Alitalia's low-cost subsidiary, Alitalia Team, applied for an exemption to operate selected flights for its parent from Rome to New York, Boston and Chicago. Alitalia Team already flies for Alitalia from Italy to points in Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa and Central America. The unit uses former Alitalia employees with B-scale wages and more flexible work rules under a labor agreement signed last November.
Mercury Air Group reported record revenue and net income for the first six months of its fiscal 1997. Revenue jumped 33.6% to $143.3 million while net income rose 4.2% to $2.7 million. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, revenue was up 33.4% to a record $73.9 million, but net income tumbled 5.1% to $1.3 million. Net income for the previous comparable quarter and six months included a $274,000 gain from the sale of options.
Lufthansa has become Air Canada's general sales agent in Belgium and Luxembourg for passenger flights, part of the strategic alliance the carriers signed last June. Air Canada currently operates 28 weekly flights via Frankfurt between Brussels/Luxembourg and Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.
United Express carrier Atlantic Coast Airlines reported a 13.6% increase in revenue passenger miles in January, to 23.5 million. Capacity rose 18.4% to 63.4 million and the load factor dipped 1.5 percentage points to 37%. ACA carried 96,601 passengers during the month, up 12.7% from January 1996.
The final stage of liberalizing the European Union's aviation market, which takes effect April 1, will drain traffic from the continent's major hubs, easing their capacity problems, and increase business at regional airports, according to Airports Council International-Europe. The Brussels-based association's director general, Philippe Hamon, said healthy passenger traffic growth last year at regional airports in France, Ireland, Austria and the U.K.
America West posted a January traffic increase of 19.3%, but capacity grew at a faster rate, 21.6%. The load factor dropped 1.2 percentage points to 62.9%. January 1997 January 1996 RPMs 1,241,698,000 1,041,130,000 ASMs 1,974,766,000 1,624,523,000 LoadFtr% 62.9 64.1 Psgrs 1,446,688 1,300,692
National Transportation Safety Board is "very close to a decision" on whether to recall "some of the witnesses" in its November hearing on the May 1996 ValuJet DC-9 accident, according to Member John Goglia.
British Airways plans to invest 150 million pounds in its cargo operation with the aim of turning the airline into a "world-class freight carrier." The investment is at the heart of a two-year business plan that includes the use of new technology and increased automation at the new World Cargocentre, under construction at London Heathrow. The planned changes will lead to a reduction of almost 400 jobs in the work force over two years, to be achieved through voluntary severance, redeploymnent and early retirement.
Calgary-based WestJet Airlines, the only low-fare, short-haul carrier to take to the skies in Canada last year, reported that it earned a profit during its first year of operation as its larger Canadian competitors struggled to break even. The privately held startup did not disclose how much it earned. WestJet also is debt-free, a rarity for any startup, and it acquired additional capital recently via a second private placement to its current shareholders.
If the American-British Airways alliance sells slots at Heathrow Airport to win approval for the alliance, it will do so regardless of European Union objections, Hans Mirka, American's senior VP-international affairs, said in Brussels last week. European and U.K. authorities continue to dispute whether slot sales are permissible under EU law.
FAA FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT FUNDING, FISCAL 1998 (In Thousands of Dollars) FY97 FY98 FY97 FY98 LINE LINE TITLE ENACTED REQUEST ACTIVITY 1. Engineering, Development, Test and Evaluation A. En Route Programs 1A01 1A01 Aviation Weather Services Improvements 19,942.0 23,000.0 1A03 1A02 Oceanic Automation System 39,000.0 32,000.0
Southwest traffic for January rocketed 24.4% on 11% more capacity, compared with the same 1996 month. The airline's load factor rose 6.5 percentage points to 60.2% from 53.7%. During the month, Southwest flew 8% more flights, or 64,696 trips, and its average length of haul grew 7.8% to 541 miles. January 1997 January 1996 Rev. Passenger Miles 2,154,354,188 1,731,955,231 Available Seat Miles 3,577,954,798 3,223,057,008
Airborne Freight Corp. said its board approved a shareholder rights plan "designed to protect Airborne stockholders against abusive takeover tactics." It said the plan also will "enhance stockholders' likelihood of receiving fair value in any change-of-control transaction, permitting acceptance of an offer the board concludes is in the best interest of Airborne and its stockholders." The rights plan limits the ownership of common stock by any person or group to 20%.
Approved orally an exemption for Pacific International Airlines to wet- lease a 727-100 freighter to Cayman Airways for all-cargo service between Cayman Islands and Miami through Oct.
GTE Airfone President Katherine Harless was selected to participate in the 1997 Leadership America program, a nationwide program for women of achievement.
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Tokyo Haneda Airport expects government approval for international charter and business aircraft operations now that a new runway has been completed. The 3,000-meter runway, to be put in service March 27, will be far enough from residential areas to operate 24 hours a day.
Northwest posted a 7% increase in January traffic on 4.6% more capacity, which pushed the load factor up 1.5 percentage points to 67.4%. International traffic rose 8% on 2.5% more capacity, and the international load factor was up 3.8 points to 75.4%. Domestic traffic grew 6.2% on 5.9% more capacity, keeping the load factor flat at 62.3%. January 1997 January 1996 RPMs 5,223,813,000 4,883,273,000 ASMs 7,754,827,000 7,415,572,000
AirTran Airways flew 62.8 million revenue passenger miles in January, a 15% increase over January 1996. Available seat miles rose 3% during the month to 105 million, and the load factor improved 6.4 percentage points to 59.7%. AirTran carried 75,635 passengers in January, a 22% increase.
Alaska Airlines posted a 14.1% traffic rise in January, to 722 million revenue passenger miles, on 3% greater capacity. The airline had a passenger load factor of 59.9%, up 5.8 percentage points. It carried 854,800 passengers, up from 766,700 in January 1996.
The governments of India and Portugal have signed an agreement to establish new routes and strengthen cooperation in civil aviation. Signed Thursday in New Delhi by foreign ministers I. K. Gujral of India and Jamie Gama of Portugal, the pact allows the national carriers work out plans to start service between Lisbon and New Delhi. Air-India hopes to boost tourism to India from Southern Europe.
General aviation aircraft manufacturers posted record billings of $3.1 billion last year, up 10.6% from $2.8 billion in 1995, according to Ed Bolen, president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. Total units were up 5.1% to 1,132 from 1,077 in 1995, and the manufacturers hope to ship 2,000 aircraft this year. The year-over-year increase would be 76.6%. Piston-engine aircraft shipments rose 4.2% in 1996 to 600, and turboprop shipments were up 13.3% to 289, but turbojet shipments slipped to 243 from 246.
