American Trans Air parent Amtran, Inc. reported net income of $8.5 million for 1995, or 74 cents per share, compared with net income of $3.5 million, or 30 cents per share, for 1994. Operating income increased 96.3% for the year to $16.5 million. Operating revenues increased 23.2% to $715.0 million from $580.5 million, while operating expenses rose 22.1% to $698.5 million. For the fourth quarter, the airline reported a net loss of $3.8 million, or 32 cents per share, 36% less than its 1994 fourth quarter loss of $5.9 million, or 52 cents per share.
United Airlines Worldwide Cargo has signed a contract with Transport Data Network International for domestic distribution of shipment data. The TDNI system will provide United customers with real-time access to shipment data for all domestic and international shipments, the carrier said.
Chase Manhattan said it completed a $103.6 million financing of a 747-400 aircraft for Philippine Airlines. Chase said it acted as an adviser and arranger for the 12-year financing, which was priced at 6.03% fixed interest. The financing, guaranteed by the U.S. Export-Import Bank, was placed with WestLB, which had earlier taken out bridge financing from Chase. Chase, which also advised on and arranged the financing of two 747- 400s the carrier acquired in 1993, said it is working now with PAL on the financing of a fourth, for delivery this quarter.
U.S. officials are not of one mind about last week's comments on the U.S.- U.K. stalemate by British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Malcolm Rifkind. One assessment is that Rifkind offered little that is new, beyond saying that the U.K.'s October 1995 offer still is on the table. An alternative view is that Rifkind's timing - just after the U.S.-Germany open skies breakthrough - indicates that the message may be getting through.
U.S. and Canadian carriers want DOT to defer action on the application of American, Canadian Airlines International and their regional associates for antitrust immunity to expand their commercial alliance. Like most respondents, Delta said the department should not consider the application "until the 'open skies' provisions of the U.S.-Canada bilateral are fully effective." All respondents cited restrictions on U.S. carrier entry to Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto that continue through 1997.
Air Transport Association plans to commission a study of airport capital needs to evaluate airport groups' declarations of those needs. The association wants to analyze needs specifically in terms of the safety and capacity of the aviation system, discounting other reasons for airport expansion, such as economic development.
American has applied for seven U.S.-Brazil frequencies to operate daily nonstop service between New York and Rio de Janeiro, using 162-seat Boeing 767-200ER aircraft.
DOT renewed America West's exemption to operate scheduled combination service between Phoenix, Ariz., and San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. The carrier offers 17 weekly nonstops on the route, using 737-300 aircraft (DAILY, Dec. 11). (Docket OST-95-736)
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AAR appointed William Bailey group VP-AAR Manufacturing Group and president of AAR Manufacturing Group Inc., the legal entity. Patrick Aherne rejoined the company as VP-European Operations for AAR Engine Group International, and Ken Mercier joined AAR Allen Group as VP-worldwide customer support.
British Airways' Concorde supersonic transport broke its own record for the fastest transatlantic time Jan. 7 by more than one and a half minutes, averaging 22 miles a minute between New York and London, the carrier said last week. The flight took two hours, 52 minutes, 59 seconds for the 3,750 miles. This was 40 minutes faster than the scheduled flying time thanks to tail winds of up to 175 miles per hour at 58,000 feet altitude.
ValuJet is being courted by Pensacola, Panama City, Fort Walton Beach and Mobile for its low-fare service. The carrier, currently in seven Florida cities, will announce a service expansion in mid-March that may or may not include one or more of those cities, a spokeswoman said. Pensacola, for one, reportedly is drawing up an incentive package to lure the airline.
U.S. Major Carriers Systemwide Share of Service Third Quarter 1995 Total Revenue Departures America West 50,448 American 208,274 Continental 114,592 Delta 238,336 Northwest 145,783 Southwest 178,631 TWA 72,380 United 200,047 USAir 192,031
Midwest Express Airlines flew 85.7 million revenue passenger miles in January, up 7.1% from 79.9 million. Available seat miles were down 3.7% to 151.5 million. The load factor improved to 56.5% from 50.8%. Skyway Airlines, a Midwest Express Holdings subsidiary, recorded a 27.8% rise in RPMs to 4.9 million on capacity that was up 15.4% to 12.9 million ASMs. The load factor rose marginally to 38.2%. Severe weather during the month caused a total of 410 flight cancellations for the two carriers.
Continental will extend its smoking ban April 7 so that it covers all flights to Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as some additional European service. The new policy, announced last week, will apply to about 530 flights per week, the carrier said, to points in Central America and South America, such as Lima, Peru, and Bogota, Colombia. In the Caribbean, smoking is no longer permitted on flights to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Yield management will become increasingly important to the world's airlines, according to a study by KPMG and the International Air Transport Association. The bulk of information technology spending by airlines during the past five years has gone toward upgrading reservations systems. But 24 chief financial officers who responded to the survey predicted that carriers will spend more on yield management than on reservations over the next five years.
