British Airways' assessment that the U.S. government "would have difficulty approving...additional investment [in USAir] was likely correct, given that the investment would lead to issues of ownership, control and governance," a senior administration official said yesterday. BA disclosed last week it would not exercise rights to subscribe for additional preference shares in USAir, which would have meant a further investment of $450 million in the U.S. carrier (DAILY, Jan. 22).
A Dutch court yesterday granted Fokker a four-week reprieve from obligations to its creditors, during which the company can continue to manufacture aircraft and determine whether, and in what form, it can continue operations beyond that. Sources in The Netherlands said Fokker is talking with Bombardier about a partnership. The company also is negotiating with the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs to determine how the pre-financing of five aircraft already ordered by the Dutch government can be rendered to the company.
Arrow Air has applied for renewal of its exemption to operate scheduled all-cargo service between Miami and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The carrier operates two weekly roundtrip flights in the market. (OST-96-1013)
Carnival Air Lines has asked for authority to operate scheduled combination service between Fort Lauderdale and San Jose, Costa Rica. The carrier is proposing daily nonstop service on the route, using 737-200 and -400 aircraft. In its application, the carrier noted that there is currently no single-plane service between the two points. (Docket OST-96-1003)
Airlines Reporting Corp. said travel agency sales on ARC participating carriers exceeded $60 billion for the first time in 1995, totaling $61.2 billion, up 6% from 1994's $57.7 billion. ARC said the total number of accredited agency locations were up 4% for the year for a total of 45,168, mainly due to a growth in Satellite Ticket Printer locations. Contrary to industry projections, the total number of retail locations was up 1% to 33,593. Total fares increased 6% - domestic fares 7% and international fares 4%.
Only a small percentage of taxes paid by travelers is reinvested in promoting or enhancing travel, according to a study by the Travel and Tourism Government Affairs Council, an affiliate of the Travel Industry Association. Tax dedication data were available only for hotels and restaurants. Of $1.8 billion collected in hotel tax revenue in 1995 at 43 of the top 50 destinations, $637 million was dedicated to travel-related promotion and improvements, and the rest went to general funds.
Mileage in Alaska Airlines' frequent flyer program will no longer expire after three years, effective immediately. The carrier decided to allow the mileage to accumulate indefinitely after hearing from focus groups and receiving comments from members in the program.
Continental Chairman and Chief Executive Gordon Bethune has told union leaders to stop worrying about the airline being bought up by another carrier. "I see absolutely...almost no probability of any merger occurring with us," or between any two other large U.S. airlines, in the coming year or the foreseeable future, he said. Continental is "very capable" of operating independently, and it is unlikely that anyone wants to pay the high price of its stock, he said.
Air Line Pilots Association unit at Federal Express suspended self-help measures in a goodwill gesture to get contract negotiations back on a positive track. All pilots will be encouraged immediately to begin accepting overtime and draft flying that they have refused since self-help went into effect Nov. 25. Talks with a federal mediator are continuing.
Worldspan for Windows subscribers will have e-mail and fax capabilities under Microsoft Mail External/At Work Fax. The product is the newest component of the Worldspan FastTrack family of messaging products. The cost to install the system and train users varies according to automation configuration at each travel agency location, Worldspan said.
DOT's goal of sharing safety data between airlines and FAA became bogged down in procedures this week, leading to the creation of a task force that will examine issues raised at the first meeting on the subject at the Air Transport Association headquarters in Washington (DAILY, Dec. 8). "We think good intentions are there on both sides, but we think regulatory protection is essential" before there is widespread sharing of safety data, said Al Prest, VP-operations for ATA.
Capital Cargo International Airlines has requested DOT rights to operate all-cargo charter service between the U.S. and points in Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador. The carrier also wants to carry revenue cargo on proving flights for its Part 121 certificate between the U.S. and San Jose, Costa Rica. Capital Cargo said it expects to begin the proving flights on or about Feb. 12. (Dockets OST-96-1015, OST-96-1016&OST-96- 987)
DHL Airways applied for renewal of its exemption to operate scheduled all-cargo service between Cincinnati and Houston, on the one hand, and Monterrey and Guadalajara, Mexico, on the other. The carrier also asked to integrate this service with its existing authority to serve the Cincinnati/Houston-Mexico City market. DHL began scheduled Cincinnati/Houston-Guadalajara service last Oct. 5, using 727 aircraft, and it has maintained five flights a week since then. It launched Monterrey service last March, operating small aircraft in the market. (Docket OST- 95-145)
Former Vice President Dan Quayle has been elected to the board of Amtran, the parent of American Trans Air. Chairman and Chief Executive George Mikelsons said, "We are honored that Vice President Quayle has joined our Board of Directors. He is a man of tremendous accomplishment and outstanding integrity, and we look forward to the contributions he will make to this company." The appointment follows the resignation of John Tague this month.
The shutdown of the federal government has cost USAir $10 million in revenue so far, according to CFO John Harper. Delta says its shuttle operation suffered a passenger falloff when the bureaucrats were grounded, but it declined to put a dollar value on the loss.
Business Week magazine asserted this week - and FAA denied vehemently - that the agency certified the Boeing 777 last April without adequate demonstration that the aircraft can be operated safely with the engine imbalance and vibration that would result if one of its two engines lost a fan blade in flight. Critics within FAA, quoted anonymously by the magazine in its Jan. 29 issue, said certification regulations are inadequate considering how much larger and heavier fan blades are in engines developed for the 777 than in earlier, smaller engines.
Daimler-Benz cut off financial support for its ailing Fokker Aircraft unit yesterday following a meeting of its management board in Stuttgart, leaving the Dutch subsidiary with very limited prospects. Trading in Fokker shares was suspended. The Dutch government had made clear after a meeting Friday that no more aid is forthcoming. Daimler-Benz had said that it was prepared to put up one billion guilders in new equity for Fokker but that another 1.3 billion guilders was needed from the Dutch government.
Azerbaijan Airlines Company, which is responsible for the country's air traffic control system as well as its air service, may receive support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as early as March for a $20 million rehabilitation of the ATC system. The ATC project is part of an overall plan to spend about $750 million on upgrades throughout the company's operations.
GE Capital Aviation Services yesterday placed what is likely to be one of the larger orders this year for transport aircraft - a $4 billion-plus for five Boeing 777s and up to 178 Boeing 737s. Earlier this year, Boeing captured a $4 billion order from Malaysia Airlines for 15 777s and 10 747s (DAILY, Jan. 10). GECAS said it ordered 20 current models of the 737 and 82 of the next generation, and it took options for 76 more next-generation 737-600/700/800 aircraft.
The Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association at Federal Express has elected three new officers in the midst of its protracted negotiations for a new contract with the company. Alan Samford, a DC-10 captain in Memphis, was elected chairman. Ronald Burson, a 747 captain based in Los Angeles, was elected vice chairman, and Tim Burson, a 727 pilot, was elected secretary/treasurer.
Northwest said yesterday it signed a code-sharing agreement with German carrier Eurowings that will put the Northwest code on Eurowings flights between Amsterdam and Nuremburg, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Leipzig, Hannover and Dresden, beginning Feb. 1. Those flights will link with joint service by Northwest and KLM between Amsterdam and points in the U.S. KLM also code shares with Eurowings on the routes. Under the agreement, Northwest frequent flyers can accrue and spend their miles on the German flights.
Hawaiian Airlines' December traffic increased 25.3% over that of December 1994, to 323.5 million revenue passenger miles. Available seat miles increased 14.6% to 437.1 million, and the load factor gained 6.3 percentage points to 67.7%. Traffic for the year was up 24.8% to 3.597 billion ASMs on 16.9% more capacity. Systemwide load factor for 1995 was 76.9%, up 4.8 points. Dec. 1995 Dec. 1994 12 Mths 1995 12 Mths 1994 RPMs 323,467,000 258,169,000 3,597,163,000 2,882,540,000
Southern Air Transport (SAT) has joined World Airways in urging DOT to reject 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. The renewal application "amounts to an 'under the table' transfer of frequencies which have already been tentatively reallocated," SAT asserted, noting that DOT has tentatively reallocated USAfrica's six frequencies and a currently unallocated frequency in the U.S.-South Africa market to World Airways and SAT.
