Southwest is the only airline, large or small, that signed up for the mileage-based domestic airfare structure drafted by the Business Travel Contractors Corp., which would set fixed prices market by market for member corporations. BTCC will go ahead with the plan with Southwest as the only participant, implementing its business contract fares by June 1, but it will need more airlines eventually and hopes Southwest's participation will reel in other major carriers.
The U.S. and South Africa reached an agreement late last Friday expanding service opportunities for carriers from both countries and permitting third-country code sharing in the market. A byproduct of earlier discussions between Vice President Gore and South African Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, the pact is the first aviation bilateral between the two countries since the U.S. terminated the previous accord in 1986 over South Africa's apartheid policy.
British Airways and its franchise partners will add flights to five new destinations as part of their summer schedule. BA's flying will grow 7% from last summer's levels, including new service to Phoenix, San Diego, Kiev, Malta and Jerez. The carrier will add flights to Stockholm, Zurich and Edinburgh from London Gatwick and establish new service between Aberdeen and Paris. New daily flights starting July 1 from London to San Diego and Phoenix will give BA service to 22 U.S. cities.
Transportation Secretary Federico Pena and FAA Administrator David Hinson, citing new flexibility under personnel and procurement rules that went into effect yesterday, announced 10% pay incentives for air traffic controllers and technicians at seven of the nation's busiest, hardest-to-staff facilities, in the New York City, Chicago and San Francisco areas. Some 7% of the increase over base pay will be effective April 14 and the remainder by mid-October.
Continental applied yesterday for authority to operate scheduled combination service between Houston and Tokyo, Newark and Tokyo, and Newark and Osaka. The carrier also asked to combine the service between these points and other points it is authorized to serve. Continental, which has no nonstop service from the U.S. mainland to Japan, said it would operate daily service in each of the markets, using Boeing 777 aircraft on order or other aircraft already in its fleet if the award is made before the 777 delivery.
Air Canada Chief Executive Robert Milton and Martin Shugrue, president of Pan American World Airways, are among the scheduled speakers for the American Society of Travel Agents' Eastern Regional Conference, at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto May 16-19. Registration fee is $175 for ASTA members and $225 for non-members. For more information, ASTA members may call 1-800-ASK-ASTA and others 703-739-2782.
Reno Air plans to begin operating a daily roundtrip flight from Denver to Reno/Tahoe with direct service to Los Angeles June 6, when it implements its summer schedule. On Thursday, the carrier will begin a new daily nonstop between Reno and Colorado Springs, increasing to two flights a day May 1. One-way fares to Denver start at $79 and to Colorado Springs at $74.
United Airlines World Cargo, capitalizing on last week's air cargo agreement with Japan, said yesterday it will begin operating four DC-10-30 freighters between the U.S. and Asia this fall, United's first all- freighter service (DAILY, March 28). Jim Hartigan, VP-worldwide cargo, said United was planning the service "prior to the settlement. We were reasonably confident we would have got it, but the agreement clarifies the issues." The carrier will pursue the lucrative overnight and next-day freight markets, he said.
Air Liberte has asked DOT for authority to operate combination service between Bordeaux, France, and Newark Airport. The French carrier plans to operate three weekly roundtrips on the route between June 15 and Oct. 26, using 317-seat Airbus A300 and 247-seat A310 aircraft. The carrier cited last week's U.S.-France agreement resolving a dispute centering on capacity issues for the upcoming U.S.-France summer season. The carrier has not operated to the U.S.
Delta set a world record for monthly passenger boardings at a single airport in March, when it topped the two million mark at Atlanta Hartsfield. Its previous record came in December with 1.8 million Atlanta boardings (DAILY, March 29). The carrier boarded one million passengers for the first time in Atlanta 17 years ago. Delta, which operates 567 daily flights at Hartsfield, says it will offer more daily seats to the Olympic Games in Atlanta than any other carrier has ever offered - more than 200,000 seats, or 4.2 million for the entire Olympic event.
Holiday Inn Worldwide is the newest participant in Worldspan's Hotel Source program, which gives real-time direct connections to Holiday Inn's central reservations system host. Subscribers to Hotel Source can access all hotel rates and inventory.
Air Canada has extended its electronic ticketing to Air Canada and Air BC service between 26 cities in Western Canada. The carrier launched the service Dec. 1 on the Calgary-Regina-Winnipeg route and added several cities later. Air BC is the first regional carrier associated with Air Canada to have electronic ticketing capabilities. Air Canada will extend ticketless travel to all points in Canada by midyear and then offer it in some U.S.-Canadian markets.
Northwest has launched an Internet site, WorldWeb, that is linked to partner KLM's web site. Information on Northwest can be found at http://www.nwa.com and on KLM at http://www.klm.nl/. Northwest's site is divided into four sections - flight and travel information; perks, partners and products; WorldVacations, and About Northwest. WorldWeb in the future will have direct booking capabilities, customized Asian market content, job postings, cargo information and music clips from Northwest's advertising program.
TWA is reducing fares to Toronto, offering roundtrip tickets from $159 to $649, based on seven domestic zones. Travel must be completed by June 20, and the last day to purchase tickets is April 15. TWA will inaugurate nonstop service to Toronto from its St. Louis hub May 1, with two daily MD- 80 flights. The lowest fare is from St. Louis and the highest from Honolulu. Other fares include $169 from Jacksonville, $219 from Albuquerque and $229 from Los Angeles.
U.S. Carrier Systemwide Market Share At Leading U.S. Airports U.S. Major, National and Commuter* Carriers The Year 1995 1 Chicago O'Hare Enplaned Percent Passengers Marketshare United 13,915,953 46.69 American 10,442,504 35.03 Simmons 1,248,508 4.19
Because of passenger concerns about "Mad Cow" disease, British Midland has stopped serving beef on its flights. "The decision has been made pending clarification by the appropriate authorities as to its acceptability," British Midland said. The carrier's meals are provided by third-party caterers.
Chew Choon Seng, Singapore Airlines' director-finance and administration, has been named deputy managing director-administration. His new post will include responsibilities for corporate affairs, finance and administration, and personnel. Chew joined the company in 1972 as a manager.
DOT has not acted on Japan Airlines' application for Tokyo-Kona service authority, forcing JAL to put off its plans to operate seven roundtrip frequencies per week on the route, beginning yesterday.
Alaska Airlines is increasing its aircraft utilization, projecting 11-plus hours per airplane per day in 1996 from 8.2 hours in 1993.The carrier's cuts in operating costs are among the quickest and deepest in the industry, from 10.22 cents per available seat mile in 1992 to a projected 7.7 cents in 1996. Alaska also has increased productivity from 80 passengers per employee in 1991 to about 124 this year.
American and USAir have updated earlier applications for Boston-Paris service, newly available because of last week's U.S.-France agreement. Filed early last year in a bid to replace Northwest's service in the market - suspended in January - both carriers proposed daily nonstop 767 service. American wants to begin the service May 1, while USAir said it is prepared to start "the first day after receiving authorization from both U.S.
Olympic Airways is increasing service to Northern Greece this summer, creating what it calls a "mini-hub" at Macedonia Airport in Thessaloniki. Under the summer schedule, which started last weekend, Olympic is adding service to two new destinations and adding flights in existing markets. It started new flights from Thessalonki to Belgrade and Bucharest, and will serve the Thessaloniki-Athens route with 64 weekly flights this summer, up from the current 41.
Transport Canada received 655 reports of bird strikes in 1994, most of them occurring within 100 feet of the ground, according to Flight Safety Foundation. Most damage involved wings, radomes, noses and engines. Bird strikes caused problems in 12% of the reports, ranging from obscured cockpit vision to an engine fire and a forced landing.
Analysts hosted by Boeing during a two-day assembly tour last week "came away believing Boeing's goal of getting two-thirds of all aircraft orders over the next 20 years may be conservative," says Gruntal Investment Research's Steve Lewins. "China, including Hong Kong, may be the biggest apple for Boeing, accounting for as much as $140 billion of aircraft ordered out of $1.1 trillion globally."
Airbus Industrie said yesterday that its order book topped 2,000 with a contract from Philippine Airlines (PAL) for 24 new aircraft. The consortium, formed in 1970, has sold 2,004 aircraft to 124 customers. Airbus said it holds a 30% share of the world market for aircraft with more than 100 seats and "has the objective to increase this share further to 50%." The consortium is considering adding a large-capacity aircraft to its product line to compete with the Boeing 747.
