Boeing named Dinesh Keshkar, formerly its director of sales for the Indian subcontinent, as president of Boeing India, based in Bombay. "It is clear that with the rapid growth of the Indian carriers, additional support by Boeing would assist India's goals of a safe and profitable aviation industry," said Ron Woodard, Boeing Commercial president. He said Boeing recently expanded fleet support, assisted with aviation industry and infrastructure development, and provided airline support programs for maintenance and flight crew training in India.
Austrian Airlines, Swissair and Lufthansa suspended service to Zagreb, Croatia, late last week as the political situation in Croatia worsened. Swissair and Lufthansa diverted their Zagreb flights to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, from which the passengers are traveling by bus to Zagreb, a three-hour trip. Austrian already serves Ljubljana but has not added capacity to the service, a carrier spokesman said.
Delta posted a 5.1% traffic decline in July, compared with July 1994, when it set traffic records because of lower fares. Available seat miles fell 0.4% to 11.309 billion, and the load factor dropped 3.4 percentage points. July 1995 July 1994 7 Months 1995 7 Months 1994 RPMs 7,799,795,000 8,217,877,000 49,389,629,000 49,748,572,000 ASMs 11,308,673,000 11,351,747,000 75,820,675,000 75,535,647,000 LF (%) 68.9 72.3 65.1 65.8
British Airways achieved its highest-ever passenger load factor in July, 80.8%, and its fifth consecutive month of record load factors. The carrier's revenue passenger miles increased 8.2% during the month, compared with July 1994, on 6% more capacity. Traffic was up 9.5% on long-haul and 3% on short-haul routes. BA said its cargo ton miles fell 0.5%, reflecting continued payload restrictions out of Southeast Asia. July 1995 July 1994 Revenue Passenger Miles 5,706,000 5,273,000
The Senate Appropriations Committee Friday withdrew from the DOT appropriations bill measures that would have allowed for a $2 increase in passenger facility charges and extended the coverage of the Railway Labor Act to airlines and flight crews outside the U.S. (DAILY, Aug. 4). Committee Chairman Mark Hatfield (R-Ore.) said that since the transportation subcommittee markup Wednesday, the debate on PFCs "has been particularly charged.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis has confirmed TWA's prepackaged reorganization plan, paving the way for the carrier's emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by mid-August. TWA said the plan, filed June 30 with the support of its creditors and labor leaders, should reduce outstanding debt by $500 million and interest expenses by about $50 million.
AlliedSignal Aerospace named Robert Choulet senior VP-business strategy and James Robinson president-AlliedSignal Engines. Avatar Alliance, L.P. named Michael Moore VP-marketing, sales and service, Rawleigh Tremain VP-Atlanta operations and Frederic Smith VP-human resources, at its Atlanta operations center. Aviall Dallas Engine Services appointed Stephen Ratcliffe general manager-CFM International Aero Engines' V2500 engine product lines.
DOT is prohibiting Flagship Airlines, operating as American Eagle, from suspending service at Tuscaloosa, Ala., for 30 days beyond the expiration of the carrier's 90-day notice period, or until another carrier begins service to the community. Flagship told DOT it intends to drop the unsubsidized service as of Sept. 5. However, the carrier's plans spurred opposition from the community, which noted that it would be left without any service (DAILY, July 21).
Air Express International has created a new operating region in the southwestern U.S. in response to "dramatic expansion" of its business there. The region, based in Dallas, includes Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, El Paso, Laredo, Tulsa, Oklahoma City and New Orleans. The operation will be headed by Philip Walsh. Giorgio Laccona, VP-operations, said business has expanded with the acquisition of Radix Group, and "trans-border shipping activity with Mexico has picked up dramatically following the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement."
Top 25 Domestic City-Pair Markets Over 750 Miles O&D Passengers Fourth Quarter 1994 Long Total Average Haul Markets Non-Stop Passengers Rank Rank City-Pair Mileage Per Day 1 3 Los Angeles - New York 2,467 7,052 2 7 Miami - New York 1,097 5,476
A "predictable and sufficient flow of funds will be needed to meet aviation's needs" regardless of whether Congress establishes an air traffic control corporation or an independent FAA, the General Accounting Office's director of transportation issues, Kenneth Mead, said Wednesday as the Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee examined FAA reforms, including air traffic control modernization and the administration's proposed ATC corporation.
Aruba's Ministry of Transportation and Communications was scheduled to break ground yesterday for a new Westinghouse air traffic control system, including an extended range primary surveillance radar, a Mode S secondary radar and an automation system for approach control and tower operations. Westinghouse also is supplying a separate automation training system and spares. Operation of the system is to begin next February.
Mesa Air Group reported net income of $3.6 million, or 11 cents per share, in its third fiscal quarter, ended June 30, slightly less than half the $7.2 million, or 20 cents per share, for the comparable period one year earlier. Operating revenues totaled $117.9 million, compared with $101.8 million in the prior period. Yield - revenue per revenue passenger mile - dropped to 38.1 cents for the quarter from 39.7 cents. Revenue per available seat mile fell to 20.4 cents from 21.5 cents. Unit costs, meanwhile, rose to 19.2 cents per ASM from 18.8 cents.
MarkAir Express told DOT it intends to suspend service to Atka and Umnak Island (Nikolski), Alaska. The carrier has provided essential air service at Umnak Island using Beech 1900s for the past two years with an annual subsidy of $55,461. Noting that the EAS subsidy is nearing conclusion, DOT already has solicited bids for EAS at the location (DAILY, July 14). (Docket 43755&OST-95-363) (More regional aviation news follows Page 194 of the hard copy of this issue.)
E-Systems has completed flight tests at NASA's Ames Research Center showing that the Global Positioning System, augmented with Kinematic Carrier Phase Tracking technology, meets Category 3b autoland requirements. The company said the tests demonstrate a "promising solution to replace the existing instrument landing system."
ALPA suit filed this week to prevent Delta from transferring "operations of large jet aircraft" (BAe 146s) to Atlantic Southeast is only the tip of the iceberg in the deteriorating relations between pilot unions and their regional-pilot members. At AMR Eagle, flight crews have barred American pilots from the jump seat because of a new scope clause negotiated by the Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents American pilots. The clause limits any aircraft operated by regional affiliates to 70 passengers and 75,000 pounds.
The chairmen of the Senate Commerce Committee and its aviation subcommittee objected Wednesday to legislative changes regarding aviation in the Senate DOT appropriations bill, arguing that a number of measures relating to national aviation policy "are clearly within the purview" of their own committee (DAILY, Aug. 3).
Delta's route realignment, which would enable regional feeder Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) to operate more short-haul flying with larger aircraft, is the main reason its Air Line Pilots Association filed for an injunction against the airline Wednesday, seeking to stop the shift. The pilots object because ASA would fly 88-seat BAe 146s on some routes from Atlanta.
WorldCorp's second quarter net income jumped to $54.7 million, or $2.44 per share, from $578,000 in the same 1994 quarter. The company attributed the improvement to the higher operating income of World Airways - $11.4 million versus $6.9 million - and a gain of $48.9 million from the sale of US Order stock. Worldcorp Chief Executive Coleman Andrews said, "Within World Airways, the interaction of increased block hours, improved utilization, somewhat higher rates and cost reduction yielded a substantial increase in operating income.
When it decides on the proposed Lufthansa/SAS cooperation agreement, the European Commission will have three options, said an European Union spokeswoman - throw it out altogether, which she said will not happen; approve it unconditionally, or approve it with conditions. If it chooses the last option, the alliance will not be worked out before yearend, she said. The Commission soon will publish a summary of the cooperation agreement in the Commission's official journal, she said.
Canadian Airlines International and Alitalia announced yesterday they have formed a comprehensive alliance. Under the agreement, the two carriers will team to offer, beginning Nov. 1, year-round service between Canada and Italy. During the fall and winter, Canadian will operate up to seven weekly nonstop flights between Toronto and Rome, using 767 aircraft. The remainder of the year, Alitalia will provide six weekly 747-200 flights on the route. Both carrier designator codes will be displayed on all service. Currently, the two offer separate service on the route.
Good example of why airlines believe code sharing with foreign airlines is better than going it alone: Delta's July load factors on code-share flights with Virgin Atlantic were 96% in the London Heathrow-Los Angeles market, 94% for Heathrow-San Francisco and 93% for Gatwick-Boston.
AirTran Corp. reported record earnings of $1.4 million in the first quarter and record operating revenues of $44.6 million. The earnings were reversed in The DAILY, Aug. 3. (See related story on Page RA3 of the hard copy of this issue).
