U.S.-French bilateral discussions concluded on a friendly note yesterday in Paris, although the second day made about as little headway as the first, according to sources close to the talks. U.S. negotiators pressed hard for open skies, but the French rejected an all-or-nothing approach. U.S. arguments pointing to past traffic surges between the two countries fell on deaf ears because much of the growth came at the expense of flag carrier Air France.
Worldspan says it plans to step up efforts to reduce the number of passive air segments booked by travel agents. Earlier this year, the computer reservations system company announced it would start penalizing agents for fraudulent passive bookings. Worldspan said it has seen a 3% reduction in passive segments over the past three years, but much more needs to be done.
United and Florida West have objected to a recent DOT decision awarding 75 additional U.S.-Brazil all-cargo charters to Southern Air Transport, 25 to Tower Air and the remainder to a charter pool for use as needed by bidding carriers (DAILY, Dec. 11). Nine carriers applied for 678 charters.
New York's importance to U.S. carriers jumps out from the top markets served by some of the largest airlines in the second quarter. During the period, New York figured in all of American's and Continental's top five city-pairs, based on passengers per day, all of Continental's top 10 and in Delta's top four.
Several U.S. airlines announced last-minute, domestic holiday fares Monday and Tuesday. Northwest said it has reduced the advance purchase requirements from seven to three days for its holiday travel sale, which is as much as 40% off the regular excursion fare. The fares are good for travel Dec. 19-Jan. 7, and tickets must be purchased by Dec. 20. Northwest also has relaxed the minimum stay requirements.
EDS's Internet booking program, SHARESweb, will be ready to take reservations in January. The system will be offered exclusively to airline customers that use the SHARES airline reservations system. It advances security measures that reduce fraudulent bookings and provide credit card protection.
Icelandair has persuaded Southwest to try something it has frequently resisted - signing a marketing agreement with an international carrier. Southwest has agreed to test a single-route marketing pact under which the European carrier will promote flights to Europe from Cleveland. The U.S. carrier will operate the flights from Cleveland to Baltimore, Icelandair's gateway to Iceland en route to the U.K., Scandinavia and other parts of Europe.
Continental's stock has been gradually declining since it hit a high of $30.75 Dec. 4, the day the story broke that it was talking with Delta about a merger. The merger discussions are now off, and Continental is not talking to anyone and has no plans to talk to anyone in the near future, according to Chairman and Chief Executive Gordon Bethune. Delta never confirmed that the two were talking. Its share price on the New York Stock Exchange has wavered only slightly over the past two weeks, and stood at $74.50 early yesterday, while Continental's was at $26.25.
Asiana Airlines, Seoul, selected Pratt's PW4000 engine to power 48 Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 aircraft. Asiana ordered 18 firm and 10 option A330s and 15 firm and five option 777s. The engines will be delivered between 1998 and 2006. Earlier, Asiana selected IAE V2500 engines to power 18 A321s.
Northwest's DC-9-30s, a refurbished fleet in its late 20s, average 68,400 cycles each but still have plenty of life left, airline VP Daniel Mathews said. The carrier expects its DC-9s to fly another 18.3 years, on average.
The Polish government postponed the deadline for the partial sale of national flag carrier LOT from Dec. 31, 1996, to June 30, 1998. The Polish authorities said the initial deadline could not be met because of the complexity of the operation and the need to secure funds for consultants. Earlier this year, the transportation ministry canceled a tender for LOT's privatization adviser because bidders were asking for excessive fees, Polish authorities said.
Passenger response to In-Flight Phone Corp.'s (IFPC) interactive survey function on telephones installed in Continental and America West aircraft is averaging 3,000 a day. IFPC, which is collecting the data in conjunction with CIC Research, says the response, estimated to be 13% of each aircraft surveyed, surpassed its expectations. So far, the survey contains only general questions, about travel preferences and Internet use.
Although McDonnell Douglas and Boeing executives deny that the $13.3 billion stock swap between the two aerospace giants spells the doom of Douglas Aircraft Co. as an independent producer, some industry analysts disagree. Analysts generally approve of the merger, announced Sunday in Washington by Boeing President Phil Condit and McDonnell Douglas President Harry Stonecipher.
Bilateral talks between the U.S. and France, the first formal discussions since France renounced the bilateral in 1993, made little progress yesterday. DOT and State Department negotiators were present, as well as industry observers. At least in the official sessions, according to sources close to the talks, French negotiators did not seem prepared to give much ground over liberalizing the relationship.
TWA has named three board members to interim executive positions while it continues to search for a successor to Jeffrey Erickson as president and chief executive. Effective immediately, Gerald Gitner has become vice chairman and acting chief executive. He is chairman of New York investment firm Avalon Group, a former Pan Am vice chairman and former chief executive of Pan American World Services. David Kennedy has been named acting executive VP and chief operating officer responsible for long-term marketing, planning and operation of the airline.
Standard&Poor's yesterday placed its rating of McDonnell Douglas and Boeing on CreditWatch with "positive implications," S&P said. If the transaction is completed, S&P said McDonnell Douglas's ratings will be raised to the level of Boeing's credit quality.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) Chairman Manfred Bischoff, speaking on German television yesterday, called for more state aid to help Airbus Industrie compete with Boeing-McDonnell Douglas. Gunter Rexrodt, the German minister of the economy, pressed for the European consortium to change rapidly into a more efficient corporate structure, in a statement issued yesterday in Bonn. Two days before the U.S.
The Delta Express experiment already is proving Delta can operate a low- cost airline-within-an-airline profitably, and keep the two operations separate in customers' minds, said Express VP W.E. "Skip" Barnett. Since Nov. 1, Express has been surveying passengers. "We asked, 'were we managing their expectations for a different type of service,' and we found the responses saying we were," he said.
Moody's Investor Service yesterday placed the debt ratings of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas under review for possible upgrade following the two companies' proposed $13.3 billion stock-swap merger. Approximately $4.8 billion of debt is affected. Placing debt ratings under review also will include Rockwell International, which Boeing also intends to acquire. The ratings agency plans to assess Boeing's "greater exposure to the cyclicality of the commercial aircraft industry" despite today's healthy backlogs.
The Dallas City Council has approved an expansion of Southwest's Dallas headquarters that will cost the carrier $30 million and give it the opportunity to keep its headquarters in Dallas for another 50 years. The 300,000-square-foot, five-story addition will open in November and be adjacent to the existing headquarters building. The city will not provide financing, but under the deal Southwest will purchase the adjacent land owned by Interstate Brands Corp. and give it back to the city.
FAA yesterday issued a notice of investigation into the transfer in September of $31.1 million from the Los Angeles Department of Airports to the city's general account and gave the city until Jan. 15 to respond or "to make good faith efforts to resolve this matter informally." FAA is using new Part 16 procedures for airport proceedings that took effect just yesterday (DAILY, Oct. 11). If the issues are not resolved by Jan.
As the rest of Europe toils to position itself for aviation deregulation in April, Virgin Atlantic's Richard Branson is about to float around the world for 18 days in a balloon at 30,000 feet. One industry observer noted that the adventure will be "a nice vacation" for American and British Airways.
