Executives from low-fare niche carriers met with DOT Secretary Rodney Slater Thursday to discuss predatory practices. Attending were officials from Frontier, Reno Air, ValuJet, Western Pacific, Spirit and AirTran.
Western Pacific Airlines is the best domestic low-fare startup airline, according to Entrepreneur magazine, which recently handed out its fourth annual business travel awards. Westpac President and Chief Executive Robert Peiser said the airline has lined up several improvements, including new uniforms for front-line employees, seat assignments, limited onboard food service, a frequent flyer program and more convenient schedules.
Fine Airlines opposes FedEx's effort to buy U.S.-Argentina frequencies from Florida West International and Arrow Air, echoing Polar Air Cargo warnings about creating a monopoly in a highly restricted market (DAILY, June 20). Fine called on DOT to conduct a competitive proceeding to reallocate the frequencies. The carrier maintains that approval would contradict DOT policy barring further concentration in the market and raises questions about Arrow Air's possession of frequencies.
Netherlands-based Air Exel asked DOT for authority and an exemption to conduct code-share operations with Northwest and KLM on European routes for traffic destined for and originating from the U.S. The carrier, established in 1991, operates two EMB-120s and three ATR 42-320s, the latter configured for 50 seats. Air Exel already has a marketing agreement with KLM that includes code sharing, shared ground-handling, schedule planning and route transfers.
Confirmation hearing for Jane Garvey as FAA administrator tomorrow will be at 9:30 a.m. in Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building (DAILY, June 16).
Orally approved an exemption for United and Mexicana to conduct scheduled code-share operations in certain U.S.-Mexico markets, including Zacatecas- San Francisco, a renewal, and Tijuana-San Francisco, new authority, for two years. DOT deferred action on requests by United for underlying authority in certain markets...Approved continuation of Taesa's DC-10 wet-lease to Servicios de Transportes Aereos Fueguinos (STAF), through Aug.
ASA Holdings said will take charges of $5.7 million against second quarter earnings to return aircraft on lease, reducing capacity growth and standardizing its fleet, and to finance stock plans. ASA plans a jet fleet of Bombardier CRJ 50-seat aircraft and will return five BAe 146-200s to Jet Acceptance Corp., incurring a one-time charge of about $2.6 million in the second quarter. It will use the CRJs to increase service between Atlanta and Cleveland in the fourth quarter. It will introduce roundtrip service between New York Kennedy and Cleveland as well.
Air Express International's board declared a three-for-two split of common stock, which will increase outstanding shares to about 34.4 million. The board declared a quarterly dividend of five cents per share on post-split shares, payable Aug. 29. Air Express President Guenter Rohrmann noted that the stock price reached about twice the level that followed the previous three-for-two split, in December 1994.
American will delay indefinitely issuing debit memos to travel agents who are "churning" bookings, giving the agents more time to look into their booking practices. Several airlines are cracking down on agents who overbook individual clients to beat booking deadlines and for other reasons.
- In Federal Register dated June 17...Proposed to supersede an airworthiness directive on Dornier 328 aircraft concerning the wing/body fairing panels...Proposed an AD on Avro 146 aircraft to require inspections of the top wing skins. - In FR dated June 18...Proposed to supersede an AD on Airbus A300-600 aircraft concerning inspections of the center spar sealing angles.
Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, Ansett Australia and Ansett International have formed the largest airline alliance in the Asia/Pacific region. The carrier have agreed to code share, purchase jointly, market collectively and share information technology and cargo operations. They will share capacity planning functions, integrate scheduling and create and maintain travel products jointly. The partnership follows recently strengthened aviation ties between the governments of Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
U.S. major airlines will average a 70.9% load factor this year, according to Bankers Trust, up from 69.9% in 1996 and 67.3% in 1995. Northwest is forecast to keep its top position at 73.5%. The lowest forecast is Alaska's 66.2%.
British Airways is committed to fly the Concorde at least through 2005, and it seems the airline's supersonic passengers will keep coming back as long as BA operates it. Of those using the profitable service, 82% are repeat customers.
United Parcel Service wants to change its service pattern to points in Mexico. Filing for an exemption and for an amendment to its certificate, the carrier wants to start flying two new routes: San Antonio-Mexico City- Houston with a 727-200, and Houston-Guadalajara-San Antonio with a 727-100. No new cities would be served - UPS now flies San Antonio-Guadalajara and Houston-Mexico City. But San Antonio-Mexico City and Houston-Guadalajara would be new city-pairs for the carrier. UPS also needs to get double designation from the U.S.
FAA Associate Administrator and Deputy Administrator-designate George Donohue has transferred the director of communications, navigation and surveillance to express dissatisfaction with Wide Area Augmentation System cost overruns, according to sources.Loni Czekalski, moved to the Office of Information Technology, believes she is being scapegoated, sources say. Donohue accused her of failing to bring under-reporting of WAAS costs to his attention, sources say, but Czekalski believes Donohue knew about the overruns last October.
Failing to insist on open skies with Japan "would be akin to a poker player folding when he was holding four aces," Northwest Chief John Dasburg told the Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee last week. U.S.
United is asking DOT not to renew and expand Delta-Korean Airlines code- share operations, apparently objecting to a Korean government refusal to accept the third-country code share rights that are part of the standard open skies agreement. United thus joins the battle over U.S.-Korea aviation relations, which has been driven for more than a year by two efforts - U.S. attempts to negotiate an open skies agreement and protests by World Airways that Korea's denial of beyond service from Seoul violates the existing bilateral.
American and Philippine Airlines applied for the right to place PAL's code on American flights from Los Angeles to Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, New York, Newark and Washington Dulles; San Francisco to Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami and New York; and Vancover to New York. PAL's application takes advantage of unused destinations permitted under the bilateral; the Philippines flights will originate in Manila. (Docket OST- 97-2633)
Northwest won the Public Relations Society of America's Silver Anvil award for crisis communications. The award recognized the airline's response to a local television station's investigative series on safety at NWA, which aired in April and May 1996. Northwest claimed, and the Minnesota News Council agreed, that the station engaged in deceptive journalistic practices.
