The government of Australia yesterday launched the oft-delayed privatization of flag-carrier Qantas with the pricing of its 75% stake in the airline. Finance Minister Kim Beazley said institutional investors will be offered shares in the airline for A$1.80 to $2.10, and retail investors will be able to invest in the carrier for A$2 to $2.10 per share for a minimum of 1,000 shares. The final prices will be based on demand and will be announced July 31. The retail offer becomes effective July 3 and will close July 21.
United, trying to recoup frequent flyer miles, is auctioning off spots on the sides of aircraft for the names of the highest bidders.Frequent flyer miles are the currency, and the bidding starts at 500,000. The 10 highest bidders will be chosen Aug. 11. Although the lettering will be big enough to read from a distance and will stay on the aircraft for at least one year, the winners may never see their names. They will be put on the next airplane ready for painting, no matter where in the world it flies.
FAA Administrator David Hinson and Netherlands Director General of Civilian Aviation Jan Weck have accepted the terms of what was called the world's first bilateral aviation safety agreement at a meeting in Amsterdam (DAILY, June 22). FAA described the pact as a "new type of agreement designed to promote the highest standards of aviation safety by increasing cooperation." When it is signed, it will form a regulatory partnership improving efficiency and expanding each nation's ability to respond to changes in the international aviation industry, the agency said.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic May, 5 Months 1995 (000) May May % 1995 1994 Change America West Revenue Passenger Miles 1,141,040 1,063,570 7.3 Available Seat Miles 1,659,090 1,535,761 8.0 Load Factor (%) 68.8 69.3 American
DOT has approved American's application for an emergency allocation of four of the 16 additional Brazil weekly frequencies granted under the new U.S.-Brazil agreement. The carrier will use the frequencies to continue operating daily nonstop service between Dallas/Fort Worth and Sao Paulo after July 31. Tower Air opposed American's bid (DAILY, June 20). "All U.S.
TWA has asked DOT to order the City and County of Denver to refund the "unlawful" increase in rates and charges it has paid at Denver International Airport because of a lease agreement between Denver and United and Continental. TWA said the basic rental rate rose 15% from $61.98 per square foot to $71.03, resulting in airlines other than Continental paying $10 million annually in rental payments that would have been made by Continental.
Another unusual marketing promotion by United is off and rolling in Britain - a $600,000 advertisement the length of about 20 subway cars. The train, painted end-to-end with United colors and logo and with only United advertisements inside, goes from Piccadilly to London Heathrow. It stops at British Airways' terminal.
Moody's Investors Service yesterday assigned a counterparty investment grade rating of Baa3 to McDonnell Douglas Corp. and its financial subsidiary, McDonnell Douglas Finance Corp. (MDFC). Moody's said the counterparty rating, intended to portray the company's financial capacity to honor its senior obligations under financial contracts, reflects McDonnell Douglas's improved operating and cash flow outlook and its strengthening balance sheet.
Delta recently filed articles of incorporation to establish a non- profit organization - Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum - to oversee, fund and operate a museum and aircraft restoration studio. Delta retirees have lobbied for several years to establish a museum in Atlanta to house a DC-3, other historic memorabilia and the airline's first passenger aircraft.
Business Express, which is seeking new markets for its 70-passenger Avro RJ70s, is looking at the potential of operating the quadjets to Aspen from both Dallas/Fort Worth and Minneapolis. The service would be provided under code-sharing agreements with senior partners Delta and Northwest, which operate hubs at those respective cities. It would be the only nonstop service from those points. United is currently the only major carrier serving Aspen, through affiliate Air Wisconsin, including seasonal nonstop service from Chicago O'Hare.
USAir cut fares from Portland to Florida and other destinations in the East by an average of 24%. The three-day sale, begun Wednesday, applies to travel through Sept. 5. The tickets require a 14-day advance, roundtrip purchase. USAir serves Portland with two daily roundtrips to Pittsburgh.
Hotel Reservations Network (HRN), a hotel consolidator, is offering frequent flyer miles on United, Northwest and Continental as part of its Award Miles program. Program members receive 500 miles each time they book a minimum stay of three nights in any of the cities served by HRN. The three nights need not be taken consecutively or in the same city. Travelers can accumulate up to 20,000 frequent flyer miles per year, per carrier.
Rapidly emerging electronic ticket distribution systems are raising legal issues of liability and consumer protection, and antitrust and price fixing, according to a panel at the American Bar Association's Forum on Air&Space Law yesterday. The trend toward ticketless travel and other electronic methods eventually will lead to problems because of the lack of documentation and potential for misunderstanding between the customer and the seller on issues such as ticket price, overcharges that are not known right away and incorrect reservations.
FAA and Qantas have successfully completed the first in a series of operational trials of FANS-1, the recently certificated Global Positioning System-based communications, navigation and surveillance system (DAILY, June 21). The system uses two-way satellite communications to provide, for the first time, direct pilot-to-controller communications over oceans and other remote areas normally out of range of ground-based stations.
Air Transportation Holding Company Inc., the corporate parent of Mountain Air Cargo, Inc., logged net earnings of nearly $1.6 million, or 48 cents per share, for its fiscal year ended March 31, compared with just under $2.3 million, or 69 cents per share, in the prior fiscal year. Operating revenues totaled nearly $33 million, up from $30.7 million. Denver, N.C.-based Mountain Air Cargo operates a large fleet of small aircraft, including single-engine Cessna Caravans, for cargo operations.
Battle of the "quiet" turboprops is intensifying. De Havilland is now touting its new Dash 8Q, which it says "will be the quietest, most vibration-free and most comfortable of any turboprop aircraft." The company said it has discarded "Active Noise Control (ANC) as "inadequate," opting instead for a "Noise and Vibration Suppression" (NVS) system, which uses cabin microphones to signal active tuned vibration absorbers to provide "continuously adaptive countervibrations" for an average cabin noise level of 76 dBA...
...Saab has guaranteed customers an average cabin noise level of 76 dBA as well on the 50-passenger Model 2000, but has been unable yet to attain an average below 78 dBA with ANC installed. The company is fine- tuning the system, however, and says it will reach 76 dBA shortly. ATR is offering optional ANC on the ATR 42-500. Unlike ANC, the NVS system used by de Havilland does not use cabin speakers to counter noise, and the manufacturer says the system is so compact that it will be offered for retrofit on existing Dash 8 aircraft.
The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners Wednesday approved a $523.6 million budget for fiscal 1995-96 that includes an increase in landing fees of 50 cents per 1,000 pounds gross landed weight, from $1.56 to $2.06, at Los Angeles Airport. "It has been two years since landing fees have increased at LAX," said Board President Ted Stein. "In fact, this is the first increase initiated by the current Board of Airport Commissioners."
Gulfstream International flew 4.9 million revenue passenger miles last month, nearly 92% more than the same 1994 month. Capacity rose 41.3% to nearly 9 million available seat miles from 6.3 million, pushing the load factor up 14.4 percentage points to 54.7%. The number of passengers rose nearly 97% to 27,556 from 14,012. May 1995 May 1994 Rev. Passenger Miles 4,908,449 2,557,000 Available Seat Miles 8,965,852 6,344,913
Colorado Springs-based Western Pacific, the airline with the blue hair of Marge Simpson - from the TV cartoon family - painted on one of its tails and the Colorado Springs Broadmoor Hotel on another, soon will display other advertisements on the exterior of its airplanes.
Continental has named Nene Foxhall VP-state and civic affairs, responsible for state and local government relations. Foxhall most recently worked as an attorney with Mayor, Day, Caldwell and Keeton, and before that was the political writer and editor for The Houston Chronicle.
AAR Corp., reporting preliminary results, said yesterday it expects net sales for its fourth quarter ended May 31 to increase 7.9% to a record $129.5 million from $120 million in the same quarter last year. Net income is expected to increase 45% to $3.5 million from $2.4 million. For the fiscal year, net income is expected to climb 10.2% to $10.5 million as net sales increase 10.6% to $451 million.
Washington Dulles-based United Express affiliate Atlantic Coast Airlines' revenue passenger miles dropped 15% in May to 30.4 million from 35.7 million as capacity declined more than twice as fast - 30.25% to 59.5 million available seat miles from 85.3 million. As a result, the load factor jumped more than nine percentage points to 51% from 41.9%. The regional carried 124,032 passengers last month, a 12.24% decline from May 1994's 141,325 enplanements.
The U.S. majors' combined passenger traffic rose 2.6% last month on 1.3% capacity, boosting the group's average load factor 0.9 percentage points to 66.9%. Five of the nine majors posted load factor increases for the month, led by Northwest and Continental, which reported increases of 4.3 points and four points, respectively. Northwest's increase came as a result of an 8.7% jump in traffic on 2.2% more capacity, while Continental's came because traffic fell only 1.1% despite a 7.2% drop in capacity.
