Midway Airlines is returning to lessors four A320s it used for Caribbean service during the winter. Chief Financial Officer Steven Westberg said the airline was happy with the aircraft, which worked well for it at the time, but it is really an F100 operator. The carrier now has 12 F100s and one A320. Westberg said that despite the rough winter, the airline is "doing great, our loads are strong and we have cash in the bank."
Jet Express will fly to Savannah, Ga.-Hilton Head Island this spring with low fares. Flights to the resort area, host of the Olympic Games yachting venue, will cost $59 one way May 16 through June 16 from Newark and as little as $69 one way from Baltimore/Washington and Chicago Midway. Jet Express and its parent, World Technology Systems, have been offering nonstops to Myrtle Beach, S.C., since February 1995. The carrier does not require a Saturday night stay or an advance purchase, and it pays travel agents a 10% commission.
Container freight is piling up at gateway cities due to increasing U.S. exports, and the backlog continues to build, Jeff Massey, manager of marketing and sales for Kintetsu World Express USA told The DAILY yesterday. Massey said the air freight forwarding industry is under pressure to move the goods, but lift is not available on a timely basis. Traditionally, after the first of the year, there is a slump in demand, he said. "Our industry is going crazy, and we cannot get space on aircraft to major destinations," Massey said. "Exports from the U.S.
Federal Bar Association's Transportation Law Section will present a luncheon and discussion on practicing transportation law on the Internet March 27. Panelists include Neil Eisner, DOT assistant general counsel; Henry Perritt Jr., professor of law, Villanova Law School, and Eleanor Kerlow, executive editor, Counsel Connect. The event will be held at noon at the Federal Bar Building, third floor; 1815 H St. N.W., Washington, D.C. For more information, call Melissa Sheldon at 202-632-0252 or E-mail [email protected].
Northwest Airlines Corp. and Northwest Airlines Inc. filed an S-3 shelf registration covering $350 million of equipment trust and pass-through certificates. The carrier said it is trying to increase its overall financial flexibility with respect to 757s to be delivered this year and other related aircraft financing. The two Northwest companies have an existing shelf registration statement covering $400 million of debt and equity securities, including equipment trust and pass-through certificates.
Worldspan, which increased its customer locations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa by 17% and added 70 staff members in the past year, plans further expansion. It will open an office in Romania this summer, adding to recently opened facilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Neil Beck, VP- international, said, "We are now bidding for business in Saudi Arabia and are making progress in pursuing business opportunities." Worldspan will move into larger offices in Frankfurt this summer to support 160 additional customer locations acquired in the past year.
TWAExpress affiliate Trans State's intention to drop its service at Forney Air Field, which serves Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., has drawn objections from the U.S. Army's garrison commander there, who said in a letter to DOT that the service is "essential" and that Trans States should be held in at the point until a replacement carrier is found. (Docket OST-96-1167)
Air Canada will upgrade its Calgary-Edmonton service to jet aircraft June 1, operating its Rapidair service 17 times per day in each direction using a mix of CL-65 jets, BAe 146s and de Havilland Dash 8s. Air Canada's regional partner, Air BC, previously operated flights between the two cities. One-way Air Canada fares start at $29, and to launch the service, the carrier will offer double mileage through July 15.
AEI said it has formed a joint venture with Saudi conglomerate NESMA Group to offer a specialized form of international logistics - "project forwarding." Namma Cargo Services, a division of the NESMA Group, has been operating a project division for 11 years. The division, Falcon Express, handled project cargo assignments worldwide, drawing most of its business from the Middle East. AEI recently purchased a 50% stake in Falcon Express.
In a move it expects to increase revenues by $13 million this year and twice as much in 1997, TWA has launched a "virtual offices" program in an attempt to increase the productivity of its sales staff and improve customer service. The virtual office - SOAR, for Sales Office Automation Resources - will involve the loss of only a handful of jobs, a spokesman said. TWA VP-Domestic Sales Jan Wood said the idea is to make sales agents a mobile force that can work from personal computers at home or face to face at a travel agency. All 50 TWA sales offices in the U.S.
Virgin Atlantic Airways has implemented Direct Availability participation in the Abacus computer reservations system. Through Direct Availability, launched last year, travel agents' general availability displays will show real-time flight status and seat counts from Virgin's reservations system, and Virgin will be able to control the seats it wants to sell to specific travel agents. Abacus said the latter feature enables an airline to improve its yield management control.
U.S. and European Code-Share Agreements As of First Quarter 1996 Type 1* Code-Share Agreements U.S. Carrier Foreign Carrier American Canadian International American Gulf Air American Qantas Carnival Iberia Carnival AeroPeru Carnival LADECO Continental Alitalia Continental SAS Delta Singapore
Proposed airports in Peotone, Ill., and Southern Virginia "have much in common with projects like the space station Freedom and the superconducting supercollider," Air Transport Association President Carol Hallett told airport executives.
Fortis Aviation, continuing its marketing program for TAP Air Portugal aircraft, placed a TAP L-1011-500 on lease with Caribjet. TAP is phasing out its five trijets with the introduction of the A340-300. Fortis said one aircraft is on lease to TAAG-Angola Airlines and another will be returned soon off lease by BWIA. While the aircraft are on the market, TAP is operating them on charter flights this spring and summer.
Aero International (Regional) is close to taking its proposal for a "scope-compatible" 70-passenger regional jet to the marketplace for evaluation. Scope-compatible means that it may not exceed the 75,000-pound gross weight limitation imposed by the scope clauses in major-carrier-union contracts. AI(R)'s smallest jet - the AVRO RJ70 - clocks in at 84,000 pounds. The aircraft's prime competitor would be the 75,000-pound, 70- passenger Canadair CRJX, a stretch of the current 50-passenger RJ, if and when Bombardier decides to build it...
Jonathan Ornstein, former Continental Express CEO and now CEO of a new European low-cost operator - tentatively called Virgin Europe - intends to present a reorganization plan for Business Express, The DAILY is told. Others expected to submit plans are Commutair and the current management. Ornstein has formed Regional Air Partners, which is said to be well capitalized and includes former Continental Express CFO Jim Swigart and Continental Chairman David Bonderman. If the bankruptcy court accepts RAP's plan, RAP would be expected to take BizEx public.
Fifteen regional airlines posted an average load factor of 49.5% during February, up 4.4 percentage points from 45.1% during the same month a year ago. Horizon Air, frequently the highest among the sampling, again turned in a high of 60.3%, up from 58.2% a year ago. All others save two also posted gains. Rapidly expanding Gulfstream International was down a point to 53% even and Air Wisconsin, which added a 14th BAe 146 quadjet to its fleet, was off three points to 45.1%. The greatest gain was posted by second-place Mesa Air Group; it was up 8.73 points to 56.3%.
American is offering AAdvantage Fund Raising, enabling nonprofit organizations to offer frequent flyer miles to donors. American will sell miles to organizations at low rates and provide free consulting service to purchasers from its exclusive agent, Mitch-Stuart Inc. The miles also can be used for membership drives, campaigns and auctions.
Airline Employee Placement Service, an online service that compiles pilot resumes, has added those of flight attendants, dispatchers, mechanics and managers. AEPS enables an airline to computer-match a subscriber's enrollment form with the qualifications it requires, and to download a chosen form. For more information, call AEPS at 954-472-6684, or visit its Internet site at http://www.aeps.com/aeps/aepshm.html.
The U.S. has put together a new proposal to offer Japan as it enters a crucial round of all-cargo talks Tuesday in Tokyo. A U.S. industry official declined to reveal details of the new offer but said it expands on the most recent U.S. proposal - additional U.S.-Japan frequencies and new beyond-Japan service for United Parcel Service and an additional U.S. all- cargo designee for the Japan market, in exchange for Japan Airlines rights mirroring those of U.S. all-cargo carriers and service to new U.S. points for Nippon Cargo Airlines.
Security threat to U.S. airlines, FAA security regulations and explosive detection systems will be explored during RAA's two-day seminar for regional airline security personnel and customer service managers. The seminar will be held April 1-2 near Dulles Airport in Herndon, Va. Seminar costs $155 for RAA members and $255 for non-members. For information, contact Debby McElroy at (202) 857-1170.
WorldCorp, parent of World Airways, said yesterday it is looking to sell the carrier to its employees, the public or a third party. "We do believe that appropriately structured employee ownership providing both union and non-union employees with a direct interest in the success of the airline would lead to substantial benefits for employees and shareholders alike," World Airways President Charles Pollard said.
Arizona Airways, a unit of Minneapolis-based Great Lakes Aviation, has been awarded the essential air service franchise at Page, Ariz., replacing St. George, Utah-based SkyWest Airlines. Great Lakes will be paid an annual subsidy rate of $129,560 to operate 10 roundtrips per week with 19- passenger Beech 1900 aircraft between Page, near the Utah border, and Phoenix. The service term will last two years and will begin early next month.
President Clinton, in a letter to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said his administration "remains committed to opening markets and ensuring new and exciting opportunities for the airline industry." APFA, which got a boost from the administration in its Thanksgiving 1993 strike against American, is endorsing Clinton for re-election.
