DOT yesterday selected American to provide scheduled combination service in the Los Angeles-Guadalajara market, reversing its tentative decision awarding the route to United. With its newly gained authority, American will begin operating a single daily roundtrip on the route by Aug. 16, an airline spokesman said, increasing to three daily flights Aug. 31. The service will be operated with MD-80s. The final order comes after a fierce battle between American and United to replace Alaska as the second designated carrier on the route.
Worldspan said it and QuikTix Corp. have launched the travel industry's first nationwide, multiple-option electronic ticket delivery network product. Electronic Courier offers airline and rail ticket delivery by same-day courier, airport pickup, overnight standard or priority express. Ticket deliveries are made via QuikTix locations throughout the U.S. for a fee starting at $7.50 per ticket, added to Worldspan's monthly subscriber invoices. No minimum transactions are required, and travel agencies retain full credit for all sales.
Aerolineas Argentinas says its ski packages, offered to North Americans through selected tour operators starting at $995, was such a success that bookings far exceeded expectations. Argentina's slopes are at their best June through September, its winter season, and the carrier operates to the Andean region each day from Miami and New York and six times a week from Los Angeles. Passengers connect to Las Lenas, Bariloche and Chapelco at Buenos Aires.
Stephen Carey has resigned as president and chief executive of the International Association of Convention&Visitor Bureaus (IACVB). He will remain as a consultant to the board and be a part-time consultant for Service Quality Management Resources while he searches for a CEO position in association management. IACVB Chairman William Grimmer, executive director of the Portland, Ore., Visitors Association, said Carey was instrumental in IACVB's transition from being run by an association management firm to one with a full-time staff relocated to Washington, D.C.
SkyWest Airlines and Continental signed a code-sharing deal yesterday by which the smaller carrier will begin carrying the Continental code as Continental Connection on flights this fall out of Los Angeles. The code share will not affect SkyWest's operations as a Delta Connection carrier.
Macau is minting coins in honor of its new airport, scheduled to open Nov. 9, the Portuguese news agency LUSA reports. Macau will issue 5,000 22- carat gold coins with a face value of $125, and 8,000 silver coins.
Passenger traffic on intra-European flights will grow 6.6% each year until 1999, according to estimates published by the Association of European Airlines. The five-year outlook "is for sustained growth in a relatively favorable economic climate, further stimulated by a continuing reduction in average fares as measured in real terms," the association said.
Boeing has denied published reports in Japan that the rise of the yen prompted the company to pull out of studies of the YS-X next-generation, small passenger airplane. Both Boeing and Japan are eager to produce a new, 100-passenger regional jet and have been working together to lay the groundwork for the project. But Japan's Yomiuri newspaper claimed that the YS-X has been postponed because the rise of the yen would make building it in Japan unprofitable, leading Boeing to back out of the study.
Continental's heavy summer traffic to popular destinations is good for the airline, but has been a drag for non-revenue-status passengers trying to return home. Last weekend 90 non-revs were stranded in San Francisco and 34 were "stuck" in Cancun, some up to five days.
Frontier Airlines is terminating service in four markets, inaugurating service to Chicago and Phoenix and changing its fleet plans. The carrier will end flights from Denver to four Montana cities - Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls and Missoula - Sept. 25 in favor of using its 737-200s in two new higher-demand markets - Denver-Chicago Midway and Denver-Phoenix.
Top 25 Domestic City-Pairs Markets O&D Passengers Fourth Quarter 1994 1994 1993 Average Market Market Passenger Top Carrier Rank Rank City-Pair Per Day (% Share) 1 1 Chicago - New York 8,226 United (40.8) 2 2 Honolulu - Kahului 7,267 Aloha (51.3)
Top 25 Domestic City-Pairs Markets O&D Passengers The Year 1994 1994 1993 Average Market Market Passengers Top Carrier Rank Rank City-Pair Per Day (% Share) 1 2 Chicago - New York 7,784 United (40.5) 2 1 Honolulu - Kahului 7,349 Aloha (56.4)
The U.S. Virgin Islands was picked as the Caribbean destination of choice by 550,000 readers of the Caribbean Vacation Planner, according to a recent study conducted by BatesUSA advertising for the Caribbean Coalition for Tourism. The U.S. Virgin Islands was named by 100% of the respondents as a specific destination of interest, and one that would be considered for a vacation.
Air Line Pilots Association at Delta filed yesterday in Los Angeles District Court for an injunction to prevent the airline from transferring operations to Delta Connection carriers that use smaller airplanes and non- Delta pilots.
United said yesterday it presumes this week's announcement of the Delta-All Nippon Airlines agreement (DAILY, Aug. 2) means that the two carriers "have received assurances from the Japanese Ministry of Transport that Japan is finally prepared to recognize U.S. rights under the current agreement and is looking to thereafter expand upon those rights for both Japanese and U.S. carriers."
Newark-based Kiwi International Air Lines and Air South, Columbia, S.C., are considering a cooperation agreement for joint ticketing and passenger service arrangements, according to a Kiwi spokeswoman. Discussions are continuing, and no agreement has been reached.
The Global Positioning System Standard Positioning Service (SPS) Signal Specification is available, DOT announced yesterday. The specification, developed under an agreement with the Defense Department, defines GPS performance standards for signal accuracy and availability for civil users, and the conditions under which they will be maintained. It provides for less accuracy than the positioning used by the U.S. military and its allies. The SPS Signal Specification is available in electronic form from the U.S.
Delta and All Nippon Airways yesterday announced plans for a broadly based business and marketing alliance, including a code-sharing/blocked-space agreement. Pending government approval, the carriers plan to operate 13 code-share flights a week between Los Angeles and Tokyo Narita Airport, seven on ANA 747-400 aircraft and six on Delta MD-11s. Currently, both offer separate service on the route. Also, in advance of the award of new Osaka-U.S.
Back from a recent fact-finding trip to the U.K., including a tour of London Heathrow Airport, Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) offered an optimistic assessment in the Senate of the potential for U.S. airlines to gain additional access to Heathrow.
Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) said yesterday he has asked the National Transportation Safety Board and the General Accounting Office to investigate computer tracking malfunctions at five air traffic control centers and report by Sept. 6. NTSB Chairman Jim Hall, in a letter to Simon, said the board "shares your concern and has been actively monitoring and tracking these outages, particularly at the New York and Chicago centers, since May of this year." Hall said the board's Chicago office began an investigation following the May 17 outage at the Chicago center.
U.S. all-cargo carriers are contending for access to new service opportunities in the U.S.-Peru market opened up by the recent agreement between the two countries. Struck May 5, the pact increased the number of all-cargo frequencies available from five to 11, immediately, and to 14 on Nov. 1, 1996. In its U.S.-Peru All-Cargo Service Proceeding, instituted in July, DOT consolidated existing bids for Peru service from Arrow Air, Fine Airlines, Millon Air and incumbent Challenge Air Cargo.
House Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) said yesterday that legislation (H.R.842) to take the transportation trust funds off- budget now has 220 co-sponsors - two more than a majority of House members. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Pa.) has named three new members to his transportation task force: Reps. Susan Molinari (R-N.Y.), Bob Franks (R- N.J.) and David Hobson (R-Ohio).
Continental's Senior VP-strategic business units and chief information officer, Daniel Garton, is going back to work for AMR Corp. as president of AMR Eagle. Garton is replacing Robert Martens, who left Eagle recently to pursue other opportunities (DAILY, July 24).
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Revenues and Expenses The Year 1994 (In Dollars) Total Operating % Passenger Carrier Revenues Change Revenues American 4,320,541,000 10.52 3,639,556,000 Atlantic 1,838,859,000 10.82 1,469,710,000 Latin 2,134,245,000 13.01 1,896,349,000
