Referring to DOT's accomplishments in 1995 as "unparalleled in our international aviation history," Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs Patrick Murphy said, "The question now is can we sustain that momentum in 1996." Speaking yesterday at the Airports Council International-North America's International Air Service Seminar in Washington, Murphy said he could not promise that 1996 will be as successful as 1995, but "we'll try." In the coming year, the department will continue to search for additional countries to sign open skies agreements wi
Abacus Distribution Systems Pte Ltd will be available, on a limited basis, to 10 travel agencies in Bangkok through a pilot program designed to enable the computer reservations system company to learn more about local requirements and "fine-tune" its system to meet the needs of Thai agents. Abacus intends to cut over more agencies at the end of the three- to six- month test period. To support the Thai agents, Abacus recently opened a National Marketing Company in Bangkok.
Lufthansa will recruit pilots and flight attendants during the next three years to take the place of retirees and satisfy plans for growth, according to a company spokesman. The carrier plans to increase its pool of pilots 6% next year, to about 3,200. Similar increases are slated for 1997 and 1998, the spokesman said. That means nearly 200 pilots will be added to the payroll in 1996, plus similar numbers over the following two years. Lufthansa imposed a hiring freeze for two years but dropped it last year.
Alitalia took delivery this week of its first 67-seat Fokker 70. The aircraft will be operated by subsidiary Avianova on new regional routes to Spain, Germany, France and the U.K., beginning with service between Turin, Italy, and Paris in the middle of this month. Alitalia has another 14 70s on order, with the second and third to be delivered before the end of the year, seven in the spring of 1996 and five the following year, Fokker reported.
Atlantic Southeast's BAe 146 issue still is on the table despite a federal judge's refusal late last week to restrain the Delta Connection carrier temporarily from operating the 88-passenger quadjets. The judge said the suit by ALPA was a labor issue that should be settled by the federal arbiter in the continuing pilot-contract negotiations with Delta. The pilots apparently want a 70-passenger cap on aircraft Delta affiliates can operate, similar to the scope-clause limitations on most other major carriers. Meanwhile, ASA began 146 operations last Friday.
National Transportation Safety Board accident data show that more FAA research and development is needed in the areas of turbine engine rotor failures, wake vortices, icing and human factors, the board's chief technical official said yesterday. In testimony before the House Science technology subcommittee, NTSB Chief Technical Adviser William Laynor acknowledged that, with lower budgets, competition for R&D funds is growing, but he argued that some programs are essential.
Mesa Air Group's six airline divisions flew 112.8 million revenue passenger miles last month, a 31.6 increase from the same year-ago month. Capacity rose just 18.5% to 203.6 million available seat miles from 171.8 million. As a result, load factor jumped 5.5 percentage points to 55.4% from 49.9%. Passenger boardings increased 13.5% to 529,042 from 466,111. For the first 11 months of the year, RPMs rose 23.1% to 1.1 billion; ASMs climbed 22.4% to 2.2 billion; enplanements gained 16.5% to 5,755,374, and load factor inched up 0.3 points to 52.1%.
America West's November traffic increased 14.7% on 7.2% more capacity, elevating the load factor 4.3 percentage points. The number of passengers carried jumped 12.8%. For the first 11 months of the year, the carrier's traffic rose 8.7% on 7.9% more capacity, compared with the same period last year. The number of passengers flown grew 7.5%, while the load factor increased 0.5 points to 68.8% Nov 95 Nov 94 11 Mths 95 11 Mths 94 RPMs 1,068,633,000 931,728,000 12,235,371,000 11,257,282,000
Lufthansa regional subsidiary Lufthansa CityLine is turning over operation of its 10 Fokker 50 aircraft to fellow subsidiary Contact Air, beginning next April. Lufthansa CityLine said, "The handover will allow Lufthansa CityLine to concentrate on operations with its Canadair and Avro RJ85 jet aircraft." The operation of the turboprop aircraft by Contact Air "will secure the turboprop short-haul traffic market in Europe beyond the year 2000 for the Lufthansa Group." By the end of next year, Lufthansa CityLine will operate 28 Canadair Jets and 15 Avro RJ 85s.
Strong international traffic growth and a slight slip in domestic flying combined to lift American's systemwide traffic 1% on 2% more capacity in November than in the same month last year. The carrier flew 10.6% more international revenue passenger miles and 2.7% fewer domestic RPMs. The load factor was down 0.7 percentage points, while the number of passengers carried slipped 7.1%. For the first 11 months, traffic was up 4% on 1.9% more capacity, compared with 1994 levels, pushing up the load factor 1.4 points.
Airlines agreed yesterday at a safety meeting in New Orleans to share with the government data from their aircraft operations in an attempt to spot unsafe trends. In what many saw as a breakthrough in accident prevention, airlines agreed to meet Jan. 22 in Washington with data from quick-access data recorded from flight computers, and provide the information to FAA. Administrator David Hinson yesterday praised union pilots who have agreed to permit the agency access to inflight recorded data as a means of improving safety.
Transport Minister of the European Union agreed yesterday to liberalize ground-handling at all airports within EU member countries by Jan. 1, 2003, adopting a plan under which barriers to self-handing gradually will be eliminated. As of Jan. 1, 1998, all EU airports must allow airlines to handle their own "terminal" operations, which include processing passengers at the curb, at the ticket counter and as they board a flight. Tarmac or airside liberalization will occur starting Jan. 1, 1998, at EU airports that process more than one million passengers.
Mesa unit Desert Sun Airlines has posted an average load factor of 65.5% since placing two 79-passenger Fokker 70s in operation six months ago - it was 74% in November. The aircraft are operating two daily nonstops between Phoenix and Des Moines and between Phoenix and Spokane as well as Des Moines-Las Vegas three nights a week. The company has not decided whether to exercise options for additional F70s, although numerous communities, including Madison, Wis., have approached the airline about launching jet service to Phoenix.
Pressing his case for an open skies relationship with Germany, Senate Commerce, Science&Transportation Committee Chairman Larry Pressler (R- S.D.) is scheduled to meet in Germany with Matthias Wissmann, Germany's transport minister, before Christmas. Pressler first met with Wissmann three months ago.
Appleton, Wis.-based United Express affiliate Air Wisconsin's capacity, traffic and length of haul all jumped close to 50% in November. Traffic rose 47.1% to 38.3 million revenue passenger miles from just under 26 million in the prior November. Capacity soared 51.2% to 77.9 million available seat miles from 51.5 million, pushing load factor down 1.4 percentage points to 49.1% from 50.5%. As average length of haul rose close to 50%, passenger enplane-ments declined 8.5% to 115,368 from 126,045.
Nine regional airline stocks gained a total market value of $128 million during November to nearly $2.37 billion, while the average price per share rose 18 cents to $11.57. The big winner was Delta Connection Comair, whose stock jumped by $4.31 to $32.38 per share. The big loser for the month, however, was fellow Delta Connection carrier SkyWest, down $3.38 to $13.75 per share.
Responding to fee increases, Northwest has told Amadeus it will terminate participation in all System One and Amadeus enhanced levels of connectivity, effective Jan. 8, and will evaluate further its overall participation in the computer reservations system. Amadeus/System One plans to increase segment fees Jan. 1.
Hawaiian has come down to the wire in attempts to reach agreements with its labor unions for concessions that must be in hand by today under its deal with American to restructure its lease payment obligations. The Association of Flight Attendants said it has a tentative agreement to provide concessions and extend the current contract until February 2000. The carrier will present a formal document to the Air Line Pilots Association today. The third largest union, the Machinists, also is in discussions.
Korean Air Lines has asked DOT for authority to operate scheduled combination service between Seoul and Saipan, and for integration of the new authority with its existing authority. The carrier plans to operate seven flights a week on the route beginning Dec. 22, using Airbus A300-600 aircraft. (Docket OST-95-911)
Kiwi International Air Lines operated 119.7 million revenue passenger miles in November, compared with only 93.1 million in November 1994. Capacity rose to 196.5 million available seat miles from the 153.6 recorded for November 1994. Load factor inched up to 60.9% from 60.7%. Jerry Murphy, president and chief executive, reported "an uptick in both business and leisure travel, with Newark-Chicago posting our best results, followed by Chicago-Tampa." Kiwi also benefited from its new marketing relationship with Air South.
Seattle, Wash., Alaska Air Group subsidiary Horizon Air made 108 million seat miles available for sale in November, a 6.6% increase from the prior November's 101 million. Traffic, however, failed to keep pace with the capacity increase, rising 1% to 66 million revenue passenger miles from 65 million, the airline company reported. Load factor dropped 3.3 percentage points to 60.6% from 63.9% in the same prior-year month. Passenger enplanements declined 2.5% to 295,400 from 303,100.
Air Canada has started offering passengers the option of flying ticketless on its Winnipeg-Regina-Calvary route. Laying claim to be the first carrier in the country to field a ticketless travel system, Air Canada said it and its regional partners, Air Canada Connectors, will expand the program to additional domestic markets in March and into the U.S. during the spring. By the middle of 1996, ticketless travel will be available on all the carrier's flights throughout North America.
Tower Air flew 272 million scheduled revenue passenger miles in November, 54.5% more than in the same month last year, on 37.9% more capacity. Available seat miles rose to 364 million from 264 million, improving the load factor to 74.7% from 66.7%. Tower said the increase in load factor was primarily due to increased traffic on domestic routes and on service from New York to Tel Aviv and Paris. Traffic also was up because Tower resumed service to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and flew more commercial passenger wet-lease charters.
Canadian Department of National Defense has awarded Sabre Decision Technologies and Ottawa-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates a three- year contract to customize several airline operating systems for the Canadian Armed Forces' scheduled and chartered flights. Macdonald Dettwiler will act as a subcontractor under the agreement. Sabre said the contract is the first in which a military operation has acquired its multihost reservations system.
Southwest's November traffic grew 9.1% on 12.6% more capacity, resulting in a load factor of 61.5%, down two points from the same month last year. The number of passengers carried increased 6.6%. For 11 months, Southwest's traffic was up 7.4% on 12.8% more capacity, compared with the same period in 1994, depressing the load factor 3.3 points. The number of passengers was up 4.2%. Nov 95 Nov 94 11 Mths 95 11 Mths 94 RPMs 1,908,894,000 1,749,671,000 21,303,457,000 19,834,099,000
