Boeing's board plans a two-for-one stock split subject to shareholder approval at the April 28 annual meeting in Seattle, increasing the number of authorized shares from 610 million to 1.22 billion. Currently, about 360 million shares are issued and outstanding. Chairman Phil Condit said the board believes the lower stock price resulting from a split would be "attractive to a broader spectrum of investors."
Northwest applied for two additional all-cargo frequencies between the U.S. and the Philippines that become available Oct. 1. Northwest operates 14 weekly frequencies to the Philippines, with daily 747 combination service on Chicago-Tokyo-Manila and Los Angeles-Osaka-Manila routes.
Congress should redirect some of the funding proposed for the wide area augmentation system (WAAS) in fiscal 1998 toward other programs with near- term user benefits while the General Accounting Office re-evaluates WAAS, a representative of the airline industry said yesterday.
London-based startup Airline Management Limited (AML) filed at DOT for a foreign air carrier permit to conduct charter flights between the U.K. and the U.S. and beyond. AML's initial flights are to be wet-lease operations for British Airways from London Gatwick to Tampa and San Juan, Puerto Rico, using a DC-10-30. The carrier expects to receive its license from the U.K. in the near future. AML was incorporated as Pritrade Limited in August 1996.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic, Third Quarter 1996 Third Quarter 1996 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) American Trans Air 1,426 24.59 1,884 2,687,887 Carnival 574 5.35 1,212 696,131
Pan Asia Airways and the other three prospective startup carriers launched in Japan during the past four months may be too optimistic in their plans to operate without extensive infrastructures, some industry leaders in Japan believe. Pan Asia wants to begin low-fare operations in October 1998 with five leased 300-seat aircraft (DAILY, Feb.
Vice President Gore commended UPS yesterday for becoming the first "major" North American airline to comply fully with Stage 3 aircraft noise rules, three years before the federally mandated deadline. Gore's letter to UPS Chairman James Kelly was presented by DOT Secretary Rodney Slater. UPS spent more than $500 million to re-engine all 197 of its 727-100s with Rolls-Royce Tay engines. "What UPS has done is an example of how, when given flexibility, industry can and will do more than the minimum required under law or regulation," Gore said.
DOT and the Justice Department must take a stance against predatory pricing by the major airlines, Jerry Murphy, president and chief executive of one of the oldest startup airlines, Kiwi International, said yesterday. Kiwi, which has limped back to a seven-aircraft operation after suffering a shutdown in December 1994 and a bankruptcy filing last year, does not currently face predatory pricing, Murphy told The Aero Club of Washington.
Cathay Pacific Airways sees an untapped market in Southern China, where Deputy Managing Director Simon Heale estimates there are 28 million people wealthy enough to afford vacations in Asia. By comparison, in 1995, only 55,000 people from all of China visited Bangkok.
The Justice Department Board of Immigration Appeals ruling in favor of Varig on a $3,000 immigration fine follows five years of legal effort costing the carrier many times that amount, and a lawyer familiar with the case says similar cases are pending for Iberia, Avianca and Air New Zealand. Varig was fined for transporting to the U.S. an alien with no visa and a counterfeit passport (DAILY, Feb. 24).
Germany's flagging economy took its toll last year in declining passenger and cargo levels at Dusseldorf, the country's third-busiest airport. After several years of steady growth, traffic results for 1996 show clear signs of falling off "for the first time," said airport operator Rhein-Ruhr Flughafen Dusseldorf. While part of the drop was linked to the major fire at the airport on April 11, 1996, Germany's "more difficult economic climate" is the main cause.
LanChile plans to increase its services to Frankfurt and Madrid to daily frequency this summer. Centerline, the airline's general sales agent in the U.K., will promote the flights in the U.K. and arrange connecting services. LanChile has an extensive domestic network, where traffic expanded to 952,733 passengers in 1996 from 816,127 in 1995. On its international routes, passenger traffic rose to 850,010 from 525,703. To accommodate the growth, the airline plans to increase its fleet this year, adding two 767-300s and two 737-200s in December.
United is standing by its position that employees who paid for stock options with wage concessions cannot upset the carrier's Employee Stock Ownership Plan at mid-term by demanding uncompetitive pay raises. Chairman Gerald Greenwald, in a speech prepared for the Mid-America Committee and Kellogg Alumni Club of Chicago last week, said the carrier was surprised when its pilots and mechanics turned down tentative agreements on mid-term wage increases, which he said were designed to keep wages from falling below industry levels.
The House debated legislation (H.R.668) yesterday to renew the aviation excise taxes through Sept. 30, but it put off a recorded vote on the measure until today. Rep. Van Hilleary (R-Tenn.) led a small group of legislators who oppose the bill in its current form on the grounds that it is a net tax increase. The legislation raises $2.7 billion in revenues, and Hilleary argued that the bill should be "tax neutral" by including a federal tax cut of the same magnitude.
Belgian carrier City Bird has set March 30 as the starting date of its new service from Brussels to the U.S., operating twice a week to Miami and once to Orlando (DAILY, Dec. 16). On June 2, it will add four weekly flights to Newark and on June 3 two a week to Los Angeles and one to Oakland.
Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) reports that total travel agent sales for January rose 5% to $4.857 billion from January 1996. Domestic fare sales were up 4% and international 8%, while domestic commissions fell 2% and international commission rose 7%. Total commissions were up 1% to $427.9 million. ARC had 146 participating airlines in January, unchanged from the previous January.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic, Third Quarter 1996 Third Quarter 1996 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) Alaska 131 35.42 1,056 138,124 Latin 131 35.42 1,056 138,124
Dade County Circuit Court Judge Robert Kaye has issued an order permitting non-smoking flight attendants who are current or former employees of U.S. airlines and who are suffering from exposure to second-hand cigarette smoke to be part of a class-action lawsuit. The suit, Norma R. Broin v. Philip Morris Companies, No. 91-49738, is set for trial June 2 in Miami. People who do not want to be part of the class action must say so in writing, postmarked no later than May 1.
Spirit Airlines wants to fly nonstop service between Atlantic City, N.J., and Bermuda. The carrier needs an exemption to fly the route and the shift of a gateway designation from Raleigh/Durham, N.C., to Atlantic City. Spirit proposes to fly a 117-seat DC-9 on the route. The carrier said its plan would stimulate tourist travel and provide a low-cost alternative to Bermuda flights from New York and Philadelphia. Bermuda falls under the U.S.-U.K. bilateral, which permits service from several U.S. points, including Raleigh/Durham.
FAA announced a delay in new special flight rules over Grand Canyon National Park. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said the rules would have "more than doubled the size of no-fly zones" over the park, and petitions described them as discriminatory and unfairly penalizing general aviation. Some provisions, including a cap on overflights, curfews and new reporting requirements, will take effect May 1 as planned.
Banner Aerospace said it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a rights offering to holders of its common shares. The company said it also has agreed to acquire Fairchild Scandinavian Bellyloading Co., subject to stockholder approval. The rights offering will entitle holders of common shares to receive one right for every 4.5 shares held.
U.S.-Taiwan bilateral negotiations opening today in Washington are widely expected to result in an open skies agreement in the near future if not this week. Taiwan is part of DOT's Asia open-skies initiative, which also targeted Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei as beachheads for liberalization in the region. The results have been largely positive - Singapore initialed an agreement in Washington last month and Brunei followed suit recently at the embassy level.
Venezuelan carrier Interamericana signed a consent order for flying without authority between Miami and Colombia. Interamericana operated wet-leases for Aero Transcolombiana de Carga (ATC), a Colombian airline with authority for the route. Interamericana, which can fly between the U.S. and Venezuela, lacks Colombia authority. The carrier was assessed a $60,000 penalty, with $30,000 payable over the next two years and the balance suspended if there are no further violations.
Air Canada plans to hire 1,100 employees in the coming year as it pursues international growth (DAILY, Feb. 24). Airline chief Lamar Durrett told reporters that a "large percentage" of that number will be flight attendants, and that he expects productivity to keep improving along with the new hires. The airline will cut domestic capacity as it boosts service overseas, and it soon will shift some domestic 767s onto international routes.
