SAS and its pilots union were to resume negotiations Saturday afternoon, the day after a 24-hour strike/lockout grounded the airline (DAILY, June 9). SAS said the goal of the weekend talks was to come to terms and prevent job actions announced for today and Wednesday. As of Friday afternoon, SAS expected to operate most of its 600 flights scheduled for Saturday.
South Africa and the U.S. are likely to convene another round of aviation talks in Pretoria at end of July or early in August, according to Paul Gretch, director of DOT's Office of International Aviation. Progress toward a new bilateral was made during meetings in Washington late in May.
Airport groups are opposing a potential amendment to the telecommunications bill (S.652), now on the Senate floor, that would allow local telephone companies to choose long distance providers for pay telephones at public facilities. Airports and other public facilities now have the right to select long distance carriers by competitive bid, and airports receive commissions from these contracts.
Nine potential investors are expected to bid for Ecuatoriana by the bid date Thursday. If all goes according to plan, the airline could be "reborn" in late summer or early fall, according to a company official.
UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA MIAMI DIVISION In Re: Chapter 11 Proceedings FLORIDA WEST AIRLINES, INC., Debtor. Case No. 94-14243-BKC-AJC (Administratively Consolidated) In Re: FLORIDA WEST AIRCRAFT IV, INC., Debtor. Case No. 94-14244-BKC-AJC In Re: FLORIDA WEST AIRCRAFT V, INC., Debtor. Case No. 94-1425-BKC-AJC In Re:
The understanding reached in April between American and its pilots - that the purpose of regional partners is to feed the major, and that no routes served profitably by jets will be turned over to regionals - has caused a rift among pilots. AMR Eagle pilots reportedly are denying the jump seat to American pilots, or asking them to remove their scope badges before letting them ride. The Allied Pilots Association said it will not tolerate these slights, or reported plans for retaliation.
DOT Secretary Federico Pea is scheduled to convene a two-day meeting of transportation ministers from the 18 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation nations today in Washington. Issues expected to arise include transportation infrastructure and technology, market access, personnel training and development of work plans for transportation in the Asia- Pacific region. However, beneath the surface will be the simmering aviation dispute between the U.S. and Japan.
America West flew 7.3% more revenue passenger miles in May than in the same month last year on 8% more capacity, pulling down its load factor 0.5 percentage points to 69.9%. The number of passengers enplaned increased 6.3%. "Our May results continued the strong traffic trend we have experienced since March and that we see extending through the summer," said Maurice Myers, president of the carrier.
Cathay Pacific is keen to convert its 11 options for 777 twinjets to orders for a 777-300X stretch version "if Boeing is committed to developing" it, Cathay said Friday.Boeing Commercial Aircraft President Ron Woodard was quoted recently as saying he would like to be able to propose the stretch version to the Boeing board during the next two months.
Moving one step beyond the growing airline industry trend of establishing home pages and web sites on the Internet, Cathay Pacific Airways is marketing its product to Internet users, encouraging them to register as "CyberTravelers" on its World Wide Web site (http://www.cathay-usa.com). There, they will form a data base of prospective customers the carrier can reach with electronic sales pitches. As an incentive to register, Cathay Pacific USA is running a contest with a grand prize of one million miles in American's AAdvantage frequent flyer program.
KLM's systemwide passenger traffic rose 6% last month from May a year ago, to 3.51 billion revenue passenger kilometers, on 1% more capacity. The result was a passenger load factor increase of 3.5 percentage points to 71%. The airline's overall traffic, including passenger, cargo and mail, grew 10% to 644.3 million revenue ton kilometers, but capacity increased 11%, causing KLM's overall load factor to slip 0.3 points to 70.4%.
The Senate last week passed 91-8 a comprehensive anti-terrorism bill (S.735), including a measure requiring foreign airlines to have security programs with levels of protection identical to those required for U.S. airlines (DAILY, June 8). The House has yet to act on anti-terrorism legislation, which became a higher priority for Congress and the Clinton administration after the bombing of a federal building April 19 in Oklahoma City.
DOT has rejected the application of Wolf International Airlines to start up scheduled service, saying Wolf's filing was "substantially deficient" in establishing its fitness to operate. Wolf did not include resumes of key management personnel, DOT said, and the operational data for its proposed service did not include the required forecast balance sheet and profit and loss statement. DOT also noted that the carrier did not propose - at least initially - to conduct operations as a direct air carrier.
Tower Air's scheduled passenger traffic rose 54.2% in May on 52% more capacity, producing a load factor increase of one percentage point to 70.6%. The number of passengers carried in scheduled service jumped 55.3%, and total block hours flown in scheduled and charter service increased 63% to 4,115. Through the first five months of this year, Tower Air's scheduled passenger traffic increased 47% on 47.8% more capacity, slipping the load factor 0.4 points to 71.6%. Block hours increased 666.9% to 17,109 for the five-month period.
The number of Brazilian visitors to the U.S. rose to 104,331 in January, a 39% increase over the same month last year, according to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration. The strong increase moved Brazil up to fourth among tourist-generating countries, well ahead of fifth-place Germany. Arrivals from Japan grew almost 30%, while travel was down from Canada, about 2%, and Mexico, almost 24%.
USAfrica expects to sign a marketing agreement with a major carrier by the end of the month, said USAfrica President Gregory Lewis. The pact "would be the linchpin in our efforts to restart service," he told The DAILY yesterday. The carrier suspended operations and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early February (DAILY, Feb. 10). Contrary to recent assertions by World Airways, "we are well on our way and on track to a resumption of service by late summer or fall," he added.
GE Aircraft Engines announced its first-ever order of finished parts from a manufacturer in the Commonwealth of Independent States. GEAC will buy accessory gearbox brackets for CF6-80C2 engines from Rybinsk Motors.
DOT has tentatively approved Omni Air Express's application to operate non- scheduled, charter interstate and overseas passenger service. Currently operating cargo charter and air taxi passenger service, Omni plans to use its combination Boeing 727 aircraft to conduct service "in specialized foreign and domestic markets where the dual passenger and cargo capacity is useful" to customers, such as major oil companies (DAILY, March 24). In addition to the 727 combination model, the Tulsa-based carrier has two 727- 200 freighter aircraft and a Learjet 24D.
AMR Eagle is expected to use the Paris Air Show as a platform on June 12 to announce a major order for Saab 340BPlus and 2000 aircraft. The DAILY has learned that the carrier wants to replace its 16 early 340A aircraft operated by Simmons, with an average age of nearly eight years. AMR also may be looking at replacing its early ATR-42s - among the first off the production line at more than eight years of age. Sources report that the order for the new 50-passenger high-speed turboprop Saab 2000, the first in the U.S., could total up to 20.
Northwest's systemwide passenger traffic rose 8.7% last month on 2.2% more capacity, producing a passenger load factor increase of 4.3 percentage points to 71.5%. The number of passengers boarded rose 9.8%. Northwest reported strong growth on both its domestic and international systems. Domestic traffic increased 8.8% on 1.6% more capacity, resulting in a load factor gain of 4.5 points, and international traffic increased 8.5% on 3.1% more available seat miles, lifting the load factor 3.8 points. Northwest's cargo traffic declined 7.6% systemwide, however.
Passenger traffic at Continental's wholly owned Continental Express operation increased 9% last month on 2.4% more capacity, producing a load factor increase of 3.1 percentage points to 50.4%. Through the first five months of the year, Continental Express' traffic declined 2.7% on 1.3% fewer available seat miles, pulling the airline's load factor down 0.7 points to 46.6%. May 1995 May 1994 5 Mths 1995 5 Mths 1994 RPMs 67,737,000 62,093,000 289,706,000 297,961,000
Nine regional airline stocks increased in average value by nearly 4% during May, hitting $10.49 per share at the May 31 close. The average price per share for the nine issues was up from $10.10 per share at the close of trading April 28. Four of the nine shares lost value, led by Delta Connection SkyWest at $2.38 per share to close at $15.38. Northwest Airlink Mesaba dropped a quarter to $8.88 per share. Air L.A., which has terminated its Los Angeles service, was down 23 cents to 27 cents per share. The biggest gainer was Comair, up $2.81 per share to $28.
The majority and minority leaders of the House expressed disappointment yesterday with the so-called U.S.-U.K. aviation "mini-deal" and called on DOT Secretary Federico Pena to press the U.K. for comprehensive liberalization in upcoming talks. In a letter to Pena, Majority Leader Richard Armey (R-Texas) and Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) said the current bilateral "is a monument to British protectionism." British Airways "enjoys unrivaled access" to markets in the U.S. and Europe, they said. In a separate statement, Sen.
Flagship airlines, operating as American Eagle, had given DOT notice of its intent to terminate service at Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Sept. 5. Flagship currently operates tree daily roundtrip flights between Nashville and Tuscaloosa, using 19-seat Jetstream 31 aircraft. There is no other scheduled service at Tuscaloosa, which is only 61 highway miles from alternative service at Birmingham, Ala.
Northwest is asking for renewed authority to operate combination services between the co-terminal points of Guam, Saipan and the Northern Mariana Islands, on the one hand, and the terminal point of Naha, Japan, on the other.
