Motel 6, a leader in lodging for the budget-conscious traveler, intends to expand for the first time through franchising, especially in small markets. The company, which operates 760 facilities, intends to focus expansion in areas east of the Mississippi River. A new motel prototype opens this month at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. The company said it expects to expand primarily through the construction of new properties.
Airbus Industrie's A319 transport powered by CFM International engines received type certification yesterday from the European Joint Aviation Authorities, which represents 23 member countries. The A319 is seven frames shorter than the A320 and seats 124 passengers compared with the latter which seats 150. The A321 is 13 frames longer than the A319 and seats 185. All three aircraft have the same type rating, so they can be flown and maintained by the same pilots and maintenance personnel.
U.S. Major and National Fuel Cost Per Gallon Third Quarter 1995 America West American Continental Total Cost $43,112,006 $259,457,000 $113,984,000 Gallons Used 79,723,356 506,440,695 216,665,000 Cost Per Gallon (Cents) 0.54 0.51 0.53 Southwest TWA United Total Cost $92,058,000 $86,036,740 $254,236,000
Cegelec Automation, Pittsburgh, and its Cegelec affiliate in France, were awarded a Boeing contract to modernize the electrical equipment and controls of Boeing's transonic wind tunnel.
Canadian Airlines International expects to name a new strategic European partner early in May.Air France and British Airways have been floated as potential matches for the carrier, which recently lost Lufthansa to an alliance with rival Air Canada. Canadian's choice of a European partner may signal whom American will link up with, since American owns a minority stake in Canadian.
USAir is paying Chairman Stephen Wolf up to $1 million per year to run the airline, according to a proxy statement the carrier filed recently with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Wolf receives a base salary of $500,000 per year, plus an annual bonus of up to $500,000 more, depending on his performance. The carrier also granted Wolf options for 1.3 million shares of USAir stock, which become exercisable in installments through 2000, as well as 325,000 shares of restricted stock.
United and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) will pursue a new contract under what is likely to be a protracted negotiation now that union members have voted down a tentative agreement reached quickly by negotiators in February. Kevin Lum, AFA Master Executive Council President, said, "While United is touting itself to investors as 'the most profitable airline in the world,' it refuses to grant wage increases to its flight attendants.
U.S. Major Carriers Fuel Burn Per Block Hour Year Ending Third Quarter 1995 America West A320-100/200 B737-100/200 B737-300 Gallons Per Block Hour 792 821 753 Average Stage Length 878 508 588 American A300-600 B727-200 B757 Gallons Per Block Hour 1,709 1,269 1,055
DOT made final its tentative decision awarding USAir authority to operate Philadelphia-Rome service. USAir plans six flights per week between Rome and Philadelphia using Boeing 767-200ER aircraft. DOT's tentative decision in favor of USAir sparked protests from Northwest and Delta, who had also sought the new Italy frequencies, which became available April 1. Northwest was granted backup authority to Rome from Detroit. (Docket OST- 95-422)
Aerocer, a Mexican air taxi operator of executive aircraft, applied for authority to operate combination charter service between Mexico and the U.S. It also requested fifth-freedom authority, which will be contingent on prior DOT approval, and limited stopover privileges. It estimates that it will operate fewer than 75 roundtrips per year between Mexico and the U.S., with an average load of three and four passengers per flight. The carrier operates an eight-passenger Hawker HS-125-800A and a seven- passenger Falcon 10. (Docket OST-96-1231)
American Express Travel has launched Travel Express, its interactive World Wide Web site with travel booking capabilities. Travel Express searches for the lowest ticket price or most convenient flights for users to make their own reservations. The site is now listed in Yahoo, and will be added soon to other search vehicles on the Web.
InterAmerican Car Rental of Florida has joined the LatinPass frequent traveler program. LatinPass members will earn 250 to 500 miles for each car rental, depending on automobile model and length of rental. LatinPass comprises 15 Latin American and Caribbean airlines. Separately, Donald Fraser has joined LatinPass as director of marketing. He worked previously as a general sales agent for APA of the Dominican Republic and for Faucett Airlines of Peru.
CSA Czech Airlines, which operates five 737-500s and two 737-400s, ordered 10 more 737-500s valued at about $350 million, Boeing said. The first aircraft is to be delivered in the first quarter of next year. Boeing said CSA has an option to substitute larger members of the 737 family, which would increase the value of the order.
A newly filed suit brought by investors against Kidder, Peabody&Co. charges that they were misled about the source of used aircraft being purchased by a Polaris Aircraft limited partnership and the stability of airlines to which the aircraft were leased. Polaris used money from Kidder, Peabody investors to buy used aircraft and then leased them to such airlines as Continental, TWA, Pan Am, Piedmont and Eastern, the suit contends.
Michael Sears, named this week as the new president of Douglas Aircraft Co. (DAILY, April 9), will "take to the West Coast some of the things we have been able to do on the F/A-18 program" in an attempt to improve the transport manufacturer's business operations and profitability, he said. Sears, who was VP-general manager of McDonnell Douglas' largest tactical military aircraft program, told The DAILY yesterday that "we started [the F/A-18 program] on the heels of a variety of Navy failures of which we were part.
American said yesterday it will spend $44 million over 30 months to replace the Omega navigation systems on 360 aircraft with new-technology, satellite-based systems from Honeywell-Trimble. Robert Baker, executive VP-operations, said American's new equipment "will fit nicely with new ground and aircraft technology that will completely change the air traffic control system over the next 15 years."
United is suing GEC for breach of contract, claiming that the inflight entertainment services provider failed to deliver an interactive system for passengers as promised. GEC, a division of U.K.-based General Electric Plc, has installed the system on 10 of United's 777 aircraft, but United claims that it never worked properly. "We are suing because GEC failed to deliver on their contractual obligation to provide an interactive entertainment and communications system," a United spokesman said. The suit was filed this week in Cook County, Ill., Circuit Court.
Mercury Air Group yesterday announced a $9 million agreement to buy some assets of Raytheon Aircraft Services' fixed-base operations at six airports. The transaction, to be completed this spring, covers real estate, aircraft fueling and line service assets at Ontario, Calif.; Bedford, Mass.; Hartsfield and Peachtree in Atlanta, and Corpus Christi and Addison, Texas.
The City of Chicago is strongly supporting the application of El Al Israel Airlines to operate two additional weekly roundtrip cargo flights between Tel Aviv and Chicago, via Montreal.
FedEx has introduced an Internet logistics "Learning Lab" (http://www.fedex.com/logistics) designed to teach executives to use distribution as a competitive advantage. The lab provides on-site tools, such as case studies, white papers and an expert forum. Michael Janes, VP, said FedEx combined its logistics expertise with its online information capabilities to "create a blueprint for using distribution solutions to improve profitability and increase market share."
Continental Micronesia's request for immediate action on its two-year-old application for Honolulu-Osaka authority and its request for additional U.S.-Japan service spurred a mixed industry response. The carrier's motion "should be dismissed because there is no 'immediate action' that can be taken," said Northwest. As in 1994, the authority sought by Continental Micronesia is not available to it "under the U.S.-Japan Civil Air Transport Agreement of 1952 or under any of the existing memoranda of understanding between the United States and Japan," said Northwest.
DOT yesterday granted Aer Lingus and Delta authority to operate code- share/blocked-space service between the U.S. and Ireland. Aer Lingus will block space to Delta and use the U.S. carrier's designator code on its daily New York-Dublin/Shannon Airbus A330 flights. The two carriers also are looking into cooperation in other areas, including service operations and joint use of facilities. They will explore coordinating schedules, passenger and cargo handling, and marketing programs.
Airbus Industrie, penetrating what has been the domain of Boeing and Douglas so far, yesterday signed up China to a $1.5 billion contract for 30 A320s to serve short-to-medium-haul markets. In addition, China Eastern Airlines of Shanghai will acquire three previously ordered A340s valued at $390 million. All the aircraft were put under contract by China Aviation Supplies Corp. (CASC). Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng and French Prime Minister Alain Juppe witnessed the signing ceremony, which comes at a time when the U.S.
Massport, which operates Boston Logan Airport, has joined USAir in urging DOT to rule immediately on applications of USAir and American for authority to operate between Boston and Paris. "The absence of this service has been a major cost to the Boston, Massachusetts, and New England economy," Massport said, noting that when Northwest halted its Boston-Paris flights last year, only TWA's daily service to Paris remained. "A passenger market that has supported 600 daily seats has had to cram into less than 200 daily seats," Massport said.
SAS's three parent companies are changing their corporate structures in an effort to make it easier to raise funds. The three companies -- Danish DDL, Norwegian DNL, and Swedish SILA/ABA -- will change their names to SAS Denmark A/S, SAS Norge ASA and SAS Sverige AB. They will streamline their operations, shedding businesses that do not pertain to the running of the airline. They will sell real estate holdings to the carrier for 1,550 million Swedish krona.
