The three carriers bidding for seven new weekly frequencies for U.S.-Chile service made their case this week, with Continental emphasizing new hub service from Newark/New York, Delta saying its Cincinnati/Atlanta proposal provided a broader focus, and United claiming service from Miami is the best opportunity because that market carries the largest amount of Chilean traffic by far. Continental would fly daily nonstops from Newark International to Santiago using DC-10-30s.
Mountain Air Express (MAX), the startup regional unit of Western Pacific Airlines, reported a 50.5% load factor for July, its first full month of hub service at Denver, up from 29.3% in June at Colorado Springs, its former base. The load factor July 1-13 was 46.6%, compared with 70.5% during the first 13 days of August. The carrier placed its fifth Fairchild Dornier 328 high-speed turboprop in operation Aug. 1. July capacity was 46% higher than June, and traffic jumped 152%.
Decision by United to reimburse Express carrier Atlantic Coast for the lease of its Canadair Regional jets and associated crew costs through the end of the year indicates United and its ALPA unit are near agreement on the use of jets by United Express affiliates. ACA will have four CRJs by yearend and plans to begin scheduled operations as "Atlantic Coast Jet" Dec. 8 if the United approval is not forthcoming - a setback from the original September startup. With approval, startup as United Express (Jet) will come as soon as ACA "can pull it together"...
Air Canada Regional Air Ontario plans to start the first nonstop service between Toronto and Providence, R.I., Oct. 5, operating three flights each business day with de Havilland Dash 8s. The schedule enables travelers to make connections to cities on Air Canada's network, including Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and Tel Aviv. An introductory fare of US$149 is available until Oct. 27, for travel until Jan. 17, 1998. Air Ontario also is offering triple bonus miles under the frequent flyer programs of United, Continental and Air Canada, ending Jan. 17.
United is adopting measures to deal with employees who do not follow the rules when they travel on the airline or whose companions abuse company policy. The carrier, which has established a Pass Travel Abuse Team, told employees it is developing guidelines that outline levels of disciplinary action. There has been an increase in employee problems, United said, including serious violations such as fraudulent use of companion travel privileges and non-payment of service charges.
Great Lakes Aviation, forced into a voluntary shutdown by FAA in May, continued its operational recovery in July. Following cessation of its Midway Connection operations at Raleigh/Durham, the carrier is focusing on its core United Express business at Chicago and, to a lessor extent, at Denver. Available seat miles were down 55.6% and passenger revenue miles 42.7%, lifting the load factor 12.8 percentage points to 57.1%. Year-to- date results for the Spencer, Iowa-based carrier were less damaging - traffic and capacity were down 28% and the load factor was 44.3%.
The Tupolev 204-120 jetliner powered by Rolls-Royce engines has won its first order, from Russian carrier KrasAir, Sirocco Aerospace International said this week in London. Sirocco, created in 1995 by Egyptian industrialist Ibrahim Kamel to launch aerospace products combining Western and Russian technology, said the 10 aircraft ordered by KrasAir will be assembled by Aviastar in Ulyanovsk and fitted with Honeywell and AlliedSignal avionics as well as RB211-535E4B engines.
Vivid Technologies said yesterday it received $1.3 million in repeat orders for its automated explosives detection systems. One order for three Vivid VDS-II systems came from Toyo Kanetsu, the baggage-handling contractor for Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Airport. They will be used in a freestanding mode to screen high-risk baggage and luggage from passengers checking in just before departure. The second order is from BAA plc for a VDS-II system to be used at Level 3, the final and most critical baggage inspection procedure.
The prototype of the An-140 transport aircraft has nearly finished ground trials and is ready for its first flight, according to reports from the Moscow International Air Show. China's Xinhua news service reported that Antonov Aviation Design and Production Complex said the airplane, assembled in June, has been undergoing ground tests. The An-140 is planned to replace An-24s and Yak-40s on domestic flights in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The aircraft will be made at plants in Kharkov, Ukraine; Samara, Russia, and Isfahan, Iran.
Atlantic Coast Airlines has received its first indication that its regional jet operation is likely to be part of the larger United Express operation. United agreed to reimburse Washington Dulles-based ACA's expenses of leasing Canadair Regional Jets and staffing them with flight crews for the remainder of 1997, even though United's Air Line Pilots Association unit has yet to allow ACA's pilots to fly jets under the United banner. United would give no indication yesterday whether the interim agreement with ACA was a sign of progress with pilot talks.
Bombardier reported that revenues for the second quarter ended July 31 totaled C$1.96 billion, compared with C$1.92 billion in the same period last year. Net income was $87.8 million, down from $90.3 million. For the first six months, revenues totaled $3.6 billion, up from $3.5 million, while net income rose to $171.3 million from $167.1 million. Backlog totaled a record $12.5 billion as a result of a "significant increase" in new orders in the aerospace and transportation sectors.
Northwest Airlink Mesaba Airlines boasted record July enplanements, up 33.8% to 240,200, including results from the first three of 36 69-passenger Avro RJ85 quadjets on order. The larger aircraft upset the balance of traffic and capacity, however. Available seat miles jumped 43.4% from July 1996, while revenue passenger miles shot up 37.9%, depressing the load factor 2.2 percentage points to 53.8%. July 1997 July 1996 7 Mths 1997 7 Mths 1996 RPMs 56,472,000 40,960,000 312,499,000 235,917,000
National Mediation Board is scheduling conferences with UPS management and the Independent Pilots Association as it continues trying to help the parties reach agreement on a new contract, in the works since 1995. Previous mediation efforts have resulted in quick recesses, but the board has not yet released the parties from mediation.
ASA Holdings, which operates Atlantic Southeast Airlines, has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 10 cents per share, payable Sept. 15 to holders of record on Sept. 2.
Pratt&Whitney Canada said this week it has established a wholly owned Russian company, Pratt&Whitney-Rus, to design, develop and support a "full range of turboprop, turboshaft and turbofan engines for the general civil aviation industry in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States." Based in St. Petersburg and employing 80 people, including 78 Russian nationals, the company will work closely with Russian manufacturers that supply modules, parts and services for Rus engines and engines destined for P&WC markets.
...Success of the Saab 2000 program in Sweden is prompting SAS to acquire up to 50 high-speed turboprops, including the 70-seat de Havilland Dash 8- 400. The company also has looked at the ATR 72, a 64-seater, but sources told The DAILY SAS is more interested in the speed of the Dash 8, which is scheduled to hit the market in early 1999. Sources also said the carrier probably will take more Dash 8s than Saabs, and a final decision will be made this fall. Saab is providing most maintenance on the 2000s and has 22 engineers based with SAS in Stockholm.
Los Angeles World Airports board of airport commissioners this week directed Executive Director John Driscoll to prepare a plan for relocating commuter airline operations at Los Angeles Airport. United Express will not be moved, since it already has a remote terminal for its commuter flights. Under tentative plans, American Eagle, SkyWest and Trans States would transfer their aircraft operations to common-use terminals west of Tom Bradley International Terminal, and passengers would be bused between gates at the Central Terminal Area and the new common-use terminals.
Big Sky Transportation, the Billings-based independent, and Horizon Air have collaborated on a cooperative program that the two carriers say will make Montana travel more convenient. Big Sky has struggled for years with mostly Essential Air Service routes against competitors, such as Horizon, that have skimmed the cream of the market with larger aircraft and added amenities. The carrier currently flies from Billings to Glasgow, Glendive, Great Falls, Havre, Lewistown, Miles City, Sidney and Wolf Point with a fleet of three Fairchild Metros.
Delta Connection SkyWest reported record 253,435 passengers in July, but growth in revenue passenger miles fell behind that for available seat miles, 5.2% to 4.8%, compared with July 1996. The St. George, Utah-based regional last month took six Los Angeles markets away from Mesa unit WestAir - effective Oct. 1 - under a new code-sharing agreement with United. July 1997 July 1996 7 Mths 1997 7 Mths 1996 RPMs 67,546,970 64,449,482 433,866,315 407,332,075
Philippine Airlines will suspend service between Vancouver and Newark/New York on Sept. 2, a shutdown that will result in shifting two aircraft leased by PAL from World Airways to Brazil's VASP, as announced earlier this summer by World. World said contract disputes between it and PAL have been "fully and amicably resolved," and the remaining two aircraft will continue in PAL service into 1998.
Lufthansa Cargo and KLM Cargo yesterday announced rate increases that will take effect Oct. 1. The German carrier's increases will vary from 6%, for shipments to Korea, to 17% for Middle East service. Hikes will be as high as 15% for North America shipments and 9% for the ASEAN states and India. Rates within Europe and to Latin America, South Africa, Japan and Australia will not change. Rates to U.S.
CityFlyer Express, British Airways' franchise partner based at London Gatwick, reported a 21% increase in passenger enplanements to 330,000 in the first quarter of 1997, compared with the same period last year. The carrier has a scheduled network linking Gatwick with 13 other U.K. and European destinations - Amsterdam, Antwerp, Bremen, Cologne/Bonn, Cork, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Guernsey, Jersey, Leeds-Bradford, Luxembourg, Newcastle and Rotterdam.
...UAL's "gesture" to cover ACA's CRJ costs for the rest of the year is a clear indication of the value the major partner places on the results its competitors have reaped from the RJ operations of their affiliate regionals. It also bodes well for United Express carriers Mesa and SkyWest, both of which operate CRJs independent of United, but especially Mesa, which has 25 on order and continues to lose money in its United Express turboprop operations at Denver.
A Jefferson County, Ky., judge ruled against UPS in its bid to press contempt-of-court charges against the Independent Pilots Association, charged in court with violating a restraining order against blacklisting contract pilots flying UPS goods and denying them jumpseats during the Teamsters' strike. IPA said the decision vindicated its position that it was operating within the law.
