British Airways, answering a motion to suspend American-BA antitrust immunity procedural dates, complained of ex parte communication between US Airways and DOT. Delta, TWA and United filed the motion after DOT asked to review materials from the US Airways breach of contract suit against BA stemming from their failed alliance. US Airways filed in support of the motion. According to a BA account filed with DOT last week, US Airways asked in February for permission to use the court documents in the separate American-BA case.
The United-Delta, US Airways-American and Northwest-Continental alliances and increasing government scrutiny could usher in a new era of benevolence on the part of big carriers toward smaller players, airline industry analysts speculate. Small carriers won't be unduly harmed by the alliances because they serve niche markets, and they may actually find the big carriers acting less aggressively to avoid attracting attention as they face allegations of anticompetitive behavior.
US Airways launched service between Philadelphia and Amsterdam, its seventh European destination, using a 767 with its new Envoy Class premium service.
Boeing Co. is considering moving flight test activities from facilities in Seattle, Wash., to Long Beach, Calif., to even out workloads at the two locations and reduce pressures in Seattle. Company officials said the shift is among options being assessed as workers in Seattle try to attain high production rates and rates at the former Douglas Aircraft facilities in Long Beach decline. Boeing acquired Douglas last year. Officials said the shift might include "B-1" flight testing, the first flights a new airplane makes.
Tower Air applied at DOT to renew for three years its exemption to provide scheduled combination service between New York and Cairo via Athens. The carrier said it has not been able to begin service to Cairo "because of the political instability of the area" but hopes to launch the service in June 2000, "assuming that this problem has been resolved by that time." The exemption, granted last year, also allowed the carrier to integrate the exemption with its existing exemption and certificate authority, which it also seeks to renew.
Midway is offering introductory fares for its new daily service between Raleigh-Durham and Columbus, Ohio which begins June 15. Fares starting at $69 one way based on roundtrip purchase are available through May 7. Midway is the only carrier offering nonstop jet service in the market, said Senior VP-Marketing and Sales Mark Coleman.
American was able to avoid cardiac-related diversions nine times in the past six months because it had defibrillators on its aircraft. Although one industry study placed cardiac problems low on the list of inflight medical incidents, American Medical Director Dr. David McKenas said about one-third of the carrier's diversions in 1996 were caused by suspected cardiac emergencies. Most of the passengers were found ultimately not to be suffering serious cardiac problems, but each diversion cost American $10,000 to $30,000.
Lockheed Martin's Aeronautics Sector consolidated aftermarket spare parts and logistics services into a new unit of its Aircraft&Logistics Centers, based in Greenville, S.C.
Boeing has delivered its first 737-800 to launch customer Hapag-Lloyd of Germany, which has ordered 16. The 737-800 can carry as many as 189 passengers.
Running a profitable airline has little to do with traditional benchmarks - load factor, unit costs and yield - and everything to do with yield management, ownership structure, customer satisfaction and other factors, an SH&E survey shows. The study, spearheaded by senior VP Don Garvett and presented last week at the International Airline CEO conference in Orlando, also showed that stage length and relative unit revenues were key predictors of profitability.
Forcing major airlines to maintain low fares for a time after they drive out new entrants is a "good suggestion," ranking House Transportation Committee member William Lipinski (D-Ill.) said at last week's House aviation subcommitteehearing. The idea was suggested by a consumer filing comments on DOT's predatory competition policy (DAILY, April 17). DOT's Charles Hunnicutt said DOT wouldn't want to require that kind of behavior.
Southwest named James Wimberly executive executive VP-chief operations officer replacing Gary Barron, who will remain as executive VP; Dave Ridley VP-ground operations; Joyce Rogge VP-marketing and Donna Conover VP- inflight service and provisioning.
Northwest canceled several dozen flights throughout its system last week as a result of work slowdowns, mainly by machinists at Detroit Metro Airport. The company attributed the cancellations to a small group of employees engaged in a variety of illegal work actions to protest the pace of contract negotiations. Ray Vecci, executive VP-customer service, issued a statement of apology to travelers whose flights were canceled and said he recognized it would be difficult to win back their loyalty.
Figgie International will seek shareholder approval at its annual meeting May 20 to change its name to Scott Technologies Inc. The proposal reflects the company's strategy of trying to build its business around its Scott Aviation division.
FAA named Mary Walsh assistant chief counsel for legislation and Thomas Zoeller deputy assistant chief counsel for legislation. Walsh was minority counsel for the House Transportation aviation subcommittee and earlier was staff attorney for the litigation and regulation/certification divisions of FAA's Office of Chief Counsel. Zoeller has been legislative assistant since 1995 for Senate Commerce Committee member Wendell Ford, who is retiring. Previous posts include counsel for the Senate Rules Committee.
Eagle USA Airfreight said second quarter revenues increased 47% to $90.5 million while net income rose 35% to $4 million. For the first half of its fiscal year, revenues grew 46% to $188 million while net income jumped 32% to $9.9 million. The carrier said it experienced "strong same-terminal revenue growth" in the latest quarter, in which the gross profit margin was 44.1%, up from 43.4%.
Union-Transport reported revenues of $529 million for its fiscal year ended Jan. 31, compared with $504 million the previous year. The freight forwarder's operating profit was $16.6 million, up from $14 million, and net profit was $11 million, up from $8.2 million. The company said almost two-thirds of its worldwide revenues are in currencies other than dollars, and its revenues were adversely affected by a strengthening dollar.
Comair is on a pace to become the 11th major U.S. airline sometime in 2001, when its revenues should top $1 billion. The regional carrier currently serves 80 cities - 50% more than Southwest - and took delivery of its 60th regional jet last week.
Revenue management systems, glorified by major carriers, still are used by only 105 of the world's 1,472 scheduled airlines, according to Graham Parker, VP-marketing for PROS Strategic Solutions. Customers using PROS systems have averaged 3%-7% in revenue gain, and some got boosts greater than 10%. Revenue management systems can take several months, "or sometimes just weeks," to pay back the initial investment, he said.
