Parrish Leasing Corp. said it formed the 1995 Pendulum Investment Trust, which it said acquired three DC-10-30CF aircraft on Dec. 18. The aircraft are leased to United. The trust was described as a privately syndicated investment vehicle composed of major institutional investors.
Hub competition now extends to the timing of late-night connecting banks. Delta Connection Comair, surveying business passengers about the convenience of the Cincinnati hub, found that it did not stay up late enough at night. Comair's last bank was 8:30 p.m., which meant that later- connecting passengers could not get home that night. Therefore, they tended to connect through someone else's hub such as Chicago, Detroit, Memphis and Nashville. So Comair now has a 10:30 p.m. bank that gets travelers home - via Cincinnati - around midnight.
Hawaiian Airlines is threatening to shut down and file for another round of Chapter 11 if members of its four unions do not ratify tentative contracts reached in December. The contracts are needed to stabilize labor costs in the next four years and finalize a $20 million investment by Airline Investors Partnership. Bruce Nobles, chairman, president and chief executive, said Hawaiian's cash position can sustain operations until Jan. 18. The four unions count member ballots on Jan. 15. The AIP investment is scheduled to be completed Jan.
Midwest Express Airlines traffic rose 3.9% in December to 89.7 million revenue passenger miles from 86.4 million in December 1994 on 5.3% less capacity. Available seat miles totaled 147.5 million, down from 155.8 million last December. Load factor rose to 60.8% from 55.4%. For the year, RPMs climbed 18.2% to 1.2 billion from 972.8 million in 1994. ASMs rose 12.2% to 1.8 billion, and the load factor was up to 64.1% from 60.8%. Passenger boardings in 1995 rose to 1.4 million from 1.2 million.
Los Angeles Department of Airports said it purchased a new lift-equipped access vehicle to help disabled passengers board and exit aircraft more easily. The board of airport commissioners awarded a contract to AMR Services to operate and maintain the vehicle, which can serve disabled passengers at remote gates where there are no loading bridges. The service is free.
Five A340s in passenger service are gathering a "wealth" of data with their ozone, water vapor and temperature measuring equipment as part of the Mozaic program, Airbus Industrie reported. Preliminary results "already suggest that ozone is not being destroyed at the heights at which airliners fly - typically eight to 13 kilometers," Airbus said (DAILY, Jan. 8). The aircraft have made more than 2,200 flights, most of them long-haul.
FAA, citing a report of "complete power loss" on the left engine of a Saab 340, issued an emergency order requiring flight crews to verify that the auto-ignition system is operational. FAA said the report also cited power fluctuations on the right engine. FAA said the report cited the build-up of ice or slush in the engine inlet and "subsequent ingestion into the engines." The auto-ignition system of the left engine had failed, "which prevented automatic restart of the engine following power interruption," FAA said.
FlightLine of the U.K. acquired from USAir and will will place in service Jan. 29 the first of 18 British Aerospace BAe 146-200s that had been stored in the Mojave Desert. Flightline formally accepted the aircraft from USAir Leasing Jan. 5 in Calgary, Alberta, and ferried it 5,000 miles to Cambridge, U.K., where it arrived Jan. 6. USAir acquired the 146s when it took over former California regional Pacific Southwest Airlines in April 1988. Flightline will use the aircraft on its London-Switzerland services.
The spread between high and low stock prices for nine publicly held regional airlines averaged nearly $10 during the last 52-week period, $9.98 to be exact. The average high for the period was $15.81 per share, while the average low was $5.82. Individual highs for the year ranged from a low of $1.81 for Austin, Texas-based Air LA to a high of $37 for Delta Connection Comair. Comair also posted the largest spread - $27.09 from a low of $9.91.
The Brock Group, strategic planning and governmental relations firm, has formed an alliance with Jakarta, Indonesia-based Business Advisory Strategies. The Brock Group provides guidance to the telecommunications, aerospace, power generation and consumer goods industries. The firm specializes in international trade, labor relations, market access and investment strategies. It also has affiliates in China, Hong Kong, Viet Nam and Taiwan.
CCAIR flew 11.5 million revenue passenger miles last month, a 2.5% increase from December 1994. Capacity edged up 1.2% to 25.3 million available seat miles. Load factor rose 0.6 percentage points to 45.5%.
KLM finalized yesterday its purchase of a 26% stake in Kenya Airways for US$26 million. The Dutch airline announced the transaction in December, and its managing director and chief financial officer, Rob Abrahamsen, and representatives of Kenya's government signed the share transfer agreement yesterday in Nairobi, KLM said. As part of the buyout, Abrahamsen and Dries van Luyk, KLM executive VP-passenger sales and service, have joined the board of Kenya Airways, which was wholly owned by the government.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Revenues and Expenses Second Quarter 1995 (In Dollars) Total Operating % Passenger Carrier Revenues Change Revenues American 1,182,075,000 8.27 1,007,537,000 Atlantic 542,034,000 9.70 452,934,000 Latin 541,182,000 7.73 476,364,000
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.
