Dragonair placed an order for an A330-300 for delivery in the fourth quarter of 1998, Airbus said. It will be the carrier's sixth A330. Dragonair also placed orders for two A320s, to join the seven in its fleet.
Honeywell said net income in 1996 jumped to $402.7 million on sales of $7.3 billion, compared with net income of $333.6 million on sales of $6.7 billion in 1995. For the fourth quarter, net income was $153.3 million, up from $125.8 million, on sales of $2.1 billion, up from $1.9 billion. Honeywell also announced that its president and chief operating officer, Larry Moore, will be succeeded in both positions April 15 by Giannantonio Ferrari, currently president of Honeywell Europe, Middle East and Africa. Moore, 60, will retire June 30.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic December, 12 Months 1996 (000) December December % 1996 1995 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 802,000 726,000 10.5 Available Seat Miles 1,164,000 1,152,000 1.0 Load Factor (%) 68.9 63.0 America West Revenue Passenger Miles 1,376,808 1,077,371 27.8
The Association of Flight Attendants called on FAA to open up Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee proceedings to the public to reduce the likelihood that the recommendations it forwards to the agency are biased in industry's interest.
Airbus Industrie appears to have the edge in marketing a very large aircraft to airlines following Boeing's announcement Monday that it will put on hold its plans for a stretched 747. Development costs have risen above $7 billion and airline interest in large aircraft is insufficient, Boeing said. In contrast, Airbus said it has "expedited our activity" on the A3XX, "largely at the request of a number of the airlines we have been talking with." Airbus said Boeing was offering the wrong product, and at least one industry analyst agreed.
Continental reported yesterday 1996 operating profits of $525 million and net earnings of $319 million, the best in its 62-year history, despite fuel prices that were 10.7% higher than in 1995. It recorded a 14.6% higher net profit of $47 million for the fourth quarter, the seventh consecutive record quarterly result. Employees will share the proceeds, receiving $68 million in profit sharing, or about 7% of base pay, and $29 million more in on-time performance bonuses, or $590 per person.
Delta's wholly owned information services subsidiary, TransQuest, is developing an operations research group to work on optimization problems for airlines, such as crew and schedule planning. Jun-Min Liu, who headed research and development in the Advanced Decision Support Systems group of Bell Laboratories, will be assistant VP-decision support systems. He said that "using advanced scientific algorithms and state-of-the-art linear programming techniques, we can optimize the use of crews and aircraft or determine the most efficient routes.
Easing U.S. travel for foreign visitors, by using more international symbols on airport and highway signs and making currency exchange more convenient, tops the Travel Industry Association's agenda this year. TIA will continue to promote travel and tourism and update the government on the number of jobs dependent on the industry.
Ralph Eschenbach, VP and chief technology officer at Trimble, has been selected by FAA to be chairman of its Research, Engineering and Development Advisory Committee.
USAir's new logo and name, grey and dark-blue US Airways, is soon to appear at an airport near you. One of the first sightings was this week at counters in San Francisco, although gate areas still were adorned with USAir.
DOT tentatively issued foreign air carrier permits to Belgian carriers Challengair, Skyjet and Sobelair, currently operating to the U.S. under exemption authority. Challengair, operating as Belgium Challengair, listed assets of $6.5 million, liabilities of $6.3 million, owners' equity of $200,000 and an annual operating profit of $1.8 million as of Dec. 31, 1995.
Northwest yesterday reported record 1996 revenues of $9.9 billion, up 8.8%, and record net income as well, $536 million. Net fourth quarter income before extraordinary items rose to $26 million from $3.6 million a year earlier. The improvements in the bottom line came despite soaring fuel costs - Northwest's average price per gallon in 1996 was up 32%, to 76.1 cents from 57.7 cents in 1995. Fuel surged to 17.2% of all operating expenses in the fourth quarter from 13.8% in the same period in 1995.
Pan Am intends to launch service March 1 to Chicago Midway from Miami, where it connects to San Juan, with two daily flights connecting with international service provided by its foreign partners. It will offer advance-purchase roundtrip fares of $198 to Miami and $298 to San Juan. Pan Am currently operates three daily flights between New York and Miami, twice daily between Miami and San Juan, and once a day on New York-San Juan and New York-Los Angeles routes.
Allied Pilots Association says American management indicated last week it will spend the next three weeks preparing for super-mediation to avoid a strike, which could begin at 12:01 a.m. Feb. 15. APA President Jim Sovitch told members he has no way of predicting "with absolute certainty" if the pilots will strike, but he added: "I will tell you this, plan on a strike taking place." The APA says the last settlement proposal it gave management (DAILY, Jan. 17) is the absolute minimum that must be met to avoid a strike.
Continental paid out more than $41 million in employee on-time bonuses between January 1995, when it began the incentive program, and November 1996. Employees receive $65 every month the carrier is among the top three in DOT on-time arrival rankings, and $100 if it comes in first. Last week, Continental wrote $3.5 million worth of $100 checks for November's winning performance. December's numbers are not out yet.
European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert said in Brussels last week that established rules give the European Commission "full jurisdiction to scrutinize alliances such as the one between British Airways and American Airlines." Publicly outlining points made in a recent letter to British authorities, who appear ready to approve the alliance if certain conditions including slot transfer at London Heathrow are met, Van Miert noted the EC continues to review the American-BA alliance and a "a series of such alliances involving other European and North American carr
FAA Acting Administrator Linda Daschle last week dedicated the agency's first operational Display Channel Complex Replacement computer, at the Chicago air route control center. DCCR upgrades will follow at centers in New York, Cleveland, Dallas and Washington, and FAA plans to upgrade equipment for all 20 regional control facilities under a different program. The new computers, replacing IBM 9020-E display channel complex computers, will provide faster, more reliable processing of radar and flight information for air traffic controllers.
American Trans Air's traffic decreased 13.1% in December from that of a year earlier, to 604 million revenue passenger miles, while capacity fell 14.8% to 896.7 million available seat miles. The load factor increased 1.3 points to 67.4%. The carrier transported 366,497 passengers during the month, 19.4% fewer than in December 1995. Stan Pace, president of parent Amtran Inc., said the company is pleased with the load factor.
Carnival Air Lines asked DOT to renew its exemption for Fort Lauderdale- Caracas service, even though it has held the authority since last May 3 and has yet to start service. "Carnival continues to believe Fort Lauderdale- Caracas nonstop service would represent an important and beneficial alternative to the Miami gateway," the carrier said, and it expects to launch the service about May 29, using a 737-400. (Docket OST-96-1166)
Regional Airline Association carriers are "still having difficulty" communicating to the public that commuter operations are safe, according to RAA President Walter Coleman. Meeting last week with Aviation Week Group editors, Coleman noted that when a major airline has an accident, attention is focused on the airline and the aircraft type. But if a regional has an accident, it becomes a "commuter" problem "and the whole industry is swept up in it."
New Aircraft Orders And Options October 1996 Last 12 Months Firm Orders Options Orders Options Carrier # Type # Type Engines Del Dates # Type # Type Air Europe Italy* 1 767-300ER - PW4060 Apr 97 - - Continental 30 737-500 - CFM56-3 97-99 48 737-700 15 737-700
Northwest Co-Chairman Al Checchi has moved one step closer to running for governor of California in 1998. Checchi hired consultants, pollsters and media advisers last week and will give a speech in Los Angeles Feb. 4. There's little doubt he can afford to run - his net worth is estimated at $550 million.
Air South offers free tickets during holiday periods to people with appropriate surnames, such as Mistletoe and Eggnog at Christmastime. The list included Joy and Peace this year, and among 71 winners was a Ms. Joy Peace of Indianapolis, Ind. She received an additional pass to use anytime in 1997.
Pressures on Taiwan to develop a third international airport will increase once Taiwan and mainland China establish direct air routes, according to Tsay Jaw-yang, Taiwan's transportation and communications minister, but expansion at two current airports still makes a third less than certain. Tsay said the Chingchuankang air force base will be given priority if the new airport goes forward, because it is the nearest of several potential sites to airports in mainland China.
