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).
Air France yesterday was forced to cancel 20% of its medium-haul traffic departing from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, as airport workers and pilots represented by three minority unions went on strike. In addition, 10% of the company's medium- and short-haul traffic from Paris Orly had to be canceled, and other flights were delayed by about 30 minutes, as a strike by firefighters prevented the use of one of the two runways.
American yesterday announced plans to add new service from Chicago to Amsterdam and from New York to Frankfurt that would compete with two major alliances. American will begin daily Chicago-Amsterdam service May 3 and New York Kennedy-Frankfurt flights May 16. Both will operate with 165-seat 767-200ER aircraft. The carrier offers code-share service to Amsterdam via London with British Midland but has not served the Dutch city in nearly 50 years.
Nico Buchholz was named commercial chief at BMW Rolls-Royce, effective Nov. 1. He was with Airbus Industrie in Toulouse, where he was a regional director.
Sabena's executive board has approved a reorganization of the Sabena Group in order to decentralize staff functions, reduce operational costs and tighten cooperation with the QualiFlyer alliance. The plan, approved Monday but announced yesterday, calls for the restructuring of the group's activities into three business units - Sabena Airline, Sabena Brussels Hub and Sabena Technics - and two subsidiaries, DAT and Sobelair.
DOT has placed Exec Express II d/b/a Aspen Mountain Air, or AMA, on notice that the carrier may not suspend essential air service as it intends at seven Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma communities without giving 90 days' notice. But the agency, hedging its bets in case the financially troubled carrier drops service anyway, has called for applications to provide emergency service at the points. AMA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Aug. 7 (DAILY, Aug. 11).
City of Dallas countered Fort Worth's position in the Love Field proceeding that DOT is "powerless to initiate a proceeding once any party has filed a lawsuit involving the same issues." DOT is "charged with interpreting and enforcing federal aviation statutes, including Love Field provisions, and ensuring that federally regulated airports comply with their obligations as grant recipients," Dallas said.
The Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO has passed a resolution formally opposing DOT's proposed airline competition policy because it says the policy favors new-entrant carriers at the expense of established airlines and their unionized employees, who are beginning to share the fruits of improved profits and revenues. TTD noted that the federal government did not intervene on behalf of workers following deregulation, and many carriers survived only by obtaining concessions from unions.
SAS unveiled a new corporate identity during ceremonies yesterday in Stockholm. Aside from a new logo and graphic design, the changes include new uniforms, redecorated aircraft and rebranded products. Chief Executive Jan Stenberg said the "new" SAS is the culmination of extensive research into customers' needs during the last two years, as well as strategic moves, such as the establishment of the Star Alliance with Lufthansa and United, and SAS's growing cooperation with regional partners.
...Fairchild's Robinson, responding to a fleeting rumor that Bombardier is interested in acquiring the German/American manufacturer, again said "not so." The only common subject of conversation between the two is opposition to Brazil's ProEx export-finance program. However,"If I were sitting in their place, I'd be looking at us," he declared. "It would give them a small jet [in the 328/428], stop the 70-seat competition and give them a 90-seater. Robinson applauded the 90-seat BRJ-X program. "There is a gap in the marketplace and they have to fill it."
DOT yesterday denied the National Air Carrier Association's petition for reconsideration of the final rule on passenger manifest information collection requirements for flights to or from the U.S. The rule requires airlines to collect the full name of each U.S. citizen passenger and solicit a contact name and telephone number, which would be provided in the event of an aviation disaster to the State Department and, in certain instances, the National Transportation Safety Board.
Load factors dipped slightly in August for 16 of the nation's top regional airlines. The carriers averaged a 60.6% load factor, down from July's 61.1%, as the summer slipped away. It was, however, just over two percentage points above the 58.5% load factor of the year-ago period. August was the third consecutive month that the 16 carriers have bettered a 60% average. United Express Air Wisconsin again topped the list for the third consecutive month with 70%-plus. In all, eight airlines reported in at above 60% and none fell below 50%.
Virgin Atlantic Chairman Richard Branson, in Washington yesterday to meet with legislators, is prepared to sink $250 million into launching a U.S. domestic carrier called Virgin America, but only if the lawmakers relax restrictions on foreign ownership of U.S. airlines. Speaking at the International Aviation Club, Branson called for U.S. regulators to liberalize the U.S. aviation industry in the same fashion as Europe, where British-owned Virgin Express has its headquarters in Brussels.
The U.S. cannot negotiate an open-skies agreement with Italy until Alitalia agrees to resolve its ongoing dispute with its U.S. cargo-handling workers represented by the International Association of Machinists, the AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department said Wednesday in a resolution as U.S.-Italy open-skies talks began in Washington. The talks were scheduled to continue through today.
China Southern has negotiated a deal that will enable it to offer passengers vouchers for 16,000 Delta SkyMiles for each roundtrip flown on China Southern's Los Angeles-Guangzhou nonstop. The offer is for business-class travel. The two airlines agreed to code share last year.
US Airways would support easing restrictions on cabotage and seventh-freedom rights and foreign ownership, but only if U.S. carriers obtain reciprocal rights, Executive VP-Corporate Affairs and General Counsel Larry Nagin said yesterday at the Deregulation 20 Summit in Washington. Nagin said the international world is watching the progress of the American-British Airways alliance and companion negotiations between the U.S. and the U.K. on a new bilateral, which he called the "litmus test for the future of deregulation.
Regional Airlines of France has placed firm orders for five 50-seat ERJ-145 and five 37-passenger ERJ-135 jets, Embraer announced at the European Regions Airline Association meeting in Hannover, Germany, yesterday. The Brazilian manufacturer placed the value of the deal at approximately US$150 million. Regional Airlines, the launch customer of the ERJ-145 which already operates six of the aircraft, will take delivery of its first 37-seat ERJ-135 in October 1999 and will be the second European operator of Embraer's smaller regional jet.
Comments by British Aerospace Regional Aircraft VP-Marketing&Sales Jeff Marsh that the new Fairchild Dornier 728JET will not be able to operate into London City Airport or Lugano, Switzerland, are wrong, says Fairchild Aerospace President Jim Robinson (DAILY, Sept. 18). It is a requirement of expected launch-customer Lufthansa CityLine that the 50- and 70-seat-plus 528 and 728 operate into LCY with its steep approach and wet-runway restrictions, which are more stringent than Lugano's. The 90-seat 928 will not do it, he said...
U.S. Carriers Maintenance Expense Second Quarter 1998 Major Carriers % Of Total Maintenance Operating Expenses Alaska 37,491,000 10.79 America West 57,353,719 12.77 American 467,272,000 12.81 Continental 195,100,000 12.03 Delta 302,986,000 9.43
DOT has revoked the certificate of Mahalo Air because the carrier is dormant. The Hawaiian carrier ceased service in September 1997 after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 1997.
Delta, with commanding presences at Atlanta and Cincinnati, is poised to make a move at American's Dallas/Fort Worth fortress hub. Analysts tell The DAILY that Atlantic Southeast's 90 orders and options for Canadair Regional Jets will be consumed at the Atlanta hub, serving markets it has barely started to exploit, possibly leaving DFW open to expansion-minded Comair. Delta is in an airplane-replacement mode, with little planned capacity growth. Analysts suggest that down-gauging to small jets, like Continental at Cleveland, is a likely scenario at DFW.
Lufthansa reported a 1.5% August traffic increase on a comparable gain in capacity, which left the load factor unchanged at 76.8%. Passenger traffic grew most strongly in Europe, up 6.3%, while North American traffic rose 3.5%. Asia/Pacific and Middle East traffic remained unchanged. The launch of new time-definite services at Lufthansa Cargo improved freight yields. On Sept. 16 Lufthansa's supervisory board approved orders for 42 aircraft. Deliveries will begin in 2000 of 10 A340-300s, six A321-200s, 10 Bombardier CRJ100s, 10 CRJ700s and six MD-11 freighters.
U.S. Carriers Labor Expense Second Quarter 1998 Major Carriers % Of Total Labor Operating Expenses Alaska 118,119,000 34.01 America West 108,150,783 24.08 American 1,194,448,000 32.75 Continental 407,260,000 25.12 Delta 1,067,424,000 33.21
Canada's Bombardier Aerospace hopes to acquire a stake of up to 40% in Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) in a deal that could be worth as much as $145 million, according to Taipei newspaper reports. Bombardier has set a number of conditions for the purchase, including tax concessions and the assurance of the Taipei government that the company will be awarded contracts to provide maintenance services for Taiwan's Air Force, the reports said.
