A poll in Dallas and Tarrant County, Texas, shows that two-thirds of residents on both sides of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport support repeal of the Wright Amendment, the 1979 measure passed by Congress to limit airline service at Dallas Love Field. The poll, released by an organization formerly known as "Friends of Love Field," concluded that airlines should be able to serve whichever airport they choose.
FAA has determined that an instrument approach to Meigs Field will be possible by using the Global Positioning System, the City of Chicago said. The city had asked FAA to determine whether an instrument approach to Meigs is possible without adverse effects on the airspace around O'Hare and Midway airports. Mary Rose Loney, Chicago commissioner of aviation, said FAA can use a GPS-based instrument approach to Meigs's Runway 36 during poor weather conditions, but four other approaches were found in studies to "severely conflict" with the airspace of the other airports.
Air South, just days after its third anniversary, stopped flying Aug. 28 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. No major airline that competed with Air South honored its tickets Friday, saying the tickets probably were worthless. United offered its bereavement fare to stranded passengers, and Kiwi sold tickets at the price Air South passengers had paid. Delta, which had no interline or ticketing pact with Air South, did not honor tickets, and US Airways did not accept tickets unless they were issued by an airline other than Air South.
Orally approved an emergency exemption for Antonov Design Bureau to operate a one-way charter cargo flight between Wichita/McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., and Seattle/Boeing Field using an An-124 to transport thrust reverser halves and related equipment for a 777 Aug. 28...Orally approved a one-year exemption renewal for Fast Air Carrier to conduct all-cargo operations with Buenos Aires as an intermediate point on its Chile-U.S.
U.S.-Japan talks concluded without fanfare Friday, although the two sides agreed to meet again the week of Sept. 22 in Tokyo. Assistant Secretary of State Alan Larson said the U.S. is pushing for a four-year transition to open skies. Japan counters with its own four-year agreement, "though it's not clear to us at this stage what Japan sees after the four years," and this is a major stumbling block, he said. As before, the U.S. wants to open access for non-incumbent carriers, including opportunities for any airline on either side between regional city-pairs.
The City of New York said yesterday that FAA must deny an application to spend passenger facility charges on an automated light rail system (LRS) to link New York Kennedy with two rail stations in Queens because the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey does not hold the rights-of-way needed for the project, and the city has no intention of granting them to the port authority.
FAA said it plans to fine Kasba, a shipper based in Asuncion, Paraguay, $65,000 for an undeclared shipment of hazardous materials it "knowingly" offered for transportation by air. It said the dangerous material, a "highly inflammable" weed killer, was discovered by an Airborne Express employee at the company's Wilmington cargo sort facility.
BAA plc generated a pre-tax profit of #136 million (US$219 million) for the quarter ended June 30, 4.5% more than in the same 1996 quarter. After-tax profit gained 7.1%. Income from airport and traffic charges rose 4.2% to #136 million ($219 million). Revenue from retailing rose 7.1% to #161 million ($259 million). BAA said its seven U.K. airports handled 10.2 million passengers in July, 6% more than July 1996 and the highest number ever in a single month.
Profits for Crossair more than doubled during the first half of 1997, the Swissair subsidiary said. General revenues rose 25%, while turnover from flight operations jumped 27%. The regional carrier attributed part of its rise in revenues to a weaker Swiss franc and a strong economic climate in foreign markets. However, it also kept a firm grip on expenditures, particularly operating costs, thus boosting its breakeven load factor - a trend Crossair management intends to follow for the remainder of the year.
DOT extended Air Jamaica's exemption for New York/Atlanta-Barbados service via intermediate points until Dec. 1, giving Jamaican authorities another opportunity to resolve Amerijet's ground-handling issues. Air Jamaica's last temporary exemption expired yesterday.
Five of 14 regional airlines posted load factors of more than 60% during July. Only one fell below 50% and one topped 70%. The average load factor for the 14 carriers was 58.2%, up 4.3 percentage points from the same period in 1996. United Express Air Wisconsin topped the chart at 71.7%, up from 64.4% a year ago. AMR Eagle, comprising Executive, Flagship, Simmons and Wings West, hit 66.3%, up from 62.5% in July 1996. Horizon Air, typically one of the top load-factor producers, reported 64.8%, up from 62.3%.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Traffic February 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) Alaska 792 5.67 816 646,485 America West 1,376 1.79 853 1,174,022
Delta pilots will conduct informational picketing on Labor Day at selected cities as part of an "aggressive plan" to press grievances, ALPA Master Executive Council chief Denny Dolan told members. The campaign, in development for weeks (DAILY, Aug. 18), reflects pilots' frustration with "management's failure to comply with the spirit and intent" of the current contract, which is amendable in April 2000.
Kansas City-based Vanguard Airlines is offering one-way $25 fares and Orlando-based AirTran Airways has reduced fares to $49, both for tickets bought this weekend. Vanguard is selling the low-price seats on any flight to or from Kansas City tomorrow and Sunday. AirTran's sale tickets must be purchased by Monday but are good for travel between Sept. 8 and Oct. 2, a slow period for U.S. airlines.
Lufthansa Group more than tripled its pre-tax profits for the first half of 1997, earning 397 million Deutschmarks (US$220 million), the best half-year result ever. Nearly a third of the earnings, DM125 million ($69 million), came from exchange rate gains due to the DM's weakness against the dollar, however. The results show how much currency fluctuations can affect airline earnings - if the DM had retained its value of the first half of 1996, the company would have generated DM275 million less in revenue but incurred DM150 million less in expenses.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic February 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) American Trans Air 433 (20.19) 1,564 677,338 Carnival 205 (3.65) 1,167 239,391
...Speculation abounds, however, that Western Pacific founder Ed Beauvais, who was forced out in a boardroom coup, may be seeking investors to win back control of the carrier and its regional subsidiary from Robert Peiser, who moved both carriers from Colorado Springs to Denver. An emergency board meeting - the second this week - is scheduled today. But the $7.1 million from MAX might help keep Westpac afloat during its current financial difficulties. The carrier is said to be seeking about $100 million in outside capital.
Northwest and Alaska Airlines enlarged their two-year-old code-sharing pact yesterday to include Alaska's service to Russia as of tomorrow. The deal includes through fares and connecting flights, frequent flyer plans and one-stop check-in. Alaska serves Magadan, Khaborovsk, Vladivostok, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Yuzhno-Sakalinsk, with direct MD-80 service from Seattle via Anchorage. "The routes have a lot of business travelers, because there's been increased trade with the Russian Far East and there's U.S.
American submitted additional documents in the TACA code-share case, as directed by DOT, but said competitors' arguments that the TACA deal is related to new proposed alliances with Iberia and Aerolineas are "hyperbolic." There is "absolutely no relationship between any of those proposed arrangements...and our longstanding proposed alliance with TACA," American told DOT.
Aspen Mountain Air appeared closer to a deal to acquire Mountain Air Express (MAX) from 57% owner Western Pacific for a reported $7.1 million. AMA officials declined comment. MAX President Tom McClain said a couple of people expressed interest and the fledgling regional needs "fresh outside capital." MAX reported a $3.6 million net loss on revenues of $1.3 million for the June quarter but is now making money. There is considerable synergy because both carriers serve Colorado markets and both operate 32- seat Dornier 328s...
Boeing plans to transfer 200 workers next week from its 767 assembly line to 747 production as part of an effort to deal with what the company described as an "extremely demanding production schedule." Capacity is being taxed by market demand for production rates to increase "twice as rapidly as in comparable periods in the past," it said. Ron Woodard, Boeing Commercial president, said the company is looking at bringing in workers from other Boeing units, such as Douglas Aircraft, and other companies, such as Lockheed Martin.
Passenger traffic at Europe's 25 largest airports increased 7.5% in the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 1996, according to data compiled by Airports Council International-Europe. Aircraft movements grew 7% and freight volume 6.2%. The 25 airports together account for about half of Europe's air traffic, and ACI-Europe predicted more than 800 million total passengers, about 11 million landings and takeoffs and nearly 10.5 million metric tons of freight in Europe this year.
FAA awarded a $2 million grant to Austin, Texas, to build an automobile parking facility at Austin-Bergstrom Airport, scheduled to open in mid- 1999. The agency issued the grant under the Military Airport Program, which is intended to expand the civil airport system by providing a modest set-aside of Airport Improvement Program funds to help convert former military airfields.
