Southwest, in an effort to show it is "The California airline," has lowered its seven-day advance-purchase fare for intra-California travel to $39. The fares are good from the Los Angeles basin - Los Angeles, Burbank and Ontario - or San Diego to Sacramento or the Bay Area cities of Oakland and San Jose. They also apply to San Diego-San Francisco. Southwest also has cut the price of travel from Portland or Seattle to California. Portland-Oakland, for example, is now $59, down from $89, and San Diego- Seattle has dropped to $89 from $164.
Arrow Air appointed Gerald Hulsizer Northeast district manager. Emery Worldwide appointed Richard Friedl director-sales and business development for Asia/Pacific and Robert Hilburn director-sales and business development for Europe and Latin America.
USAir unions must be watching the situation with anxiety. Labor was unable to reach concession deals with Schofield, considered a workers' chairman, and now faces the prospect of a less labor-friendly chairman. With Schofield's resignation, "the unions lost their last best chance for a relatively amicable negotiating process," according to NatWest analyst Vivian Lee. Tipping the balance further is shareholder British Airways' previously stated opposition to union representation on USAir's board.
ValuJet and the Association of Flight Attendants are meeting today to set the stage for negotiating a collective bargaining agreement. The flight attendants, who voted for AFA representation in June, are the only unionized employees at the carrier (DAILY, June 2). AFA statements Friday indicated the talks could start on an acrimonious note. The union says it will propose the same contract terms as those governing attendants at Southwest, which it called a strong contract, yet one that will give the company work rule flexibility to help it remain competitive.
House Transportation Committee Friday approved the highway bill (H.R.2274), which includes legislation taking the transportation trust funds off budget.
Air Canada Chairman Hollis Harris was one of several longtime airline executives mentioned last week as possible candidates to succeed outgoing USAir Chairman Seth Schofield. Harris, who has less than 18 months left on his five-year contract with Air Canada and maintains a home in Atlanta, was quoted by the Charlotte Observer as saying through his secretary that he "might be interested" in the USAir job, if contacted.
DOT Friday granted, on an interim basis, a stay of its determination that the City of Los Angeles may not charge a landing fee at Los Angeles Airport based in part on the fair market value rather than the historic cost of the airfield and apron land. The department said it is granting the temporary stay because an escrow agreement negotiated with the airlines will protect the airlines' rights pending resolution by the federal appeals court of the city's challenge to DOT's earlier decision. (Docket 50176, OST-95-474).
Airports are generally pleased with DOT and FAA's proposal to limit the mandated use of historic-cost valuation to airfield assets and to lift the historic-cost cap on aeronautical facilities, but airlines promised a fight over the issue (DAILY, Sept. 8). ACI-NA President George Howard, who called the modifications "very sensible," said the new language "goes a long way towards alleviating the serious concerns raised by the airport community regarding the Feb. 3 policy.
Delta's systemwide passenger traffic fell 2.8% last month from August a year ago on 0.4% less capacity, resulting in a load factor decline of 1.7 percentage points to 70.5%. The number of passengers boarded declined 4.7%. Domestic traffic fell 1.9% despite a 1.3% increase in capacity, and international traffic was off 5% on 5.5% less capacity. Delta said August traffic last year was buoyed by lower fares in many markets.
Federal Express has started direct flights between Kaohsiung and Taipei, using a widebody Airbus A310. The all-cargo service is offered five times a week. The new route was inaugurated Sept. 4 at ceremonies presided over by Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Huang Juin-yin and Timothy Neely of the economic section of the American Institute in Taiwan.
Air Transport Association has been "incapable of paying a meaningful role" in drafting FAA reform legislation despite repeated requests for input, said Rep. Jim Lightfoot (R-Iowa), co-sponsor of FAA reform legislation (H.R.2276). Responding to comments by ATA President Carol Hallett that the bill "only tinkers on the edges of reform," he questioned whether ATA still "harbors a misguided belief" that Congress will turn control of the air traffic control system over to the airline industry (DAILY, Sept. 8).
Hawaiian carrier Mahalo Air has appointed Michael Yocum president. He will retain his title of chief operating officer. Although he is not the first president - an investor held the position in name only when the carrier applied for a certificate - he is the first to be responsible for day-to- day operations, accounting, finance, marketing and administration, which have been Chief Executive Mike Nekoba's duties.
Cathay Pacific will relocate its flight training facilities to Australia and the U.K. by mid-1998 because a growing number of its pilots outside Hong Kong live overseas, particularly in those two countries, Cathay said last week. The Hong Kong-based airline said 50% of its pilots will be living outside Hong by 2002. Also, the current site of Cathay's flight operations ground training school at Kai Tak is not available as a long-term location because the area will be redeveloped when the new Chek Lap Kok Airport is opened and Kai Tak is closed.
Air Canada, in a joint promotion with Swedish automobile maker Volvo, is offering members of its Aeroplan frequent flyer program the opportunity to win a new Volvo 850 GLT Sportswagon by flying Air Canada or one of its Connector carriers until Dec. 31. Conversely, until Oct. 31, buyers and lessees of new Volvos will earn 25,000 Aeroplan miles, which is enough to fly anywhere in North America on Air Canada and its partner airlines. The Volvo company builds cars in Nova Scotia.
- Granted orally an exemption to Pacific International Airlines to continue to wet-lease Boeing 727 equipment to Air Caribbean for all-cargo operations between Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, and Miami. The flight will be routed Panama City-Curacao-Miami at a maximum frequency of two round-trips per week...Granted orally an exemption to Mexicana to engage in scheduled combination service between Morelia, Mexico, and Chicago...Granted orally an exemption to Turks Air Ltd.
Malaysia Airlines and Canadian Airlines International plan to code share on flights between Vancouver and Kuala Lumpur via Taipei, beginning this fall. The two weekly flights will be operated with a Malaysia Airlines 747-400. Malaysia Airlines reserves the option of adding a third weekly flight if passenger loads are satisfactory.
Allied Pilots Association says it has reached a tentative agreement with American Airlines that provides the job security protections necessary to prevent jobs from going to code-sharing partner Canadian Airlines International or other foreign code-sharing partners. The pilots meet tomorrow with top managers to discuss what they say is still a "problematic" situation - agreements with Reno Air and Midway Airlines to feed the carrier.
Delta and its three European partners - Swissair, Sabena and Austrian - filed a joint application Friday for antitrust immunity, so they can expand their marketing relationships. The application came three days after Belgium signed its open skies agreement with the U.S. An open skies regime is a prerequisite for antitrust immunity (DAILY, Sept. 7). If approved, the international alliance would become the second to gain the immunity after the Northwest/KLM deal in 1992.
Continental Express August traffic was down 7.5% to 74.6 million revenue passenger miles as the carrier and its parent continue to cut unprofitable routes from the schedule. Express also flew 8.6% fewer available seat miles, for a total of 139.2 million, during the month, compared with August 1994, while load factor rose 0.6 points to 53.6%.
United Express Affiliate Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp. this week announced a peak ski flight schedule to Aspen, Colo., effective Dec. 20 calling for 12 daily departures and as many as 17 each day over the weekend. In making the announcement, carrier President and Chief Executive Geoff Crowley praised the new Denver Airport for the easy connections it has made possible and noted the coming availability of electronic ticketing on United Express flights.
Malaysia Airlines has selected the Bovis, McClier and WTW joint venture to design and manage the carrier's ground support facilities at the Kuala Lumpur Airport, scheduled to open Jan. 1, 1998. The McClier Aviation Group is based in Chicago, Bovis International in London and WTW in Malaysia.
Canadian Airlines International plans to "significantly" increase its winter flying this year, particularly from its Vancouver and Toronto hubs, as part its drive toward profitability. "We have a very determined strategy in place, which is to focus on strengthening those routes which are profitable," said Barbara Amster, CAI's new senior VP-marketing and sales, who recently joined the airline from partner American. "We've increased transborder flight frequencies from 105 to 833 per week," she said.
The American Association of Airport Executives has established a World Wide Web (WWW) home page on the Internet, giving airport executives and the public access to electronic information offered by the association. Called AirportNet, the WWW site provides information on AAAE accreditation, the Airport News and Training Network, conferences and meetings, corporate relations, environmental affairs, federal affairs, membership, publications and regulatory affairs. The web site also provides data on the International Association of Airport Executives.
Alaska Air Group subsidiary Horizon Air flew 85 million revenue passenger miles last month, a 9% increase from the 78 million flown in August 1994. Capacity rose 19% to 134 million available seat miles, compared with last year's 112 million. As a result, the load factor dropped 6.3 percentage points to 63.2% from 69.5%. Enplanements rose to 378,000 from 370,600 in August 1994. Aug 1995 Aug 1994 8 Mths 1995 8 Mths 1994 RPMs 85,000,000 78,000,000 561,000,000 464,000,000
