Interactive Flight Technologies has signed an agreement with seven film distributors to provide digitized films for inflight viewing as part of the In-Flight Entertainment Network, installed on an Alitalia MD-11 for a 90- day test. Passengers will be able to select up to 30 movies, which they can start, pause and stop at any time. Alitalia intends to install the system in seven more airplanes. The agreements were signed with Warner Brothers, MGM/United Artists, Paramount, Turner Home Entertainment, EIM, Jaguar Distribution and Swank Worldwide.
AirWays Corp. subsidiary AirTran Airways has signed a letter of intent with CIT to purchase the airline's ninth 737-200, and has canceled its LOI to lease to 737-200s from Pacific Aviation Corp. The 737 being acquired is configured for 126 passengers and is powered by Pratt&Whitney JT8D-9A engines. It is expected to be delivered in January and will enter service in February.
It's official: ValuJet has signed a $1 billion deal with McDonnell Douglas to become the launch customer of the 100-seat, twin-engine MD-95. After six weeks of negotiations with Boeing, Airbus Industrie and McDonnell Douglas - and earlier with Fokker - ValuJet agreed to buy 50 of the aircraft and took options on 50 more. ValuJet President Lewis Jordan said both the airline and McDonnell Douglas consider the deal to be a 100- aircraft order. "We expect to take them all," he said. First delivery is 42 months away.
Southwest yesterday posted third quarter net earnings of $67.7 million, or 45 cents per share, and an operating profit of $114.1 million, but Chairman Herbert Kelleher was decidedly less optimistic about fourth quarter prospects than other U.S. industry executives have been over the last few days. "Our fourth quarter outlook is cautious," he said. "Bookings have not been strong for post-September travel.
Standard&Poor's yesterday revised its outlook on TWA's CCC rated senior secured debt to positive from developing because of the company's improved operating performance and its completion of a $55 million equity rights offering. Noting that TWA's cash position as of Sept. 30 was $251 million, not including proceeds from the equity rights offering, S&P said the carrier's enhanced liquidity and a relatively stable industry environment ease previous concerns about a possible cash shortfall during the winter.
U.S. and U.K. officials resumed talks yesterday in Washington. Both sides had expressed some expectation of reaching agreement on some issues during the current round, which began Monday. But they failed to make much progress - if any at all - during the first three days, according to industry officials. Operating without a deadline, the two sides may meet again today, a DOT spokesman said.
Sterling, Va.-based United Express affiliate Atlantic Coast Airlines posted a record net profit of $5.95 million, or 61 cents per share fully diluted, for the third quarter, the company announced. In the same 1994 quarter, the company reported a net loss of $5.97 million, or 87 cents per share. Third quarter operating revenues totaled $43.9 million, compared with $43.1 million the third quarter of 1994. Operating expenses reached $37.4 million versus $48.4 million - including restructuring charges of $4.8 million - in 1994.
TWA yesterday reported a third quarter operating profit of $45.8 million and a net loss of $82 million, and confirmed that it has talked to Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and Airbus about acquiring new airplanes. The results would have been substantially better except for a $57.5 million charge covering shares distributed to employees as part of the company's financial restructuring. Excluding the charge, operating expenses dropped 10.4%, nearly $100 million below those of the 1994 quarter, as TWA rationalized its route structure. Operating revenues declined 3.1%.
The essential air service program apparently will be funded at $22.6 million during fiscal 1996 - a reduction of $10.8 million from the fiscal 1995 level. The House had proposed $15 million but required that communities provide matching funds while the Senate had recommended $26.7 million.
U.S. Major and National Carriers Maintenance Expenses Second Quarter 1995 % Of Total Operating Systemwide Expenses America West $ 29,505,626 8.45 American 343,561,000 9.76 Continental 133,649,000 11.28
Greenwich Air Services received an equity infusion as $3.74 million of its 88% convertible subordinated debentures had been converted into the company's common stock as of Oct. 9. This represents about 22% of the $17 million of debentures issued in connection with the company's initial public offering in November 1993. As a result, Greenwich's annualized interest expense will be reduced by about $300,000 and the public float of its common stock has been increased by approximately 320,000 shares.
National Tour Association Executive VP James Host has been inducted into the Travel Industry Association's Travel Industry Hall of Leaders. Host took over leadership of NTA in 1974 when it had 275 members and an annual budget of $100,000. Today it has 3,800 corporate members and a $7 million a year budget.
Fokker has authorized Honeywell to add Global Positioning System technology to the Honeywell Flight Management System (FMS) for the Fokker 100 and 70 aircraft.
Alaska Air Group has elected George Bagley as the new president and chief executive of Seattle-based subsidiary Horizon Air. He replaces Kathleen Iskra, who is resigning to pursue other career opportunities. Bagley joined Alaska Airlines in 1993 as VP-flight operations after a stint as senior VP of operations at Horizon. Mike Swanigan will replace Bagley.
China Airlines reports that its sales rose 194% in August from year-earlier levels to US$1 70.4 million. For the first eight months of 1995, CAL reported sales of US$1.15 billion, an increase of 2% from the same period in 1994.
A fleet of 500 supersonic transports could spew as large a volume of aerosol particles into the upper atmosphere as a small volcanic eruption, boosting the impact of SST traffic on stratospheric ozone levels, direct measurements of the exhaust trail of an Air France Concorde has revealed. A NASA ER-2 aircraft equipped with a special instrument suite made the first direct measurements of SST exhaust last October in experiments near New Zealand, flying S-shaped patterns along the route followed by the Concorde as it flew at Mach 2.
The Honeywell/Racal Satcom venture's multi-channel satellite communications system was certificated this month by Germany's Luftfahrt Bundesamt and the European Joint Airworthiness Authority on a Swissair Airbus A320. The partners said Swissair thus becomes the first airline in the world to begin equipping its medium/short-haul fleet for airborne satellite communications service. The type certification work was performed by Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus Hamburg. Swissair has ordered the systems for its fleet of 29 A319s, A320s and A321s.
Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) will hold its annual awards competition for tourism professionals, educators and students June 16-19 in Las Vegas. Entries must be received by March 1. Five awards will be handed out, with prizes that include cash awards of up to $1,500. Awards will go to a travel and tourism research paper by a student enrolled in a university degree program and the best doctoral dissertation on a subject directly related to travel and tourism, among others.
SatoTravel has been awarded a corporate travel contract by the 3M manufacturing company worth $84 million, and a combined contract worth $16 million for travel services by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California. The Arlington, Va.-based company entered the commercial travel market in 1994.
United Parcel Service has reached an outsourcing agreement with TeleTech Inc. to staff and manage multiple new call center facilities nationwide. The Denver-based TeleTech will provide work force management services to UPS, which is restructuring its customer service operations. TeleTech initially will hire 2,400 people to staff and manage the centers. About 200 of those will be management employees. The first centers are scheduled to open in early spring.
Key West Hilton Resort and Marina will open Dec. 31. The 178-room resort will have 5,200 square feet of meeting space, accommodating up to 300 people for banquets and up to 500 for meetings. The resort brings to 24 the number of Hilton properties in Florida.
Organizers of the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism, to be held Oct. 30-31, want the event to be a springboard for more work on unifying the industry and intensifying efforts by the public and private sectors to build travel and tourism in the U.S. Regional delegates will participate in an interactive voting process to refine the National Tourism Strategy, issued this week, which will serve as a blueprint for economic growth, travel promotion and job creation (DAILY, Oct. 18).
Alaska Air Group (AAG) yesterday posted net earnings of $27.4 million, or $1.30 per share on a fully diluted basis, and an operating profit of $62.6 million in what the airline company said was the most profitable third quarter in its history. In the same quarter last year, AAG had an operating profit of $52.3 million and net earnings of $24.3 million, or $1.36 per share on fully diluted basis.
