Ticket change fees, recently raised to $75 by major airlines, may bring more benefits to smaller or struggling carriers who follow suit. Vanguard Airlines noted in a securities filing that the fees amounted to $2.4 million, or 4.1% of operating revenue, during the January-September period. Vanguard has been charging $50.
A last-minute bid by a group of West Coast investors proposing to finance Mahalo Air for up to $10 million persuaded a bankruptcy court judge on Monday to give the carrier more time in Chapter 11 to come up with a plan for survival (DAILY, Dec. 2). Mahalo Principal Investor Robert Iwamoto told The DAILY two other investors have expressed interest in buying Mahalo. Neither English Worldwide Aviation nor Vista International, Inc. has come up with any cash.
CCAIR improperly operated 21 flights with three Jetstream 31 aircraft in June 1995 without having inspected the windscreens of the aircraft under an effective airworthiness directive and should be fined $94,500, FAA said this week. The AD, which became effective in March 1995, requires airlines to inspect visually certain British Aerospace Jetstream aircraft for cracking of the polyvinyl butyrate interlayer of the left and right windscreens.
The dramatic rate at which Spencer, Iowa-based Great Lakes Aviation has shrunk after deciding in the second quarter to reduce its scope of operation is illustrated by a fleet comparison reported in its third quarter financial statement (DAILY, Nov. 18). As of May 16, when it voluntarily suspended operations temporarily under threat of FAA shutdown, Great Lakes was operating 53 aircraft; it now operates 41, a reduction of nearly 23%. Great Lakes said it still continues "to actively pursue" sale or lease of another six aircraft.
Jean-Pierre Hoss, Air France's general manager-development and international affairs, has resigned, citing "disagreement with the decision not to privatize the company and with the strategy" of the new Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta. Since Spinetta took over from Christian Blanc in September, two other top executives have left the company.
Swissair is bringing closer the members of its "family", said Paul Reutlinger, chairman of Sabena, which is 49.5% owned by SAirgroup, Swissair's parent company. The Belgian airline signed a code-share agreement with TAP Air Portugal yesterday in Brussels. The Portuguese state-owned carrier entered a wide-ranging alliance with Swissair in September. TAP and Sabena intend to increase frequencies between Lisbon and Brussels. Their pact - which will be applied "beyond their respective hubs," Reutlinger said - will become effective in March 1998.
Indonesian aircraft manufacturer IPTN is selling CN-235 turboprop aircraft through the barter of commodities. The company has signed a counter-trade with Thailand for 110,000 tons of rice in exchange for 20 aircraft and 1,500 Proton automobiles. Counter-trade agreements also have been made with Malaysia, Pakistan and South Korea, and deals are pending with Finland and Croatia. Although the deals are based on commodities, IPTN is paid in cash from other government agencies. The nation is buying Russian multi- role fighters for palm oil, coffee and rubber.
Venezuelan carrier Linea Aerea IAACA has ordered one ATR 72-210 turboprop in a deal estimated at $18 million. The aircraft, which will be delivered next month, brings IAACA's fleet to five ATRs - two model 42s and three 72s. IAACA was founded in 1954 as an air spraying company; it later became the largest air taxi operation in Venezuela. It became an airline in 1995.
Varig posted a 4.8% rise in October traffic, while freight volume surged 16.3%. Passenger load factor was 71.6% on international routes and 64.2% on domestic. The airline carried more than 887,500 passengers in October and 8.3 million in the first 10 months of the year.
Correction: Chris Witkowski, director-air safety and health for the Association of Flight Attendants, said, "FAA needs...to set uniform limits on the volume and weight of carry-on bags per passenger." The DAILY Dec. 2 incorrectly used the phrase "per customer." Carry-on baggage is a safety, not a competitive/consumer issue, Witkowski said.
Nonstop Passengers Between The U.S. and World Regions Years 1992 To 1996 U.S. To/From: 1992 1993 1994 Africa 262,997 293,372 367,027 Percent Change * 42.3% 11.5% 25.1% Australasia/Oceania 2,449,429 2,482,536 2,492,433 Percent Change * 2.3% 1.4% 0.4%
United Express affiliate Atlantic Coast Airlines reported a 6.1- percentage-point increase in its load factor last month to 50.4% as traffic jumped 29.6% to 36.6 million revenue passenger miles and capacity climbed 14% to 72.6 million available seat miles. Boardings were up 29.5% to 147,430. Nov. 1997* Nov. 1996 11 Mths 1997* 11 Mths 1996 RPMs 36,619,000 28,256,000 376,702,000 330,307,000 ASMs 72,644,000 63,731,000 767,561,000 704,859,000
Mexicana traffic for October rose 19.8% on 15.3% more capacity, which boosted load factor 2.2 percentage points to 57.7%. Domestic traffic grew 9.5% and international/charter 27.1%. Year-to-date traffic increased 23.6% on 14.9% more capacity.
Europe suffers from exorbitant handling fees at its airports, says the Association of European Airlines. In a new independent study from the U.K.'s Cranfield University commissioned by the AEA, the findings reveal that the average cost of operating a commercial flight in and out of a European airport is "much higher" than at sites in North America and the Far East. It says the cost of turning around a 747-400 at Vienna, for example, is nearly three times that at San Francisco. The cost differences are wide within Europe as well.
Fifty-three percent of airline passengers avoid commuter flights for safety reasons, according to the 1997 Frequent Flyer magazine poll, published this month. The percentage is up from 47% of respondents in the 1996 poll. Only 15% said they changed or canceled a flight because of unease about an airline's or airplane's safety record. The mean percentage of flights on commuter versus larger carriers during the past 12 months was 9.9% versus 11.1% a year ago. And 75% preferred jets when flying to small cities, even if fewer flights were available.
IATA called yesterday on the United Nations' environmental meeting under way in Kyoto to affirm the pre-eminent role of the International Civil Aviation Organization in aviation-related environmental issues. The IATA endorsement of ICAO follows by one day a go-it-alone approach announced by the European Commission concerning emissions from jet engines (DAILY, Dec. 4). IATA noted that an ICAO report on "Aviation and the Global Atmosphere" is due in March 1999.
The $94,500 fine FAA proposes to levy against CCAIR could sting a little. The carrier, which is contesting the fine, posted a net income of just $520,260 for the fiscal year ended June 30 on operating revenues of $68.5 million. But prospects would have been even worse in the prior fiscal year, when the Jetstream operator's $95,755 net profit would have been nearly wiped out by such a fine. FAA says the carrier failed to comply with an airworthiness directive requiring visual windscreen inspections of certain Jetstream aircraft (see story below).
Magellan and Ashtech will merge to become a $125 million satellite navigation, positioning and communications products company. Orbital Sciences Corp. signed an agreement to merge Ashtech into its Magellan subsidiary. The combined company will consist of four key operating units : GPS and GPS plus Glonass solutions under the Ashtech brand; consumer GPS products from Magellan for marine and aviation applications; vehicle navigation products, and Magellan's satellite-based wireless communication products.
Leading Carriers at Top U.S. and Latin America Gateways Year Ending March 31, 1997 U.S. Gateways to Latin America (Nonstop) Inbound Outbound Rank Market Passengers Passengers 1 Miami 5,675,744 5,735,860 American 3,063,122 3,046,798 2 New York Kennedy 1,971,668 1,971,216 American 871,148 871,097
As the bankruptcy hearing on Western Pacific continued yesterday, Frontier told the court it will not submit a bid for Westpac's assets after Westpac's unsecured creditors committee voiced support for a bid by New York-based Smith Management Corp. (SMC). Westpac is petitioning the court for approval of the reorganization financing provided by SMC.
Servisair said it won the aircraft and cargo handling contract for Air Mauritius at London Gatwick for the carrier's new weekly A340-300 service to Port Louis.
Top 20 Carriers Operating Nonstop Between the U.S. and Latin America Year Ending March 31, 1997 Total Total Rank Carrier Passengers Departures 1 American 10,753,596 87,319 2 Continental 2,621,976 29,091 3 Mexicana 2,197,628 21,735 4 United 1,727,651 13,512
EVA Airways will start service in March from Taipei to Osaka Kansai under a code-share agreement with Air Nippon, a subsidiary of All Nippon Airways. The carriers will offer daily service, each operating four weekly frequencies. They have been operating joint flights eight times a week on the Taipei-Fukuoka route for two years, and current plans call for that number to increase to 10. The two airlines were awarded the route after a Japan-Taiwan Consultation on the Exchange of Traffic Rights meeting Nov. 27.
Alaska Airlines reported a 9.9% increase in November traffic from the same month a year ago. A corresponding 11.7% rise in capacity resulted in a 1 percentage-point drop in load factor to 64.2% from 65.2%. Year-to-date RPMs were up 5% and ASMs 2.7%, boosting the load factor 1.5 points. Nov 97 Nov 96 11 Mths 97 11 Mths 96 RPMs 813,000,000 740,000,000 9,478,000,000 9,029,000,000 ASMs 1,267,000,000 1,134,000,000 14,108,000,000 13,740,000,000
British Airways has completed the sale of its London Heathrow catering division to Gate Gourmet, part of SAir Group. The unit's 1,200 employees have transferred to Gate Gourmet with a benefits package and some travel privileges on BA flights. The Heathrow division produces 50,000 meals daily. BA announced the sale in April and the acquisition price was not disclosed.
