...ExpressJet is drawing a much higher degree of high 'Y' fares - the walkup coach fare. In June, Houston-Gulfport, Miss., generated a 37.8% increase in high 'Ys' and Houston-Mobile, Ala., a similar percentage increase. Load factor in the Gulfport market was up four percentage points and Mobile up 16 points from the previous turboprop service. COEx says it sees an immediate increase of high-yield business traffic, especially at points that are within a one-hour drive of alternate jet service, such as New Orleans. "There is excellent stimulation," COEx said.
Delta customers can accrue frequent flyer miles on the Internet with the carrier's Netcentives ClickRewards program. Customers purchasing products from participating ClickRewards vendors, such as Garden Escape and SkyMall, accrue points that are convertible to frequent flyer miles.
American Trans Air yesterday posted record net income of $13.8 million in the second quarter, up from a loss of $749,000 in the year-earlier period. The figure was much higher than the airline's previous record of $3.3 million in the second quarter 1995. Total revenue increased 24.1% to $238.5 million while scheduled service revenue jumped 50.7% to $131.6 million from $87.3 million. Charter revenue fell 2.7% to $90.5 million. Expenses rose 11.8% to $213.8 million. The carrier grew its scheduled service by 30.7% year-over-year as traffic increased 33.4%.
American Eagle is offering a $79 roundtrip summer promotional fare from Dallas/Fort Worth to Wichita Falls, Texas, the training site for the Dallas Cowboys football team. The offer is available until Aug. 15 and requires a three-day advance reservation but no minimum stay.
SAS pilots have amended the scope clause in their contract to accommodate the de Havilland SAS Commuter Dash 8-400s on order. Capacity in the clause was increased from 70 to 76 seats to enable the carrier to seat up to 76 passengers in domestic service (72 international). Maximum gross takeoff weight was increased from 30 to 35 metric tonnes (66,150 to 77,175 pounds) and the number of aircraft from 30 to 45. The carrier has placed 17 firm orders and 18 options. The scope continues to prohibit jet equipment.
Mesa Airlines, operating as America West Express, plans to start flying to two Mexican points, tentatively on Aug. 17, operating from Phoenix with two daily nonstop roundtrips each to Hermosillo and Guaymas. The new service will put two of the airline's surplus Beech 1900Ds - formerly used in its United Express operations - to work. The operation will be Mesa's first Mexican service, although America West serves a number of points, including Mexico City, Mazatlan, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta and Ixtapa.
Taiwan-based airlines have shrugged off an offer by Shenzhen's Huantian Airport (DAILY, July 16) to accept cargo flights by Taiwanese carriers until the cargo woes experienced by Hong Kong's new airport at Chek Lap Kok are corrected. An official at Huantian said Shenzhen is capable of handling an additional 2,000 to 3,000 tons of cargo daily. He added that cargo arriving at the airport could reach Hong Kong within five hours.
LSG Lufthansa Service Holding AG yesterday acquired 50% of all the European kitchens operated by its U.S. partner Sky Chefs. The acquisition will give LSG Holding more influence over the 11 kitchens and 4,780 employees it acquired, which produce 65 million inflight meals each year. The kitchens include large operations at London Heathrow and Gatwick, Paris, Manchester, Madrid, Barcelona, Moscow, Palma de Mallorca, Menorca, Malaga and Girona.
United became the second Star Alliance carrier this week to link with a European rail network. Two days after partner Lufthansa linked with Deutsche Bahn, United and France's SNCF teamed yesterday for airline-train connections at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. United's nonstop service from Washington, Chicago and San Francisco will be timed to connect with SNCF's TGV high-speed trains to Lyon. SNCF offers four daily southbound departures and three trains from Lyon.
Aerospatiale and Alenia have formalized the new ATR organization in the wake of British Aerospace's departure from the former Aero International (Regional) consortium. The two former ATR partners are creating a single corporation, not only to market and support its line of ATR turboprops, but to include engineering, design and manufacturing capabilities as well - functions previously handled individually by the two partners. New president and chief executive is Antoine Bouvier, former head of the ATR "business unit" (DAILY, July 13).
Amadeus has appointed Francisco Perez-Lozao director, business development and Derek Wise director-marketing finance, both new positions based at the company's Madrid headquarters.
Cincinnati-based Delta Connection carrier Comair and Sabena will expand their code-share agreement to provide service to Brussels from Toledo, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Charlotte and Birmingham. Comair passengers from those cities now can travel to Brussels via Comair's Cincinnati hub under Sabena's SN code and connect to destinations from Sabena's Brussels hub. Sabena's destinations include Dusseldorf, Copenhagen, Florence, Bordeaux, Africa and the Middle East. Sabena operates daily nonstop Airbus 340 service between Cincinnati and Brussels.
The Sabre Group Holdings has elected Jeffrey Jackson senior VP and chief financial officer, effective Aug. 14. He replaces Patrick Kelly, who resigned to accept a position as chief financial officer of The Trilogy Development Group, Austin, Texas.
President Clinton announced that he plans to nominate Eugene Conti to be assistant secretary for domestic transportation policy at DOT. Conti was DOT deputy assistant secretary for budget and programs from 1993 to 1995.
American parent AMR Corp. kicked off the June earnings reporting period with a record net profit of $409 million, up 35.4% from $302 million a year ago. The quarter was the company's best ever. Yields rose, fuel costs fell and passenger demand remained strong, especially within the U.S. Revenue grew 6.4% to $5 billion while expenses increased 4% to $4.29 billion. Operating profit increased 23.2% to $727 million. The quarter's load factor was American's highest to date, at 71.7%.
A safe and efficient aviation network will play a major role in African economic development, DOT Secretary Rodney Slater told transportation ministers from central and western African countries this week in Dakar, Senegal, the last stop on his Africa tour. "Ultimate success depends upon you," Slater said, noting that DOT and FAA will bring together advice and expertise from private industry, academic institutions and financial organizations to help create an effective regionally based aviation system.
U.S. and Netherlands Antilles officials signed an open-skies pact at a Washington ceremony this week, formalizing a pact initialed earlier this year. U.S. and Romania officials did the same yesterday in a ceremony timed to coincide with Romania President Emil Constantinescu's visit to Washington.
AirTran Holdings yesterday posted an $8.6 million net second quarter profit, its first profit since the 1996 crash of ValuJet Flight 592. The results compare with a loss of $49.2 million in the same quarter of 1997. Operating revenue was $124 million, up from $47.8 million. The most noticeable improvement came in the airline's base structure. AirTran's revenue per available seat mile increased to 8.4 cents from 6.8 cents, while cost per ASM dropped 10% to 7.4 cents from 8.2 cents.
US Airways and American will begin their frequent flyer cross-access program and joint airport lounge access Aug. 1.American's frequent flyer link with British Airways already has had "a ruboff effect on both of us that cannot be measured," said American's chief financial officer, Gerard Arpey. American-BA interline traffic is up "several million dollars a month" since the link took effect, he said.
American, Delta, United and US Airways blasted Tower Air's request to expand its authority for U.S.-France service by incorporating its current exemptions into its certificate as indefinite authority. The carriers questioned Tower's current service to France and its proposal to add Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston as gateways, and US Airways noted that Tower did not outline type or frequency of service. Tower wants to serve France and beyond, directly and via intermediate points (DAILY, July 2).
The Association of Flight Attendants at US Airways met yesterday with Chairman Stephen Wolf and President and Chief Executive Rakesh Gangwal to encourage progress in bargaining between AFA and the company. AFA represents US Airways' 9,000 flight attendants. Negotiations have been in progress for more than a year, with flight attendants working under a contract that was negotiated in 1993 and became amendable Dec. 31, 1996.
Operational problems at Chek Lap Kok's new Hong Kong airport are confined mainly to cargo operations, according to Hong Kong Economic&Trade Office Director General Christopher Jackson, while by some measures passenger operations exceed those at Kai Tak, as planned. The main cargo handler, Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd. (HACTL), continues to handle distribution at Kai Tak and will decide by Saturday whether to remain there for the short term.
