DOT extended the deadline for comments on its Love Field proceeding to Sept. 22 from Sept. 8, with replies to comments due Oct. 2. Parties are invited to respond during the initial period to Fort Worth's motion to dismiss the proceeding, but DOT will not at this time grant the city's motion for disclosure of materials related to the proceeding.
U.K. low-fare carrier Debonair Airways said its July traffic jumped 26% from last year. Chief Financial Officer Richard Clapson said the trend continued in August and, if it carries through this month, "will result in an excellent second financial quarter." Debonair took delivery of its eighth BAe 146 last month and has confirmed plans to add four more by spring 1999.
United traffic for August rose 3.2% on 4.3% more capacity, which lowered the load factor 0.8 percentage points to 77.7%. But the airline posted record passenger figures for the month, carrying 8.3 million. The traffic and passenger data include the effects of only the first three days of the Northwest strike. United's North American traffic increased 6.5% on 7.1% more capacity, while Pacific traffic fell 8.6% on 9.6% less capacity. The airline's Pacific restructuring led to a load factor of 80.1%, up 0.9 points.
TransAsia Airways reports 51 of the 67 ATR pilots who resigned earlier have agreed to go back to their jobs TransAsia Airways reported that 51 of the 67 ATR pilots who resigned earlier have agreed to go back to their jobs. Their return means the carrier has enough pilots to resume service on nearly all routes affected by the walkout. A spokesman for Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration said, however, that the CAA will not revoke its decision to give 78 of TransAsia's 122 scheduled daily flights to three other carriers for the next two months.
Northwest's pilots union, "perplexed" that management will not offer stock options that match American's and Delta's, is convinced that options "are a no-cost item" to Northwest. Buckingham Research analyst Helane Becker calls the assertion "patently ridiculous," since exercised options either dilute earnings per share or force Northwest to buy back an equal number of shares to keep EPS constant.
Northwest is extending the expiration date of its WorldPerks banked miles because of its pilots strike. All miles set to expire on Dec. 31 will now be valid through Dec. 31, 1999. Spokesman Jon Austin said this is the carrier's way of thanking its customers for their patience during the strike.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund - Income Statement October 1, 1997 - July 31, 1998 RECEIPTS (Revenues) July 1998 Revenues: Excise Taxes (Transferred from General Fund): Liquid Fuel other than Gas 85,858,437.00 Transportation by Air, Seats, Berths, etc. 502,771,000.00 Use of International Travel Facilities 76,401,000.00
Bombardier is expected to place great emphasis on the turboprop market at next week's Farnborough Air Show in England. The manufacturer is taking Dash 8-Q200, -Q300 and -Q400 aircraft to the show and they will participate in the flying display for the first time in many years. The manufacturer will highlight its Noise and Vibration Suppression (NVS) system, which was introduced on the Dash 8 last year after development by Bombardier and Ultra Electronics of the U.K., delivering the "quietest and most vibration-free passenger cabin of any propeller-driven airplane."
Legend Airlines and Continental Express wholly support DOT's Love Field proceeding, seeing no need to alter its scope or change its schedule, and Southwest would grant only a slight extension to the Sept. 8 deadline imposed by the department. Parties including the City of Fort Worth, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and American told DOT their attorneys cannot simultaneously meet their obligations as litigators and address the issues in the DOT proceeding, but Southwest said the parties already have developed their positions and require little additional preparation.
European Union Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock is working on reforms to permit slot sales in member states, but "the reality that will prevail for at least another two or three years" is that they will remain illegal, Kinnock said yesterday in London. Officials within the U.K., which must rule on the American-British Airways alliance, disagree on the issue. EU Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert opposes slot sales and believes they will not be permitted.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund - Balance Sheet As of July 31, 1998 ASSETS July 1998 Undisbursed Balances: Available for Investment 247.38 TOTAL UNDISBURSED BALANCE (Cash in Account) Receivables: Interest Receivables 51,395,763.78 TOTAL RECEIVABLES Investments: U.S. Treasury Certificates of Indebtedness
Delta Connection carrier Comair will expand jet service between Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport and its Cincinnati hub by adding a sixth flight Oct. 1. Five of these six nonstop flights will be aboard Canadair Regional Jets. Comair currently operates more than 65 RJs in a fleet of 93 aircraft.
A United Parcel Service 727 equipped with ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) was flight tested in the dense airspace around Los Angeles this week by II Morrow and FAA Technical Center specialists. Its first voyage took place last Friday in low-density airspace in Oregon, with "surprising results," said Craig Hudson, systems engineering manager for II Morrow Inc., Salem, Ore. "We will have 12 aircraft outfitted before the first of the year, and we plan on testing though the first quarter of 1999," he said.
American, seeking an "equitable allocation" of half the 129 additional Chicago-London winter-season roundtrip combination frequencies available for it and United under the U.S.-U.K. bilateral, said DOT should deny United's "overreaching request" for all 129. In an "equitable split," United's plan to use 767 and 777 aircraft would provide 23% more seats in the market than American's MD-11s and 767s, American said. If United receives all 129 frequencies, American calculated that United's advantage would be 64% compared with American's minimum entitlement proposal.
Senators Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) this week introduced a resolution that would push President Clinton into calling a Presidential Emergency Board to intervene in the Northwest pilots' strike. "The strike has affected air service throughout the state and seriously inconvenienced passengers in Memphis and Jackson....Northwest is losing a minimum of $27 million per day in revenue, which may threaten the company's long-term outlook," Frist said.
United and the Air Transport Association have filed a motion in federal district court seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the City of San Francisco from canceling one of its airport leases, according to United. The action stemmed from litigation over the city's domestic partner ordinance, an issue that last year led the city to target United for not adopting local gay employment policies. A hearing is scheduled Oct. 2.
Air Canada and its Air Canada Pilots Association entered the second day of the pilot strike yesterday with no immediate plans to resume contract talks. Negotiations broke down shortly before midnight Sept. 1. A major stalemate in the negotiations is salary - Air Canada is offering 9% over two years and the union wants 12%.
National Transportation Safety Board sent Greg Feith to Canada yesterday as the accredited U.S. representative in the investigation of the crash of a Swissair MD-11. The New York Kennedy-Geneva service, Swissair Flight 111, was the first major code-share flight involved in a fatal accident - Swissair partner Delta had 53 ticketed passengers and a flight attendant among the 229 people aboard, all of whom were killed. The crash occurred late Wednesday seven miles off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
American Eagle posted a 9.2% increase in revenue passenger miles flown last month, to 257.4 million, a record. Capacity climbed 6.9% to 394.1 million available seat miles, pushing the load factor up 1.3 percentage points to 65.3%. Boardings increased 7.9% to 1.2 million.
AirTran and its flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, will continue to meet with the National Mediation Board in hopes of reaching a contract agreement before midnight tomorrow. A source close to the talks expressed skepticism that this will happen, but AFA and AirTran both said they are willing to keep talking until the last moment. "We hope for an agreement, but we're preparing for CHAOS [Create Havoc Around Our System]," said AFA spokesman Jeff Zack.
Mesa Air Group has appointed Greg Stephens VP-customer service for Mesa Airlines. Stephens, who has been with the company since February 1985, most recently was VP/general manager of subsidiary Air Midwest, headquartered in Wichita, Kan. Stephens replaces Mike Lewis, who has left the company "to pursue other interests," the company said.
Atlantic Coast Airlines traffic soared 77.8% to 74.2 million revenue passenger miles last month, compared with August 1997. Capacity jumped 70.3% to 126.6 million available seat miles, pushing up the load factor 2.5 percentage points to 58.6%. Aug. 1998 Aug. 1997 8 Mths 1998 8 Mths 1997 RPMs 74,159,000 41,715,000 489,974,000 259,856,000 ASMs 126,607,000 74,356,000 871,488,000 544,707,000 LF (%) 58.6 56.1 56.2 47.7
