Mesa Air Group's traffic rose 3.8% in July to 118.2 million revenue passenger miles on 5% less capacity. The load factor rose five percentage points to 58.6% The capacity drop was the result of returning to the manufacturer six Dash 8-300s that had been used in Denver markets and postponed deliveries of new Dash 8-200s, Mesa said. Mesa faulted Bombardier for the delays but said the two companies are working on a new schedule based on the resolving "production delays." July 1996 July 1995 7 Months 1996 7 Months 1995
Air South, taken over by investment bank Hambrecht&Quist (DAILY, July 29), has appointed several key executives. John Affeltranger was named senior VP-operations. He previously worked as executive VP of aviation consulting firm The Pointe Group. Usto Shulz, new VP-maintenance, was VP and general manager of Morris Air. William Crowell, who will be director- quality assurance, most recently held a similar position at American Trans Air. Jerry Fedor, founder of JP Aero, was named director-maintenance. He worked in maintenance operations at USAir for 32 years.
Revenue passenger kilometers carried by International Air Transport Association member airlines increased 9% in June and for the first six months of 1996, IATA reported yesterday. Capacity increased by 7% for each of the two periods, bumping the load factor up by two percentage points to 73% for June and almost that much for the year to date, to 69%, compared with the same periods a year earlier. Cargo traffic increased 6% in June and 4% for the six months, improving throughout the period but still much lower than forecasts made last year, according to IATA.
Air Canada has launched two daily flights between Toronto and Kansas City with 50-seat Canadair CL-65 jets. The service is Kansas City's first nonstop international service since 1979, the carrier said. Air Canada is offering triple bonus miles to its frequent flyer members, and to those belonging to United's Mileage Plus and Continental OnePass programs through Oct. 15. John Solomon, director of aviation for Kansas City, said, "The Kansas City Aviation Department has worked many years in our integral role in negotiating the open skies agreement between the U.S.
Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced legislation (S.2023) last week to require airlines to give ticket-buying passengers written information on FAA inspections and safety compliance when the passengers ask for it.
AlliedSignal Aerospace said it will buy LORI Inc.'s heat transfer business from the Nordam Group for an undisclosed amount. LORI repairs and overhauls heat exchangers and other environmental control components for commercial transport aircraft. It also has developed a manufacturing capability for heat transfer cores. AlliedSignal said the acquisition will open new markets for its aircraft repair and overhaul business and aftermarket sales. LORI's hush kit and Prism product lines will be transferred to other Nordam divisions.
State-owned Airport Authority of India has shortlisted four bidders, all foreign companies, for establishing and operating duty-free shops in designated spaces at the country's five international airports. The finalists, Weitnauer of Switzerland, Duty Free Shoppers of Hong Kong, Lions City Hotels of Singapore and AER Rianta of Bahrain, were selected among 12 organizations that submitted price bids last December.
American Trans Air and the Teamsters union reached tentative agreement on a new four-year contract for pilots and flight engineers. The deal will go to the rank and file for ratification in the next six weeks. The contract is the first for the cockpit crew, and Don Treichler, Teamsters business agent, said it "assures a quality of life for our pilot and flight engineer members while still providing the company with the flexibility needed to meet ATA's diverse flying requirements."
Northwest Airlink affiliate Mesaba Airlines flew 40.9 million revenue passenger miles in July, a 39.2% increase from 29.4 million in July 1995, while available seat miles grew 23.1% to nearly 73.2 million from 59.4 million. As a result, the load factor jumped 6.5 percentage points to 56% from 49.5%. The carrier enplaned 179,500 passengers, up 32.8% from 135,200. Mesaba, with hubs in Minneapolis/St. Paul and at Detroit Metro, recently announced plans to begin service to Appleton, Wis., and Rockford, Ill., from Detroit on Oct. 1.
The simmering dispute over FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment Program boiled over this week, halting all air service yesterday between the U.S. and Venezuela. Moises Orozco, Venezuela's transport minister, met yesterday with DOT Secretary Federico Pena and later with State Department officials, and another Orozco-Pena meeting was scheduled today. The safety assessment program also threatens the aviation bilateral between the U.S. and Colombia, which, like Venezuela, faces FAA sanctions because of its safety oversight.
Continental, a firm believer in employee incentives, has launched an attendance program to reduce "lost hours" at its Richmond reservations center by 25%, excluding family medical leaves. Lost time costs the carrier's reservations division $3 million a year. The incentive program includes benefits ranging from movie passes to TVs/VCRs and exotic hotel packages. It apparently stops short of the Ford Explorers Continental gave away last week to seven employees with perfect attendance records.
United Express carrier Atlantic Coast Airlines reported a 1.2% dip in traffic in July, according to preliminary results, for a total of 31.4 million revenue passenger miles. Capacity rose 5.8% to 66.6 million available seat miles, resulting in a load factor decline to 47.2% from 50.6%. Traffic was up 3.2% for the first seven months and capacity 5.3%. The load factor fell one point. July 1996 July 1995 7 Months 1996 7 Months 1995 RPMs 31,435,000 31,829,000 200,866,000 194,559,000
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service thinks major engine overhauls are capital expenditures rather than expenses, and tax attorneys agree that even though the theory only represents IRS's opinion in a single case, it could easily be applied broadly throughout the industry with multi-million-dollar effects.
Reno Air carried a record 475,887 passengers in July and its traffic jumped 38% to 298.5 million revenue passenger miles. Available seat miles increased 33%, however, so growth in the load factor was held to 2.7 percentage points. Even so, President and Chief Executive Robert Reding said the 71% load factor "shows we have established our market niche in our hometown of Reno/Tahoe, and have become the preferred airline for many West Coast travelers." Reno operates 26 MD-80s and three new MD-90s.
U.S. Regional Airline Industry Passenger Traffic Activity First Quarter 1996 First First % Quarter 1995 Quarter 1996 Change ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 48 States/Hawaii/Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands Revenue Passenger Miles 2,622,792,117 3,285,886,080 25.3 Available Seat Miles 5,721,103,864 6,431,225,604 12.4
Sabre Group Holdings Inc. registered at the Securities Exchange Commission yesterday to conduct an initial public offering of Class A common stock to raise funds primarily to pay AMR Corp. some of the debt resulting from spinning off Sabre from American and the other AMR subsidiaries (DAILY, April 18). In connection with the reorganization, completed on July 2, Sabre issued an $850 million subordinated debenture payable to American and transferred to AMR.
Northwest recorded a 10.2% rise in revenue passenger miles during July over the previous July and an 11.4% increase in RPMs for the first seven months of the year. The load factor for the month rose 1.2 percentage points on an 8.5% increase in available seat miles. For the first seven months, the load factor was up 2.2 points on an 8.1% gain in capacity. July 96 July 95 7 Mths 96 7 Mths 95 RPMs 6,641,300,000 6,024,944,000 39,779,260,000 35,694,158,000
KLM and LatinPass have "agreed to move forward" on signing a participation agreement to become partners in each other's frequent flyer plans. LatinPass is used by 15 Latin American and Caribbean airlines, with affiliates USAir, Avis, AT&T, Diners Club, American Express, InterAmerican Car Rental, Holiday Inn Worldwide and Radisson Hotels International. Eduardo Gallardo, program director, said, "We have selected KLM as a potential European partner because of the carrier's extensive worldwide route structure and its broad and long-term experience in Latin America."
Aerolineas Ejecutivas, a Mexican air taxi operator of executive aircraft, applied for an exemption to provide charter passenger service with small aircraft between Mexico and the U.S. The carrier also requested stopover privileges and relief from the requirement to obtain advance approval for each Mexico-U.S. flight. Offering highly personalized service to a select group of executives and companies using business aircraft, Aerolineas Ejecutivas said it plans to operate about 20 roundtrips between Mexico and the U.S. per month with an average load of four passengers.
Air cargo grew 2.6% in June and 1.5% for the first half of the year, according to the Air Transport Association. Year-to-date growth "does not reflect the growth rate that the industry had been anticipating. However, all growth is a positive sign for the industry," said ATA President Carol Hallett.
TWA's revenue passenger miles were up 12.8% in July from July 1995 to 2.92 billion. Capacity growth was slower, 8.7%, leading to a rise in the load factor of 2.7 percentage points, to 74.5%. Scheduled traffic rose 13.1% to 2.91 billion RPMs, led by domestic scheduled traffic at 14.6%. Charter traffic fell 45.3% on 42.9% less capacity. July 96 July 95 7 Mths 96 7 Mths 95 RPMs 2,920,000,000 2,589,100,000 15,868,800,000 14,248,300,000
United's attempt to persuade DOT to rescind its order granting immunity from U.S. antitrust laws to the American-Canadian International alliance drew an expectably stiff response from American. United said considerations of due process require DOT to consider the United-Air Canada immunity request simultaneously and questioned the order because it did not come to that conclusion.
Martha DeGraff, an administrative law judge on the General Services Administration Board of Contract Appeals, has been selected as the master who will preside over Wilcox's appeal of FAA's cancellation of the $475 million Wide Area Augmentation System contract. DeGraff, a member of the GSA board for three and one-half years, will have broad discretion to manage and further develop the case under FAA's new acquisition system rules and dispute resolution provisions.
Continental's percentage increases in jet traffic and capacity during July (DAILY, Aug. 7) were only a fifth of the increases posted by the company's Continental Express subsidiary. During July, the regional operation recorded 85.99 million revenue passenger miles for a 20.9% increase over the 1995 month, and 158.11 million available seat miles for a 17.2% increase. The results below reflect only Continental's jet operation. July 96 July 95 7 Mths 96 7 Mths 95
