Asiana Airlines filed for rights available under the new U.S.-Korea open- skies agreement, negotiated earlier this year and signed yesterday in a formal ceremony in Washington. The accord, described by DOT Secretary Rodney Slater as a cornerstone of the Clinton administration's initiative to liberalize air services to Asia, permits designated Korean carriers like Asiana to fly scheduled service from any point behind Korea to the U.S. and beyond.
United continues to fight Exec Express 2 d/b/a Aspen Mountain Air's bid for slot exemptions at Chicago O'Hare for Branson, Mo., and Sioux City, Iowa, service, even though Aspen Mountain Air scaled back its application from eight daily slots to five. United told DOT that reducing the request does nothing to change its substance, which according to United meets only one of DOT's three primary requirements for exemptions - providing nonstop service where none exists or new low-fare competition.
Japan Airlines will begin service Oct. 2 between Tokyo and Las Vegas, the carrier's first new North American city in two years. The 747-300 service will operate nonstop two days a week and stop in Los Angeles on the return.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic October 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (miles) (000) Change Alaska 52 (5.96) 1,109 58,204 (0.83)
Jonathan Howe, director general of Airports Council International, will speak at a luncheon meeting of the International Aviation Club tomorrow at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington.
AirTran Holdings Inc. reported that its carriers saw increases of 49% in traffic and 43.1% in capacity for May 1998 over May 1997, which pushed the load factor up 2.4 percentage points. AirTran reported 303 million revenue passenger miles and 505.5 million available seat miles, creating a 60% load factor. Passengers carried rose 41.3% to 497,146. Year-to-date RPMs grew 43.9% and ASMs 42.5%, increasing the load factor 0.6 points. Passengers carried increased 34.8%.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Traffic October 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (Miles) (000) Change Alaska 882 (1.37) 806 710,728 0.46
Computer reservations system Galileo plans to use software from systems management specialist San Jose, Calif.-based Boole&Babbage to manage Galileo's internal information systems network. B&B said this week it signed Galileo as a customer for its Command/Post enterprise management software, and once the package is in place it will become the "master console" for Galileo's network of some 250,000 devices, 40 high-speed, wide-area switching nodes and 13,000 terminal lines.
Ryanair will enter the London stock market next year, having already been listed in Dublin and New York, Chief Executive Michael O'Leary told the Aviation Club of the U.K. last week. Ryanair has been doubling in size every three years and the rate of growth O'Leary predicts for the future is about 25% a year. The airline carried 4 million passengers in 1997 and forecasts 5 million this year. O'Leary said traffic growth has been fast on the European routes, and new European destinations are in the pipeline.
Korean Air and Boeing officials, as expected, announced yesterday in Washington, D.C., that the carrier has placed a $2 billion order for up to 27 next-generation 737s (DAILY, June 5). The order comprises 11 737-800s and 11 737-900s, plus five options and spares. Deliveries are scheduled between August 2000 and July 2005. Y.H.
National Mediation Board will begin mailing ballots tomorrow to nearly 19,000 passenger service and reservation agents at United. The employees will choose whether they want to be represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
U.K.-based AB Airlines, recently listed on the London Stock Exchange, announced a new service to Nice from London Gatwick. The route, subject to CAA approval, is due to start July 9 with 737-300 aircraft and an introductory fare of #109 roundtrip (US$173), including taxes. The carrier serves three other international routes from Gatwick - Berlin, Lisbon and Shannon. Managing Director Tony Auld said that although Nice is a leisure market it has a strong nucleus of business traffic and is the only scheduled-service airport for most of the French Riviera.
Sabena inaugurated a daily flight last week from Brussels to Belfast, becoming the only carrier offering the service to the capital of Northern Ireland. Sabena serves 11 other destinations in Britain.
National Consumers League (NCL) told DOT it opposes the department's airline competition policy, which aims to protect new-entrant and niche carriers from predatory competition by majors, and said enforcing existing antitrust laws is a better solution. NCL bills itself as the nation's oldest consumer organization, dating from 1899.
Boeing Co. and Bell Helicopter Textron have agreed to "suspend" their efforts to sell Boeing's MD 500 and MD 600 commercial helicopter lines to Bell, Boeing said yesterday. The announcement followed comments by Terry Stinson, Bell's president and chief executive officer, who said the Federal Trade Commission is delaying the sale by 60 to 90 days and the businesses are being "shopped around" to other potential buyers.
European civil aviation authorities met with U.S. airline representatives this week in Brussels on a new deadline for installing another VHF capability after agreeing last week to a delay in the implementation date of 8.33 KHz radios in Europe. Eurocontrol's agreement to delay the deadline of next Jan. 1 is expected to save U.S. carriers millions of dollars in unscheduled downtime.
The Air France pilots strike continues today with 75% of all flights canceled and only three flights operating for the World Cup soccer matches. Air France is the official carrier of the World Cup, but the walkout by 3,200 pilots has ensured that many soccer fans will never make it to France to see a game. Air France turned down an offer by pilots to fly without pay in service for World Cup travelers. The strike, in its second week, is costing the carrier 100 million French francs (US$17 million) daily.
DOT issued an order delaying revocation of Millon Air's certificates for 60 days. Millon asked DOT to rescind its order revoking the certificates for reasons of dormancy (DAILY, April 21). The all-cargo carrier told DOT that earlier financing arrangements had fallen through but that it is in "serious discussions" with two parties interested in purchasing the carrier's stock and expects the talks to "result in a purchase agreement" within 60 days.
Cincinnati-based Comair Holdings Inc. reported a 14.3% increase in traffic and a 5.9% increase in capacity for May over the same month last year, creating an 8-percentage-point rise in the load factor to 65.2%. Comair saw 173.7 million revenue passenger miles and 266.5 million available seat miles during the month. Passenger enplanements rose 15.9% to 524,071. Year-to-date RPMs rose 13.5% and ASMs 4.9%, pushing the load factor up 8.3% over the first five months last year. Passenger enplanements were up 14.2%.
Northwest and its Air Line Pilots Association unit returned to the bargaining table today to resume contract talks following a recess that began the last weekend in May. Representatives of Northwest and its ALPA unit met with the full National Mediation Board yesterday to review the situation and agree on a schedule for continuing negotiations. Scheduled talks ended with the two sides at an impasse over the company's request that salaries be arbitrated yearly and no date set for continuing negotiations.
Dobbs International has won contracts worth nearly $8 million annually to provide food service to Air France in Boston and Atlanta, Sabena in Atlanta, British Airways in Denver, AeroMexico in Miami and Continental in Glasgow.
Alaska Airlines is offering extra-low fares to and from Vancouver, B.C., through its Internet site at http://www.alaskaair.com. Tickets must be purchased by June 12 for travel through June 30. Sample roundtrip fares are $109 to San Francisco; $139 to Los Angeles and $159 to Las Vegas. Fares must be purchased with a credit card, are non-refundable and require a one-night minimum stay.
CIBC Oppenheimer has hired former Salomon Smith Barney analyst Julius Maldutis as managing director and transportation analyst. Maldutis will support Tom Gallagher, who directs CIBC's airlines, aerospace and defense investment banking group.
Great Lakes Aviation last week cut travel agent commissions to 8%. The regional carrier will pay a maximum $25 per one-way itinerary or $50 per roundtrip on all tickets issued in the U.S. and Canada, effective June 15.
