Air Canada's 13-day pilots strike sank the carrier from record-setting operating income in the second quarter to red ink in the third, and President and Chief Executive Lamar Durrett said yesterday the company will spend the rest of the year developing "fundamental changes to our business plan for 1999." The airline reported a net loss of C$61 million (US$39.5 million) for the quarter ended Sept.
Members of the Association of European Airlines achieved a collective load factor of 78.1% in September, their highest ever. The previous record was 78%, produced in August 1997. AEA airlines' passenger traffic grew 8.8% in September, compared with the same month last year, while capacity increased 7.2%. Their North Atlantic passenger traffic expanded 9.6%, while passenger growth on intra-European services was 8.7%.
Danish Air Transport, Vamdrup, Denmark, has purchased a Beech 1900D and placed options for two more aircraft. DAT will take delivery next month and place the aircraft in service throughout Scandinavia and Northern Europe. DAT also operates two King Air 90s, One King Air 200 and one Beech 1900C. DAT Managing Director Jesper Rungholm described the 1900D, which has a stand-up cabin, as "the most comfortable 19-seat regional airliner in the world."
Airborne Express pilots, angry over the firing of a popular pilot who refused to fly what he considered an unsafe test flight, are mounting a public campaign to have him reinstated. Airborne's 800 pilots, represented by the Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224, will stage informational picketing in coming weeks at "strategic" locations around the country and refuse overtime flying. Pilots also say they will honor picket lines of Airborne's Teamsters drivers in big cities if they strike.
Angel Airlines has beaten out Bangkok Airways in the battle for designation as Thailand's second international carrier. The Department of Transport granted AAL eight routes initially, including Bangkok-Singapore, Phuket-Singapore and Chiang Mai-Singapore, all lucrative, and an AAL official said it will apply next month to expand service to Vietnam, China, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. After postponing its startup in August and again in September due to leasing problems, AAL launched operations Oct. 24 with two leased 737-400s.
United yesterday told DOT that American "offered nothing new" in its objection to DOT's tentative allocation of 32 additional Chicago-London winter-season frequencies to American and 97 to United. Under the terms of the show cause order, each carrier would hold roughly an equal number of frequencies - American 422 and United 421. The DAILY on Oct. 27 incorrectly reported that American would have 433.
Rep. Bud Shuster's (R-Pa.) plan to resume attempts to unlock the Aviation Trust Fund for use directly on aviation capital improvement projects will be "the big initiative" for the House Transportation aviation subcommittee when the new Congress takes office in January, subcommittee counsel David Schaffer said yesterday at the Regional Airline Association fall membership meeting in Alexandria, Va.
Air Transport Association reported a 1.8% decline in members' traffic on 4.6% less capacity in September compared with the same month last year, increasing the load factor 2.1 percentage points to 70.7%. ATA reported 45.7 billion revenue passenger miles on 64.7 billion available seat miles. Year-to-date RPMs grew 2% on 1.1% more ASMs, boosting the load factor 0.5 points.
DOT yesterday renewed for one year Haiti National Airlines' (HNA) exemption to conduct sched-uled foreign combination service between Port-au-Prince and the terminal points Miami, Fort Lauder-dale, New York and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and charters.
China Airlines has opened its new three-bay maintenance hangar, which was designed and built by Burns&McDonnell over a five-year period. The facility is divided into areas for aircraft repair, automatic warehousing, aircraft components maintenance, air and water treatment and offices. It can accommodate three 747-400s plus an MD-11 or an A300. The air pollutant and wastewater treatment area is equipped with advanced environment protection equipment and a stored-ice air conditioning system that reduces peak electricity consumption. CAL Chairman H.I.
DOT granted Mexicana an exemption from high-density slot restrictions at Chicago O'Hare, providing two temporary slots to operate a daily Chicago-Mexico City nonstop roundtrip during the winter season. The carrier told DOT it has served the market for more than 30 years "without interruption" (DAILY, Sept.
AeroMexico posted a 5.5% traffic increase for September on 10.9% more capacity. The airline carried 600,000 passengers, up 1.8%. So far in 1998, traffic has risen 8.5% and capacity 6.3%.
In a bid to increase flight safety awareness, Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) warned Taiwan airlines that it will come down hard on safety rule violations. As an indication that it means business, CAA suspended three China Airlines pilots for four months and grounded five Dornier 228s of private carrier UNI Air for two months.
United is encouraging its Chicago-area employees to join the Midwest Aviation Coalition and help "protect and promote Chicago's aviation interests." The organization, also supported by American, Southwest and Delta, will back O'Hare and Midway issues and counter efforts to cap local traffic to justify construction of a third area airport in Peotone.
Air New Zealand said yesterday it will begin replacing its Boeing 737-200s next year, two years earlier than the planned 2001 start of the changeover. The first Boeing 737-300 will enter service in October 1999 and the seventh is due for introduction in April 2000. The airline will sell its -200s as new aircraft enter the fleet. "Current aircraft pricing brought about by the general state of the market has allowed us to bring forward the delivery as well as purchase an additional aircraft," said Chairman Selwyn Cushing.
America West has increased nonstop service between Phoenix and Chicago O'Hare to five flights per day, added frequencies from Columbus, Ohio, to Baltimore, and introduced new service between Phoenix and Hayden/Steamboat Springs and Eagle/Vail, Colo. The new service will use Airbus A320 aircraft with 12 first-class and 138 coach seats. The additional flights will help America West continue to provide service from its Phoenix hub to important business destinations, said Senior VP-Marketing and Sales Mike Smith.
Indigo Aviation of Sweden reported that third quarter net income increased 12% to $3.6 million and nine-month net income rose 78% to $9.4 million. The company signed agreements to purchase two 737-400 aircraft from Hapag-Lloyd, one 737-300 from Delta and one MD-82 from Spanair. During the quarter, Indigo bought a 737-300 from China Southern and an A320 from Caledonian, and it sold a 737-300 to Transbrasil.
Kitty Hawk said it believes its third quarter earnings will fall below earlier expected levels and consensus estimates. It estimated earnings between $2.2 million and $2.5 million, 13 to 15 cents per diluted share, on revenues of about $195 million. Pro forma third quarter 1997 earnings were $4.9 million, or 29 cents a share, on revenues of $166 million. The company will report third quarter results Nov. 5.
In Asia, the taste for cheap air travel is not likely to subside after economic conditions improve.New Internet ticket sites are popping up everywhere as travel agents and airlines use the cheaper distribution method to combat market weakness and generate foreign currency. One new site is Thailand's www.thaifare.com, which offers fares on all airlines to Thailand, such as Korean Air's Bangkok-Washington roundtrip for $734.
Miami will be the site of FlightSafety Boeing's new flight training hub for Latin America, the Caribbean and the southeastern U.S., company President Wake Smith said. The $100 million center will have 18 full flight simulators, expandable to 24, and a computer-based training lab with 30 workstations. Training 7,000 pilots and 3,000 maintenance workers a year, it will be "the largest non-airline-owned full-flight training academy," Smith said.
Worldspan has introduced two products, Alliance Architecture and Ultimate Ticketing, designed to enhance airline customer service and operations. Airline Architecture will create displays specific to airline alliances and expedite alliance recognition. Indicators will appear in availability displays to identify alliance members. The new displays will be available to travel agents as well as corporate and consumer purchasing channels.
Just days after he took over the reins of Aerolineas Argentinas, former American Airlines executive David Cush signed a deal with newly formed AeroVip S.A., an Argentine Jetstream 32 carrier. AeroVip, led by Chairman Bartolo Cuffia, will operate six aircraft to feed Aerolineas in Cordoba, according to Miami-based Aviation Management Services. The proposed startup date for the feeder operation is Feb. 28. AeroVip, which has been negotiating with Aerolineas and its Austral subsidiary for 12 months, will operate the J32s in Aerolineas's livery.
The Air Transport Association of Canada will conduct its 64th annual general meeting Nov. 15-17 in Victoria, British Columbia. Sessions will focus on industry efforts to prepare for the Year 2000, safety, flight operations, engineering and maintenance and airport user charges. Aircraft and system manufacturers and other suppliers will exhibit at a trade show. ATAC also will present its annual report.
Community leaders will join Northwest flight attendants at rallies scheduled today at 12 locations, the union said. Flight attendants will appear in uniform with signs, distributing flyers to the public. At most events, flight attendants, represented by the Teamsters, will make donations to local food banks, battered women's shelters and other charities. The union said community groups, religious leaders and elected officials are expected to turn out in support of the flight attendants, who have been trying to negotiate a new contract for more than two years.
