Charlotte, N.C.-based US Airways Express affiliate CCAIR reported net earnings of $393,181, or five cents per share, for its fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, up 22.6% (25% on a per-share basis) from the $320,762, or four cents per share, reported in the 1996 quarter. CCAIR reported that in October its traffic dropped 8.2% to 12.4 million revenue passenger miles, compared with October 1996. But capacity dropped faster - 19.8% to 23.1 million available seat miles - thereby boosting the load factor 6.9 percentage points to 53.8%.
Government officials, "particularly at the DOT," are launching a substantial effort to reregulate the industry and "strip the established carriers of their right to use the competitive weapons they have developed," American Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Crandall told a Washington audience yesterday. Instead, officials are favoring low-cost, new-entrant carriers promising low fares, service to smaller communities "or some other politically defined objective which the market has not satisfied," he said.
Well-known regional airline executive Robert Priddy will become chairman of Lukens Medical Corp. Dec. 1. Priddy was a founder of Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a former president of Air Midwest and the architect of FloridaGulf Airlines (now part of Mesa Airlines), and a founder of ValuJet.
One of three remaining farmers owning land in the middle of what is planned as the second runway at Tokyo Narita Airport has agreed to move, but the two remaining holdouts still refuse even to discuss the sale of their land. The Ministry of Transport and the New Tokyo International Airport Public Corporation intend to complete the second runway, 2,500 meters long and parallel to the current one, before March 2001.
Lufthansa's relations with partners have become critical to its radical restructuring, so much so that the Star Alliance will generate $200 million in pre-tax profits this year, according to President Fred Reid. The code- share relationships lifted Lufthansa's profits just as domestic competition was increasing. Six years after the airline was losing $1 million a day and inching toward bankruptcy, it has lowered unit costs and is almost two- thirds of the way toward achieving DM1.5 billion (US$900 million) in spending cuts. It hopes to reach the goal by 2001.
The order requiring the Independent Federation of Flight Attendants to release funds to the International Association of Machinists, reflecting a change in flight attendant representation at TWA, was issued by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, not the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri (DAILY, Nov. 13).
Great Lakes Aviation flew 15.3 million revenue passenger miles in October, off 42.7% from October 1996. Capacity declined 50.1% to 30.3 million available seat miles, allowing load factor to climb 6.5 percentage points to 50.6%.
Air Canada traffic jumped 13.5% in October on 8.7% more capacity, boosting the load factor 3.1 percentage points to 72.6%. Domestic traffic rose 11.4% on 2.7% more capacity, forcing the load factor up 6.1 points to 78.3%. International traffic increased 14.8% on 12.1% more capacity, and the load factor gained 1.7 points to 69.7%.
"Formal reports" have been made on the failure on three consecutive days of Continental's triple global positioning system units onboard its DC-10s flying over France.In one incident, the backup VOR was not available, leaving the aircraft devoid of navigation capability, according to a U.K. official. Continental had no immediate response. One unconfirmed report said the failures were due to GPS jamming tests under way in France.
Cincinnati-based Delta Connection affiliate Comair posted an 18.7% increase in traffic last month to 165 million revenue passenger miles as capacity rose 8.9% to 263.6 million available seat miles, compared with October 1996. Oct 1997 Oct 1996 10 Mths 1997 10 Mths 1996 RPMs 165,003,000 139,018,000 1,472,368,000 1,265,312,000 ASMs 263,612,000 241,963,000 2,482,271,000 1,265,312,000 LF (%) 62.6 57.5 59.3 57.0
Mesa Air Group this week reported its first annual loss since 1990 - $4.3 million, or 15 cents per share, for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, versus a $30.4 million gain, or $1 per share, a year ago. During that same seven-year period, Mesa's average passenger fare actually fell 10.7% to $74.52 in fiscal 1997 (it averaged $77.04 for the whole period), while the average length of haul was down 4.1% to 208 miles. Yield per revenue passenger mile declined 5.3% to 36 cents. Unit costs rose 5.6% to 19 cents per available seat mile by 1997.
National Transportation Safety Board, FAA and DOT officials stressed the complexity of - and growing need for - methods of preventing runway- incursion incidents yesterday at a House Transportation aviation subcommittee hearing. After dropping regularly through 1993, the rate of incidents grew to 0.33 per 100,000 operations in 1994, 0.39 in 1995 and 0.46 in 1996. The 1996 increase was 19%, and incursions have risen 12% so far this year.
The Dutch cabinet has approved draft legislation to raise landing fees at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in an effort to combat noise. The bill, which amends a two-year-old proposal, goes to the lower chamber of The Netherlands' parliament next week. The original proposal, unveiled in 1995, would have levied a new tax on passengers moving through Schiphol. Transport Minister Annemarie Jorritsma insisted, however, that the tax burden be shifted to airlines.
Members of the International Civil Aviation Organization meeting in Montreal directed the ICAO Council to broaden its safety oversight program, a move that brought praise from DOT Secretary Rodney Slater and FAA Administrator Jane Garvey. ICAO's first-ever special meeting of civil aviation regulators moved on nearly all points the U.S. advocated, including expanding oversight into air traffic control, airports and facilities.
Delta said yesterday it will exercise options to buy 10 Boeing 777-200s under a plan that also includes 20 more options and 30 "rolling options" for 777s. List price for 10 777s is $1.4 billion. Delta said its plan is subject to completing negotiations with Rolls-Royce, manufacturer of the Trent engines that Delta selected earlier this year to power its 777s. The options the carrier plans to exercise are part of a definitive agreement, signed with Boeing last month, that includes 106 firm aircraft orders for delivery through 2006.
Virgin Atlantic Chairman Richard Branson, meeting with European Union officials this week in Brussels, elaborated on the complaint he brought earlier about British Airways' corporate discount and travel agent commission policy. In a preliminary "statement of objections," the European Commission said BA could be in breach of EU competition rules, which prohibit the abuse of a dominant position. Virgin argues that BA offers high discounts on competitive routes such as the North Atlantic to corporate customers who fly BA to other destinations where the dominant U.K.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic June 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) Alaska 54 1,037 56,281 Latin 54 (5.59) 1,037 56,281
...Comair Holdings, by contrast, has been consistently profitable during its past seven fiscal years, seeing its net jump 480% to $75.4 million for the period ended March 31. The average fare, during the same period, was up 21.7% to $114.23 while the average length of haul increased 72.3% to 329 miles as the carrier moves to become an all-jet airline.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Traffic June 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) Alaska 1,064 5.71 846 899,940 America West 1,582 5.92 888 1,405,162
FAA will not issue an airline industry-wide carry-on baggage policy in the near future but will instead focus on educating the public about the hazards of carry-ons, agency officials told the Association of Flight Attendants conference on carry on baggage yesterday in Washington. FAA said it will help airlines clarify their carry-on policies and will distribute educational brochures to consumers, as they did in previous years for seat belts and child safety seats.
Bundeskartellamt, the German antitrust authority, is expected to rule on two massive mergers on the German tourism market by the first of next month, the authority's chairman, Dieter Wolf, said in a recent interview with the daily newspaper Tagespiegel. On the one hand, Lufthansa's charter subsidiary Condor plans an alliance with travel group NUR-Neckerman. On the other, a group including TUI, LTU and Hapag Lloyd is shaping up under the leadership of German bank Westdeutsche Landesbank.
Michael Lexton, managing director of Lehman Brothers, will discuss aviation infrastructure issues and the work of the National Civil Aviation Review Commission on this week's Aviation News Today, to be broadcast Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The program also will include excerpts from American Chairman Robert Crandall's Nov. 13 speech at the National Press Club.
Mountain Air Express followed its majority owner - Western Pacific - into Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, citing a shortage of cash due to revenues tied up in the Airline Clearing House. It failed to make last week's payroll of $250,000, owes the Denver airport $550,000 and its fuel supplier $200,000. Operations continue as normal, however, and President Tom McClain said the company was in negotiations with a group to fund the receivables deficit and invest in the company, eventually taking it public to recover their investment.
