Seventy percent of Air Canada's 3,500 employees represented by the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) cast ballots on the question of striking the company over contract talks, with 91% of those voting favoring the action. Negotiations came to an end Sept. 28 after only four weeks of talks, the union said. "Air Canada refused to make an economic offer to the union." The CAW said it will meet with management in conciliation Oct. 28-29.
USAir has reduced transcontinental fares through Feb. 13 on its seven-day advance purchase tickets. The fares require a stay of at least two nights and must be purchased by Oct. 25.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic September, 9 Months 1996 (000) September September % 1996 1995 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 810,000 697,000 16.2 Available Seat Miles 1,231,000 1,147,000 7.3 Load Factor (%) 65.8 60.8 America West
Northrop Grumman said its net income for the third quarter increased 15% to $70 million from $61 million during the same quarter a year ago. Sales were up 25% to $2 billion from $1.6 billion. For the year to date, sales were up 16% to $5.8 billion and net income increased 12% to $217 million from $194 million.
Shuttle By United may boost United far more than raw numbers indictate. Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Harris said 80% of passengers who fly Shuttle earn frequent flyer miles, almost twice the industry average. Loyal West Coast customers, including many business travelers, subsequently choose United on many non-Shuttle flights. What Harris terms the "halo effect" will add $321 million to United's revenues in 1996.
Air Atlantic Dominicana has proposed scheduled service from Santo Domingo to San Juan, Miami and New York. In its application to DOT for scheduled and charter authority, the carrier said it would inaugurate the service with a wet-leased 727-200. Air Atlantic will provide information on the lessor once its agreement is finalized. The carrier argued that U.S.
Great Lakes Aviation will not be permitted to drop its Manistee, Mich., service as soon as it had hoped. DOT is requiring the carrier, which had filed to suspend its service at Manistee effective Dec. 16, to continue serving the point at least through Jan. 15 or until replacement service is obtained.
Allison Engine Co. executives could not be more delighted. The Embraer EMB-145 regional jet, on its recent demonstration tour of Europe, encountered a flock of seagulls near the English Channel coast. The crew felt a "thump," but continued on the one-hour flight to Paris. On landing they found that the left engine - an Allison AE3007 turbofan - had swallowed a two-and one-half-pound gull with "minute damage" to one turbine blade. "We felt very encouraged," said a senior Allison executive, "and the real-life experience made Embraer very confident as well."
Servicio Aereo a Territorios Nacionales (SATENA) of Colombia has ordered three high-speed Dornier 328s as part of an ongoing modernization program, Fairchild Dornier reported. The state-owned carrier, founded in 1962 and based at Santafe de Bogota Airport, serves 54 domestic destinations in the areas of the Amazon, Orinoco and the Pacific rain forest with a fleet of 13 aircraft.
Northwest apparently is nearing a decision - or decisions - on the makeup of its Airlink feeder network. The marketing agreements with Express I Airlines at Memphis and Mesaba Holdings at Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul expire in April. The carrier is known to be unhappy with Express I, and Mesaba, which is 30% owned by Northwest, has long coveted the Memphis hub. However, Trans States owner Hulas Kanodia, who is West Coast Airlink operator, also is said to be interested in Memphis and a possible BAe 146 operation.
Continental said yesterday it is adding destinations and increasing existing service from its Newark hub to cities in the western U.S. It plans to launch service to Salt Lake City and Portland in the first half of 1997, increase nonstop service to San Diego and Los Angeles, and improve its Newark-Seattle service schedule.
McDonnell Douglas reported yesterday third quarter net earnings of $195 million and operating earnings of $339 million, up from net earnings of $192 million and operating earnings of $295 million in the same period last year. For the first nine months, net earnings were a record $581 million and operating earnings were $1 billion, up from net results of $520 million and operating results of $888 million.
Mexican air taxi operator Jet Rent applied at DOT for authority to operate charter flights between the U.S. and Mexico, with stopover privileges and relief from the requirement that it obtain approval in advance for each flight. It expects to operate 38 roundtrips each year with an average load of three passengers. It operates two Learjets, one with eight seats and one with seven. (Docket OST-96-1869)
America West announced yesterday an "agreement in principle" to order as many as 34 new Airbus aircraft, restructuring a 24-aircraft order it placed in 1990. To accommodate the new aircraft order and cancellation of the previous one, and to reflect current asset values for some of its inventories and facilities and other adjustments, the airline said it will take a non-cash, non-recurring pretax charge of $65 million in the third quarter of 1996, which ended Sept. 30. It expects to publish third quarter results Oct. 25.
Malaysian Systems, a division of Malaysian Airlines, has signed an agreement with the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka to establish a maintenance unit for Boeing 737 aircraft near Mysore city. Budgeted at 2.5 billion rupees ($70 million), the facility is being equipped initially for C-checks and will be upgraded later for D-checks. Most of the budget has been earmarked for infrastructure investment involving building of runways and hangars, using equipment and jigs from the airline's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
After experiencing a series of major outages, some of them caused by the Display Channel Complex (DCC), FAA is on track with its short-lived replacement, called the Display Channel Complex Rehost (DCCR), the General Accounting Office reported to Congress yesterday. The DCC is a mainframe computer system that processes radar and other data into images on controllers' screens. GAO said it had been concerned that FAA was not allocating the resources necessary for certain test activities and was not managing certain elements as formal program risks.
Airports should have to follow the same regulations as other major polluters, such as smokestack industries, the Natural Resources Defense Council said yesterday. "While air pollution from automobiles and many major industries have stabilized or decreased, aircraft continue to emit more smog-forming gases - volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides - with each passing year," NRDC said.
New Regional Aircraft Deliveries July 1996 Last 12 Months Carrier No. Type Engines Delivery AMR Eagle 1 Saab 340B Plus CT7-9A 22 Comair Inc 2 Canadair RJ CF34-3A1 12 Continental Express 1 AA ATR 42-500 PW127E 2
Peninsula Airways d/b/a Penair has filed at DOT to terminate its Metro service at St. George, Alaska, on an emergency basis, effective Nov. 1. The carrier cited its inability to operate at the point under Part 121 rules, now mandated by the government for operators of aircraft with more than nine passenger seats (Metros have 19 passenger seats). "There is no approved instrument approach, no weather reporting or forecasting service, and no ability to maintain radio contact with dispatchers" at St. George, Penair said.
The U.S. government is waiting to hear from Chile whether flights between the two countries can increase and whether bilateral talks are needed. The notes governing scheduled combination service expire at the end of November, and DOT has a proposal before Chile to increase service. Separately, Carnival Air Lines has asked DOT to defer action on a request by National Airlines Chile (NAC) for renewal of its code-sharing authority with United until the Chilean government assures the U.S.
American Eagle has named Robert Hamilton VP-field services and marketing for Executive Airlines, Eagle's operator based at San Juan, Puerto Rico. Previously, Hamiltonn was American manager on duty in Dallas/Fort Worth. He is a 30-year airline veteran.
Northwest, publishing third quarter financial data yesterday, set all-time records for load factor, revenue, operating income and net income in a single quarter. The carrier's net profit rose 9.9% to $253.9 million and its operating margin improved to 17.2% from 16.6% in the same quarter in 1995. Fuel and related fuel taxes jumped 31.9% year-over-year. In the first nine months of 1996, Northwest's net profit increased 50.7% to $510 million. "The underlying demand for our product is strong," said John Dasburg, president and chief executive.
Air Maldives has signed a purchase agreement for one 37-passenger de Havilland Dash 8 Series 200 and an option for another Series 200. The firm-ordered aircraft will be delivered next month and the option aircraft in mid-1998. The value of the transaction was placed at approximately $13.5 million. The order brings the Dash 8 orderbook to 514 aircraft delivered and on firm order.
