace the national airspace system's aging infrastructure.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) has been named to fill the lone Republican vacancy on the Senate Appropriations Committee in the new Congress. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) and Richard Durbin (Ill.) were named to fill Democratic openings on the committee. Spokesmen for the two Democrats said they would not know subcommittee designations until next month. The Republican vacancy was created by the defeat of Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-N. C.) last month.
The government of Trinidad&Tobago has designated Air Caribbean as the national airline of the country. The airline already had the right to serve Miami and Caracas but was required to receive the designation to support its application to Venezuela and the U.S. Air Caribbean will begin twice-daily service to Miami by Feb. 1 and to Caracas in March. It has acquired three additional 737-200s, while currently operating one 737 between Guyana and Barbados.
American Eagle last month posted a 15.2% traffic increase to 236.4 million revenue passenger miles, compared with November 1997. Capacity grew 8.5% to 374.2 million available seat miles, the load factor climbed 3.7 percentage points to 63.2% and boardings rose 11.9% to 1,082,747. (More regional airline to follow.) Nov 98 Nov 97 11 Mths 98 11 Mths 97 RPMs 236,387,000 205,169,000 2,549,477,000 2,337,727,000 ASMs 374,190,000 344,926,000 4,082,683,000 3,854,363,000
AirTran Holdings, Inc. reported a 31% jump in traffic on 22.6% more capacity for November 1998 from the same month last year, which pushed the load factor up 3.8 percentage points to 59%. AirTran reported 256.3 million revenue passenger miles and 434.4 million available seat miles. Passengers boarded gained 46.2% to 475,203. Year-to-date revenue passenger miles grew 35.8% on 29.1% more available seat miles from the first 11 months last year, boosting the load factor 3 points. Passengers flown rose 32.8%.
Air Tahiti Nui, celebrating new Airbus Los Angeles-Tahiti service, is offering exclusive consumer packages for travel through Pleasant Tahitian Holidays Jan. 1-March 31, 1999. Special prices are available on Tahiti/Moorea and Radisson Seven Seas-Paul Gauguin Cruise holidays.
American yesterday announced plans to serve Dallas/Fort Worth-Los Cabos, Mexico, this winter, beginning Dec. 15. It will operate 139-seat MD-80s on the route twice daily. American serves seven other cities in Mexico.
Cathay Pacific Airways yesterday stopped the roller coaster discussions to acquire a major stake in Philippine Airlines (PAL), saying the differences of opinion were too great. The carriers had held out hope until last week that they could reach a compromise (DAILY, Dec. 1), but Cathay said that "a number of major differences" with PAL could not be resolved. While Cathay did not detail the differences, they are thought to involve PAL's staffing and the potential structure of Cathay's investment.
Top 25 Domestic City-Pair Markets Under 750 Miles O&D Passengers First Quarter 1998 Short 97 Avg Haul Mkt Nonstop Psgr Top Carrier Rank Rank City-Pair Mileage Per Day (% Share) 1 2 Honolulu - Kahului 100 6,809 Aloha (57.0) 2 3 Boston - New York 183 6,555 Delta (40.5)
Amadeus has implemented electronic ticketing on American for Amadeus's U.S. travel agency customers. E-ticketing will include all American destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Asia and Europe. Canadian Airlines also has implemented e- ticketing. Fifteen global carriers, nine of them U.S. majors, now offer e- ticketing in Amadeus.
Boeing President Harry Stonecipher told reporters yesterday that "we see really no market growth, the growth rate has dropped out from under us." Stonecipher was explaining the sharp production cutbacks the company revealed the day before (DAILY, Dec. 2). He said Boeing Chairman Phil Condit and he had talked with Asian customers, and "it is not a pretty picture. It is not improving.
United States Travel Agent Registry (USTAR) board of directors filed a formal complaint at DOT this week charging Continental with unfair methods of competition in selling air transportation with regard to its commission caps. USTAR, which is developing the Genesis computer reservations system, has filed similar complaints against United, American and Delta for capping commissions on international ticket sales by U.S. travel agents. Responses are due Dec. 17.
Spain has scuttled the adoption of two important sets of European Union air transport legislation because of a 285-year old dispute with the U.K. over the Rock of Gibraltar, a British enclave in the Iberian peninsula. EU transport ministers, meeting Dec. 1 in Brussels, were expected to reach an agreement on new legislation aimed at increasing compensation for passengers denied boarding and on new rules imposing systematic ramp checks for foreign aircraft suspected of non-compliance with international safety standards.
American's traffic for November grew 3.1% on 1.9% more capacity, which boosted the load factor 0.7 percentage points to 67.7%. The carrier's domestic routes experienced traffic growth of 3.7% on 0.7% less capacity, pushing the load factor up 2.0 points to 67.9%. International traffic increased 1.7% in November on 4.9% more capacity, which lowered the load factor 2.1 points to 67.4%. Both the Atlantic and Pacific divisions experienced load factor declines. Atlantic traffic rose 1.4% on 6.6% more capacity, depressing the load factor 3.7 points to 72%.
House aviation subcommittee Chairman John Duncan (R-Tenn.) is expected to meet with key staffers next week to develop the panel's agenda for next year, congressional sources said yesterday.One of the subcommittee's early items is likely to be legislation to reauthorize FAA for the remainder of fiscal 1999 to replace the six-month authorization agreed on before Congress adjourned.
The 10 largest U.S. carriers posted an 81.7% on-time record in October, up from 78.9% in September and 81.5% in October 1997, according to DOT's latest Air Travel Consumer Report. The airlines had a mishandled baggage rate of 4.39 complaints per 1,000 passengers in October, down from September's rate of 4.41 and a little higher than October 1997's 4.34. Consumers registered 805 complaints about service in October, a 21% decrease from the 1,026 complaints in September but 23% more than the 614 in October 1997.
