IATA's plans to consolidate its billing and settlement plan (BSP) functions could lead to a mandate that travel agents settle their accounts daily, if IATA chooses Airlines Reporting Corporation and its Interactive Agency Reporting (IAR) function as its back office BSP supplier, said Bruce Bishins, president of U.S. Travel Agent Registry.
Kansas City-based Vanguard reported a 7% decline in traffic on 19% less capacity in July compared with July 1997 year, which pushed the load factor up 10 percentage points to 74.9%. The carrier flew 68.3 million revenue passenger miles on 91.2 million available seat miles. Passenger enplanements grew 21% to 147,943. In the first seven months, Vanguard reported 19% fewer RPMs on 28% fewer ASMs, increasing the load factor 7 points. Passenger enplanements grew 2%.
Russia Airlines applied at DOT for an initial foreign air carrier permit to operate scheduled combination service between the Russian Federation and the U.S. It applied separately for an exemption to operate Moscow-New York combination service. The carrier wants to begin scheduled three-times-
Pre-tax income for the SAS Group shot up 31% for the first six months of this year compared with 1997. Operating revenue for the group rose 4.4% to to 19.83 billion Swedish krona (US$2.44 billion) and operating expenses grew more slowly at 3.3%, but the carrier forecasts flat performance for the year due to strikes in Denmark and Norway, which reduced earnings by about SEK350 million ($43 million) in the June quarter, and slowing world demand.
Stock market plunges in Asia, where Japan's Nikkei fell 6% in the past week, are overshadowing the world's worst financial market - Russia.Airline stocks in Moscow were battered as the market fell 9% on Tuesday. It has plummeted 70% so far in 1998.
American will offer electronic tickets through Amadeus beginning the fourth quarter of 1998. E-ticketing will be available on flights in the U.S., the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and online to Europe through Amadeus.
Austrian Airlines will add a new destination to its roster of winter routes when it begins weekly flights Nov. 17 from Vienna to the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, via a stopover in Johannesburg.
The National Mediation Board gave the Association of Flight Attendants bargaining rights for all flight attendants at the merged AirTran, adding about 130 flight attendants to the group of 400 the union already represented. The decision paves the way for AFA to negotiate a single contract for the flight attendants, formerly separate groups at ValuJet and AirTran Airways. AirTran flight attendants and management are in a 30-day cooling-off period after long, contentious contract negotiations. The cooling-off period ends Sept.
Boeing 767 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day First Quarter 1998 B767-200 American Delta TWA Number of Aircraft Operated 30 15 12 Total Fleet Operations Departures 54 59 23 Block Hours 343 157 161
Air Canada will install Lord Corp. NVX Active Systems for noise and vibration control on its 25 DC-9 aircraft. Lord said the systems reduce cabin noise as much as 70% by actively controlling aircraft vibration.
When Korean Air offered an incredible $400 roundtrip from Los Angeles to Tokyo in February, some industry officials dismissed it as a heavily restricted Internet promotion that highlighted South Korea's economic difficulties. But this week a rash of $500-or-less roundtrips to several points in Asia are showing that many Asia/Pacific carriers are coming up with consistently radical fare sales to generate traffic and valuable U.S. dollars.
Macau Airport has slashed overnight aircraft landing fees by 50% in an effort to stimulate traffic. The cost of landing a 747 in Macau from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. drops from US$2,582 to $1,291. The comparable 747 fee at Hong Kong International Airport is $3,926, Macau Airport said. Passengers passing through Macau will not have to pay departure taxes, currently US$10-$16.25 per person. The new fee schedule applies to scheduled, non-scheduled and cargo airlines at the 24-hour airport.
Baltia Air Lines requested exemption from dormancy regulations to delay inauguration of service - New York Kennedy-St. Petersburg, Russia, flights it has sought to operate since the early 1990s - in order to complete FAA certification. The startup carrier told DOT it is "fit, willing and financially able to commence service this year." Baltia has registered "over $20 million of securities" underwritten on a firm-commitment basis under an initial public offering, on which basis over $6 million has been pre-purchased by the underwriter.
Denver-based Frontier Airlines reported a 43.8% jump in traffic on 25.8% more capacity for July 1998 over July last year, which upped the load factor 8.4 percentage points. Frontier flew 130.2 million revenue passenger miles and 195 million available seat miles, creating a 66.8% load factor. Year-to-date RPMs increased 38.4% and ASMs 38.5%, which kept the load factor stable at 60.6%.
DOT and FAA are asking airports, airlines and other interested parties to propose replacement language for sections of the airport rates and charges policy struck down by a federal appeals court a year ago. In August last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Air Transport Association vs. DOT faulted the department's distinction between airfield and non-airfield facilities in setting fees.
Continental and British Midland have agreed to code share, beginning Aug. 17, the carriers announced this week. The first routes will be between Manchester, U.K., and Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland. Continental serves Manchester and Glasgow from Newark. The code share is Continental's fifth in Europe after prior deals with Air France, Alitalia, Virgin Atlantic and CSA Czech Airlines. British Midland now has North American relationships with United, American, Air Canada and Continental.
National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday it will consider Aug. 27 the final report on the investigation into the Jan. 9, 1997, Comair crash near Monroe, Mich. Comair Flight 3272, an Embraer 120, crashed while approaching Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing the three crewmembers and 26 passengers.
Atlanta-based Atlantic Southeast Airlines reported 16% more traffic and 5.3% more capacity for July, compared with July last year, which created a 5.5-percentage-point increase in the load factor to 59%. ASA flew 96.3 million revenue passenger miles and 163.3 million available seat miles. Passenger enplanements grew 8% to 368,134, a record for the company. Year- to-date RPMs improved 11.6% on 0.7% more ASMs in the first seven months last year, which boosted the load factor 5.4 points. Passenger enplanements grew 6%.
KLM's passenger traffic in July remained virtually flat compared with the same 1997 month, with the airline carrying 5.37 million passengers, up marginally from 5.33 million a year ago. Revenue in ton-kilometers was nearly the same - 864.8 million RTKs in July 1998 versus 869.0 million last year. The passenger load factor dropped 2.2 percentage points to 81.8%, while the cargo load factor slid 3.9 percentage points to 65.3%. KLM blamed lower cargo volumes from its Mid-East, Asia and North Atlantic routes for the decline.
Continental will retire the four Boeing 747-200Bs operated by Continental Micronesia by next April and dispose of the 13 remaining Pacific 727s by December 2000, the carrier said yesterday. Continental will replace the 747s with smaller DC-10s and exchange the 727s for a smaller number of 737s. The carrier began taking delivery of the first of several dozen new 737s in the spring. The Pacific move will reduce maintenance and training costs, because both the 747 and the 727 will be gone from Continental's fleet.
Air Atlanta Icelandic, a major wet-leasing carrier, together with Taeknival, one of Iceland's largest software companies, plans to unveil Albatross, a complete airline operating management system for the smaller carrier, at Farnborough International '98, Sept. 7-13. The concept for Albatross was launched about 10 years ago by Air Atlanta Icelandic staff to keep track of certain aspects of the airline's operations in Saudi Arabia. The basic program has since been developed and modified, and more features were added.
United Airlines Cargo this week dedicated a 58,000-square-foot cargo transfer facility at Honolulu Airport as part of an overall investment of $30 million systemwide to improve cargo services.
National Transportation Safety Board, citing numerous reports of control shaft failures, recommended yesterday that fuel pumps on all Pratt&Whitney JT8D engines be modified in accordance with service bulletins issued by Argo-Tech, the manufacturer of the shafts. The SBs are intended to reduce operating misalignment of the shafts and wear of the shaft splines. NTSB also called for recurrent inspections of the fuel pump control shafts and replacement of shafts showing wear. The engines power 737-100/200, 727, DC-9 and MD-80 aircraft.
