DOT has denied a request by the City of Los Angeles to stay its obligation to refund foreign airlines for Los Angeles Airport fees found to be unreasonable by DOT (Order 95-12-33). Los Angeles had filed a limited stay request at DOT arguing that foreign airlines are not entitled to seek refund of the fees under rates and charges procedures, as required by the 1994 FAA legislation. DOT found that foreign airlines are entitled to receive refunds under current U.S.
Mesa Air Group Inc. yesterday reported earnings of 12 cents per share in the December quarter, the first in its fiscal year, improving by 50% its performance in the 1994 quarter. Net earnings jumped 41.1% for the quarter, to $3.9 million from $2.7 million. Operating revenues increased 17.9% to $120 million, and operating income was up 31.5% to $7.6 million. Operating costs fell to 17.9 cents per available seat mile, compared with 18 cents per ASM a year earlier.
DOT has granted American Trans Air's application for renewal of its authority to operate scheduled combination service between New York and Belfast, Northern Ireland. The carrier plans to begin weekly roundtrip service on or about May 18, using Boeing 757s, and weekly direct service to Belfast June 12 with continuing service to Shannon, using L-1011s (DAILY, Jan. 2). American Trans Air has provided seasonal charter service to Belfast since it stopped operating to the city as part of its scheduled service between New York and Riga, Latvia, on Oct. 2, 1994.
American says that although it will have more gates on its "Super A" concourse at Miami Airport, it will have to pay higher concourse use fees than other airlines because of its "intensive use" of the gates, one airline official said (DAILY, Jan. 16). The fees are based on the number of seats on the aircraft using the gate, rather than the number of enplaned passengers, said American's Miami Corporate Real Estate planner, Frank Erickson.
After months of delay, the supervisory board of the Berlin Brandenburg Flughafen Holding GmbH (BBF) is expected in February to recommend a site for a new Berlin-area international airport. BBF is jointly owned by Berlin, Brandenburg and the German federal government. BBF's shortlist remains Schonefeld Airport, south of Berlin, and Sperenberg, a former Soviet air base located in Brandenburg, about 30 kilometers south of Berlin.
General aviation groups plan renewed efforts on safety after an increase in accidents last year in the GA category following several years of improvement. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association and the Aircraft Owners and Operators Air Safety Foundation have expressed concern about National Transportaion Safety Board figures showing that GA fatal accidents rose to 408 in 1995 from 402 the year before. ASF Executive Director Bruce Landsberg said this means that "progress has reached a plateau."
Joe Dorfler, who resigned recently from the FAA's Global Positioning System program, will join the Air Transport Association in mid-February as program manger, air traffic technology applications. While Dorfler was at FAA, he established the Satellite Program Office and helped design the Wide Area Augmentation System and the Local Area Augmentation System to augment GPS for civilian applications.
Continental may be throwing cash, pizza parties and other incentives at employees in its attempt to become the most on-time airline of 1996, but United is not shooting so high. The airline recently told employees its aim is to hold on to fourth place this year in DOT's on-time performance rankings.
Virgin Atlantic Airways has scheduled London-Johannesburg service to start Oct. 2. The carrier will operate flights three times a week initially, using an A340-300. Johannesburg is Virgin's first destination in Africa and will be its third new destination of 1996, after Orlando in May and Washington in June.
DHL Aero Expreso has applied for authority to operate scheduled all-cargo service between Panama and Miami. If approved, the carrier wants to begin on or about March 1 operating five nonstop flights per week on the route, using Boeing 727-200 freighters. The Panama-based airline will carry express - documents and small packages - and general air freight cargoes tendered as part of the "DHL Worldwide Express" service.
United has been named the official airline for the display of the AIDS memorial quilt in Washington, D.C., Oct. 11-13. The quilt is composed of 45,000 fabric panels decorated in memory of people who have died from AIDS- related causes. It will cover the National Mall from the Capitol to the Washington Monument. United will provide travel for staff of the NAMES Project Foundation and discounted rates to display volunteers.
Continental and China Airlines have agreed on a code-share program that will provide connecting service between U.S. and Latin American cities and Asia destinations over San Francisco and Taipei. Subject to approval by the U.S. and Taiwan governments, the carriers plan to implement the service June 1. Under the arrangement, Continental will fly passengers from the U.S. and Latin America to San Francisco, where they will connect with China Airlines to Taipei and beyond.
Gulf and Caribbean Cargo is seeking a certificate to operate scheduled combination service between Indianapolis and Fort Lauderdale, with continuing service to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The carrier, which plans to operate Fokker F28-4000 aircraft on the route, has made lease arrangements for one F28 and plans to add a second in its 10th month of operation.
U.S. Major Carriers Unit Revenue and Expenses, By Region Third Quarter 1995 Operating Operating Revenues Expenses per ASM per ASM Carrier (cents) (cents) America West 8.24 7.13 Domestic 8.24 7.13 American 10.15 8.97 Domestic 9.83 8.87 Atlantic 10.64 9.06
Brymon Airways, a U.K.-based regional, acquired five previously owned de Havilland Dash 8 Series 300 aircraft. Bombardier's aircraft trading unit arranged the transaction. The aircraft will replace three de Havilland Dash 7s and two Dash 8 Series 100s.
Traffic for the Lufthansa group grew 9.1% last year on 9.7% more capacity than in 1994. The group, which includes Lufthansa, Condor and CityLine, flew 12.9 million revenue ton-kilometers (RTKs) on capacity of 18.2 million available ton-kilometers. Lufthansa carried a record 40.7 million passengers during the period, up 8.2%. The combined load factor slipped 0.4 percentage points to 70.4%, while the passenger load factor gained 0.5 points to 70.5%, a record for the company. The number of flights operated by Lufthansa during the year grew 7.7% to 580,100.
Traveling Software has made available LapLink for Windows 95, which offers Universal Mobile Access aiding business travelers away from home. Users can connect from wherever they are without having to reconfigure LapLink, and use e-mail, run applications, access files and transfer information in one session without having to redial. The estimated price for LapLink is $149.
FAA and the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau have agreed to work together to introduce the Future Air Navigation System (FANS) concept to the North Pacific and explore the possibility of establishing additional air navigation routes and opening Japanese airports to more flights by business aircraft, Barry Valentine, FAA assistant administrator for policy, planning and international aviation, said yesterday. The agreement was reached in meetings in Washington Jan. 8-9, during what Valentine said was the first time a director of the Japanese bureau visited the U.S.
Employee-owned United parent UAL Corp. has paid down $2.6 billion in debt in the past 18 months, the company said yesterday. UAL released the statement after being disappointed with the reception generated by its fourth quarter and yearend results last week. The airline cut costs in the fourth quarter by completing a plan to retire all outstanding Japanese yen-denominated purchase certificates, United said.
A $10.5 million fourth quarter restructuring charge reduced America West's fourth quarter net profit to $5.98 million, 9.7% less than its net in the fourth quarter of 1994. The charge, tied to America West's plan to outsource heavy maintenance, held operating income to $22.7 million, down 25.6%. The carrier estimated that turning its maintenance over to an outside organization will save it $35 million over the next five years. Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 1995, grew 15.7% to $396.3 million.
Northwest is pressing DOT to disregard United's opposition and grant Japan Airlines' application to serve Kona and Honolulu, Hawaii. JAL has applied to switch its 1989 Memorandum of Understanding service from Washington Dulles and Boston to Kona and Honolulu. "There is no question that JAL and Japan are entitled under the 1989 MOU to operate between Tokyo and Washington (Dulles), which JAL has operated, nor is there any question that JAL and Japan are entitled to switch the service to Kona, upon six months' notice," said Northwest.
The first Distinguished WorldTraveler award was presented by the Hospitality, Sales and Marketing Association International and Northwest Airlines to Richard Friese, publisher of Travel Agent magazine. Northwest donated $5,000 to the HSMAI scholarship fund in honor of the recipient. The award recognizes the effort of individuals or organizations that have made a significant contribution to the advancement of the travel industry.
Worldspan Travel Information Services and CompuServe's Network Services Division have signed a $15 million, five-year contract renewing their network services provider agreement.
U.S. Major Carriers Advertising Expenses Third Quarter 1995 % Of Total Passenger Systemwide Revenues America West $ 7,163,475 1.88 Domestic 7,156,463 1.90 Latin 7,012 0.16 American 50,057,000 1.43 Domestic 34,937,000 1.49
Arrow Air has accepted delivery of a Lockheed L-1011-200 freighter, one of five in existence, according to Marshall Aerospace of Cambridge, England, which converted the aircraft. The airplane can accommodate 23 88-inch by 125-inch pallets on the main deck and has a total payload of 127,000 pounds with a nonstop, fully loaded range of up to 3,000 miles. There is a small cabin behind the cockpit for couriers.
