Korean Air Lines, which curtailed regional service recently, is offering an incredible transpacific fare - $400 roundtrip between Los Angeles and Tokyo. The deal, available only via the Internet, is the first of many Asian destination promotions KAL will offer every two weeks.
Tennessee Sens. Fred Thompson (R) and Bill Frist (R), the latter a member of the Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee, wrote to DOT Secretary Rodney Slater seeking approval of the Simmons/American Eagle application for 60 weekly slot exemptions to fly from Chicago O'Hare to 10 points including Chattanooga. Noting four months have passed without a decision, the senators said American Eagle has committed to start Chattanooga service June 15 if DOT approves the request by the end of February.
China will spend $2.2 billion in 1998 to upgrade its aviation infrastructure, including large projects in Beijing and Shanghai, China's Xinhua news service reported. The major projects in 1998 are terminal expansion at Beijing Airport and construction of Shanghai's Pudong Airport. In addition, six major programs underway include Yanjiagang Airport in Harbin, Gaoqi Airport in Xiamen, a new apron at Urumqi Airport, and construction at Changbei Airport, Nanchang, Meilan Airport, Kaikou, and Zhongchuan Airport, Lanzhou.
Syracuse government officials last week rejected offers of stock from Northern Airlines in exchange for forgiving a two-year-old $90,000 seed money loan to the would-be startup carrier, instead setting a Sept. 1 deadline for Northern to begin the jet service it promised two years ago or pay back the loan plus interest. Members of the Syracuse Economic Development Corp. (SEDCO), a nonprofit agency controlled by the City of Syracuse, voted unanimously against taking a stake in Northern.
Frontier Airlines lost $11.5 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, citing "a glut of excess capacity added to the Denver market" by Western Pacific before the carrier's shutdown. The loss, worse than the $8 million loss a year earlier, came on $33.1 million in revenue. The quarter was marked by "a series of deep-discounted pricing actions by Western Pacific," which Frontier was forced to match, said Frontier Chief Executive Sam Addoms. Two-thirds of Frontier's capacity overlapped with Westpac's.
DOT Secretary Rodney Slater will visit four African nations starting Feb. 20 on a mission to promote transportation development and economic growth under President Clinton's African economic development initiative. Slater will visit Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Mozambique and South Africa, returning Feb. 25.
Pan Am said yesterday it faces "severe liquidity shortfalls" and may not be able to fund its ongoing operation "beyond the immediate future." The airline has received default notices from aircraft leasing firms, and Airline Reporting Corp. has demanded a $3.3 million increase in security deposits. The ARC payment is due by Feb. 23 for travel agent sales and refunds, but Pan Am said in a statement it does not have funds available to pay it. Travel agents sell 70% of Pan Am's tickets.
Lufthansa's board met yesterday to consider forming a short-haul division with six to 14 aircraft using Lufthansa's brand, management and flight crews. But the carrier has not settled on a plan that will lead to progress on the intra-Europe routes and will study the idea a few more weeks.
Mountain Air Express (MAX) will operate fewer flights in the coming week as it makes the transition to become part of Air Wisconsin. Air Wisconsin announced over the weekend it will purchase MAX, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, for $1.5 million from the MAX Acquisition Group. MAX will remain a separate entity and will do business as United Express. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver is expected to approve the transaction Friday.
After a decade of technology investment, Pratt&Whitney plans to certify within three years the PW8000, a geared medium-thrust turbofan for 120- to 180-passenger narrowbodies. P&W is trying to claw back some of the market share it has lost over the past decade to the CFM International joint venture of GE and Snecma, losses only partly offset by its investment in CFMI rival International Aero Engines and the V2500 medium turbofan.
Franco Mancassola, chairman and chief executive of U.K.-based, low-cost, low-fare airline Debonair, has expressed concern about the new British Airways subsidiary GO to the European Commission's competition directorate in Brussels. Mancassola claims the BA subsidiary is not entering the low- cost, low-fare market as a fair and sporting competitor.
United took one more opportunity to question DOT's tentative decision granting code-share authority to the American-TACA partnership, responding in part to American assertions that United submitted incomplete and misleading information by failing to note new competition between U.S. carriers to Central American points. Among these, American said earlier this month, are service introductions by Continental from Houston, Newark and Los Angeles; Delta from Atlanta and United from Chicago.
Sabena's restructuring efforts of the past two years will pay off in substantially improved financial performance for 1997, according to Chief Executive Paul Reutlinger. Speaking in anticipation of the carrier's 1997 final results, expected at monthend, Reutlinger said, "There will be a significant improvement in our operating results" compared with 1996, when Sabena posted an operating loss of 4 billion Belgian francs (US$112 million).
The Association of Flight Attendants is spending millions of dollars to organize flight attendants at Delta, the largest group of unorganized flight attendants in the U.S. AFA's board voted recently to allocate a portion of its budget to organizing, and AFA will open an office near Atlanta Hartsfield Airport in the next few weeks dedicated to the Delta campaign. AFA General Counsel David Borer will head the campaign, which will be one of the largest organizing drives in the country's labor history, AFA said.
DOT's has settled interim allocation of Tokyo Narita frequencies for American, Continental and Delta (DAILY, Feb. 17), but still pending are disputes over long-term authority.
Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management won a contract from the Air Traffic Management Bureau of East China for the Pudong Primary Radar Automation System. The contract, from a unit of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, calls for installation of air traffic control systems at Hongqiao and the Pudong airports.
The US Airways Air Line Pilots Association unit Master Executive Council will meet this evening to discuss a provision in the union's contract that limits the carrier's ability to form code-share alliances. US Airways ALPA spokesman Roy Freundlich said once the MEC meets it will be in a better position to discuss the carrier's agreement to code share to Japan with American and United. Under the terms of the pilots' new five-year contract, US Airways "cannot just go and code share indiscriminately," he said.
London Stansted-based AB Airlines will sell shares on the London Stock Exchange for the first time in April or May in an attempt to raise money for fleet and route expansion. The carrier, which has steadily added service from London Gatwick, announced that Gatwick will be its hub. "Despite strong competition, AB Airlines has secured a number of valuable slots at what is now one of the world's top 10 airports," the airline said. The carrier will target niche routes from Gatwick not served by major airlines.
Lufthansa will fly to Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Amman, Jordan, as part of its newly released summer schedule. The new weekday flight to Sarajevo from Munich and three-times-weekly Frankfurt-Amman service will begin March 29. The carrier will add frequencies on other routes and increase code-share service in the U.S. with Star Alliance partner United and Washington-based Atlantic Coast Airlines, operating as United Express. The summer timetable, through Oct. 24, lists 294 destinations in 91 countries.
Pilots looking for work had a good year in 1997 - 11,936 were hired, according to AIR Inc. Major carriers employed the most pilots, 3,854, followed by nationals with 3,194. Other jet operators hired 1,946 and non-jet operators hired 1,762. AIR Inc. projects an even better 1998, at 13,750 hirings. In January, 1,146 found employment.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic January 1998 (000) January January % 1998 1997 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 767,000 722,000 6.2 Available Seat Miles 1,253,000 1,205,000 4.0 Load Factor (%) 61.2 59.9
China Airlines of Taiwan suffered its second fatal A300 landing accident in four years Monday, at Taipei Chiang Kai-Shek Airport. All 196 people aboard and several people on the ground were killed when the aircraft crashed in fog hundreds of yards short of the runway. The National Transportation Safety Board denied yesterday that the flight data and cockpit voice recorders were on the way to the U.S., saying it had not heard from Taiwan aviation or airline officials.
