American parent AMR Corp. closed the deal to acquire 10% of Interinvest, the Argentinian holding firm that owns 85% of Aerolineas Argentinas and 90% of Austral. AMR now owns 8.5% of Aerolineas and 9% of regional Austral.
Midwest Express posted a 12.2% gain in traffic and a 13.2% increase in capacity for October 1998, compared with October last year, which depressed the load factor 0.6 percentage points to 65.1%. The carrier flew 146.1 million revenue passenger miles on 224.4 million available seat miles. Passengers boarded grew 10.4% to 169,259. Midwest Express connection carrier Skyway Airlines reported a 6.6% gain in RPMs to 7 million on 2.5% fewer ASMs to 14 million, which lifted the load factor 4.2 points to 49.8%. Passengers boarded rose 10.6% to 32,385.
The White House has laid the foundation for waiving economic sanctions against India and Pakistan, a move that would permit the Export-Import Bank to reinstate its guarantee of financing for six remaining 737-800 aircraft, part of a 10-aircraft order of new 737s by Jet Airways of India. The actual waiving of sanctions has not taken place, White House sources said yesterday. The White House, in a statement issued Saturday, said President Clinton decided to ease sanctions in response to "positive steps both countries have taken" to address U.S.
Paradise Island has terminated its participation with the Airlines Reporting Corporation. The carrier in August was acquired by Gulfstream International Airlines. ARC processing of Paradise transactions will cease on Nov. 22.
American Aircarriers Support, Fort Mill, S.C., a supplier of commercial aircraft engines and spare parts, announced acquisition of the assets of Condor Flight Spares, which is in the landing gear business. Karl Brown, chairman of American Aircarriers, said that "as we continue to grow our spare parts and engine business, we are aggressively seeking strategic acquisitions." The landing gear spare parts and maintenance business is "highly profitable and estimated to be approximately $1 billion a year," he said.
Boeing Commercial plans to keep its production lines running during the Thanksgiving and Christmas-New Year's holidays, when employees traditionally are given time off. The company said it is committed to producing 550 aircraft this year and is "working hard to meet aircraft delivery commitments in the fourth quarter." It said 7,700 employees will work during the Thanksgiving weekend at Everett, Auburn, Renton and Wichita, and some 4,700 will work through the 11 days between Christmas Eve and New Years weekend.
Frontier Airlines' flight attendants have rejected representation by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). Of 184 possible votes, AFA received 62. It needed at least 93 to call for a representational election.
Lufthansa Cargo this month will expand the time-definite services it launched last April. The number of time-definite export stations increased by 60 on Nov. 1, the day the carrier launched its new "td.SameDay" service. Customers can send urgent small consignments of up to 32 kilograms within hours to 40 destinations in Europe. Next year, all stations in Lufthansa's global network will offer time-definite services.
British Airways signed a purchase agreement for 59 single-aisle aircraft, Airbus Industrie announced yesterday. The carrier said last August it would break its tradition of ordering U.S.-made aircraft and buy as many as 188 aircraft from the Airbus consortium of European companies. The current order is for 39 A319s and 20 A320s. BA also switched from a longtime engine supplier, General Electric, and selected International Aero Engines' V2500 to power the new orders. GE and Snecma make the competing CFM56 engine.
American's growth next year will emanate from its hubs, according to BT Alex Brown analyst Susan Donofrio.One-third of the carrier's 1999 capacity increase will be at Dallas/Fort Worth, 16% each at Chicago and New York, and 10% each at Los Angeles and Boston. Scaled-back growth plans now call for American's international operation to grow four times faster than the domestic system - 10% versus 2.5%.
US Airways yesterday let go Chief Financial Officer Terry Hall in favor of former United VP-treasurer Thomas Mutryn. The new CFO, Mutryn, is well thought of on Wall Street, a fact US Airways Group Chief Executive Stephen Wolf cited as a factor for his hiring. Mutryn held several positions at United, including VP-revenue management and director-financial analysis from 1989 to 1995. His tenure overlapped with that of Wolf, who headed United from December 1987 to July 1994. Hall was part of Wolf's financial team at United as well.
Qantas and Air New Zealand this week began offering fares as much as 50% off from the U.S. to Australia and New Zealand during the peak summer period Down Under. ANZ's "Summer Downunder" fares begin at $699 roundtrip from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Auckland and $749 to Sydney. The fares are 50% off and include the option of stopping in Fiji for another $50. Fares are valid from Jan. 25 through March 31. Qantas also is offering $749 Los Angeles-Sydney fares. The carrier matches ANZ's $699 fare to Auckland, as well as a $649 Los Angeles-Nadi, Fiji, fare.
UAL Services and representatives of United's revenue management department have conducted the first of several training programs for China's Institute of Civil Aviation (CAIC) in Tianjin. The latest United foray into China involves revenue management training. "The training is one of a number of initiatives we have moved forward in China with the support and direction of the Pacific South division," said Gene House, managing director-UAL Services, in an internal communique.
TWA asked DOT for a two-year exemption to operate scheduled combination service between New Orleans and Mexico City. The carrier plans to begin the flights Jan. 31, 1999, with MD-83 aircraft, providing the only nonstop service on the route. The New Orleans-Mexico City service will originate and terminate at New York Kennedy, linking with TWA's international service. TWA also applied for a two-year exemption to institute service - the only nonstops - between St. Louis and Mexico City.
National Air Transportation Association board has decided against hard-line regulatory warfare by charter providers against fractional aircraft ownership providers. Instead, after months of debate, NATA plans to work with FAA on easing some operating restrictions on charter operators, and with an industry task force developing fractional ownership (FO) guidelines.
Aviation Management Services (AvMan) of Miami was designated marketing agent in Central and South America for the Air Response Family Assistance Program. It said the program was specifically designed to afford foreign-flag airlines that operates to and from the U.S. an economical means to ensure their full compliance with the new federal regulation governing response in event of an accident. The Air Response Program includes a fully equipped and staffed crisis center, AvMan said.
U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said yesterday the U.S. and European Union agreed to implement the Transatlantic Economic Partnership initiative, which she said has the potential to stimulate tens of billions of dollars in transatlantic trade.
US Airways yesterday introduced its first new Airbus A319 into service at Philadelphia, Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham and Tampa. New cities will see A319s and A320s as they enter the carrier's system. More than 20 are scheduled to join the fleet next year, the carrier said.
Travelocity's new look, to debut this month, offers a more user-friendly homepage, streamlined flight booking path, increased customization features, more amenity searches and more airline schedule choices, including the nine best fares for a particular destination, according to Terry Jones, spokesman for The Sabre Group. He noted that the site incorporates suggestions from some of its 4 million members. "Our research has shown that our customers are most interested in simplicity and speed when booking travel online," he said.
AirLiance Materials, a joint company formed by United, Air Canada and Lufthansa Technik, plans to move to a permanent headquarters and main warehouse facility on airport property by mid-1999. The Des Plaines, Ill.- based company pools the inventories of its partners and buys and sells materials for partners and other airline customers and maintenance organizations. David Sisson, president, said that since the partners fly almost every modern passenger jet, the company can quickly provide parts for an unusually wide range of aircraft.
Federal Express denied yesterday that as many as 1,000 of its 3,500 pilots could receive furlough warnings by tomorrow. Fedex Pilots Association (FPA) VP Byron Cobb said FedEx has not notified pilots officially of furloughs, but "the word has come down" from company managers that furloughs are on the way unless the union agrees to the company's latest contract proposal. "Nothing is in writing," said Cobb.
Martinair Cargo is increasing its Latin American program to 12 cargo gateways in nine countries. Both routes and capacity in the region will increase by 80% by the end of the first quarter of 1999, the company said. The program will be based out of Miami and Atlanta, chosen for their modern perishable goods centers.
Singapore Airlines posted a net profit of S$400 million (US$247 million) for the six months ended Sept. 30. Operating profit of S$246 million (US$152 million) was down 44.2% and net profit fell 26.5%. The DAILY Oct. 26 reported an incorrect percentage change for the net profit.
Cathay Pacific moved one step closer to having a major role in running Philippine Airlines (PAL) yesterday as the Interim Rehabilitation Receiver of PAL accepted the Hong Kong-based carrier's conditional investment offer. Cathay reportedly plans to invest US$100 million in PAL, and PAL's major shareholder, Lucio Tan, would invest a smaller amount to rehabilitate the fledgling flag carrier.
