Mesa Air Group passenger boardings declined 29.9% last month to 410,768, compared with 585,984 in May 1997. Traffic declined 13.8% to 104.1 million revenue passenger miles as capacity plummeted 19.3% to 179 million, driving up the passenger load factor 3.7 percentage points to 58.1%.
Virgin Express posted a 32.7% surge in May traffic on 22.3% more capacity, which increased the load factor 6.1 percentage points to 77.9%. The airline flew 231,738 passengers, up 38.1%. Virgin Express added three daily Brussels-London Stansted flights May 17 and a sixth daily Brussels- Barcelona roundtrip.
Air France, accustomed to handling inquiries about strikes, has established sections of two web sites to provide updates. Information is available in English, at www.airfrance.com/strike.html, and French, at www.airfrance.fr/greve.html.
Union representatives and flight attendants asked Congress yesterday to mandate FAA action to counter rowdy passengers and limit carry-on bags. Witnesses at a House Transportation aviation subcommittee hearing testified to the growing rate of violence on airplanes, some of it caused by alcohol and confusion about carry-on bag limits. Airlines, pilot and flight attendant unions want Congress to urge FAA to develop a standardized carry- on bag policy and step up its prosecution of violent passengers. Rep.
The first full-up deployment of the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) is scheduled at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., in the first quarter of 1999, Raytheon Systems Co. told DAILY affiliate ATC Market Report. Originally, the first STARS system was planned to begin operations this December in Boston.
United Express affiliate Air Wisconsin recorded a 1.1-percentage-point decline in the load factor last month to 64.2% as traffic rose 47.6% to 72.1 million revenue passenger miles and capacity jumped 50.1% to 112.3 million available seat miles. Passenger boardings for the BAe 146 and Dornier 328 operator were up 44.7% to 218,696. Air Wisconsin feeds United at the Chicago and Denver hubs. May 1998 May 1997 5 Months 1998 5 Months 1997 RPMs 72,106,000 48,849,000 266,617,000 240,841,000
FAA officials said yesterday they have made hardware and software changes to the troublesome long-range radar at Gibbsboro, N.J., that lost both Air Force One and Air Force Two during the past week and experienced similar problems earlier. The agency took the radar out of service June 6 for the changes and Washington Center started using it June 7, followed by New York Center June 9. FAA said it found that "the targets of two aircraft on the same bearing and same distance but at different altitudes were merging and getting garbled.
DOT has extended the obligation of Great Lakes Aviation to serve Mount Vernon, Ill., through July 15, or until reliable replacement service begins. Great Lakes filed its 90-day notice of intent to suspend service at the point Nov. 18 and has been held in since then. It receives an annual subsidy of $246,919 for its two one-stop daily roundtrips to Chicago.
The Canadair RJ Series 700 aircraft ordered by American Eagle will seat 70, have raised and enlarged windows for improved sight lines and more spacious cabin feel, and offer increased headroom and a large forward wardrobe for coats and garment bags, Eagle and Bombardier Aerospace said in a joint release. Eagle has placed 25 firm orders, worth about US$700 milion, for the aircraft, and has options for an additional 25. Deliveries are scheduled to begin early in 2001. The CRJ Series 700 order book stands at 29 firm and 41 options.
Cargo carrier Fine Air, banned from Peru three years ago over an arms shipment, is objecting to the U.S.-Peru open-skies agreement as the ban remains in effect. The arms were found on a Fine aircraft that flew from Argentina to Ecuador when the latter was in a border war with Peru, and Fine says sworn depositions by its personnel have long since shown the carrier was unaware of the contents. Fine maintains Peru's ban is unlawful and violates congressional mandates. "The only appropriate U.S.
...American Eagle also has not ordered an additional 25 Series 700 Canadair Regional Jets, as was reported last week in Montreal by a French-language newspaper. The carrier announced an order for 25 of the 70-seaters at last year's Paris Air Show plus options for an additional 25 the same day it announced its order for 42 ERJ-145s plus 25 options. AMR Chairman and Chief Executive Don Carty did visit Bombardier Aerospace in Montreal last week to view the mockup and look at the interior, but did not exercise those 25 options, according to a Bombardier spokesman.
The U.K. government has decided to allow open skies to all U.K. airports - except London Heathrow and Gatwick - to airlines from all countries with which it has bilateral air service agreements, provided that U.K. airlines are allowed to operate on the same routes. Liberalization "will help to boost regional economies and help to raise the profile of the regions abroad," said Glenda Jackson, aviation minister for the U.K. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). Access to U.K.
The Sabre Group, in a DOT filing this week, claimed computer reservations system (CRS) booking abuses are primarily the work of America West's own agents. Filing in answer to America West's motion to expedite a rulemaking on CRS booking fees, Sabre said "carriers have only recently set out their booking policies and made clear the penalties for violating those policies. If regulation is needed, it would be unwise to impose any immediate regulation until carrier efforts in this regard have had sufficient time to mature."
Embraer is not close to a deal with American Eagle for the sale of up to 150 ERJ-135s valued at $1.7 billion, the company said. "We are not close, there is no order, it is not true," a company spokeswoman said. That did not, however, prevent a more than 20% run-up in the company's stock last week when the non-news was widely reported in the Brazilian press.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Traffic November 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (Miles) (000) Change Alaska 885 7.65 825 730,517 10.39
Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission has approved the merger of UNI Airlines, Great China Airlines and Taiwan Airlines. Following the merger, to become effective July 1, the new company will operate under the name of UNI Airlines. An FTC spokesman said UNI would control an estimated 26.8% share of the Taiwan domestic market and not threaten its nearest competitors, Far Eastern Air Transport, with 26.04%, and TransAsia Airways, 21.64%.
The Australian government has executed long-term leases on 11 of the 14 airports in the second round of airport privatization (DAILY, April 15). In late May, the government transferred Adelaide, Canberra, Coolangatta, Launceston and Parafield airports to previously announced winning bidders. Yesterday, it executed leases for Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Hobart, Townsville and Mount Isa airports. The leases have 50-year terms, with a government option to extend them for another 49 years.
Talks between Northwest and its Air Line Pilots Association unit continued today under the auspices of the National Mediation Board. NMB has imposed a media blackout and declined to release details. Northwest ALPA spokesman Paul Omodt said it is "hard to say" if the union is optimistic that these negotiation rounds, scheduled to end tomorrow, will yield results. "If Northwest wants to be serious, progress can be made," he said. Northwest would not comment other than to confirm the meeting.
Continued slow traffic growth in Asia is prompting Boeing Commercial to slow the production rate of its 747 from the current five a month to 3.5 a month, beginning in the second quarter next year, said Fred Mitchell, executive VP-airplane production. Mitchell said 777 production will be cut from seven a month to five a month in the fourth quarter next year, then return to seven a month in 2000.
Federal District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer has denied a request for an injunction that would have barred the City of Fort Worth and related parties from challenging in court Southwest's right to continue using Dallas Love Field. The action is one of a series of lawsuits concerning changes to the Wright Amendment that for 20 years has limited commercial airline service at the close-in facility. Southwest sought enforcement of a 1982 injunction by the late U.S.
Regional airline pilots looking for work are having another banner year, according to regional industry experts. Several factors are contributing to the phenomenon, said Walter Coleman, president of the Regional Airline Association - expanding fleets, a shortage of former military pilots, traditionally the main source of pilots for commercial aviation, retirements of pilots hired in the 1960s boom years, and attrition. Typically, regional carriers lose pilots to majors after five to 10 years.
First Class Travel International, a California-based travel agency, will file with DOT early next week an appeal over a lawsuit involving American and the Sabre computer reservations system (CRS). First Class Travel is accusing American and Sabre of unfair and deceptive practices, unfair methods of competition and violating DOT's CRS regulations. First Class Travel is filing with DOT because a Dallas District Court magistrate ruled that federal law pre-empts its right to sue American and Sabre under the same state law principles that apply to other businesses.
Lufthansa President and Chief Operating Officer Fred Reid yesterday decided to leave in favor of a job steering Delta's global marketing efforts. Reid, 47, made "a personal decision on behalf of his family," said Lufthansa spokesman Dan Lewis. There was no Lufthansa issue that prompted his departure, Lewis said, and the decision to leave was purely his. Reid, who leaves immediately, will be replaced by Executive VP-Product Development Karl-Friedrich Rausch, former architect of Lufthansa CityLine.
European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert sent his chief of staff to meet with DOT officials during his visit last week to Washington, sources said, and the result is that a U.S. delegation will go to Brussels to consult on alliance issues. The actions stem deteriorating relations between the two authorities over profound differences in competition analysis, and Van Miert's displeasure over public reports about DOT Assistant Secretary Charles Hunnicutt's letter to Van Miert detailing those differences. The U.S.
