USAir has expanded the number of cities it offers A4Coach - first-class service at coach prices on transcontinental flights - to include Albuquerque, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, San Francisco and Orange County. The fares in first class are available from those cities to more than 140 destinations in the East. A4Coach reduces the cost of flying in first class by as much as $150 each way.
Sierra Expressway Airlines plans to begin four daily roundtrips Monday through Friday, with additional weekend flights, to South Lake Tahoe from Oakland Dec. 15, offering $49 and $59 one-way fares. Dan Brumlik, chief marketing officer, said, "Crawling along on Highway 50 or the Interstate ruins your vacation before it begins. Our fares are low enough that we expect our Tahoe connection to become one of our most popular year-round destinations." All flights feature a ticketless system.
TWA and the Air Line Pilots Association have raised objections to the request by Delta, Swissair, Sabena and Austrian for confidential treatment concerning documents and data in their applications for antitrust immunity. Saying they are not opposed to the principle that confidential information be protected, TWA and ALPA urged DOT to reject the applicants' proposal to limit access to the information to outside counsel and experts.
SAS, which launched Boeing's 737-600 program early this year with a memorandum of understanding to acquire 35 of the twinjets, added six aircraft to its order and signed a contract to buy 41 firm and 35 option airplanes powered by CFM56-7 engines, engine manufacturer CFM International said yesterday (DAILY, March 15). CFMI estimated the total value of the engine portion of the contract, including spares, at nearly $600 million. In March, SAS valued the aircraft purchase at $1.17 billion.
CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT Chicago '95 is where you'll find the best safety minds in the business looking at tomorrow's airline safety challenges: Former NTSB member John Lauber of Delta Air Lines, on how airline safety can be improved; Christopher Hart, FAA assistant administrator for system safety, on FAA's regulatory role; Flight Safety Foundation President Stuart Mathews on initiatives he'd like to see; and John O'Brien of the Air Line Pilots Association with labor's views.
Comair Holdings posted net earnings of $14.09 million, or 48 cents per share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30, an increase of nearly 75% from its profit of $8.09 million, or 27 cents per share, a year earlier. The Delta Connection carrier's operating profit jumped more than 81%, to nearly $23 million from $12.7 million, as total revenues rose 23.7% and operating costs increased 14.2%. The September quarter is the second in Comair's fiscal year, and the carrier's six-month net earnings were $30.7 million, or $1.04 per share. The operating profit was $49.2 million.
Northwest is seeking renewal of its scheduled service between points in the U.S. and Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Accra, Ghana; Bahrain, and Sanaa, Yemen. The service is being operated via Amsterdam, under its code-sharing arrangement with KLM. (Docket OST-95-741)
Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp. yesterday reported a third quarter operating profit of $1.12 million, an increase of 11.1% from the previous year's September quarter profit of nearly $1.01 million. The United Express carrier's operating revenues and operating expenses both were up 20%. The airline did not report a net income figure. Through the first nine months of this year, the carrier had an operating profit of $2.83 million. 3rd Qtr 95 3rd Qtr 94 9 Mths 95 9 Mths 94
Aerosur has applied for renewal of its exemption to operate non-scheduled service between Montevideo, Uruguay, and Miami and to engage in charter cargo service. Because of commercial considerations, the carrier does not currently operate service to the U.S., but it wants to keep the authority if it decides to resume service. (Docket 46913&OST-95-740)
Baltia Air Lines, a would-be U.S. flag startup carrier that has not been able to get off the ground with its long-planned flight operations to points in the former Soviet Union, yesterday said it has signed a letter of intent with a Colorado brokerage firm to do Baltia's initial public offering. Baltia, which now says it "will provide the first-ever nonstop, direct passenger and cargo service, on an exclusive basis, starting in the spring of 1996" between New York Kennedy and St.
Moody's Investors Service yesterday assigned a below-investment-grade Ba3 rating to Coltec Industries' $415 million revolving credit facility. The rating reflects the fact that obligations under the facility are secured by substantially all of Coltec's assets "equally and ratably within the company's 11.25% secured debentures rated Ba3," Moody's said.
Northwest Airlines Corp. has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a registration statement for a secondary offering of about 8.4 million shares of the airline company's Class A common stock. All shares to be sold will be offered by either Bankers Trust or the Northwest Airlines Corp. Employee Stock Plan. Northwest itself will not be selling any of the shares. Northwest has about 110 million shares of Class A stock outstanding, about 20 million shares of which are publicly traded.
Air Cargo Express has begun scheduled all-cargo service between Fairbanks and Barrow, Alaska. The new carrier operates four weekly flights on the route, using former U.S. Air Force C-118 or DC-6 aircraft resurrected from the Arizona desert. "We'll be acquiring additional DC-6s, adding employees, and developing a statewide route system," said Robert Everts, president.
The government of Bolivia sold half of Lloyd Aero Boliviano (LAB) to Brazilian carrier VASP late last week, according to DAILY affiliate Aviation Latin America&Caribbean. The sale went through after the failure of last-minute efforts to attract interest from LanChile. LAB's pilots promptly went on strike to protest the sale, but the government said the deal is final, Aviation Latin America&Caribbean reported.
American said it plans to begin its recently awarded Miami/New York- Vancouver services March 2, 1996. One of six carriers receiving new Vancouver frequencies last week (DAILY, Oct. 19), American will operate one daily roundtrip on both routes, using Boeing 757 aircraft. Also, American's code-sharing partner, Canadian Airlines International, will place its designator code on the flights, as it does on American's current service between Dallas/Fort Worth and Vancouver.
LanChile applied for renewal of its authority to serve Asuncion, Paraguay, as an intermediate point in its scheduled all-cargo service between Santiago, Chile, and Miami. The carrier also requested blind-sector authority to commingle traffic moving between Santiago and Asuncion with traffic moving in foreign transportation. LanChile operates three weekly flights in the market using DC-8 aircraft. (Docket 49826&OST-95-720)
The U.S. government decided last week to end aviation bilateral talks with the U.K. after the British insisted on phased service to London Heathrow to the exclusion of some U.S. gateway cities. The U.K. government's proposal offered one London Heathrow and two London Gatwick opportunities beginning next summer, and a second to Heathrow in 1997. Those services would have been limited to a maximum of one daily flight for two years, however. Industry sources said TWA would have been the big loser if the deal had gone forward.
MarkAir's unsecured creditors committee has filed with an Anchorage bankruptcy court a motion for the sale of the Chapter 11 carrier's Denver operations. B&T Flyer Holdings, a Delaware corporation, wants to buy MarkAir, and the value of the carrier's assets, expected to be about $8.2 million, is being assessed and should be determined by the end of this month.
BWIA International Airways is launching its own frequent flyer program for Caribbean travelers. BWIA said it will retain its relationship as a partner in Continental's OnePass program, enabling OnePass members to earn and redeem awards on BWIA. Continental will join BWIA's program, enabling BWIA frequent flyers to earn free flights to hundreds of cities throughout Continental's route system. BWIA program members will earn at least 500 miles on every BWIA flight, and members paying full coach fares will receive a 15% mileage bonus.
Adopted an AD on certain Fokker F28 Mark 0100 series aircraft requiring a visual inspection to detect damage to the flexible fuel drain line of the auxiliary power unit, and the installation of two additional clamps to secure the drain line to the APU fuel supply line.
Superseded an airworthiness directive on Schweitzer and Hughes Helicopters Model 269A, 269A-1, 269B, 269C and TH- 55A helicopters with certain main rotor drive shafts, amending inspection requirements.
Superseded an AD on Airbus Industrie A300 series aircraft, providing for modifications to relax or terminate requirements for repetitive inspections for cracking of the No. 2 flap beams.
