Fare Specials Roundup: USAir cut fares by as much as 40% in 120 markets in the East through Feb. 14. Best buys - for travel Tuesday through Thursday - include a $59 roundtrip ticket from Washington Dulles to Hartford, Conn...American has combined several domestic and international fare specials offered by various carriers and extended the purchase and travel deadlines. Discounts range from 30% to 50% off the normal advance purchase excursion fare. Special fares for domestic and Canadian flights are on sale through Jan.
Delta and Sabena will expand their code-sharing agreement June 1, when Delta establishes a daily L-1011 service between New York Kennedy and Brussels. Sabena will purchase seats on the Delta flight, and Delta will retain the block of seats it purchases and then resells on Sabena's daily flight in the market. The airlines also code share on Sabena flights between Boston and Brussels and Chicago and Brussels, and on Delta flights between Atlanta and Brussels.
Sabre Travel Information Network (STIN) and El Al have agreed to a joint computer reservations system venture in Israel. The venture creates a new CRS for the Israeli market combining EL Al's reservation system, CARMEL, and Sabre access. STIN will provide El Al with an exclusive license to market Sabre's functions, such as reservations, pricing and hotel bookings, in Israel in phases. CARMEL currently provides services to more than 400 Israeli travel agencies.
Hi-Shear Industries said it received necessary clearances and is proceeding with the sale of Hi-Shear Corp., its aerospace fastener subsidiary, and allied companies to GFI Industries S.A. A stockholder meeting is scheduled Jan. 30 to vote on the proposed transaction. Hi-Shear reported a $674,000 net loss for 1995, an increase from its 1994 net loss of $355,000. Revenues rose to $31.1 million from $28.1 million. The company said that while orders for aircraft fasteners are improving, "increases in pricing levels remain difficult to achieve.
Alitalia and its unions are trying to work out a deal in which workers would agree not to strike for up to a year while the airline puts forward yet another reorganization proposal, this one including 700 early retirements and a freeze on new hiring.The workers are calling for a 3.5% pay increase this year and a guarantee that Alitalia parent IRI will give the carrier at least 1.5 trillion lire (US$955 million).
Mesaba Airlines' traffic rose 12.6% in December to 28.9 million revenue passenger miles, as capacity increased 5.9% to 61.2 million available seat miles, compared with the December 1994 level. The load factor increased 2.8 percentage points to 47.2%.
Fast-growing Gulfstream International Airlines' traffic jumped 101.9% to 8.2 million in December compared with the prior December. Capacity was up 91.7% to 16.8 million available seat miles. The load factor climbed 2.47 percentage points to 48.9%.
Continental has signed an agreement to code share with airlines of the TACA group, the Houston-based carrier said yesterday. Under the pact, subject to approval by the Honduran and U.S. governments, the two airlines will code share on about a dozen flights. The TACA Group includes TACA International Airlines, Aviateca, COPA, Lacsa and Nica Airlines. The pact is scheduled to begin June 1. Continental's two-letter designator will appear on TACA Group flights to cities such as Panama City, Cali, Quito and Santa Domingo.
Fokker Aircraft received orders for 63 aircraft in 1995, 25% more than the 50 orders taken in 1994, the Dutch manufacturer reported last week. Fokker sold 16 Fokker 100s and 31 of the smaller F70 regional jet aircraft. In addition, the manufacturer booked orders for 16 of its F50 regional turboprop.
Officials at Denver Airport are using bullhorns to make announcements to train passengers.Complications with echoing by the terminal PA system in the open-air train platform areas led airport officials to come up with the creative alternative. "When there are several hundred people there in the open area, we discovered there is a need for something closer to the train to make announcements," spokesman Chuck Cannon said. He said the airport plans to install speakers on the train platforms.
JSX Capital Corp. said it has leased a Jetstream 41 to National Jet Systems of Adelaide, Australia. Jetstream is analyzing the results of trials in Australia of the aircraft's abilities to operate from unsealed runways.
SAS has established a home page on the Internet. The carrier's SAS Travel Navigator program offers news, timetable, ticket and other information. Sound and video eventually will be added, the carrier said. The site can be accessed at http.//www/sas.se.
Appleton, Wis.-based Air Wisconsin's traffic rose 35.6% in December compared with the same 1994 month to 41.9 million revenue passenger miles. The United Express carrier's capacity grew 43.4%, however, to 82.4 million available seat miles. Dec. 1995 Dec. 1994 12 Mths 1995 12 Mths 1994 RPMs 41,882,594 30,883,702 477,527,090 332,651,843 ASMs 82,387,444 57,463,322 893,108,472 627,076,130 LF 50.8 53.7 53.4 53.0
Air Travel Card has kicked off a partnership with GE Capital Services to develop a new corporate charge card program with MasterCard, and American is the first airline partner to use the co-branded card. The carrier announced a new American Airlines Corporate Travel Program under which it will offer its existing Air Travel Card product for customers wanting to focus solely on managing flight expenses, and the AASSet Card, which is the MasterCard corporate charge card.
Infini Travel Information Inc., a Japanese computer reservations system, has implemented Locator Back with USAir. The system enables the airlines' record locators to be registered in the Infini Passenger Name Record. USAir is using it in combination with Direct Access. Infini is owned by All Nippon Airways and Abacus Distribution Systems.
Saying there has been "enough deception and delay," World Airways is urging DOT to deny the joint application of USAfrica Airways and Tower Air for renewal of USAfrica's allocation of six weekly frequencies for U.S.-South Africa service (DAILY, Jan. 10). "USAfrica's protracted demise - and its repeated promises of imminent resuscitation - have created an unacceptable void in a rapidly expanding market," said World.
GP Express filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday but continues to operate in Nebraska and the Southeast as the Continental Connection. Founder and Chairman George Poullos said the filing was strictly a matter of reduced revenues from Continental pulling down its Denver hub, Congress cutting subsidies and DOT ordering a pullout at Scottsbluff, Neb., on seven days' notice last fall, together with the introduction of service by Southwest at Omaha. The effect was cumulative, he said. The carrier operates 19 Beech 1900s and began service 10 years ago.
British Aerospace's 146 sales and leasing arm, Asset Management Organization, called 1995 a record year with transactions valued at nearly $250 million, a 40% increase from 1994. AMO customers signed leases for 54 aircraft during 1995, with 29 new leases and 25 lease extensions. In addition, AMO sold an aircraft to United Kingdom carrier Manx Airlines. The average lease term negotiated during the year was for five years.
...American's former Nashville hub is becoming the San Jose of the Midwest. Comair already has jumped into two former American routes with its Canadair Regional Jets - Toronto and Orlando - and is said to be doing well. AMR Eagle revealed this week that it will follow its parent and leave the market. Southwest, meanwhile, capitalizes. Boyd believes it will be difficult for Midway to succeed at Raleigh/Durham where American failed, which leaves in question the potential success of Great Lakes Aviation, operating at RDU as the Midway Connection.
Robotic Vision Systems Inc. (RVSI) said its Aircraft Safety Division has received its first airline order for ID-1 wide area aircraft ice detection systems, from Delta. The order is for four units and includes spares and technical support. They will be installed this winter at East Coast airports to inspect aircraft in adverse weather conditions. "This is the first deployment of wide area ice detection systems in the world," said RVSI.
Travel Guard, which provides travel insurance, said the blizzard that hit the Eastern U.S. has produced a record volume of calls from customers purchasing policies. Travel Guard has established a toll-free number (800- 826-4117) to help coordinate canceled flights and travel plans with consumers, travel agents and tour operators, and to provide insurance information. "Thousands of people have missed flights due to this storm. Unfortunately, if you don't have travel insurance, nobody is going to give you a refund," said spokesperson Tom Zavadsky.
Air Canada yesterday started scheduled service between Toronto and Philadelphia. The carrier is operating four daily nonstop flights in the market using 50-passenger Canadair jets.
Hertz Corp. says it is increasing safety features in its fleet of 1996 automobiles by offering driver-side airbags in all cars, passenger-side airbags in 99% of the cars and anti-lock brakes in 75%.
Atlant-SV Airlines is seeking renewal of its authority to operate charter combination service between any point or points in Ukraine and any point or points in the U.S. Applying for a two-year renewal, the carrier admitted that it has not yet begun the services but believes it will do so "within the next year as it formalizes marketing arrangements in the United States and Ukraine to support such services." Privately owned Atlant-SV is Ukraine's second-largest carrier (DAILY, Jan. 5, 1995). (Docket OST-95- 977)
Rolls-Royce's Trent 800 engine has taken about 60% of Boeing 777 engine business in the fast-growing Asia/Pacific region. The Trent, delivering an overall 777 market share of 35% to Rolls in its competition with General Electric and Pratt&Whitney, has been ordered by Thai International, Cathay Pacific and Singapore.
