Cathay Pacific introduced electronic ticketing this week on a single route, Hong Kong-Singapore. Although e-ticketing is available domestically in the U.S. and throughout Europe, Cathay is the first to make it available on service to or from Hong Kong. Robert McFadden, manager distribution automation support, said e-ticketing will be especially beneficial after Hong Kong passenger volume grows with the opening of Chek Lap Kok Airport. Later this year, Cathay will make e-ticketing available on more routes and for travel agent bookings.
Sources familiar with progress in the U.S.-Japan aviation talks say same- country code sharing and the viability of loaned FedEx Narita slots are the two chief obstacles that await resolution. A State Department official said the U.S. is "reasonably optimistic" the two sides can sketch out a framework agreement - an "agreement to agree" - next week, but a few "speed bumps" remain. Formal talks start Tuesday.
The U.S. airline industry, having grown recently without cutthroat competition, may now have too many hubs, a situation that could be improved with airline consolidation, according to an analysis by Lehman Brothers. In its release of The 1998 Hub Factbook, Lehman airline analyst Brian Harris said the industry is entering a "mature, more stable phase" that has resulted in many smaller hubs. There are "too many hubs doing the same thing," Harris said, and the industry would be more efficient with fewer but larger hubs.
Electronic ticketing increased 28% at United last year in the markets where the service was available. About 41% of passenger itineraries in those markets used e-ticket, and the share reached 51% in December. United launched e-ticket on flights to the U.K. Nov. 1, and more than 16,000 U.S.- U.K. passengers selected it in the last two months of 1997.
Iberia will wet-lease three 737s, six 757s and two 767s from Spanish airline company Air Europa, beginning in April, in an effort to "respond appropriately to market growth," the Spanish flag carrier said Friday in Madrid. The aircraft will be operated by Air Europa crews. Iberia said the wet-lease will enable it to increase its volume by 2 million passengers. Air Europa said the operation will enable it to use its capacity more efficiently, without having to reduce frequencies because of the shortage of slots at Madrid and Barcelona airports.
Even before FAA issued an airworthiness directive last week on newer 737s (DAILY, Jan. 9), Southwest had inspected nearly all of its 37 affected aircraft. "We heard the AD might come and we wanted to take action as soon as possible," a spokeswoman said. Nothing abnormal was found. The precaution followed last month's crash of a new SilkAir 737.
Croatia Airlines has become the 27th member of the Association of European Airlines. Founded in 1989, the carrier is headquartered in Zagreb and is the youngest member of the AEA, which is based in Brussels. According to the association, Croatia Airlines carried an estimated 875,000 passengers last year, an increase of 6.3% compared with 1996. The carrier operates five 737-200s, three ATR 42s and one A320.
TWA yesterday launched Trans World First, a domestic first-class service offering gourmet menus, access to TWA Ambassadors Clubs on the day of travel, pre-boarding privileges, priority baggage handling, special curbside check-in at selected points and specially designed ticket jackets and bag tags. The carrier has expanded the first-class section of its DC- 9s, MD-80s and 757s by 60%, and by March it will increase first-class seating on its 727s from 12 to 20.
After lengthy discussions with its flight attendants union, United has postponed until March an experiment that required cabin crew in four cities to talk to a nurse at an outside healthcare agency when calling in sick. The experiment, dubbed "Nurse Nosy" by the flight attendants, began Dec. 15. It required that the 6,500 flight attendants stationed in Denver, Newark, Philadelphia and San Francisco who called in sick speak to a nurse at United Health Care in Minneapolis (DAILY, Dec. 12).
Second NASA/FAA/Defense Department Conference on Aging Aircraft is scheduled Aug. 31-Sept. 3 at the Marriott Hotel and National Conference Center in Williamsburg, Va. The conference is soliciting papers on numerous topics related to fatigue and corrosion damage, testing, risk management, advanced materials and new repair techniques. For more information, call Sonya Herrin at 757-865-7604.
FedEx said yesterday its shareholders approved the issuance of common stock in connection with the acquisition of Caliber System and its package carrier RPS Inc. Caliber System shareholders approved the merger with FedEx on Jan. 9. FedEx said it anticipates the merger will become final by monthend.
The Portuguese Ministry of Finance authorized TAP Air Portugal to launch its privatization process last week in Lisbon. TAP Chairman Manuel Ferreira Lima said there was "no impediment to the first phase of privatization taking place in 1998." The first phase is expected to consist of the sale of a first tranche of 20% of the company's capital. Swissair already has announced it is willing to purchase at least 10% of the Portuguese company's stock. As a first step, the Portuguese government asked independent consultants to value the airline.
KLM and Malaysia Airlines intend to sign a commercial alliance agreement this spring and currently are studying potential areas of cooperation, the Dutch airline said Friday in Amsterdam. KLM will serve Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur daily, beginning this summer, and Malaysia Airlines operates four weekly frequencies. Future cooperation is expected to center on the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur route, which could be fed by KLM's European services and Malaysia Airlines' links with Australia. The carriers also are considering cooperation in ground handling, marketing and sales.
FAA allowed Amerijet to add three aircraft, bringing to seven the total the carrier may operate. Amerijet, which ceased operations voluntarily Dec. 24 under a consent order following an FAA inspection that found deficiencies in its handling operations, was permitted to restart service Dec. 30 under an amended consent order that limited operations to four aircraft flying its established international routes from its Miami hub with its own personnel performing loading and handling operations. The carrier may operate the additional aircraft from points other than Miami.
FAA declined yesterday to confirm or deny newspaper reports that an inspection uncovered what one account described as "more than 100 serious safety violations" at AirTran Airlines, formerly ValuJet. AirTran President Joseph Corr said, however, that FAA told him several weeks ago the inspections had not uncovered any airworthiness problems, and "that means that AirTran meets or exceeds the key safety requirements...
Life cycle costs of the Wide Area Augmentation System through 2016 are now estimated by FAA at more than $3 billion, according to a briefing last Friday for the WAAS Joint Resources Council. The amount is more than 25% greater than the life cycle cost of $2.4 billion for the same period the agency presented Oct. 1 to the House Transportation subcommittee on aviation. WAAS started out as a $500 million program.
DOT is granting interim access under Rule 39 to authorized parties seeking access to confidential documents that will be filed in the new American- LanChile proposal for antitrust immunity. DOT said it will establish further procedures and a schedule for answers and other filings by subsequent order. (Docket OST-97-3285)
Boeing Commercial said yesterday it concluded 1997 with 568 announced orders valued at $42.8 billion, including 17 Douglas aircraft, "compared with 460 gross firm orders worth $29.6 billion reported for 1997 by Airbus Industrie." Boeing said its net orders - gross orders minus cancellations and conversions to other models - totaled 502 aircraft valued at $39.1 million versus Airbus's total of 438 valued at $27.8 billion.
Northwest's Air Line Pilots Association unit has agreed to let the company go ahead with the negotiations for a long-term code-share alliance and stock swap with Continental, but the union is tying that agreement to its contract negotiations. Northwest ALPA spokesman Paul O'Matt said the union hopes to have a tentative agreement on scope provisions when Northwest re- enters talks with Continental, and to sign off on the contract and the code-share alliance at the same time.
Simat, Helliesen&Eichner (SH&E) has purchased Washington, D.C.-based Kurth&Company, an aviation marketing and management consulting firm. Kurth will become SH&E's Washington office.
James Hall, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, will be guest speaker at the International Aviation Club's monthly luncheon, Jan. 21 at the Capital Hilton Hotel, 16th and K Streets in Washington. Cocktails begin at 11:45 a.m. and lunch at 12:30 p.m.
Pilots and flight attendants unions will be busy this year hammering out first-time contracts and resolving some of last year's most bitterly contested negotiations. While nothing as dramatic as American's confrontation with its pilots or last summer's Teamster strike at UPS is predicted for 1998, several unions that have been in long-term mediation could wind up in cooling-off periods with the threat of strikes looming.
Continental presents its filing for Central America service as a counterweight to the proposed approval of the American-TACA alliance and continues to doubt whether Delta will launch much of the service that the carrier recently applied for in the region (DAILY, Jan. 9). Continental wants to take advantage of the opportunities for more service provided by the Central American open-skies accords and integrate the new points with the rest of its system. It asked DOT for an exemption to serve any points between the U.S.
British Airways yesterday instituted an employee stock option program it hopes will lead every employee to take a stake in the airline. BA sent letters to 60,000 workers in 81 countries offering to pay 20% of the cost if they buy shares. Employees already are BA's third-largest shareholder, but 87% of them hold only 4% of outstanding shares. "We would like to see an increase in employee ownership and participation," said spokesman John Lampl.
