Continental will repurchase an additional $100 million of its common stock. The move, authorized last week by the carrier's board, increases the total targeted for repurchase to $300 million. Continental has spent $185 million on the program since it began in March. "At recent stock prices, increasing the size of our repurchase program is the right move," said Chief Financial Officer Larry Kellner, noting that most stocks declined significantly in the recent stock market drop.
Northwest flight attendants picketed a Chamber of Commerce luncheon speech by Chief Executive John Dasburg Thursday in Bloomington, Minn., carrying signs stating that "Corporate Greed At Northwest Is Nothing To Celebrate." The flight attendants, represented by the Teamsters, handed out flyers claiming Dasburg has taken stock perks worth more than $30 million in addition to his million-dollar salary and benefit package. They said three other Northwest executives made $14 million recently by selling company stock.
American Chairman, President and Chief Executive Don Carty, listed as a speaker at last week's Deregulation 20 Summit in Washington, was absent from the chief executives panel on Thursday. Would-be Dallas competitor Allan McArtor, Legend Airlines president and chief executive and a panelist, figured he knew why - "When you're putting together a global cartel and offering a new, exciting market like Dallas-Austin, there are demands on a chief executive." McArtor said it cost him $1,368 to fly to the conference on American.
Federal Express and its pilots union hope to reach a tentative contract agreement by Oct. 15, according to FedEx Pilots Association President Frank Fado. Pilots rejected a tentative accord in March, and the union has installed new officers and a new negotiating team since then. Fado described the tenor of talks so far as "cooperative." The two sides have agreed conceptually on scope but have philosophical differences on money issues related to scheduling. Negotiations on compensation will begin Oct. 5, Fado said.
Swissair will fly its new Airbus A330-223 on European routes for a month before deploying the aircraft on intercontinental routes. The carrier wants to make sure it has ironed out all customer service procedures on the aircraft, which made its first revenue flight Friday from Zurich to Paris. The aircraft seats 224 people in three service classes. Swissair will acquire 15 A330s and nine A340-600s in its program to modernize its long-haul fleet.
Virgin Express formed a new Irish subsidiary, Virgin Express (Ireland) Ltd., and the carrier will begin twice-daily service from Shannon to London Stansted in mid-December. The airline also plans to launch charter service from Shannon to European leisure destinations. "Western Ireland is one of the most dynamic growth areas in all of Europe," said Jim Swigart, chief executive. The airline plans to hire pilots, flight attendants, technical support, administrative and computer reservations people in Ireland.
Airlines Reporting Corp. reported a 4% increase in August, to $5.5 billion, in total travel agent sales processed. Domestic fares rose 2% to $3.45 billion and international fares 6% to $1.6 billion. Domestic commissions fell 16% to $234 million while international commissions remained stable at $234 million. Credit card billings grew 5% to $4.4 billion. Electronic tickets processed through ARC accounted for 26.23% of the total volume.
Exigent International, Melbourne, Fla., named Bob Stultz VP-products division; Dan Flynn VP-commercial programs; Vince Kovarik and John Ellis senior members of the technical staff, and Dave Nowacki VP-government division of subsidiary Software Technology Inc. Exigent, Alexandria, Va., transferred VP Dean Oswald to the office of the chief technology officer as deputy, and promoted Darin King and Mark Adams to VP in the STI government division.
U.S. fares averaged $129.58 in August, up $4.01 from August 1997, Air Transport Association said in its monthly report on domestic fares. The year-to-date average increased $2.93 to $135.55, or 2.2%. The report includes monthly average coach and first-class prices and average prices overall. Data are compiled from prices paid by consumers and reported by carriers to ATA.
Air France will increase frequencies throughout its global route network beginning Oct. 25, in moves that will add 10.1% capacity year-over-year. Through its North American code shares with Continental and Delta, Air France will serve 36 U.S. cities. Service to Miami will increase to 10 weekly frequencies from seven. On Dec. 23, the carrier will increase frequencies to Buenos Aires to six from five, and the extension to Santiago will operate five times a week instead of four. Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City each will get one more weekly flight.
Economic consequences of European Commission regulatory actions against airlines and existing alliances are "enormous" and "threaten the survival" of some carriers, said Ronnie van der Maaten, KLM VP-public affairs. "European airlines cannot afford to be subject to political motives," he said.
Delta's Air Line Pilots Association unit is voting on its tentative deal for flying the carrier's new-generation 737 aircraft. Ratification ballots, mailed last week, must be postmarked by Oct. 6, and the vote will be counted Oct. 16. To help pilots understand and enforce the contract, Delta's ALPA Master Executive Council is sending members all side letters of agreement signed since 1996, spokesman Scott Duncan told pilots in a recorded message.
Jet fuel prices in the U.S. rose 6.6% last week from the prior week, to 46 cents, according to BT Alex Brown.During the past two weeks, prices have averaged 44 cents, 20% less than in the same period a year ago.
DOT Secretary Rodney Slater said the department could have its analysis of responses to its proposed airline competition policy completed by yearend, but with more than 900 submissions in the docket it could be the first quarter of next year before the department makes a decision. Slater said DOT remains "basically open on all fronts," noting that "we could alter our position based on the substance of the information provided" during the response period, which ends today.
Federal Express Corp. took in more money but turned less of it into profit during the quarter that ended Aug. 31, the first of its fiscal year, parent FDX Corp. reported yesterday. Sales increased 4% to $3.4 billion, but operating income dropped to $219 million from $264 million a year earlier and net income was down to $113 million from $143 million. FDX attributed the unfavorable earnings comparison to last year's UPS strike, which added about $150 million to revenue and $50 million to operating income in the 1997 quarter.
Embraer is polling its airline customers worldwide to assess their interest in a 70- to 90-seat jet, according to CEO Mauricio Botelho. He said the Brazilian company has been looking at such a project for more than a year, but that the high level if investment involved requires a very careful launch decision. Like Bombardier's BRJ-X, Embraer would require a new, wider fuselage with five-abreast seating. The company, meanwhile, has been mentioned as a potential partner with ATR in its new AIRJET effort along with CASA of Spain.
Ryanair is threatening to curb its expansion at London Stansted Airport if BAA plc, the airport's owner, raises landing fees next year to make up for lost revenues from duty-free sales. By agreement among European Union finance ministers, duty-free activity will be abolished for all intra-EU travel after June 30, 1999. Ryanair President Michael O'Leary said BAA's proposed increase in landing fees of 15% during the next two years "is outrageous." Though Ryanair is headquartered at Dublin, Stansted is its main hub and jumping-off point for European traffic.
Delta Air Lines may suspend all its scheduled service at Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Jackson, Wyo., Oct. 1, DOT ruled. At Idaho Falls, Delta currently provides three daily roundtrips to Salt Lake City with 128-seat 737s (one inbound flight makes an intermediate stop at Jackson, while the other segments are nonstop. At Jackson, Delta operates three daily roundtrips to Salt lake City with 128-seat Boeing 737s (one outbound flight makes an intermediate stop at Idaho Falls, and the other segments are nonstop).
