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.
Northwest is complaining to U.S. and Japanese officials that Narita airport authorities are reneging on plans to expand and upgrade some of the airport's ground facilities, sources said. Northwest is pointing to a 1993 agreement that was not signed but was being followed as part of an 11-year airport master plan. Northwest has complained to Narita authorities and the U.S.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa visited the new airport and cargo facilities at Chek Lap Kok for the first time Monday and said cargo operations remain the primary concern of operators, importers and exporters. Chief cargo handler Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd. (HACTL) achieved its initial recovery goal of processing at least 50% of the projected total volume of 4,000 tons a day. It handled 1,894 on Saturday, July 18, and 2,998 tons by Sunday, July 19.
DOT is concerned that carriers are not meeting their full legal requirement to notify the department about changes in ownership or bankruptcy filings. In a notice published in yesterday's Federal Register, DOT urged carriers to follow the law by giving it 30-day advance notice of any ownership change, regardless of whether the change is part of a restructuring or recapitalization of a debtor carrier under Chapter 11. The requirements relate to DOT's monitoring of carrier fitness.
Continental Chairman Gordon Bethune fully expects to overcome the carrier's current injunction and operate regional jets between Cleveland and Dallas Love Field, "challenging this effort to thwart competition."Bethune noted that Dallas is "nothing more than another spoke to our hub" in Cleveland.
Continental yesterday became the third of three major airlines reporting record profits for the June quarter, but for Continental the song is familiar. The Houston-based carrier posted its 13th straight quarter of record earnings with $275 million in pre-tax profits, up 32%. Net income jumped 30% to $167 million and revenue 14% to $2.04 billion. The results exceeded Wall Street estimates by more than 10%. Both Delta and American posted record earnings last week.
As regional jet orders wax and turboprop orders wane, regional airline operators will continue to rely heavily on the turboprops in short-haul markets in which the RJs cannot produce revenues commensurate with their costs, according to analysts and airline executives.
Vanguard Airlines yesterday reported its first-ever profitable quarter, with net earnings of $323,000 and a $1.1 million operating profit on revenue of $25.4 million.
ProAir will offer seasonal weekend flights from Detroit City Airport to Orlando, Fort Myers and Tampa/St. Petersburg. Fort Myers service will begin Nov. 21 and Tampa/St. Petersburg service Dec. 19. Service to all three destinations will continue through May 2.
Crossair has joined the Qualiflyer Group, comprising Swissair, Austrian Airlines, Sabena, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines, AOM, Lauda Air and Tyrolean Airlines, to "enhance its market presence around the world." The combined route network of the multi-airline alliance covers 300 destinations in 125 countries. The partnership plans to extend its collaboration beyond flight operations to include air cargo, catering, information technology, maintenance/overhaul and passenger handling.
Newly retired Bob and Jan Crandall completed their Atlantic crossing last Friday, arriving in Newport, R.I., after mechanical delays. In Crandall's competitive spirit, more than 1,000 employees submitted guesses on the couple's arrival time, and four of them won free-travel awards yesterday.
Japan's Ministry of Transport decided last week to reduce landing fees at local airports in the fiscal year that begins in April 1999, in an attempt to influence airlines against dropping service to smaller communities. As competition intensifies in Japan, carriers are tending to emphasize service on trunk routes and withdraw from less profitable locations. High landing fees at local airports are a factor in such decisions, and the ministry believes its reductions, totaling 50 billion yen (US$360 million) per year, will lead to lower fares as well as higher profits.
Delta told DOT it intends to end its service at Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Jackson Hole, Wyo., as of Sept. 30. Delta Connection carrier SkyWest will provide "certain replacement service" Oct. 1 to both communities from Salt Lake City (DAILY, June 19). Jackson Hole currently is served yearround by Delta, SkyWest, United and United Express and seasonally by American, "will continue to receive at least the essential level of air service after Delta's termination," Delta said.
American Association of Airport Executives elected Al Denson, executive director of the Birmingham Airport Authority, to the board. Seaplane Pilots Association named Mike Volk executive director, succeeding Robert Richardson, who is retiring.
Bombardier Regional Jet is moving up among the turboprops, from eighth place in 1996 to sixth place in 1997 in the Regional Airlines Association's ranking of aircraft according to seats in service. The Saab 340 and Embraer Brasilia retained the first and second spots. The 340's block hours flown grew from 610,409 in 1996 to 696,954 in 1997, but the Brasilia's dropped from 676,515 to 658,318.
Southwest customers can sign up to receive electronic mail notification of sales and special promotions at www.southwest.com. Fares are delivered directly to customers' in-boxes. Internet fares this week start at $24 each way based on roundtrip purchase for flights from Baltimore/Washington to Providence, or $34 each way from Dallas to San Antonio.
AMR/American elected Timothy Doke VP-corporate communications. Champion Air named Michael Gerend president and chief executive. Frontier promoted Mike Fay to director-engineering, Arnold Kihn to director-system maintenance and Paul Matuozzi to city manager at New York LaGuardia; it named Joan Osterman manager-properties and facilities. LanChile promoted Alberto Cortes to general manager-Mexico and named Steve Ogden marketing manager-North America.
If National Mediation Board Chairwoman Magdalena Jacobsen had her way, there would be no need for the NMB. "I would love to see us moved out of business and see people get the [negotiating] job done without us," she told The DAILY in an interview. Jacobsen, who started her second term as NMB chairwoman July 1, would like to see airline labor and management take more initiative in settling their own disputes and hammering out contracts, as TWA and its Air Line Pilots Association unit did recently.
Approved an amendment of United's U.S.-Peru frequency allocation, enabling the carrier to increase its weekly operations in the Lima-Santiago market from three to seven flights with local traffic rights through June 12, 2001, when frequency limits under the bilateral terminate for beyond-Lima services...Approved an initial two-year exemption for Airbus Transport to operate charter foreign cargo service between the U.S.
Like major European competitors Lufthansa and British Airways, Air France has modified its system for setting travel agent commissions. A previous attempt, which was due to take effect last month, was challenged in court in March by Syndicat National des Agents de Voyage (SNAV), the French travel agent's association. On Friday, SNAV and Air France reached a three-year deal that will start Jan. 1, 1999. Travel agents will have a commission of 7%, increasing to 8% if agents accept "additional quantity commitments" - higher sales goals.
Korean Air is offering a fare of $500 roundtrip for Los Angeles-Seoul available only via the Internet. The fare applies to travel on Flight 8062, added for the summer season, and regular nonstop Flight 14.
U.K. carrier Love Air, headquartered at London Stansted, has launched service from Biggin Hill to the French resort Deauville, using a 18- passenger Jetstream 31 acquired recently from British Asset Management.
Indonesian regional Merpati Airlines was operating at less than half strength with 39 of its original 86 aircraft as of Friday, the majority of the fleet now turboprops, the airline told The DAILY. Merpati management has decided to operate only some of the aircraft it owns. "At this moment, Merpati operates only its own aircraft, and leased aircraft, such as [the] A310 which serve Perth and Melbourne, must be returned to the lessor," said Merpati spokesman Tondo Widodo.
