Airbus and Fokker Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Third Quarter 1997 A320-100/200 America West Northwest United Total Number of Aircraft Operated 26 50 42 118 Total Fleet Operations Departures 126 201 141 468
US Airways is "the most attractive candidate" for a code-sharing alliance or an outright merger, said Julius Maldutis, analyst with Salomon Smith Barney."We expect rapid industry consolidation in light of the Continental/Northwest announcement," he said in a message to investors. US Airways will announce its widebody order - 12 firm, 12 option aircraft from Boeing or Airbus - on Feb. 15 "or shortly thereafter," he said.
A federal district court in Atlanta awarded Delta a $9 million judgment against unauthorized ticket operations by International Award Travel in Houston and World Plus Inc. in Fairbanks, Alaska. International advertised in newspapers that it buys and sells frequent flyer tickets, purchased the tickets and awards from members of Delta's frequent flyer program, and transferred them to ticket broker World Plus. World Plus then sold Delta frequent flyer tickets to passengers as discount tickets, Delta said.
Delta will expand into Central America with six new daily nonstops from Atlanta, beginning in April. Service to Panama City, Guatemala City, San Salvador and San Jose will begin April 5, following the start of flights from Atlanta to Caracas on April 1. Delta will offer 619 flights and more than 105,000 seats daily from Atlanta once it adds domestic frequencies to Seattle, San Francisco and Sarasota.
NASA has budgeted $17 million in fiscal 1999 to begin a six-year effort to develop and ground test a full-scale supersonic transport engine. Funding for the Mach 2.4 engine will grow to $73 million in fiscal 2000, $97 million in fiscal 2001, $117.6 million in fiscal 2002 and $156.8 million in fiscal 2003. To meet emission standards and keep fuel consumption low enough for profitability, the new engine will use ceramic components for operation at temperatures as high as 3000 degrees Farenheit, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin said.
Noisy aircraft landing at Brussels Airport International (BAI) are feeling the pinch of new penalties levied by airport authorities this month. The noisiest Chapter 2 aircraft began paying significantly higher fees on Feb. 1, with the heaviest penalties imposed on night arrivals and departures between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. For example, a fully loaded 747 freighter now pays 95,805 Belgian francs (US$2,683) in landing fees, a hike of nearly 50%. Older 707s pay BEF48,000 ($1,344) versus BEF40,000 ($1,120).
Willis Lease Finance has received the February rent payment from now- defunct Western Pacific. Willis and its affiliate have three engines on lease with a net book value of $8.7 million. The company retains security deposits and prepaid rents equal to 2.8 times the monthly payment total.
Problems at Western Pacific began long before President and Chief Executive Robert Peiser took over the helm in December 1996, airline industry analysts say. From the beginning, Westpac had no route strategy, no marketing plan and no brand identity, said an airline industry analyst who asked that his name not be used.
Air Wisconsin saw a slight 0.5% rise in traffic and a 1.7% increase in capacity, which caused the load factor to drop 1.2 percentage points in January 1998 from January 1997. The carrier posted 45.1 million revenue passenger miles, 85.5 million available seat miles and a 52.7% load factor. Passenger enplanements went up 1.2% to 156,992.
America West's January traffic dropped 10.5% on 0.7% more capacity, producing a load factor of 56%, down from 63% in January 1997. Chairman William Franke said January's revenue performance was "in line with our expectations and consistent with the airline's revenue strategy." America West carried 1.3 million passengers last month, about 170,000 or 11.6% fewer than a year ago. January 1998 January 1997 Rev. Passenger Miles 1,114,584,000 1,244,736,000
British Airways reported net earnings of #66 million (US$109 million) in the quarter ending Dec. 31, 29.8% lower than a year earlier. The strong pound sterling hurt the airline's quarterly results by #42 million ($69 million) and the nine-month results by #170 million ($281 million). BA said results in its third fiscal quarter also were hit by late engine maintenance charges of #32 million ($53 million) and Dec. 21 fire at London Heathrow that the airline will claim to insurers cost it #5 million ($8.2 million) in lost revenue and compensation to passengers.
A group of former government officials are forming The Airline Competition Committee, a coalition to celebrate the 20th anniversary of airline deregulation and oppose what it considers re-regulation. Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Neil Goldschmidt and former Civil Aeronautics Board Chairman John Robson will co-chair the panel.
National Transportation Safety Board yesterday asked FAA to alert 737 pilots that "severe vibration of the rudder and rudder pedals may be experienced if the main wheel brakes are applied while airborne."
Interstate Aviation Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States certified the GE90-powered Boeing 777, permitting Aeroflot, the first 777 operator in the CIS, to take delivery in April of its first aircraft followed by a second in October. Both are leased from International Lease Finance Corp.
George Donohue, FAA associate administrator for research and acquisitions, yesterday withdrew his nomination to be deputy administrator and told DOT Secretary Rodney Slater he plans to leave the agency "by early summer." Donohue hand-delivered a letter to Slater expressing frustration after spending 10 months waiting to be confirmed as the deputy administrator. He told Slater the "long, drawn-out nomination and confirmation process, with no end in sight, is not serving the best interests of the FAA at a critical juncture in its history."
KLM will boost flights from The Netherlands to Scandinavia June 1, following the successful acquisition of Norwegian 737 carrier Braathens SAFE. KLM cityhopper will start three-times-daily flights from Amsterdam to Bergen, Norway, using 80-seat Fokker 70s. On March 29, Braathens will operate 156-seat 737s on the Amsterdam-Stavanger, Norway, route, adding 30% capacity at Stavanger. The flights currently are operated by KLM cityhopper.
Baltia Air Lines requested exemption to delay for 120 days its inauguration of service in the New York-St. Petersburg, Russia, market in order to complete FAA certification. The startup, which received operating authority in May 1991, was granted the latest in a series of startup delays in September (DAILY, Sept. 16, 1997), to Feb. 7, when DOT granted Delta use of 1.5 of the five frequencies reserved for Baltia. The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Small Business told Baltia it is ready to set a date for the carrier's initial public offering.
Northwest's flight attendants, represented by the Teamsters, last week announced their support for the Northwest/Continental alliance. The alliance looks "like a winner for flight attendants, the airline and the public," a spokeswoman said.
Airbus and Fokker Aircraft Operating Costs Third Quarter 1997 Dollars Per Block Hour A320-100/200 America West Northwest United Average Crew Cost $568 $568 $641 $540 Fuel&Oil 485 483 495 488
Frontier Friday took delivery of its 14th jet, a new 737-300 leased from Boullioun Aviation Services, bringing to seven the number of 737-300s in its fleet. Frontier also has seven 737-200s.
The seven-year contract between UPS and its Independent Pilots Association, up for a vote by the membership, would increase compensation 27% over the life of the contract. Pilots would get a 21% increase retroactive to Dec. 30, 1995, and gain 6% between 1999 and 2003. IPA President Robert Miller said the contract gives UPS pilots equity with pilots at Federal Express and "begins to close the gap with the major passenger carriers."
Finnair posted a 16.1% jump in passenger boardings, to 550,000, in December 1997, compared with December the year before, boosting the load factor 2.7 percentage points to 72.5%. International passengers ballooned 18.1% to 312,000, while domestic traffic rose nearly as much - 17.5% - to 211,000. Revenue ton kilometers rose 12.3%, but cargo and mail slipped 1.2% to 6.4 million kilograms.
DOT General Counsel Nancy McFadden said critics should stop offering "easy characterizations" to the effect that every initiative against predatory practices amounts to re-regulation. McFadden, speaking on a panel at the American Bar Association Air and Space Law Forum at which Secretary Rodney Slater defended DOT competition policies (DAILY, Feb.
Northwest objected to LTU's request for authority to operate 26 weekly charter flights using 276-passenger 767 aircraft on a Zurich-Miami-Zurich routing for inclusive tours. The German carrier told DOT the proposed operations are consistent with U.S.-Germany open-skies agreement provisions that require each side to give favorable consideration for carriers to operate under comity and reciprocity.
