Three days of open-skies talks begin today between U.S. and Peruvian negotiators in Lima. The first open-skies pact in South America was initialed last week with Chile, but there's a hitch: the Chilean government will sign formally only if the U.S. approves the proposed American/LanChile alliance.
The European Union's draft directive on improving the operational safety of third-country aircraft using EU airports should contain tighter reporting rules, according to the European Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee. In a report adopted last week, the panel calls for rapid and wide dissemination of data on maintenance and operational deficiencies, plus regular reports on grounded aircraft from non-EU countries. The committee also urges EU nations to set up proper appeals procedures for aircraft operators.
Strict cost controls and improving traffic and yields enabled KLM to report first half operating profits of 754 million Dutch guilders ($388 million), nearly triple the year-ago period. In addition, KLM booked an NLG 421 million ($217 million) bonus profit on the sale of the first tranche of Northwest Airlines stock. With the additional gain, net profits reached NLG 1.1 billion ($553 million), up 103% over NLG 529 million in the first half of fiscal 1996.
British Airways World Cargo has launched direct service from London Heathrow to Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan. Operated with a 777 aircraft, the service will depart Heathrow on Monday and Friday and return on Tuesday and Saturday.
DOT is proposing to push back by 15 months the expiration date of rules governing computer reservations systems. The rules currently terminate Dec. 31, but DOT said it wants to carry out an "extensive re-examination of the need for CRS regulations.
American is opposing a United petition to FAA for the return of Chicago O'Hare slots withdrawn from United before 1993, when Congress limited further slot withdrawals from carriers at the airport. United told FAA that since DOT found capacity at O'Hare for recent slot exemptions, the 16 slots used by United for international service but taken before 1993 should be returned to it. "In effect," American said, "United is seeking, for itself, exemption slots." American quoted the categories for exemptions under U.S.
FAA is disappointed with safety oversight provided by some foreign governments whose airlines serve the U.S., Administrator Jane Garvey said yesterday. Speaking at an international air safety seminar in Arlington, Va., Garvey cited the program FAA began several years ago to assess whether countries whose airlines serve the U.S. are meeting their regulatory obligations under the Chicago Convention. These obligations "require them [foreign governments] to provide oversight and regulate their airlines," she said.
American Airlines' October traffic increased 1.6% on 2.9% more capacity, causing the load factor to drop 0.9 percentage points to 69%. Both domestic and international load factors declined. Pacific traffic, which accounted for just 2.1% of the October systemwide total, surged 15.4% on 0.5% more capacity, boosting the load factor 10.8 points to 84%. Latin American traffic rose 9.6% on 16% more capacity, and Atlantic traffic dropped 3.9% on 6.5% less capacity. October 1997 October 1996 10 Months 1997 10 Months 1996
Rockwell said yesterday it will enter the in-flight entertainment (IFE) market by acquiring airborne interactive IFE system provider Hughes-Avicom International. The company said it has been studying the IFE venture for more than a year and will make the acquisition part of its Collins electronics business. Rockwell expects the acquisition to be completed this year and did not disclose the terms.
TOP 25 U.S. DOMESTIC CITY-PAIR MARKETS UNDER 750 MILES O&D Passengers First Quarter 1997 Short Total Average Haul Markets Non-Stop Passengers City-Pair Rank Rank Mileage Per Day Honolulu - Kahului 1 2 100 6,995
Airways Corp., parent of Orlando-based AirTran Airways, reported a September quarter net loss of $5.4 million, worse than the loss of $4.1 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 2.8% to $23.6 million while expenses fell 6% to $28.5 million. Although the company was not satisfied with the loss, its cost structure and traffic results have improved. Maintenance costs fell 13.2% and aircraft and traffic service 22.3%. Traffic rose 0.9% even though capacity fell 9.3%, propelling the load factor 6.9 points to 68%.
Despite perceptions of an industry rolling in cash, IATA's 258 member airlines reported a collective 18% drop in earnings last year. Pre-tax profits were just $3 billion and the pre-tax margin was less than 2.2%. Six U.S. airlines had pre-tax profits of more than $4 billion in 1996.
Air France has completed a code-share deal with Swiss regional Crossair to cover Paris to Basel/Mulhouse, Bern and Lugano. The carriers have applied for a reciprocal blocked-space seat selling arrangement. Crossair will purchase space on four of five daily Air France flights to Basel, while Air France will buy seats on two Crossair daily connections to Bern and Lugano. Air France now has 13 marketing and code-share agreements with other European airlines, including recently signed pacts with Maersk Air, Gill Airways and Jersey European Airways.
American Airlines and China Airlines agreed yesterday to a long- awaited reciprocal code share deal covering transpacific service between the U.S. and Taiwan. The alliance, effective Dec. 1, will cover service between Taipei and Dallas, Chicago, Miami, New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Taiwanese carrier operates nonstop service to its gateways of Los Angeles and San Francisco. The carriers originally signed a memorandum of understand to code share in April 1996, and they moved closer to an alliance in August (DAILY, Aug.
State of Hawaii chastised Northwest for proposing that DOT terminate Japan Airlines' Kona-Japan authority, saying the risk of "brinkmanship" with Japan is ill-conceived and against the public interest. Northwest suggested termination in light of its inability to launch new service beyond Japan and the apparent U.S. victory in a recent ports dispute, settled after a Federal Maritime Commission near-blockade of Japanese shipping through U.S. ports.
US Airways applied at DOT for Philadelphia-Milan authority even though current frequency limits would bar the service. Filing in anticipation of expanded opportunities that could result from upcoming U.S.-Italy talks, the carrier said its Philadelphia-Rome service has been an "overwhelming success" and Milan is a "must" for its transatlantic network (DAILY, Nov. 4).
Ogden Corp. reported $24.6 million in net income for the third quarter, up from $20.4 million in the year-earlier quarter, on revenues of $462.6 million, down from $500.6 million. The aviation group, smallest of Ogden's three core businesses, earned $10.2 million on $94 million in revenues, down from $12.8 million and $114.8 million, respectively. The year-earlier profit benefited from a one-time gain in the sale of Ogden's ground services operations at New York Kennedy Airport.
Sabena will start code-share service with Delta to Kampala, Uganda, beginning Dec. 20. The shared A340 Sabena flight from Brussels will be the U.S. carrier's first service to Sub-Saharan Africa.
American and US Airways are among creditors and clients who have claimed a total of 26 billion Dutch guilders (US$13.4 billion) from Fokker, receivers of the bankrupt Dutch aircraft manufacturer said yesterday in The Hague. American and US Airways demand NLG 460 million and NLG 320 million, respectively, on claims that the value of their Fokker fleets decreased after the March 1996 bankruptcy, and that the manufacturer was unable to meet its commitments to them.
Lufthansa suspended flights from Berlin to London and from Munich to San Francisco, starting with its 1997-98 winter schedule, the German airline said this week in Frankfurt. Lufthansa lost money on Berlin-London, a spokeswoman said, adding that competitor Deutsche BA also has given up the route. "Reservations prospects for the winter on Munich-San Francisco were not satisfactory," she said. Lufthansa plans to resume the service next summer.
Boeing will discontinue MD-80 and MD-90 production in mid-1999, when current purchase commitments end, but it will continue to produce the MD-11 and is committed to build at least 50 MD-95s for launch customer AirTran Airlines, Boeing Commercial President Ron Woodard said yesterday. The MD- 80/90 decision kills an aircraft dating from December 1965, when Boeing acquisition Douglas Aircraft delivered the first DC-9. It has been produced as the MD-80 derivative since September 1980. Douglas delivered 976 DC-9s, and as of Sept.
Western Pacific has entered an agreement to sell and lease back its owned Boeing 737-300 to Sterling European Airlines. The $20.5 million transaction of the 1989-vintage aircraft will net Westpac $5.4 million profit. The sale is a "better use of our assets" in Westpac's Chapter 11 restructuring, said Chief Executive Robert Peiser.
Civil Aviation Corp., the Japanese consortium formed by the Mitsubishi, Kawasaki and Fuji heavy industry companies, will participate in the 767- 400ER program under a newly signed memorandum of understanding with Boeing Co. The companies produce fuselage sections, fuselage-wing fairings, wing in-spar ribs and cargo doors for 767-200s and -300s. The -400ER agreement is retroactive to April 1, and 10 Japanese engineers already are working in the program at Seattle.
Central Mountain Air will begin transborder service between Calgary, Alberta, and Spokane, Wash., on Dec. 1 with three nonstops each business day. The carrier will operate the service with Beech 1900Ds, which will carry Air Canada's designator code.
