The four American Eagle affiliates boarded 1,161,564 passengers last month, a record for the month and just off its all-time monthly record of 1,165,932 passengers in August 1994. Traffic also rose - 19.9% to 2.39 billion revenue passenger miles - while capacity increased 11% to 3.97 billion available seat miles. System load factor increased 4.4 percentage points to 60.1%.
TACA International Airlines Chief Executive Federico Bloch will speak at the International Aviation Club's monthly luncheon April 17 in Washington, D.C. Lunch begins at 12:30 p.m. at the Capital Hilton Hotel, 16th&K Sts. N.W. The cost of lunch is $35 per person.
DOT has once again extended essential air service obligations of Mesa Air Group carriers West Air and Mountain West at six communities in the western U.S. The carriers must continue operating until May 8 or until new carriers are selected to serve Kingman, Ariz.; Silver City, N.M.; Goodland, Kan.; Lamar, Colo., and Merced and Visalia, Calif., DOT said.
Flight Center, Seattle, has launched Flight Center Aircraft Sales, a division that will specialize in the sale of corporate turboprop aircraft, helicopters and jets. Brad Wollen will be VP-aircraft sales. The division will specialize in aircraft such as the King Air 200, Citations, Falcon 50/900 and Gulfstream IV/V.
U.S. airlines could have earned $8.3 billion last year, more than three times the $2.6 billion they reported, if they had used an auction market for unsold seats, according to Salomon Brothers. Analysts Julius Maldutis and Susan Donofrio said U.S. airlines are in the "early stages of a far- reaching structural change," in which new distribution technology will yield "substantial cost savings in the coming years." But they added that "the real revolutionary change...will occur on the revenue side of an airline's income statement.
Amadeus Global Travel Distribution and its Scandinavian distribution partner, Smart, have established a national marketing company in Vilnius, Lithuania, to market the Amadeus and Smart product lines. Lithuanian travel agents will be able to make reservations using Amadeus for airlines, hotels and rental car companies, and to access Smart's local providers, such as ferry companies, tour operators and other travel-related products.
Great Lakes Aviation has announced its intent to terminate all of its essential air service at Norfolk, Neb., beginning July 1. The United Express carrier operates Beech 1900 service from the community to Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul. It is the only carrier to offer service between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Norfolk. (Docket OST-96-1247)
John Feinstein, sportswriter, commentator and author of "A Good Walk Spoiled," will be the honorary chairman of the 8th Annual Greater Washington Aviation Open, to be held May 6 at Manor Country Club, Rockville, Md. For tournament information, send a fax request to Paul Bollinger at 215-656-2750.
RAA directors, to their credit, this week refused to cave in to Robert Crandall, chairman of their largest member AMR Eagle, on Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) bill to fully fund FAA services, including air traffic handling, with user fees (DAILY, April 10). As a result, AMR Eagle - the only vote of eight among RAA directors in favor of the legislation - elected to "suspend" its RAA membership. The tax measure could kill low-fare, short- haul AMR competitors, and significantly affect regionals as well.
American Eagle on May 1 will discontinue its service to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Quebec City, Quebec. Eagle affiliate Flagship Airlines had offered two daily flights to both points, having begun service to Halifax on June 15, 1995, and Quebec City on July 1, 1995.
Reeling from its financially disastrous experience as majority owner of bankrupt Dutch regional aircraft manufacturer Fokker, Daimler-Benz Aerospace no longer is seeking a partnership with the Aero International (Regional) consortium. DASA President Manfred Bischoff said yesterday in Stuttgart he will focus on Airbus Industrie activities and drop any idea of an alliance with AIR members Aerospatiale of France, Alenia of Italy and British Aerospace.
USAir and USAir Express are offering electronic ticketing on domestic flights. USAir is working to expand ticketless travel to USAir Shuttle flights, and to its own flights to Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe.
TriStar Airlines beginning June 12 will offer three weekly roundtrip flights between Aspen, Colo., and Los Angeles, continuing the service for the 14-week summer season and "sustaining its reign as the only direct airline service between the two cities," the airline said. Fares for the TriStar BAe 146 flights, which will be operated every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, start at $378 roundtrip with a special introductory, non- refundable roundtrip fare of $298 which must be purchased by May 10, the carrier said.
Singapore Airlines is the latest carrier to announce that it will offer inflight gambling on its flights, beginning late this year or early in 1997. SIA's plans to launch the service have been an open secret for some time, but it has not provided details previously. The carrier will offer the service through its KrisWorld inflight entertainment system "to provide passengers with another form of entertainment, rather than a means of making money," a spokeswoman said. Stakes will be limited to small sums, she said without elaboration.
Lufthansa will use its A340 aircraft to provide additional service from Los Angeles to Germany this summer. The carrier will operate 40 additional flights to Frankfurt between April 10 and Aug. 3, on average two extra flights per week. The flights, to be code shared with United, will depart after 6:30 p.m. PDT. The long-range jets will be configured in three service classes with 228 seats.
Motel 6, a leader in lodging for the budget-conscious traveler, intends to expand for the first time through franchising, especially in small markets. The company, which operates 760 facilities, intends to focus expansion in areas east of the Mississippi River. A new motel prototype opens this month at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. The company said it expects to expand primarily through the construction of new properties.
Airbus Industrie's A319 transport powered by CFM International engines received type certification yesterday from the European Joint Aviation Authorities, which represents 23 member countries. The A319 is seven frames shorter than the A320 and seats 124 passengers compared with the latter which seats 150. The A321 is 13 frames longer than the A319 and seats 185. All three aircraft have the same type rating, so they can be flown and maintained by the same pilots and maintenance personnel.
U.S. Major and National Fuel Cost Per Gallon Third Quarter 1995 America West American Continental Total Cost $43,112,006 $259,457,000 $113,984,000 Gallons Used 79,723,356 506,440,695 216,665,000 Cost Per Gallon (Cents) 0.54 0.51 0.53 Southwest TWA United Total Cost $92,058,000 $86,036,740 $254,236,000
Cegelec Automation, Pittsburgh, and its Cegelec affiliate in France, were awarded a Boeing contract to modernize the electrical equipment and controls of Boeing's transonic wind tunnel.
Canadian Airlines International expects to name a new strategic European partner early in May.Air France and British Airways have been floated as potential matches for the carrier, which recently lost Lufthansa to an alliance with rival Air Canada. Canadian's choice of a European partner may signal whom American will link up with, since American owns a minority stake in Canadian.
USAir is paying Chairman Stephen Wolf up to $1 million per year to run the airline, according to a proxy statement the carrier filed recently with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Wolf receives a base salary of $500,000 per year, plus an annual bonus of up to $500,000 more, depending on his performance. The carrier also granted Wolf options for 1.3 million shares of USAir stock, which become exercisable in installments through 2000, as well as 325,000 shares of restricted stock.
United and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) will pursue a new contract under what is likely to be a protracted negotiation now that union members have voted down a tentative agreement reached quickly by negotiators in February. Kevin Lum, AFA Master Executive Council President, said, "While United is touting itself to investors as 'the most profitable airline in the world,' it refuses to grant wage increases to its flight attendants.
U.S. Major Carriers Fuel Burn Per Block Hour Year Ending Third Quarter 1995 America West A320-100/200 B737-100/200 B737-300 Gallons Per Block Hour 792 821 753 Average Stage Length 878 508 588 American A300-600 B727-200 B757 Gallons Per Block Hour 1,709 1,269 1,055
DOT made final its tentative decision awarding USAir authority to operate Philadelphia-Rome service. USAir plans six flights per week between Rome and Philadelphia using Boeing 767-200ER aircraft. DOT's tentative decision in favor of USAir sparked protests from Northwest and Delta, who had also sought the new Italy frequencies, which became available April 1. Northwest was granted backup authority to Rome from Detroit. (Docket OST- 95-422)
Aerocer, a Mexican air taxi operator of executive aircraft, applied for authority to operate combination charter service between Mexico and the U.S. It also requested fifth-freedom authority, which will be contingent on prior DOT approval, and limited stopover privileges. It estimates that it will operate fewer than 75 roundtrips per year between Mexico and the U.S., with an average load of three and four passengers per flight. The carrier operates an eight-passenger Hawker HS-125-800A and a seven- passenger Falcon 10. (Docket OST-96-1231)
