British Airways is urging the European Commission to halt the proposed acquisition of Air Liberte by state-owned regional AOM. The U.K. carrier, attacking the prospective deal as "an illegal use of state aid," believes it is an attempt to block a foreign airline from acquiring slots at Paris Orly Airport. BA wants to buy Air Liberte to add to the continental presence it has established with French regional TAT European Airlines. TAT contacted Air Liberte recently to explore an acquisition but was told AOM is about to enter the bidding.
World Airways flew 2,970 block hours in September in its continuing operations - those not a part of its now-defunct scheduled service - up 8% from last September's 2,747. Average daily aircraft utilization was 8.4 block hours per day versus 9.7 in the 1995 month. The decrease was due mainly to the reconfiguration of two aircraft to fulfill a new contract with Philippine Airlines. World flew 31,344 block hours in the first nine months of the year, up from 27,148 for the same period in 1995.
Galileo International signed a distribution agreement with Phataraprasit Holding Co. of Thailand, a group that encompasses a range of companies with interests in multiple business sectors. The agreement gives Phataraprasit group exclusive rights to distribute the Galileo computer reservations system within Thailand, and a new company, Galileo Thailand, will be responsible for marketing, selling and providing technical and operational support for Galileo's products.
Reno Air is offering first-class upgrades between San Francisco and Orange County to customers who use the Internet. Internet users can upgrade and print their certificates directly from the airline's World Wide Web page. The site is found at http://www.renoair.com, and access to the offer is at "highlights of the month." The certificates, which are valid through Nov. 15, can be used when space is available on the day of departure.
CCAIR's September traffic rose 6.8% to 11.7 million revenue passenger miles while capacity rose 3.5% to 26.7 million available seat miles. Load factor rose 3.3 percentage points during the month to 43.8%. During the first nine months of the year, RPMs were up 10.3% to 112.6 million while ASMs rose 0.4% to 235.9 million. Load factor was up 9.9 points to 47.7%. CCAIR, a USAir Express operator, said its advance bookings for the winter months are up by 10% over this time last year.
Emery Worldwide has launched 727 freighter service to Norfolk, Va., "providing the only direct air cargo service to the area for next-morning deliveries of commercial and industrial heavyweight freight." The flight returns nightly to Emery's Dayton hub.
Spirit Airlines has increased its charter flying and reduced scheduled passenger service after a scheduled-service downturn following the May 11 ValuJet crash. "Before ValuJet, we had virtually no charter work, and now it makes up 30% of our flying," said Spirit Vice Chairman Mark Kahan. The airline, now growing, wants to continue building its on-demand charter operations while adding aircraft to rebuild its scheduled service.
Tower Air's block hours fell 13.8% in September due to reductions in military and cargo charters and the carrier's withdrawal from the India market. Cargo charters dropped because one of the company's two cargo aircraft was grounded to comply with what Tower called "newly restrictive" airworthiness directives. Scheduled passenger available seat miles decreased 1.9% in September to 403 million from 411 million. Revenue passenger miles fell much more than capacity, however, decreasing 12.6%. The load factor thus plunged 7.9 percentage points to 65.3%.
U.S. regional airlines' collective traffic increased 14.2% in the second quarter to almost 3.7 billion revenue passenger miles and the combined load factor jumped 9.7 percentage points to 55.6% from the same quarter a year earlier, said Walter Coleman, president of the Regional Airline Association. The number of passengers rose 7.6% to 16.1 million, while the average trip length rose 6.1% to 229 miles.
USAir and its pilots union will discuss in contract talks "competitive strategy alternatives" that could include a low-fare, low-pilot-wage operation in the East to counter competitive attacks by Southwest, Delta Express and ValuJet, the Air Line Pilots Association said yesterday. ALPA Master Executive Council Vice Chairman David Morrow said, "I would not characterize it as an airline-within-an-airline." He said it could be, "God forbid," like Delta's contract, which cut wages for 100-seat flying, or "more original."
The Air Line Pilots Association said the interest-based, problem-solving process being used in contract talks at American Eagle and advocated by the National Mediation Board is having positive results. After six days of meetings, ALPA said the union and Eagle management are "considering creative options to address their various interests" and are working toward a partnership-style relationship. The NMB has begun to help negotiating committees use an interest-based solution, and said it is putting more resources into the process (DAILY, Sept. 3).
Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew 71.2 million revenue passenger miles in September, up 12.5% from September 1995. Capacity increased 4.7% to 146.4 million available seat miles from 139.8 million, and the load factor rose to 48.7% from 45.3%. ASA carried 297,690 passengers during the month, a 17% increase. For the first nine months of the year, RPMs rose 16.4% to 662.3 million, ASMs grew 5.9% to 1.340 billion and the load factor gained 4.4 percentage points to 49.4%.
U.S. Supreme Court, beginning its 1996-97 term yesterday, refused to block a 1995 federal court order, upheld in an appeals court, requiring USAir to make public its internal safety documents involved in the July 1994 crash of a USAir DC-9 in Charlotte, N.C. USAir argued, and FAA agreed, that the information should be kept private because airlines would fear being candid in disclosures to FAA if they though the information might eventually be made public.
FAA issued a stop-work order last week on one software development task for the National Satellite Test Bed program. The Stanford Telecommunication Organization was told to stand down while FAA restructures and reduces the scope of the project. FAA said it will tell STO to restart the program, but in a new direction, once the restructuring is complete.
TriStar Airlines has brought back its $29 one-way "Fast Fares" between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and $54 fares between Las Vegas and San Francisco. The non-refundable tickets must be purchased by Oct. 31. TriStar operates 86- to 100-seat BAe 146 aircraft.
Amtrak received $22 million in fiscal 1997 federal funding to continue operating four long-distance routes it had intended to discontinue Nov. 10 to cut costs, as well as $60 million for the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project. The endangered operations, reprieved until May 10, are the Texas Eagle, which serves Chicago, St. Louis and San Antonio; the Pioneer, serving Chicago, Denver and Portland/Seattle; the Desert Wind, serving Chicago and Los Angeles, and the Boston-Albany section of the Lake Shore Limited.
A six-month window opens this week for USAir to purchase the USAir Shuttle from Citibank and other banks that have owned the property since it was the Trump Shuttle. USAir's agreement to operate the Shuttle includes an exclusive six-month purchase option that begins Oct. 10 and ends April 11. USAir is mum on its plans.
Delta and United are urging DOT to reject a bid from American and the TACA Group for reconsideration of their proposed code-share alliance. The department deferred action on the proposed code share, saying it needed more information to evaluate the arrangement, and Delta and United counseled caution. "The department not only has the legal right, indeed it has the obligation, to evaluate fully the adverse public interest and competitive consequences of the highly unique American-TACA proposed arrangement," said Delta.
Israel's Civil Aviation Authority is threatening legal action against British Airways unless the carrier stops a fare promotion between Israel and non-European destinations. The fare sale includes half-price or free companion tickets for flights from Israel via London to North America, Asia and other destinations, greatly reducing long-haul fares from Israel.
Granted orally to Aerovallarta an exemption to conduct passenger charter operations between Mexico and the U.S., and other approved passenger charter operations, using small equipment...Granted orally to Aeroejecutivo Nieto to conduct passenger charter operations between Mexico and the U.S., and other passenger charter operations, using small equipment...Granted orally to Societe Nouvelle Air Martinique renewal of its exemption to conduct scheduled combination service between Fort de France, Martinique, and San Juan, P.R., and authorized charters...Granted orally to Gul
DOT Friday tentatively approved an agreement drawn up by airlines that waives the Warsaw Convention's liability limit for passengers and their families in case of death or injury on international flights. Don Horn, assistant to the DOT general counsel, said the department hopes to have final approval by yearend following a comment period. The action caps more than 30 years of effort by the International Air Transport Association and the Air Transport Association (DAILY, July 31).
House Ways and Means Committee has asked the Internal Revenue Service to reverse its position on taxing routine airline safety inspections. In letters to IRS Commissioner Margaret Richardson and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, committee members cited an IRS technical advice memorandum issued earlier this year that changed the longstanding policy on taxing the inspections. According to the memo, the cost of the regular, FAA-mandated inspections no longer can be deducted as business expenses and instead must be capitalized.
