Continental expects to save roughly $50 million in pilot training costs by bringing in new-generation 737s and disposing of older 737-100/200s, 727s and DC-9-30s as they come off lease. All three older models will leave the fleet by the Stage 3 noise deadline of Dec. 31, 1999, reducing Continental's average aircraft age to 7.5 years.
Hexcel Corp. net income jumped 32% to $20 million in the second quarter and sales grew 31.2% to a record $273.5 million, the company reported yesterday. Chairman John Lee said, however, that he expects revenues in the second half to be as much as $20 million lower than previously anticipated.
DOT, noting that contrary to American's contention, the Mexico-specific direct carrier condition does not replace dormancy provisions, granted Delta a waiver to allow it until Aug. 15 to begin code-share operations with Aero California in certain U.S.-Mexico city-pairs. (Docket OST-97-3289)
Malaysia Airlines has finalized a deal to sell two 747-400 passenger aircraft to Qantas. Powered by GE 80C2 engines, the equipment will be delivered early next month. MAS has one other 747-400 for sale.
Showing the full effect of Asian market weakness and labor disruptions, Northwest posted sharply lower second quarter profits yesterday. Net income fell to $49 million from $136 million in the year-earlier period while operating profit dropped 58.7% to $120 million. The carrier expects to feel the financial sting of its current troubles for the rest of 1998. Chief Executive John Dasburg said a main source for the downturn was that Northwest ran "a less reliable airline than we had planned."
Swissair will stop serving Philadelphia on Oct. 25 but will maintain code- share service to the city with Delta. Swissair will offer connections via New York Kennedy and begin serving Newark-Zurich on Dec. 15 using Airbus A330s. The airline said it is helping employees affected by the route cancellation.
American Society of Travel Agents said retired Consumer Reports Travel Letter Editor Ed Perkins has joined ASTA as a consumer advocate. In his new position, Perkins will continue distributing travel tips for consumers, ASTA said.
A new Sri Lankan private carrier, Peace Air (PA) will start operations in September with two 747-400 Combis purchased from Malaysia Airlines. Initially, the carrier will fly to Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, and to four European destinations. An official of the airline who was in Kuala Lumpur to finalize the aircraft purchase declined to name the four points pending receipt of written approval, expected at monthend. Asked to identify PA's owner, the official said only that it is a non-government organization.
British Midland and Virgin Atlantic will add Warsaw to their code-share, starting Aug. 17. British Midland began London Heathrow-Warsaw service in July. The carriers code share to nine European cities from London.
Eastern Airlines made a 45.6 million distribution yesterday to holders of claims of more than $100,000. The distribution is its fifth, bringing to $101 million the total it has sent to creditors. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. received $2.8 million of the most recent distribution, which was paid at 0.5 cents per dollar owed.
Augsburg Airways expects to carry its one millionth passenger and show a profit before the year ends, according to Managing Director Olaf Dlugi. The Lufthansa franchise partner boarded 255,496 passengers in the first six months of 1998, more than doubling year-earlier numbers. The average load factor rose to 49% from 39%, with peaks of nearly 60% in May and June.
Asiana and American yesterday began operating code-share service between the U.S. and Seoul, Korea. American's "AA" code appears on Asiana's service to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and New York. Asiana's "OZ" code will be featured in October between the four gateways and other U.S. points.
American and TAM of Brazil last week began code-share service between Sao Paulo and Porto Allegre, the first time the "AA" code appeared on TAM. On Aug. 12, American's code will be featured on TAM's service to Brasilia, Curitiba and Rio de Janeiro. The carriers also are starting a reciprocal frequent flyer relationship. TAM's "JJ" code began appearing on American's flights in February. In November, TAM will use new Airbus A330-200s to launch nonstop Sao Paulo-Miami service, which will include the "AA" code as well.
U.S. Carriers Interest Expense, First Quarter 1998 % Of Total Interest Operating Expenses Alaska 3,610,000 1.11 America West 9,672,203 2.27 American 16,990,000 0.48 Continental 24,505,000 1.58 Delta 35,375,000 1.14 Northwest 47,746,000 2.23
Northwest is extending its summer fare sale through Friday. Off-peak prices start at $69 each way, based on roundtrip travel, which must be taken by Sept. 30. The tariffs require a Saturday night stay and 14-day advance purchase.
Fuel Cost and Consumption, U.S. Majors, Nationals and Large Regionals, June 1997 - May 1998 Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Large Regionals June 1997 - May 1998 Total Total Cost Cents Per Gallons (Dollars) Gallon 1997 June Domestic 1,135,275,107 679,013,872 59.811
Aer Lingus is offering a free intra-Europe trip to passengers using the American Express card to buy a special advance-purchase excursion transatlantic ticket or higher before Sept. 15. Passengers will receive a free onward roundtrip ticket from Ireland to 17 cities in Europe, including London, Rome, Amsterdam, Zurich and Frankfurt. Travel on the extra leg must take place between Sept. 15 and Nov. 15. The promotion is aimed at boosting knowledge of Aer Lingus's hub connections to Europe via Dublin and Shannon.
The four carriers serving Brazil ganged up on each other in rebuttals on DOT's proceeding for seven U.S.-Brazil frequencies available Oct. 1 (DAILY, May 21). American said Continental's Houston-Sao Paulo nonstops would duplicate mid-continent hub service offered by United from Chicago and American from Dallas/Fort Worth.
Japan Air System and subsidiary Japan Air Commuter banned smoking on all domestic flights last week. JAL and ANA are expected to follow suit in their domestic services in September and October, respectively.
America West has signed a letter of intent to purchase a revenue management system from Talus. The system will be put in place next year, and the airline expects it to boost revenue by 1-2%.
Midwest Express Holdings yesterday posted second quarter records for revenue, earnings, operating profit and passenger volume for the jet carrier and its Skyway Airlines regional. Operating income doubled to $16.8 million while net profits mushroomed 92.2% to $10.8 million. The carriers benefited from 13% lower fuel expenses and reduced travel agent commission costs, but these were offset by a 37.9% jump in salaries and benefits.
Dropping unprofitable routes, CCAIR turned in a record $2.1 million net profit for the June quarter. Revenue per available seat mile increased 14.6% to 27.5 cents while yield was down 1.3% to 45.2 cents. Revenue rose less than 1% to $18.1 million and expenses fell 11.8% to $15.7 million. The airline's load factor improved 8.7 percentage points to 60.8%. CCAIR restructured its fleet and capacity fell during the quarter by 12.3%, but current capacity is higher than in March due to the delivery of two de Havilland Dash-8 turboprops.
Mesa Airlines has appointed Tim Coon to the newly developed position of VP- US Airways Express, operated by Mesa. Coon will oversee both jet and turboprop operations for the East Coast operations.
Sabre Group entered a five-year agreement with Vancouver-based scheduled helicopter airline Helijet Airways, which will replace its internal reservations data system with the Sabre multihost platform and install Sabre ACS, an airline check-in system.
Raytheon Systems Co. has finished installing all 25 reference stations for Phase One of a three-phase Wide Area Augmentation System, the company said yesterday. Francis Marchilena, executive VP of Raytheon's command, control and communications systems unit, said master stations in Virginia and California and four radio frequency uplinks - one in Maryland, two in California and one in Washington state - have been installed and accepted by FAA. The 25 reference stations are placed throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
