American Airlines and British Airways had little to say about comments made Tuesday by Joel Klein, acting head of Justice Department's antitrust division. Klein, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in hearings to confirm him in the position, said there were "real concerns" over the American-BA alliance because of the dominant position it would create on transatlantic routes. Justice Department continues an investigation of the alliance in preparation for a recommendation to DOT but until now has said little - if anything - about its views.
ValuJet reported yesterday a first quarter net loss of $18.5 million on revenue of $36.9 million, as non-recurring maintenance and aircraft expenses continued to punish its results. The airline had $9.3 million in extraordinary expenses, including $7.3 million in maintenance to return several DC-9-30s to operational status. The remainder of the extra cost came from having 17 of the airline's 42 DC-9s lie dormant. The airline has 25 aircraft in service, with three more coming on line in May, and ValuJet expects to have 30 flying by this summer.
The Los Angeles City Council voted eight to two yesterday to send back to the Department of Airports $30.3 million transferred to the city fund at the end of September. FAA's Office of Airport Safety and Standards issued a record of determination in March concluding that all but $786,628 of the $31.1 million transfer was diverted illegally (AIRPORTS, March 19). In late March, the city returned a separate $1.05 million that the DOT Office of the Inspector General had found to be diverted since the beginning of October.
Reserving final judgment until hearings are completed, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee said yesterday he has "heard good things" about Acting Federal Highway Administrator Jane Garvey, who is widely accepted to be President Clinton's pick to become FAA administrator. "I hope that [the nomination] comes over soon; I'd like to act on it as quickly as possible," said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a meeting with reporters.
Former FAA Administrator David Hinson was named chairman of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Foundation Board of Visitors. He succeeds Najeeb Halaby, the first FAA administrator. The board of visitors comprises distinguished aviators or aviation professionals who volunteer their knowledge and experience to enhance the mission and funding of the non-profit foundation.
London-based international distribution company Air Action Group has established a freight forwarding franchise in Indonesia with Ritra Cargo, the country's second-largest IATA freight forwarder with a network of nine offices across Indonesia's business centers. Air Action's corporate strategy is to set up franchises in major markets around the world. It is currently negotiating with potential partners in seven other markets, the company said.
Robert Aaronson, executive VP and general manager of Airport Group International, will resign May 1 to acquire Thompson Consultants International, AGI's aviation planning subsidiary. "We are pleased that Bob will continue to provide services to AGI, albeit in a different role," said Patrick Cowell, AGI president.
FAA said it has reassessed Thailand and found that it now complies with international safety standards. Last Dec. 16, FAA gave Thailand a "conditional" rating, signifying that its inspectors found areas of operation that did not meet safety standards. Limited operations to the U.S. from Thailand were permitted, but only under heightened operations inspections and surveillance.
The City of Chicago is opposing a Northwest Airlines' bid to defer action on an Air-India application to renew authority for service to Chicago O'Hare Airport, noting that the government of India has approved a Northwest/KLM application for third-country code-share service into that country. Northwest itself was expected to change its position now that its code share has been granted. India had approved a Delta/Swissair code share but held up Northwest/KLM and United/Lufthansa, and it still has not approved the latter, according to DOT.
Fields Aircraft Spares said McDonnell Douglas has converted its preferred shares in Fields into 564,194 common shares, giving MDC a 30% ownership in Fields. Fields markets aircraft spare parts that MDC considers surplus to its needs.
TWA has nominated two directors to fill vacancies created when Jewel Lafontant-Mankarious and Lawrence Roos retire May 29. The nominees are Dr. Blanche Touhill, chancellor of the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Ret. Gen. Merrill McPeak, former chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force. Shareholders will vote on the nominations at the May 29 annual meeting.
Boeing's board granted yesterday launch approval of the 767-400ER, which adds 21 feet to the 767-300 and up to 20% more seats, sizing it between the 767-300 and the 777-200. Other changes include additional wingspan, increased takeoff weight capability and a new landing gear. It is scheduled for a mid-2000 delivery to launch customer Delta, which ordered 21.
Arinc reported it was chosen by Manchester Airport to install next March its Muse (multi-user system environment) platform, which will enable airlines to access their individual host reservations systems from common- use computer hardware at ticket counter and check-in and gate areas. Using Muse, the airlines and ground-handling companies share counter space, equipment, software and the local area network.
Defense Department has given final approval for the Bell Boeing TiltRotor team to begin producing V-22 Ospreys for the U.S. Marine Corps. Five were approved for this year's defense budget, and Navy this week released $402 million to fund them. The production schedule calls for another five in 1998, seven in 1999 and eight in 2000. Marines want 425.
U.S. Major Carriers Operating and Net Profit Fourth Quarter 1996 Operating Net Profit/Loss Profit/Loss (000) (000) Fourth Quarter 1996 Alaska $ (6,581) $ 311 America West 25,409 12,067 American 199,634 73,061 Continental 91,473 46,624
Pittston Burlington Group, including Burlington Air Express, reported net income of $5.1 million for the first quarter, a 34% gain over the same quarter last year. Total revenues were $371.4 million, a 7% increase. Operating profit was $10.8 million, up from $8.7 million. Expedited freight revenues totalled $180.9 million internationally and $136 million domestically.
Japan's first female pilot has been approved to fly after graduating from the state-owned flight academy. Aya Nagano, 26, will operate Jetstream 31s for J-Air, a Japan Airlines subsidiary.
The Electronic Marketplace Committee of the Air Transport Association (ATA) has issued recommendations on practices by companies that provide electronic reservations services. The proposals, developed jointly by ATA and IATA with support from the Airlines Reporting Corp. and Air Travel Card, include safeguards against fraud, one of which is for immediate ticketing so that booking and payment information are produced and collected during the same session.
Pan Am is offering fares at discounts of as much as 64% off the lowest unrestricted price for tickets purchased until May 18. There is no travel cutoff date. Seats are limited, and tickets must be purchased within 72 hours of making reservations. Except for San Juan, all travel requires a Saturday night stay. One-way fares based on a roundtrip purchase are $89 in the New York-Miami and Chicago Midway-Miami markets, $99 for Miami-San Juan, $119 for New York-San Juan, $149 for Chicago-San Juan and $199 for New York-Los Angeles.
Austrian Airlines' operating profit in 1996 was 101.6 million Austrian schillings (US$8.13 million), a gain of ATS46.5 million ($3.6 million) or 84.4% from 1995. Its net profit, after deducting 1995 losses, was ATS25.9 million ($2.1 million). Its operating revenue rose 8.8% to ATS13 billion ($1.04 billion) for the year. The airline predicts a better year in 1997. The number of passengers in the first quarter rose 9.3% from the first three months of 1996.
Amtran Inc., parent of American Trans Air, yesterday reported a 45% increase in first quarter pre-tax income to $6.3 million. Net income rose to $3.2 million from $2.4 million. Total revenue dropped 6.2% to $194 million. Charter revenue rose to $100 million, but the increase was not nearly as great as the decline in scheduled service revenue, to $82 million.
Aeroflot has a long way to go to overcome its image as an airline with poor reliability and terrible customer service. It ranks last in a new Zagat survey of 61 airlines of the world, and customers say it is "quicker than Kevorkian" and "Russian roulette may be safer." Customers complained that the equipment is old, they were served only apples and water, and lavatories were supplied with a single, community towel.
British Airways and Canadian Airlines International said they will greatly expand the joint service they offer across the Atlantic and within Canada. Effective May 14, the two carriers will begin code-share service on the Toronto-London Heathrow and Vancouver-London Heathrow routes. Canadian will launch service from Toronto using a 767, complementing daily 747 flights by BA. On June 1, Canadian will fly six weekly flights from Vancouver, joining a BA 747 on the same route. The two will offer 23 weekly nonstop code-share flights from Toronto and 13 from Vancouver.
