AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, yesterday posted a net profit of $284 million for the fourth quarter of 1996 despite significantly higher fuel expenses.Before special charges and writeoffs, American earned $122 million, up 36% from the same period in 1995. Extraordinary items, mostly proceeds from the initial public offering of The Sabre Group, altered the company's results significantly. The company realized a $497 million gain from the IPO but took a $251 million pre-tax writedown of AMR's investment in Canadian Airlines.
The U.S. National Tourism Organization Inc., the newly formed public/private agency seeking growth in the current $80 billion per year in travel to the U.S., held its first meeting yesterday in Washington and named officers, including Chairman Roger Ballou, vice chairman of Alamo Rent A Car. Vice chairs are Walt Disney Attractions President Judson Green, Carnival Cruise Lines President Bob Dickinson and American Express Vice Chairman Jonathan Linden.
Gulfstream International will serve as a Continental Connection regional carrier and place Continental's code on more than 160 daily flights among the nine points it serves in Florida and its five destinations in the Bahamas - Freeport, Nassau, Treasure City, Eleuthera and Marsh Harbor - Continental said yesterday. Continental will handle Gulfstream's reservations and credit passengers with OnePass frequent flyer mileage. The code share takes effect in April.
American's pilots, led by the Allied Pilots Association, let pass yesterday an airline offer to have differences settled by the National Mediation Board, and the NMB said a 30-day cooling-off period begins today and ends 12:01 a.m. EST Feb. 15. At the end of this period the pilots are free to strike, and industry observers said this may steer people away from booking travel on American. "The looming threat of a strike over the next month could be very disruptive to American," said J.P. Morgan analyst Jeff Long.
FAA said yesterday it will order four more changes to the rudder systems of 737 aircraft in addition to nine proposed airworthiness directives, including three dealing with rudders. Also pending are recommendations by the National Transportation Safety Board that FAA plans to deal with soon.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan, which decided late in 1996 to become a risk-sharing participant in Rolls-Royce's prospective Trent 900 engine (DAILY, Dec. 4), will take a 6% share of the program and increase its work on Rolls's largest current engine, the Trent 800, under a newly signed memorandum of understanding. KHI, the first risk- and revenue-sharing Trent 900 partner, is signed up for design work and manufacturing of the turbine section is talking with Rolls about increased participation.
U.S. Major Carriers Atlantic Share of Service Third Quarter 1996 Total Revenue Departures American 6,258 Continental 1,671 Delta 7,799 Northwest 2,037 TWA 2,633 United 4,172 USAir 1,280 Total 25,850
United States Air Tour Association filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington to block FAA's ban on air tours over the Rocky Mountain National Park. The suit, against FAA and Acting Administrator Linda Daschle, alleges that the agency "acted illegally in imposing a ban on non- existent air tours while saying that general and commercial aviation cause no noise problem and can continue flying over the park."
The Defense Department will release a version of its global digital terrain elevation database for use in civil aviation as part an effort to address controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), Vice President Gore announced yesterday. In a speech to the International Conference on Aviation Safety and Security, Gore hailed the DOD decision as "a major breakthrough" in the effort to avoid CFIT accidents.
Gemini Air Cargo applied for authority to operate a long-term wet-lease with Swissair from Jan. 18, 1997, through Oct. 21, 2000. Gemini wants authority for the service for the lease term or at least through the first year. The carrier will operate a DC-10-30F on the route, which initially would link Basel and Chicago once a week, but Gemini wants to be able to increase the frequency on this and other Swissair routes between the two countries during the lease term.
U.S. Major Carriers Latin Share of Service Third Quarter 1996 Total Revenue Departures Alaska 1,566 America West 1,332 American 23,972 Continental 7,765 Delta 2,689 United 4,493 USAir 2,378 Total 44,195
Delta wants DOT to defer action on the American-British Airways alliance until the Justice Department completes an antitrust review and an open skies agreement is signed by the U.S. and the U.K. Delta said in its request for a stay, filed at DOT, the open skies agreement must have "ironclad guarantees that U.S. carriers will have access to sufficient numbers of commercially viable slots and airport facilities at London Heathrow Airport." A Justice Department examination of the proposed alliance continues, a spokesman said.
Lufthansa Technik has acquired a majority interest in Airmotive Ireland, the Aer Lingus engine maintenance unit spun off as a wholly owned subsidiary in 1980. The German company said the deal followed "intense negotiations" with Aer Lingus about technical cooperation. Lufthansa Technik said its strategic goals include forming international alliances with partners that have their own fleets, and building up international production lines. Airmotive Ireland, with 400 employees and $100 million in sales in 1996, focuses on servicing JT8D, JT9D and CFM56 engines.
Association of European Airlines named British Airways Chief Executive Bob Ayling chairman for 1997. The Brussels-based organization represents 26 carriers. Ayling plans to focus on enhancing the competitiveness of European airlines and broaching the issue of slot allocation at congested airports.
U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Share of Service Third Quarter 1996 Total Revenue Departures Alaska 40,033 America West 51,231 American 169,994 Continental 104,438 Delta 227,084 Northwest 143,738 Southwest 192,303 TWA 71,249
Taiwan's aviation authority received a conditional rating from FAA, the agency said yesterday in announcing the results of assessments of several nations (DAILY, Dec. 10). Taiwan and the Caribbean island groups of Turks and Caicos failed to provide adequate safety oversight of their air carriers that operate to the U.S., FAA said. A conditional rating means limited operations to the U.S. are permitted under heightened surveillance while FAA "negotiates actively with the authority to implement corrective measures."
Prestige Airways suspended scheduled service from Miami to St. Thomas and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The carrier said it has not been able to "meet its revenue goals in this market" and will focus on its charter operations. Passengers will be given full refunds.
Six unions representing most pilots in the air transport industry are petitioning the Gore commission on aviation safety and security to require installation of collision avoidance equipment on cargo aircraft within two years. Currently, about 1,000 air cargo aircraft without Traffic Alert And Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) are operating domestically in the same airspace as passenger aircraft, the unions said.
British Airways vows to keep Air Liberte strictly under French management but does not rule out merging it with BA's other French regional, TAT, said Charles Gurassa, BA's director-passenger and cargo business. "We should run these [Air Liberte and TAT] as French airlines with French managers," said Gurassa. "They should be largely French with relatively few British managers." Last week, a French court approved a joint plan by BA and France's Rivaud Group to take over Air Liberte (DAILY, Jan. 13).
Fuji NDT Systems said it has developed Computed Radiography (CR), a new technology for X-ray imaging that "provides enhanced images and dramatically cuts operating costs." CR uses a photo-stimulable imaging plate rather than conventional X-ray film. The plate is scanned by a laser and the image is converted into digital form that can be stored in a computer. "In the aerospace industry, where quality assurance is vital, Fuji CR will improve plant safety and reduce polluting emissions," said Doug Hackradt, national sales manager.
Swissair's ground-handling subsidiary, Swissport International, began offering services yesterday at London Heathrow Airport, with plans to expand worldwide. Swissport, the former Swissair Ground Services, also acquired 40% of Airport Services Munchen (ASM), the largest independent provider of passenger services at Munich Airport. The Swiss handling company, which operates a 50/50 joint venture with an Israeli company at Tel Aviv, is working on expanding to other airports.
SkyWest Airlines' December traffic increased 19% to 59.2 million revenue passenger miles on 117.1 million available seat miles capacity, up 15.4%. The load factor improved 1.5 percentage points to 50.6%. For the year, SkyWest's RPMs rose 24.5% to 703 million while ASMs grew 16.4% to 1.37 billion. The load factor gained 3.3 points to 51.3%.
Lufthansa will be 100% private by yearend, pledged the German government yesterday in Bonn. The government presented a proposal to sell its remaining 35.68% share, which is expected to be confirmed by the German parliament before summer. "I am confident that thanks to this law, the flotation will take place before the end of the year," said German Transport Minister Matthias Wissmann. The value of the state's stake is placed at billion Deutschmarks (US$1.89 billion).
