American Society of Travel Agents World Congress this week in Philadelphia did not miss the opportunity to take a few jabs at airlines for doing away with the 10% commission, although speakers avoided a heavy-handed approach. Judson Green, president of Walt Disney Attractions, said that perhaps Paul Revere's message should have been "10 if by land, 10 if by sea, not that much if by air."
Volga-Dnepr J.S. Cargo Airline is challenging United's opposition to its application to operate new Russia-U.S. service. United asked DOT to turn down new service for Volga-Dnepr and limit renewal of its existing authority to 179 days, complaining that Russia is denying United's application to code share to Moscow with Lufthansa, "an operating right that is clearly available to United under the U.S.-Russia bilateral." Volga-Dnepr applied to provide scheduled all-cargo service between the co- terminal points Ulanovsk and Moscow, Russia, and New York.
Sabre Interactive, which markets easySABRE, is making it easier for customers to plan their own trips with FlightFinder, software that searches for the lowest fare available between multiple cities, and displays the three lowest-priced itineraries. The system is available only on easySABRE through Prodigy but will be picked up Dec. 15 by other online networks offering easySABRE.
The U.S. and Thailand agreed yesterday to enter negotiations to repair their aviation relations. "We are pleased to announce that we have achieved major progress in developing the basic framework for a new bilateral aviation agreement between Thailand and the United States," said Thailand's Minister of Transport and Communication Wanmuhamadnoor Matha and DOT Secretary Federico Pena in a joint statement. "Based on this progress, we have agreed to instruct our aviation officials to commence formal negotiations at the earliest mutually acceptable date," they added.
Artais Weather Check Inc., Columbus, Ohio, said it has sold three Automated Weather Observing Systems to China. AWOS 2000s will be installed at Longdongbao Airport in Guyang and at Harbin Airport in Harbin, and Wusu Airport in Taiyuan will be equipped with an AWOS 2000 and a Low-Level Windshear Alert System. Each contract requires four weeks of training for Chinese personnel at Artais's facility in Columbus.
KLM's rocky relationship with Northwest co-chairmen and investors Alfred Checchi and Gary Wilson hit a new low yesterday when the Dutch carrier filed suit against them and three other investors in an attempt to block proposed changes in a Northwest stockholders' agreement (DAILY, Nov. 2). "The proposed amendments are designed specifically to eliminate rights that KLM bargained for and to which the defendants agreed," KLM said in its suit. KLM, which owns 21.5% of Northwest, asked the Supreme Court of the State of New York to declare the changes null and void.
American Express has become the single largest global member of the American Society of Travel Agents, signing up 856 international company- owned and representative offices for membership. American Express' cumulative membership in ASTA now totals more than 1,400. American Express enrolled all its U.S. locations in 1993, and the newest additions cover all its international offices. As a result, it now has membership in 168 nations.
Airline Vacation Packages Update...Southwest Airlines Fun Pack Vacations is marketing packages to Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Miami, beginning in January. In April, packages will be available to Orlando, Daytona Beach and Cocoa Beach...USAir Vacations is offering $25 cash incentives to travel agents to book adults through Dec. 31. The awards are valid only on air-inclusive travel packages.
British Airways Chairman Colin Marshall, who is giving up day-to-day control of BA and will become non-executive chairman of the airline on Jan. 1, has been named the new non-executive chairman of Inchcape, a U.K.-based international services and marketing group currently undergoing a 100 million restructuring program (DAILY, Nov. 6). The Inchcape appointment is effective Jan. 1, but Marshall will join the board immediately as a non- executive director.
Air Espaa, operating as Air Europa, has applied for authority to operate scheduled combination service between Madrid and New York and between Tenerife, on the one hand, and Boston and New York, on the other. The carrier plans to begin five weekly Madrid-New York roundtrips and one weekly Tenerife-Boston-New York-routing on Dec. 1, using Boeing 757-200ER aircraft.
Trimble said it has retained PRC Aviation of Tucson to conduct an "in-depth analysis and evaluation" of Global Positioning System navigation benefits to commercial aviation. Bruce Alspach, VP of Trimble's Avionics Group, said PRC will study the "total spectrum" of GPS benefits. The report will provide commercial aircraft operators with a "valuable decision support tool," Alspach said. Scheduled for completion early next year, the report will be made available to Trimble and PRC customers.
Boeing Defense and Space Group said its Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System team has passed an operational capability demonstration program, qualifying it to bid for FAA's $1 billion STARS contract. The company said an FAA evaluation team scored the performance of its air traffic control offering over a three-day period. STARS is aimed at improving the Terminal Radar Approach Control systems now in use at more than 200 U.S. sites.
Hyatt Hotels and Resorts will join American's AAdvantage frequent flyer program Nov. 15. Members will earn 500 miles for every qualifying stay at 171 hotels. American said a recent survey of CompuServe users picked American as the best U.S. airline, Hyatt the best luxury hotel and AAdvantage as the best frequent flyer program.
America West last month flew 17.2% more revenue passenger miles on 8.4% more capacity, pushing up the load factor 5.1 percentage points to 67.3% - the highest October load factor in company history. The airline also set a record for RPMs at 1.13 billion. "Our 17% traffic growth is well in excess of the industry average and provides an excellent platform for our future growth plans," said Chairman William Franke. The airline previously announced plans to increase capacity by 29% over a two-year period beginning in January.
Travel agents believe 1996 will bring at least as much spending by travelers as in 1995, according to a nationwide survey of agents conducted by the American Society of Travel Agents. ASTA found that 48.9% of agents expect travelers to spend more next year than they did this year, and 40.9% expect flat spending. Sixty percent of respondents said international bookings were up. The results of the survey were released at the start of ASTA's 65th Annual World Travel Congress in Philadelphia.
FAA said it has created an Aviation Weather Division to strengthen its ability to prevent accidents and reduce delays attributable to weather, which the agency said account for 73% of all delays. The new division, part of FAA's Air Traffic Services, brings together weather experts from the offices of Regulation and Certification and Air Traffic Services. The announcement followed a National Research Council report, issued Tuesday, calling on FAA to take the lead in improving the dissemination of weather information to pilots.
Airlines are offering more special fares for fall/winter and Thanksgiving travel. USAir has reduced tariffs by up to 35% to Denver from nearly 60 cities in the Southeast, Florida and western Pennsylvania for travel through Dec. 15. The tickets require a 21-day advance purchase. Reno Air is marketing "gobble" fares for travel Nov. 23-25. Tickets must be purchased one day before departure. America West is reducing fares before Thanksgiving, for travel Nov. 8-20. They do not have an advance-purchase requirement but require a three-day minimum stay.
United's systemwide passenger traffic rose just 0.8% last month from October 1994 on 5.3% more capacity, producing a load factor decline of 3.1 percentage points to 70.9%, but the company said there is more to the overall picture than simply the number of revenue passenger miles flown. "The modest traffic gain last month should not be allowed to camouflage the improved yield environment we are continuing to experience this fall as compared to last year," said United President John Edwardson. The number of passengers boarded systemwide increased 3%.
Air passenger volume between the U.S. and South American has grown 80% since 1990 and will nearly double by 2000, according to Bob Booth, president of Aviation Management Services. Passenger volume is expected to grow at a rate of 14.5% annually through 2000.
Tower Air's scheduled passenger traffic increased 70.6% in October on 50.5% more capacity, pushing its passenger load factor up 8.6 percentage points to 73.1%. The number of passengers carried increased 73.7%, and block hours flown rose 16.8% to 4,126. Through the first 10 months of this year, Tower's scheduled passenger traffic rose 28.1% on 28.5% more capacity, resulting in a load factor decline of 0.2 points to 75.2%. Oct 95 Oct 94 10 Mths 95 10 Mths 94
USAir's load factor jumped 6.7 percentage points in October from a year ago to 67.5%, the second month in a row the airline has set a load factor record and the sixth straight month of year-over-year load factor improvement. The airline's traffic declined 2.1% and its capacity dropped 11.7%. "We have been reporting consistently increasing load factors as a result of our rightsizing program that began this past summer," said Chairman Seth Schofield. "These load factors, combined with increasing yields, are helping return USAir to profitability," he said.
BAE Automated Systems Inc. has reached an agreement with United on completion of the automated baggage system at Denver Airport (DAILY, Nov. 2). BAE notified United early last week that it considered the system to be "substantially complete" under its contract with the airline. United disagreed. The agreement, reached Thursday, provides that substantial completion is to be achieved by Nov. 15, but it allows for a "cure period" of 45 days thereafter.
Dutch carrier Transavia Airlines placed a $288 million order for eight Boeing 737-800 aircraft and took options on an additional 12. The first of the twinjets is scheduled for delivery in 1998. The aircraft will be configured to carry 182 to 188 passengers, capacity between the 737-300s and the 757s Transavia already operates. The new airplanes will be used initially for nonstop charter service in Europe and around the Mediterranean coast. Total 737-600/700/800 announced orders stand at 214, and 737 orders have reached 3,238, Boeing said.
