DOT renewed United's and Northwest's U.S.-Poland third-country code-share frequencies for one year. United has authority for seven weekly roundtrips between points in the U.S. and Warsaw, via Frankfurt and Munich, under code-share arrangements with Lufthansa. Northwest's approval is for seven weekly round-trips with KLM between points in the U.S. and Warsaw via Amsterdam. Earlier, each of the U.S. carriers was allocated seven additional U.S.-Poland third-country code-share frequencies, effective Nov. 1, 1997, through Oct.
If airlines were quick to recognize the cost savings of electronic ticketing, travel agents are scurrying to catch up. Although the travel industry reports more agents than ever are using paperless tickets, the number still is not as high as bookings directly through carriers or the Internet (DAILY, Oct. 29). Steve Cossette, VP-distribution for Continental, said the percentage of travel agents booking e-tickets is "in the low teens but rising pretty steadily." Al Lenza, VP-distribution planning for Northwest, said travel agents book about 15% e-tickets.
Negotiators wound up informal U.S.-Japan talks Wednesday, and although both sides expect to set a date for another formal round, a Japanese government official told The DAILY the Japanese delegation was "frankly kind of disappointed" after seeing "not much progress. It seems to us that the U.S. delegation is not, at this moment, willing to make a deal. Maybe they're waiting for something." The official said the "rough framework of an agreement" is getting very clear, but after months of negotiating, the Japanese feel they have "shown everything" they can do.
Turkish Airlines reported September traffic of 1.34 billion revenue passenger kilometers, up 6.8%. Year-to-date traffic is up 10.4%. Freight volume soared 35.2% in September and 26.4% so far this year. The carrier flew 986,000 passengers in September and is on a pace to carry 10.7 million this year, placing it above Varig, No. 30 in IATA's 1996 airline passenger rankings.
Cathay Pacific Airways this week added three weekly nonstop flights on the Hong Kong-Sydney route this winter using A340s. The carrier now has 10 weekly flights to Sydney, oin a route also served nonstop by Ansett and Qantas.
Comair's weekend traveler program passengers can add Toronto and Montreal to the list of available destinations, beginning tomorrow. The program allows passengers to choose any of Comair's nine daily roundtrip flights between Cincinnati and Toronto, two to Montreal, four between Boston and Toronto and between Boston and Montreal, and five between New York LaGuardia and Montreal. A weekend traveler booklet costs $299 and contains four one-way travel coupons.
The early winter storm that closed Denver Airport last weekend left airlines and airport tallying up lost revenues and scrambling to find better ways to manage logistics and communications as the season progresses. Frontier said it canceled its roughly 28 daily departures and lost about $300,000 in market revenue, said President and Chief Executive Sam Addoms. "It wasn't mortal, but it was disrupting." Western Pacific, which canceled all Saturday flights and 50% of its Sunday service, lost about $700,000, said spokeswoman Elise Eberwein.
Today is the European Commission's deadline for Boeing to answer what an EC source describes as a "detailed questionnaire" on the manufacturer's newly finalized Delta sale (DAILY, Oct. 23). EC competition specialists suspect - based on press reports - that the contract contains exclusivity provisions barred under the commission's approval of the Boeing-McDonnell Douglas merger.
Mexicana is increasing this winter the number of code-share markets it serves in North America, building its Mexico City hub and branching out with links to Air Canada and Lufthansa. The airline has struggled for several years to earn a consistent profit and this year has broken through, netting $56.9 million for the first six months of 1997. The first-half net margin was 23.3%, higher than those of the largest U.S. carriers. "We are very healthy and pleased with the progress," said Antonio Martinez Salinas, Mexicana's senior VP-sales and international.
Niche carrier Kiwi International asked DOT to investigate alleged gate- control practices of Delta, Atlanta Hartsfield, Continental and Newark International. A DOT spokesman said DOT will be contacting the targets of the complaint. Kiwi believes certain actions violate the Sherman Antitrust Act and said the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey gave "implied permission" to Continental to monopolize gates beyond its home base at Terminal C, shoving aside Kiwi.
Delta Connection affiliate SkyWest, which posted this week a record net income for its September quarter helped by a 2.5% drop in unit costs, recorded an even steeper unit cost decline for its most recent fiscal six months - 3.1% to 15.6 cents per available seat mile (DAILY, Oct. 29). 3 Mths Ended 3 Mths Ended 6 Mths Ended 6 Mths Ended Sept. 30, 1997 Sept. 30, 1996 Sept. 30, 1997 Sept. 30, 1996 Op. Rev. $80,302,000 $75,800,000 $152,417,000 $146,369,000
Head-to-head competition between the Canadair RJ and the Embraer EMB-145 50-seat regional jets begins for the first time Saturday when Continental Express launches three daily 145 roundtrips between Newark and Delta Connection Comair's Cincinnati hub (569 miles). Comair also offers three frequencies with block times ranging from one hour and fifty-five minutes to two hours and five minutes. COEx is posting block times of two hours and 10 minutes. COEx begins competing with Air Canada CRJs next spring between Cleveland and Toronto (story below).
America West is promoting special fares to five Mexico resort markets until Nov. 3, for travel Nov. 10 through April 5. The fares require a 14-day advance purchase, and tickets must be purchased within 24 hours of booking. Special tariffs are for Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Los Cabos and Manzanillo. Minimum stay requirements and other restrictions apply. Sample roundtrip fares are $176 Phoenix-Mazatlan, $252 Los Angeles- Acapulco, and $284 Chicago-Puerto Vallarta.
Business Express was allowed by DOT to reduce its scheduled service between Manchester, N.Y., and Boston to one daily roundtrip, effective tomorrow, and terminate all service in the market, effective Dec. 1. In addition, DOT removed Manchester's essential air service determination as "superfluous" - service and traffic has grown and the point is now served by two jet carriers and five major code-sharing commuters. (Dockets OST- 97-2867, 97-2997 and 97-3047 (EAS-504))
Pilots of Skyway Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Midwest Airlines, resumed negotiations this week at the National Mediation Board. The pilots are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association. They are negotiating their first contract and asking for improved wages, hours and working conditions. ALPA Assistant Director of Representation John Bradley said the negotiations are "going very slow, but it's going." Bradley declined to reveal details of the proposal now on the table. Skyway pilots have been negotiation for 20 months, 11 of those with the NMB.
The Indian government has decided to split the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation into three separate functional units to be administered by a board constituting the country's new civil aviation authority, aviation ministry officials said this week. The three divisions would allocate routes and capacity for private domestic carriers, investigate aviation accidents and regulate safety.
Continental Express tomorrow will begin nonstop service between Cleveland and Toronto, operating three roundtrips daily using 30-passenger Embraer Brasilia aircraft. The carrier intends to upgrade the service to the new 50-passenger EMB-145 Jet - what it calls the ExpressJet - in the spring of 1998. With the new flights, Continental or Express now serves Toronto from all three hubs - Newark, Houston and Cleveland.
Saab Aircraft's announcement last week that it may curtail production of the Series 340 and 2000 turboprops caught some suppliers by surprise, especially concerning the popular 340. Some observers see it as a move to halt the competitive ratcheting down of prices. "These are shrewd people - the same people who put Business Express into bankruptcy." The latest large 340 customer - Northwest Airlink Mesaba with 50 firm and 22 options - said it was not surprised by the move. It is pleased with the airplane's performance and likely will exercise its options soon.
Four of the high-flying publicly held regional airlines continued to post double-digit operating profit margins for the quarter ended Sept. 30. Delta Connection carriers Atlantic Southeast and Comair continued to lead the pack with margins of 23% and 24.1%, respectively. Both have been in double digits over the past nine quarters, pretty much tracking each other. ASA topped 27% in two of those quarters, while Comair posted a high of 25.2% in the June period.
Iran Asseman has signed a contract with Aero International (Regional) for two ATR 72-210A aircraft in a deal estimated to be worth $40 million, the carrier and AI(R) announced. AI(R) also said Air UK has converted one option for an ATR 72-200 to a firm order. AI(R) said it had sold 49 ATR aircraft since the beginning of the year.
Aviation Industry Stock Performance, October 24-29, 1997 Closed % Closed % Majors Symbol 10/29/97 Chg* 10/28/97 Chg* Alaska Air Group ALK 32.813 2.9 31.875 2.8 America West (Class B) AWA 14.938 -0.4 15.000 7.1 AMR AMR 117.000 1.7 115.000 4.1 Continental (Class B) CAI.B 45.438 0.7 45.125 2.4
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, will discuss his airline competition bill, U.S.-Japan talks, the line item veto and other issues on Aviation News Today, to air Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and at 1:30 p.m.
Air Jamaica has launched a winter sale from nine U.S. cities to several Caribbean islands for travel through Feb. 5. Sample roundtrip fares include Atlanta-Barbados, $433; Baltimore-St. Lucia, $354, and New York- Barbados, $354.
Austrian Airlines launched this week a direct biweekly nonstop flight between New Delhi and Vienna, airline sources said yesterday. The flights, to be operated with an Airbus A310 aircraft, will take off from Delhi on Wednesdays and Sundays, and from Vienna on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The airline is offering 196 seats on each flight - 166 in economy and 30 in club class. The eight-hour flight to Vienna offers the shortest entry point into Europe from India, and enables passengers to reach eight European capitals within another hour, airline sources said.
Eurowings has announced a range of increased frequencies and an expansion to its jet fleet to boost its forthcoming winter schedules. The German carrier will double frequency on its Frankfurt Berlin (Tempelhof) service from four to eight flights a day. Also the Nuremberg-Berlin (Tempelhof) operation will be upgraded from ATR to BAe 146 aircraft, followed by the introduction of the jets on to the Dortmund-Munich route on Nov. 24.
