With all but one of nine European countries committed to open skies pacts with the U.S., the European Union may be moving toward a longer-term approach to countering the U.S. initiative. Denmark, Sweden and Norway signed last Friday, leaving only Belgium unsigned. Delayed by a change in government, it is expected to sign in a couple of weeks, said James Tarrant, deputy assistant secretary for transportation affairs in the State Department.
Mexicana is seeking renewal of its authority to operate combination service between Monterrey and Guadalajara, Mexico, on the one hand, and Las Vegas on the other. Although the carrier is not currently serving the market, it wants to retain the authority in case economic conditions warrant a resumption in the future. (Docket 49592)
Aeronaves Del Peru has asked DOT to renew its authority to operate twice- weekly all-cargo service between Lima and Miami. The cargo carrier has permission to operate the service via the intermediate points Panama City, Panama; Guayaquil, Ecuador (blind sector); Bogota and Cali, Colombia (blind sectors). Based in Lima, Aeronaves operates a fleet of Boeing 707 and 727 and Douglas DC-8F aircraft. (Docket 44944)
Reno Air's revenue passenger miles jumped in May to 155.2 million, 18% more than in the same month in 1994, as it carried 314,786 passengers. However, with a rise in available seat miles, the load factor fell from 62.1% to 56.3% for the month.
DHL Worldwide Express began service yesterday through its new mini-hub at Kansas City International Airport. The carrier is operating three new night flights to Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Wichita, Oklahoma City, Omaha and Sioux Falls. It flies 727s from its Cincinnati hub to Kansas City. DHL previously operated from Kansas City Downtown Airport. The move will enable it to offer deliveries about one hour earlier in the morning and pick up packages one and a half hours later in the evening.
Although the average price of airline stock is less than 45% of what it would be had it continued to track the general market average, as it did until 1989, Gruntal Investment Research says it thinks "change is in the wind."As carriers cut costs, "the gap between airline stocks and the overall market should narrow and perhaps even disappear."
Air Canada announced plans to inaugurate nonstop Calgary-Houston service in October yesterday, as it and other carriers launched services between the U.S. and two Canadian points, Toronto and Montreal. Canadian and code- sharing partner American began operating 12 daily nonstops from Toronto to New York LaGuardia. Kevin Jenkins, CAI's president and chief executive, said, "Unrestricted access to the U.S. was the biggest piece missing from Canadian Airlines' international route network."
A Texas District Court judge has agreed with American that the airline has the right to change the mileage requirements of its frequent flyer program for a free ticket, and has dismissed a lawsuit filed by an AAdvantage member.
The value of U.S. airline company stocks slipped 2% in May despite a stock market surge that pushed the value of the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 3.3% to 4465.14. The combined market value of the 19 stocks tracked by The DAILY declined to $26.72 billion at the end of May from $27.26 billion at the end of April, likely as a result of profit-taking. The performance of the three primary transportation indices was mixed in May. While the New York Stock Exchange composite rose 3.3%, the Dow 20 fell 1.4% and the S&P 20 slipped 0.3%.
Air Canada took delivery of its first Airbus A340 on Friday, becoming the first North American operator of the four-engine, long-haul jet. The aircraft, the first of two A340-300s leased from International Lease Finance Corp., is configured to accommodate 284 passengers in Air Canada's standard two-class layout. The second leased aircraft is scheduled for delivery on June 23. The arrival of the A340s will enable Air Canada to increase its Toronto-Vancouver-Osaka service to daily frequency June 30.
Lufthansa and United plan to increase the availability of smoke-free flights between the U.S. and Germany on July 1. The non-smoking operation will be added to United-operated code-share Flights 940/941 between Chicago and Frankfurt and Lufthansa-operated code-share Flights 3530/3531 between Chicago and Munich, and Flights 3502/3503 between Washington Dulles and Frankfurt.
Mahalo Air is adopting one fare of $42 for all flights. It has lowered its fare to Kapalua, West Maui, from $49, and on July 1, will raise fares to all other destinations, served with ATR-42s, from $35 to $42. The carrier said it offers the lowest unrestricted tariffs in interisland markets, and even though its competitors match, they only do so on a selected, capacity- controlled basis.
SAS and its pilots unions signed a new collective bargaining agreement early Friday morning after a week of intense negotiations and labor unrest in which pilot strikes and management lockouts shut down all SAS flight operations for three 24-hour periods in seven days (DAILY, June 14). The new contract, which runs through March 31, 1996, gives the pilots a 3.95% wage increase and calls for labor and management to form a task force this fall to study ways of modernizing the agreement. The unions initially demanded a wage hike of 6.7%, while the airline had offered 1%.
Precision Standard Inc. announced last week at the Paris Air Show that its Pemco World Air Services subsidiary has contracted with Lift Management Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to convert two 727-200 aircraft from passenger to freighter configuration. Precision Chairman and Chief Executive Matthew Gold said the conversion will involve installing a full, 12-pallet cargo-handling system, manufactured by Pemco engineers of Corona, Calif., and stripping and repainting the aircraft. The process takes about three to four months.
Business Travel International (BTI), an international corporate travel joint venture, has added Sime Darby Travel of Malaysia to its list of partners. "The addition of Sime Darby adds an important dimension in the rapidly growing Southeast Asian market, and further extends BTI's influence there," said BTI Chief Executive David Radcliffe. Sime Darby, one of Malaysia's leading travel management firms, was founded 1956, is based in Kuala Lumpur and has seven offices throughout the country. Estimated 1994 billings were nearly $13.9 million.
Association of Retail Travel Agents has filled two vacant board positions. Larry Zahra, who vacated a seat because of health reasons, has accepted a term that expires at yearend. Celeste Seimsen has accepted the second seat, which expires at the end of 1996. She will chair the Bylaws Committee and also serve as parliamentarian.
El Al's stock offering, originally scheduled last month but postponed, likely will occur in November, carrier officials said recently. The government of Israel is expected to sell 51% of its ownership in a public offering on both the Tel Aviv and New York stock exchanges.
The U.S. airline industry should return to profitability this year - the current Wall Street consensus is a net profit of $1 billion - because of price cutting and firm pricing, according to a recent Standard&Poor's commentary.The industry will remain burdened by a heavy load of debt and leases, however.
Avmark named Ed Lindquist to develop the Operations and Technical Department and to support the company's aircraft parts authentication and tracking system. FlightSafety International named Barry Massey manager-Greater Philadelphia/Wilmington Learning Center. Premier Aviation elected Ron Standerfer, senior VP-marketing and head of New York/New Jersey regional office, to its board. Signature Flight Support named Richard Dodson chief executive.
Airlines Reporting Corp. said 1995 sales are continuing at a record- breaking pace. In May, total travel agent sales processed were up 11% to $5.123 billion, compared with $4.626 billion in May 1994, a record for a four-week processing month. Total sales for the year to date are up 4% to $25.596 billion. Domestic fares for the first five months of the year were up 5% from the same 1994 period, ARC said, and international fares increased 1%.
Air Canada Chairman Hollis Harris will speak on open skies tomorrow at the International Aviation Club's monthly luncheon, 12:30 p.m. at the International Club, 1800 K St. N.W., Washington. A reception begins at 11:45 a.m.
A Council of European Union transport ministers meeting slated for Tuesday in Luxembourg will address an EU approach to aviation talks with the U.S. The group will discuss a draft negotiating mandate recommended in April by the European Commission and likely will come to no specific conclusions but rather agree to continue working on the issues, a diplomatic source in Brussels said.
Association of Flight Attendants last week started campaigning to educate the public on the need for child safety seats on aircraft. AFA wants FAA to make the seats mandatory. Union members are distributing literature and stickers with the message "Child Restraint Seats For Kids Under Two" at Charlotte Douglas Airport ticket counters, and are sending postcards to congressional representatives and FAA.
