Coordinating committees from the Independent Association of Continental Pilots and the Air Line Pilots Association will present their analysis Wednesday of whether the IACP should become affiliated with ALPA. If deemed a good idea, the IACP request will be subject to approval by ALPA's governing body and ratification by Continental's pilots.
Air Canada flew 1.15 billion revenue passenger miles last month, a 13.1% increase over November 1994. International traffic grew 18% while domestic RPMs increased 5.8%. Capacity for the month was 2.11 billion available seat miles, an 11.1% increase over last year. Load factor rose one point in November to 54.6%. For the first 11 months, traffic was up 11.5% on 12.2% more capacity. Load factor was off 0.4 points, to 63.5%.
Air Canada and Swissair have signed a new code-sharing agreement that enables them to consolidate their services between Canada and Zurich and offer passengers a better flight schedule. Under the current schedule, Swissair operates a twice-weekly nonstop between Toronto and Zurich and four times a week on a Toronto-Montreal-Zurich routing. Air Canada, which currently flies five days a week between Toronto and Zurich, has a blocked- space code-sharing agreement with Swissair on the Montreal-Zurich flight.
National Air Transportation Association President James Coyne joined the Air Transport Association Friday in criticizing FAA's proposed flight and duty time rules for pilots. Both organizations accused the agency of confusing economic issues with safety issues. Regional Airline Association President Walter Coleman took a wait-and-see attitude while his members analyze the rule's impact.
Ten largest international airfreight forwarders captured IATA sales revenues of more than $6 billion last year, about one-third of the world total, according to MSAS Cargo International of the U.K. This concentration of the industry "will increase over the next five years," the logistic services company said.
DOT has rescinded the accounting and reporting directive in which it instructed code-sharing carriers to report both the ticketing and operating air carriers in their quarterly Passenger Origin-Destination Survey reports. Scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, the requirements sparked concern among carriers, many of which questioned the clarity of the rules and the schedule and cost of implementing them (DAILY, Nov. 30).
Air Transport Association Board voted last week to oppose a U.S. passport fee increase to help fund a national tourism promotion program. ATA President Carol Hallett said national travel organization funding should come from the general treasury.
The U.S. will hold key talks this week with two Asian nations. In Washington, officials hope to normalize relations with Thailand with a formal agreement. The critical issues are capacity and operations over third countries. In Beijing, U.S. negotiators will face a more difficult task - getting China to permit FedEx and Northwest to begin new services.
The good news is that Air France is meeting its restructuring goals and expects to break even in fiscal 1997, says Chairman Christian Blanc. The bad news is that losses in fiscal 1996, through March 31, will amount to 1.2 billion francs (US$ 242.3 million).
Hawaiian Airlines reported a 28.4% increase in November traffic, to 316.8 million revenue passenger miles. Available seat miles rose 18% to 402.9 million, and the load factor increased from 68% to 78%. Load factor for the first 11 months was 77%, up from 72%. November 1995 November 1994 11 Months 1995 11 Months 1994 RPMs 316,827,222 226,639,621 3,273,696,044 2,624,370,729 ASMs 402,927,881 330,239,643 ,240,405,355 3,618,305,718
Delta's 165 dispatchers, represented by the Professional Airline Flight Control Association, have ratified a collective bargaining agreement that cuts their pay 5% but provides some scope protection and allows them to participate in profit sharing. PAFCA is the only union at the airline other than the Air Line Pilots Association, now mired in its own mediated talks.
Travel Industry Association's board of directors has agreed to provide financial support for the work of the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism Transition Team - renamed the Implementation Team - if the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration runs out of funding. National Chair Sandra Fulton said TIA could pay expenses and provide meeting space in its headquarters and some of its staff. The 39-member team, formed to implement the new national tourism strategy, met last week to set objectives.
Avatar Alliance named Frederick Sine executive VP and a director; Tara Wallace director of information technology and Bruce Odum manager of information technology.
FAA will eliminate early next year at least one and possibly two of the three avenues of protest available to companies dissatisfied with the agency's decisions on contract awards. The change will be part of the FAA acquisition management plan developed in response to procurement and personnel reform requirements in the fiscal 1996 transportation appropriations act.
As investors and analysts in Europe expressed growing doubt about the prospects of Fokker, the Dutch aircraft manufacturer said Friday it will enter new business commitments in 1996 "on the basis and within the scope of authorizations granted by DASA" - Daimler-Benz Aerospace, its German parent.
TWA and former owner Carl Icahn will try to settle their differences through negotiations rather than legal action, the carrier said Friday. TWA dropped its lawsuit against Icahn's travel agency, Global Discount Travel Services LLC, while Icahn agreed to withdraw a default notice claiming TWA was behind on repaying a $190 million loan. TWA claims Icahn was reselling TWA tickets to the general public, violating an agreement between the airline and Icahn that sales would be limited to groups or corporations.
Kiwi named Tad Hutcheson VP-marketing and sales development. He has been in marketing development at Delta and prior to that managed strategic planning at Kiwi. He replaces Armand Arel, who now heads the international division of the Florida Department of Tourism.
Lufthansa and SAA signed a cooperative agreement Friday, firming up a memorandum of understanding they reached late in May, to code share starting April 1. Initially the carriers hoped to have the joint service in place by January, but working out the details led to a delay, a spokesman said. In addition to code sharing, the carriers will re-time their schedules, link their frequent flyer programs and handle cargo jointly. Plans to work together on ground handling and offer joint use of each others' flight lounges will be developed later.
