DOT has granted six U.S. carriers authority to operate new services to Vancouver when they become available in February 1996, the second year of the U.S.-Canada bilateral agreement. American, America West, Alaska, Delta, Northwest and United all gained frequencies. There were no losers in the proceeding, as service requests equaled the number of available slots (DAILY, Oct. 11).
Carnival Air Lines and Mercury Air Group, a provider of petroleum products, cargo and aviation services to commercial carriers, have signed a letter of intent under which Mercury will acquire all the common stock of Carnival Air Lines in a "merger of equals" transaction. After consummation of the transaction, expected in the first quarter of 1996 pending regulatory approval, Micky Arison, who controls Carnival Air, will become majority owner of the merged company, a Carnival spokesman said.
Air Transport Association President Carol Hallett has called on all segments of the travel industry to practice greater cooperation in the political arena. Speaking to the Travel Industry Association's national conference this week in Alexandria, Va., Hallett said the industry has just begun to tap its collective force in lobbying. "I strongly believe cooperation is essential in this industry.
Condor Flugdienst has asked DOT for renewal of its authority to operate for two years combination services between Frankfurt and San Juan, Puerto Rico/San Jose, Costa Rica. (Docket 49836&OST-95-728)
DNATA Cargo, a division of the Emirates Group, has received ISO 9002 certification from Bureau Veritas Quality International. DNATA said it is the first cargo-handling company in the Middle East and the second in the world to receive the certification.
The U.S. scheduled airline industry's systemwide passenger traffic increased 1.2% last month on 1% more capacity, nudging the group's load factor up 0.1 percentage point to 66.5%, according to Air Transport Association data. Passenger enplanements declined for the third straight month, ATA said. Domestic passenger traffic fell 0.4% on 0.2% more capacity, but international traffic rose 4.7% on 3.2% more capacity.
House and Senate negotiators on the fiscal 1996 DOT appropriations bill (H.R. 2002) adopted legislation yesterday to require a new FAA acquisition system and are likely today to mandate a new personnel system as well. Conferees dropped $10 million in FAA user fees that were proposed in the Senate bill. Several aviation issues remained unresolved late yesterday, including funding for airport grants and bonus pay for air traffic controllers.
AMR Corp.'s third quarter net earnings after preferred stock dividends increased 21.6% over those of the 1994 quarter, to $229 million or $2.64 per share on a fully diluted basis, despite the hurricanes that plagued Caribbean operations during the period. AMR's operating profit rose 6.5% from a year ago to $521 million, and all three of the company's business segments - the Airline Group, the Sabre Group and Management Services - posted improved results.
USAir Group stunned Wall Street yesterday by reporting a third quarter net profit of $43.1 million, or 35 cents per share, that Chairman Seth Schofield said confirmed the profit potential of the USAir franchise. Most airline analysts had forecast a USAir net loss for the quarter. Even one of the few who predicted a profit, PaineWebber analyst Sam Buttrick, said the company would earn only 10 cents per share. NatWest Securities analyst Vivian Lee described USAir's earnings report as "unbelievable," and S.G.
CIC Research has compiled a list of the top 20 cities worldwide for Internet-using business travelers. When asked to name the destination most frequently traveled to on business, those responding to a survey on the Internet most often answered Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. The only foreign points in the top 20 were London, Toronto and Frankfurt.
Las Vegas-based Scenic Airlines is building a new terminal and headquarters at Clark County's North Las Vegas Air Terminal. The $5 million facility will house the main terminal, business offices and maintenance bay. President Cliff Langness said the tour operator's goal is to have the facility ready to occupy by mid-March. The complex, to the north of the existing terminal building, will include a gift shop, photo concession and catering service.
Volga-Dnepr J.S. Cargo Airlines is requesting an amendment to its current authority that would enable it to provide scheduled all-cargo service between New York and the co-terminal points Ulanovsk and Moscow, Russia. The carrier has applied for renewal of its authority to operate scheduled cargo service between the co-terminal points Ulanovsk and Moscow, on the one hand, and the co-terminal points Bangor, Maine, and Houston, Texas, on the other.
Air Canada's systemwide passenger traffic rose 19.6% last month on 12.5% more capacity, pushing the airline's load factor up 4.2 percentage points to 69.8%. Air Canada's domestic traffic rose 15.4% on 7.7% more capacity in September, and its international traffic increased 22.2% on 15.3% more capacity. Through the first nine months of this year, Air Canada's systemwide traffic increased 11.4% and capacity rose 12.9%, producing a load factor decline of 0.9 points to 64.3%. Sept 95 Sept 94 9 Mths 95 9 Mths 94
Delta has been chosen by Financial World magazine's hidden value index as the best airline among the 1,000 largest publicly held companies. Analysts and pension fund managers rate companies on their ability to cut costs, innovate and avoid regulatory hassles, customer loyalty, employee relations and ability to increase revenues.
U.S. Carriers Systemwide Market Share At Leading U.S. Airports U.S. Major, National and Commuter* Carriers 6 Months 1995 Atlanta Enplaned % of Total Passengers Passengers Delta 9,973,083 75.64 ValuJet 948,106 7.19 Atlantic Southeast 488,294 3.70 Continental 323,791 2.46
Virgin Atlantic Airways has signed an agreement with Aeronomics Inc. for the Atlanta-based company's revenue management system. The system, which the airline has named HYDRA for Higher Yield Delivering Revenue Advantage, will be installed in phases and will be fully operational in less than a year. Paul Tomlin, general manager-information technology at Virgin Atlantic, and John Wallace, VP-airline division of Aeronomics Inc., will head a project team spearheading the installation.
Despite the objections of Fine Airlines, DOT has granted Peruvian flag carrier Faucett a 60-day extension of its authority to wet-lease aircraft to APA International Airlines for scheduled U.S.-Peru combination service. Under the arrangement, Faucett supplies aircraft and crew for service between the co-terminal points Santo Domingo and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and the terminal points Miami/San Juan, Puerto Rico/New York (DAILY, June 13).
DOT issued an order yesterday approving United and Air Canada's code- sharing arrangement. The order confirms an oral approval given early in August. United, Air Canada, and the Canadian carrier's commuter subsidiaries applied May 31 for authority to operate code-share service. Under the plan, United's designator code would be displayed on all transborder flights operated by Air Canada and its commuter subsidiaries, and Air Canada's code would be displayed on any transborder flights operated by United between any point in the U.S.
Citing the recently signed U.S.-Luxembourg open skies agreement, Cargolux has applied at DOT to operate cargo service from points behind Luxembourg via Luxembourg and intermediate points to a point or points in the U.S. Operating Boeing 747-400 freighters on the service, the carrier also plans to transport passengers on the upper deck of the aircraft. Cargolux is authorized to operate scheduled cargo service between Luxembourg and five U.S. destinations - Houston, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Seattle.
Aft-facing seats and seats with shoulder harnesses are effective for safety, but some technical problems remain, said Hiroki Tomita, deputy director-airworthiness division of Japan's transport ministry, in an aircraft cabin safety symposium held by the Association of Air Transport Engineering and Research last week in Tokyo.
Lufthansa placed $150 million in orders for General Electric and CFM International engines to power the four Boeing 747-400 and one Airbus A340 aircraft it ordered earlier this year (DAILY, Sept. 22). The airline will equip the 747s with GE CF6-80C2 engines and the A340 with CFM56-5Cs. CFM International is a 50/50 joint company of General Electric and Snecma of France. The five aircraft, four for fleet expansion and one replacing a 747-200 Combi, are scheduled for delivery in 1997.
Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration said that, as a first step toward privatization of the island's air freight services, it will form a company to operate the air freight terminal at Chiang Kai-shek Airport (CKS). A CAA official said the new company is expected to be operational by the end of 1997. Full privatization of the CKS facility is scheduled to be completed by late 1999. The CAA also has announced plans to open a privately operated air freight service at Kaohsiung.
Loss of control of aircraft has accounted for more fatalities during the past five years than controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), which was the chief cause of deaths previously, according to Paul Russell, chief engineer, airplane safety engineering, for Boeing Commercial. Last year, 60 deaths were attributed to CFIT and 483 to loss of control in flight, Russell told The DAILY. Between 1990 and 1994, 1,004 fatalities were attributed to CFIT and 1,056 to loss of control, he said.
