Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called the Los Angeles City Council action to strike a $30 million transfer from Los Angeles Airport to the city a "significant victory" for the integrity of the aviation financial system (DAILY, May 21). McCain, chairman of the Commerce aviation subcommittee and sponsor of legislation (S.1774) against airport revenue diversion, said the almost unanimous vote "has sent a message to airports that revenue diversion must end once and for all."
American International Freight has expanded its domestic overnight air cargo service to New York Kennedy and Orlando, giving it 50 cities. Its road feeder service is being expanded to Tampa, Jacksonville, Washington, Milwaukee and Albuquerque. AIF is owned by the Kalitta Companies.
Delta and Unisys Cargo Hosting Services have signed a 10-year, $35 million contract to improve Delta's cargo business performance by processing air waybills through Unisys's global operations data center in Eagan, Minn. Unisys said its airline clients currently carry about one-third of the world's air cargo. Delta joins the Unisys Cargo Users Group, the first association of freight carriers to adopt Cargo Multinational EDI Association standards for the exchange of cargo information.
TriStar Airlines said it has added thousands of seats to those offered at the lowest possible fare after correcting a fare allocation computer program. Travel agents could not find many of the carrier's cheaper seats, including its $28 one-way fare between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Attributing the problem to a computer glitch, TriStar released an additional 33% of its discount seat inventory.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund is mounting a campaign for tighter controls on airlines' responsibilities in transporting animals. The ALDF issued an emergency alert yesterday warning pet owners to avoid transporting animals by air during the hot summer months. Saying airlines continually show disregard for the safety of animals, the group is preparing to petition the Department of Agriculture for stricter regulations and improved conditions for animals transported by air.
Philippine Airlines is repositioning its service in the Pacific Rim, dropping its flight to Seoul, Korea, from Manila in favor of Manila-Pusan. Leisure travelers from the Osaka, Japan, region will receive two more flights to Cebu, for a total of four, continuing on to Manila. PAL said it would like more flights to Fukuoka and Tokyo, but it already is operating to the limit of service allowed under the Japan-Philippine air agreement. Starting in July, PAL will begin flights to Shanghai, operating three times weekly.
Macau, which opened its new airport last November, is becoming an important gateway to China with flights to 11 Chinese cities - Beijing, Changsha, Chongqing, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Wenshou, Xian, Xiamen and Yantai. Of these points, Qingdao, Wenzhou and Yantai do not receive scheduled service from Hong Kong. In April, Air Portugal and Sabena started joint service to Macau, operating weekly on a Lisbon-Brussels-Macau routing. Neither airline flies to Hong Kong.
Sabre users no longer have to call Delta to confirm bookings when using the "Claim It" inventory management tool. Lee Macenczak, Delta's director of distribution planning, said the system will help the airline reduce its distribution costs by eliminating service calls to reservations offices. Subscribers also save time because they do not need to create a copy of the booking. Other Claim It users are Canadian Airlines International, American, America West, Gulf Air, Air Canada and Virgin Atlantic.
USAir holds its annual shareholders meeting today at 9:30 a.m. at the Crystal City Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va. Chairman and Chief Executive Stephen Wolf is not planning major announcements, an airline representative said. He will brief shareholders on the status of meetings with employees around the system.
New Aircraft Orders and Options February 1996 Last 12 Months Firm Orders Options Orders Options Carrier # Type # Type Engines Del Dates # Type # Type Garuda 3 MD-11ER - CF6-80C2 Dec 96-97 - - TWA 20 757-200 20 757-200 PW2037 Jul 96-99 - - Source: Aviation Data Services, Wichita
Zoltek Companies, Inc., has declared a two-for-one stock split, payable in the form of a 100% stock dividend. The dividend will be payable June 17 to shareholders of record of the company's common stock on June 3.
One of four founders of ValuJet sold a major chunk of his holding in the carrier on Monday, which helped push its share price down to the lowest levels in more than a year. Founder and board member Timothy Flynn sold 1.5 million shares of ValuJet common stock, the carrier said yesterday, enabling him to satisfy margin debt previously incurred. The carrier did not say if the margin debt was in ValuJet shares or another stock. While Flynn played a part in starting the airline, ValuJet said he does not have a role in the day-to-day running of the no-frills carrier.
American parent AMR Corp. has issued 12.9 million shares of common stock as part of its conversion of 6 1/8% convertible subordinated quarterly income capital securities due 2024. The debentures were called for redemption May 20. Another 1.1 million shares were issued in connection with the company's conversion of its $500 Series A cumulative convertible preferred stock, also called for redemption May 20.
The New York Air Route Traffic Control Center computer failed twice on Monday - between 6:08 p.m. and 6:32 p.m. and between 7:22 p.m. and 8:23 p.m. "Safety was not compromised during the situation," FAA said. "At no time did air traffic controllers lose radar or communication with aircraft," the agency said, adding that "there were no pilot deviations or operational errors associated with the interruptions."
Despite several turbulent years, the ingredients to sustain profitable growth at Alaska Airlines and sister carrier Horizon Air are in place, John Kelly, the carrier's chairman told shareholders at Alaska Air Group's annual meeting yesterday. "Our focus for the last couple of years has been on improving our productivity and cost structure," Kelly said. "We've made dramatic gains, and we continue to make cost control a priority, but we're also focusing on building the revenue side of the equation - strengthening our already unmatched market presence.
Korean Air Lines has applied for authority to operate service from Seoul to Boston and Denver, proposing single-aircraft, one-stop service to both U.S. destinations. The Boston service would be operated via New York, beginning Sept. 3, and the Denver service via Los Angeles, starting Oct. 28. (Dockets OST-96-1380&OST-96-1381)
The Lufthansa Group's operating profit rose 3% in 1995 to 756 million Deutschmarks from DM736 million the previous year, enabling the group to raise its dividend to DM5 from DM4. Lufthansa said its profits would have been "much higher" had it not been for the sharp appreciation of the Deutschmark, which cost the group DM458 million in lost income in 1995. Despite the positive results, Lufthansa Chairman Jurgen Weber said the group will launch a major cost-savings program affecting all areas of activity.
AMR Eagle has signed an $8.5 million service contract with AlliedSignal Aerospace to maintain the environmental control systems on its 79 ATR 72s and ATR 42s. The systems include cooling turbines, pneumatic valves and heat exchangers. All work will be done at AlliedSignal's Anniston, Ala., facility.
American Automobile Association and the Travel Industry Association of America predict that more Americans will travel this summer, but they will take the family along and scale back on cost. The associations say vacations will reach the same spending level as last year but will include more people, resulting in lower per capita expenditures. During this weekend's Memorial Day holiday, 30.4 million Americans are expected to travel at least 100 miles from home. AAA estimates 26.7 million of them will travel by automobile and 3.7 million by airplane, train or bus.
Moody's Investors Service assigned an A2 rating to Continental for an issue of $82.5 million Class A Certificates, Baa1 to $35.36 million Class B Certificates and Ba1 to $35.36 million Class C Certificates. All three issues are due July 2, 2014. The ratings agency assigned a B1 to $18.51 million of Class D Certificates due April 2, 2008. The certificates are tied to the financing for 757 and 737 aircraft.
Ashtech Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., announced availability of a new GPS/Glonass satellite navigation receiver today in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the Differential Satellite Navigation Systems conference. The GG24 receiver is the first single-board receiver to integrate tightly U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) and Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (Glonass) technologies. Having both the U.S.
American West said yesterday it has launched a series of debt and equity repurchases worth more than $50 million. The purchases include a payment of $25 million in principal on its 10 3/4% senior unsecured notes due 2005, as well as about 2.185 million warrants to purchase shares of the company's Class B common stock. The transactions are expected to close in the next 10 days, America West said. It also said it has completed a repurchase of 500,000 share of its Class B common stock.
Used Jet Aircraft Deliveries February 1996 Carrier # Type Engines Previous Operator Aero Zambia 1 737-200C JT8D-9A Avn Consultants Air 21 2 F-28-4000 Spey555-15p USAir Inc. Air Micronesia 1 727-200A(F) JT8D-17R DHL Airways Air UK 2 Fokker 100 Tay 620-15 TAT Europe Airborne Express 1 DC-9-40 JT8D-11 SAS
