USAfrica Airways will begin flying to Dakar, Senegal, on March 1 using MD- 11s. Dakar replaces Cape Verde as the intermediate stop on the airline's five weekly flights to Johannesburg and one to Cape Town. Arthur Kienle, VP-marketing and sales, said the change was "strictly a business decision," made because traffic potential is greater in Senegal. USAfrica is offering a $699 introductory fare for purchase March 1 through April 17.
Struggling Air France has canceled all of its outstanding aircraft orders and options with Boeing and Airbus in a move to slash costs further, Chairman Christian Blanc told Le Monde in an interview published yesterday. Blanc said the airline has decided to cancel the orders, let its options lapse, and sell some of the older aircraft in its fleet. "If we succeed in rebalancing the accounts and in giving the company the required momentum, then we shall be able to start buying aircraft again in two years' time," Blanc told Le Monde.
U.S. Major Carriers Unit Revenues and Expenses, By Region Third Quarter 1994 Operating Operating Operating Revenues Expenses Profit(Loss) Yield per ASM per ASM per ASM per RPM Carrier (cents) (cents) (cents) (cents) America West 7.74 7.00 0.74 10.35
Lufthansa and its wholly owned subsidiaries Condor and Lufthansa CityLine boarded nearly 37.7 million passengers in 1994, an increase of 5.8% from 1993 and more than in any other single year in the company's history. Lufthansa also carried more cargo and mail in 1994 - 1.44 million metric tonnes - than ever before. Lufthansa Group's overall traffic rose 9.5% to 12.89 billion tonne kilometers on 18.21 billion tonne kilometers capacity. The carrier's overall load factor rose 2.1 percentage points to 70.8%, and its passenger load factor increased 1.8 points to 70%.
Supreme Court let stand this week an appeals court ruling that the board of review of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is unconstitutional, leaving Congress the responsibility of revising the board's structure for the second time. The House Transportation aviation subcommittee plans to hold a hearing soon on what changes should be made in the law that transferred Washington Dulles and National to a regional authority.
Air Canada's systemwide passenger traffic increased 8.9% in 1994 but failed to keep pace with the airline's 12.2% capacity growth, resulting in a load factor decline of 1.9 percentage points, to 63.2%. Domestic Canada traffic rose 5% on 3.9% more capacity, and international traffic increased 11.5% on 18.1% more capacity. International traffic accounted for 61.6% of Air Canada's systemwide total in 1994. In December, passenger traffic increased 9.9% on 14.5% more capacity, pushing the airline's load factor down 2.4 percentage points to 56%.
Uzbekistan Airways (UZB) is seeking scheduled combination service with fifth-freedom traffic rights between Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and New York, via Riga, Latvia, and Amsterdam. (Docket 49639)
House rejected 169-256 legislation that would have exempted laws and regulations relating to aviation and airport security from the unfunded mandates reform bill (H.R.5). The amendment was sponsored by Rep. Cardiss Collins (D-Ill.) and supported by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.). Following the decisive defeat of the Collins amendment, Oberstar dropped plans to offer an amendment to exempt aviation safety and security regulations (DAILY, Jan. 23).
Affretair is seeking authority to provide charter cargo service between points in the U.S., Zimbabwe and other points worldwide. The carrier, owned by the government of Zimbabwe, flies mainly between Zimbabwe and the U.K. and points in Europe. It has operated only one flight to the U.S., in 1991. However, it "anticipates that it will have more opportunities for U.S. cargo service, especially given positive political changes in southern Africa." The carrier began service in 1965 as Air Trans Africa and changed its name in 1980. (Docket 45838)
Air Aruba has requested authority to operate combination services between Aruba and two U.S. points, Tampa, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C. The carrier plans to operate MD-80 aircraft to Charlotte and seeks to co-terminalize that service with its current operations to Baltimore. On the Tampa-Aruba route, Air Aruba plans to operate quick-turnaround service, using DC-9-30s.
Servicio Aereo Leo Lopez S.A. is requesting a three-year extension of its authority to operate combination services between points in Mexico and the southwestern U.S. It wants to maintain its authority to operate between Chihuahua and Dallas; Ciudad Juarez and Albuquerque; Chihuahua and Albuquerque; twice daily between San Jose Del Cabo and El Paso; and Torreon and El Paso. The carrier flies Metro III aircraft. (Docket 49344)
Sandy Morrison, Air Canada VP-corporate communications, government and industry relations, is leaving the airline and returning to the Brewers Association of Canada, where he will be president. Morrison held the same position with the trade group for eight years before joining Air Canada three years ago.
USAir talks with the Air Line Pilots Association unit have been hindered in recent weeks by management's raising the requested concessions from $2.5 billion over five years to as high as $3.9 billion and asking for annual labor savings of $600 million, the airline's ALPA unit told its members. The carrier scaled back the $3.9 billion to $3 billion recently. In return, employees could hold four seats on a 12-person board and have a stronger voice through changed voting procedures under proposals made by management.
Testimony yesterday at the National Transportation Safety Board hearing into the USAir 737 crash centered on the rudder's power control unit and standby rudder powered control unit (PCU). Questions also were raised about the contamination level of the Skidrol fluid in the PCU and technical explanations of how those units worked, including their operation and failures modes.
Airbus Industrie says that only three of the world's top 25 airlines - Southwest, USAir and Japan Airlines - have not ordered its products. The top 25 account for 60% of the world fleet and 72% of the seat backlog, according to John Leahy, senior VP-commercial.
Northwest Airlines Corp. and Bankers Trust yesterday completed their previously announced exchange of 1,727 shares of Northwest Series B preferred stock for 2.05 million shares of newly issued Northwest Class B common stock (DAILY, Jan. 9). The transaction increases Bankers Trust's equity stake in Northwest to 8% from 6% and makes its investment in the airline company more liquid because the common stock is publicly traded and the preferred is not.
AAI Systems Management expects its Next Generation Weather Observing System (NEXWOS) to receive FAA certification by summer, according to Ralph Petraganani, marketing manager for weather systems (DAILY, Jan. 25). NEXWOS, a follow-on to the company's Automated Surface Observing System, is targeted at general aviation airports, heliports, offshore platforms and resorts. The radar-based system has a modular design that can be tailored and upgraded to individual user needs. It will be shown for the first time at Helicopter Association International's Heli-Expo Jan.
Travel agency sales for carriers participating in the Airlines Reporting Corp. totaled $57.7 billion in 1994, up 3% over 1993, according to ARC.Total fares also increased 3%, to $53.2 billion. International fares grew 16% to $15.4 billion, but domestic fares dropped by 2% to $37.8 billion. The difference between total sales and total fares? Taxes, which added up to $4.5 billion.
Air Traffic Control Association symposium on free flight within the national airspace system will be held Feb. 22, not Feb. 2 as reported (DAILY, Jan. 24).
SAS Commuter and its Norwegian and Danish pilots reached agreement yesterday on a new, three-year contract (DAILY, Jan. 10). With the accord, the pilots union dropped plans for a two-day strike scheduled today and tomorrow, and SAS backed off its threatened pilot lockout, also scheduled Jan. 26 and 27. The new contract provides for a 7% wage increase over the next three years, and includes new pension and insurance provisions.
Swissair wants to acquire as much as 49.9% of Sabena, according to a Belgian official, who said an agreement could be reached within the next month or two (DAILY, Dec. 16). Belgian Transport Minister Elio di Rupo also said that without a capital injection, Sabena faces the risk of collapsing, which would put 10,000 people out of work. Swissair, however, was much more circumspect about ongoing negotiations between the two airlines.
American Society of Travel Agents has postponed its annual march on Washington from April 27 to Sept. 21. The organization expects legislative priorities for the industry at that time to include bills that would deny first-class air travel as a business deduction, reinstate the deductibility of business meals and entertainment to the 80% level, increase the minimum wage, repeal the imposition of the transportation fuel tax on airlines, and clarify the standards used to determine whether outside sales representatives are classified as employees or independent contractors.
A draft document prepared this month by a Senate Republican working group on options for entitlement spending cuts includes user fees for air traffic control services and charges for slots at high-density airports. The ATC fees would yield cost savings of $7 billion over five years, according to the draft. Charges for airport takeoff and landing slots would produce cost savings of $1.5 billion over the same period. Although neither option is detailed, it would appear that in order to achieve the ATC savings, current aviation excise taxes would remain in place.
