Qantas Airways plans to introduce a third weekly Sydney-Johannesburg flight on Nov. 6, subject to government approval, to keep pace with heavy demand. The service, operated with a Boeing 747, will continue to Harare, giving Qantas two flights per week from Australia to the capital of Zimbabwe. "Visitor numbers from South Africa to Australia have doubled in the two years since we resumed services to Johannesburg," said Geoff Dixon, Qantas Group executive general manager. Both of Qantas's current African services will become non-smoking flights on July 1.
Japan's two largest carriers, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, rode an improving Japanese economy, a strong yen and internal restructuring to improved financial results for year ended March 31. JAL, the larger of the two in terms of revenue but the smaller in terms of passengers carried, reported a fiscal 1994 operating loss of $110.8 million and an after-tax loss of $13.5 million, after suffering an operating loss of $329 million and an after-tax loss of $285 million in fiscal 1993.
USAir Express has resumed daily nonstop seasonal flights between New York LaGuardia and Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, and will begin flights to Hyannis on Cape Cod June 11. The carrier will offer two daily flights with 37-seat de Havilland Dash 8s to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, with a third offered from LaGuardia on Friday evenings and to LaGuardia on Monday mornings. It will offer four daily roundtrips to Cape Cod with 19-seat Beech 1900Ds. USAir Express also operates to the cape and islands from Boston.
TWA is saving an estimated $3.5 million a year in health care costs by using a self-funded plan, according to the third-party administrator of the plan, Benefit Plan Administrators, Melville, N.Y. BPA has been managing the health care of about 6,000 TWA employees in the greater New York area for about seven months and wants to expand its relationship with TWA to cover other employees.
Viking International Airlines, operating as Eagle Airlines, is asking DOT for renewal of its authority to operate combination charter services between points in the U.S. and destinations in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Providing charter service since 1993, the carrier filed a Chapter 11 proceeding Aug. 12, 1994, and is currently putting together a reorganization plan. The carrier's fleet includes MD-82, Convair 600F and DC-9-10 aircraft. (Docket 48863)
KLM's pilots walked off the job for six hours yesterday in a dispute with management over proposed changes to the their labor contract (DAILY, May 30). More than 50 KLM flights from the airline's Amsterdam Schiphol hub were canceled, delayed or flown in advance. The strike had little, if any, effect on other airline operations at Amsterdam. A last-minute plea from the airline for pilots to accept mediation without preconditions was rejected. According to at least one KLM source, talks between management and VNV, the pilot's union, are scheduled to resume today.
Three Florida legislators are boosting Carnival Air Lines' request for new service to Peru. The carrier, along with American and United, is contending for a share of the 3.5 new frequencies in the South Florida-Lima market opened up by the recent U.S.-Peru agreement (DAILY, May 10). In a letter to DOT Secretary Federico Pea dated May 22, Reps.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) Cargo has opened its US$150 million "Superhub" airfreight terminal at the Changi Cargo Complex. The facility was built and is being managed by SIA's ground-handling subsidiary, SATS Airport Services. The multi-tier cargo processing terminal - the first in operation in Southeast Asia, according to SIA - increases by 64% SIA's annual cargo-handling capacity and doubles SATS' total capacity to one million tonnes.
California edged out Florida, consistently the state of choice by visitors, in 1994 for overseas arrivals. Of all overseas visitors to the U.S. in 1994, 27.2% picked California, up 4% over 1993, and 26.3% headed for Florida, down 7%. New York captured the third highest market share at 22.7%. The largest gain was seen in visits to Guam, up 29% for a 5% share, followed by Nevada, up 26% to 9.8%.
Sabre Travel Information Network has added AT&T as a database server vendor for Sabre's TravelBase accounting and MIS system. Sabre will offer TravelBase customers AT&T's 3000 series servers, with use from one to 16 megahertz Pentium processors.
John Armour, deputy director of aviation operations for Boston Logan Airport, was elected chairman of the American Association of Airport Executives for the 1995-1996 year at the association's annual meeting in Boston last week. Other officers elected were Neilson Bertholf, Phoenix, first vice chairman; Peter Drahn, Madison, Wis., second vice chairman, and Loretta Scott, Grand Prairie, Texas, secretary-treasurer. New board members are Bonnie Allin, Corpus Christi, Texas, and Elaine Roberts, Providence, R.I.
As part of its new inflight service from June 1, India's national carrier Air India will serve free alcoholic beverages to economy-class passengers on India-Europe, India-U.K.-U.S. and India-Far East routes. The service, introduced to attract passengers after the lull in business following the plague scare last year, will be extended to other sectors gradually, an Air India spokesman said yesterday in Bombay. Air India also said it will accept all major international credit cards for inflight duty-free shopping.
Pilots at United Express carrier WestAir began informational picketing at Seattle, San Francisco and Fresno airports yesterday. The pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, are protesting "deplorable" working conditions at WestAir and seeking better pay and job protection. The pilots said parent Mesa Air Group has replaced WestAir aircraft and crews with those from other Mesa divisions, forcing them to relocate and work for lower salaries. Pilots and management have been negotiating a contract for two years. The picketing will not affect flights.
Air South will launch new service June 17 from Columbia, S.C., to Tampa Bay, its fifth nonstop destination. The carrier also flies to Atlanta, Jacksonville, Myrtle Beach and Raleigh/Durham. Air South said that before it began operating a year ago, there was no nonstop jet service from Columbia to Florida. It will offer fares as low as $20 one way.
Northwest Airlink carrier Mesaba Aviation has started service to Ely, Minn., from Minneapolis/St. Paul. The carrier is operating one daily flight with 19-seat Metro IIIs.
Southwest Airlines yesterday began 737 operations using head-up guidance systems (HGS) from Flight Dynamics on 20 aircraft after receiving FAA approval to use HGS in Category 2 weather. The carrier sees a competitive advantage in HGS as it continues to expand outside its traditional operating area and and into cities such as Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Portland and Seattle. "We want to assure that we can maintain our high- frequency operation with a minimum of schedule disruption," said Chairman Herb Kelleher.
FAA yesterday awarded full 180-minute, extended-range twin-engine operations (ETOPS) certification at service entry of the Pratt&Whitney- powered Boeing 777 and to United. ETOPS is generally granted in stages based on the operating experience of the airframe/engine combination and the airline. Grant of the full 180-minute diversion capability was unprecedented, although Anthony Broderick, FAA associate administrator for certification, said on several occasions that Boeing was on track to receive the full authority.
Rolls-Royce said a Boeing 777 powered by its Trent 800 engine made its first flight May 26. The aircraft flew more than five hours, reaching an altitude to 33,000 feet and cruising at 420 miles per hour or Mach 0.6. Initial tests included slam engine acceleration and deceleration and engine relights. The first Trent-powered 777 will go to launch customer Thai Airways International in January. Rolls said the Trent 800 is the first engine to be cleared for flight at 90,000 pounds thrust. It was certificated last January, three months ahead of schedule, Rolls said.
DOT Deputy Inspector General Mario Lauro is scheduling briefings from various New York modal administrations, including FAA officials, regarding recent and past power outages that have caused aircraft delays and diversions.Lauro will use the results of the briefings to decide whether to conduct an audit.
Clarification: Swissair has appointed a new general manager-marketing for North America, not a new general manager for North America as stated in a headline May 26 in The DAILY.
The City of Chicago has filed at DOT in support of Western Pacific's request that the department reconsider its decision to deny the airline an exemption from the slot rules to provide service between Colorado Springs and Chicago O'Hare (DAILY, April 25). The city argued that DOT's decision is inconsistent with the language and intent of the 1994 legislation that set up criteria for exemptions from the slot rules.
The U.S. concluded separate talks with South Africa and China last week without reaching new agreements with either. Progress was reported after three days of talks with South Africa, according to a DOT spokesman, who added the parties planned to talk again but set no dates for negotiations. The two countries are operating without a bilateral. In the talks with China, however, the two sides made no plans to meet again. The U.S. wants China to recognize U.S. rights to operate additional combination and cargo frequencies to that country.
SkyWest Inc., the holding company for Delta Connection carrier SkyWest Airlines, reported yesterday that its operating and net profits for the year ended March 31 both declined from the previous fiscal year. The company's operating profit fell 17.6% to $20.3 million and its net earnings 4.8% to $13.7 million, or $1.23 million. "The decline in net income during fiscal 1995 reflects slower traffic growth resulting from negative publicity regarding regional airlines, as well as the continuing discount fare environment," said Bradford Rich, executive VP-finance.
U.S. Major Carriers Operating Revenue and Expenses The Year 1994 Operating Operating Revenues Expenses (000) (000) The Year 1994 America West $ 1,414,317 $ 1,267,940 American 14,951,125 14,039,542 Continental 4,798,183 4,884,445
