April was another strong month for Kiwi International Air Lines, which reported record traffic. The carrier flew 154 million revenue passenger miles, a 50% increase from April 1995. Capacity was up 29% to 225.6 million available seat miles, and the load factor climbed nine percentage points to 68%. The number of revenue passengers rose 44% to 203,000. "Our new flights to Bermuda have started strong, business travel between New York, Atlanta and Chicago continues to do well, and we started KiwiKargo service in April," said President Jerry Murphy.
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Vanguard's net losses grew to $4.7 million in the first quarter, a 19.8% increase over those of the year-earlier period. The loss was $0.55 on a per share basis compared with $0.58 for the first quarter of 1995. Vanguard said it lost money in January and February but was in the black in March after installing a new yield management system. It has been predicting that with the new system in place, the second quarter will be stronger. The carrier had an operating loss of $4.7 million on operating revenues of $14.19 million and expenses of $18.91 million.
Air Senegal is looking for U.S. investors to play a role in its privatization. The government plans to sell 51% of the carrier, including a 20% stake to Air Afrique, its employees and local investors.
TriStar Airlines' corporate logo won the award of excellence for logo design in the American Corporate Identity competition. The carrier operates a fleet of BAe 146s in the western U.S.
USAir has started nonstop jet service between New York LaGuardia and White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., home of the Greenbrier resort. The carrier is flying a 727 in the market three times per week through Nov. 3.
Alaska Airlines has reduced its fares between Seattle and Reno to $39 on some evening flights. The carrier operates in the market five times per day with fares that have started at $59.
Southwest and officials in Salt Lake City will hold a press conference today to announce several ventures, believed to include a new Southwest reservations center. Neither city officials nor the airline would comment.
Six former South African Airways flight attendants have accused the airline of firing them unfairly after they reported to Taiwan officials that SAA extended their working hours illegally. The flight attendants, all Taiwanese, said they were suspended last December, immediately after they complained that they were allowed only a nine-hour rest period following a 22-hour flight from Taipei to Johannesburg. They were fired in April.
Business Express is rebounding nicely from its involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy woes. The carrier repaid its $4 million loan from Saab Aircraft April 30 - on schedule - and received a $3 million revolving credit in return, which it says it will not need. BizEx ended April with $6 million in cash, said Chief Financial Officer Lars-Erik Arnell. Although traffic is down year-over-year because BizEx is rationalizing its fleet and route structure, load factor was up 7.3 points in April to 46.4%.
Sabena has reached tentative agreement with its pilots union on pay and work conditions at Sabena and its subsidiaries, charter company Sobelair and regional carrier DAT. The pilots have opposed Sabena's attempt to develop DAT as a low-cost operator by paying DAT pilots less than it pays its own, fearing that Sabena would shift resources gradually into DAT, leaving Sabena less than an airline.
Code-Sharing Carrier Schedules Announced Or Implemented March 1996 Domestic City-Pairs Carriers Added Dropped American Airlines Simmons DFW-Amarillo DFW-Monroe, La. DFW-Baton Rouge, La. Wings West DFW-Amarillo DFW-Little Rock, Ark. Continental Airlines
House Ways and Means Committee voted 23 to 13 yesterday along party lines to repeal through Dec. 31 the 4.3 cents-per-gallon transportation fuel tax enacted in 1993. The short-term repeal would take effect seven days after enactment of the proposed legislation (H.R.3415). The bill includes language expressing the opinion of Congress that the full benefit of the repeal should flow to consumers, and it orders a General Accounting Office analysis of whether this has occurred.
...Delta has extended its code-sharing agreement with BizEx until Oct. 31. The previous agreement ended April 30, and negotiations are under way for a full five-year extension. Meanwhile, Arnell said he thinks the company will be able to raise the required capital to emerge from bankruptcy, but "who else will come to the table is not clear yet." The list of parties expressing "credible" interest - whether to invest in the existing company or submit their own reorganization plan - is up to eight. Arnell said the goal is to have an approved reorganization plan by Oct.
DOT's analysis that the development of low-fare airlines since deregulation is a "revolution" and has provided consumers with huge benefits is "flawed, inaccurate and misleading," said Aviation Systems Research Corp., of Golden, Colo. "The vast majority of carriers that started up before 1993 have failed and most of those started since that time are losing money," ASRP said. Of the 36 carriers that were launched between 1978 and 1992, only five remain. Of the 14 carriers started since 1992, only ValuJet has reported any quarterly profits, ASRC said.
