The 1996 Toronto Tourism Awards program, launched recently, will honor frontline employees in six tourism sectors - accommodations, arts/attractions, restaurants, retail, transportation and services - for exceptional service. The awards, sponsored by Diners Club/enRoute and WHERE Toronto magazine, include a top prize package worth $5,000. Nominations will be accepted until the end of October and an awards ceremony will be held in November. For more information, call 416-955- 4969.
Pennsylvania State Travel Director Mark Hoy joins the Travel Industry Association today as director of international marketing. He also will become executive director of the USA National Tourism Organization with responsibility for establishing an overseas network of government contacts to promote tourism to the U.S. and formulating an international marketing strategy.
Tourism company Evrasia, which has established tours to Western Europe and Asia and is engaged in retail trade, wants to become a distributor for U.S. producers of consumer goods and find an American travel agency to establish tours to Ukraine from the U.S. For more information, contact Mykola Zhura in Kiev, 380-44-227-71-68 or fax 380-44-243-03-05.
Pilots at Delta and American wanting decisions about their jobs made locally instead of nationally are organizing independent unions. The Professional Pilots Alliance (PPA) at Delta, started in November 1993, waited until contract negotiations with the company were completed before trying to organize pilots so as not to weaken pilot unity. Now that Delta's pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, have ratified a new contract, the PPA is on the move again.
American Automobile Association has re-elected Van Smith chairman of the board at its 93rd annual convention in San Francisco. Also re-elected were Terry Baker as vice chairman and Dwight Sutherland as secretary.
Airport privatization would get a tryout under an FAA reauthorization bill being drafted by the House Transportation aviation subcommittee. The draft, which will call for a limited demonstration of privatization, also would modify distribution formulas for the Airport Improvement Program.
Delta, Malev and Austrian Airlines begin code-sharing service today on Delta's flights from Atlanta to Vienna and Budapest. Delta offers daily 767ER service.
USAir and American have some of the highest long-haul costs in the U.S. airline industry, according to a new study by Roberts, Roach&Associates. While earlier studies by the group have focused on the short-haul carriers, its latest survey of the industry investigates the cost of operating narrowbodies and widebodies in long-haul markets. Unfortunately for USAir, it tops the chart in both categories. The carrier pays 6.72 cents per available seat mile to operate a 757 on a 1,400-mile flight. American is not far behind at 6.70 cents per ASM.
Southwest will hold a "president for a day" contest June 12, when Chairman Herb Kelleher will "share the helm" of the carrier with the winner. Contestants can submit their most innovative ideas on management until May 8. All entries must be 100 words or fewer. The airline notes that since the idea for Southwest originally was written down on a cocktail napkin, entries that do the same will be considered for their "creative" inspirations.
DOT issued a show cause order yesterday tentatively selecting Continental over American to operate new service to Lima, Peru. Pending final approval, Continental can operate daily Houston-Lima service beginning as early as Nov. 1.
Western Pacific will add flights June 15 to San Antonio, San Francisco and San Diego from its Colorado Springs base. San Antonio will have two roundtrips a day, San Francisco three and San Diego two. The carrier celebrated its first anniversary on Sunday.
Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration has extended for the seventh time Cathay Pacific Airways' temporary right to conduct service between Hong Kong and Taiwan. The latest extension will permit Cathay to continue service on the route until June 29. The bilateral agreement between Taiwan and Hong Kong expired April 29, 1995. A new five-year agreement was finalized more than four months ago but has not yet been signed because Hong Kong and mainland China have been unable to agree on all the conditions of the pact.
DOT has approved plans by Delta and Korean Air to expand their code-share service. Beginning June 1, Delta will purchase seats on KAL's four weekly Washington Dulles-New York Kennedy-Seoul Boeing 747 flights and KAL's daily 747 Honolulu-Seoul service, while KAL will acquire seats on Delta's daily L-1011 service between Honolulu and Los Angeles. Delta currently acquires seats on KAL's three weekly Atlanta-Chicago-Seoul flights.
Continental Express plans to begin service to Memphis from Houston Intercontinental Airport July 1, offering three daily nonstops with 48-seat ATR 42-500 aircraft.
Discussions that began Monday in Washington on United's proposed increase in frequencies in the Los Angeles-Tokyo market beginning May 2 continued yesterday, and a senior DOT official pledged a "proportional" response in the same city-pair market if the Japanese government does not allow the scheduled service increase. Japan is prohibiting the service expansion in retaliation for U.S. inaction on Japan Airlines' Tokyo-Kona, Hawaii, proposal, which itself was a reaction to Japanese delay on several other requests, including United's Osaka-Seoul beyond rights.
Air Transport Association President Carol Hallett has thanked Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.) for his commitment to the repeal of the 4.3 cent-per-gallon fuel tax. Dole's staff said the Senator wants quick action on the repeal of the tax, which affects more than aviation. The association is not certain at this point of what form the legislation will take, but word is something could be done by Memorial Day (DAILY, April 30).
U.S. Major and National Carriers Labor Expenses Fourth Quarter 1995 % Of Total Operating Systemwide Expenses America West $ 91,915,820 24.38 American 1,529,891,000 37.54 Continental 260,227,000 22.50 Delta 940,849,000 32.85
Lufthansa will split its stock 10 for one and convert its outstanding preferred shares into common bearer stock, the carrier said yesterday. Both moves are subject to shareholder approval at the carrier's Annual General Meeting July 3 in Frankfurt. The stock split would reduce the face value of the carrier's shares to 5 Deutschmarks from DM50. Lufthansa said the move is designed to bring its share price in line with that of other German companies and make the stock "more attractive to an even broader range of investors."
FAA has asked OMB to identify former employees who accepted incentive payments in exchange for voluntarily separating from government employment and then may have returned to work as employees of FAA contractors. Those who did could be forced to return the buyouts and could face other penalties. The agency has about 350 support contractors.
Mesa Air Group reported net earnings of $11.87 million on revenues of $120.97 million for the March quarter, the second in the company's fiscal year. Earnings compare with a second quarter 1995 net profit of $63,000. Revenues were up 13.7% from $106.44 million in the second quarter of 1995. Per-share earnings were 39 cents, compared with zero earnings for the March quarter last year. Operating expenses increased 8.1% to $112.65 million, while operating income shot up 267.7% to $8.32 million.
GE Aircraft Engines said yesterday it has launched development of the CF34- 8C turbofan, a 13,000- to 15,000-pounds-thrust engine selected last February to power Canadair's proposed 70-passenger Canadair CRJ-X airliner. The engine will provide about 40% more thrust and a thrust-to-weight ratio 10% higher than the CF34 engines now powering Canadair's 50-passenger Regional Jet. GEAC also signed an collaboration agreement with Japan Aero Engines Corp. (JAEC), Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
Air Marshall Islands (AMI) has applied for renewal of its authority to operate scheduled combination service between Majuro and Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, and Honolulu, and to conduct charter service between the Marshall Islands and the U.S. AMI said its board "is currently evaluating the longer-term prospects for profitability of the company and, pending a determination by the board, AMI's DC-8 combination scheduled service to and from Honolulu has been temporarily suspended." (Docket OST-96-1320)
