World Airways flew 4,362 block hours in December, an 80% increase over the 2,412 flown in December 1995, to fulfill contracts with international air carriers, the U.S. Air Force and international tour operators. For the year, World flew 43,897 block hours in continuing operations, up from 35,628 in 1995.
Western Pacific will suspend all service to Las Vegas, Nashville, Ontario and San Antonio Feb. 2, when it revises its schedule to increase daily service to 16 cities from Colorado Springs. Service to Houston, Miami and Portland will remain unchanged. The carrier said the new schedule will add almost 28 flying hours a day and increase daily aircraft utilization 19%. Westpac plans to announce fare specials to promote the new service and initiate action to make the schedules and fares available to travel agents.
Even as U.S. carriers milk profits, Latin American airlines seek alliances and China swallows Hong Kong, center stage this year is likely to be in Europe, where the final phase of aviation liberalization will go into effect in April. Most European carriers began years ago to position themselves for a less restrictive market, but some second- and third-tier airlines have been slower to act and therefore lack a flexible, market- driven structure to ensure their survival.
Association of European Airlines Traffic October 1996 Passenger Data % RPKs Change ASKs Region (Mil) 96/95 (Mil) EUROPE 9,235.0 5.4 14,442.1 NORTH AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST 1,487.7 7.6 2,256.0 LONGHAUL North Atlantic 11,675.1 6.6 14,659.3
ValuJet's traffic and load factor increased in December over November, but both were below December 1995 levels. Operating a fraction of its year- earlier fleet and schedule, ValuJet carried 68.3% less traffic than in December 1995 on 64.5% less capacity. The load factor, 56%, was down 6.8 percentage points. Revenue passenger miles totaled 84.3 million and available seat miles 150.4 million. Both represented gains over November's 66.7 million RPMs and 138.3 million ASMs, however, and the load factor increased 7.8 points month-over-month.
Clarification: Both models of the A330 are likely to be larger than the proposed 245-passenger 767-400ERX, Airbus Industrie said. The A330-200 will seat 256 passengers in three classes, and the existing -300 seats 295.
Lending new meaning to the opening-session phrase "Charge To The Participants," the Gore Commission's Jan. 13-15 White House Conference on Aviation Safety and Security is asking some panelists and speakers to pay full registration fees - $995 for representatives of for-profit enterprises and less than half that for government officials. For some panelists representing non-profit organizations, nothing is being charged.
Alaska Airlines reported a 10.5% increase in December revenue passenger miles on 1% greater capacity, forcing the load factor up 5.9 percentage points to 68.9%. Alaska said its December results would have been even better if not for bad weather in Seattle and Portland that disrupted operations continuously during the last six days of the month, one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Traffic for 1996 jumped 14.5% on a 7.3% gain in capacity. Load factor for the year was 66%, up from 61.8% in 1995.
DOT Judge Burton Kolko has accepted American Airlines' and the DOT Enforcement Office's proposals to adopt a summary-judgment schedule for the Preference MAAnager case, dropping the full-fledged hearing that had been set for March 24 (DAILY, Jan. 3). Now, cross-motions for summary judgment and answers to Enforcement's initial motion are due Jan. 21, with answers to Jan. 21 filings due Jan. 31. Kolko is keeping the March 24 hearing date open in case there are factual disputes.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines said yesterday it plans to acquire 30 Canadair Regional Jet aircraft and place options for 60 more, and a definitive agreement is expected to be "concluded shortly." Value of the 30 firm aircraft - the largest single order for the Canadair RJ - is $600 million, including spares. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in August at a rate of one a month to the Delta Connection carrier. Flight and maintenance crew training will begin in June, said John Beiser, ASA president.
Boeing had net sales of 559 aircraft in 1996 valued at $42.8 billion for a 64% market share, compared with net sales of 301 units for Airbus, valued at $21.6 billion and a 32.3% market share, Ron Woodard, Boeing Commercial president, said yesterday in Seattle. In terms of gross units, including substitutions and cancellations, Boeing had 717 orders valued at $53 billion versus 326 orders for Airbus valued at $23.6 billion, Woodard said.
American Airlines, opposing planned code sharing by United and Air New Zealand for flights linking the U.S. with Australia and New Zealand, claims United's position is "transparently hypocritical" considering its objections to American code shares, including those with TACA, ALM and Canadian Airlines International.
Delta will build a bigger presence at New York Kennedy, reduce flying to Frankfurt and eliminate service from Frankfurt to six European cities by July in a move it expects will improve operating income by $62 million a year. Ron Allen, chairman, president and chief executive, yesterday said the new strategy will position Delta as the No. 1 jet carrier at JFK and strengthen its position as the largest U.S. operator across the North Atlantic. By summer, Delta will operate 245 weekly flights to 26 European cities.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund - Income Statement October 1, 1995 - September 30, 1996 Current Month RECEIPTS (Revenues) Revenues: Excise Taxes (Transferred from General Fund): Liquid Fuel other than Gas $ 9,295,000.00 Transportation by Air, Seats, Berths, etc. 195,133,000.00 Use of International Travel Facilities 9,599,000.00
Commercial aircraft deliveries are in a "moderate recovery" that started in 1996 and will continue through the remainder of the decade, Moody's Investor Service said in its annual report on global aerospace companies, 11 of which the agency rates. "Orders for commercial aircraft should continue being strong, but the present vigor of the delivery rates may ebb somewhat over the next 18 months," wrote Moody's VP Tassos Philippakos. Despite this, Philippakos believes demand "will grow in the long term" because global airline traffic is expected to rise 5% annually.
Air UK plans to increase service to Amsterdam from London Stansted to eight flights per day for its summer 1997 schedule. Citing "continued expansion of the market, particularly for those customers using Amsterdam Schiphol as a transfer point for flights to over 150 cities in 81 countries worldwide," Air UK said it will offer service about every two hours from 6 :40 a.m. to 8:45 p.m. Passenger volume in the market, 1 million in 1995, is estimated at 1.25 million in 1996.
UPS and its pilots union, the Independent Pilots Association (IPA), resumed contract talks this week in St. Augustine, Fla., but appear far from settling major issues. IPA, in negotiations with UPS for 14 months, said the company is offering a 2% pay raise, which the union finds "encouraging" but unacceptable.
American Airlines and Central America's TACA International filed documents with DOT recently in response to the department's queries about their proposed code-share alliance. Much of the material was filed under confidentiality rules to protect sensitive information, but in documents open to the public, American said the agreement should stimulate competition in the U.S. and abroad.
National Transportation Safety Board, in an urgent recommendation to FAA, called on the agency to issue a telegraphic airworthiness directive to improve exit-door instructions on the exterior of the Beech 1900. The recommendation stems from NTSB's investigation into the Nov. 19, 1996, runway collision between a Great Lakes/United Express 1900C and a Beech King Air at Quincy Municipal Airport, Ill., killing all on both aircraft (DAILY, Nov. 21).
U.S. National Carriers Operating and Net Profit Nine Months 1996 Operating Net Profit/Loss Profit/Loss (000) (000) Nine Months 1996 American Trans Air $ (17,359) $ (13,911) Carnival (4,444) (6,218) Hawaiian 8,086 2,325 Midwest Express 25,072 15,585
ValuJet Airlines will resume scheduled service to West Palm Beach today but must drop its flights to Mobile, Ala., to do so. The carrier was given FAA approval Friday for West Palm Beach and Fort Myers, but only with existing aircraft (DAILY, Jan. 6). It will suspend service to Mobile Jan. 16 and serve West Palm Beach with two daily flights to Atlanta on peak days. The start date for service to Fort Myers was not announced.
Delta is expected to reveal today major changes in its transatlantic service out of New York Kennedy Airport and revamping at its Frankfurt hub. Joint announcements are planned in New York and London.
Last week's informal agreement among industry partners to transform Airbus Industrie into a limited company reflects a compromise between Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) of Germany, which wanted full integration of all Airbus activities into a new, independent public limited company, and Aerospatiale of France, which was reluctant to give up control over its highly valuable civilian research and development units, according to sources close to the talks.
Airbus Industrie received announced orders and commitments for 498 aircraft in 1996, valued at $34.4 billion and representing 42% of total aircraft ordered with more than 100 seats, the consortium said yesterday. In 1995, Airbus had only 19% of the more-than-100-seat market. Firm orders - those with a signed contract and a paid deposit - totaled 326 aircraft worth $23.6 billion. The 1996 aircraft and monetary totals are 207% and 146% higher, respectively, than in 1995, when Airbus had 106 firm orders worth $9.6 billion.
American's 1.8% systemwide traffic increase in 1996 (DAILY, Jan. 6) results from 2.2% growth in domestic traffic, a 3.6% drop across the Atlantic, a 5.5% gain in Latin America and 0.8% more in the Pacific. Dec 96 Dec 95 12 Mths 96 12 Mths 95 RPMs 8,846,725,000 8,272,414,000 104,481,652,000 102,677,919,000 ASMs 12,928,868,000 12,915,365,000 152,561,488,000 155,032,281,000 LoadFtr% 68.4 64.1 68.5 66.2
