International Airline Support Group said yesterday it has entered a joint venture to buy 20 DC-9-40s and lease them back to SAS for an average period of 39 months. The acquisition price was not disclosed. The joint venture partner is privately held AirCorp. Alexius Dyer, president of IASG, said the aircraft have been with SAS since their initial delivery and already meet Stage 3 noise requirements. He described the deal as a "major step in the growth of IASG.
United's increase in service to Seoul, including resumption of Seoul-Osaka on Sept. 25, reverses the year-long dropoff of international service to the South Korean city.Last November, 39 foreign airlines offered 333 weekly flights to Seoul, according to the Korean government. Last month there were 30 airlines and 286 flights.
Korean Air and IBM signed a letter of intent this week to form a strategic technology partnership to revamp the airline's approach to information technology. The contract, valued at more than $400 million over a 10-year period, includes a global network that will help the carrier capture growth generated by the Internet, electronic ticketing and electronic business. IBM, in turn, will run Korean Air's IT systems, including all computers, overall network management and technical support, network infrastructure and business recovery services.
Vanguard is offering a $39 companion fare to customers who purchase a regular-fare ticket by Friday. Passengers must fly together on the same itinerary and both must be present to board the aircraft. The fare, for use Sept. 27-Nov. 18, applies to roundtrip travel and requires a 14-day advance purchase.
Sabena is pushing its route network deeper into Germany, where it already serves seven destinations from Brussels. The airline has added Nuremberg with three daily flights during the week and twice-daily services during the weekend, using a Dash 8. The inclusion of Nuremberg brings the number of weekly flights operated by Sabena between Belgium and Germany to 414.
Air Canada yesterday was two-thirds on its return to full operations with 450 out of 650 regular daily flights in service. Domestic service was close to normal schedule, and Rapidair service in eastern Canada returned to hourly service. Additional flights on the half hour are being added during peak periods over the next two days. Rapidair service in western Canada was expanded yesterday to 75% of full schedule between Vancouver and Calgary, and is almost at 100% service between Calgary and Edmonton. Service to the U.S.
Flight training will undergo the same type of consolidation that has occurred elsewhere in the aviation industry in ground-handling, cargo, maintenance and catering, Wake Smith, president of FlightSafety Boeing Training International, told The DAILY. Although most major airlines have their own flight training departments, "there has not been a third-party training organization with the kind of breadth that FlightSafety Boeing is able to provide," Smith said. "We are pleased with the responses we have had from the world's airlines.
A DOT inspector general's office inventory audit at the FAA Logistic Center, Oklahoma City, found that about half the items reviewed were valued incorrectly because the logistics inventory system was programmed to use current market price instead of historical cost. "We estimate the inventory value of $571 million was overstated by about $66 million," OIG said. FAA agreed and took immediate corrective action.
AirTran is resuming service between Atlanta and Miami, the route of the fatal ValuJet Flight 592, with four daily flights. AirTran has waived the 14-day advance purchase requirement through Oct. 16 and is offering every coach fare for $69 one way. After Oct. 16, one-way fares will range from $69 to $175 and first-class seating will be available for $200 each way.
1997 Operating And Net Results Of IATA Member Carriers (U.S. Dollars In Thousands) Operating Operating Operating Net Revenues Expenses Results Results Aeroflot - RIA 1,399,386 1,350,810 48,576 12,622 Air Afrique 502,567 489,895 12,672 -9,217 Air Austral 44,191 41,394 2,797 2,154
Air France and Korean Air yesterday signed a code-share agreement at Seoul Kimpo Airport that brings the carriers closer than just on the Seoul-Paris route. The code-share and blocked-space agreement also includes joint operational elements, such as placing Korean and French interpreters on board each other's flights. In addition, on-board announcements, inflight movies, newspapers and magazines will be in both languages. Air France operates an Airbus A340-300 on the route, with six seats in first class, 42 in business and 167-204 seats in economy.
Northwest does not plan any deep-discount fare sales to lure customers back after the 14-day pilots strike until it has regained full operations, a company spokeswoman said. The carrier restarted 25% of its scheduled flights yesterday, operating 430 domestic flights in A320, 757 and selected DC-9 markets, resuming three DC-10 Honolulu-mainland flights and continuing to coordinate Atlantic Region crew positioning. It also resumed Honolulu-Osaka and Minneapolis/St. Paul-Tokyo Narita service and assigned its 727 crews.
Hawaiian Airlines reported a 1% drop in traffic on 2.4% more capacity in August, which reduced the load factor 2.8 percentage points to 82.6%. The carrier flew 406.4 million revenue passenger miles on 491.9 million available seat miles. Passenger enplanements declined 2.4% to 496,183. Year-to-date, Hawaiian reported a 0.1% decrease in RPMs on 1.8% more ASMs, which pushed the load factor down 1.4 percentage points. Passenger volume declined 0.9%.
United is "taking a hard look" at why on-time departure performance is so low and how it can be improved, the carrier told employees this week. For the first eight months of 1998, only 64.5% of United's flights have departed on time, 5.5 percentage points below the company's 70% systemwide target. "So far this year, we are not making our goal," Roger Schonewise, director-operations analysis, said in a message to employees.
American told DOT that as "both a supplier of data and user of data for analytical purposes" it supports DOT's initiative to review and update its data reporting requirements.
Raytheon Systems Co. said its AutoTrac 2100 passed site acceptance tests to provide a communication, navigation, surveillance/air traffic management system for the Civil Aviation Authority of Mongolia. The company said it completed system installation and site acceptance tests within 15 months, working under a $12 million contract. Raytheon said this is the first time a national operational air navigation system includes CNS/ATM functions fully integrated with operational air situation displays and the flight data processing system.
DOT's Office of Inspector General will begin an audit Oct. 26 of how well FAA, airport operators and airlines are limiting access to the secure areas of airports to authorized persons. The OIG notified FAA that it will assess the agency's oversight of airport operators and air carriers in complying with federal access rules.
Denver-based Frontier reported a record 36.7% increase in traffic on 32.2% more capacity for August 1998 over August last year, which pushed the load factor up 2.2 percentage points. The carrier flew 144.7 million revenue passenger miles and 214.7 million available seat miles, creating a 67.4% load factor. Year-to-date, Frontier's RPMs shot up 38.2% and ASMs 37.6%, boosting the load factor 0.2 points.
Aero Club Foundation of Washington will host "A Celebration of Aviation" Friday at Signature Flight Support's General Aviation Terminal at Washington Reagan Airport. All funds raised beyond the cost of the event will go to the Aero Club Foundation's Education Fund to support aviation education in the Washington metropolitan area. For more information, call Nancy Hackett at 703-327-7082 or Elizabeth Winegardner at 703-417-3540.
SAS posted a 4% August increase in revenue passenger kilometers and a 25% year-to-date increase. The passenger load factor was 70.1% in August, down from 71.9% in July and 75.1% in June. The airline carried nearly 2 million passengers last month, up 7%, and 14.1 million this year.
DOT has invited U.S. carriers to apply for three U.S.-Romania third-country code-share opportunities that become available April 1, 1999, under Annex IV of the 1998 U.S.-Romania aviation agreement. Applications should be filed by Sept. 28, with answers due Oct. 7 and replies Oct. 15. Designated U.S. carriers may serve Romania, under code share with third-country carriers, operating from points behind the U.S. via the U.S. and intermediate points to points in Romania and beyond. An additional U.S. carrier may be authorized effective Nov.
Singapore Airlines, Ansett and Air New Zealand have unveiled a joint fare package for Australia-Asia travel, on sale through Nov. 30. One element of the package costs US$2,756 and covers 24,000 kilometers of travel within southeastern Asia, northern Asia and the southwestern Pacific. Another package includes 35,200 km of travel and expands the options to include North America and more Pacific islands. A $3,100 round-the-world fare is good for 46,400 km of total travel.
A dynamic economy, baby boomers with disposable income, and worldwide interest in tourism have fueled a huge increase in air travel in the U.S. that eventually will mean more hassles for travelers, according to an American Automobile Association report. Executive VP Mark Brown said the number of passengers flying on U.S. carriers reached 599 million in 1997, 34% more than 10 years ago, and FAA projects as many as 900 million by 2007, a 50% increase.
