The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has ruled that TPI International Airways should have access to a DOT Inspector General's report that could exonerate the small cargo carrier from alleged violations used to shut it down in August 1990. The document - the "Dutch memorandum" - is the result of a review of FAA enforcement activities against TPI conducted by DOT IG Special Agent Dennis Dutch. TPI lost an Air Force contract as a result of the shut-down, after it alleged that its Lockheed Electra aircraft were being sabotaged at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.
American Eagle, preparing to unify its four regional carriers into a single organization effective July 1, has named a VP-flight operations for the single-carrier organization and six new hub VPs. Also this week, flight attendants at the four Eagle carriers approved a new contract by a substantial margin. Ed Criner, currently VP-flight operations for Eagle unit Flagship, will become VP-flight operations for the unified carrier, and report to Dave Kennedy, senior VP-operations.
Atlantic Coast Airlines has opened a $10 million, 90,000-square-foot aircraft maintenance facility at its Washington Dulles Airport hub. The facility centralizes ACA's maintenance resources and improves the maintenance department's ability to support ACA's growing flight schedule.
Federal appeals court in Atlanta has overturned lower federal courts that refused to allow TPI International Airways access to a DOT Inspector General's report that the small Brunswick, Ga., cargo carrier says will exonerate it from FAA violations leading to its shut-down in August 1990.
Eight regional-airline stocks increased in value by an average of 8.9% during February. The average price per share for the eight issues was up from $22.23 at the January close to $24.21 on Feb. 27. The increase was led by United Express Atlantic Coast with a $7.13 jump in stock price, up 19.7% to $43.38. It was followed by Delta Connection Atlantic Southeast, which was up $5.75 per share, or 16.7%, to $40.25 on the month.
Northwest's February traffic rose 1.4% on 2.7% more capacity, forcing the load factor down 0.9 percentage points to 70%. Domestic traffic, 59.6% of the system total, edged up 0.3% on 1.4% more capacity, easing the load factor 0.7 points to 67.4%. International traffic, 40.4% of the system total, rose 3% on 5% more capacity, resulting in a 74.1% load factor, down 1.4 points. February 1998 February 1997 2 Months 1998 2 Months 1997 RPMs 5,179,269,000 5,106,807,000 10,582,539,000 10,330,618,000
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic, Third Quarter 1997 Total Operating % Passenger Freight Revenues Change Revenues Revenues Alaska 14,498,000 9.01 13,959,000 76,000 Latin 14,498,000 9.01 13,959,000 76,000 American 1,394,986,000 8.98 1,224,785,000 82,369,000
American's proposal to incorporate Continental into an otherwise routine review of Northwest-KLM antitrust immunity serves no purpose other than American's, the three carriers said. American wants DOT to conduct a full- fledged proceeding on renewing immunity and filed to include Continental after the Northwest investment in Continental was announced. Northwest and Continental also plan to code-share to Japan and beyond.
Seattle-based Horizon Air has cut its lowest fares to Sun Valley, Idaho, by up to 50% for travel April 1 through June 13. Discounted fares are available from "dozens" of Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines cities, Horizon said, and start as low as $50 each way.
Finnair will sign a commercial cooperation agreement with Polish flag carrier Lot next week in Warsaw, according to Finnair Chairman Antti Potila. Quoted yesterday by Finnish business daily Taloussanomat, Potila said the agreement will lead to new routes between Finland and Poland. He emphasized that Lot, like Finnair, sealed an alliance recently with British Airways
United's February traffic fell 2.2% on 2.8% more capacity, resulting in a load factor of 65.1%, down 3.3 percentage points. The airline said yesterday it expects both revenues and expenses for the first quarter to be lower than in the 1996 period, but its earnings forecast remains unchanged, consistent with Wall Street's First Call earnings estimate of $1.55 per share. "U.S. demand remains healthy, but we are disappointed in the falloff in Pacific traffic," said United President John Edwardson.
Los Angeles Airport officials said passenger volume increased 3.7% in 1997 to 60.1 million. Cargo tonnage was up 8.9% to 2 million and aircraft operations increased 2.3% to 781,492. International passenger traffic rose 5.1% to 14.7 million and international air shipments 10.1% to 843,247 tons.
..SkyWest surprised many in the industry by bucking the regional-jet trend and ordering turboprops, which some analysts predict are a dying breed. VP-Market Development Steve Hart told The DAILY, however, that the carrier needed aircraft quickly and that it was not practical to acquire other aircraft on such short notice. On the other hand, he said most of the West Coast routes are short-haul, high-frequency and low-yield, not really suitable for jets. Given the yield environment, Hart said SkyWest ultimately would probably replace its Brasilias with turboprops.
Kellstrom Industries said it signed an agreement to acquire Integrated Te chnology for $20 million cash and other considerations. ITC is a supplier of jet engines and jet engine parts, mainly for Rolls-Royce and Pratt&Whitney products. It supplies 75 customers, including major airlines and jet engine repair facilities. ITC's income has grown from $16 million in 1995 to $30 million in 1997, Kellstrom said.
Mesa Air Group's new board is hiring an executive search firm to help find a replacement for Chief Executive Larry Risley, who announced Dec. 5 that he planned to retire. The board's selection committee said it will consider both inside and outside applicants.
DOT granted UPS an exemption to provide scheduled cargo service between points in the U.S. and Tokyo and beyond Tokyo to Taipei and Singapore, and between points in the U.S. and Osaka and beyond Osaka to Taipei and Manila. The exemption will last one year or until 90 days after final action on UPS's application for certificate authority to serve the same routes, in Docket OST-98-3477.
Alaska Air Group subsidiary Horizon Air flew 73 million revenue passenger miles last month, a 14.1% increase from 64 million a year earlier. Capacity increased 13.3% to 122 million available seat miles, as the load factor rose 0.4 percentage points to 60% from 59.6% in the prior period. Boardings grew 7.5% to 289,000.
Northwest Airlines Cargo said this week it will begin daily flights fr om Osaka to Taipei April 5. The DC-10-30 flight is an extension of the carrier's Seattle-Osaka service.
United Express SkyWest will increase its Brasilia fleet by 60% and double its daily flights for United as it absorbs the West Coast operations of Mesa and Mesa unit WestAir. Ten additional Brasilias will come from United Express Great Lakes Aviation, 10 from Delta Connection Comair and 10 from its recent order for 20 from Embraer, increasing the fleet from 50 to 80. Number of daily departures will increase to 600 from 300. Employment will increase to 2,900-3,100 from 2,100.
Omni Air International is buying two DC-10-30s from Condor Flugdienst, bringing its DC-10 fleet to four. The charter carrier said the aircraft, to be delivered in November and June, will seat 370 in charter configuration.
DOT will issue its long-awaited predatory practices guidelines in about two weeks, Deputy Assistant Secretary Patrick Murphy told the Senate Appropriations transportation subcommittee yesterday, giving carriers the information they say they need to avoid running afoul of DOT antitrust policy. Murphy said "jawboning" majors away from questionable activity has increasingly failed to work during the past two years, and control of gates by major airlines merits more attention from DOT and FAA.
Business Express Airlines d/b/a Delta Connection may terminate its service at Lebanon, N.H., effective April 16, DOT has decided. The carrier was required to notify DOT 90 days in advance of its planned cessation of service because its operations constitute more than one-third of the community's present service to FAA-designated hubs. Lebanon's essential air service determination requires at least two weekday and four weekend roundtrips to both Boston, nonstop, and New York, with one stop, providing at least 62 seats in each direction.
Spencer, Iowa-based United Express affiliate Great Lakes Aviation enjoyed a 4.2-percentage-point increase in its load factor to 45% last month, as revenue passenger miles declined 33.3% to 13.4 million but available seat miles plummeted 39.5% to 29.7 million. Boardings were off 31.8% to 45,536. Drastically reduced traffic and capacity levels reflect the elimination of flying in the Southeast, Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. As announced earlier, Great Lakes will add United Express service at 14 points from Denver beginning April 23, replacing Mesa.
LanChile increased service this week to Lima, Peru, from Santiago, Chile, Los Angeles and New York. After hearing that the Peruvian government allowed more air transport access for Chilean carriers, LanChile increased weekly Santiago-Lima frequencies from seven to 21. The airline now provides daily nonstop service from both New York and Los Angeles to Lima and expects to offer additional flights from Miami to Lima.
