Airline safety and the "millennium bug" will be discussed at IATA's annual general meeting June 7-9 in Montreal by DOT Secretary Rodney Slater and FAA Administrator Jane Garvey. Executives of 266 member airlines, industry suppliers and international organizations are expected to attend.
Air France reported a 15.6% increase in traffic and a 9.3% rise in capacity for April 1998 over April 1997, which drove up the load factor 4.3 percentage points. The carrier reported worldwide revenue passenger kilometers of 6.527 billion and available seat kilometers of 8.344 billion, producing a 78.2% load factor. Air France worldwide cargo traffic dropped by 5.4% to 404 million freight ton kilometers.
Northwest has revised its second quarter financial outlook to indicate deterioration from prior-year results. Although performance in April exceeded plan, several factors contributed to the negative projections, including operational difficulties caused by work actions and a continued down trend in the Pacific economy. Episodes of severe weather that damaged and grounded more than two dozen aircraft for several days also contributed to the lower projections.
Airbus and Fokker Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Fourth Quarter 1997 A320-100/200 America West Northwest United Total Number of Aircraft Operated 26 50 43 119 Total Fleet Operations Departures 121 186 138 445 Block Hours 339 522 481 1,341
Aspen Mountain Air and tour operator Country Tours yesterday added a second daily non-stop flight between Dallas/Fort Worth and Branson, Mo., Airport. The first flight was inaugurated May 15. According to a Country Tours statement issued through its public relations agency, Aspen Mountain Air is the first airline to provide daily nonstop scheduled air service to Branson, "which is considered the live entertainment capital of the world."
United's Air Line Pilots Association Master Executive Council, facing the prospective United-Delta domestic alliance, wants to let other airline unions know it thinks domestic alliances are a bad idea. The MEC voted this week to open up a dialogue with other unions, telling them United's pilots think domestic alliances will cost pilot jobs.
Dover, N.H.-based Business Express has established a site on the World Wide Web at http://www.flybex.com. President and Chief Operating Officer Gary Ellmer said, "The addition of our high-quality web site is a reflection of the many improvements in our services, equipment and facilities that will make us a future leader in the regional airline industry." The site will have information on aircraft amenities, daily flight schedules, real time weather, em-ployment opportunities, links to code-sharing partners, and company history.
Eight regional airline stocks increased in value by an average of 2.76% during April, led by a $2.75 jump by United Express SkyWest to $43.25 per share. The results are skewed when compared with the April market close, however, because there were two stock splits during the month - Mesaba three for two and Atlantic Coast two for one. The sampling of eight publicly held companies closed April at an average of $26.21 per share and May at $21.94. The story lies in total market value of the eight stocks, up 3.8% to nearly $4.74 billion.
Delta launched this week daily nonstop Tokyo-Atlanta service, becoming the only airline to operate daily nonstop flights on the route. Delta VP- Atlantic/Pacific Business Unit Stephan Egli said the service is significant "not only for Delta, but for all business and leisure travelers in Japan and the U.S. The new service has dramatically reduced the journey time between the two cities to just 13 hours and 20 minutes." Egli said more than 5 million passengers travel between the U.S. and Asia each year.
Fort Smith, Arkansas's Airport Commission filed in opposition to DOT's proposed competition policy. Like Chattanooga in a recent filing, Robert Johnson, airport manager for the Fort Smith Airport Commission, wrote Secretary Rodney Slater that the policy could actually reduce service options for smaller communities. Under the proposal, DOT will determine whether majors defending their routes from new entrants dump capacity or slash fares and absorb financial losses with the intention of killing off competition.
The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), in a filing to DOT, opposed America West's request for an expedited rulemaking on computer reservations system booking fees. ASTA said America West has tried to highlight for expedited treatment one subset of a series of complex issues, some of which have "already been effectively disposed of by the marketplace." ASTA said America West has resolved its passive booking segment issue and has adopted a zero-tolerance policy on passive segment use.
American Eagle posted a 7.9% increase in traffic last month, compared with May 1997, to 236.3 million revenue passenger miles. Capacity rose 4.7% to 372.3 million available seat miles, driving up the load factor 1.9 percentage points to 63.5%. Enplanements were up 6.9% to slightly more than 1.1 million. May 1998 May 1997 5 Mths 1998 5 Mths 1997 SYSTEM RPMs 236,315,000 218,946,000 1,077,852,000 1,027,775,000
The 10 largest U.S. carriers' on-time arrival rate rose to 79.1% in April, according to DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report, a jump from 75.9% posted in March and the highest rate since November's 78.2%, but slightly below April 1997's 79.8%. American was first, 84.8%, Southwest second, 82.6%, and US Airways third, 82%. Continental was eighth, 76%, America West ninth, 74.9%, and Northwest 10th, 71.3%. The April mishandled baggage rate of 4.56 per 1,000 passengers is an improvement from March's 5.26 but is higher than April 1997's 4.35.
United reported a 2.8% increase in scheduled traffic and a 2.1% rise in capacity for May, compared with the same month last year, which boosted the load factor 0.5 percentage points. Scheduled year-to-date traffic rose 0.1% and capacity 2.4%, depressing the load factor 1.7 points. May 98 May 97 5 Mths 98 5 Mths 97 RPMs 10,320,590,000 10,043,413,000 47,747,492,000 47,806,736,000 ASMs 14,338,411,000 14,044,251,000 69,622,226,000 67,975,827,000
Atlantic Coast, the Washington Dulles-based United Express carrier, is facing crunch time with its 106 mechanics on June 8. That marks the end of a 30-day cooling-off period after which a strike is possible. The carrier has a letter of understanding with the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association in which both parties have agreed that if a contract is not reached by June 8, the employees will have until June 23 to vote on the company's final offer. Lacking such an agreement, the union has the right to strike. The parties "are still talking."
DOT Secretary Rodney Slater this week announced award to Advanced Management Technology, Washington, of a contract to provide expertise in adapting the Global Positioning System to civil aviation requirements. The contract is worth $27 million over three years with four one-year options, for a total value of $62 million. The company will provide technical engineering services and program management support for FAA for satellite and satellite augmentation systems.
Washington Dulles United Express affiliate Atlantic Coast Airlines posted a 94.1% increase in revenue passenger miles last month to 68.1 million, as capacity rose less than two-thirds as fast - 61.3% to 113.2 million available seat miles. The passenger load factor leapt 10.2 percentage points to 60.2%. Boardings were up 52.8% to 217,461. May 1998 May 1997 5 Mths 1998 5 Mths 1997 RPMs 68,107,000 35,090,000 274,432,000 140,239,000
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey and National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall will speak at the American Bar Association's Forum on Air and Space Law annual conference, scheduled July 9-10 at the Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco. Also scheduled is a half-day aircraft finance program July 8. Conference topics include DOT competition guidelines, aerospace merger and trade policy, global alliances and airport/environmental law.
US Airways Express affiliate CCAIR will save an estimated $4 million per year, beginning this year, from its program of restructuring and simplifying its aircraft fleet, the company said.
Karel Van Miert, European Union competition commissioner, hopes to complete a "full-fledged case" on the proposed American-British Airways alliance by the end of June but, as all parties will have the opportunity to comment, a "final conclusion" by the EU likely will not be made until the fall. Positions on the United-SAS and United-Lufthansa alliances will follow "soon thereafter," Van Miert said yesterday in Washington following meetings with Attorney General Janet Reno and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Robert Pitofsky.
Southwest reported a 15.3% rise in traffic and a 6.4% increase in capacity for May 1998 from the same month last year, driving up the load factor 5.4 percentage points. The airline carried 6.8% more passengers. Year-to-date traffic was up 10.6% and capacity 7%, compared with the same period last year, creating a 2.1-point increase in load factor. Passengers carried rose 2.4%. May 98 May 97 5 Mths 98 5 Mths 97 RPMs 2,743,047,854 2,378,292,754 12,271,418,759 11,096,537,164
Canadian Airlines and Air Canada welcomed international aviation policy changes announced Tuesday by Transport Minister David Collenette (DAILY, June 3), but Air Canada said the changes do not go far enough. Canadian announced plans to widen code sharing and tap new route opportunities. President and Chief Executive Kevin Benson said the carrier will aggressively pursue the chance to serve Osaka beginning in spring 1999. It currently serves Tokyo and Nagoya.
British Aerospace and Saab are "benchmarking" their asset management portfolios to best integrate their turboprop fleets with the growing fleet of regional jets. BAe recently acquired a 35% stake in Saab AB and while there is no talk of merging the two asset management groups, each is trying to understand how the other conducts business and where the synergies lie. Together, the two portfolios consist of 690 turboprops - 384 for BAe and 306 for Saab. In addition, BAe manages a fleet of 95 146 quadjets, all of which are in operation.
Industry veteran John Jaynes has been named VP-operations planning and performance for American Eagle, where he will be in charge of the carrier's control center, including dispatch operations and crew scheduling, crew planning and operations analysis, Eagle said. Jaynes succeeds Bob Cordes, who will become VP-operations for parent American's London-based European operation.
