Cargo carrier Tradewinds Airlines has applied to expand into charter passenger service, with plans to fly from the northern U.S. and Canada to vacation destinations in the U.S., the Caribbean and Mexico. The carrier applied Monday for the passenger certificate and asked for approval by Aug. 29, in order to start FAA proving runs in September and revenue service by Oct. 1, in time for peak winter demand.
Internet hotel service provider Leisureplan, in cooperation with Internet Travel Network (ITN), is offering online airline and car rental reservations at its World Wide Web site, www.leisureplan.com. The site provides information on 7,500 hotels with 34,000 color photos and a travel guide on 95 destinations and descriptions of 700 cities. Using ITN's booking engine, it has added reservations capability on more than 500 airlines and 50 car rental companies. ITN, based in Palo Alto, Calif., is connected to all four U.S. computer reservations systems.
Rolls-Royce has launched a web site, www.rolls-royce.com, offering information on its markets, products and services, plus news updates. The company said it developed the site to be accessible by the general public but also to provide a "useful and relevant standard of information for customers."
US Airways is offering electronic ticketing on flights to San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Croix from the U.S., and it expects to offer ticketless travel soon on flights to Canada. US Airways, which began offering electronic tickets in April, 1996, said nearly 20% of its passengers choose this option now. The ticketing capability is available to travel agents using Apollo, Sabre, System One and Amadeus and will be available on Worldspan by the end of the year.
National Civil Aviation Review Commission is scheduled to meet this morning with FAA Administrator Jane Garvey as it begins a two-day review of the second draft of its preliminary report on aviation financing. In one change, the new draft emphasizes the need for FAA cost savings and controls. The first draft tended to defend the agency's assessment of needs.
American garnered 61.9% of the revenue that U.S. major carriers received from Latin America in 1996, outdistancing second-place United by a wide margin. American had 1996 Latin-region revenue of $2.4 billion, while United had $727 million, or 18.6%, according to DOT Form 41 data and DAILY affiliate Aviation-Latin America&Caribbean. All major U.S. airlines accrued $3.9 billion in revenue, up 7.7% from the previous year. Continental took in $366 million, or a 9.4% share, and Delta had $203 million in Latin American revenue, or 5.2%.
Polar routes advocated by overflight-fee-hungry Russia could save airlines tens of millions of dollars annually in fuel alone. Flights between Singapore and Washington would be three hours shorter, and Delhi-Los Angeles and Tokyo-London would be trimmed greatly if aviation officials in Krasnoyarsk win international acceptance for overflight - and if Russia and the airlines can agree on what routes should be flown.
DOT has produced a fact sheet intended to help consumers find the lowest available airfares. The document, available on paper from DOT and on the World Wide Web at http://www.dot.gov/ost/ogc, advises travelers to be flexible in scheduling their trips, book far in advance of travel, be on the alert for fare sales and consider using a travel agent.
Boeing 767 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day First Quarter 1997 B767-200 American Delta TWA Number of Aircraft Operated 30 15 12 Total Fleet Operations Departures 58 64 26 Block Hours 361 164 147
Virgin Atlantic will add a second daily flight from London Gatwick to Orlando next July. The new service will bring to 27 the number of flights per week Virgin offers between Florida and the U.K. In addition to its current daily Orlando flight, the airline offers six-times-weekly Orlando- Manchester service and a daily London Heathrow-Miami flight.
Great American Insurance Co. said it has formed an aviation division that will write aviation policies in 47 states where forms and rates are approved and will expand to all states after it receives approvals. Great American said it signed an agreement to reinsure in-force aviation business of American Eagle Insurance Co., which will discontinue its aviation business. Many American Eagle employes will join Great American, which will continue to operate at its Dallas location.
The AFL-CIO joined forces with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters against UPS yesterday as AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the federation is "making this strike our strike." Sweeney, calling UPS a "greedy, hugely profitable employer," said he is calling AFL-CIO union presidents across the nation and "before the week is out, we will have enough loan commitments from other unions large and small to finance the worker side of this confrontation for a long strike if that is what it takes - many, many weeks at $10 million a week." Sweeney and Teamsters Presiden
United objected to DOT's show cause order awarding two all-cargo frequencies between the U.S. and the Philippines to Northwest, asking that one or both of them be awarded to United. United takes issue with DOT's description of Northwest as a new entrant. Although Northwest currently does not operate all-cargo service between the two countries, the finding "wholly ignores the fact that Northwest is, in fact, the dominant U.S.
LanChile reported June traffic of 470 million revenue passenger kilometers, up 34.2% year-over-year on 38.3% more capacity. Freight rose 64.7%. Passenger load factor dropped to 56% from 57.7%, but half-year load factor was up to 61.9% from 60.7%. Capacity for the first six months jumped 53.3%.
Delta and Transbrasil, in recent filings at DOT, have detailed terms of their code-share agreement, including operational and pricing information, the latter redacted from public view.
United yesterday began offering a fare sale cutting 50% off most U.S. domestic flights. Tickets are available through Aug. 21 for travel Aug. 26 through Dec. 16. Sample roundtrip off-peak fares include Denver-San Francisco for $226, Chicago-Washington for $221 and Newark-Los Angeles for $290. United said fares do not include up to $12 in passenger facility charges. Also, with new aviation taxes, trips to Hawaii face a $12 departure tax.
Consolidated Freightways yesterday announced the formation of a division to serve the "growing domestic and international expedited freight market." The division, CF PrimeTime Air, has begun providing time-definite domestic and international air freight forwarding services and expedited ground service. The new division will specialize in shipments over 70 pounds but will not impose size or weight restrictions. Customers will have Internet access to schedule pick-up, obtain rate quotes, track shipments and contact service agents.
Niche carriers' strategy of seeking extraordinary-circumstances exemptions for slots at high-density airports is attracting interest from advocates of smaller communities starved for competitive service. Senators and members of Congress have notified DOT Secretary Rodney Slater and Assistant Secretary Charles Hunnicutt of their support for bids by AirTran, Trans States, ValuJet and Frontier for slots at Chicago O'Hare and New York LaGuardia.
Aero California asked DOT for authority to begin scheduled foreign combination service between Dallas/Fort Worth and Zacatecas, Mexico. The Mexican carrier, started in 1967, currently provides service between points throughout the Baja California Peninsula and other points in Mexico and Arizona and California, using DC-9 aircraft. Aero California anticipates immediate demand for service on the proposed routing and intends to operate three or four DC-9 flights weekly, expanding to daily service as demand warrants.
United said customer ratings on its coach-class food are up more than 10 percentage points since the carrier introduced revamped meals three months ago. The ratings are from United surveys of customers who fly more than 11 flights a year. Customers' intent to fly again on United also was up 3.6 points, and this is related directly to the new meals, United said.
CIBC Wood Gundy has completed the bridge facility for TACA International Airlines to cover delivery of eight Cessna Caravans in 1997 and eight more in 1998. CIBC has been mandated to seek long-term financing support by the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
South African Airways (SAA), which placed an order in November 1995 for two 747-400s and four 777-200s, still has not firmed the delivery dates for the 777s, nor has it selected an engine for the twinjets. "The delivery dates and financing still have not been finalized," said SAA spokesman Leon Els. "We're waiting for a decision." One 747 was delivered in May and the second arrives in October, but two factors are said to be holding up the 777 timetable.
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is under conflicting pressures from the Dutch government, the courts and freight carriers as it tries to reduce noise. The Netherlands' Haarlem District Court will rule Friday on airlines' opposition to Schiphol's planned ban on night flying by DC-10 and 747-100, -200, -300 and SP aircraft between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Schiphol was trying to comply with government-imposed annual noise limits, but the government said the measure was insufficient.
