Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Traffic Third Quarter 1995 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) America West 4,424 8.03 800 3,539,719 American 16,584 (7.19) 1,120 18,579,360
Aeroperu starts weekly Newark-Lima flights March 29 under a code-share pact with Mexicana. The service will be operated with a 156-seat A320. Continental began daily service in the market last week with a 757.
Iberia has started flying an A340 between Madrid and New York Kennedy Airport. The carrier, which will take delivery of three more A340s by the end of this year, also plans to use the jet on flights to Miami. The aircraft are configured for three classes of service. First class, which Iberia calls Grand Class, has 10 seats with 62 inches of pitch. Business class seats 24 passengers with 42 inches of pitch. Seats in both cabins have inflight satellite telephones, interactive video systems with 10 channels and video games.
A top FAA official said yesterday the agency has advised Wilcox Electric that the company's $475 million contract to develop the Wide Area Augmentation System is behind schedule, not meeting program goals and may be canceled.
After five months of trying to find slots, ValuJet said it will begin low- fare service to New York LaGuardia May 1 from its Atlanta base. Under an agreement with Continental, it will lease 10 slots at the airport and operate five daily flights with one-way fares starting at $89. The carrier earlier believed it had a deal to obtain TWA slots, but was told by TWA the 10 slots would be leased to Delta instead (DAILY, Nov. 21). ValuJet said it will continue to pursue antitrust claims filed in federal court against the carriers.
Kiwi International Air Lines set a new record in monthly passenger boardings in February when it flew 173,000 passengers, surpassing its previous record of 165,500 passengers in November 1995. Kiwi's February traffic jumped 63% from February 1995 to 129 million revenue passenger miles from 79 million. Available seat miles were up 44% to 201 million from 140 million. The load factor rose eight percentage points to 64%. Jerry Murphy, president and chief executive, said, "The harsh winter sparked Florida travel in February, a pattern that continues through March.
Qantas and British Airways have fused separate operations in Bangkok and Singapore into a single unit, the carriers said. The new office will conduct sales, marketing and operational activities for both airlines. When completed, the two carriers will share first- and business-class lounges that are under construction at both airports. The Singapore lounges open March 26.
United is pressing DOT to consolidate the applications of American and United in the proceeding to allocate new U.S.-Lima combination frequencies, and dismiss Continental's bid. The three carriers are vying for 3.5 new frequencies in the so-called Phase II U.S.-Lima proceeding for service to the Peruvian capital from Florida points. United and American said they would use the frequencies to upgrade their existing Miami-Lima service, while Continental "fails to explain how or where it would use the 3.5 frequencies for which it has applied," said United.
Delta, stung by criticism from the media and presidential politicians of steep job cuts and a hefty pay increase for Chairman Ron Allen, has embarked on a media campaign to clean up its image.The carrier, which recently eased up on some of its Leadership 7.5 cost cuts, has publicized two efforts during the past week to keep workers - a new airmail contract (DAILY, March 18) and efforts to sell services to other airlines (DAILY, March 14).
Comair intends to begin operating three daily nonstops between Newark Airport and Charleston, S.C., May 1, and three daily flights between Newark and Columbia, S.C., June 1. The Delta Connection carrier will use 50-seat Canadair jets on the routes.
DOT issued a show cause order tentatively selecting American International Airways and Polar Air Cargo for primary authority to operate new all-cargo services in the U.S.-Brazil market. Southern Air Transport and Tower Air received backup authority. Resulting from the U.S.-Brazil agreement in June 1995, the rights enable the U.S. to designate third and fourth all- cargo carriers for the market - one immediately and the other April 1 - and allocate 12.5 weekly widebody frequencies - 6.5 immediately, three in April and three more beginning April 1997.
United parent UAL Corp. said yesterday that its first quarter earnings will exceed analysts' highest estimates of $2.05 per fully distributed share. Better-than-expected traffic and stronger-than-anticipated yields drove the revision, United said. United also said its costs for the first quarter will be slightly higher than estimated because of increasing fuel prices and costs associated with additional revenue.
Western Pacific Airlines is purchasing one new 737-300 and leasing another as it expands its fleet to 14 aircraft and the number of cities it serves from its Colorado Springs base to 20. It will take delivery of the leased airplane from Taca Airlines of El Salvador Friday, and of the airplane it is purchasing from Avensa of Venezuela March 29. One of the 737s is nine years old and the other 11.
Project Newark, sponsored by the Air Transport Association, will be the "world's first certified differential Global Positioning System used for precision approaches in revenue service," according to Honeywell. The Honeywell/Pelorus Satellite Landing System (SLS-2000), selected for the project, will be used by Continental.
Hawaiian Airlines Inc. reported an operating profit of $659,000 but a net loss of $124,000 for the fourth quarter of 1995. The results reflect the carrier's third consecutive quarterly operating profit and an improvement over an operating loss of $3.2 million and a net loss of $3.0 million in fourth quarter 1994. Operating revenues for the 1995 quarter were $92.57 million, a 21.8% increase, and operating expenses climbed 16.1% to $91.92 million.
The Master Executive Council for Delta's Air Line Pilots Association unit has ratified the four-year tentative agreement reached with management Feb. 20. The 27-member MEC voted unanimously to approve the contract, which gives ALPA a non-voting seat on Delta's board of directors, secures the return of furloughed pilots and gives pilots equity in the company. The contract, which cuts pilots' pay by 2% to help Delta reach cost-cutting goals, now is subject to approval by the 8,600 pilots represented by ALPA (DAILY, Feb. 22).
Matching ValuJet as the Atlanta-based carrier launches service between Philadelphia and Boston, USAir has reduced one-way fares in the market to as little as $39 for travel beginning May 1. The fare requires a 21-day advance purchase, except for travel May 1 through May 22. USAir also has reduced its seven-day advance price to $59 from $99, and tickets reserved fewer than seven days prior to departure have been cut to $89 from $159. USAir operates 16 nonstop roundtrips between the two cities each business day.
Dalfort Aviation of Dallas, polling travelers to find out whether there is a market for long-haul service from Dallas Love Field (DAILY, March 18), has made no decisions on what aircraft to use to satisfy the Wright Amendment's 56-seat size limit. The amendment, named after then-House Speaker Jim Wright of Texas and adopted to protect Dallas/Fort Worth Airport from competition from Love Field, prohibits service beyond Texas and the four contiguous states except for cargo flights, limited charters and aircraft with 56 or fewer seats.
Western Pacific Airlines, which says it is the fastest-growing carrier in the country, expects to board its one millionth passenger tomorrow, after 11 months of service. The passenger will receive two roundtrip tickets every month for a year, a free Thrifty car rental with every trip, and accommodations at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Crested Butte ski resort in Colorado and Opryland USA in Nashville.
A controllers' union official told FAA that testing of dual streams into Chicago O'Hare approach control airspace is a "disaster waiting to happen and should be stopped immediately." National Air Traffic Controllers Association facility representative John Carr told Bob Frink, air traffic manager for the tracon, that the test is a failure. "I will urge each controller I represent to file an Unsatisfactory Condition Report and a NASA report for any continued testing of this procedure.
American has opened a 5,700-square-foot Admirals Club in Atlanta Hartsfield Airport's T Concourse. The new club, twice the size of the old facility, is located next to American's gates, inside security checkpoints. It includes two conference rooms with audiovisual equipment.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic September 1995 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) American 1,216 12.07 2,330 2,832,400 Atlantic 364 8.10 4,082 1,484,860
Lufthansa and Air Canada may be close to a new code-sharing agreement.The Canadian airline confirms it is talking with Lufthansa, among others, but has not reached an agreement. Lufthansa dropped Canadian Airlines International recently as an international partner, and a marketing pact between Air Canada and Air France is set to expire at the end of the month.
British Airways is switching new 747 flights to East and Central Africa to London Gatwick to clear space at Heathrow for other new services (DAILY, Feb. 6). BA said the move is in line with its plan to develop Gatwick as a complementary hub to Heathrow. Flights to Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Entebbe, Lusaka, Harare and Lilongwe began last Saturday. Also starting from Gatwick this year are flights to Stockholm and Zurich this spring, Edinburgh and Kiev this summer and Phoenix and San Diego in July.
Encouraged by increased transport orders following several years in which heavy airline losses dampened sales, Boeing said yesterday it will speed up production of the 737, 757 and 747, beginning next year. In the first quarter, production of the 737 will increase from 8.5 aircraft per month to 10, and 757 production will return to four a month from three. In the second quarter, 747 production will increase from 3 1/2 a month to four. Boeing said last December that monthly production will reach 22.5 airplanes a month by the fourth quarter of this year.
