Airport and Airway Trust Fund - Income Statement October 1, 1997 - March 31, 1998 RECEIPTS (Revenues) March 1998 Revenues: Excise Taxes (Transferred from General Fund): Liquid Fuel other than Gas 64,075,303.00 Transportation by Air, Seats, Berths, etc. 408,917,000.00 Use of International Travel Facilities 69,543,000.00 Transportation of Property and Cargo 10,188,000.00
U.S. concerns over imminent European Commission proposals concerning airline alliances appear to be based on faulty information, Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert wrote DOT Assistant Secretary Charles Hunnicutt, answering a letter whose "wide distribution to the public suggests it was intended to serve a different purpose" than privately addressing competition concerns.
Martinair Holland will celebrate 40 years of service with its first online seat auction. The offer also launches the airline's new North American web site, http://www.martinairusa.com. The auction, which has begun, offers a maximum of 40 seats per flight on selected dates in May and June. Martinair will offer a total of 800 seats from three U.S. cities to Amsterdam. The bidding starts at $199 roundtrip from Newark and $299 roundtrip from Los Angeles or Oakland.
Virgin Express, the Brussels-based subsidiary of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, is considering setting up a new company in Ireland to escape Belgium's "hostile fiscal environment," a Virgin Express spokesman said yesterday in Brussels. The airline said there would be "no downsizing in Brussels. We are just growing elsewhere." Virgin Express plans to open routes from London, Rome and Brussels at the end of the summer and add three to six aircraft to its fleet of 18 Boeing 737s in the winter.
Air France resumed its Shanghai passenger service yesterday after a 25-year interruption. The French airline operates twice weekly nonstop Airbus A340-300 service from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to Shanghai. it will add a third weekly frequency Sept. 1. Some "200 French companies are located [in Shanghai]" said Air France. "French and German citizens constitute the largest group of foreign nationals of European origin" in the area, Air France said. The carrier has operated once-weekly Boeing 747 freighter service to Shanghai since 1988.
Air Canada reported a 12.5% rise in traffic and a 10.4% increase in capacity for April 1998 from the same month last year, which pushed the load factor up 1.3 percentage points. Systemwide, the carrier reported 1.82 million revenue passenger miles and 2.59 million available seat miles, creating a 70.3% load factor. Domestic RPMs rose 14.3% to 648 million and ASMs 11.2% to 916 million, boosting the load factor 1.9 points to 70.7%. International RPMs were up 11.6% to 1.17 million and ASMs 10% to 1.67 million, which pushed the load factor up 1 point to 70%.
U.S. Major Carriers Advertising Expense Fourth Quarter 1997 % Of Total Advertising Passenger Revenues Alaska 541,000 0.18 Domestic 501,000 0.18 Latin 40,000 0.18 America West 8,493,409 1.93 Domestic 8,452,323 1.97
Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Regionals April 1997 - March 1998 Total Total Cost Cents Per Gallons (Dollars) Gallon 1997 April Domestic 1,112,098,891 693,810,226 62.387 International 391,579,496 262,516,505 67.040
Mesa Air Group reported a 1.1% drop in traffic and a 2.7% decline in capacity for April compared with April last year, resulting in a 0.9- percentage-point rise in load factor. Mesa reported 110.7 million revenue passenger miles and 197.7 million available seat miles, creating a 56% load factor. Passenger enplanements declined 12.3% to 478,506. First quarter RPMs were down 0.6% and ASMs up 2.8% from the first quarter last year, depressing the load factor 1.9 points. Passenger enplanements were down 8.6%.
International Air Transport Association has announced a partnership with Walker to provide financial service products for the airline industry, including a charge card for members. The partnership with Walker for the IATA Management Information Service will provide "Smart Financials," programs tailored to small, medium and large airlines. The IATA Global Charge Program has signed up more 80 airlines and 186 suppliers in the past two years, said Ron Henderson, president of Air Routing Group Card Services.
American told employees yesterday that it has notified the City of Dallas of its intention to launch service from Dallas Love Field Aug. 15 with 14 daily roundtrips to Austin. The airline, which informed city officials Friday of its decision, will announce schedules and other information once it and Dallas agree on gates and other facilities issues. American has asked for two gates at Love Field. The move is a major offensive against incumbent Southwest and expected first-timers Legend Airlines and Continental Express.
Flight attendants at United will be happy when Boeing 737s with more than 50,000 flight hours are pulled from service. They refer to the aged airplanes as "the nasties." FAA has ordered inspection of the wiring on older 737s. (See related story to follow.) "United made them beasts," said one Association of Flight Attendants spokeswoman. "They have thermal trays and they're just pigs to work." In a recorded message, a United AFA representative said the airline has promised to "eliminate the wretched airplanes from the fleet" by yearend.
Three minority pilots unions at Air France have announced plans for a 48- hour strike May 24-25. They are opposing the company's plans to negotiate a 15% pay cut in exchange for shares in Air France's capital. They also slam Air France's lower B-scale salaries for newly hired pilots and protest the contracting out of flight operations. A first 24-hour strike last week forced Air France to cancel 10% of its short- and medium-haul frequencies departing from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and 30% of the short- and medium-haul flights at Paris Orly.
Amadeus distribution system has entered the Singapore market, the latest step in its plans to expand in the Asia/Pacific region. Amadeus has set up a national marketing company in Singapore temporarily headed by Jan Lundborg, general manager of its Asia/Pacific regional office. David Jones, senior VP-marketing, said it is "an opportune time" for Amadeus' expansion into the Singapore market.
TWA is capping travel agent commissions at a maximum of $50 for domestic roundtrip tickets and $25 for one-way tickets issued in the U.S. and Canada. It will continue offering 8% commission on international bookings with no cap.
U.S. and Peru officials signed an open-skies agreement in Lima Saturday that expands some opportunities immediately while transitioning to a standard open-skies plan in four years. Chile has initialed an open-skies pact, but completion depends on the U.S. granting antitrust immunity to an American-LanChile partnership. With the Peru agreement, on a clock that starts running June 12, weekly U.S. narrowbody frequencies will expand from the current 42 to 63 in the first year, with continued increases until the period of no limits starts in four years.
Pan Am Air Bridge, a scheduled seaplane company operating from southern Florida to the Bahamas, has signed a code-share agreement with Paradise Airlines. Starting yesterday, all Air Bridge tickets ceased to carry the "PA" code and are issued on Paradise's ticket stock with its "BK" code. The two carriers began as one airline in the early 1980s.
Air Transport Association asked DOT to extend the comment period on its proposed predatory competition policy by 120 days past the June 9 deadline, saying the issues are too complex for rapid analysis and DOT has dragged its heels in identifying the research it depends on.
Irish regional carrier CityJet will start service from East Midlands Airport in Britain to Dublin, beginning June 8. Based in the Irish capital, it will operate four roundtrips each weekday and three on Saturdays and Sundays using a Saab 2000. A promotional fare of 79 Irish punts (US$112.35) will be offered on the new route. CityJet's aircraft will be configured for two classes - economy and business. The carrier will compete on the route against British Midlands, which operates two roundtrips per day.
Correction: Aeromexico said it is the first airline in Mexico to offer first-class service on all domestic and international routes. Mexicana had said it was first (DAILY, May 7).
Carriers yesterday reported no major problems in complying with a revised FAA order issued Sunday grounding older 737s until electric wiring in the fuel pump is inspected. It was one of the broadest groundings of an aircraft type since the DC-10 fleet was grounded by FAA in 1979. The order followed one issued a few days earlier that allowed carriers a week for the inspections (DAILY, May 8). FAA said yesterday that of the 152 older 737s affected, inspections uncovered electrical arcing in the fuel pump wires of two airplanes.
Traditional competitors American and United are cooperating on an interline electronic ticketing product that will enable travelers to purchase from each carrier e-tickets that can be used on the other. American/United e- ticketing is expected to be available through both airlines by summer 1999, followed by an expansion of this capability to travel agencies. Interline e-ticketing will be offered for flights operated by American, American Eagle, United, Shuttle by United and United Express in all U.S. markets and in qualifying international markets.
Lithuanian Airlines and SAS said last week they plan to enter a strategic partnership by September, coordinating networks and ground-handling services and bringing Lithuanian into SAS's frequent flyer program.
AlliedSignal and GKN plc have announced an agreement under which AlliedSignal will acquire control of Normalair-Garrett Limited (NGL), a subsidiary of U.K.-based GKN, which manufactures environmental control systems for the aerospace industry. The agreement is subject to regulatory review and GKN shareholder approval. Under terms of the agreement, AlliedSignal will boost its current 48% interest in NGL to 52%, with an option to acquire the remaining 48% interest on or after Dec. 31, 1999.
Hawaiian Airlines posted a net first quarter loss of $1.1 million, an improvement from the $2.4 million loss a year ago. Operating revenues rose fractionally to $100.2 million. The $500,000 revenue gain came despite a 6.3% drop in the number of Asian visitors to Hawaii in the quarter and a decline in March traffic from the U.S. West Coast. Traffic from Hawaii's largest visitor market, California, fell 13% in March. The load factor fell to 66% from 67.8% and yield increased to 10.3 cents from 10.2 cents.
