World Airways flew 3,406 block hours in January, a 40% increase from 1995 levels. The carrier used its fleet an average of 9.9 block hours per day last month, up from 9.8 block hours per day in January 1995.
Dutch government said it will not provide any more state aid to Fokker following the $220 million bridge loan it extended the company late last month. That loan ends later this month. In the meantime, Bombardier, which had repeatedly denied interest in Fokker, revealed that it has sent a 20-member team to Amsterdam to discuss the possibility of acquiring the Dutch manufacturer.
Customers booking entertainment events through Ticketmaster can purchase airline tickets on Reno Air by calling a toll-free line beginning Feb. 14. Fred Rosen, president and chief executive of Ticketmaster Corporation, said the agreement will give it an opportunity to create package deals to include airfare with entertainment.
Delta will close its pilot bases in Boston and Seattle Sept. 1 and Oct. 1, respectively. The airline says shutting down Seattle, where 55 pilots are based, will save $1 million annually. For Boston, with 230 pilots, the estimate is $2 million a year. Delta already has closed bases in Houston, San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago and Fort Lauderdale.
National Aviation Club will host the 11th annual Women in Aviation luncheon Feb. 15 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va. Guest speaker is Carol Hallett, president of the Air Transport Association. Lunch begins at noon. Reservations must be made before noon Feb. 13 by faxing a request to 703-379-1507.
Mesa Air Group will sell approximately 71% of its 5.1% stake in America West and use the proceeds to buy back its own stock. The company acquired 2.1 million shares of America West stock - then valued at $18.7 million - when that carrier came out of bankruptcy in 1994. Although the value declined to $17.5 million at the end of that year, it was back up to nearly $45 million at the end of 1995. Mesa already has bought back nearly two million of its own shares since early December in a total $30 million buyback program.
Sterling, Va.-based Atlantic Coast Airlines logged 20.5 million revenue passenger miles last month, a 3.3% decline from January 1995. January 1996 January 1995 Rev. Passenger Miles 20,486,000 21,177,000 Available Seat Miles 53,590,000 60,083,000 Load Factor (%) 38.2 35.2 Passengers 85,629 87,065
Alaska Airlines will increase service to Reno, Fairbanks and Russia in April. It will boost from four to six per day the number of nonstops between Reno and Seattle on April 7. These new flights will improve service from Reno to points in Alaska, the carrier said - it operates 15 daily roundtrips from Seattle to Anchorage and will increase the service to 16 per day this month. Alaska also will resume its seasonal nonstop service from Seattle to Fairbanks on April 7, one month earlier than last year.
Horizon's traffic last month increased 8.1% to 66 million revenue passenger miles. Capacity rose 5.6% to 117 million available seat miles, pushing load factor up 1.3 percentage points to 56.4% from 55.1%.
SkyWest's board of directors yesterday authorized the purchase of up to 500,000 shares of its common stock in the open market. The shares are in addition to the 500,000 shares that were authorized in February 1995, of which 100,000 have been subsequently repurchased.
Virgin Europe is expected to make a fast start out of the gate with an expanding fleet of Boeing 737s, of which EBA already has several. The carrier now serves Rome, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona and Vienna and will add Nice in April, but 80% of its passenger traffic has been charter. Ornstein, now based in London, has taken two of his key Continental Express executives with him - VP/Chief Financial Officer Jim Swigart and VP- Marketing Geoff Moss. The company will not be linked to Virgin Atlantic other than by Branson's stake and the Virgin name.
Alaska Airlines traffic grew 7.5% last month, compared with January 1995, to 632 million revenue passenger miles, on a 7.4% increase in available seat miles. The carrier flew 1.1 billion ASMs in January. The load factor for the month was 65%, unchanged from January 1995. Passengers carried by the airline grew 11.9% to 764,200.
Turkish Airlines has contracted for SBS International's crew management systems, SBS said. The airline will use pairing and line building modules, as well as Maestro, the company's crew management and operations control system. Training on use of the systems begins this month.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) President Dietrich Russell said this week in Singapore that sale of a 51% stake in Dornier is not a high priority for DASA right now. Well-placed speculation, however, has it that the majority interest in Dornier may go to South Korea's Daewoo Heavy Industries. Daewoo is a risk-sharing partner in the Dornier 328 program, producing fuselage panels for the aircraft (DAILY, Feb. 2).
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has supported charges brought by the Association of Flight Attendants in March 1993 against United's former weight policy. The AFA said the EEOC found the weight policy discriminatory on the basis of sex and age, giving more leniency to males and adversely impacting flight attendants over 40. United eliminated the policy in July 1994, but the AFA has intervened in a class action suit against United that seeks damages for flight attendants who were adversely affected by the weight program.
Continental will dismantle its Greensboro, N.C., crew base but said it will continue to offer significant service to the city at least until June. It operates 40 daily jet departures from Piedmont Triad Airport, down from 61 a year ago. The move is one of the final steps in dismantling failed low- cost Continental Lite service. Three hundred pilots and flight attendants will be moved to bases in Houston, Newark and Cleveland.
Alaska Airlines promoted Greg Witter to the new position of director- corporate and government affairs. He will track legislative issues in Washington, Oregon, California and Washington, D.C., and represent the airline to government and private organizations. Witter has been director- corporate communications since 1991.
Northwest Airlink affiliate Mesaba airlines flew 27.6 million revenue passenger miles in January, a 27% increase from 21.7 million in January 1995. January 1996 January 1995 Rev. Passenger Miles 27,624,601 21,747,405 Available Seat Miles 62,337,328 54,601,721 Load Factor (%) 44.3 39.8 Passengers 125,892 99,103
New Regional Aircraft Deliveries, November 1995 Last 12 Months Carrier No. Type Engines Delivery Aeromar 2 AA ATR 42-500 PW127 0 Air Canada 3 Canadair RJ CF34-3A1 11 Air Dolomiti 1 AA ATR-42-500 PW127E 1
Clipper Air Cargo has reached an understanding for a $30 million loan from Aviation Products International, an aircraft parts supply company, to support its bid to start up all-cargo service. Clipper will use the loan to support a $30 million line of credit to cover its startup operating expenses, and to purchase a Boeing 747. Applying for an operating certificate March 30, 1995, Clipper proposed to fly between New York Stewart Airport and the Far East (DAILY, April 6, 1995).
Continental will pay eligible employees $100 bonuses for helping it achieve first place in on-time performance in December. Previously, employees received $65 if the carrier placed in the top four spots. The $100 bonus requires placing in the top three. The carrier noted it also scored the best on-time performance for the fourth quarter 1995 (DAILY, Jan. 6).
Fieldstone Private Capital Group, a New York-based investment bank, will help Frontier Airlines acquire additional aircraft and explore ways to line up more financing under an agreement announced Wednesday by the carrier. Frontier President Sam Addoms said the airline is looking to lease more 737-300s to fly out of its Denver hub. The carrier currently operates five 737-200s and two 737-300s to 12 cities from Denver.
DOT has approved the joint application of Delta, Austrian and Malev to operate scheduled code-sharing service between Altanta, Vienna and Budapest. Austrian will block space and place its designator code on flights operated by Delta between Atlanta and Vienna, while Malev will block space and place its code on Delta flights between Atlanta and Budapest, via Vienna. (Docket OST-96-999)
Brian Olds has resigned as executive VP and chief operating officer of Midway Airlines. Olds helped create the new Midway in 1993 and committed to stay on until the carrier was established and profitable, Midway said, and he will be an adviser to the board in the future. A Midway spokeswoman said Olds is "taking a short sabbatical from the airline industry," and there are no plans to replace him.
Bombardier's de Havilland unit received orders and options from Great China Airlines of Taiwan for up to 12 of the Dash 8 Series 400B aircraft, the latest iteration of the Dash 8 family that is slated for certification before the end of the decade. Great China Airlines, the launch customer for the 74- to 78-seat B model, placed firm orders for six of the -400Bs and options for six more with expectations the new aircraft will eventually replace the airline's current fleet of 12 56-seat Dash 8 Series 300 aircraft.
