American Trans Air's September consolidated (scheduled and charter) traffic rose 20.6% from September a year ago on 9.1% more capacity, lifting the airline's load factor 6.8 percentage points to 71.3%. The number of passengers carried increased 22.8%, and the length of the average passenger trip declined 0.8% to 1,908 miles. Through the first nine months of this year, American Trans Air's consolidated traffic rose 26.9% on 23.1% more capacity, boosting its load factor 2.2 points to 72.7%.
International Lease Finance Corp. has announced lease of a CFM-powered Airbus A320 to Canada 3000 Airlines and of a Rolls-Royce-powered Boeing 757 to Transavia Airlines of Amsterdam.
The federal government should create a National Satellite Account to measure the impact of travel and tourism on the national economy, said Michael Boskin, chairman of the Senate's Commission to Review the Consumer Price Index and former chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers.
Air Line Pilots Association said the pilots at Express I Airlines, operating as Northwest Airlink, have authorized their union leaders to call a strike, if necessary. The pilots, who have been in negotiations with the company for a contract for almost two years, voted nearly 98% in favor of a "peaceful withdrawal of service." A strike at the carrier is not an immediate possibility, however. Both sides requested mediation with the National Mediation Board in February.
Martinair Holland is upgrading its services this fall with smoke-free transatlantic flights, inflight telephone and fax service, lounge access at five U.S. gateways and new Royal Doulton dinnerware. The changes are effective Nov. 1. Business-class lounge access for Martinair's Star Class passengers will be offered at Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Denver and Newark and is being made available in conjunction with other carriers. Martinair will offer the inflight changes on five new MD-11s.
The market value of U.S. airline stocks tracked by The DAILY 3.5% last month to $33.59 billion from $32.45 billion in August. The group, which is largely driven by the major passenger carriers' stock performance, benefited from optimism about third quarter results and the prospects for 1996. The value of the major carrier stocks resumed the upward trend broken in August, increasing 3.1% to $24.18 billion. The value of the national carrier stocks declined 5.4% to $2.3 billion, and the regional stocks fell 18.7% to $379.9 million.
New England, for the second consecutive year, is the top destination for viewing fall foliage, according to a Carlson Wagonlit Travel poll of its U.S. agencies. Following New England is the "Historic East," comprising Pennsylvania, Washington, Virginia and West Virginia, and third is the Pacific Northwest. Travel agents said 42% of their clients book one to three months in advance to see the fall colors, and 30% book two weeks to one month prior to travel.
Canadian travel to the U.S. fell 13% to 14.970 million in 1994, the third consecutive year of decreases in the market, according to an annual report issued by the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration. The data came from Statistics Canada, which will publish its own report - Touriscope: International Travel Between Canada and Other Countries 1994 - in about two weeks. New York, Florida, Washington and Michigan received the most Canadian visitors last year, although total numbers of travelers declined for all states.
EVA Airways and Ansett Australia plan to begin code-sharing operations between Taipei and Sydney on Dec. 1 if they obtain approval from Australia's International Air Service Commission. The two airlines also plan a blocked-space arrangement for Taipei-Brisbane-Auckland-Brisbane- Taipei service. EVA currently flies twice a week to Sydney, using Boeing 767-300ERs.
Qantas plans to begin twice-weekly DC-8 freighter service between Los Angeles and Sydney via Honolulu and Nadi on Oct. 28. The flights will give Qantas five weekly southbound freighter flights and two northbound flights. The services are planned to coincide with the withdrawal of two 747 Combis from the aircraft. Qantas will reconfigure the Combis as passenger aircraft.
Annual conference on travel scams sponsored by the American Society of Travel Agents will be held at 9 a.m. Oct. 19 at the Hyatt Regency Miami. The conference includes a session on emerging technology, "Internet is Boom of New Opportunities; is it a Hotbed for Fraud?" Among the speakers are Hoyte Decker, DOT's director of consumer affairs; Ed Perkins, editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, and Art Weiss, Texas deputy attorney general.
Teleflex Inc. said it has reached agreement with GE Aircraft Engines on a joint venture to repair commercial aircraft engine fan blades and compressor airfoils. The new company, Airfoil Technologies International, is expected to begin operations before yearend, said Roy Carriker, president of Sermatech International, a subsidiary of Teleflex, and Thomas Brisken, general manager of GE Engine Services for GEAE. The new company will combine Sermatech's and GE's relevant repair and engineering expertise on a worldwide basis, they said.
CIT Group said it purchased two DC-10-10 freighters from International Lease Finance Corp. The aircraft are on lease to Federal Express with 11 years remaining.
America West's September traffic rose 15.4% from the same month a year ago on 8.4% more capacity, producing a load factor increase of 3.9 percentage points to 64.6% - the highest September load factor in the airline's history. The number of passengers boarded rose 13.2%. America West also reported flying a record 3.58 billion revenue passenger miles in the third quarter, another record for the company. For nine months, traffic rose 7.2% on 7.9% more capacity, depressing the load factor 0.5 points to 69.2%.
Southwest is offering fares of $99 or less between any two cities it serves to passengers age 65 or older. The fares are available through Dec. 20. In some markets, such as Seattle-Boise or Houston-New Orleans, fares are $29 one way.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Revenues and Expenses First Quarter 1995 (In Dollars) Total Operating % Passenger Carrier Revenues Change Revenues Alaska 238,363,000 3.07 191,979,000 Aloha 53,389,993 (9.32) 43,515,854
The president of the International Association of Machinists said yesterday that production has ceased at all Boeing production lines and that top government officials are looking into the export of U.S. aerospace jobs and technologies. George Kourpias, who joined striking Boeing workers on picket lines, said he recently met with President Clinton to discuss the "escalating export of U.S.
Morris Travel Services LLC has renewed its contract with Worldspan in a development the computer reservations system company said solidifies the travel automation arrangement between the two companies until 2000. One of the top 25 full-service travel management firms in the U.S., Morris Travel has been a subscriber of Worldspan or one of its predecessor companies since October 1987.
Swissair is offering inflight satellite telephone service on its European flights. The new service, which premiered last week on Swissair flights between London and Geneva, is similar to that offered on the airline's long-haul aircraft. The phones are being installed on Swissair's Airbus A320 fleet at a cost of about US$13 million. Inmarsat, the supplier of the satellite phones on Swissair's 13 MD-11s, said Swissair has the highest user rates of any airline. Because of strong demand, inflight phones will be installed on Swissair's fleet of five Boeing 747s.
Frontier Airlines will introduce service Nov. 17 from its Denver base to San Francisco. It plans to operate two daily nonstop flights with 136-seat 737-300 aircraft, offering $81 one-way fares for travel through Dec. 15. The regular fare will be $91 with a 21-day advance purchase. Frontier President Sam Addoms said San Francisco is Denver's fourth largest destination market. The carrier will inaugurate service to Minneapolis/St. Paul and Salt Lake City on Nov. 13. Frontier passengers earn credit in Continental's OnePass frequent flyer program.
Six U.S. carriers have applied for 12 new U.S.-Vancouver frequencies to become available in February 1996, the second year of the U.S.-Canada bilateral agreement. The service requests equal the number of available slots as the accord permits the designation of six additional carriers operating up to two daily roundtrips each (DAILY, Sept. 25). The frequencies may be used to operate a double daily service at one U.S. point or one daily flight at each of two U.S. cities.
