Major U.S. airlines' share of passengers at hubs continues to rise, averaging 79% in the first half of 1997 versus 77% in 1996 and 55% in 1985, according to Northwest data.Since 1996, Continental's and American's shares at Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth rose 3 percentage points to 84% and 66%, respectively. From 1985 to 1997, the share of the second-largest carrier at Minneapolis plummeted from 37% to 4%.
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways, which serves only New York and Los Angeles in the U.S., has built up its North American marketing program via the Internet as some other carriers only began to discover the network's popularity. Cathay, which became in 1994 the first airline to offer special Internet deals, has built an online database of more than 200,000 interested travelers.
DOT approved an initial two-year exemption for US Airways to operate scheduled combination service between Philadelphia and Amsterdam. The carrier plans to begin daily nonstop roundtrips April 29. Amsterdam is US Airways' seventh nonstop European destination. The carrier has applied at DOT to serve Philadelphia-Milan and Pittsburgh-Paris and wants to serve London Heathrow from Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Boston. (Docket OST-97-3179)
Orally approved an exemption for Antonov Design Bureau to operate two one- way emergency cabotage cargo charter flights on Wilmington-Windsor Locks- Seattle and Wilmington-Seattle routings Dec.
Flight attendants at America West, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, yesterday rejected their first tentative contract agreement with the airline by an 88.5% vote. Of the company's 2,000 flight attendants, 1,179 were eligible to vote and 94% cast ballots. "America West flight attendants have waited too long to settle for management's last offer," said the airline's AFA Master Executive Council President Deborah Volpe. She warned that management "had better fasten their seatbelts for a very bumpy ride."
Regional-airline load factors moved upward by an average of 4.8 percentage points, based on a sampling of 14 of the nation's largest regional carriers. The group averaged a load factor of 53.3% during the month, versus 49.2% in November 1996. Individually, Delta Connection Comair led the group with 60.3%, the only carrier to top 60% during the month. AMR Eagle was close behind with 59.5% and Horizon Air came in at 58.3%. Continental Express, in fourth place, posted the biggest overall gain over the previous November, up nearly nine percentage points.
Bombardier Aerospace will acquire AMR Combs' interest in the FlexJet program. Michael Graff, Bombardier Business Aircraft president, said shared aircraft ownership "has proven to be an extremely successful concept and continues to attract new owners into corporate aviation." Bombardier and AMR Combs had cooperated on FlexJet.
Federal Express and its pilots union leaders said yesterday they have reached a first tentative contract agreement. Under the contract, pilots at Subic Bay, the Philippines, will be able to use Memphis as their home station, placing them under the protection of the Railway Labor Act. Protection for the Subic Bay pilots had been one of the major sticking points in the negotiations. The union will vote on ratification of the agreement for Subic Bay pilots this month.
The Dutch cabinet's recent decision to allow more growth at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport "in principle" sends "an important signal to the international business world that the door to The Netherlands is not locked," said Hans Smits, president of the airport. The airport operator agrees with the Dutch cabinet that growth must be regulated according to strict environmental conditions, which the Dutch government will monitor.
San Antonio-based Fairchild Dornier this week reported net earnings of $70 million on sales of $507.3 million for its fiscal year ended Sept. 30. It was the first financial report for the company, formed in 1996 when Fairchild of San Antonio purchased Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH of Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, from Daimler-Benz Aerospace. The company called the results a "significant improvement" from the previous year, which included large losses at Dornier before the acquisition.
Barry Valentine leaves FAA today, stepping down as acting deputy administrator and returning to his home in Annapolis, Md. A replacement has not yet been selected, FAA said.
Northwest and its pilots union have been unable to agree on whether a proposal to purchase a 14% stake in Continental and form a code-share alliance is dead or alive. The union is continuing to look at details of the proposal despite management's contention that the deal is off. A source close to the talks said the pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, still consider the deal viable provided the company gives them time to look at how it would affect them as shareholders and whether it would violate the scope clause of their contract (DAILY, Dec. 17).
Atlantic Coast's request for 36 Chicago O'Hare regional-jet exemption slots would bring to five the number of United Express carriers feeding the hub if that and all other slot requests are approved. The incumbent carriers are Air Wisconsin, Great Lakes and United Feeder Service, which is owned by Trans States' Hulas Kanodia. The fourth is Trans States, which separately asked for 18 slots for as-yet-unordered Canadair Regional Jets, and ACA is the fifth.
Raytheon Aircraft received an order from Proteus Airlines in Lyon, France, for 10 Beech 1900D turboprops in a contract Raytheon valued at about $50 million, including aircraft, training, spares and technical publications. Proteus is expected to take delivery of the first aircraft this month with the rest to be shipped through the third quarter of 1998.
British Airways issued a contract to Oxford Air Training School, part of CSE Aviation Group, to train about 80 cadet pilots per year for two years. The contract is the "largest ever" of its kind, said the school's VP- marketing, Peter Moxham. Paul Douglas, a senior BA pilot responsible for cadet pilot training, praised CSE for continued high training standards and said BA needs more pilots because of booming business and better fleet utilization.
FAA will report today to House Appropriations transportation subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-Va.) on Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System human factors tests conducted last week at the FAA Technical Center in Atlantic City, N.J. The tests identified 99 issues that need work, none of them show-stoppers.
DHL International said it will add nine Airbus A300B4-200 converted freighters to its European fleet over the next year. The first aircraft arrived yesterday in Brussels.
Aermacchi is another example of switching focus to commercial projects. It contracts with Fairchild Dornier to build the cockpit and forward fuselage of the 328 series and assemble the complete fuselage except for the tail cone and empennage that is built by Dornier Luftfahrt in Germany.
Southwest took delivery of Boeing's first 737-700 Wednesday, nearly two months late because of the manufacturer's production problems. Southwest has ordered 63 of the aircraft.
American's Miami hub will endure competition from several U.S. hubs, including one it may not expect.New Latin American service is planned from Atlanta, Chicago and Houston, and Dallas/Fort Worth Airport is promoting itself as the fastest-growing gateway that will reduce Miami's Latin America domination.
Western Pacific founder Ed Beauvais has sold 600,000 shares of common stock in the bankrupt carrier, netting about $300,000.A Wall Street source said Beauvais' action may lead other investors to sell, fearing that the outcome of Smith Management's reorganization will render the stock worthless.
Friends of American employees will pay at least 50% more to fly than they do now, effective Jan. 1 under a new rate structure that has raised the hackles of the airline's unions (DAILY, Dec. 10.) American President Don Carty said the employee travel program is a money-loser and defended the increase in travel costs for employees and their friends - despite record profits - as necessary to stay competitive. "Any number of things can quickly turn our present good fortune to ashes," Carty said.
Bombardier Aerospace is preparing for the first flight of its 70-seat de Havilland Dash 8Q Series 400 this month. The Canadian manufacturer unveiled the regional turboprop last month at its de Havilland facilities in Downsview, Ontario. Rollout comes two and one-half years after the program's official launch, with certification scheduled in first quarter of 1999. The flight test program, which will occur at the Bombardier Flight Test Center in Wichita, Kan., will involve four aircraft over the next year.
Regional Airline Association's list of the top 20 regional airlines for the third quarter, as ranked by enplanements, can be seen above. Also tabluated are third quarter traffic statistics (DAILY, Dec. 17)
