AirTran's board voted to give Chief Executive Joseph Corr a $50,000 raise for 1998, to $300,000, even though the company's net loss last year more than doubled to $97 million. AirTran's top executives did not receive any bonus pay last year.
Embraer lost US$13.2 million in 1997 but is forecasting a profitable 1998 after seven years of losses. The Brazilian manufacturer of the ERJ- 145 jet and EMB-120 turboprop said its 1997 turnover, or gross revenue, jumped 84% to a record $766.5 million, compared with $416 million in 1996. Embraer achieved the turnover record by invoicing 71 aircraft, both military and commercial, during the year.
Sixteen aircraft experienced a "total loss" of Global Positioning System signals during a 10-day period in late December and early January, according to a report circulated at the highest levels of the (Continued) Coast Guard. The cause was determined to be a "spurious signal unintentionally transmitted" from Griffiss AFB, Rome, N.Y., the report said.
Bombardier Aerospace's Belfast, Northern Ireland, Short Brothers unit has delivered to GE Aircraft Engines the first nacelle nose cowl for the CF34- 8C1 powerplant to be used on the new Canadair Regional jet Series 700 aircraft, Shorts announced. GEAE will use the nose cowl to test engine fan "blade-off" retention and other characteristics, Shorts said. The Belfast firm, together with GEAE, is responsible for the design, manufacture and certification of the aircraft's engine nacelles, including the thrust reversers.
Comair posted a 13.4% increase in traffic in March to 163.2 million revenue passenger miles, as capacity climbed 5.4% to 265.8 million available seat miles. The passenger load factor increased 4.3 percentage points to 61.4%. Boardings increased 14.2% to 496,594. Comparisons are with March 1997 figures.
Midwest Express reported a 10.6% increase in traffic and a 13% rise in capacity for March 1998 over March 1997, which depressed the load factor 1.4 percentage points. Midwest flew 138.8 million revenue passenger miles and 209.4 million available seat miles, resulting in a 66.3% load factor. Passengers boarded rose 9.7% to 156,988.
The pilot of an Air France A320 that crashed and killed three persons during a 1988 air show demonstration in France was sentenced yesterday to 20 months in jail, with half the time suspended. A court in Colmar in eastern France increased a six-month sentence received last year by the pilot, Michel Asseline, which he appealed. Asseline, who was charged with involuntary homicide, plans another appeal. He accused Air France and Airbus of trying to cover up technical problems in the A320 control system, but French authorities said he was flying too low and too slow.
Estimated production costs of next-generation 737s will exceeded estimated revenue for the first 400 units, Boeing Chairman Phil Condit said yesterday. Boeing will take a pre-tax charge of $350 million on first quarter earnings in addition to previously recognized forward losses of $700 million related to production problems on the next-generation aircraft, he said, and further charges may be necessary. Pre-tax earnings for the first quarter, excluding the charge, are projected to be between $400-$450 million, Condit said.
Northwest will begin Las Vegas-Tokyo nonstop service June 1, operating twice weekly using 747-200 aircraft. The carrier is the first to offer nonstop service in the market. "Las Vegas is one of the most popular U.S. destinations for Japanese tourists, but to this point there have been no direct flights," said John Dasburg, Northwest chief executive. Japanese are the largest group of overseas visitors to Las Vegas. Northwest's connections at Tokyo from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Bangkok, Shanghai, Manila and Seoul are timed to connect with the new service.
Southwest this week opened a $10 million flight training facility in Dallas that includes one of only two Boeing 737-700 simulators. The new 110,000- square-foot facility, next to the airline's headquarters at Love Field, also houses one 737-200 and three 737-300 simulators. When fully used, the training center will handle 300 pilots each day. It currently handles 80.
Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic February 1997 Revenue Ton Miles (000) February February % 1998 1997 Change Domestic Freight 706,943 670,473 5.4 Mail 149,470 143,242 4.3 Total 856,413 813,715 5.2 International Freight 709,276 606,359 17.0
Airbus confirmed that Air Canada signed a contract for five A340-500/600 aircraft, becoming a launch customer for the aircraft. Delivery of two A340-500s and three A340-600s are scheduled in 2002.
DOT Office of Inspector General will review FAA's 1997 National Aviation Safety Inspection Program report on AirTran Airlines, formerly ValuJet. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) asked the OIG to review the NASIP inspection process and the report "as it relates to previous inspections of ValuJet."
Air Wisconsin flew nearly 53 million revenue passenger miles last month, a 5.3% drop from March 1997, as capacity climbed 3.7% to 86.6 million available seat miles. The resulting load factor, 61.2%, was 5.8 percentage points below that recorded in March 1997.
Mesa Air Group posted a 2.9% increase in capacity to 211.8 million available seat miles as revenue passenger miles fell 0.8% to 117.4 million. The resulting load factor, 55.4%, was 2.1 points lower than the same month last year.
Continental began service this week with its first 737-700, one of 64 new Boeing aircraft it will receive this year. The carrier will use the 737- 700 mainly on transcontinental and Latin American routes from Houston and Newark. Its -700s will have 12 first-class and 112 economy seats.
Atlantic Southeast recorded last month a 5.6% decline in capacity to 148.8 million available seat miles as traffic rose 8.9% to 85.3 million revenue passenger miles - resulting in a 7.7-percentage-point increase in the load factor to 57.4%, compared with March 1997. Boardings were up 4.5% to 333,316.
Demand for pilots continues to intensify, driven by the healthy economy and industry. Kit Darby, president of pilot job tracker Air, Inc., says only 25 of the 250 carriers it follows still require new pilot hires to pay for their own training. Some carriers are offering scholarships for qualified pilots, while others are looking at stopping the pay-to-train practice altogether. "We can't know for sure what's going to happen.
American will offer London Heathrow-Manchester service via its code share with British Midland. Manchester, the sixth U.K. point American will serve under the code share, replaces Zurich, which British Midland canceled recently. American serves Manchester nonstop from Chicago and will add Dallas-Manchester on July 5.
Airshow corporate jet and airline customers will be able to receive regularly updated selected content inflight from the Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, starting this spring. The Interactive Journal will offer global business news, information and content from various editions of the newspaper as part of programming offered by Airshow Network in agreement with Dow Jones Interactive Publishing. The Airshow Network is the first airborne communications service to supply corporate jet passengers with news, weather, sports and financial information.
Spirit Airlines is considering moving its headquarters from Detroit to one of six Florida sites or Atlantic City, said Vice Chairman Mark Kahan. Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, St. Petersburg, Orlando and Melbourne, Fla., and Atlantic City have bid for the leisure carrier's headquarters, and Miami- Dade County presented an offer this week. Spirit would build a second maintenance facility, hangar and reservations center at the new site.
American Eagle has named Michele Valdez VP-employee relations. Valdez currently is a senior attorney for American, responsible for employment counseling for Miami, the Caribbean and Latin America.
Passengers like larger inflight meals, and the amount of food carriers serve can make a difference when consumers choose an airline, according to a survey by United and LSG/Sky Chefs. The test, which measured the impact of food and beverage service during a nine-month period, showed that increasing the amount of food can influence customer behavior and revenue, United said.
With the growth of regional airlines and the demand for good pilots, the practice of having pilots pay for their own training is coming under scrutiny, according to pilot instructors and aviation professionals who follow trends in the pilot hiring market. Although many regional operations still require new hires to pay for their own training - called "pay to train," it can cost up to $10,000 - a few have opted to pick up the training tab for all new hires or those pilots who are especially well qualified.
