Air Canada and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) agreed to form a comprehensive alliance, building on the partnerships both carriers have with United and Lufthansa. Provisions in the agreement cover code sharing, reciprocal participation in frequent flyer programs, schedule coordination, through-flight check-in and reciprocal lounge usage. The agreement, which is subject to government approval, is expected to begin in April 1997 and join flights between Canada and Denmark, Norway and Sweden via Frankfurt, London and New York.
Controllers' union says it "made history" with Senate passage last week of the FAA reauthorization bill. "For the first time, a federal sector union has full negotiability, no longer restricted by the Civil Service Reform Act," which "limited negotiable issues to generally mundane topics," said Mike McNally, National Air Traffic Controllers Association VP. "We now have an equal place at the table" with FAA negotiators, he said.
Revenue passenger miles rose 5.6% at USAir in September on 5.1% greater capacity, which forced the systemwide load factor up 0.3 percentage points to 62.4%. Domestic traffic gained 1% and international traffic 67.6%. USAir added several international destinations within the last 12 months. The average passenger journey in September rose 5.9% to 700 miles from 661 miles in September 1995. Sept 96 Sept 95 9 Mths 96 9 Mths 95 RPMs 2,976,043,000 2,840,463,000 29,186,325,000 29,024,344,000
New Aircraft Orders And Options July 1996 Last 12 Months Firm Orders Options Orders/Options Carrier # Type # Type Engines Del. Dates #/Type #/Type Air China 3 747-400 - TBA 7/97-7/98 - - Air France* 2 A340-300 - CFM56-5C4 3/97-5/97 - - Air Malta
United opened a flight attendant domicile last week in Frankfurt, its sixth outside the U.S. and 19th overall. It will base 77 flight attendants there initially. The domicile was a red-flag issue last year with the Association of Flight Attendants, which has not improved its relations with management. Last week, the union noted that contract talks have resumed between "us and them."
DOT has granted British Airways' application for an amended carrier permit, adding authority to conduct scheduled combination London-Los Angeles- Auckland and London-Tampa services. BA currently holds exemption authority to operate these services. (Docket 49946)
The U.K. Office of Fair Trading is expected to publish this week its report on the BA-American alliance, including a recommendation whether the proposal should be referred to the U.K. Monopolies and Mergers Commission for further scrutiny. The OFT, which has represented consumer interests exclusively in the past but has broader scope under new European Union procedures, has held its findings close to the vest since finishing up its work last Tuesday.
Iberia Airlines has chosen its first private-sector leader in naming Basque businessman Xavier de Irala Estevez president. The New York-born de Irala Estevez, who replaces Juan Saez, had been in charge of Asea Brown Bovery Spain since 1991. Previously, he was a VP and member of the managing committee of General Electric in France and worked for GE in the U.K., Portugal and Spain.
The European Commission launched Wednesday its long-awaited investigation into several transatlantic airline partnerships and its review of the yet- to-be approved American-British Airways alliance. The EC competition and transport ministers, Karel Van Miert and Neil Kinnock, said July 3 they would launch investigations into the anti-competitive threat of the proposed American-BA alliance and several established partnerships: BA- American; Lufthansa-United; SAS-United; Swissair-Sabena-Austrian-Delta; KLM-Northwest and BA-USAir (DAILY, July 8).
Swissair launched an economy-class fare sale for fall and winter travel from seven U.S. gateways to Zurich, Geneva and Basel. With an Oct. 16 purchase deadline, the fares permit travel from Oct. 15 to Dec. 12, from Dec. 25 to Jan. 1, and from Jan. 13 to March 13. The maximum stay is 30 days, each stay must include a Sunday night, and travel must be completed by March 20. Roundtrip fares are $494 from New York/Newark and Boston, $514 from Philadelphia, $554 from Washington, $574 from Atlanta, $594 from Chicago and $634 from Los Angeles.
DOT has made final its tentative order awarding new U.S.-Peru scheduled all-cargo certificate authority to Arrow Air, Florida West International Airlines and Millon Air, allocating each of these carriers two weekly frequencies for their service. Also, the department said it will defer a decision on awarding the three weekly U.S.-Peru scheduled all-cargo frequencies that become available Nov. 1.
Sabre Travel Information Network will hold its second global travel technology conference, Sabre World '97, Sept. 11-13, 1997, at the Navy Pier in Chicago. The Navy Pier can accommodate 200 vendors for the trade show.
Credit Lyonnais, one of the largest banks in Europe, is bolstering its commitment to the aviation industry in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. Mark Tuminello, formerly head of the bank's U.S. Aviation Group, was made a director of Credit Lyonnais Securities (CLS) and is responsible for aviation-related structured securities and notes. The bank also hired William Van Alsten as manager of the aviation group. Van Alsten was VP, customer finance at United Technologies.
U.S. Major Carriers Operating and Net Profit Second Quarter 1996 Operating Net Profit/Loss Profit/Loss (000) (000) Second Quarter 1996 Alaska $ 37,424 $ 19,008 America West 62,082 28,416 American 447,427 212,690
World Airways signed another long-term wet-lease agreement to supply the aircraft and crew for Malaysia Airlines' new passenger charter business. World will provide two DC-10-30s to Malaysian under a 32-month $92.3 million contract. World has supplied aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance services to Malaysian for several years.
ValuJet's re-introductory $19 fares have been snatched up by the thousands this week, but one consultant believes the carrier still should be viewed as a questionable commodity. "A $19 fare is what you put your ex-wife on," said Mike Boyd, president of Aviation Systems Research.
Empire Capital Corp. said yesterday it has received a deposit from Baikal Airlines of Russia to lease a used 757ER valued at $38 million. Ala Brooks, chairman, described Empire, based in Southport, Conn., as a "new player in the huge worldwide market for used commercial jet aircraft."
Swissair will reschedule arrivals from and departures to North America when it puts its winter schedule in place Oct. 27. Flights from New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia and Atlanta will arrive at Zurich two to three hours earlier than they do now, beginning at 8 a.m. Departures from Zurich to these cities, plus Los Angeles, will shift forward also, from midday to 10 a.m.
In a case that could affect the careers of all professional pilots in commercial operations, a FedEx pilot has appealed the loss of his suit against FedEx for terminating him as a pilot after he turned 60. Robert Coupe, a member of the Professional Pilots Federation, brought the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. PPF also is seeking repeal of the Age 60 rule in a federal court appeal of its case against FAA.
Fairchild Dornier has released some preliminary performance data for its proposed Do 320-300 regional jet. The 30-passenger aircraft is expected to cruise at 375 knots at 31,000 feet, post a range of up to 1,200 nm and have a balanced field length of less than 4,000 feet. Direct operating costs will be "quite competitive" with comparable turboprops on a 300-nm sector, according to one source, although fuel burn will be about 25% higher. Most weights are expected to be close to those of the Do 328 turboprop. Price is projected to be "just over" $10 million.
LTU of Germany will conduct ticket auctions on the CompuServe online service, beginning Oct. 7. In the first week, the carrier will offer six tickets to each of five destinations, selling them to the highest bidders within a preset price range.
Belgian aeronautics firm Sonaca S.A., which manufactures fuselage parts for the EMB-145 regional jet, expects to receive major orders in the coming months from Embraer. Embraer forecasts production that would reach 150-200 units per year by 2000, which would mean as much as 3 billion Belgian francs for Sonaca.
Massachusetts-based Cape Air will add Fort Lauderdale to its Key West Express service, effective Nov. 26, Cape Air announced. The company will offer 10 daily nonstops between Key West International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport. An introductory fare of $159 roundtrip is available on all Fort Lauderdale flights, while day trip customers can fly to Key West for $149 roundtrip without restrictions. Frequent travelers can obtain a $138 roundtrip fare with the purchase of a Frequent Flyer Discount Book of 10 one-way tickets, Cape Air said.
SkyWest this week announced new or resumed service to several western points and celebrated 10 years of inflight service in cabin-class (more than 19 seats) aircraft. At the same time, the carrier said it has appointed industry veteran Diane Douglas public relations manager, effective Aug. 27. SkyWest on Oct.
