American Trans Air and Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays, which have just completed a five-year partnership, have formed a new 10-year alliance. The agreement will give Pleasant access to more than 540,000 scheduled airline seats on American Trans Air annually between Los Angeles, San Francisco and Hawaii.
American and British Airways tomorrow will sign the agreement under which they will purchase 10% of Iberia, said Spanish Industry Minister Josep Pique last week in Madrid. BA intends to purchase a 9.1% stake, while American will buy 0.9%. The carriers intend to set up a joint venture to hold their Iberia stake, paying a total of 58 billion pesetas (US$403 million).
Hudson General has agreed to be acquired by members of its senior management for $57.25 per share cash. The group is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Jay Langner and Vice Chairman Richard Segal. Shareholders will vote on the buyout at a special meeting in the first quarter of 1999. Hudson General provides services at airports throughout the U.S. and Canada.
The emergency landing Nov. 29 in Singapore of a Swissair MD-11 after the flight crew detected an odor was not connected to the crash of a Swissair MD-11 earlier this year in Nova Scotia, airline officials said yesterday in Zurich. The aircraft was ferried back to Zurich and inspected by airline personnel and Boeing. As a result, a water-air compressor and a loose flap in the air conditioning were replaced. The reason for the odor was not detected. The aircraft will go back into service today between Zurich and Los Angeles.
American, United and Delta, in cooperation with Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts, are awarding 1,000 frequent flyer miles to each of two adults who share a room at one of Inter-Continental's 35 properties through Jan. 31.
Singapore Airlines Chief Executive Cheong Choong Kong finally revealed his hand, saying it is "more likely now that we'll join" the Star Alliance. After months of speculation, Cheong used a news briefing at the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines annual meeting last week in Manila to confirm his intentions. After concluding alliances recently with Lufthansa and SAS, he is actively seeking closure on agreements with other Star airlines. The final decision and announcement will be made "very soon," he told The DAILY.
Kiwi Holdings said it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire 100% of the assets of Toler Development Corp., a Panamanian corporation. Kiwi also provided a capital improvement loan to Toler, the owner of a 256-cabin luxury cruise liner valued at $90 million. Kiwi plans to complete construction and operate the ship. Kiwi Holdings holds a 20% interest in Kiwi Airlines.
BAA plc's seven U.K. airports handled 10 million passengers in October, more than in any previous off-peak month and 6.4% more than in October 1997. As in earlier months, Stansted Airport grew fastest, at 30.8%, as European scheduled flights increased 90% year over year to become its largest market sector. Its new #16.8 million (US$26.8 million) facility for international passengers, opening this month, will increase capacity by 2 million passengers per year.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Revenues and Expenses Second Quarter 1998 (In Dollars) Total Operating % Passenger Freight Revenues Change Revenues Revenues Alaska 378,766,000 9.57 325,873,000 17,783,000 America West 512,524,124 8.89 479,210,705 5,934,969
Greek state-owned airline Olympic Airways has pledged to increase its productivity drastically under a five-year management contract signed last week with the Greek government, the airline said last week in Athens. Between 1998 and 2002, Olympic is expected to cut personnel costs 2% and grow revenues 25%. Employee productivity will be enhanced by the reorganization of work procedures and more use of computers. Revenue passenger kilometers are expected to jump 21% and available seat kilometers will rise 11.6%.
IATA Director General Pierre Jeanniot is less than generous about how pilot interference is hurting world airlines."It is most unfortunate that all those who claim to really know how to run an airline have chosen to become pilots," he said Friday in Manila.
FAA has renovated 99% of all computer systems, including all air traffic control systems, to meet the March 31, 1999, Office of Management and Budget deadline to prepare for the Year 2000 computer problem, an FAA spokesman said yesterday. He said the new IBM G-3 computers, due to be in use at all air route traffic control centers by next September, must be Year 2000-compliant. The requirement for Year 2000 compliance is being written into all new computer contracts, the spokesman added. OMB and the General Accounting Office deadline of last Sept.
Air-India has applied for renewal of exemption authority to serve Washington Dulles-Delhi, India, under a code-share agreement with United. Air-India's exemption authority for this route expires Jan. 6.
Startup Swiss World Airways (SWA) will go bankrupt unless it receives an injection of CHF3 million ($2.1 million), said airline's Chairman Philippe Rochaton last week in Geneva. SWA has been operating six weekly services between Geneva and Newark since Sept. 10 with a Boeing 767-200 leased from Australian company Ansett. Office Federal de l'Aviation Civile (OFAC), the Swiss civil aviation organization, reported that the airline's average load factor had been 25% since the launch of its operations.
American has applied to DOT for renewal of its exemption covering seven weekly frequencies granted in January to fly New York-Cuzco, Peru, via Lima. The current exemption expires in January 1999.
FAA issued an emergency order requiring the operators of 160 727s converted to cargo aircraft to inspect and repair fuselage skin lap joints or come up with an alternate means of compliance. Inspections must occur within 60 landings and repairs within 120 days or 250 landings. The agency issued the orders after inspections of several aircraft "found some problems," Steve Alterman, president of the Cargo Airlines Association, said yesterday. The cargo group will meet with FAA tomorrow and Thursday.
Global Air Cargo, Inc. has asked DOT to waive dormancy provisions and extend Global's not-yet-effective certificate for six months through June 12. Global told the department it needs time to meet financial fitness criteria for startups and fulfill requirements for a Part 121 FAA certificate.
The European Commission has sent a "questionnaire" to Airbus and Boeing and is "examining their response," according to a spokesman for European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert. There also were press reports that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission was investigating alleged price- fixing. The FTC yesterday declined to confirm it has an investigation under way. Boeing had no immediate comment on why it would collude on prices that resulted in recent huge losses.
City of New Orleans and the New Orleans Aviation Board last week asked DOT to move quicky in granting TWA's application to launch New Orleans-Mexico City service on Jan. 31. In a joint filing, the parties said TWA would provide the only nonstop service on the route, enhance capacity for the city and provide additional service to New York. (Docket OST 98-4725)
CityBird of Belgium signed a contract for two A300-600 freighters, with delivery scheduled in mid-1999. The aircraft, which accommodates up to 56 metric tons, will be powered by GE CF6 engines.
Nav Canada told the Standing Committees On Industry that 100% of its computer systems are ready for Year 2000 certification. "Nav Canada has long been aware of the potential hazards surrounding Y2K," said John Crichton, president.
KLM and Alitalia signed a "master cooperation agreement" Friday that binds the two airlines more than their initial pact, unveiled in December 1997. The carriers will call their European covenant The KLM-Alitalia Alliance: One Ticket To The World. The contract joins two of Europe's oldest and most established carriers and gives KLM what it had been seeking for years - a hub in southern Europe that enables it to market Amsterdam, Rome and Milan Malpensa more effectively against competing hubs in Munich, Paris or Zurich.
Continental yesterday began Boeing 777 service to Tokyo Narita with a daily nonstop flight from Newark. The carrier said it is "the only airline to provide daily nonstop service to Japan from a hub in the Northeast." The statement discounts daily service by Northwest from Detroit, All Nippon/United code-share flights from Washington Dulles and Japan Airlines, United, ANA and Northwest service from New York Kennedy.
A group led by Aeroports de Paris completed Manila Airport's Terminal 2 project last week and will hand the facility over to local authorities this week, but the finished building has no stores or internal structure despite a planned Feb. 1 opening. The V-shaped terminal, originally a domestic passenger facility and later changed to both domestic and international, will be ready for use "within two to three months," according to ADP Project Manager Dominique Chavanne. "There is a wish by [Philippine] President Estrada to open the terminal by Feb.
Travelocity, which is expecting a record number of online shoppers this holiday season, has launched National Online Shopping Week. The names of travelers who purchase airline tickets at the newly designed www.travelocity.com. through tomorrow are entered automatically to win a $5,000 online shopping spree. Terry Jones, spokesman for The Sabre Group, said nearly 40% of all computer users expect to do some holiday shopping online. On Dec. 11, one Travelocity customer will be selected as the winner of the shopping spree, which is co-sponsored by Citibank.
