Northwest is the latest carrier to cut prices to the Asia/Pacific region, making it cheaper to fly to Beijing than across the U.S. Travel packages from Los Angeles, including air fare and four nights in a hotel, are available to Bangkok for as little as $579 roundtrip.
Airborne Express reported record yearend net earnings of $120.1 million, up from $27.2 million the previous year. Fourth quarter net earnings were $30.8 million, up from $10.7 million. Revenues for 1997 grew 17% to $3.9 billion from $2.5 billion. Fourth quarter revenues rose to $755.5 million from $652 million. Yearend shipments for 1997 were up 17% to 302.7 million, including domestic shipments up by the same percentage to 297 million. International shipments gained 13% to 5 million.
Former DOT Secretary Samuel Skinner was named yesterday to the board of directors of Midwest Express. Skinner, 59, is president of Commonwealth Edison.
Laker Airways told DOT it "strongly objects" to reallocation of its Fort Lauderdale-London designation to US Airways, which requested the authority to inaugurate Charlotte-London Gatwick service. Laker said it intends to operate service on the route in the summer, increasing to three weekly frequencies and using 308-seat DC-10-30 aircraft configured for business- and economy-class service.
U.S. District Court Judge Wilkie Ferguson Jr. reinstated his order dismissing Laker Airways' complaint against British Airways. Laker filed an antitrust suit against BA that was dismissed, then reinstated, and now dismissed again.
KLM's operating income for the December quarter jumped to NLG113 million (US$57 million) from a loss of NLG14 million ($6.8 million), despite a softness on routes to the Asia/Pacific region. The airline posted a net income of NLG46 million ($22 million), after a prior-year net loss. Revenues soared 26.7% to NLG3.23 billion ($1.57 billion). Unit revenues rose 13%, while unit costs grew 8% and yield 11%. In the first nine months of fiscal 1997, the airline's operating income more than tripled to NLG873 million ($423 million).
AirCharterNet online reservations system for the air charter industry has entered an exclusive agreement with Microsoft's Expedia.com travel site to provide on-demand air charter services. As part of the Expedia network, AirCharterNet's system provides a "convenient, unprecedented shopping and booking system" via personal computers. AirCharterNet offers customers price estimates for proposed itineraries, and enables them to solicit price quotes from multiple qualified operators. The company's Web site can be found at www.aircharternet.com.
United's North American stations improved early-morning on-time departures last month by eight percentage points, to 81%, over January 1997. The airline remains nine points below the 90% goal of its Start the Airline Right (STAR) program.
Administration concern with keeping the NASA budget in the $13.5 billion range resulted in proposed fiscal year 1999 funding of $1.31 billion for aeronautics and space transportation technology, dropping $165.9 million, or 11.3%, from $1.47 billion in fiscal year 1998. The budget for aeronautical research and technology took a big hit, dropping $120 million to $786 million from $906 million. The commercial technology program declined to $130.4 million from $146.7 million and the advanced space transportation program fell to $388.6 million from $417.1 million.
FAA said yesterday it will levy two fines totaling $276,000 against Tower Air for "operating two aircraft in an unairworthy condition." The first penalty involves a 747 that Tower flew 32 times with a leaking check valve that caused a fuel migration problem, FAA said. The second penalty involved a 747 that had developed an internal air pressure problem in an engine, the agency said.
Southwest is zeroing in on passengers who take up all the space in overhead bins with carry-on baggage by kicking off its "Don't Be a Bin Hog" campaign (DAILY, Jan. 6). The carrier has modified its carry-on policy - all items must fit in a sizing box measuring 16 inches x 10 inches x 24 inches. All carry-on items must fit in the sizing box or be checked. Although Southwest allows two carry-ons per person, plus small items such as purses, camera bags, and coats, it may restrict carry-ons to one per customer on heavily booked flights.
Justice Department sees no remedy for the competitive threats posed by the American-TACA code share, which received tentative approval from DOT last month. A DOT spokesman said his department would "carefully review" the opinion. In legal or procedural terms, the filing does not block final approval, however.
Boeing 767 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Third Quarter 1997 B767-200 American Delta TWA Number of Aircraft Operated 30 15 12 Total Fleet Operations Departures 55 64 23 Block Hours 336 158 159
American's January traffic increased 0.4% on 0.9% more capacity, resulting in a load factor decrease of 0.3 percentage points to 65.7%. Domestic traffic fell 0.4% on 1.2% more capacity, forcing the domestic load factor down 1.0 point to 63.8%. American's second-largest division, Latin America, posted a 4.1% traffic gain on 6.1% more capacity, lowering the load factor 1.4 points to 70.1%. Atlantic traffic fell 2.1% on 8.1% less capacity, increasing the load factor 4.2 points to 69.2%.
Air Alaska has completed the acquisition of a 70% interest in the Pan Am Air Bridge, a small Miami-based airline operating seaplanes to Bimini, Walkers Cay and Paradise Island, The Bahamas. Air Alaska, a Fort Worth, Texas-based leasing firm, paid $10 million, including the land rights to the seaplane base on Watson Island.
If the Narita slot issue does not disrupt the new U.S.-Japan aviation agreement, carriers will face a significant change in the market, with new competition, greater frequencies, code-share alliances and pressure on Japanese carriers to become more competitive.
Following election of a new board of directors at Mesa Air Group, pilots at subsidiary WestAir are renewing their call to establish WestAir as a partially employee-owned, independent carrier. WestAir pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), have been trying to re-establish a code-share arrangement with United, but the major carrier's management refused to enter discussions without Mesa's permission. WestAir has been unable to obtain that permission, largely because of the imminent resignation of Mesa Chief Executive and founder Larry Risley.
National Transportation Safety Board said it is providing an advisory team to the Philippine government to investigate the crash of a Cebu Pacific DC- 9. The aircraft crashed into a mountain after taking off from Manila with 99 passengers and five crew on board. Several people survived the crash.
DOT issued a notice inviting U.S. carriers interested in operating new services in the U.S.-Japan market to file applications for the U.S.-Japan combination services proceeding no later than Feb. 10. (Dockets OST-98- 3418, 3419)
A Lufthansa working group has completed its analysis of the airline's non- hub routes within Europe and soon the company's executive committee will decide how operations will be altered. "We see deteriorating yields and profits on a number of routes that do not touch our hubs," said Lufthansa spokesman Dan Lewis. "We've got to take steps to improve the profitability of those." One of a dozen options being considered is to start a low-fare airline in the mold of British Airways' Go operation. Lewis said the outcome "will be most likely a combination" of elements.
Western Pacific faces a bankruptcy court hearing today that could lead to a determination of whether it stays in operation. The court will consider several proposals, including Frontier's bid for Westpac assets. Frontier has received a steady stream of Westpac booking conversions this week.
Virgin Express's Belgian pilots and crew members staged a one-day strike during the weekend to protest what they claim are unpaid hours and a refusal of management to communicate routinely with its unions. The two sides plan to meet tomorrow. The Belgian pilots' union gave notice of the strike only the night before, causing the carrier to ground all but a few of its 20 scheduled flights Sunday at Brussels Airport International. Belgian cabin crew members, passenger-handling employees and catering personnel also went on strike.
Arrow Air asked DOT for authority to conduct a long-term wet-lease to Aerolineas Mundo (AMSA), a Dominican Republic air carrier. Arrow wants to wet-lease DC-8-62/63 aircraft to AMSA for all-cargo U.S.-Dominican Republic service. The carriers have entered into a one-year agreement for the service, beginning about Feb. 9, subject to approval by both governments.
