United Express carrier Mountain West Airlines, a division of Mesa Air Group, began daily service yesterday from Bellingham and Wenatchee, Wash., to Seattle; from Eugene and Medford, Ore., to Portland; from Yakima, Wash., to Portland and Seattle, and from Monterey, Calif., to Los Angeles. On June 1, it plans to increase flights from Los Angeles to Oxnard, San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria, as well as to Yuma, Ariz. Mountain West operates 19-seat Beech 1900D turboprops. The added service is the result of a 10- year agreement the carrier reached with United.
Downeast Flying Service is aiming at beginning commuter service in the northeastern U.S. on June 1, said Richard Goodrich, Downeast president. The carrier, which gained DOT certification last month, plans initially to operate twice-daily roundtrip service between Portland, Maine, and Hartford, Conn., and a single daily roundtrip between Portland and White Plains, N.Y. The Wiscasset, Maine-based airline will operate the service at first using Piper PA 31-350 aircraft but is looking toward acquiring turboprop aircraft, such as the Beech 1900.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund Balance Sheet, As of February 28, 1995 ASSETS Undisbursed Balances: Available for Investment $ 4,890,941.03 TOTAL UNDISBURSED BALANCE (Cash in Account) Receivables: Interest Receivables $ 114,720,235.42 TOTAL RECEIVABLES Investments: U.S. Treasury Certificates of Indebtedness 6-3/4% matures 06/30/95 $ 433,025,000.00
American's systemwide traffic rose 7.6% from April a year ago on 1.8% more capacity, boosting the airline's load factor 3.6 percentage points to 66.7%. The number of passengers boarded increased 1.5%. American's traffic rose in every one of its service segments, with increases ranging from 5.2% for North America to 16.4% for Latin America. The load factors also gained across the board. "Both traffic and load factor continue to show very impressive gains," said Michael Gunn, senior VP-marketing.
Six of the eight sensors in the Automated Surface Observing System do not meet contract specifications for accuracy or performance, according to the General Accounting Office. GAO says that under-par performance of the National Weather Service program could "risk aviation efficiency and safety."
LanChile is seeking renewal of its authority to operate combination service between Santiago, Chile, and Los Angeles, via Mexico City and Lima, Peru, with full traffic rights between Los Angeles and Mexico City/Lima. The carrier also wants DOT to renew its authority to operate cargo service between Santiago and the U.S.
Cathay Pacific may take its first steps toward mixed-fleet flying with its Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft by July, John Bent, the airline's flying training manager, said last week at Airbus Industrie press briefings in Toulouse, France. The carrier is working with the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department to develop "practical rules" to allow pilots to operate either aircraft on a regular basis with minimal additional training, taking advantage of the commonality in cockpits and handling characteristics of the two models.
Continental Connection carrier GP Express will begin Washington Dulles- Newark flights June 22 with Beech 1900s. Continental will enter the market with jets in early September, offering two daily flights with 737s. At that time, GP Express will reduce its flights from four a day to three.
DOT is holding out the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority rates and charges case as an example of how not to organize pleadings in such proceedings, faulting airlines and the airport authority alike for unclear and imprecise filings. "Parties will assist us and themselves in future proceedings of this nature by expressly alleging and proving the elements of their cases at the outset, with appropriate references to statute, regulation, policy and evidentiary materials," the department said.
United's systemwide passenger load factor increased 1.7 percentage points last month to 69.8%, the second-best load factor for the month in the airline's history. Among United's four traffic sectors, the load factor was down only in the Pacific, by 2.8 points to 68.8%, as passenger traffic grew 7.9% but failed to keep pace with a 12.1% increase in capacity. United's North American traffic increased 6.6% in April on 2.1% more capacity. Atlantic traffic increased 4% despite a 1.1% decline in capacity, and Latin American traffic inched up 0.8% on 1.4% less capacity.
Granted orally an exemption to Islena de Inversiones, operating as Islena Airlines, to conduct combination service between a point or points in Honduras and the U.S. co-terminal points Miami/New Orleans/Houston, and charters...Granted orally an exemption to Air Marshall Islands renewing its authority to operate scheduled combination service between Majuro and Kajelein, Marshall Islands, and Honolulu; and charter service between the Marshall Islands and the U.S....Granted orally an exemption to Laker Airways (Bahamas) for amended authority granted Oct.
European authorities passed a regulation setting standards for flight data recorders - JAR OPS 1.715, which will take effect for all large aircraft on April 1, 1998. FAA is toughening U.S. FDR standards, which were amended in October 1991.
Sacramento County, Calif., Department of Airports officially opened Mather Airport Friday, completing the conversion of the former Mather Air Force Base into an air cargo and general aviation airport. Airborne Express, relocating its Sacramento operation to Mather from Sacramento Metro Airport, is Mather's first commercial tenant. Mather AFB closed in 1993, and Sacramento County has leased the facility from the Air Force for 55 years.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association filed a Part 13 complaint at FAA to reverse a transfer of more than $50 million from the Los Angeles Department of Airports to the City of Los Angeles general fund. The complaint, following one from March by the Air Transport Association, concerns the transfer of the proceeds from the state's condemnation of land to build a highway. FAA last month denied the city's request for a stay of ATA's complaint, but it gave the city more time - until May 24 - to respond (DAILY, April 25).
Airline stocks retreated Friday at least partially on the strength of reports that TWA may drop its cap on domestic travel agent commissions. Investors who bailed out of airline stocks were concerned that if TWA drops the cap, implemented by a number of airlines this spring, then others would follow suit and the potential cost savings would be lost. But two analysts, NatWest's Michael Derchin, and PaineWebber's Samuel Buttrick, both said Friday that action by TWA was unlikely to cause a stampede among other airlines rushing to follow suit.
Fifty years ago, United Airlines reported a net profit of $1,643,288 on operating revenues of $9,392,593, a margin of 17.5%, for the first quarter of 1945. For the comparable period in 1995, United parent UAL Corp. earned $3 million on revenues of $3.3 billion, a margin of about nine-hundredths of one percent.
Australia's Trade Practices Commission is expected to issue its final ruling this week on a proposed Qantas/British Airways cooperative agreement covering fares, capacity and scheduling on routes between Australia, Asia and Europe. Late last year, TPC tentatively rejected the deal, which is a major element of the BA/Qantas alliance, but there have been reports recently that a compromise has been reached.
Air Transport Association predicts the industry will carry its 10 billionth passenger next month and is planning a celebration on Capitol Hill June 8. The event, to commemorate the first flight in 1915 - between St. Petersburg and Tampa - will involve the grandchildren of the first airline passenger.
TWA's systemwide passenger traffic declined 4.1% last month as its international traffic fell 16.3% and domestic revenue passenger miles rose less than 1%. Its load factor was unchanged, however, as systemwide capacity was down 4% and international available seat miles dropped 20.6%, offsetting a 2.4% gain in domestic capacity. The systemwide load factor was 64.3%, and the number of passengers boarded fell 1.4%. Through the first four months, systemwide traffic was up 1.3% on 1.4% less capacity, pushing the load factor up 1.7 points to 62.5%.
KLM's overall systemwide traffic, including passenger and freight operations, increased 15% last month, to 639.3 million revenue ton kilometers, on 9% more capacity. The result was a load factor increase of 3.4 percentage points, to 73.3%. Passenger traffic rose 11%, to 3.53 billion revenue passenger kilometers, on 3% more capacity, pushing the passenger load factor up 5.5 points to 72.7%. KLM said its Asia/Pacific operations posted the highest load factor in its system, 79.7%. The load factor on flights to the U.S. and Mexico rose 9.1 points, to 78.5%.
American Trans Air parent company Amtran's first quarter net earnings rose 1.8% to $5.4 million, or 46 cents per share, from $5.3 million, or 45 cents per share, a year earlier. Amtran's operating profit was up 8.1% to $10.6 million from $9.8 million. Operating revenues were up 27.5% on a 52.8% jump in scheduled service revenues, but the growing company's operating expenses also increased, rising 28.9% from the first quarter a year ago.
An increasingly optimistic USAir Friday posted a 3.6% rise in traffic for April on just 0.8% more capacity, boosting its load factor 1.8 percentage points. The number of passengers enplaned rose 0.9% for the month, but that was offset by a 4.5% increase in the length of the average passenger journey to 655.9 miles. "We are beginning to see the effect of generally improving traffic conditions," said USAir Chairman Seth Schofield.
Foreign visitors to the U.S. in the third quarter of 1994 rated service at U.S. international airports above average, according to a U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration inflight survey of more than 10,000 passengers. The survey asked for ratings in seven areas, including airport access, concession prices, ground transportation and security. The overall grade was 3.8 on a scale of 5, with airport access ranking highest and concession prices lowest.
DOT has granted authority tentatively to Northwest, United and Delta to operate service to Ukraine with their respective code-share partners, KLM, Lufthansa and Austrian. Northwest received three weekly frequencies to operate service with KLM from the U.S. to Kiev via Amsterdam. Northwest plans to begin with four weekly roundtrips and then increase to six Sept. 1. United gained 3.5 weekly frequencies for service with Lufthansa to Kiev via Frankfurt. The carrier proposes a daily code-share flight between Frankfurt and Kiev.
