Holiday Inn has launched Convenience Courts, a new service that gives guests more meal options in a food-court-like atmosphere. The hotel chain is operating the food courts at three properties and will make the concept available to all franchises on a turnkey basis.
Sony Trans Com is marketing a Sony Video Walkman system to airlines "that want to offer passengers a wider selection of movies without hard-wiring aircraft." Battery-powered units for individual passengers, weighing about three pounds, provide a high-resolution four-inch color LCD screen, stereo hi-fi sound and a range of videotape functions, including easy stopping and starting, still frames and slow motion.
Traffic carried by Canadian Airlines International increased 5.7% last month, compared with the same 1995 month, on a 5% gain in capacity. The carrier flew 1.22 billion revenue passenger miles on capacity of 1.78 billion available seat miles. The load factor rose 0.5 percentage points to 68.5%. For the first four months of the year, Canadian's traffic grew 10.7%, compared with the same 1995 period, on a 6.1% gain in capacity. The load factor was up 2.8 percentage points to 67.2%.
Mesaba reported that April was its eighth consecutive month of record- breaking passenger traffic. The airline carried 149,000 passengers during the month, a 33% increase from last April's 112,000. Revenue passenger miles were up 33.3% to 32.7 million from 24.5 million, and available seat miles gained 13.2% to 63.9 million from 56.5 million. The load factor rose 7.7 percentage points to 51.1%. Mesaba intends to put the first two of its 50 Saab 340s on order into service June 1.
U.S. Major Carriers Systemwide Share of Service Fourth Quarter 1995 Total Revenue Departures Share America West 50,398 3.7 American 200,961 14.6 Continental 111,184 8.1 Delta 234,511 17.1 Northwest 143,321 10.4 Southwest 182,830 13.3
ValuJet's stock, after falling more than four points Monday, rebounded yesterday, closing up 1.3 points at $15. On Monday, Gruntal Investment Research lowered its rating of ValuJet from "outperform" to "neutral," and Standard&Poor's placed the carrier's double "B" corporate credit rating and double "B" minus senior unsecured rating on CreditWatch with negative implications.
Government ministers representing the four Airbus Industrie nations expressed support in principle this week for corporatization of the consortium's statutes and the development of a very large aircraft for its product line. The ministers did not adopt a specific plan or timetable for these measures, but the Airbus supervisory board will receive a working document on them in July.
FAA, citing discrepancies in training, testing and flight attendant qualification, has suspended the operating certificate of HCL Aviation, Inc., operating as AV Atlantic. Based in Savannah, Ga., the carrier operates charter flights and subservice for other airlines, using Boeing 727s. The suspension will last until the carrier proves its flight attendants are appropriately trained, tested and qualified, the agency said.
Honeywell and Rockwell Collins reported technical standard order approvals of avionics equipment for business aircraft. Honeywell's FMZ-2000 flight management system will be available for Falcon 2000 aircraft, while Collins will be able to provide its RTU-4200 series radio tuning unit for the Gulfstream IV, Falcon 900EX, Falcon 50 and the Citation X. The FMZ-2000 can be linked with a Global Positioning System receiver to combine satellite navigation with data from other sensor systems.
Continental seeks authority to operate combination service between Houston and Mexican points Vera Cruz and Mazatlan, operating four weekly 737 nonstop roundtrips to Vera Cruz and three to Mazatlan, beginning Dec. 12.
Delta Connection carrier Comair flew 126.1 million revenue passenger miles in April, up 36.6% from 92.3 million in April 1995. Available seat miles totaled 223.8 million, up 21.7% from 183.9 million. Load factor was up 6.2 percentage points to 56.4% from 50.2%. Passenger boardings increased 30.1% to 392,388. For the first four months of the year, Comair's traffic was up 37.5% to 467 million RPMs over the same period last year. ASMs rose 18.5% to 843.4 million for a load factor increase of 7.7 points to 55.4% from 47.7%.
Continental told DOT it does not support Federal Express's call for punitive actions against Taiwanese carriers as redress for Taiwan's refusal to to allow the cargo carrier to handle its own inbound and outbound air express and air freight shipments at Chiang Kai-shek Airport (CKS) at Taipei, Taiwan (DAILY, April 25). Filing its complaint against Taiwan, FedEx said the U.S.-Taiwan air agreement signed in 1980 guarantees the self-handling right.
Tower Air will offer introductory fares on new service between Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico, beginning June 18. The carrier will offer $59 one- way fares in coach and $119 in business class on its daily 747 flights through June 25. After that date, tickets will cost $109 in economy and $169 in business. Tower's fares do not require an advance purchase or a Saturday night stay.
Good service pays off, but not as much as bad service hurts, according to recent findings by a unit of American parent AMR Corp. The survey found that when passengers receive good service they may tell as many as five people about the experience. But when service is bad, more people find out - on average, nine to 13 people hear passenger complaints.
The United States Air Tour Association (USATA) said FAA's proposal to prohibit air tours over Rocky Mountain National Park is "frivolous" and could set a dangerous precedent (DAILY, May 15). "The FAA's attempt to place restrictions on air tour operations at Rocky Mountain National Park, when no air tour operations exist, represents a pre-emptive strike against the industry nationwide and suggests that the Clinton administration will go to any lengths to put us out of business."
Gerald Baliles of ACCESS U.S.-Japan and Gerald Greenwald of United, at loggerheads on service to Japan versus service beyond Japan, will meet May 30 in Washington to discuss - and look for common ground on - U.S.-Japan aviation issues. John Dasburg of Northwest may get an invitation as well.
American Trans Air's April traffic inched up 0.2% from April 1995, to 814.7 million revenue passenger miles, on 6.3% more capacity. Available seat miles totaled 1.2 billion and the load factor fell 4.2 percentage points to 68.7%. American Trans Air carried 550,291 passengers during the month. For the first four months of the year, RPMs rose 9.1% to 3.3 billion and ASMs were up 7.4% to 4.6 billion. The load factor was up 1.1 points to 71.6%.
U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Share of Service Fourth Quarter 1995 Total Revenue Departures Share America West 49,642 3.8 American 172,129 13.2 Continental 103,643 8.0 Delta 223,278 17.2 Northwest 135,814 10.4 Southwest 182,830 14.1
FAA dedicated a $7.9 million control tower and terminal radar approach control (Tracon) facility this week at Lehigh Valley, Pa., Airport. The tower cab will have seven controller positions, up from the current three. The Tracon will have 12 positions.
Continental said yesterday a secondary offering of 2.2 million shares of its Class B common stock by Air Canada and 1.73 million shares by investors of its main shareholder - Air Partners - has been completed. The offering was priced at $53.50 per share. Members of Continental's board will not stand for re-election June 26 at Continental's annual meeting. As part of the sale, Air Canada has agreed to convert its remaining 2.8 million shares to Class B shares, with the intent of selling them by early 1997.
Mandarin Airlines, a subsidiary of Taiwan's China Air Lines, has received permission to operate charter flights between Taiwan and North Korea. The first of an unannounced number of charter flights between the two countries will depart Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek Airport on May 31 and return on June 5. A consortium of seven Taipei travel agencies has chartered the flights for a series of six-day group tours to North Korea.
Continental Devices International said FAA has approved use of the company's onboard performance system on Sun Country Airlines' DC-10-10 aircraft, which "paves the way" for its use on the carrier's DC-10-15, DC- 10-30 and 727 aircraft. Phil Benedict, the supplier's program manager for airline operations systems, said Sun Country will be the first customer to fly the system in revenue service.
United has signed a marketing agreement with Indian carrier Modiluft Airlines, the U.S. carrier said yesterday. The pact covers joint fares, marketing and schedule coordination, as well as interline ticketing and baggage handling. The U.S. carrier has served India since December, when it started "round-the-world-service," which includes 767-300 flights on a Hong Kong-Delhi-London routing. The Indian airline serves 17 markets in India with 19 daily flights to Delhi. The pact will provide feed for both carriers, a United spokesman said.
Carnival Air Lines and Ecuadorian carrier SAETA Airlines have established a code-sharing agreement. As of June 1, Carnival's flights between Miami and Los Angeles will carry SAETA's code. Carnival operates one 248-passenger A300 in the market.
DOT is taking steps to improve FAA inspection operations as part of a continuing effort to bolster safety and the agency's own reputation in the wake of the ValuJet 592 crash on Saturday. In a memorandum to President Clinton, Secretary Federico Pena said the department will act immediately to accelerate inspector hiring and strengthen FAA's data tools. Also, he directed FAA to launch today a comprehensive internal review of its inspection operations.
