Kiwi is offering Mother's Day companion roundtrip fares of $298 and $248 good until May 14. One of the travelers must be at least 18 years old. The higher fare is for longer-haul markets. Tickets must be purchased 24 hours in advance.
Hawaiian Airlines posted a first quarter net loss of $2.4 million, compared with a net loss in first quarter 1996 of $582,000. Its operating loss during the quarter was $4.5 million, compared with an operating profit of $396,000 a year earlier. Operating revenues were up 6.1% to $99.7 million, but operating expenses rose 11.3% to $104.2 million during the quarter. Hawaiian said the loss resulted from an 11% increase in charter and scheduled flight operations and a 20% increase in the price of jet fuel, which increased costs about $2.9 million.
TWA's April traffic dropped 6.9% and capacity declined 6.8% as a planned downsizing of the airline's fleet and its international routes took effect. Despite the drop, the total number of passengers boarded increased 0.1%. The load factor was flat at 66.7%. TWA's international traffic plunged 32.5% on 31.4 % less capacity, which lowered the international load factor 1.2 percentage points to 72.3%. On-time performance improved 8 points to 83.8%. April 97 April 96 4 Months 97 4 Months 96
Islena Airlines, La Ceiba, Honduras, has taken delivery of its second ATR 42 from Aero International (Regional), AI(R) announced. The aircraft will be placed in service in mid-month on new routes to Guatemala City, Guatemala, and Managua, Nicaragua, from Honduras. Islena began service with its initial ATR 42 one year ago. It started up in 1981 with one Cessna 206.
United Express affiliate Air Wisconsin posted a 9.5-percentage-point increase in load factor last month to 61.4% from 51.9% as revenue passenger miles jumped 13.1% to 46 million and capacity dropped 4.4% to nearly 75 million available seat miles. Enplanements rose 4.7%. April 1997 April 1996 4 Mths 1997 4 Mths 1996 RPMs 46,031,000 40,708,000 191,993,000 157,460,000 ASMs 74,956,000 78,389,000 318,332,000 324,275,000
United and Northwest fought back this week against efforts by niche carriers to enlist government aid against what the smaller airlines label predatory practices. Frontier Airlines has been the leader in this fight in recent months, publicizing its complaints against United at Denver, communicating with government officials about predatory patterns and using "exceptional circumstances" guidelines in an attempt to gain slots at high- density New York LaGuardia Airport.
Mercury Air Group posted record revenue and net income for the March quarter. Revenue was up 26.6% to $72.5 million and net income rose 29.3% to $1.1 million. Mercury said its FBOs boosted overall performance. "Gross margin for the FBOs jumped 171.4% this quarter," said Seymour Kahn, chairman.
U.S Major Carriers Domestic Share of Service Fourth Quarter 1996 Total Revenue Departures Alaska 34,630 America West 51,556 American 167,622 Continental 103,673 Delta 229,788 Northwest 138,535 Southwest 189,768 TWA 67,500 United 182,819 USAir 186,647
AlliedSignal Aerospace said FAA has certificated its Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System for use on the Gulfstream V, Dassault Falcon 900, Bombardier Challenger 601-3R and 601-3A business jets and the Beechcraft King Air C-90 turboprop. The system already has been certified for the Airbus A320 and Boeing 757, 767 and 737-400 jetliners. AlliedSignal said it expects additional business jet certifications soon.
A new European safety organization is being pursued rigorously by several countries and should be functioning by the end of 1998, said Jan Willem Weck, director general of civil aviation for The Netherlands. Speaking this week at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Global Air&Space '97 forum, he noted that the Joint Aviation Authorities has made progress on safety, air traffic control, maintenance and other areas where responsibility has been fragmented among several countries.
Horizon Air has been granted FAA authority to operate its de Havilland Dash 8-100s, equipped with the Flight Dynamics Head-Up Guidance System for Category 2 approach minimums, at four Cat 1 airports in the Northwest. The authority -the first granted by the agency - will enable approaches to a runway visual range (RVR) of 1,600 feet and a decision height (DH) of 100 feet, while all other operators will be restricted to RVR 2,400 feet and DH 200 feet. The airports are Eugene and Klamath Falls, Ore.; Spokane, Wash., and Eureka/Arcata, Calif.
PRS International Inc., Houston, is offering its accounts payable audit service to the aviation industry. The company said the system has recovered large amounts of money for corporations by finding errors in accounting, and it does not charge for the service if no money is recovered.
DOT's air carrier fitness division wants new-entrant carrier Pro Air to provide additional information on its financing, startup date and destination plans, according to a filing this week. The department issued an order last August finding the carrier fit, pending FAA certification and other requirements, but Pro Air has yet to start operations. The carrier is aiming for startup by May 20, but problems in securing an environmental impact statement for operations at Detroit City Airport likely will cause a delay.
Atlantic Coast, the Washington Dulles-based United Express affiliate, suffered a 0.3-percentage point decline in load factor last month to 47.3% as capacity rose 2.1% to 67.1 million available seat miles and traffic increased 1.6% to 31.7 million revenue passenger miles. Boardings were up 0.5%. April 1997 April 1996 4 Mths 1997 4 Mths 1996 RPMs 31,744,000 31,244,000 104,985,000 103,996,000 ASMs 67,065,000 65,669,000 253,958,000 239,434,000
Air France and German regional Eurowings started joint service this week between Frankfurt and Berlin Tempelhof, a route previously operated only by Lufthansa. Earlier this year, the German airline was denounced by the Bundeskartellamt, the German antitrust authority, for charging excessive fares on Frankfurt-Berlin.
A proposal by Trans States Airlines to operate nonstop, turboprop United Express service to Chicago O'Hare from Asheville, N.C., Chattanooga, Tenn., and Roanoke, Va., has won substantial community support. Trans States, proposing nonstop service from the points using Jetstream 41 aircraft, is seeking an exemption from DOT's high-density rule that would permit the service to O'Hare, one of the four airports covered by the rule.
Five airlines - Cathay Pacific Airways, British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Swissair and Virgin Atlantic Airways - received Five Star Diamond Awards from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences. The award recognizes airlines, hotels, resorts, restaurants and chefs worldwide.
US Airways will discontinue jet service to nine unprofitable cities and close some crew bases in September under a plan that aims to increase efficiency and eventually ground 22 aircraft. The carrier said the moves are necessary whether it decides to implement plans to develop as a global carrier or reduce its size to that of a large regional carrier, depending on labor costs. As expected, the changes call for employee furloughs (DAILY, May 8). US Airways did not provide financial details of the new business plan.
United has begun a loose coin collection program aboard transatlantic aircraft to benefit homebuilding this summer in London, Oakland and Newark by Habitat for Humanity. The program is an attempt to take advantage of foreign-currency change that passengers find a nuisance to exchange.
Northwest Airlink affiliate Mesaba Airlines flew 43.1 million revenue passenger miles last month, a 31.9% increase from 32.7 million in April 1996. Capacity rose 29.3% to 82.6 million available seat miles, allowing the passenger load factor to gain 1.1 percentage points to 52.2%. Mesaba said it planned to place the first two of 12 Avro RJ85 jets into service about June 6.
American Eagle reported a systemwide traffic decline of 6.7% to 206.5 million revenue passenger miles last month. Capacity was off 7.1% to 344.3 million available seat miles, allowing the load factor to rise 0.2 percentage points to 60% from 59.8%. April 1997 April 1996 4 Mths 1997 4 Mths 1996 RPMs 206,479,000 221,379,000 808,829,000 857,698,000 ASMs 344,285,000 370,506,000 1,387,608,000 1,507,606,000
DOT has named Great Lakes to provide essential air service between Mattoon and Chicago O'Hare, establishing an annual subsidy rate of $182,319 for the service. The rate is retroactive to Feb. 17 until the department takes further action. (OST-96-1955)
U.S. Major Carriers Systemwide Share of Service Fourth Quarter 1996 Total Revenue Departures Alaska 36,885 America West 52,999 American 195,836 Continental 112,900 Delta 240,526 Northwest 146,121 Southwest 189,768 TWA 69,659 United 196,887 USAir 189,256
U.S. and Canadian officials meet today in Washington, at Canada's request, to discuss the overflight fees the U.S. plans to impose May 19. Though fees are collected by many countries and FAA defends its version as simply a method to recover costs, an absence of international consultation drew strong criticism at a May 1 FAA hearing (DAILY, May 2).
