The European Union's competition authority approved a proposed regional aircraft joint venture between British Aerospace and the French/Italian partnership Avions de Transport Regional (ATR) - but for only five years. The European Commission said the international consortium would not seriously reduce or eliminate competition.
Minneapolis-based Mesaba Aviation, a Northwest Airlink affiliate, has named industry veteran Darrell Richardson as VP and chief operating officer for the carrier. Richardson, who had been senior VP-operations for Express Airlines I and had held many other positions at regional airlines, will assume the operating duties formerly held by John Fredericksen, who was named VP-finance, administration and general counsel for Mesaba Airlines and Mesaba's parent company, Mesaba Holdings, Inc.
DOT has extended Air Midwest's obligation to continue operating essential air service at Topeka, Kan., 30 days through Oct. 15, or until a carrier that can provide the EAS begins the service, whichever occurs first. The carrier, operating as USAir Express, originally told DOT it intended to halt its Beech 1900 service at Topeka on July 11, but it was required to continue the service until Sept. 15 (DAILY, Aug. 11). DOT said it has not yet received any service proposals, however.
The U.S. scheduled airline industry flew 1.9% more revenue passenger miles last month than in August a year ago, according to the Air Transport Association (ATA). The industry's capacity rose 0.7%, while its passenger enplanements declined 1.3%. The load factor gained 0.9 percentage points, to 73.6%. U.S. airlines' domestic traffic rose 1.1% on 0.1% more capacity, and their international traffic increased 3.7% on 2.4% more capacity.
Delta is expanding its schedule from Atlanta to Dallas/Fort Worth and Washington National Dec. 1 to increase convenience for business travelers throughout the day. It is adding eight flights a day to DFW for a total of 18, and eight return flights for a total of 17. Departures from Atlanta to Washington will leave at 25 minutes past the hour and all flights from Washington at 55 minutes after the hour. It is offering 13 flights throughout the day.
United has applied for renewal of its authority to operate scheduled combination services between Atlanta, Houston and Tampa and points in the Cayman Islands, under a code-share pact with Cayman Airways. (Docket 49851&OST-95-556)
Kansas City-based jet startup Vanguard Airlines has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering (IPO) of two million shares of common stock. Assuming an offering price of $6 per share, the company expects to net $10.86 million for use as working capital, including reduction of indebtedness, reduction of accounts payable and expenditures related to the maintenance and fleet expansion.
No costs too small to cut: Alaska Airlines expects to save $250,000 over the next five years under a contract signed with Seattle Office Systems for maintenance of its 110 photocopy machines. Thirty-seven machines are being replaced and the rest rebuilt. Accountants figured the airline makes 38,500 copies a day at an average cost of 2.5 cents each.
McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and MD-80 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day First Quarter 1995 DC-9-30 Continental Northwest Number of Aircraft Operated 31 79 Total Fleet Operations Departures 188 402 Block Hours 259 653
Arinc said it received a contract to install the first air-to-ground data link system in China. The contract, with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, is part of a nationwide air transportation infrastructure modernization, Arinc said. The system will permit data- link-equipped aircraft to communicate with air traffic control centers and airline operations offices.
China Airlines realized a gross profit of more than NT$861.5 million (US$31.3 million) on the sale of part of its holding in domestic Taiwan carrier Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) to Taiwan Aerospace Corp. and Fubon Insurance. CAL said it plans to use the money to acquire aircraft and for other investments. With an 18.95% stake in FAT, CAL sold 4.95% to TAC and 4% to Fubon Insurance, retaining 10% of the smaller airline.
Boeing 757 and 767 Systemwide Aircaft Utilization Per Day First Quarter 1995 B757-200 America West American Number of Aircraft Operated 13 82 Total Fleet Operations Departures 57 262 Block Hours 171 832
The chairman and founder of Evergreen Corp., the parent of EVA Airways, has resigned as chairman of the airline unit in a move described by the company as a demonstration of "strong confidence" in the hand-picked team of executives that heads the six-year-old carrier. Y.F. Chang will step aside at EVA on Oct. 1 but will continue to oversee all of the Evergreen Group, concentrating more on the parent company's worldwide operations and services. Effective Oct.
Twenty-five Fiesta Americana and Fiesta Inn Hotels and Resorts in Mexico will offer American Airlines AAdvantage benefits, effective Oct. 1. Members will earn 500 miles for each qualifying stay at Fiesta Americana hotels, luxury properties at Mexican beaches and in major cities, and 250 miles per stay at Fiesta Inn, designed for frequent business travelers. AAdvantage will offer double miles Oct. 1 through Dec. 20.
Delta will halt its Portland-Taipei-Bangkok service, effective Dec. 1. The Atlanta carrier is the third major U.S. airline to terminate or reduce Taiwan service following Northwest's cancellation of its Taipei-Seoul route and United's termination of Taipei-Bangkok and Taipei-Tokyo routes.
Lufthansa, considering foreign domiciles for its flight attendants as a cost-cutting measure, is focusing on Bangkok, Delhi and four U.S. cities - New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago - according to Association of Flight Attendants National President Patricia Friend, who has been in touch with her German labor counterparts. The airline said it has established a base in Bangkok, but could not confirm it is considering the U.S. sites. Lufthansa partner United has domiciles in all four of the U.S. cities.
Official Airline Guides has developed OAG HotelDisk, a travel-planning database with mapping software that enables users to find hotels and chart ground itineraries. Hotels can be selected by any combination of 30 different amenity preferences, and the software finds all acceptable hotels in a specified area. The user can then find detailed information about the facility, as well as frequent flyer benefits, new airline partnerships and other topics of interest. OAG will update HotelDisk quarterly and make it available in two versions - Metro and North American.
Air France carried 48.8% of passengers between New York and Paris between April 1 and July 31, Chairman Christian Blanc said recently, followed by TWA at 15.2%, Continental at 12.4%, American at 10.2%, Delta at 6.9% and Tower Air at 6.5%.
Value Rent-A-Car is offering hourly car rentals that begin at 99 cents an hour. The offer is good at 46 locations in Florida, Atlanta, Denver, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Phoenix and Tucson. Value, the only rental car company with hourly rentals, believes the promotion will give it a "highly memorable marketing niche." No other companies have matched the offering.
Papeete, Tahiti, is recovering from riots sparked by French nuclear testing in the South Pacific. Some inner-city shops and hotels shut down for several days last week due to firebombings, while the airport closed to normal traffic after crowds set the terminal on fire and burned cars in the parking lot. Tourism officials claim travelers were kept away from riot areas, but they concede it will be hard to regain the confidence of tourists and rebuild Tahiti's image as a beautiful, peaceful destination.
Boeing 757/767 Aircraft Operating Costs First Quarter 1995 Dollars Per Block Hours B757-200 America American Continental West Crew Cost $282 $605 $414 Fuel&Oil 576 550 551 Rentals 627 395 1,140
FlightSafety's board authorized the repurchase of an additional four million shares of common stock, doubling the size of the company's stock buyback program. The company has repurchased 3.593 million shares of stock under 1993 authorizations to buy as many as four million shares. Funds from the program will come from existing cash, short-term investments and operations. FlightSafety currently has about 31.1 million shares outstanding. The FlightSafety board also approved an increased cash dividend of 14 cents per share, payable Nov.
DOT granted Continental authority yesterday to operate combination service between Houston and Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo and Huatulco, Mexico. Beginning Dec. 14, the carrier will operate three nonstop flights per week on both routes, using Boeing 737 aircraft. Continental noted that it is the only U.S. carrier serving Mexico from Houston, and the first to operate Houston- Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo nonstops. Aeromexico has begun operating one-stop service on the route.
The U.S. and Philippines began a critical round of negotiations yesterday in Washington that may determine whether air service between the two countries will continue to be governed by a bilateral agreement. Slated to last through Thursday, the talks will focus on one issue: whether temporary U.S. capacity limits set to expire in September 1996 will be extended. Pressing for continued limitations, Philippine officials face a monthend deadline to hammer out a new accord or abrogate the current bilateral with the U.S.
