ACCESS-U.S.-Japan's membership is approaching 2,000, including representation from all 50 states and from 31 state agencies. Eleven members have left the coalition in the past few weeks, however, including the American Society of Travel Agents. In advance of U.S.-Japan talks June 3 and 4 in Tokyo, ACCESS-U.S.-Japan Chairman Gerald Baliles plans to address three events. Then the group will pause to study the outcome of those talks before determining its next steps.
Reno Air's traffic grew 61% last month, compared with April 1995, on a capacity increase of 54%. The carrier flew 244.3 million revenue passenger miles during the month on capacity of 378.6 million available seat miles, resulting in a load factor gain of 2.7 percentage points to 64.5%. Reno boarded 424,000 passengers, up 42%. In the first four months, traffic was up 52% on capacity growth of 32%.
Japan Airlines is trying to improve its first-class product with larger, better bathrooms on its long-haul flights. At a cost of $95,000 apiece, the carrier will offer the new bathrooms on flights to New York and London, starting in mid-July. To be installed on four of the carrier's 747s, the bathrooms will be about one and a half times more spacious than the current ones, each with its own window, and will be outfitted with softer lighting, background music and better water faucets. They were designed by JAL and JAMCO, a Japanese cabin equipment manufacturer.
American Association of Airport Executives, highlighting the need to renew the aviation excise taxes, has added to its AirportNet home page (http://www.airportnet.org) an ongoing estimate of the uncommitted balance in the aviation trust fund.Due to the lapse in taxes, the balance is being drawn down at about $190 per second to finance FAA, AAAE says. For the record, the estimated uncommitted balance yesterday at 4:15 p.m. EDT was $3,634,260,606.75.
American's traffic climbed 1.3% last month, compared with April 1995, on a 0.5% falloff in capacity. The load factor increased 1.2 points to 67.9%, the highest level since deregulation in 1979. The number of passengers boarded remained flat. For the first four months, traffic was up 2.8% on additional capacity of 0.2%. The load factor grew to 66.1%, an increase of 1.7 points, while passenger boardings declined 2.2%. April 96 April 95 4 Mths 96 4 Mths 95
International Air Transport Association is offering Chinese versions of two of its main publications, the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations and the IATA Ticketing Handbook.
USAir has opened formal contract negotiations with its pilots union, but the talks are expected to move slowly because a no-furlough clause protects pilot jobs into summer 1997.Talks with the machinists already are under way, and the flight attendants contract becomes amendable at the end of this year.
Air Malta has signed up Budget Rent a Car through May 1998 as the exclusive service provider for its fly-drive program, which offers travelers rental car discounts when they book a car in conjunction with an Air Malta flight.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, reversing a lower court ruling, has ordered a full evidentiary hearing on Hawaii's quarantine laws as they pertain to guide dogs for the visually impaired. American Society of Travel Agents, in its friend-of-the-court brief, urged the district court to consider the plaintiffs' proposed vaccination and testing alternative.
LTU is offering a $628 roundtrip fare between Germany and San Francisco this spring. During the peak season, from June until mid-September, the face is $798 between San Francisco and Germany and $689 between New York and Germany.
Frontier flew 59.1 million revenue passenger miles during April, a 154% increase over the same month last year. Capacity for the month grew 88% to 110.2 million RPMs. Load factor was 59.0%, an increase of 15.2 percentage points. For the first four months of the year, the carrier's traffic was up 164.8% on a capacity gain of 90.2%. Load factor for the period was 60.9%.
Aloha Airlines and Island Air are Dollar Rent A Car's latest air travel partners. Customers can earn AlohaPass credits when renting with Dollar. America West and United are other partners in the Dollar program.
National Tour Association (NTA) issued this week its consumer protection guidelines for travelers arranging vacation packages through a tour company. The association recommended that consumers ascertain the tour operator's membership in at least one of the following organizations: NTA, the U.S. Tour Operators Association or the American Society of Travel Agents. Consumers should make sure the company has a consumer protection plan - applying to deposits or prepayments up to $100,000 - as well as professional liability, and errors/omissions insurance, NTA advised.
One in every seven passengers flies because of low-fare airlines and "virtually all passenger growth in this country in the last few years is attributable to these new entrants," Patrick Murphy, DOT deputy assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, said yesterday. Murphy, addressing an air cargo conference in Toledo, Ohio, said new entrants, "as a group, are bigger than American, Delta or United." He said 25 of 39 new jet airlines certificated by DOT since 1993 still are flying.
The names of consumers who rent and travel agents who book from Dollar Rent A Car in Florida until Aug. 6 will be entered in a drawing to win one year's use of a new Eagle Vision from the Jeep/Eagle Division of Chrysler. Consumers also will receive a discount coupon on their next rental and a telephone card good for a limited amount of free long-distance service.
Travel Industry Association says the hike in gasoline prices has led 40% of Americans to say in a survey that they will either shorten or modify their summer travel plans. Of the 1,000 adults TIA surveyed, 22% planned to take fewer trips and 19% a shorter trip, 14% will spend less on items such as shopping, hotels and restaurants, and 47% said gas prices will have no effect on their travel plans. Respondents living in the West were more likely to change their plans because of higher gas prices, TIA said.
Northwest and Air UK will expand significantly their cooperative and code- share arrangement on service between the U.S. and the U.K., the carriers said yesterday. Beginning June 1, Northwest will place its designator code on all Air UK flights between Amsterdam and 10 U.K. points - Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Humberside, Manchester, Newcastle, London Stansted, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, Teesside and Norwich.
The draft FAA reauthorization bill under review in the House would eliminate Airport Improvement Program set-asides for certain small airports, but in a number of other respects it protects funding for small airports relative to larger facilities. Privatization (DAILY, May 7) and greater reliance on states for distribution of AIP funds are other themes of the draft, which is the first FAA reauthorization bill prepared under a Republican-controlled Congress.
United traffic grew 4.2% last month, compared with April 1995, on a 3.6% increase in capacity. The carrier recorded traffic increases in all service areas - the Pacific, the Atlantic, Latin America and domestic routes. The load factor rose 0.4 percentage points to 70.2%, and passengers increased 2.9%. For the first four months of the year, United's traffic was up 5.7%, compared with the same period last year, on a 3.7% jump in capacity, resulting in a load factor gain of 1.4 points to 69.1%.
TWA's traffic increased 8.9% last month, compared with April 1995, the carrier said yesterday. Capacity for the month rose 5.1%, lifting the load factor 2.3 percentage points to 66.5%. The number of passengers carried grew 9.9%. For the first four months of the year, traffic was up 9.1% on a capacity gain of 5.8%. The load factor was up 1.9 percentage points to 64.3% and the number of passengers enplaned rose 10.6%. TWA said the increase in capacity and traffic growth benefited from new flying to sun destinations added to its 1996 winter schedule.
Spurred by longer route segments and larger aircraft, regional aviation continued record growth in 1995, according to Regional Airline Association President Walt Coleman. The top 50 of 124 regional airlines carried 98.4% of the industry's passengers and flew 99% of its revenue passenger miles, Coleman reported. Overall, regional airline traffic increased 6% in 1995, compared with 4% growth among larger jet carriers. Capacity was up 7.6%, compared with 2.8% for the major and national airlines.
Ford Ennals, British Airways' director of marketing, left the carrier unexpectedly less than a year after joining it. A BA spokesman said Ennals resigned to pursue "other interests." He left underwear-producer Fruit of the Loom to join BA last June.
Ogden Corp. reported first quarter net income of $9.3 million versus $12.1 million a year earlier. Revenues climbed to $520.7 million from $502.4 million.
Runway incursions jumped to 246 in 1995 from 208 the previous year, but near midair collisions declined to 240 from 277, FAA data show. Operational errors last year rose slightly, to 773 from 769, while pilot deviations declined to 1,255 from 1,294. The data were accumulated during a year of traffic growth - 4% by the major and national carriers and 6% among the regional airlines. Total system delays declined during the year to 236,794 from 247,719 in 1994. Both figures are significant reductions from system delays totaling 275,759 in 1993 and 280,821 in 1992.
