Lone Star Airlines is offering specially reduced fares to all points it serves from Dallas/Fort Worth until Sept. 4. The tickets will be valid for one year, beginning Sept. 5. One-way fares to Hot Springs, Ark., are $69, to Del Rio, Texas, and Enid, Okla., $79, and to St. Louis $99. Included is a $69 fare between St. Louis and Hot Springs. No reservations are needed to purchase the tickets, which are exchangeable.
Hawaiian Airlines, shackled by a shortage in working capital that is likely to continue in the near future, posted a $451,000 net loss for the second quarter of 1995. The loss is an improvement from the $8.8 million deficit posted in the same 1994 period. The carrier's operating profit was $431,000, compared with an operating loss of $6.7 million last year. Operating revenues were boosted by a $2 million gain in adjustments to air traffic liability for a total of $85.5 million, compared with $75.5 million in 1994.
Frontier Airlines announced that it will offer introductory fares on a limited number of seats of $49 each way on its new flights to Phoenix from Denver, and $79 to Chicago Midway from Denver. The fares are good for travel through Oct. 23 and must be purchased before Oct. 15. The service is scheduled to begin Sept. 25, when the carrier terminates flights to Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls and Missoula, Mont. (DAILY, Aug. 3). The regular fares will be as low as $59 to Phoenix and $89 to Chicago with restrictions, such as a 21-day advance purchase requirement.
In what it termed a shift of strategy made possible by the U.S.-Canada open skies aviation agreement, Air Canada said yesterday it will convert all of its Florida charter service into scheduled service and increase capacity to the Sunshine State 16% over last winter's. Unveiling its winter schedule, the carrier said it will operate 99 nonstops per week from Canada to Florida, including daily nonstops from each of two Canadian cities, Toronto and Montreal, to each of its four Florida gateways - Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando.
American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) will hold its annual conference on travel scams Oct. 18 at the Hyatt Regency in Miami. "Now, more than ever, consumers need to be aware of what they can do to be certain that they are dealing with legitimate sellers of travel and avoiding offers that are too good to be true," ASTA President Jeanne Epping said.
Florida West Airline's Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee, Kenneth Welt, announced the carrier closed the sale of substantially all of its assets, as well as its subsidiaries, to Florida West International Airways Inc. for $3.5 million. The sale is in connection with its liquidation in Chapter 11 proceedings. President and Chief Executive Richard Haberly said the new Florida West will change "quite a bit" by gradually changing to larger aircraft and seeking some Asian routes - most likely to Japan - in 1996.
United Airlines says that with its recent decision to prepay some long-term debt, it has implemented more than $1.8 billion of credit improvement initiatives since it became employee-owned in July 1994. During the third and fourth quarters of this year, the carrier will retire $229 million of Japanese yen-dominated deferred purchase certificates, reducing its debt by that amount, and terminate leases for 39 aircraft by acquiring them. The purchase will lower minimum lease payments by $426 million by 1998.
The Chilean Antimonopolies Board, on its third attempt, approved four-to- one the LanChile application to acquire control of Ladeco. The board stipulated that safeguards would be imposed to protect consumers from monopoly practices, given that the two airlines control more than 85% of the Chilean domestic market, according to DAILY affiliate Aviation-Latin America&Caribbean.
Kiwi International Air Lines will elect four directors for terms expiring in 1998, three for two-year terms and two for one year each at its annual shareholders meeting tomorrow in Newark. The election will result in 12 sitting directors on a 15-member board. The company wants to leave three seats unoccupied while it searches for a chief executive and additional investment capital, and while it awaits a designee from aircraft lessor Pegasus Aircraft Partners.
Carnival Air Lines will introduce scheduled jet service between Fort Lauderdale and Nassau, Bahamas, starting Sept. 7 using A300 aircraft. The airline already has daily narrowbody jet service to Nassau. Introductory fares start at $50 each way, with no requirement for an advance purchase, a roundtrip purchase or a Saturday night stay. Flights will operate Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
McDonnell Douglas Corp. has $383 million in guarantees outstanding on delivered aircraft as of June 30, according to a 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the same period, MDC said it made offers totaling $649 million to lease aircraft scheduled to be delivered between 1995 and 1998. It also made offers totaling $303 million to accept notes in payment for aircraft or guarantee financing for customers for ordered but undelivered aircraft.
A power outage struck the Miami center over the weekend even as FAA announced more plans to prop up the nation's wobbly air traffic control centers. Meanwhile, the agency also said a team has determined that a defective circuit board probably caused the power failure last week at the Oakland center. The outage at Miami Saturday, which lasted over an hour and knocked out primary and backup systems, is believed to have been caused by lightning.
FAA Administrator David Hinson, commenting yesterday on stepped-up security at New York airports during the weekend, left the impression that heightened security at all U.S. airports will not be short-lived. Refusing to discuss directly the reasons for the actions at LaGuardia, Newark and Kennedy, Hinson said "security will be an ongoing issue." He observed, however, that airport and airline security have been ongoing programs for a long time.
U.S. order backlog for civil jet transports rose during the second quarter for the first time since the end of 1990, according to Aerospace Industries Association data. However, the increase was negligible - to 1,120 aircraft from 1,116.
Air South said yesterday July was its second consecutive month of profitability, with an operating profit of $163,000 on $5.7 million in revenues. Operating expenses totaled $5.5 million, leaving a net profit of $156,000, an airline official said. The carrier generated more than 17 cents in revenue per passenger mile and reduced its cost per available seat mile to 8.36 cents from 11.07 cents in February. Air South operates seven 737-200s. In March, it outlined several goals, including paring costs to 7 cents per ASM.
Used Jet Aircraft Deliveries May 1995 Carrier # Type Engines Previous Operator Aer Lingus 1 737-400 CFM56-3B2 Ryan Aviation Aero California 1 DC-9-10 JT8D-7A Aeroleasing African Airlines 1 707-320B JT3D-3B Kenya Airways Air Europe 1 767-300ER PW4060 Taesa Air Europa 1 757-200 RB211-535E4 LTS
Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 engines, which power the Concorde supersonic transport, have amassed 750,000 flying hours, 480,000 of them at greater than the speed of sound. The aircraft made its first flight in 1969 and was put in commercial service in 1976 by British Airways and Air France. Its fastest recorded crossings are three hours from Paris to New York and two hours 57 minutes from London to New York.
In a $30 million tribute to the state of California, Southwest designated a new 737 California One last week. The aircraft, painted white with a red star and giant bear, did a fly-by for spectators during a ceremony at Sacramento. Southwest, which began serving three California cities in 1982, now has 532 departures a day from nine cities.
United is offering its new round-the-world service at fares of $2,750 for economy class, $3,618 for Connoisseur Class and $5,019 for First Class. The carrier will inaugurate the eastbound flights Dec. 14, flying from Los Angeles to New York, London, New Delhi, Hong Kong and back to Los Angeles.
U.S. Trade and Development Agency, in cooperation with FAA, the American Association of Airport Executives and the Airport Consultants Council, is sponoring a workshop Oct. 15-17 in Warsaw, Poland, on airport development, finance and new technology for Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States (NIS). Top airport and airline officials from 20 countries in the region have been invited by TDA to participate. For information on registration and trade show/sponsorship, call AAAE at 703- 824-0504.
FAA Administrator David Hinson, calling for a new "mental, attitudinal outlook" toward aviation safety, said yesterday the agency in the near future will issue a "concept paper" asking for ideas on how to achieve a goal of zero accidents in commercial aviation. Christopher Hart, assistant administrator for system safety, said his office will issue the concept paper probably within the next four to five weeks in an attempt to "reach the Rands and the TRWs and the thinkers out there and get them motivated" to help reach the goal of zero accidents.
SAS increased its firm order for McDonnell Douglas MD-90 twinjets from six to eight, bringing the total value of the purchase to about $320 million. The aircraft, configured for 143 passengers in five-abreast seating and powered by IAE V2500 engines, are scheduled for delivery during the second half of 1996 and the first quarter of 1997.
Northwest Territorial Airways (NWT Air) has applied for authority to operate scheduled combination service between any point or points in the U.S. and any point or points in Canada. The carrier also requests permission to code share with Air Canada between points in Canada and the U.S. Wholly owned by American, NWT Air provides scheduled service primarily between Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg and points in Canada's Northwest Territories, using three 737-200 aircraft. (Docket OST-95-384)
Federal Express will not have to pay any additional excise taxes under an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service resolving an IRS claim that the carrier owed as much as $159 million. The dispute covered a seven-year period that ended March 31, 1991. FedEx gave up its claim for a $70 million refund for that period.
