Delta Express has cut summer fares to Florida from all service points. Tickets require a seven-day advance purchase and must be booked by June 24 for travel through Sept. 7. Blackouts apply July 2-7 and Aug. 28-Sept. 2. Delta Express operates 128 flights a day among 15 cities. Sample one-way fares include Boston-Orlando for $89, Washington Dulles-Fort Myers, $99, and Providence-Orlando, $79. The lowest fare, $19, is for Orlando-West Palm Beach. Delta Express will add two daily nonstops between Philadelphia and Tampa Sept.
ValuJet is considering a ValuJet Flightlink bus service to connect passengers from outlying areas in Georgia with Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, and it may announce the service today. A company spokesman said yesterday the carrier continues to look for ways to increase market share and ridership levels. Bus service is one option, he said. "If you look at smaller markets throughout this country" and the lack of competition, "ideas like this certainly seem to make sense."
Delta told DOT it is prepared to compete with ValuJet or any other carrier, but it opposes any "government handout" that would be represented by the cost-free award of slots to that carrier at New York LaGuardia. Countering ValuJet arguments that Delta enjoys a monopoly in the Atlanta-New York market, Delta said they ignore competitive services from several New York- area airports. The carrier quoted the president of the Borough of Queens, who said there are more than 40 nonstop roundtrips, plus numerous one- stops, by seven carriers between Atlanta and New York.
Nav Canada said yesterday it has begun a 60-day period of formal consultations with the aviation community on proposed user charges, which will be phased in over two years, beginning Nov. 1. Initial consultations will focus on fees for aircraft weighing more than 5.7 metric tons, about 12,500 pounds. The introduction of fees for aircraft weighing 5.7 metric tons or less will be deferred until Nov. 1, 1998, because setting fees for these aircraft requires separate analysis and consultation, Nav Canada said. Consultations will take place early in 1998.
Eurocontrol approved Bulgaria Sunday as its 26th member nation, adopting "fast-track" procedures reflecting what the Brussels-based air safety group said was Sofia's rapid progress in reforming its air traffic control sector. Bulgaria applied for membership in February and will be integrated technically into Eurocontrol's route charges system next Jan. 1.
American's traffic rose 3.7% in May on 1.7% more capacity, which pushed the load factor up 1.3 percentage points to 69%. Domestic traffic improved 2% on 0.9% more capacity; Latin America traffic grew 10.4% on 6.4% more capacity; Pacific traffic rose 0.7% on 4.5% more capacity, and Atlantic traffic increased 6.9% on 0.9% more capacity. Load factors for all sectors improved, except for the Pacific, which fell 2.8 points to 73.4%. In the first five months of the year, American's Pacific division shrank 3.2%, while traffic fell 5.3%.
Airbus and Fokker Aircraft Operating Costs, Fourth Quarter 1996, Dollars Per Block Hours, A320-100/200, A300-600, F100, F28-4/6000 Airbus and Fokker Aircraft Operating Costs Fourth Quarter 1996 Dollars Per Block Hours A320-100/200 America West Northwest United Average Crew Cost $318 $587 $629 $531 Fuel&Oil 592 585 598 591
Western Europe is the most common international destination for U.S. business travelers, according to a survey by Runzheimer International. Of 107 corporate travel managers, 92% said their employees travel internationally to Western Europe, 81% said Canada and 76% said Asia. The total exceeds 100% because of multiple answers.
Congressional tax staffers have given House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer (R-Texas) another draft proposal aimed at raising the same amount of money as the existing aviation excise taxes (DAILY, May 29). Archer plans to complete work on his committee's portion of a budget reconciliation bill as early as next week. Meanwhile, the National Civil Aviation Review Commission (NCARC) has asked Congress, as part of the budget reconciliation process, to accept special budget treatment for aviation revenues and spending.
Air New Zealand and Canadian Airlines formally ended their alliance yesterday. The six-year relationship, which encompasses service between Auckland and Toronto and Vancouver, will end Oct. 26. The move follows the establishment of relations between ANZ and United, which conflicts somewhat with Canadian's long-standing partnership with American.
Airbus and Fokker Aircraft Operating Costs Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Fourth Quarter 1996 A320-100/200 America West Northwest United Number of Aircraft Operated 25 50 35 Total Fleet Operations Departures 126 192 118 Block Hours 320 540 386 Flight Hours 279 462 342
The European Union should take the same fiscal approach on fuel in aviation as in other transport modes, according to environmental lobbying group European Federation for Transport and Environment (EFTE). It called for an aviation fuel tax based on the energy intensity or carbon content that at least equals the average tax applied to petroleum products in the domestic sector, with refunds on fuel used for international flights outside the EU. Tax issues, long dormant, are rising again on the EU's agenda of issues.
Charter airlines and other operators using noisy aircraft are chafing under new regulations against nighttime movements of such aircraft at Brussels Airport International. The Belgian Association of Tour Operators (ABTO) says the restrictions "pose serious logistical problems" for its members, but in fact they will have minimal impact on operations at BAI, affecting little more than 1% of its aircraft operations. Thus they will provide minimal noise relief as well.
Kiwi International Air Lines is charging $69, $89 or $129 per flight, depending on destination, for travel in June. Tickets must be purchased three days in advance but no later than June 6. Travel must begin by June 18. The lowest fares are for Chicago-Atlanta and Atlanta-Orlando flights.
FAA proposed a $68,000 fine against Aerovias Colombianas (ARCA) for failing to comply with an FAA airworthiness directive during a 14-month period in 1992-93. The carrier, whose operating certificate was suspended in January by the Colombian government, is said by FAA to have operated about 686 DC- 8F-55 flights without installing a main cargo door vent system, required by an AD to prevent inadvertent opening of the door in flight.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Board of Commissioners has authorized payment of $3 million to the Linden Economic Development Corp. if Linden Airport takes certain steps to curtail airspace conflicts that cause airline flight delays at Newark Airport during inclement weather.
Lufthansa has given Uwe Hinrichs and Ulrich Wachter responsibility for passenger sales and operations in the U.S. and Canada, and in Central and South America, respectively.
Travel Agent magazine, in a special May 29 edition, lists its top 100 choices for the "best and brightest young executives in travel and tourism" whose influence extends to the travel agent community.
Continental's closer code-share ties with Alitalia will be seen in the cabin as well as on the computer reservations screen.Onboard cups and napkins will display both carriers' logos on code-share flights, and Continental's flights will offer duty-free items from the Alitalia Boutique.
Delta has received authority from Bosnia-Herzogovina to operate code-share services to Sarajevo, becoming the first U.S. carrier to do so, Delta said. The airline already has DOT authority for the service. Delta plans to place its code on partner Austrian's flights to Sarajevo from Vienna.
The top 10 U.S. airlines posted worse combined records in April for on-time performance and consumer complaints than in April 1996, although the mishandled baggage rate improved slightly. The carriers recorded a 79.8% on-time record at all reported airports, down from 80.2% in April last year but up from 78.1% in March 1997. Southwest had the best record at 84.2%, followed by TWA, 83.6%, and United, 81.6%. Delta came in last with 75.6%. Consumers filed 649 complaints about service in April, an 18% increase over April 1996 and a 10% increase from March.
Belgium's new long-haul, no-frills carrier, CityBird, put a second MD-11 into service Monday on flights from Brussels to New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The carrier, which launched operations March 27, said it carried 15,269 passengers and had a 71.02% load factor as of May 15.
Antitrust issues and multilateralism were among the highlights of U.S.-New Zealand open skies talks, judging from the Memorandum of Consultations that emerged from the agreement initialed last week (DAILY, June 2).
