America West traffic grew 1.2% in April on 1.2% more capacity, keeping the load factor flat at 70%. The airline's yield increased significantly "due to our enhanced revenue management capabilities," said Chairman William Franke. In the first four months of 1998, traffic fell 6.2% on 1% more capacity, resulting in a 64.1% load factor, 5 percentage points below the year-earlier level. April 98 April 97 4 Mths 98 4 Mths 97 RPMs 1,370,979,000 1,355,121,000 5,007,288,000 5,337,368,000
Alaska Airlines posted a 9.1% traffic rise in April on 9.4% more capacity, producing a load factor of 67.5%, down 0.2 percentage points. Since the start of 1998, traffic was up 6.1% and capacity grew 6.9%. Regional subsidiary Horizon Air reported a 26.3% traffic gain on 24.2% more capacity, resulting in a 59.1% load factor, up 0.3 points. April 98 April 97 4 Mths 98 4 Mths 97 RPMs 897,000,000 823,000,000 3,357,000,000 3,165,000,000
Two Taiwanese domestic airlines will merge into a third carrier, the companies announced this week. Under the plan, Great China Airlines and Taiwan Airlines will merge into UNI Airlines. A UNI Airlines spokesman said Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications and Civil Aeronautics Administration have given tentative permission for the merger, which could become effective as early as June 30. The CAA will grant final approval only after a thorough review of the merger plans, he added.
Virgin Atlantic Airways' Richard Branson, taking advantage of a promotional opportunity, is offering a Friends Fly Free companion ticket to reflect his appearance this week on the hit U.S. television program "Friends." Virgin's two-for-one fare begins at $647 roundtrip.
Royal Jordanian's March revenue passenger kilometer count dropped 20.4% to 303 million and it carried 248,478 passengers in the first quarter, down 21.1%.
America West has added flights between Phoenix and the East Coast - daily nonstops to Boston, Baltimore, Detroit, Newark, Philadelphia and Washington Dulles. It now flies seven daily Phoenix-New York nonstops, three to Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Detroit, and two to Dulles. The carrier also added four daily flights to the Pacific Northwest - one each on Portland-Phoenix, Portland-Las Vegas, Phoenix-Seattle and Seattle-Las Vegas routes. It will add one daily Phoenix-Anchorage nonstop May 13.
Reno Air, still feeling the pain from poor revenue and cost decisions last year, lost $8.6 million in the first quarter, including $1.5 million in one-time restructuring costs. The net loss was worse than the $5 million deficit in last year's first quarter. New Chief Executive Joseph O'Gorman said that after a similar fourth quarter loss, "there was not enough time to fix the revenue and cost issues that continued through the first quarter of 1998." Reno faced continued maintenance issues and heavily discounted fares through the first quarter.
EVA Airways said earnings in 1997 grew 89% to US$29.75 million on revenues of $1.3 billion. A company official said earnings this year, fueled by strong growth in the company's cargo business, are expected to increase a further 18%. Analysts in Taipei say that EVA's stock is expected to begin trading over the counter in 1999.
Southwest said April traffic climbed 20.3% on 7.2% less capacity, boosting the load factor 7.5 percentage points to 68.3%, compared with year-ago levels. During the first four months of 1998, traffic rose 9.3% on 7.2% more capacity. Southwest's average stage length was up 9.8% in April to 594 miles. April 98 April 97 4 Mths 98 4 Mths 97 RPMs 2,629,523,809 2,185,197,932 9,528,370,905 8,718,244,410 ASMs 3,852,027,519 3,594,349,226 15,122,201,303 14,111,984,060
Officials of mainland China's Chongqing municipality have announced that Air Macao will inaugurate service between Chongqing and Taipei and Kaohsiung this month. The flights, which will require a stopover in Macau, are expected to see heavy demand because more than 100,000 Taiwanese residents travel to Chongqing each year.
Mesaba Airlines, which in the early 1970s was a fixed-based operator based in Grand Rapids, Minn., this week celebrated its 25th anniversary of scheduled commercial service. The carrier launched service May 4, 1973, as an independent regional airline flying to points in Min-nesota and Iowa, and joined up as a Northwest Airlink affiliate in 1984. Mesaba will oper- ate two Saab 340B Plus aircraft with commemorative paint schemes at both its hubs - Min-neapolis/St. Paul and Detroit.
Air New Zealand will increase capacity on the Auckland-London Heathrow route to daily service, starting Dec. 7. The one-stop service, via Los Angeles, will operate with a 747-400. Starting Dec. 6, ANZ will increase Auckland-Los Angeles service to nine weekly flights.
The International Association of Machinists unit at Northwest has filed a grievance against management for firing eight machinists over the past two weeks. IAM Local 1833 President Vince Bazzachini said the machinists at Minneapolis/St. Paul were fired without explanation. He said some were let go for allegedly taking too long to ferry an aircraft from the terminal to the hangar and one was shown the door for wearing inappropriate attire to work - a red union suit, cowboy boots and boxer shorts.
Department of Justice May 1 delivered to TPI International Airways the controversial "Dutch Memorandum," which contends that the "voluntary" FAA shutdown of the small Brunswick, Ga., cargo carrier was improper. According to U.S.
U.S. Carriers Landing Fees Fourth Quarter 1997 Major Carriers Cost Landing Fees Per Landing Alaska 6,061,000 152.78 America West 8,305,457 159.04 American 60,223,000 303.22 Continental 32,124,000 286.37 Delta 55,013,000 226.06
Three of Thomson CSF's full-flight simulators have received on-site acceptance in China and have entered service. Two of the devices - an A320 simulator and one for the A330/340 - reside in CASC's new, purpose-built training center in Beijing, co-managed by Airbus. The third simulator, for the A300-600R, is installed at China Eastern Airlines' training site in Shanghai. All three machines are certified at D Level for training with all versions of the aircraft and engine types.
Air Jamaica this week joined Delta's SkyMiles program. The two carriers began code sharing April 6, when Delta purchased seats on Air Jamaica's flights from Atlanta, Miami and New York to Jamaica, Barbados and St. Lucia. On June 1, Air Jamaica will start buying seats on Delta flights.
Midway Airlines reported record first quarter net profits of $3.9 million, up 187% from last year's $1.3 million in net income. Last year's result excludes a $15.3 million one-time gain from the company's recapitalization. The first quarter was the airline's sixth consecutive profitable period. Revenue grew 5.6% to $50.5 million, while expenses fell 2.7% to $44 million. Passenger yield increased 1.4% to 21.1 cents. Revenue per available passenger mile increased 3.8% to 13.5 cents, and unit costs dropped 4.1% to 11.8 cents per ASM.
United and Galileo International will return to court May 14 over a conditional notice of termination Galileo sent to United and US Airways in December. United filed a request for declaratory and temporary injunctive relief in April in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill., contending that Galileo plans to set up its own sales force and harm United by hiring away United sales personnel. A Galileo spokeswoman said Galileo had contracted with United to provide primary sales coverage for its Apollo system within the U.S.
TAP Air Portugal converted three options for single-aisle aircraft into orders. The options were part of a December 1996 contract for 18 firm- order single-aisle aircraft and eight options. The latest conversions bring TAP's orders to 16 A319s, three A320s and two A321s. The first A321 will be delivered in the second half of 2000.
PROS Strategic Solutions quietly has garnered 46% of the yield management market. That figure rises to 58% when excluding systems developed in-house at individual carriers, said Graham Parker, PROS's VP-marketing. The company's system is in place at Swissair, Iberia, Continental, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines.
KLM Cargo said it signed an agreement guaranteeing space for TNT shipments on its flights five times a week, beginning with service from Amsterdam to Dubai. "This agreement will strengthen TNT's ties with the airline industry," KLM said. TNT has plans to "reach agreements with leading airlines worldwide."
Transavia has wet-leased an A310 from Translux to cover delays in the delivery of an 737-800. President Peter Legro said, "Boeing has been very open and frank about their production difficulties, but the fact remains that we have to honor our agreements with our tour operator customers. We are a Boeing airline, but we will watch the operation of the Airbus this summer with interest."
Express Airlines I named Edgar C. Fell VP-safety and regulatory compliance, effective June 8.. Fell, who will be based at the carrier's Memphis, Tenn., headquarters, is currently director of the Office of Flight Program Oversight at FAA, which he has spent 24 years.
