Delta set a monthly boarding record at Providence/Newport, R.I., in December when it transported 25,206 passengers on Delta and Delta Express at T.F. Green Airport. Delta and Delta Express operate nine flights to nine cities from T.F. Green and will add one flight to Orlando next December.
American Airlines accepted a proffer of binding arbitration from the National Mediation Board in the contract dispute with its pilots. The carrier said late Friday the acceptance is subject to agreement by the Allied Pilots Association in accepting the proffer by Jan. 15. American President Donald Carty said, "We're extremely disappointed with this turn of events, but we prefer arbitration to confrontation." American accepted arbitration with its flight attendants union in November 1993, but only after being urged to do so by President Clinton.
British Airways' German-based affiliate Deutsche BA plans major service changes, starting Jan. 20, including a move to single-class service. The airline is simplifying its fleet to all-737-300s, starting this fall, when it expects to operate 18 of the type. Deutsche BA also has flown Fokker 100s and SF340s. The new schedule will add eight daily flights from Munich to Hamburg and Cologne/Bonn. A new pricing system has three tiers - 14- and seven-day advance purchase and a "flexifare" alterable at any time.
Air Canada has sold its remaining 5.6 million Class B shares in Continental for $154 million. Air Canada said the sale represents before-tax income of more than C$170 million, a 550% gain on its 1993 investment. The sale does not affect the commercial alliance between the two carriers. Air Canada is using the proceeds to pay down debt.
In derivative models of the 737 and DC-9 series aircraft, "safety has typically increased with each new generation," Boeing said in its employee newspaper. However, "note that the Airbus A320/A321 are an exception to this pattern," Boeing added.
National Coalition for Aviation Education elected Christine Leonard, president of the International Society of Aviation Maintenance Professionals, chairman. Professional Aviation Maintenance Association elected Karl Florian chairman.
American and British Airways formally applied on Friday for DOT approval and antitrust immunity for their alliance. Speaking in Washington, officials from both carriers noted that Jan. 10 was the last day to file comments on the alliance in London with British authorities, and sounded confident that the pact would be approved there in light of "undertakings" recommended by the Office of Fair Trading.
A new study of the international air freight and express industry shows that DHL remains the market share leader for international express services, according to Air Cargo Management Group. DHL is followed by FedEx, UPS and TNT/GD Express. The study also shows that growth rates for these operators "far outpace" those of airlines and freight forwarders.
Reno Air reported record December traffic of 258 million revenue passenger miles, a 41% increase from December 1995. Available seat miles were up 35% to a record 386 million and the load factor, also a record, was 66.9%, up 3.1 percentage points. For the year, RPMs rose 45% to 3 billion, ASMs were up 36% to 4.5 billion and the load factor gained 4.5 points to 67.4%. All three were record levels. Reno carried 449,285 passengers in December, an increase of 37%, and 5,161,009 for the year, up 31%.
U.S. airlines filing documents in London opposing the American-British Airways alliance faulted an Office of Fair Trading analysis accepted by Trade Minister Ian Lang for too readily discounting competitive issues raised by the analysis itself.
A consortium headed by People's Air Cargo and Warehousing Co. is expected to receive a contract to build Manila's new international airport terminal. Renato Cayetano, chief legal adviser to President Fidel Ramos, said the other major bidder declined to match the bid by the group made up of People's Air, Lufthansa AG and Security Bank Corp.
Airlines in the U.S. have benefited recently from a slight drop in the price of jet fuel, but recent cold spells throughout the country threaten to reverse that downward trend, airline fuel managers said late last week.
America West appointed Frank Tucci VP-maintenance and engineering and Ann Vry director-community relations. Federal Express named Edmond Clark senior VP of its newly created Operations Support and Engineering division. Frontier appointed Joe Slawinski district sales manager-Chicago; Jim Fosmire city manager-Chicago-Midway, and Pam Olsen customer service coordinator-Bloomington/Normal, Ill. USAir named Bonnie Hathcock VP-human resources and development.
Cargo carriers are increasingly alarmed by reports that fees at Hong Kong's new Chek Lap Kok Airport will be much higher than those at Kai Tak. Some reports put the charges as high as three times those now in effect.
USAir has proposed to its pilots concessions that would enable it to launch a low-fare operation in competition with Delta Express and Southwest. Some pilots would take a 12.5% pay cut but would be able to fly one extra day a month, and others would fly the low-cost division for less pay, according to The Charlotte Observer. Neither the Air Line Pilots Association nor USAir would comment, the newspaper said. USAir's ALPA unit referred to the management proposal, submitted Jan.
As the U.S. resumes negotiations with Japan, officials looking to send signals have another opportunity - a Japan Asia Airways application at DOT for renewal of an exemption to operate combination service linking Guam and Saipan to Nagoya. The airline asked for a one-year exemption, pending action on its permit application. Business-as-usual approval would suggest stable aviation relations and satisfaction with progress on disputes. A 179-day approval would signal impatience.
A bill introduced in the first session of Congress that would halt "unnecessary" certification by FAA of foreign repair stations was hailed last week by Ron Carey, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO. The bill, H.R. 145, The Aircraft Repair Station Safety Act of 1997, was introduced by Reps. Robert Borski (D-Pa.) and Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) and has 20 bipartisan co-sponsors. The bill would revoke the certification of any facility that "knowingly" uses bogus or substandard
FedEx introduced last week an Internet-based service, BusinessLink, "as part of a virtual enterprise suite of services." The company said that with BusinessLink, it will be the first to integrate electronically the ability of businesses to order products on-line with the company's fulfillment system for delivery "anywhere in the world." The first offering, the "virtual enterprise suite," will streamline the order management process and combine the Internet with FedEx's transportation and information networks.
U.S. National Carriers Operating Revenues and Expenses 9 Months 1996 Operating Operating Revenues Expenses (000) (000) Nine Months 1996 American Trans Air $ 585,833 $ 603,191 Carnival 206,997 211,440 Hawaiian 291,285 283,198
Regional airline stocks dropped by $5.21, on average, during the past three years. Monthly closing average prices since January 1994 have ranged from a high of $17.45 per share in that month to a low of $7.83 in December 1994 and January 1995, with an overall average for the three years of $11.58 per share. During the three-year period, Air L.A. was added and dropped from the list of publicly held carriers. In addition, United Express Great Lakes Aviation was added and independent Conquest was dropped.
The Netherlands government will pursue civil aviation goals ranging from airworthiness inspections of third-country aircraft to the removal of aviation fuel's tax-exempt status during its six-month term as president of European Union organizations. The term continues until July, and The Hague says EU members must "take a common stand" preparing for an expected European Civil Aviation Conference decision next month on a strategy to integrate air traffic management in Europe. The Dutch government plans to hold an informal two-day meeting in Amsterdam, beginning Jan.
Northwest Airlink Mesaba Aviation d/b/a Mesaba Airlines this week formally asked DOT to amend its certificate to allow operation of aircraft with a seating capacity greater than 60 seats. Mesaba announced last October that senior partner Northwest agreed to acquire 12 Avro RJ-85 aircraft, with options for 24 more, that will be operated by Mesaba. They will be configured for 69 seats, including 16 in first class. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in April (DAILY, Oct. 29).
FAA established an integrated product team (IPT) that will focus on its sometimes troubled telecommunications operations in what it called a "major first step toward establishing a single telecommunications organization" as recommended by outside studies.
FAA said it has authorized ValuJet to add to its fleet three of the five DC-9s the carrier requested on Nov. 15. Approval for the other two aircraft is pending, the agency said. The three additional aircraft bring ValuJet's operating fleet to 18. The carrier said it will resume Fort Myers service on Jan. 16 with two roundtrips a day. On Jan. 3, FAA gave the airline permission to begin service to West Palm Beach and to Fort Myers but withheld approval of the additional aircraft.
