United has improved security clearance at Los Angeles Airport by making passengers' transit through its checkpoint easier and faster. Customers connecting between United flights in Terminals 6, 7 and 8 will no longer need to go through security twice. Business travelers can clear laptops and other electronic equipment without having to turn them on. United increased the total number of X-ray machines to seven and added two wand-like devices that enable security officials to check computers and other electronic equipment without turning them on.
Wally Burnett, clerk of the Senate transportation appropriations subcommittee, will discuss Airport Improvement Program funding and the omnibus spending bill on Aviation News Today, to air Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
The president of the borough of Queens, N.Y., Claire Shulman, has asked DOT to deny a Chautauqua airlines application for an exemption allowing it to obtain six slots at New York LaGuardia Airport. Chautauqua hopes to initiate three daily nonstop flights between LaGuardia and Bloomington-Normal, Ill. Another carrier, AccessAir, also hopes to serve LaGuardia from Central Illinois, and has filed an application for four slots at LaGuardia - an application the Queens borough president also opposes.
Fairchild Aerospace may have to wait until spring before it receives its first firm orders for the new 728JET family. The company had hoped for a final decision by the supervisory boards of Lufthansa CityLine and Crossair before the end of the year. Fairchild Aerospace President Jim Robinson tells The DAILY, however, that the final contract for CityLine may not be ready for that firm's December board meeting, and it will not meet again until March. Delay also is expected with the Crossair contract, he said.
All Nippon Airways, the world's sixth largest airline, said, as expected, said it will join the Star Alliance in 1999, becoming the partnership's ninth member (DAILY, Oct. 22). With the addition of ANA, Star Alliance customers will have improved access to destinations in Japan. ANA is Japan's largest domestic airline. "Joining Star Alliance was for us the first step toward our goal of providing a truly seamless, global travel experience," said ANA President and Chief Executive Kichisaburo Nomura.
Ethiopian Airlines will launch twice-weekly service between Newark and Addis Ababa on Oct. 28, allowing for connections to more than two dozen cities in East Africa and the Middle East. The airline began service to Washington, D.C., in June this year.
US Airways, Continental and American are possible bidders for Reno Air, a source told The DAILY.Industry observers speculate that Reno, which restructured in the past year, is looking for a partner. Reno last month denied it was being purchased by American (DAILY, Sept. 9). Steve Rossum, Reno senior VP and general counsel, said the company's policy is not to comment on rumors.
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority remains without a fully seated board, since nominees Robert Brown, Norman Mineta and John Hammerschmidt were not confirmed by the full Senate. Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) ultimately decided to withhold the nominees, and the coup de grace was performed by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who formally requested the hold. McCain has been pushing for slot exemptions at high-density airports and exemptions to the perimeter rule at Washington Reagan to increase competition.
Atlas Air reported that third quarter net income rose 105% to $12.7 million from $6.2 million last year. Revenues increased 5% to $109.2 million from $104.2 million. Operating income rose to $35.7 million from $21.7 million and represented a 33% operating margin. For the first nine months, net income totaled $28.1 million, up from $14.3 million. Operating income was $88.8 million, up from $55.3 million. Richard Shuyler, executive VP, said Atlas continues to operate profitably "even in the face of the world's current economic problems.
Iberia will liquidate its charter subsidiary, Viva Air, the Spanish airline said yesterday in Madrid. Iberia said it was forced to take the drastic action due to accumulated losses of 5 billion pesetas (US$35 million) in 1996 and 1997 and the lack of an agreement with Viva Air pilots. Sindicato Espanol de Pilotos de Lineas Aereas (SEPLA), the Spanish pilots union, "refuses to accept the company's return to scheduled traffic, which could make it profitable," Iberia said.
Production of BAe's Avro RJ series of quadjets is limited to 20 airplanes per year over the next 10 years, the vast majority for the regional airlines. BAe Regional Aircraft sees two or three a year going to corporate operators, however. "We are not looking to set the world on fire in quantity, but quality," said the firm's U.S. Chief Executive Alan Stiley. With a base price of $26 million and "nicely equipped for $30 million," the aircraft will operate 3,000 miles from runways of 3,300 feet. There are some 20 interested customers, he said.
Unit costs at Atlantic Coast Airlines, which declined 22.3% to 16 cents in the third quarter, compared with the same quarter in 1997, were helped along by a year-over-year 14.5% increase in average aircraft stage length to 271 miles and a 7% improvement in average aircraft utilization to 9.2 hours per day, the company said. ACA also logged lower ownership costs for its Jetstream 41 turboprops, a lower percentage of passenger-related fees and a reduced travel agency commission rate. Atlantic Coast earned a net profit of $10.6 million in the third quarter.
Atlanta-based Delta Connection affiliate Atlantic Southeast posted an 18.4% increase in net profit to a record $18.2 million, or 61 cents per share, for its fiscal third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $15.3 million, or 51 cents per share, for the comparable 1997 quarter. Total revenues were up 6% to $105 million, also a record, while operating expenses gained 3.8% to $79.1 million.
Boeing reported that its September quarter emerged from the red this year, but officials said they are reassessing some production plans, including those for Long Beach and its widebodies as world economies continue to struggle. Chairman Phil Condit said that the company had sales of $12.7 billion and net earnings of $347 million for the third quarter. This compares to sales of $11.4 billion and a net loss of $696 million last year.
US Airways Group Chairman Stephen Wolf, citing what he called the "disillusioning air transport relationship" with the U.K., yesterday urged President Clinton to renounce the Bermuda II air agreement, which limits access to the U.K., especially London Heathrow, and controls pricing. "Renunciation of the U.S.-U.K. air transport agreement is both timely and essential to continue the substantial progress that your administration has made in opening up the world's international markets for the benefit of American consumers and shippers," he told Clinton in a letter.
Cincinnati-based Delta Connection affiliate Comair earned a record net income of $34.6 million, or 52 cents per diluted share, in its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $24.5 million, or 37 cents per diluted share, in the comparable 1997 quarter. Net profit increased 41%, while net profit per diluted share increased 44%. Operating revenues climbed 19.7% to $195 million. 6 Months 6 Months Qtr Ending Qtr Ending Ending Ending
More than $71 billion in travel-related taxes in the U.S. is not spent on programs that benefit the travelers who are paying them, the Travel Industry Association of America reported this week. Since 1995, 32 of the 50 top cities surveyed added new airport concession fees to car rentals. The average concession fee was 9.75%. In the past year, car rental companies have passed on this fee to travelers, and in most of the cities surveyed, travelers pay a per-day rate or per-rental surcharge in addition to the airport concession fee.
British Aerospace Asset Management (BAe-AM) has won an exclusive agreement to remarket five Jetstream 41s operated by Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Air Atlantic, BAe-AM announced. Air Atlantic will cease scheduled services as a Canadian Airlines Partner tomorrow.
TWA is awarding double frequent flyer miles to customers who book full-fare tickets, for travel through Nov. 30. The offer applies to full-fare first, business- and economy-class tickets in all TWA markets except Middle East destinations. It excludes government rate tickets. TWA also is launching a nationwide fare sale of up to 50% off flights within the U.S. and Canada. The sale runs through today. Sample roundtrip fares from Dallas/Fort Worth are $179 to St. Louis and $262 to New York or Hartford.
Delta, which shifted employee focus in 1991 from customer service to cost management, has successfully battled the erosion in worker confidence while boosting the overall efficiency of the airline, according to Chief Executive Leo Mullin. Speaking to reporters yesterday after the company's annual shareholders meeting in New York, Mullin said, "The culture change has happened - everyone talks about the customer." The airline has once again "put the priority back on where the priority ought to be," he said, amazed at the fast pace of change.
Reeve Aleutian Airways asked DOT for a two-year exemption to provide scheduled foreign air transportation between Anchorage and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia Federation. It wants to begin promoting the service Nov. 1 and start operations Nov. 30, using 727-100 aircraft. The Alaska-based carrier told DOT that, to Reeve's knowledge, "the owners of record of at least 75% of Reeve's outstanding securities are U.S.
Delta Connection SkyWest posted a 12.0% increase in unit costs to 17.7 cents per available seat mile for the fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with the same 1997 quarter, the carrier reported this week (DAILY, Oct. 21). Revenue per ASM gained 17.7% to 21.3 cents. Qtr Ending Qtr Ending 6 Mths Ending 6 Mths Ending 9/30/98 9/30/97 9/30/98 9/30/97 Oper. Revenue 113,473,000 80,302,000 205,156,000 152,417,000
Embraer has signed a long-term agreement with Lucas Aerospace under which Lucas will supply electrical power for the ERJ-135 and -145 regional jets, Lucas Varity announced this week. Under the deal, Lucas will supply the main and auxiliary electrical power systems for both the jets. Lucas projected total business for it from the two aircraft at $300 million, "combining the series production and anticipated aftermarket sales of this contract with the engine controls business secured earlier."
