DOT opposes slot-rule changes that could return lost slots to United at Chicago O'Hare Airport and new Aviation Trust Fund reporting requirements, and it supports restoration of whistleblower protection to key aviation employees, the department told House Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.). DOT thinks a provision in both bills will divert federal funds needlessly to smaller, Level 1 contract towers, but the department still supports the contract tower program, Deputy Secretary Mort Downey told Shuster in an Oct.
U.S. and British negotiators at the U.S.-U.K. bilateral talks in London made "some progress on coming to resolution" in the areas of dispute resolution, pricing and fair competition during the second day of talks, according to a government official. The U.S. delegation, headed by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Marchick and DOT Director-Office of International Aviation Paul Gretch, also discussed routes and the Fly America policy with its British counterparts.
Dispatchers at Southwest ratified a 12-year contract by a vote of more than 78%. The contract, retroactive to Dec. 1, 1997, and effective through Nov. 30, 2009, provides for issuance of options for as many as 1.05 million shares of stock during the term of the agreement. Southwest currently has 85 dispatchers, and each will receive stock option grants ranging from 6,749 to 9,465 shares, with an exercise price tied to the market value of Southwest stock Sept. 10. The current employees will be able to exercise options through Dec. 1, 2006.
Norway's Braathens SAFE shut down most of its operation yesterday after pilots struck the carrier over special treatment wanted regarding the opening of a new airport near Oslo this week. Braathens' flights in Sweden operated normally.
Flight attendants at Air Wisconsin are threatening CHAOS (Create Havoc Around Our System) if there is no progress in contract negotiations soon and they are released from mediation by the National Mediation Board. Flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, and the Appleton, Wis.-based carrier have been in contract talks since January and under the auspices of the NMB since September. AFA plans to ask for release from mediation if the negotiations continue at their current pace.
Merrill Lynch's new Alliance Index ratings show that the American-British Airways-Cathay Pacific oneworld pact is first in eight out of the 16 mega-alliance categories analyzed, with the KLM-Northwest alliance ranking best six times. (See alliance index chart to follow.) Oneworld ranks first overall, KLM-Northwest second, Star third and Delta-Swissair fourth. Oneworld serves the most destinations, 778, is 27% larger than second-place Star Alliance in terms of capacity, and leads in total revenues and passengers.
Finnair's total passenger traffic in August shot up nearly 13% compared with August 1997, though cargo volume slumped 2%. Finnair carried 12.8% more passengers in August than a year ago, generating a boost in its passenger load factor of 2.3 percentage points to 76.8%, compared with August 1997. At 62.7%, its overall load factor was only 0.3 percentage points higher in the month than a year ago, however.
The pilot strike at Northwest and Mesaba's decision to shut down Aug. 29-Sept. 16 had a marked impact on the regional's September traffic. Mesaba reported 46.5% less traffic on 32.1% less capacity for September 1998, compared with September last year, which depressed the load factor 11.4 percentage points. Mesaba flew 36.5 million revenue passenger miles and 85.8 million available seat miles, creating a 42.5% load factor. Passenger enplanements dropped 49.8% to 146,000.
Sabena last month posted a 40.4% jump in revenue passenger kilometers to 1.6 billion, compared with August last year. RPKs for the year-to-date were up 40.3%. Sabena carried 801,615 passengers in August, 26.4% more, and 5.7 million in the first eight months, up 30.7%.
United and Air Canada yesterday expanded their code-share alliance by placing Air Canada's carrier code on more than 600 United flights throughout the U.S. carrier's domestic system. The expansion will develop by stages during October, beginning tomorrow with a fare sale on flights from United's Denver hub. The second stage will involve flights from Chicago, with tickets opening for sale Oct. 22, and the final stage will target United flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco, for which tickets will go on sale Oct. 29.
A universal Safety Oversight Program was one of 28 resolutions the Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization agreed to at the conclusion last Friday of its 32nd session. The program, effective Jan. 1 for all 185 contracting states, will comprise regular, mandatory, systematic and harmonized safety audits conducted by ICAO. The aviation group said it will increase disclosure of the audit results, which will be used for safety-related purposes only, ICAO said.
B/E Aerospace said that, in light of the current market price of its stock, it intends to withdraw from registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission the four million shares of common stock previously issued to the selling stockholders in connection with the acquisition of SMR Aerospace. Instead, B/E Aerospace will repurchase the shares for cash. Otherwise, the company would have had to pay the difference between the price and the offering.
Air France is very close to a wage agreement with its pilots, the French daily newspaper Le Monde said in its issue dated today. The carrier and its pilots union, Syndicat National des Pilotes de Ligne, refused to comment on the report. "The talks are not quite finished yet," an Air France spokeswoman said. SNPL indicated that the Le Monde story contained "some inaccuracies." The respected French daily said the outline of the agreement will be discussed tomorrow by SNPL's trade union board.
European flight attendants, whose recent attempt to become licensed as safety professionals was rebuffed by the Joint Aviation Authorities, are pressing their case with the European Union (DAILY, Oct. 5). Of the 15 EU member states, five - Denmark, Italy, France, Greece and Spain - have implemented a cabin crew licensing system. The European Council of Transport Ministers is considering a proposal for a directive on safety requirements and proof of professional competence for cabin crew.
Japan National Tourist Organization has developed a plan to double visitors to the country to 7 million by 2005, and the U.S. is a large target.Last year, just 621,000 Americans visited Japan while 5.4 million Japanese went to the U.S. JNTO noted new transpacific air service by six airlines but did not mention any new airport capacity to handle the growth.
Reno Air is the launch customer for FarePrice, an online airline pricing solution from BehavHeuristics. The system enables airlines to enhance their revenues "by quickly tracking rival airlines' fare changes and suggesting competitive fare matches," BehavHeuristics said. Randy Laser, director of pricing at Reno, said the system helped boost operating revenues and yield. He said FarePrice is inexpensive to install and eliminates the manual method of fare tracking.
Washington Dulles-based Atlantic Coast reported a 91.5% increase in traffic on 77.3% more capacity for September, which pushed the load factor up 4.2 percentage points to 57.3%. The United Express carrier reported 74.2 million revenue passenger miles on 129.6 million available seat miles. Passenger enplanements jumped 53.3% to 238,712. Year-to-date, ACA logged an 89.1% rise in traffic on 62% more capacity, and the load factor grew 8.1 points. Passenger enplanements for the period went up 51.8%.
United re-entered the Seattle-Tokyo market Monday after an absence of more than a decade. The daily service, using 747-400 aircraft, competes with a Northwest nonstop. United was forced to withdraw from Seattle-Tokyo when it bought Pan Am's Pacific division in the mid-1980s.
Cathay Pacific, ARINC and Rockwell Collins have implemented GlobaLink/High Frequency Data Link (HFDL) on a 747-400. The aircraft is now in commercial service and using HFDL for long-range aeronautical operational control communications (AOC). The HFDL is used routinely when the aircraft is outside VHF data link coverage. The HFDL provides continuing AOC for polar operations. The three companies plan to use HFDL-equipped aircraft in the coming months to demonstrate its reliability for air traffic service applications.
Las Vegas-based startup National Airlines has named its senior managers, led by airline founder Michael Conway as chairman, president and chief executive officer.
Southwest's September traffic grew 9.2% on 5.1% more capacity, which raised the load factor 2.3 percentage points to 62.8%. For the first nine months of 1998, Southwest's traffic surged 11.7% on 6.9% more capacity, resulting in a load factor of 66.9%, up 2.9 points. The average length of haul in September rose 5.4%, from 577 miles to 608. Southwest carried 39.3 million passengers in the first three quarters of this year. Sept 98 Sept 97 9 Mths 98 9 Mths 97
Massport said Icelandair will begin weekly freighter service Oct. 25 between Boston and Reykjavik. As the first transatlantic all-cargo service to be operated from Logan Airport since September 1996, the launch is "great news for New England importers of seafood and for exporters," Massport Executive Director Peter Blute said.
U.S. Major Carriers Latin Share of Service Second Quarter 1998 Total Revenue Departures Alaska 1,948 America West 1,265 American 25,365 Continental 11,519 Delta 3,308 United 4,502 US Airways 1,768 Total 49,675 Average Number of
