AirTran's legal counsel said yesterday that the carrier's board has no plans to oust Chief Executive Joseph Corr, as previously reported (DAILY, Oct. 22). VP-General Counsel Leslie Head told The DAILY she had spoken with a board representative, who denied that Corr was in trouble.
Kendell Airlines, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, has placed an order for 12 Canadair Regional Jet Series 200 and 12 options. Kendell is an alliance partner of Ansett Australia and a wholly owned subsidiary of Ansett Holdings Ltd. Deliveries of the 12 firm 50-passenger aircraft will begin in the last quarter of 1999 and be completed by the middle of 2001.
The seventh issue of DOT's quarterly airfare report, covering the first quarter of 1998, includes for the first time as a regular feature a table providing detailed fare information for short-haul, high-fare markets. It also includes a "graphical depiction of passengers across fare levels in order to show the level of fare variance that occurs in some markets." DOT now counts passengers on flights operated by a major carrier's commuter affiliate under the major's designator code as passengers of the major carrier.
Sixteen of the nation's largest regional airlines reported an average September load factor of 58.2%, up 4.8 percentage points from the 53.4% of the year-ago period. The results reflect a seasonal downturn from August's 60.6% and July's more than 61%. A major influencing factor was the work stoppage by Northwest pilots that shut down Airlink carriers Express Airlines I and Mesaba Airlines by double digits. Express was down 19.8 points to 39.8% and Mesaba was off 11.4 points to 42.5%.
Comair's unit costs in the September quarter rose just 0.10 cents to 15.8 cents per available seat mile from 15.7 cents, despite a 0.40 cents increase in the largest category - "salaries and related costs" - to 4.2 cents from 3.8 cents. Results were helped by five of eight major expense categories either declining or holding steady. Besides salaries, the only increases were "other [non-aircraft] rent and landing fees," which rose to 0.8 cents from 0.7; and "other operating expenses," which rose to 2.8 cents from 2.6 cents.
General aviation interests have once again convinced Congress that "order-to-land" legislation poses safety risks to aircraft. The provision, in the Senate Coast Guard reauthorization bill, was deleted before Congress adjourned for the year. The House had dropped the provision earlier.
Vilnius, Lithuania-based Lithuanian Airlines has ordered two Saab 2000 turboprops, to be delivered this month and next and to enter service during the winter season, Saab Aircraft Leasing said. Lithuanian Airlines, formed after Lithuania gained its independence in 1991, gradually has disposed of its fleet of Russian aircraft types.
AlliedSignal said yesterday at the National Business Aviation Association meeting in Las Vegas that it will integrate its Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) with its new Global Star 2100 Flight Management System (FMS), "giving pilots the ability to view moving terrain on an FMS." The new FMS, also announced yesterday, is a plug-in replacement navigation computer that combines a multi-channel Global Positioning System receiver, global navigation database and a multi-function control and display.
Atlas Air said it signed a contract to provide 747-400 airfreight services for Cargolux Airlines, its second such contract with the carrier. Atlas is the top pick of Merrill Lynch in a recent report on the airfreight industry, saying it "continues to outperform expectations."
Board of Supervisors in Santa Ana, Calif., yesterday received a proposal to hold flight demonstrations with a variety of aircraft expected to use the future airport at El Toro, formerly a Marine Corps air base.
America West Holdings' wholly owned subsidiary, The Leisure Company, will acquire The Vacation Store, a national leisure travel retail distributor based in Virginia Beach, Va. The Leisure Company President and Chief Executive John Garel said the acquisition supports the company's strategy of expanding its product lines and retail capabilities.
Europe must decide soon whether it will create its own proprietary global navigation satellite system (GNSS) or accept the economic and strategic disadvantages of continued dependence on the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), said Neil Kinnock, European transport commissioner. Policymakers also must be prepared to spend "substantial" amounts of public funding if Europe is to have its own system, he warned.
TWA yesterday announced the acquisition of four 757s from Boeing to be delivered next year. Also in 1999, it will take one 767-300ER from International Lease Finance Corp. The deliveries will give TWA 27 757s and five 767-300ERs. TWA plans to retire its remaining 727-200s when it gets the 757s to help it meet the Stage 3 deadline of January 2000. Chairman Gerald Gitner said that "by the end of the decade, TWA will have replaced more than 40% of its fleet within 3 l/2 years. The carrier recently acquired three 757s from ILFC and 24 MD-83s from Boeing.
Northwest's pilots strike gave a boost to United's profits, helping the Chicago-based airline post a record third quarter net of $516 million on a fully distributed basis, up 3%. The strike added $75 million in revenue to United's coffers or $35-40 million on an after-tax basis. United's profits are understated, since last year's third quarter showed a $235 million after-tax gain from the sale of Apollo Travel Services/Galileo International. As with seven other U.S.
DOT yesterday reaffirmed its allocation of 14 base-level U.S.-France frequencies to TWA and eight to Tower. DOT withdrew four additional weekly frequencies from Tower as the carrier does not plan to use them "for 15 of the 17 months in question." The department allocated 17 available frequencies and the four withdrawn from Tower - seven each to American, from Los Angeles, United, Chicago, and US Airways, Philadelphia, effective immediately until a final decision is made in Docket OST-98-4614 for the 1999 U.S.-France combination frequency proceeding.
AirTran's board may try to oust Chief Executive Joseph Corr at next week's board meeting, sources say. Shareholders are upset that the company spent $3 million to prepare for a possible job action by flight attendants disgruntled with the slow pace of contract talks. Flight attendants ratified a tentative deal Monday (DAILY, Oct. 21), but the board is angry that negotiations took nearly three years.
St. George, Utah-based SkyWest reported a 71.2% rise in net income to $12.8 million and a 41.3% gain in operating revenues to $113.5 million for the third quarter 1998. Operating expenses increased 38.1% to $94 million and operating income grew 59% to $19.5 million. SkyWest provides more than 900 daily departures to cities in 13 western states and Canada in partnership with Delta at Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, and with United to other West Coast points.
US Airways Group yesterday reported a third quarter net profit of $141.9 million, down 19.6% from the third quarter of 1997. The sharply lower figure was caused by a 40.3% rate of taxation, up sharply from 19.3% in 1997. Discounting this, operating profits were a record $270.2 million, revenue increased 4.4% to $2.2 billion, and expenses fell 4.6% to $1.9 billion. Despite lower fuel costs, the airline's overall cost per available seat mile remained steady at 12.27 cents, while revenue per ASM grew 4.7% to 13.75 cents.
Decrane Aircraft Holdings, producer of avionics components, said it will acquire MSA Aircraft Interior Products. Both serve the high-end corporate jet market.
The omnibus spending bill, H.R. 4328, was passed by the House late Tuesday and the Senate yesterday, with some lawmakers complaining that so many last-minute deals were made it was impossible to know what they were voting for. The bill does reauthorize the Airport Improvement Program for six months, however, releasing millions in AIP grants once President Clinton signs it, probably today. It also sets FAA's fiscal 1999 budget at or near $9.563 billion. The bill passed 333-95 in the House and 65-29 in the Senate, where six senators did not vote.
Boeing plans to invest 70 million Dutch guilders (US$35.7 million) to build a new European customer service and parts distribution center at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The site, which also will be used for logistics training and technical support, replaces the company's former Brussels Airport support center, which burned down last year.
