Now that Boeing has put 747 derivatives on the shelf, Kawasaki Heavy Industries may take itself out of its 6%, risk-sharing participation in Rolls-Royce's Trent 900 engine program. The Japanese company was to have sent engineers to Derby this month to work on the engine but will not do so. In cooperation with Rolls, it is studying whether the investment is worthwhile now that the Airbus Industrie A3XX program is the engine's only near-term prospect.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines reported a 3.2% gain in January revenue passenger miles to 62.4 million. Available seat miles rose 1.6% to 142 million, for a load factor increase of 0.6 points to 43.9%. The regional carrier transported 258,744 passengers in January, up 1.9% from January 1995.
Delta Connection carrier Comair's January traffic increased 15.7% over January 1996 to 116 million revenue passenger miles. Capacity rose at a faster rate - 20.9% - to 240.3 million available seat miles, creating a load factor shortfall of 2.1 percentage points to 48.3%. Comair carried 355,473 passengers during the month, a 9.5% rise from the year-ago period.
Japan Airlines said yesterday it is launching a new effort to reduce cost and increase competition by conducting purchasing initiatives via the Internet. JAL has 1,200 different categories of expendable inflight supplies, such as paper cups and plastic serving trays, that cost $50 million annually. The carrier is exploring Internet bidding for inflight goods, as well as cargo and maintenance items procured from suppliers.
Alaska Airlines will begin service May 10 to its fifth Russian Far East destination - Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk - if approved by the Russian government. The carrier will operate one weekly roundtrip to Seattle via Anchorage. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is the regional capital of the island of Sakhalin, north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido.
The Allied Pilots Association complained yesterday afternoon, in the second day of supermediation with American, that the company has yet to respond to the contract settlement proposal the union submitted one month ago. Parties were considered likely to continue negotiations into the night - they lasted Monday until nearly 11 p.m. American and the APA are negotiating from separate rooms through federal mediators who shuttle comments back and forth.
The general public still would rather use a travel agent than try new online travel services, according to a survey conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America. The survey asked respondents to choose among travel agents, computer online services such as Prodigy, America Online and CompuServe, and the Internet to determine the best source for obtaining travel information. More than 50% selected agents in five of seven information categories.
Eastwind Airlines will begin serving Tampa Feb. 27 from Trenton, N.J., connecting at Greensboro, N.C. It is offering introductory fares of $89 each way from Trenton and $79 from Greensboro. Eastwind operates 737-200s.
Reno Air flew 19% more revenue passenger miles in January, compared with January 1996, for a total of 215.9 million. Its available seat miles jumped 25% to 376.4 million for a load factor decrease of 2.8 points to 57.3%. It carried 378,140 passengers, up 18%. Reno President and Chief Executive Robert Reding said, "Although we carried a record number of passengers, we were negatively impacted by the floods in Reno and the major storms which severely impacted much of the Pacific Northwest and California."
Midwest Express's January traffic rose 8.6% from the same month last year on 15.5% more capacity. Available seat miles totaled 175 million, and the load factor was down 3.3 percentage points to 53.2%. The carrier transported 108,877 passengers during the month, an 8% increase.
A coalition of 13 air tour operators has asked FAA to stay the May 1 effective date for new restrictions on air tour flights over the Grand Canyon. The coalition, members of the U.S. Air Tour Association, filed a lawsuit last month to overturn the new rule.
General Electric Aircraft Engines (GEAE) failed to work out a financial agreement with Airbus Industrie to develop an engine to power the European consortium's prospective stretch of the A340, clearing the way for Pratt&Whitney and Rolls-Royce to re-enter the arena.
Mesaba Airlines' January traffic rose 16.1% to 32 million revenue passenger miles, while capacity grew 15.6% to 72 million available seat miles. The load factor inched up 0.2 percentage points to 44.5%. The Northwest Airlink carrier flew 139,000 passengers during the month, a 10.3% increase. Mesaba Holdings President Bryan Bedford said, "While still a very positive report, our results fall below what they could have been had we not lost a significant number of our flights to weather."
Frontier Airlines filed a formal antitrust complaint with the Justice Department yesterday, charging "predatory, anticompetitive and monopolistic practices" by United at Denver Airport. The charges parallel those made by Frontier during informal meetings with DOT and Justice last month. Frontier charges United with illegal activity, including capacity dumping, predatory pricing and exclusive deals with corporate customers and commuter carriers. United denies the charges.
Persuaded that Asiana Airlines is not a suitable target, World Airways yesterday withdrew a request that DOT deny the Korean carrier's Seoul- Chicago exemption. On Monday, Asiana asked that its application for new service be separated from disputes between World and Korea involving denial of new service beyond Seoul. Asiana's filing was unusual in its acknowledgment of frustrating behavior by its home government.
Sabena expects to post a 1996 loss between three billion and four billion Belgian francs (US$90 million and US$120 million), the carrier's executive VP, Patrick du Bois, said in an interview published by the Flemish daily newspaper De Standaard. Du Bois confirmed that 49.5% owner Swissair has been putting pressure on Sabena and will assess its performance in the first half of 1997. This year will be "a year of transition" and will end with a slight loss, said du Bois.
State-owned domestic carrier Indian Airlines has set up a four-member committee to determine its aircraft needs through 2015 and an operating strategy to capitalize on its cash-rich routes, IA officials said yesterday. The airline's management and India's civil aviation ministry are concerned about IA's fleet, which is aging and has been depleted by the transfer of four 737s to its subsidiary feeder airline, Alliance Air. IA added A320s to its fleet in 1989, but 10 A300s date from a purchase with deliveries between 1976 and 1984.
TAP-Air Portugal is considering a lawsuit against U.S. author Michael Crichton, who referred to "inept" maintenance at an airline he called "Air Portugal" in his latest novel, Airframe. Chairman Manuel Ferreira Lima said his carrier "enjoys a high reputation for safety."
DOT enforcement office attorneys are opposing arguments by United in support of American's distribution of Preference MAAnager, software that biases the Sabre computer reservations system display in favor of American and American Eagle flights.
World Research Group will sponsor travel.com '97, a conference on online travel opportunities, April 7-9 at the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco. Among the presenters are representatives from Sabre Interactive, American Express Interactive Travel, Worldspan, IBM, PhoCusWright and Air Travel Card. For more information, call 800-647-7600 or e-mail [email protected].
DOT is "examining several options for mitigating the effects" of increased solar flare activity, expected about 2000, on communications, navigation and surveillance. Possibilities include use of differential Global Positioning System and "termination of Selective Availability to help offset the effects of the solar activity on those users with single- frequency GPS receivers," said Frank Kruesi, assistant secretary for transportation policy.
International airlines reporting traffic data for 1996 show sustained gains in nearly every month during the year. Larger carriers clearly had a better year than did smaller ones. Cargo traffic was down for most airlines. Highlights for calendar 1996 or other specified periods follow: - Air France traffic up 16%; capacity up 8.6%; load factor 75.8%, up 4.9 percentage points. - KLM traffic up 10% April-January; capacity up 8%; load factor 75.5%, up 1 point.
An advisory panel tasked by the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security to review the civil liberties implications of an automated security profiling system has recommended to the commission that if such a system is used, an independent panel should be established to monitor airport security procedures and ensure that they do not violate passengers' civil rights.
Munich Airport's income from landing, ground-handling and parking fees increased 10% in 1996 to 455 million Deutschmarks (about US$275 million), Flughafen Munchen reported. Earnings from auxiliary activities, including rents, concessions, utilities and sale of real estate, also rose 10%, to DM355 million. The airport earned DM190 million from operations, on total revenues of DM810 million. The airport handled about 221,000 commercial aircraft movements during the year, a 10% increase.
