Standard&Poor's is keeping GPA Group on CreditWatch with "developing" implications, the company said. The aircraft lessor's credit rating may be raised or lowered following GPA's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission of a $4.5 billion aircraft lease securitization. S&P released the statement after GPA announced this week that it has filed to sell 230 leased aircraft, two-thirds of its fleet, to a newly formed group that would sell lease-backed notes to the public.
Delta plans to begin service Dec. 15 between Boston and New York LaGuardia after DOT approved the transfer of 10 slots at the airport to the Atlanta carrier from TWA. The department told Delta it still will look into the sale, in light of ValuJet's lawsuit alleging antitrust violations in the deal, said a Delta spokeswoman, who added the carrier believes the suit has no merit. In November, ValuJet filed a federal lawsuit alleging antitrust violations and breach of contract by TWA for leasing 10 slots to Delta instead of ValuJet (DAILY, Nov. 21).
Rolls-Royce signed a contract with Gulfstream Aerospace valued at more than $250 million to supply Tay engines to power the GIV-SP corporate jet. Rolls said the order will take Tay engine production for the aircraft into the next century. Rolls-Royce North America has opened a World Wide Web site that offers news and information on the company. The site can be accessed at http://rolls-royce.rrnam.com/rrnam.
KLM is close to acquiring a 26% stake in state-owned Kenya Airways, the Dutch carrier said yesterday. The Kenyan government, KLM said, has in principle accepted its bid for the holding. Kenya Airways is in the final stages of completing the privatization effort launched last year when it started looking for a foreign airline partner. The government will retain a 20% stake in the company and place the rest with private and institutional investors. The carrier, which started flying in 1977, operates a fleet of three A310, two 737 and three Fokker 50 aircraft.
KLM's November traffic grew 11% on 14% more capacity. The carrier flew 669.6 million revenue ton kilometers on 929.4 million available ton kilometers for the month. Its overall load factor was 72.0%, down 2.5 points from November 1994. Seat kilometers flown grew 10% over last year, while the passenger load factor stayed flat at 69.1%. Traffic in revenue ton kilometers grew 11% for the eight-month period ended Nov. 30 on 13% more available ton kilometers. Load factor was 73.3% for the period, down from 74.8% for the same eight months in 1994.
Michigan Travel Bureau has created a site on the World Wide Web offering written and photographic information on Michigan attractions. It also has hyperlinks to other sites, such as the Michigan Jobs Commission, the Department of Natural Resources, the governor's office, and convention and visitors bureaus. The address is http://www.travel.Michigan.state.mi.us.
Taiwan's air cargo volume grew 15.4% in the first 10 months of 1995 from year-earlier levels and is expected to top 700,000 tons for the entire year. Analysts in Taipei think volume will continue to increase in 1996 despite predictions of an economic slowdown. Bolstering the growth, analysts say, is the continuing trend among companies in Taiwan's powerful electronics industry to make shipments by air rather than sea.
Aerotech World Trade Corp. has entered an agreement with Textron to distribute aircraft parts in Europe and the Middle East from its U.K. headquarters.
DOT approved yesterday a host of service applications by Japanese carriers for Japan-U.S. service. Japan Airlines received approval for one year for Tokyo-Honolulu and Tokyo-Atlanta scheduled combination services. It also obtained authority to co-terminalize Seattle and Atlanta in conjunction with its Tokyo-Atlanta rights. In addition, JAL received authority to operate Japan-Maui and Japan-Boston scheduled combination services. DOT approved the former service for one year and the latter through March 28, 1996, at JAL's request.
Discover The World Marketing, a travel marketing firm based in Scottsdale, Ariz., says the revenue it has generated for clients will reach $400 million by yearend as airlines and other companies continue to move toward outsourcing of international sales and marketing.
Reno Air carried a record number of passengers in November, 316,639, and increased its load factor by five percentage points from November 1994, to 63%. Reno flew 167 million revenue passenger miles, compared with 142.6 million, while available seat miles grew 8.1% to 265.3 million from 245.3 million. Reno took delivery of two MD-80 aircraft recently, giving it a fleet of 24 aircraft. The carrier is scheduled to take delivery of two new MD-90s early next year.
Rosenbluth International has acquired Hatro Hanse Travel, in Kowloon, Hong Kong, to improve service to clients in the East Asia region. The agency has operated as a corporate travel agency focusing on Europe and intra-Asia travel since 1978.
A survey on sleep conducted by Hilton Hotels and the National Sleep Foundation found that 96% of U.S. business travelers entered a different domestic time zone this year, with half complaining the change cost them sleep. But the study also found evidence that as people travel more often, their susceptibility to jet leg declines. Travelers taking 13 to 24 trips a year are more likely to experience jet lag than those taking 25 or more trips a year.
Mexican tourism officials are searching for advertising agencies to provide tourism promotion services in several countries. All contracts run from Feb. 1, 1996, through Dec. 31, 1997. One is for tourism promotion in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. A clarification meeting will be held Jan. 3. Another is for the same services in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, with a clarification meeting on Jan. 4. The third is for tourism promotion services in the U.S. and Canada. The clarification meeting will be Jan. 3.
International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (IACVB) will hold its Mid-Winter Management and Education Conference Feb. 17-20 at the Pittsburgh Hilton&Towers hotel. Participants earn credits toward certificates in communications, convention marketing, convention services, finance/administration, membership and tourism marketing. For more information, call Wendy Shapiro at 202-296-7888.
DOT Secretary Federico Pena and FAA Administrator David Hinson met yesterday in New Orleans with 300 industry representatives to evaluate the first year of nationwide aviation safety initiatives and to set what FAA called the safety agenda for 1996. Pena told the Aviation Safety Initiative Review to keep working on the goals of "zero accidents" and "shared responsibility" that were adopted last January at the nationwide Aviation Safety Summit in Washington.
British Airways is seeking authority from DOT to operate scheduled combination service between London and Phoenix, Ariz., and to co- terminalize Phoenix with San Diego. BA proposes to begin daily service over the London-Phoenix/San Diego routing on July 1, 1996, using DC-10 aircraft. Supporting its application, BA pointed out that Phoenix is named as one of several new gateway points available for selection by either party in the U.S.-U.K. Air Services Agreement. The carrier asked DOT to grant authority by Dec.
British Airways has lined up Harrods, Liberty and Aquascutum to sell their products through the carrier's new inflight entertainment system. While in flight, passengers will be able to order items offered by the stores, with delivery to destinations around the world. Purchases are made on the airplane through use of a credit card.
USAir's traffic fell 3.6% last month on 12.5% less capacity, compared with November 1994, lifting the load factor 6.2 percentage points to 66.4%. The airline noted that November was the third consecutive month of record load factors. For the first 11 months of the year, traffic fell 0.04% on 3.8% less capacity than in the comparable period last year, resulting in a load factor increase of 2.3 points. USAir's average stage length in November was 646.6 miles, up from 628.4 miles in the same 1994 month.
Island Travel, based in Providenciales, has become the first travel agency in the Turks&Caicos Islands to become a subscriber of the Worldspan computer reservations system. Patricia Duff, founder of Island Travel, said automation from Worldspan is the key to its continued growth. "We have increased outbound services and advanced with the tremendous growth in inbound tourism here in the island over the past several years." The company specializes in travel packages to Europe, Asia and South Africa.
Former pilots of People Express Airlines donated $8,000 to the National Air and Space Museum. The pilots said the money was "left over from our legal defense fund utilized to battle Frank Lorenzo." They said they spent "several million dollars" to protect senior rights "that Lorenzo tried to take away from us."
Continuing its effort to clear itself of charges brought by the government of Peru, Fine Airlines has issued an English translation of a Peruvian legal document absolving it of wrongdoing. The Fine-Peru dispute began in March when Peru barred Fine from operating to its territory, asserting that the U.S. carrier transported arms to Ecuador during the Ecuador-Peru border war early this year.
USAir Group, Northwest and UPS remained on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's annual list of the 50 companies with the largest underfunded pension plans. The listed companies account for 45% of the $13.5 billion in 1994 underfunding by single-employer plans insured by the PBGC. Being on the list does not mean companies are not in full compliance with federal government minimum funding requirements, or that the pension plans are at risk, PBGC said. A USAir spokesman said the carrier complies with all requirements and is current on all payments into the plan.
Boeing 757 and 767 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Second Quarter 1995 B757-200 America West American Continental Number of Aircraft Operated 14 85 13 Total Fleet Operations Departures 58 260 36 Block Hours 174 880 164 Flight Hours 155 767 147
