TWA's new Fare Value Bonus program rewards business travelers for the amount they spend on tickets. Full-fare travelers in coach or first class receive the usual mileage credit plus one mile for every dollar spent on the ticket, excluding taxes and fees. The program is part of TWA's effort to recapture high-yield traffic (DAILY, Aug. 1).
EDS will develop and manage the public World Wide Web sites for the Air Transport Association, and provide extranet service to ATA and its members to enable them to communicate about the latest industry news.
ValuJet flew 170.6 million revenue passenger miles in July and 291.5 million available seat miles. Its load factor was 58.5%, and it carried 333,918 passengers. Comparison with July 1996 is meaningless because the carrier was shut down during that month. ValuJet's monthly traffic has been growing consistently for the past few months. Compared with June 1997, the carrier flew 35.5 million more RPMs in July, 36.6 million more ASMs, and its load factor was 5.5 points higher.
British Airways' July traffic fell 1.1% and capacity dropped 0.9%, reflecting the three-day cabin crew strike that disrupted service to and from London. The load factor fell to 77.7%, off 0.2 percentage points. Traffic for premium passengers, who have an easier time changing tickets, fell 9%, while non-premium traffic increased 0.2%. U.K. and Europe traffic dropped 3.4% and intercontinental traffic 0.6%. Counting BA affiliates Deutsche BA, TAT and Air Liberte, group traffic rose 2.1% on 3% more capacity.
Independent Association of Continental Pilots members plan to rally today at Continental's Houston headquarters to demand higher pay and better pension benefits. Houston is the last stop, after Newark, Cleveland, Guam and Honolulu, in the union's informational picketing during the past few weeks.
Bilateral talks ended in Tokyo with no visible progress after three days, but negotiators agreed to meet again in Washington Aug. 27-29. A DOT spokesman said the "two sides are still far apart." Officials still are trying to negotiate an agreement by the end of September, an ambitious goal given the lack of movement thus far. The U.S.
European regional carrier Eurowings has carried more than a million passengers in a six-month period for the first time ever. The airline reported 1,148,000 passengers during the first half of 1997, 29% more than in the same period last year. It attributed the increase to the growth of its international scheduled services and holiday charter flights, and to its partnerships with KLM and Air France. Domestic passenger volume was virtually unchanged. The carrier offers 250 scheduled flights a day to 37 destinations in 10 European countries.
DOT has found NAC Network Inc. d/b/a NACNET fit and transferred MarkAir Express's certificate to it. Anchorage-based Northern Air Cargo Inc., which purchased MarkAir's certificate and authority from a U.S. bankruptcy trustee in April 1996, applied jointly with MarkAir and the trustee to transfer the certificate to NACNET, its newly formed wholly owned subsidiary planning to provide scheduled and charter combination services with small aircraft.
Royal Jordanian reported a 0.9% gain in May traffic, but traffic for the January-May period grew 10.8%. In May, the carrier flew 3.8% fewer passengers and operated 0.6% fewer freight ton kilometers, the first such decreases this year.
Instead of a flood of visitors into Hong Kong during the peak handover period in June, Cathay Pacific experienced lower load factors and found more people stayed away from an expected crush of tourists. This, coupled with a voluntary suspension of Airbus A330 service in May due to engine problems, led Cathay to post flat year-over-year net profits of HK$1.068 billion (US$211 million) for the first half of 1997. The result was slightly below last year's level of HK$1.106 billion.
Saudi Arabian Airlines and United filed a joint application for a two-year renewal of exemption authority for blocked-space code-share service. In October 1996, Saudia received initial one-year authority to operate New York-Dhahran/Jeddah/Riyadh flights as a blocked-space/code-share service for United with an exemption to serve Los Angeles. United was authorized to operate the New York-Los Angeles code share for Saudia with an exemption to serve New York-Dhahran/Jeddah/Riyadh.
Sunworld International denied it had a contract with Sun Pacific International to operate the spring-break charter flight from Kansas City to Mazatlan that has become the focus of its application to renew its certificate (DAILY, July 28). Sunworld faces opposition from a tour operator and travel agencies whose clients were stranded in the March 8 incident.
Southwest has launched a nationwide sale, cutting some fares by half with a $99 cap. Tickets must be purchased by Saturday for travel Sept. 3-Dec. 16. Blackout dates are Nov. 25-Dec. 1. Sample tariffs are $39 for Chicago- Cleveland, down from $79, and $99 for Houston-Las Vegas, down from $258. The fares do not require an overnight stay. Seats may not be available during peak travel times.
Fortis Aviation, acting as agent to Air Invest VII, Amsterdam, arranged the lease of an A310-300 to VASP of Sao Paulo, with delivery in September. VASP will operate the aircraft on wet-lease services to Miami.
Amerijet International began scheduled air cargo service between Miami and Aruba, giving it 18 Caribbean destinations and 34 North American, Caribbean, Mexican and South American service locations.
American's AAdvantage members can earn 1,000 miles by placing their first AT&T inflight call by Oct. 31. Customers can designate up to three credit cards or calling cards for inflight calling and receive five miles for every $1 spent.
BAA plc, U.K.-based airport management and development company, said yesterday it has completed a cash tender offer for Duty Free International (DFI). BAA launched the tender offer July 9, and when it expired at midnight Aug. 5, 99% of the outstanding shares of DFI common stock had been tendered. BAA said it plans to acquire the remaining shares at $24 per share in cash through a merger of its wholly owned subsidiary into DFI.
UPS managed to get 42 flights into and out of Louisville, its only working air hub, on Tuesday, the second day of a Teamsters strike supported by the pilots. The Independent Pilots Association (IPA) said fewer than five flights operated worldwide under the UPS call sign, and none was flown with IPA crews. Management pilots are flying the airplanes, but IPA said the company has only 138 management pilots, and FAA work and rest rules will catch up with them soon.
Shuttle by United will flood the Salt Lake City market with low-fare flights to Denver Oct. 31, launching nine daily nonstop flights. United is converting its current seven daily mainline flights to Shuttle service with fares starting at $79 one way. The Shuttle currently operates three flights to San Francisco from Denver. With the new service, the Shuttle will be operating 466 daily departures to 20 cities in the West. Amos Kazzaz, Shuttle president, said the Shuttle will be able to "profitably compete with other carriers on this route."
In its first purchase of new-generation aircraft from Airbus Industrie, Olympic Airways signed a contract to buy two A340-300s to replace its aging 747-200s. The carrier, which operates six A300B4s and two A300-600s on regional routes to Europe, Africa and the Middle East, will deploy the A340s on routes to North America, Australia, the Far East and South Africa. Olympic has taken options on two A340s and intends to operate six of the type by 2000. The airline will put a two-class seating configuration in the aircraft, with 32 in business class and 267 in economy.
Federal Express will formally inaugurate its new Asia/Pacific regional transshipment center at Taiwan's Chiang Kai-shek Airport on April 11. A company spokesman said that to meet Taiwan's customs requirements FedEx has installed a specially designed cargo classifying and inspection system capable of processing up to 3,000 pieces of freight per hour. The center covers 1,682 square meters. Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration will provide more space for expansion once the second-phase expansion project is completed in 2000.
Renato Pereira of Brazil took office Friday as secretary general of the International Civil Aviation Organization Council, beginning a three-year term. He succeeds Philippe Rochat, who held the position since 1991.
Negotiating positions appear to have moved little after two days of talks in Tokyo. Japanese Transport Minister Makoto Koga said at a news conference yesterday that after signs of progress via informal channels, the U.S. and Japan appear to have returned "to the starting point." His comments suggest negotiators have maintained fixed positions after initial restatements of aviation policy, widely regarded by industry veterans as normal posturing.
