British Aerospace, which recently said it will take a 35% stake in Saab, has revealed that its leasing arm, BAe Asset Management (BAeAM) will play an increasing part in the management of the Swedish firm's portfolio of leased Saab 340 and Saab 2000 turboprops. Rory Fisher, general manager of BAeAM-Jets, said, "We are very excited and proud to be working with Saab, and we see this tie-up as the first move toward consolidation in Europe of aerospace asset management activities, and British Aerospace is in the forefront of these moves.
A Great China Airlines flight from Taipei to Taichung May 5 passed through a flock of racing pigeons while landing, striking at least two birds. The plane landed safely but suffered damage to one engine and propeller. Chang Kuo-cheng, acting director of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration, said investigators identified the birds' owner and plan to file charges against him.
American regional affiliate American Eagle posted last month a three- percentage-point increase in its load factor to 63%, compared with April 1997. Revenue passenger miles rose 9.6% to 226.2 million as capacity climbed less than half as fast - 4.3% to 359.1 million available seat miles. The traffic and load factor figures were records for the month.
A fatal Formosa Airlines Saab 340 crash March 18 was caused by mechanical problems, Taiwan authorities said Thursday. The crash "had nothing to do with any outside impact," Reuters quotes Transport Vice Minister Chang Chi-juch as saying at a news conference. A Saab spokesman in Washington, D.C., declined comment, saying that the results of the ongoing accident investigation are "not conclusive." Eight passengers and five crew died in the crash.
Mesa Air Group founder and former Chairman Larry Risley has a new job, contradicting spokespeople, who said he was on vacation. He told The DAILY from an RV golf resort in Florida that he has a new occupation, at least for the near future. "We bought a 36' diesel pusher motor home and have been traveling around for the past month now. I have gone from flying and always having a headwind to driving and always having a crosswind. I needed a diesel, since this is the closest thing to jet-fuel I could find on the road." He said, "Please e-mail me with any questions.
If Swissair and Lufthansa ever were to link because of the new United-Delta pact, "it is not something Mr. Van Miert [European Union competition commissioner] likely would approve of," said Craig Jenks, president of New York-based Airline/Aircraft Projects. "Swissair and Lufthansa are pretty much arch-competitors, and Swissair is drawing a circle around Lufthansa with its recent deals with other carriers. Any alliance would be trouble."
Atlantic Southeast Airlines says its growing fleet of Canadair Regional Jets - 30 firm orders and 60 options - will extend the company's hub radius from about 400 to 1,200 miles and significantly increase passenger capacity. The carrier's longest CRJ route so far is Atlanta-Detroit, at 595 miles more than twice the distance of its average market. "We have identified many potential long-haul markets that we believe we can effectively serve from our Atlanta hub with the CRJ.
Delta traffic for April increased 4.7% on 2% more capacity, forcing load factor up to 74.2% from 72.7%. Domestic traffic grew 3% on 0.3% more capacity, while international traffic rose 11.1% on 11.4% more capacity. The domestic load factor gained 1.9 percentage points to 73.9% and the international load factor fell 0.3 points to 75.1%. So far in 1998, Delta's total traffic grew 1.8% on 1.4% more capacity. Delta carried 9 million passengers in April. April 98 April 97 4 Mths 98 4 Mths 97
AB Airlines, the second British airline to be listed on the London stock market, has published an expanded summer program, to be launched May 24. The airline will offer 2,104 seats per day, up from 1,040 seats in summer 1997. The start of the summer schedule coincides with the introduction of Boeing 737-300s on most of the carrier's London Gatwick services. The airline said it intends to seek more partnership and code-share deals similar to the one completed recently with Aer Lingus.
US Airways posted a 1.7% traffic gain in April as its capacity shrank 3.9%. The load factor reached a record 77.7%, up 4.3 percentage points. Domestic traffic fell 0.2% on 4.8% less capacity, while international traffic increased 19.9% on 5.3% more capacity. Total capacity dropped 5.1% this year, and US Airways carried 536,000 fewer passengers in the first four months of 1998 than in the same period last year. April 98 April 97 4 Mths 98 4 Mths 97
Air Europa, based in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, has signed to lease a sixth Advanced Turboprop from British Aerospace Asset Management. The carrier will use the latest aircraft in both island and Mainland Spain, operating to Madrid, Barcelona, Valladolid, Bilbao, Mahon, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Granada, Valencia, Alicante, Zaragosa and Vitoria.
Alaska Airlines will launch nonstop roundtrips Oct. 25 between Los Angeles and La Paz, Mexico. Subject to government approval, the carrier will offer twice-weekly service using 140-seat MD-80 aircraft. Flights will originate in Seattle and stop in Los Angeles.
Comments by United Chief Executive Gerald Greenwald likening carriers left behind by alliances to "Hudson and Studebaker" sent a message to TWA employees, an executive of the St. Louis carrier said. The message: United's status as a 56% employee-owned company "has not stopped [it] from stating that your airline is the 'Studebaker' of the industry and that one of his [Greenwald's] business objectives is to eliminate your job."
National Transportation Safety Board dropped several previous recommendations for FAA from its latest list of most-wanted transportation safety improvements. The board retained its listing of explosive mixtures in fuel tanks, airport runway incursions and airframe structural icing as areas FAA still needs to address. It dropped recommendations concerning Mode C, pilot background checks, wake vortex turbulence, fire suppression and expanded parameters for flight data recorders.
Swissair Chief Executive Jeff Katz, fresh from adding AOM of France to the carrier's roster of European partners, is building a team of airlines to cover all corners of the continent. Swissair agreed to acquire a stake in AOM (DAILY, April 30) less than a month after reaching a similar deal with TAP Air Portugal. Turkish Airlines, one of the fastest-growing carriers in Europe, Sabena and Austrian Airlines comprise the "Qualiflyer Group" (DAILY, March 31). "To really cover Europe broadly, we need a good group of carriers," Katz told The DAILY.
TWA traffic for April rose 11.1% on 1.9% less capacity, which boosted the load factor 8.9 percentage points to a record 75.8%. In each of the last 11 months, the airline has set a load factor record. Domestic traffic grew 10.7% last month on 1.9% less capacity, forcing the load factor up 8.4 points to 74.2%. International traffic grew 13.1% on 2.3% less capacity, which caused the load factor to jump 11.4 points to 84%. Year-to-date systemwide traffic has risen 4% on 1.1% less capacity.
U.S. Carriers Food Expense Fourth Quarter 1997 Major Carriers Cost Food Per Passenger Alaska 11,769,000 3.98 America West 5,841,217 1.33 American 153,501,000 7.79 Continental 41,237,000 4.24 Delta 93,197,000 3.65
United's total traffic in April rose 1.1% on 3% more capacity, forcing the load factor down 1.3 percentage points to 69.2%. As the airline redeployed capacity from the Pacific to other markets, it experienced load factor declines in all divisions except North America. Pacific traffic plunged 14.7% on 8.6% less capacity, which resulted in a load factor of 62.2%, down 4.4 points. Atlantic traffic increased 11.6% on 17.4% more capacity, pushing the load factor down 4 points to 77.5%.
US Airways and Holiday Hospitality are offering the carrier's frequent flyers dividend miles for staying at Holiday Inn hotels and Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts. Travelers can receive up to 2.5 miles for every dollar spent on a qualifying room rate, with triple miles per qualifying stay until July 17.
American is adding electronic ticketing to its Apollo/Galileo International computer reservations systems for U.S. and Canadian travel agencies for flights in the U.S., Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Europe, except for U.S.-Canada transborder flights.
Kiwi International Airlines saw a 19% rise in traffic and a 6% drop in capacity for April this year over last year, pushing the load factor up 14 percentage points, taken by the Newark-based carrier as a sign that it is returning to health. Kiwi reported 48.8 million revenue passenger miles and 80.6 million available seat miles, creating a 60% load factor. Passengers enplaned were up 6% to 53,075. For the first quarter of this year, Kiwi saw a 44% jump in RPMs and a 27% rise in ASMs over last year's first quarter, which caused the load factor to rise 14 points.
British Airways, which this week delayed launch of Denver-London Gatwick service for lack of DOT approval, although the route is permitted under the Bermuda 2 agreement (DAILY, May 6), attributed the department's foot- dragging to a complaint by US Airways. The U.S. carrier urged DOT not to act on BA's Denver request until US Airways obtains a Gatwick slot it considers commercially viable for planned service from Charlotte (DAILY, March 13, April 29).
Mexicana discarded its history as a single-class airline yesterday, introducing business class in another step toward raising service levels to match partners United and Lufthansa. Mexicana understands that its chances of joining the Star Alliance are in the hands of existing members, "but perhaps we can be a more likely Star Alliance partner in 1999," said Jaan Albrecht, Mexicana's senior VP-sales and marketing.
C-S Aviation firmed up 10 options and placed 10 more options for British Aerospace Aviation Services to convert A300B4 aircraft to freighters. The contract is valued at $85 million, including maintenance. It brings the New York-based leasing company's firm orders for the conversions to 31 aircraft.
