New Regional Aircraft Orders And Options December 1997 Firm Orders Options Carrier No. Type No. Type Engines Aeromar 2 AA ATR 42-500 4 AA ATR 42-500 PW127 Air Georgian 2 Beech 1900D - - PT6A-67D Proteus 10 Beech 1900D - - PT6A-67D
Washington Consulting Group has lost its protest of the award of the NAS Implementation Support Contract (NISC II) to Lockheed Martin Services Inc. Judge Stephen Daniels, the General Services Administration special master for the case, recommended to FAA that the protest be denied, and Administrator Jane Garvey accepted the recommendation. Daniels concluded that there was no basis for the protest, sources said yesterday.
Regional-airline enplanements, which totaled 61.9 million in 1997, are projected to increase 7.8% to 66.7 million in 1998 and another 5.3% to 70.2 million in 1999, according to FAA Aviation Forecasts, fiscal 1998-2009, issued this week. Enplanements are expected to increase at an average rate of 5.5% annually over the forecast period, reaching 117 million in 2009, the agency said.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments March 23 in a case that involves how the Air Line Pilots Association uses fees that non-union pilots must pay. The case, ALPA v. Miller, was brought by 150 nonunion Delta pilots who contend they had to pay fees that ALPA used for political and other purposes unrelated to collective bargaining. They contend that such fees cannot finance activity that is not germaine to collective bargaining.
Worries that CEO Jonathan Ornstein and CFO Jim Swigart might return to the U.S. to run Mesa Air Group have, in part, been a drag on the stock of Brussels-based Virgin Express, according to Salomon Smith Barney. Ornstein and Swigart recently acquired a stake in Mesa and now sit on its board. Although the share price of low-fare Virgin is up 30% from its initial public offering in November, it is 15% off its $23 high in early January.
Federal Express's pilots union polled members yesterday to find out why they rejected the tentative agreement reached in December. On Wednesday, pilots voted down 1,322-1,023 what would have been FedEx's first-ever collective bargaining agreement. Mike Akin, president of the Fedex Pilots Association, said the contract would have brought about changes in work rules and other areas that some pilots apparently did not want. He said FPA will ask management to resume talks once the union identifies the reason behind the vote.
St. George, Utah-based SkyWest flew nearly 55 million revenue passenger miles last month, down 2.7% from the same 1997 month. Capacity, meanwhile, dropped 6.6% to 106.2 million available seat; miles from 113.7 million, allowing the load factor to climb 2.1 percentage points to 51.8%. Boardings were up 11.8% to 239,974. Feb. 1998 Feb. 1997 2 Mths 1998 2 Mths 1997 RPMs 54,976,934 56,493,973 110,840,754 112,070,246 ASMs 106,161,370 113,691,230 227,539,920 232,642,010
TWA's February traffic increased 2.8% on 0.4% more capacity, pushing the load factor up 1.4 points to 65.5%. It was the first month since December 1996 that all three indices have risen. In January 1997, TWA cut its international flying significantly. Domestic traffic, 84.6% of TWA's total, rose 6.8% on 1.9% more capacity, lifting the domestic load factor 3.0 percentage points to 66.4%, TWA's best domestic load factor in February in at least 20 years. February 1998 February 1997 2 Months 1998 2 Months 1997
Minneapolis-based Mesaba Airlines flew slightly more than 73 million revenue passenger miles last month, more than doubling the 35.2 million posted in February 1997. Capacity climbed 88.1% to 138.1 million available seat miles, driving the load factor up 4.9 percentage points to 52.9%. Enplanements gained 86.9% to 286,000. Feb. 1998 Feb. 1997 2 Mths 1998 2 Mths 1997 RPMs 73,013,000 35,236,000 142,824,000 67,316,000 ASMs 138,099,000 73,401,000 282,581,000 145,440,000
Mesa offered 203.4 million available seat miles last month, a 7.6% increase from February 1997, but its traffic fell marginally to 104.3 million revenue passenger miles. As a result, the load factor dropped 3.9 percentage points to 51.3% from 55.2%. Enplanements declined 6.8% to 461,523. Feb. 1998 Feb. 1997 2 Mths 1998 2 Mths 1997 RPMs 104,322,000 104,390,000 209,228,000 209,850,000 ASMs 203,359,000 188,945,000 417,496,000 394,559,000
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations transportation subcommittee, discusses domestic airline competition issues and Airport Improvement Program funding on this week's Aviation News Today, to be broadcast Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Air Nostrum of Valencia, Spain, has signed an agreement to acquire five Canadair RJ 200ERs and took options on another five. Value of the deal was placed at about US$108 million. Deliveries will begin in the 1999 second quarter.
SAS is considering a commercial agreement with All Nippon Airways, according to Swedish financial daily Finanstidnigenn. "ANA holds more than 50% of its national market," said an SAS spokesman. "Agreements with ANA would enable our passengers on the Tokyo route to connect with domestic Japanese flights," he added. SAS and ANA had a code share on the Tokyo- Stockholm route but terminated it in 1993 due to insufficient profitability. SAS's Star Alliance partner United this week announced a code-share and marketing alliance with ANA (DAILY, March 10).
Air-India has upgraded its World Wide Web site to provide regular updates on the airline and enable passengers to enroll in the carrier's frequent flyer program, airline officials said Tuesday. The site is found at http://www.airindia.com.
FAA today will forecast that U.S. airlines, coming off a fourth straight year of strong traffic growth and record profits, will experience a growth rate of 3.5% for the next 12 years. The growth rate for international routes will be 5.8%, DOT Secretary Rodney Slater said in remarks prepared for today's 23rd annual Commercial Aviation Forecast Conference in Washington. FAA says U.S. commercial airline enplanements will grow to 924 million in 2009 from 595 million in 1997.
Testing by FAA and industry of the Precision Runway Monitor (PRM) program at Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport (MSP) is ready to enter the second phase, according to Jeff Griffith, program director of air traffic operations at FAA.
Midwest Express posted a 14.8% traffic gain on 14% more capacity, pushing the load factor up 0.3 percentage points to 59.6%. Subsidiary Skyway Airlines reported a 3.7% traffic rise on 2.4% more capacity, raising the load factor 0.5 points to 41.9%.
Frontier's financial loss for 1997 is partially attributable to the higher cost of aircraft. As the up market boosted lease prices and forced higher maintenance deposits, Frontier paid $17 million to lease 13 737s for nine the months ended Dec. 31, or 16.2% of revenue. Maintenance was 22.4% of revenue, while crew costs represented just 6.8%.
US Airways asked DOT to block British Airways' application to fly Denver- London Gatwick until U.K. authorities award the carrier slots for Charlotte-Gatwick service approved by both countries. "We keep hearing pro-competitive sounds from British authorities," Lawrence Nagin, US Airways executive VP, said, "but at the end of the day, we still have not received the landing rights for our Charlotte flight." The airline has not had trouble acquiring Gatwick slots for Philadelphia service to start April 1.
Air traffic controllers at Aberdeen Airport have expanded their coverage of the skies over the North Sea from the Shetland Isles down to the Anglican Coast. The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) controllers have taken over the additional coverage following the successful completion of a project to transfer responsibility for handling flights over the southern half of the North Sea, known as Anglia Radar, from a base at Stansted Airport to a newly equipped center at Aberdeen.
Delta will acquire a minority stake in Aeroperu as part of its 10-year code-share and marketing pact agreed to in a memorandum of understanding Tuesday. Although Delta would not say definitively how much it invested, reports have put the stake at close to 35%. Aeromexico owns a 49% stake in Aeroperu. The Peruvian government limits foreign ownership in Aeroperu to 70%, and Delta and Aeromexico are expected to split that stake. Delta, which has a seat on Aeromexico's board, also will get a seat on Aeroperu's.
Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee's March 19 hearing on international airline alliances and predatory activities will receive testimony from Joel Klein, assistant attorney general in DOJ's antitrust division; DOT Assistant Secretary Charles Hunnicutt; American Chairman Robert Crandall; United Chairman Gerald Greenwald; Continental Chairman Gordon Bethune; Delta Chairman Leo Mullin, and Virgin Atlantic CEO Richard Branson. Room 226 Dirksen, 2 p.m.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) wrote DOT Secretary Rodney Slater this week asking for an update on talks with the European Commission on the status of U.S.-European airline alliances. "Press reports indicate that the commission is going to impose severe conditions on airline alliances," McCain wrote.
United is extending its electronic ticketing to flights between the U.S. and Japan for travel starting April 2. International E-Ticket opened for sale this week for Japan service and will be offered as of April 6 for flights between the U.S. and Australia and New Zealand for travel beginning May 1. The airline then will offer electronic ticketing in six countries, having covered the U.K. and Canada earlier.
