Fine Airlines has applied for renewal of its authority to operate all-cargo service between Miami and the co-terminal points San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and Managua, Nicaragua. The carrier also seeks renewed authority to integrate this service with its existing authority to serve San Salvador, El Salvador, and Guatemala City, Guatemala. Fine currently operates twice- weekly service to San Pedro Sula and three weekly flights to Managua, using DC-8-50F aircraft. (Docket 49227&OST-95-503)
Air New Zealand will add a fifth weekly nonstop flight between Los Angeles and London Heathrow on Dec. 1. The carrier will operate all the flights with Boeing 747-400s.
Frontier Airlines chairman and co-founder M.C. Lund, 74, has retired. Sam Addoms, president and chief executive, said the carrier has no immediate plans to replace Lund on its board, which now comprises Addoms, who has been vice chairman, and outside directors B. LaRae Orullian and Paul Dempsey. Addoms said Lund's retirement "caps a 53-year career of distinguished service in the airline industry. In sparking the creation of Frontier, he was able to draw on his vast network of associates and friends gathered over these many years."
Air France admitted this week that cabin crew productivity improvement measures implemented last year have had some success but failed to meet all objectives. At the same time, the measures - which included increasing the number of working hours and reducing days off and consecutive rest days - have caused working conditions to deteriorate and increased fatigue among crews.
Gerald Baliles, former Virginia governor and chairman of the 1993 National Airline Commission, will be the keynote speaker at a workshop on aviation opportunities in Central/Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States, scheduled Oct. 15-17 in Warsaw. Other speakers are Barry Valentine, FAA assistant administrator for policy, planning and administration; Nicholas Rey, U.S. ambassador to Poland, and Boguslaw Liberadzki, Poland's minister of transport.
New owner Rolls-Royce has launched an effort to improve business processes and quality at its Allison Engine Co. subsidiary, but is leaving strategic areas and product lines alone for the moment. "They bought a business and a business plan," Allison chief Michael Hudson told DAILY affiliate Aerospace Propulsion during a visit last month. "The debt was retired, and we are executing to plan....The immediate focus Rolls is putting on is quality."
Nine regional stocks sold for an average of $12.49 per share at August's close, a gain of 24 cents from an average price of $12.26 at the end of July. Six of the nine stocks were negative, led by Delta Connection Atlantic Southeast, which was off $2.50 to $25 per share. It had been as high as $28.81 per share, but the carrier's fatal accident Aug. 21 appeared to have no impact on the stock price.
Northwest reported its highest load factor in company history in August - 80.8% , up 4.4 points from August 1994. The load factor slightly exceeded July's record, which rounded up to 80.8%. The carrier flew 6.4 billion revenue passenger miles, up from 5.82 billion in August 1994 on a 4.1% increase in capacity, mostly on its Pacific routes. The number of passengers enplaned jumped 11.4% to 4.84 million. John Dasburg, president and chief executive, said summer 1995 "will go down in history as one of the busiest in Northwest Airlines history."
Chase Manhattan Bank said yesterday it has been selected by China Southern Airlines to arrange $290 million in financing for the purchase of two 777-200B and one 737-300 aircraft to be delivered in November and December. The financing has three tranches: a $190 million loan guaranteed by the U.S. Export-Import Bank, a $36 million commercial loan guaranteed by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Japanese equity for the remainder. Chase said it is the Exim Bank arranger, underwriter and overall security agent.
Conquest Airlines is offering lower fares and an expanded schedule from St. Paul Downtown Holman Field to Chicago Midway. Flights have been increased from four to six Monday through Friday, with an additional flight on Sunday. One-way fares are as low as $59 on week-ends and from 6:30 p.m. to 8 :30 p.m. Monday-Friday from Chicago to St. Paul. The fare and time restriction also will apply to flights departing St. Paul, beginning Sept. 11.
Alaska Airlines passenger traffic rose 12.4% last month from August 1994 on 14.4% more capacity, causing the airline's load factor to slip 1.2 percentage points to 70.9%. The number of passengers boarded increased 11.8%. For eight months, passenger traffic was up 15.7% on 20% more capacity, depressing the load factor 2.3 points to 61.6%. The number of boardings rose 14.6%. August 1995 August 1994 8 Months 1995 8 Months 1994 RRPMs 949,000,000 844,000,000 5,767,000,000 4,985,000,000
Planned startup carrier Air Macau has been assigned the NS designator code by the International Air Transport Association. The airline is scheduled to launch flight operations on Nov. 9 from the $1 billion Macau Airport to destinations in Asia. The airport, which has been designated MFM by IATA, will be dedicated formally on Dec. 8, with Mario Soares, president of Portugal, officiating at the ceremonies. The Portuguese colony of Macau is slated to return to Chinese control in 1999.
Fresno, Calif.-based new entrant air 21, which hopes to provide low- fare jet service throughout California, Nevada and Oregon, will use Fokker 28 Series 4000 aircraft to operate the flights, the company announced. The first two aircraft are scheduled for delivery in September, and another 12 in following months.
Delta has signed an agreement with Finnair to code share beginning Oct. 30 between New York and Helsinki, a market in which it will discontinue its own flights the day before. Delta will purchase seats on Finnair's MD-11 aircraft if DOT approves the deal. The carriers plan to discuss further cooperation, such as scheduling, frequent flyer programs and joint passenger handling.
Lone Star's plan to tap the Dallas/Fort Worth-Hermosillo, Mexico, market with a Dornier 328 may just be a pin-prick compared to the market's overall potential, according to Aviation System Research's Michael Boyd. He calls Hermosillo the Gary, Ind., of Mexico with Ford and other automakers entrenched there, joining Chihuahua and Monterrey as "underserved." The DFW-Hermosillo route is 861 miles long, and a 329-knot TAS means a block time of at least 2.6 hours. Boyd says all three routes might support Fokker 100 service by American, feeding through DFW.
Reps. John Duncan (R-Tenn.), Jim Lightfoot (R-Iowa) and 19 co-sponsors yesterday introduced the Federal Aviation Administration Revitalization Act of 1995, to make FAA an independent agency, establish a Federal Aviation Board to oversee it, provide for personnel, procurement and regulatory reform and take the aviation trust fund off-budget (DAILY, June 30). Hearings are planned this month but have not yet been scheduled.
FAA inspectors soon will be checking their assigned airlines' operations and maintenance against other airlines, looking for trends that point to safety problems, Administrator David Hinson said yesterday in Washington. The inspectors will be using the agency's new Safety Performance Analysis System (SPAS) to compare the performance and records among carriers, creating the "early warning system" the agency needs in its drive toward zero accidents.
Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic July, 7 Months 1995 Revenue Ton-Miles (000) July July % 1995 1994 Change Domestic Freight 646,475 654,801 -1.3 Mail 130,667 127,494 2.5 Total 777,142 782,295 -0.7 International Freight 595,685 580,929 2.5
British Midland this fall plans to add service to Zurich and Prague from London Heathrow as part of its strategy to expand deeper into Europe and offset some of its shorter-haul traffic losses to competition from rail service through the Channel Tunnel between England and France. The addition on Oct. 29 of service to Zurich, the major European business center outside the European Union, will make British Midland the only airline to serve all six of the busiest cross-border routes in Europe, the airline said.
National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation said a mechanic at Astraea Aviation Services in Dallas has sued the company and the Teamsters Union for forcing workers to join the union and pay full union dues. The mechanic told the union in April 1994 he was resigning and would not pay for non-bargaining activities. He claims that a year later, after he continually refused to comply with a forced-dues demand, the union "had him fired." He has been able to get his job back but still complains of compulsory union dues.
TNT Express Worldwide has appointed Kevin Griffin VP-operations at its North American headquarters in Garden City, N.Y. Griffin has held executive positions with Emery, Purolator Worldwide Courier and, most recently, Roadway Global Air. Amsterdam-based TNT is owned by TNT Ltd., an Australian transportation conglomerate, and a consortium of German, French, Swedish, Dutch and Canadian post offices.
Southwest's August traffic was up 10.8% over the same month last year to 2.2 billion revenue passenger miles, while capacity increased 11.7% to 3.1 billion available seat miles, resulting in a 0.5 point dip in load factor. Traffic for the first eight months was up 7.4% to 15.6 billion RPMs on 13% more capacity. Year-to-date load factor is 66%, compared with 69.4% last year. August 1995 August 1994 8 Months 1995 8 Months 1994 RPMs 2,216,244,932 2,000,795,090 15,597,022,736 14,522,565,184
Board of directors of Trans World Express Inc., the wholly owned TWA subsidiary that provides passenger feed at New York Kennedy, voted this week to shut the carrier down, effective Nov. 6. Kennedy feed will be assumed the following day by St. Louis-based TWExpress affiliate Trans States Airlines.
Continental's August load factor of 73.3% was its highest in 10 years, up 3.1 points from August 1994. The carrier flew 6.6% fewer revenue passenger miles on a 10.6% reduction in capacity, as it continued eliminating unprofitable routes. Continental's performance is improving steadily under its Go Forward Plan, leading the carrier to pay employees their fourth $65 on-time bonus this year. August 1995 August 1994 8 Months 1995 8 Months 1994 RPMs 3,878,008,000 4,154,192,000 27,473,964,000 27,670,382,000
