Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic April, 4 Months 1995 Revenue Ton-Miles (000) April April % 1995 1994 Change Domestic Freight 670,596 659,014 1.8 Mail 146,211 135,361 8.0 Total 816,807 794,375 2.8 International
Japan Airlines' systemwide passenger traffic increased 4.4% in March, the most recent month for which figures are available, to 5.59 billion revenue passenger miles. The number of passengers enplaned rose 15.7% to 2.58 million. The airline's cargo traffic increased 11.5% to 308.1 million revenue cargo ton kilometers. Through the first three months of 1995, JAL's passenger traffic was up 6.8% to 15.93 billion RPMs. The number of passengers boarded increased 13.8% to 6.92 million, and the airline's cargo traffic rose 12.7% to 858.8 million CTKs.
British Aerospace's Asset Management Organization and AlliedSignal Engines this week announced an initiative designed to reduce ALF-502 maintenance costs on the BAe 146 23% - to under $40 per operating hour over the next five years. Current selling standard for maintenance cost per flight hour is $52. Both companies will contribute funding for hardware improvements, AMO said.
Aero Insurance Inc. and Cooper Aircraft Insurance, both Dallas-based aviation insurance agencies, have merged their operations. The companies' specialization in the domestic aviation market features coverage and service for individual and corporate aircraft owners (including jets and helicopters), fixed-base operators, airports, repair shops, commercial fleets and manufacturer's product liability. The companies expect to consolidate their operations in the Aero headquarters within the next few weeks.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund Balance Sheet As of April 30, 1995 ASSETS Undisbursed Balances: Available for Investment $ 652.22 TOTAL UNDISBURSED BALANCE (Cash in Account) Receivables: Interest Receivables $ 217,295,967.36 TOTAL RECEIVABLES Investments: U.S. Treasury Certificates of Indebtedness
Turkish flag carrier Turk Hava Yollari (THY) has placed an order for two additional Avro RJ100s - to be delivered at the end of the month - bringing THY's Avro RJ fleet to 10 aircraft. The deal was valued at $50 million. The aircraft will be configured in a 99-seat, five-abreast layout The order brings the total orders for Avro RJs to 61 aircraft, 34 of which have been delivered.
ADA Group d/b/a American Dream Airlines is proposing to begin scheduled passenger service from Boston to Tokyo, with direct service to Osaka via New York and to Hong Kong via Tokyo. The carrier also intends to offer coast-to-coast service from Boston and New York to San Diego and Seattle. The company was founded by President Larry Gates in 1994 as Orient Express Airlines. American Dream intends to apply soon for an FAA operating certificate that would allow it to begin service in March 1997. The company plans to operate A340s, A310s and A300s and employ about 200.
Avro International said it has conducted trials to demonstrate the ability of its RJ100 aircraft to fly into London City Airport and other steep approach, short-runway facilities. It expects to win clearance by the British Civil Aviation Authority to operate into London City later this year. It also announced improvements, which will apply to all aircraft in the Avro RJ range, including solid state cockpit voice and flight data recorders.
Delta Connection carrier Comair's May traffic rose 22.9% from the same month last year on 18.9% more capacity, pushing the airline's load factor up 1.7 percentage points to 52.8%. The number of passengers boarded increased 14.1%. Through the first five months of the calendar year, Comair's traffic increased 27.6% on 25.6% more capacity, and its load factor increased 0.8 points to 48.8%.
Price Waterhouse, at a summit in London yesterday on the convergence of the entertainment, media and communications industries, predicted that video servers on aircraft will be in commercial, non-test usage by yearend and that within five years, the Internet - a new marketing tool for airlines - will no longer give information away.
Delta plans to operate daily flights to Vail from Dec. 16 to March 31 for the winter ski season from Atlanta. The flights will be the first scheduled nonstop service between the cities. Delta will operate the flights with 182-passenger 757s. It will continue offering service to Gunnison/Crested Butte, Colo. Delta also operates five daily nonstops to Denver.
Bombardier's board of directors has given the long-anticipated go- ahead for the de Havilland Dash 8 Series 400 program, the 70-passenger, high-speed twin turboprop that has been on the drawing board for at least five years (DAILY, June 13). Bombardier and de Havilland officials this week at the Paris Air Show detailed plans to develop the high-speed commuter carrier that will build upon the Downsview, Ontario's, product line of the 50-passenger Dash 8 Series 300 and the 37-passenger Series 100 and 200 aircraft.
A wildcat pilot sickout grounded hundreds of Alitalia flights and stranded thousands of travelers Wednesday and Thursday as labor unrest continued to dog European airlines at the outset of the busy summer travel season. Italian Transport Minister Giovanni Caravale ordered the pilots to halt their job actions and return to work, and said he has asked that medical tests be carried out on the pilots. The government's action, however, came too late to salvage much of Alitalia's Thursday flight schedule. As of 6 p.m.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich's (R-Ga.) co-sponsorship of the commercial jet fuel tax repeal bill (H.R.752), made official last week, is unusual. House speakers rarely sponsor or co-sponsor bills, and Gingrich has attached his name to only three other measures this year. He has sponsored a bill to relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and co-sponsored resolutions renaming certain rooms in the Capitol and condemning the Oklahoma City bombing.
American Eagle opened its expanded, $14 million passenger terminal at Dallas/Fort Worth yesterday and added 45 daily departures. The additional flights include new service to Houston Hobby and Memphis. The new 18,000- square-foot facility is nearly four times as large as the original one.
China Airlines will ban smoking on all of its domestic routes and on all of its international flights, except those to Japan, on July 1. Taiwanese competitor EVA Airways plans to ban smoking systemwide on July 1 (DAILY, June 15). CAL said it decided to implement the smoking ban because of passenger demand for a smoke-free environment.
Delta and its chairman, Ron Allen, on June 28 will be awarded the Anti- Defamation League's 1995 Torch of Liberty Award, given annually to an individual or company for outstanding contributions to the community.
Air Canada's systemwide passenger load factor, which had fallen as much as five percentage points or more per month during the past few months, slowed its decline in May, dropping only 2.1 points from May a year ago. The carrier's systemwide passenger traffic increased 10.3% and its capacity rose 14%. Air Canada's domestic traffic was up 8.4% on 21.1% more capacity, and its international traffic increased 11.8% on 9.1% more available seat miles.
New York's recently enacted budget includes provisions that reduce the tax burden on jet fuel and aviation gasoline sold in the state. The budget, effective Sept. 1, provides for a reduction in the petroleum business tax (PBT) to about five cents per gallon from almost 14 cents. Air Transport Association President Carol Hallett told Gov. George Pataki that the 14 cent PBT put New York at a competitive disadvantage by encouraging general aviation and airline operators to purchase fuel in neighboring states.
American and Citibank will award 100,000 frequent flyer miles in a "What I did for miles" contest for Citibank AAdvantage cardholders. Contenders describe, in 50 words or fewer, what made their purchases unique, by Aug. 22.
Iceland and Austria yesterday joined Luxembourg and Finland in signing open skies agreements with the U.S. Switzerland also is close to signing, and the Scandinavian countries are not far behind, said Patrick Murphy, DOT acting assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs. Murphy added that contrary to a report in The DAILY, DOT Secretary Federico Pea is "quite aware of what is going on" with the agreements (DAILY, June 14). He met with transport ministers from the nine countries "last week in Vienna to talk about the timing of the signings," he said.
U.S. Major Carriers Share of Pacific Service Fourth Quarter 1994 Total Revenue Departures America 526 Delta 1,114 Northwest 6,102 United 5,496 Total 13,238 Average Number of Seats Per Departure American 244
A Boeing 777 carrying DOT Secretary Federico Pea and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation transport ministers yesterday from Washington to Denver "experienced a slight fluctuation in cabin pressure," said FAA. The incident occurred 20 miles south of Pittsburgh at 9:30 a.m. EDT. Operating at 35,000 feet, the captain descended the aircraft as a precautionary measure, determined there was no structural damage and the engines were running normally, and continued on to Denver at 10,000 feet.
African startup carrier Alliance, a three-way joint venture with South African Airways (SAA) and the governments and national airlines of Tanzania and Uganda, will launch flight operations in July. The carrier's initial schedule will include service to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Entebbe, Uganda; Bombay, Dubai, Johannesburg and London. The airline will fly a Boeing 747SP bearing an African design, including a lion on the tail and a sunset vignette across the fuselage. Alliance will be accessible to travel agents via the Galileo computer reservations system.
Members of American's Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) have ratified an agreement reached with the company in April that resolves all issues pertaining to the November 1993 strike. The pact does not cover major financial issues now in arbitration (DAILY, April 27). American Chairman Robert Crandall said Monday, "Those big-ticket items are in the hands of the arbitrators, whose decision we expect this fall." The two groups agreed there would be no reprisals against flight attendants who participated in the strike or crossed picket lines.
