The state of Hawaii is urging DOT to renew Continental Micronesia's U.S.-Philippines service authority. Currently providing two weekly Honolulu-Guam-Manila roundtrip flights and five weekly Guam-Manila flights, the carrier has requested allocation of three additional combination frequencies that are available as of Oct. 1 for service to the Philippines via Honolulu, Guam and Saipan. These services provide important benefits to the traveling and shipping public, as well as Hawaii, said the state.
Travel Industry Association has selected Oklahoma Travel and Tourism Division Director Kathleen Marks as its 1996 state travel director of the year. The award is based on votes by fellow state travel directors. While Marks was state travel director, Oklahoma adopted a new theme, "Oklahoma. Native America," which became the guiding principle of a tourism campaign. A poll of out-of-state residents showed that before the campaign, 98% of respondents had no image of Oklahoma, which improved by 42% afterward .
WestJet Airlines of Canada ordered two 737 hushkits, which will enable it to operate the aircraft under Canadian noise rules, said Avaero, the Safety Harbor, Fla.-based manufacturer.
British Airways will move its Latin American operations from London Heathrow to Gatwick next spring. The switch is the latest in a series of systematic shifts of lower-yield, long-haul services to Gatwick, which is less crowded, so BA can add flights to Heathrow later. A spokesman for the carrier said the moves, planned for a year, are in no way tied to the proposed BA-American alliance. The carrier's East and Central African flights were transferred to Gatwick in March.
Air China Chairman Yin Wenlong's current week-long visit to Taiwan is fueling speculation that the Taiwan government will permit direct flights between Taiwan and China before Hong Kong reverts to Chinese control next July. Yin's agenda in Taipei includes talks with officials of the island's airlines on technical issues, including ticketing and coordinating transit flights.
Netherlands industrial firm Stork N.V. said yesterday it will acquire Fokker Aviation, the surviving services and components businesses of Fokker Aircraft, for 302.5 million guilders (about US$178.5 million). Terming the acquisition a "logical extension" of its businesses, Stork said its takeover agreement requires it to "provide the maximum possible support in the event of any decision to recommence Fokker aircraft production," something it would do anyway for the sake of the service business it is acquiring.
TWA turned in a strong second quarter financial performance with net income of $25.3 million, up from $5.17 million in second quarter 1995, on a 12.35% increase in revenues to $966.8 million. "Our fundamentals are quite strong and we continue to be on plan," said TWA President Jeffrey Erickson, who commented that the jump in profits was propelled by increased traffic as well as revenue. He said he is "a little bit disappointed," however, by an increase in unit costs to 8.71 cents per available seat mile from 8.2 cents a year ago.
Tracor Flight Systems Inc. will join MD-95 wing halves under an initial $30 million contract from the developer of the aircraft, Douglas Aircraft Co. The Tracor Inc. subsidiary's Aircraft Systems Div., based in Mojave, Calif., said it expects the contract to create more than 100 new jobs in the Palmdale-Lancaster area. Prospects for the MD-95 became less certain in May and June when Douglas's only customer to date, ValuJet, sustained the Flight 592 crash and suspended operations.
American Society of Travel Agents and MasterCard International will hold an Internet training seminar in Huntington Beach, Calif., Aug. 23. The seminar is free for ASTA members and costs $79 for non-members. In addition, ASTA said the Interactive Travel Agent Seminar, also sponsored by MasterCard, will be held at the Seattle Airport Hilton Oct. 30 and at the Boston Back Bay Hilton Nov. 21.
Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Large Regionals June 1995 - May 1996 Total Total Cost Gallons (Dollars) 1995 June Domestic 1,064,472,450 568,783,693 International 379,558,526 228,409,020 System Total 1,444,030,976 797,192,713 July
FedEx formally launched FedEx interNetShip(SM) this week as "the first automated shipping transaction available on the Internet." U.S. customers with a FedEx account number can now use any personal computer connected to the Internet and a laser printer to complete their entire shipping function directly from the company's home page (http:www.fedex.com). Billing information is uploaded automatically at the end of the shipping process. FedEx plans to offer the service internationally in the future, FedEx said. The company will add a U.S.
A bill (H.R.969) that would ban smoking on all flights into and out of the country threatens U.S. carriers "because it raises the possibility of reciprocal assertions by other nations for retaliatory or other reasons," an attorney for the International Airline Coalition on the Rule of Law told the House Transportation aviation subcommittee this week. Introduced by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) in February, the bill would require DOT to issue regulations requiring U.S. and foreign air carriers to prohibit smoking on flights between U.S. and foreign points.
Vanguard Airlines, calling itself the airline that is "liberating the Midwest" from high fares, plans to begin service from Wichita to Chicago Midway and add a fourth daily flight to Dallas/Fort Worth from Wichita Aug. 9. Fares to DFW start at $39 one way, and to Chicago $49. Vanguard operates 737s.
American Trans Air's revenue passenger miles increased in June to 770.3 million, 7.1% more than in the same month last year, on 16.9% more capacity. An increase to 1.2 billion available seat miles forced load factor down 5.9 percentage points to 65.4%, however. The airline carried 474,939 passengers during the month. For the first six months of 1996, RPMs increased 9.9% to 4.8 billion and ASMs 12.2% to 6.9 billion, but the load factor fell 1.5 points to 69%.
Shangri-La Hotels&Resorts has opened the Rasa Ria Resort, set in 400 acres of Borneo jungle. The resort, together with the Dalit Bay Golf and Country Club, constitute a $60 million development. Seasonal activities include white water rafting, cycling, horseback riding and hiking. The resort is bordered by the Tambalang and Mengkabong rivers, and 64 acres of the grounds are reserved as a sanctuary for wildlife, including orangutans. The resort is 37 miles north of Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia, which receives air service from Hong Kong and Singapore.
America West named Nancy Gore senior director of investor relations. Gore, who came from Magellan Health Services in Atlanta, worked previously in investor relations positions at USAir and Rolls-Royce.
The former DOT inspector general said yesterday that concern expressed by her office last February about the safety of ValuJet was leaked to the carrier, and she was "astonished" when questioned by a top aide to the DOT secretary about the IG's interest in the carrier. Former IG Mary Schiavo told the Senate Commerce Committee that she suspects someone in FAA "leaked" to the airline that her office was "snooping around." Schiavo said she then was questioned by Ann Bormolini, former chief of staff to DOT Secretary Federico Pena.
The new Pan Am has reached a tentative agreement to acquire Carnival Air Lines in a deal that achieves goals of both companies - for Pan Am, to start flying in markets it has already targeted, and for Carnival, to merge with another airline, go public and change its name, distancing itself from Carnival Corp.
Group of travel agencies that want to control their own computer reservations system has protested a planned linkup between Microsoft and Worldspan, in which the CRS would serve as a booking engine for Microsoft's online travel service. United States Travel Agent Registry (USTAR) President Bruce Bishins said, "The alliance between these two companies typifies the lack of support and partnership that Worldspan and other similarly situated CRSs have for their agency subscribers and the travel agency distribution channel in general.
American parent AMR Corp. turned in the best quarterly financial performance in its history yesterday - $293 million for the second quarter, topping $231 million in the third quarter of 1995 - and all signs point to a strong third quarter 1996 as well. The carrier announced the purchase of 12 767-300s it had been operating under a lease with Boeing, but it made few details available. The move to pre-purchase the aircraft in advance of 2008, when it was required to do so, will extinguish about $600 million in debt.
Air Canada's traffic jumped 21.1% last month on a capacity increase of 16.4%. The carrier flew 1.83 billion revenue passenger miles on capacity of 2.62 billion available seat miles. The load factor for the month increased 2.7 percentage points over that of June 1995, to 70.1%. Most of the traffic increase came in international markets. For the first half of the year, Air Canada's traffic was up 20% on a 13.6% increase in capacity. The load factor for the period was 64%, 3.4 percentage points higher than in the first half of 1995.
The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee soon will consider legislation that could save the federal government $320 million annually in travel expenses and $50 million annually in incorrect transportation disbursements. The Travel Reform and Savings Act of 1996 (H.R.3637) would give federal employees more flexibility in their transportation choices and promote prepayment audits for transportation expenses. The government also would save money by receiving rebates and other savings if employees used a travel credit card.
Travelers headed for Atlanta for the Olympics aboard Kiwi International Air Lines can try out EarPlanes - an ear discomfort reduction device - developed by Cirrus Air Technologies. The earplug-type devices will be available on Kiwi for 10 days.
Continental stock as of Tuesday was being quoted on a post-split basis. On June 26, the carrier announced a two-for-one split of its Class A and Class B common stock. Holders of common stock on July 2 will receive an additional share for each share held.
The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, after a six-month investigation by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, has proposed a rates and charges formula for April 1997 through 2002 for BAA's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports. Under the U.K.'s Airports Act of 1986, certain larger airports - BAA's three London airports and Manchester Airport Plc - are subject every five years to a detailed review by CAA and MMC as well as control of the amount by which rates and charges may be raised each year.
