Great Lakes, which earlier this spring said it would cease its Midway Connection service Nov. 1, has accelerated that schedule by opting not to resume the Midway Connection flights after voluntarily suspending all flight operations under pressure from FAA May 16 (DAILY, May 20). Great Lakes began Midway Connection services Oct. 1, 1995, and the operation had grown to 12 aircraft used and 15 communities served. It said it would help affected employees find other employment.
Top 25 City-Pair Markets Under 750 Miles O&D Passengers Fourth Quarter 1996 Short 1996 Average Haul Markets Non-Stop Passenger Rank Rank City-Pair Mileage Per Day 1 2 Chicago - New York 723 7,269 2 3 Honolulu - Kahului 100 7,107 3 4 Boston - New York 183 7,054
Det Norske Veritas, Oslo, Norway, has decided to remain the owner of U.S. aviation consulting company Avitas "after exploring the possibility of a management buyout," Avitas said yesterday. John Vitale, who has been VP- asset valuation and chief appraiser, will be president and chief executive officer. He succeeds Lawrence Crawford, "who has resigned to pursue other business interests," Avitas reported.
Alaska Airlines reported a 2% traffic gain in May on 0.7% less capacity, which pushed the load factor up 1.8 percentage points to 66.7%. For the first five months of 1997, its traffic has risen 7.4% on 1.5% more capacity. May 97 May 96 5 Mths 97 5 Mths 96 RPMs 842,000,000 825,000,000 4,007,000,000 3,729,000,000 ASMs 1,262,000,000 1,270,000,000 6,059,000,000 5,967,000,000 LoadFtr% 66.7 64.9 66.1 62.5
Despite reassurances last month by a key White House adviser that the U.S. was not altering its goal of signing an open skies agreement with Japan (DAILY, May 2), Northwest and at least one key U.S. senator are trying to stiffen the U.S. spine. Northwest Chief Executive John Dasburg, speaking yesterday before the U.S./ASEAN Business Council in Detroit, praised Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) for writing Secretary of State Madeleine Albright that "Japan's record of compliance with market-opening agreements is abysmal." Helms warned the U.S.
Opponents of congressionally mandated FAA overflight fee implementation can count three more senators in their corner - Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), member of the Senate Commerce Committee. The three wrote Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and DOT Secretary Rodney Slater that they shared the concern of Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) that the U.S.
Continental Express revenue passenger miles rose 22.2% in May to 95.7 million, while capacity increased just 16% to 171.4 million available seat miles. The resulting load factor was 55.9%, up 2.8 percentage points from May 1996. The carrier said it would resume summer service from its Newark hub to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket on June 12 and Hyannis on June 20. Service to the Cape and Islands markets will increase July 1, the carrier said. May 1997 May 1996 5 Months 1997 5 Months 1996
Independent U.K. carrier, British World Airlines, has added two ATPs to its fleet which now comprises five BAC-111s, two ATR 72s, three Viscounts and seven BAe 146s. Sales director of British World Airlines, Mike Sessions, confirmed that the airline would add more ATPs to the fleet if it becomes a success. He welcomed the fact that the ATP can operate out of most airports without any restrictions and as a pure freighter its capacity is 7,000 to 7,500 kilograms.
Eagle Canyon Airlines flew 22,950 passengers on routes from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon and Laughlin, Nev., in this year's first quarter, a 39% increase from first quarter 1996 and a record, airline President Grant Murray said.
American said yesterday that slots for 23 daily roundtrips - suggested by GAO to spur competition at London Heathrow with approval of the American-BA alliance - could be found through new slot creation, transfer from partners or purchase from other carriers. No slots need come from American or BA, American's analysis finds.
Apollo Travel Services has acquired the exclusive rights to TravelWare software, a Windows-based accounting and management system that eventually will replace Apollo's TS2000 XL system. TravelWare was acquired from Systems Development Corp., Englewood, Colo. Apollo said the system will meet the accounting, reporting and data management needs of agencies of any size.
Delta has restructured its corporate control and treasury functions into three departments - controller, treasurer and financial planning and analysis. Ed West has been promoted to VP-financial planning and analysis and Hiram Cox, former head of the Delta Shuttle, to corporate controller. Delta expects to name a new treasurer soon.
ValuJet confirmed it has signed a deal with Greyhound for bus service to Atlanta from Dalton and Macon, Ga., and Chattanooga, Tenn., beginning June 19 (DAILY, June 4). The FlightLink service will be free until Aug. 21, after which it will cost $14 one way for Atlanta-Macon and $20 for Dalton- and Chattanooga-Atlanta.
Mesaba Airlines could see its annual operating revenues jump by $45 million-$50 million and operating profit by $4 million-$5 million by fiscal 1999 as a result of its taking over the Minneapolis/St. Paul routes of fellow Northwest Airlink Express Airlines I under a new agreement with senior partner Northwest. Operating revenues in the most recent fiscal year totaled $185 million, compared with $151 million in the prior fiscal year.
FAA officials overseeing implementation of the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) have told contractor Raytheon Electronic Systems they propose to elevate STARS software development to "high risk status" because of delays in meeting milestones. FAA and Raytheon have been discussing possible schedule problems since last year (DAILY, Dec. 13), but both sides reported in January that they had resolved differences on requirements for the program (DAILY, Jan. 10).
Farmington, N.M.-based Mesa Air Group posted a 5.6% increase in May traffic to 120.8 million revenue passenger miles from 114.3 million in May 1996. Capacity climbed 9.2% to 221.8 million available seat miles, causing the load factor to decline 1.9 percentage points to 54.4% from 56.3%. Enplanements rose 6.1% to 585,984 from 552,412. May 1997 May 1996 5 Months 1997 5 Months 1996 -------------------------------------------------------------
British Midland reported pre-tax profits of $11.6 million in 1996, up 43% from $8.1 million in 1995. Revenue rose 7.8% to $782.1 million. The airline posted a 63.2% load factor last year, up 1.7 percentage points, and it carried 5.8 million passengers in scheduled service, up from 5 million. The carrier attributed the improvements to the introduction of its Diamond EuroClass business-class service on U.K. domestic routes and the traffic flow at London Heathrow from 17 code-share partners.
Cessna has appointed CSE Aviation at Oxford to become its authorized representative for single-engine aircraft sales in the U.K. Cessna returned to the manufacture of single-engine piston aircraft with the production of the 172 Skyhawk and 182 Skylane. The six-seat 206 aircraft is expected to start production in 1998. CSE, which also operates the Oxford Air Training School, has a long association with Cessna as a service center for the company's piston and turboprop aircraft.
American Chairman Robert Crandall will speak with Charles Barclay, president of the American Association of Airport Executives, on this week's Aviation News Today, to be broadcast Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 from 12:30 a.m.-1 a.m. and from 1:30 p.m.-2 p.m.
Alaska Air Group subsidiary sustained a 0.9% decline in traffic last month to 68.4 million revenue passenger miles, but capacity was off 5.7% to 114 million available seat miles, compared with May 1996 figures. The load factor as a result rose three percentage points to 60.1% from 57.1%; boardings were off 6.1% to 289,100.
The Sabre Group has reorganized itself to spur information technology growth by combining its two IT divisions, Sabre Decision Technologies (SDT) and Sabre Computer Services (SCS), effective immediately. The move will merge Sabre's consulting, outsourcing, applications development and data center operations, said Michael Durham, president and chief executive. SDT President Thomas Cook will be president of the new division and SCS President Bradford Boston will be executive VP. Durham said the change will make Sabre "the premier technology solutions provider" worldwide.
El Al Israel Airlines took delivery of an extended-range 757, its eighth of the type and fifth with extended range, for use on routes to Europe and Africa. The carrier is leasing the aircraft with an option to buy it.
United will introduce a "bigger, better Boeing" today in service between Los Angeles and London Heathrow, replacing the current equipment on the route, a 767, with the longer-range Boeing 777B. The 777B offers the same 292 seats in three classes as on United's 777As but has higher-thrust engines, longer range and a heavier payload. It will be United's first aircraft in transatlantic service with a business section equipped with the Connoisseur Class seat, which has so many features, flight attendants hand out instructions on how to use it.
Representatives of general aviation users urged the National Civil Aviation Review Commission yesterday to drop a draft proposal to double the aviation gasoline tax and almost triple the non-commercial jet fuel tax over the next five years. Under a staff draft considered this week, avgas fuel would increase four cents per gallon each year in fiscal 1999 through 2002 to 31 cents from the current 15. Over the same period, the jet fuel tax would rise eight cents per gallon each year to 51.5 cents from the current 17.5 cents.
TWA named advertising executive Donald Casey executive VP of marketing. Casey, formerly the chief executive of design firm Landor Associates and an executive with Landor's parent, Young and Rubicam, will be responsible for worldwide marketing and sales, airport operations, revenue management and cargo. He worked for TWA from 1968 to 1981, leaving as senior VP- marketing. Rod Brandt, currently senior VP-marketing and planning, will return to his former role as senior VP-planning, reporting to Chairman Gerald Gitner.
