Moody's Investors Service, as part of its ongoing program to assess the creditworthiness of companies engaging in financial and commodity derivatives transactions, has assigned a counterparty rating of B3 to USAir Inc. Because the contracting of derivatives is done at the airline level, no counterparty rating was assigned to parent company USAir Group. Because of the volatile nature of currency and fuel prices, USAir and other airlines use various derivative instruments in risk-management activities.
Paradise Island Airlines, based in Fort Lauderdale, will become the 11th USAir affiliate operating as USAir Express Sept. 6. Paradise will offer four daily roundtrips to Paradise Island, in the Bahamas, from Fort Lauderdale, five daily from Miami and two daily from Palm Beach, using four de Havilland Dash 7s.
The U.S. expects a productive round of aviation talks with Germany this week, followed by a ministerial meeting between the two countries later this month.
Western Pacific Airlines says it is exceeding its traffic goals after two months of service, carrying 68,058 passengers in June. Tom DeNardin, VP- sales and marketing, said the airline expanded service by 69%, yet maintained 60.7% load factors for the month. It carried 110,073 passengers for two months. In June, it offered 82,720 available seat miles and generated 50,238 revenue passenger miles. Western Pacific operates five 737-300s.
Korean Air Lines' bid for scheduled service between Seoul, Korea, and Washington Dulles Airport via New York has picked up local U.S. support. "As you know from our discussions before, during and since the tenure of the National Airline Commission, I am a strong supporter of our air carriers as they seek to expand service in international markets," former Virginia Gov. Gerald Baliles said in a letter to DOT Secretary Federico Pena. "However, as it is in this case, the service our communities seek will sometimes be provided by a non-U.S.
U.S. airlines seeking access to Vietnam are not likely to benefit soon from President Clinton's decision, announced yesterday, to restore diplomatic relations with the Southeast Asian country. The decision might motivate government officials to move along with establishing commercial air service, but that has been permissible since DOT lifted the Vietnam travel ban in February 1994 following Clinton's removal of the trade embargo, pending the completion of FAA security assessments and safety evaluations. The U.S.
FAA estimates that the seven-year budget resolution conference agreement approved last month by Congress could mean agency funding in fiscal 2002 about 19% lower than the fiscal 1995 level.
Piper Aircraft has emerged from bankruptcy protection after four years when a U.S. bankruptcy judge Monday in Miami approved its sale for $95 million to creditors and the Philadelphia investment firm Dimeling, Schreiber and Park. The investment firm will own 50% of New Piper Aircraft Inc., and Teledyne, Piper's largest creditor, and the remaining Piper creditors will own the rest. Piper filed for bankruptcy in July 1991. A new board will be appointed. Piper President Charles Suma will continue in that role.
Lufthansa Technik has developed a new method of repairing parts of Airbus A300 and A310 engine cowlings damaged by moisture and hot air. Claiming a reduction in cost and time, the Hamburg engineers use a highly resistant bonding system and install a drainage system that allows water to run off instead of collecting in the interior of the cowling, avoiding damage on parts of the cowlings caused by moisture and hot air from anti-ice ducts.
Alaska Airlines has asked for renewal of its authority to operate scheduled combination service between Anchorage and Russian points Magadan, Khabarovsk and Vladivostok. Asking for a five-year renewal, Alaska also requested that its authority be amended to add Petropavlovsk-Kamschatski as a co-terminal point. (Dockets 47840&49365 or OST-95-259)
Alaska Airlines registered 89% on-time performance in May, the best monthly record of the nation's 10 largest carriers tracked in DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report. The overall on-time mark for the month was 80.7%, down from 81.3% in April. USAir ranked second with 84.9%, followed by Southwest, 83.6%, and Northwest, 83.4%. After topping the list in April, Continental slipped to eighth place. As in the reports for the first four months of the year, the on-time data for May include mechanical delays and cancellations.
United has promoted Thomas Mutryn to VP and treasurer and Gregory Taylor to VP-revenue management. Mutryn was VP-revenue management, and Taylor was director-domestic revenue management.
Air Canada has agreed on a two-year contract with its Machinists unit that provides an 8% salary increase in three increments over the two-year period. In return, the company gets more flexibility in using part-time employees and in bidding for third-party maintenance work. The IAM represents nearly 6,600 of Air Canada's 18,500 employees.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic October 1994 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) American 1,125 2.45 2,301 2,588,066 Atlantic 331 2.51 4,111 1,360,828
Member companies of St. Louis' Civic Progress purchased another 55,000 tickets on cash-strapped TWA. The companies pre-purchased the same amount in March (DAILY, March 17), and this purchase completes their commitment to buy six months worth of travel in advance. Civic Progress President William Maritz said, "Our members believe that the best way to assure hub air service is to protect the long-term viability of TWA."
Alaska Airlines' fall schedule changes include an increase from two to five daily Seattle-Spokane flights, beginning Sept. 10. Seattle-Anchorage service will go up to 15 flights a day. Alaska will extend its summer schedule in the Seattle-Juneau market with one additional flight through Oct. 1, as well as an extra flight between Seattle and Ketchikan. In Mexico, it plans another daily roundtrip from Los Angeles to Los Cabos for a total of four a day.
Air South is moving flights serving Petersburg/Clearwater Airport to Tampa Airport Aug. 6. The carrier will fly to Tampa from Atlanta, Columbia, Miami and Tallahassee. Air South, which has served the Tampa Bay area for the past year, said it is making the change because of the "vast difference" in passenger enplanements between the two airports and the withdrawal of jet service by other carriers at Tampa. Air South VP- Marketing Tom Volz said Tampa handles 12 times the number of passengers traveling through St. Petersburg.
Gulf Air has upgraded its level of connectivity with the Infini computer reservations system to Direct Access, which it is using in combination with Locator Back. Direct Access enables Infini subscribers to retrieve information in real time directly from the airline's system.
Airports participating in Geneva-based Airports Council International's latest traffic survey reported a roughly 6% increase in passenger traffic, while cargo volume rose 12% during the first quarter of 1995, compared with the same 1994 period. Aircraft movements increased 3% at the more-than-430 participating airports. In March, passenger traffic was up 4%, cargo volume 11% and aircraft movements 1%, compared with March 1994.
Eastern, in a second distribution, has paid $28.6 million to holders of general unsecured claims greater than $100,000. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. received more than $14 million, Eastern said. The distribution represents 2.5 cents per dollar of the allowed claims greater than $100,000. Added to the initial distribution in April of 4.25 cents per dollar, the total distribution to date to large creditors amounts to 6.75 cents per dollar of allowed claims.
GE90-powered Boeing 777s, grounded for more than a month, may return to certification test flying early next week, following a successful test last Friday of a GE90 with redesigned fan platforms. Officials said yesterday that the new components should start arriving today at Boeing Field in Seattle, Wash., for installation on two flying GE90s. After ground testing to verify the installation, Boeing will confirm to airworthiness authorities that the engines are ready to resume certification testing.
DOT and FAA told airlines this week that failure to remit to airports the passenger facility charges they have collected could lead to civil penalties, negative fitness determinations and even criminal prosecution. In a July 10 notice to U.S. and foreign carriers, officials of the FAA chief counsel and the DOT general counsel offices said some carriers may be collecting PFCs but failing to remit them to airports as required by regulation.
Air South yesterday reported a net profit of $231,000 for June, its first full month of profitable operations. The airline, which began flying last Aug. 22, had operating revenues of nearly $5.9 million. Air South, which operates seven 737-200s, serves Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic October 1994 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) Alaska 744 32.55 831 618,749 Aloha 397 3.55 135 53,762
