Southwest plans to add seven nonstop flights at Nashville April 6 and two more on June 11. It will initiate nonstop service to Detroit April 6 with three daily departures and one nonstop per day to Los Angeles, Oakland, Las Vegas and Tampa. On June 11, it will introduce one daily nonstop each to Columbus and Los Angeles.
Northwest formally asked the U.S. yesterday to impose sanctions on Japan for violating the bilateral agreement by failing to authorize proposed Seattle-Osaka-Jakarta service. Japan maintains it is not obligated to permit it. Northwest wanted to begin the service last July 1 and complained July 3 when it was denied, and DOT extended the deadline for action on the complaint as government officials tried to resolve the issue.
"Barnburner" is how one engineer close to the de Havilland Dash 8-400 project terms the new 70-passenger, high-speed turboprop. It will fly a 1,000-mile trip with a full passenger load out of Denver on an ISA+30 day and climb from sea level to 25,000 feet in 15 to 16 minutes, he said. Balanced field length under standard ISA conditions will be 4,175 feet. The -400 will offer baggage capacity of 6.7 to eight cubic feet per passenger, depending upon configuration, and direct operating costs are expected to be five to six cents per seat mile on a 400-mile segment.
People's Republic of China this week signed a purchase agreement to acquire five units of the corporate variant of the Canadair Regional Jet. Value of the deal was placed at about US$116 million (C$155 million), one of the largest contract ever signed by the Bombardier Business Aircraft Division, the company said.
Cargo operator World Airways, continuing its battle to conduct new scheduled U.S.-Seoul-Malaysia operations, asked DOT to reject exemptions for Asiana and Korean Airlines until World can start flying the route. The Korean carriers said denials would cloud U.S.-Korea aviation relations, and World should simply continue working with government officials.
Sabena "has a fair chance to survive and to be successful" provided that its management makes the right decisions, its productivity increases and it makes use of its alliance with Swissair, Austrian Airlines and Delta, Chief Executive Paul Reutlinger told a closed conference of aviation experts this week in Brussels.
Largest Passenger-Carrying U.S. Regional Airlines - 3rd Quarter 1996 The table below does not show group totals. For example, Mesa Air Group comprises several carriers, two of which - Mesa and WestAir - are represented separately. Similarly, American Eagle carriers Simmons Airlines, Flagship Airlines and Wings West Airlines are listed separately. Revenue Percent Passenger Rank Passengers of Miles Percent
Canada's government is going ahead with plans to pump C$147 million into Pratt&Whitney Canada to support the company's work to power Montreal-based Bombardier's new de Havilland Dash 8-400 regional turboprop, DAILY affiliate Aerospace Daily reports in its Aerospace Propulsion supplement.
Minneapolis-based Northwest Airlink Mesaba Aviation posted net income of slightly more than $3 million, or 24 cents per share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, an 82.9% jump from $1.6 million, or 13 cents per share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 1995. Operating revenues swelled 27.9% to slightly more than $48 million from $37.6 million. Operating income rose 73.9% to $4.9 million from $2.8 million, while operating margin was up 2.7 percentage points to 10.2% from 7.5%, and net margin rose 1.8 points to 6.2% from 4.4%.
Southwest reported yesterday $207.3 million net income for 1996, up 13.5%. But fourth quarter earnings fell 35% to $28.2 million, as the carrier, like other low-fare airlines, felt a much bigger pinch from a 25% hike in the price of jet fuel than did larger airlines. The airline also spent heavily on expansion into new markets in Florida and the Northeast, as capacity rose 12.6% for the year. Operating revenues gained 11.1% in the quarter to $831.8 million, and 18.6% for the year to $3.4 billion.
Regional airline enplanements increased 8.6%, based on a DAILY survey of 14 of the nation's largest regional carriers. Passenger boardings increased from 41.5 million in 1995 to 45.1 million in 1996. Individually, the smallest carrier in the sample, Gulfstream International, scored the highest percentage jump with a 42.8% increase in enplanements to 594,145. By far the biggest carrier in terms of passengers carried was the American Eagle group, up 4.4% to 12.4 million on the year.
Airlines opposed to the American-British Airways alliance, fighting every step of the way, filed this week at DOT against the prospective partners' requests for confidential treatment of disclosures. The opponents asked for outright dismissal of the "premature"application.
Vice President Gore's address at last week's aviation security conference in Washington will be featured on this week's edition of Aviation News Today, to be broadcast Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 from 12:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.
TWA announced yesterday a sale for customers in Trans World One class - its first/business-class product across the Atlantic - consisting of companion fares that are half-price from any U.S. point to 10 international destinations - Athens, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Lisbon, Tel Aviv, Cairo and Riyadh. Travel must be completed by March 15. TWA also said Monday it will offer mileage-based domestic fares ranging from $154 to $358 roundtrip and up to 50% off advance-purchase international fares.
Kiwi International Air Lines has rejected the leases on seven 727-200s held by Pegasus Capital Corp. and on nine aircraft engines held by The Ages Group, according to a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As part of the airline's restructuring, Kiwi reached agreement with C.I.T Corp. for four Stage 3 727s, two Stage 2 aircraft from Unibank and one from GM Aviation Services.
American and Avianca filed at DOT for approval of their previously announced code share (DAILY, Dec. 24, 1996). Since Colombia is a Category 2 country under the FAA's safety assessment program, Avianca would operate its share of the service by placing its code on American flights.
"Sheer speculation" was Saab Aircraft's response to a London aviation newsletter report that the company has been approached by Aero International (Regional) to become a partner in the new AI(R) regional jet program and a British Aerospace suggestion that the Saab 340 replace the Jetstream 41 in the AI(R) turboprop product line. Airclaims' BLUE PRINT also said Saab is talking to Korean and Indian firms about collaboration. Saab said nothing would be considered pending arrival March 1 of new President Gert Schyborger and his reorganization of the company.
AMR Airline Services received a 10-year franchise to provide into-plane fueling at Hong Kong's new Chek Lap Kok Airport, scheduled to open next year. The airport authority has awarded 60 major contracts so far, valued at $4.4 billion. AMR Airline Services operates at more than 60 locations worldwide.
Orlando-based Delta Express is a virtual "flying laboratory" for the parent airline, as Delta experiments with everything from in-flight sponsorships to new paperwork efficiencies, according to Carmine Testa, Express manager- airport customer service. "If anyone has an idea, we'll try it on Express," said Pam Sharkus, Express In-Flight Service Supervisor. Among the pending test projects is the recently mandated installation of smoke detectors in aircraft cargo holds. "We may be the first in the industry to install them," said Testa.
FAA reform that many in industry are calling for can be largely accomplished through the agency's new Management Advisory Council and the personnel and procurement policy reforms already in place, former FAA Administrator David Hinson told the Aero Club of Washington yesterday. But the first order of business is for Congress to reinstate the aviation excise taxes "tomorrow," Hinson said. He also called for creating a U.S.
As the Allied Pilots Association counts down toward a possible strike Feb. 15, it may be at a disadvantage now that the Air Line Pilots Association represents pilots at the American Eagle carriers. APA is negotiating to pay ALPA to use some of its resources, such as software on pilot productivity per market, that ALPA spends about $175,000 a year to maintain. The unions have shared information in the past, but ALPA now has a conflict of interest. The axiom "no dues, no news" may apply.
United Parcel Service will build a $59 million, 535,000-square-foot sorting facility at Memphis Airport. Scheduled to open in November 1998, the hub will process more than 250,000 packages and documents per day and employ more than 2,000 people, UPS said. The company, which employs about 1,400 in the Memphis area, expects to sign a lease next week for the 84-acre site with the Memphis/Shelby County Airport Authority.
Japan Airlines accused Federal Express of risking a bilateral confrontation in its objection to JAL's bid for Tokyo-Atlanta all-cargo service. In a sign of increasing friction between the two countries' airlines, FedEx asked DOT to defer action on JAL's application pending bilateral negotiations and a resolution of issues including beyond-Japan rights, a question of interest to Northwest and United as well as FedEx.
