Air Wisconsin, a United Express affiliate, flew 39.2 million revenue passenger miles in November, a 2.5% increase from November 1995. Capacity, meanwhile, dropped 6.3% to 73.1 million available seat miles, driving the load factor up 4.5 percentage points to 53.6%.
French regional carrier Brit Air is examining the possibility of launching 10 routes in summer 1997. Sales Director Jean Bachelier says the airline also will increase its marketing efforts in the U.K. On Nov. 28, Brit Air launched a third daily service between London and Nantes.
FAA, in a reversal of its two-decade policy of prohibiting passenger- carrying single-engine flight under instrument flight rules, not only proposed to allow such operations but went further than the industry requested to cover both piston and turbine aircraft (DAILY, Dec. 5).
Though the industry is focused on U.S.-U.K. bilateral talks in London this week, DOT efforts to forge new agreements continue around the globe. Speaking yesterday at an Airports Council International seminar in Washington, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aviation Mark Gerchick cited continuing work in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe. After signing an open skies agreement with Jordan (DAILY, Nov. 14), DOT learned that other countries in North Africa and the northern Gulf are interested in discussing liberalized aviation agreements, he said.
..Unlike Continental, Delta has chosen not to own its Connection affiliates, electing only to buy about 20% of the stock in Atlantic Southeast, Comair and SkyWest with a couple of seats on their respective boards of directors. Despite those minority holdings, however, Delta has allowed the carriers to operate autonomously, and they are among the most profitable in the regional industry. There is little fleet commonality between COEx and the Connections.
More stringent departure noise restrictions put forward by the U.K. government for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, to take effect Jan. 1, cannot be attained and probably would provide minimal benefit, according to British Airways Chief Executive Bob Ayling. Endorsing an IATA application for judicial review of the regulation (DAILY, Dec.
U.S. Major Carriers Fuel Cost Per Gallon Second Quarter 1996 Alaska America West American Total Cost $43,969,000 $56,143,217 $421,403,000 Gallons Used 67,142,069 86,518,011 686,923,501 Cost Per Gallon (Cents) 0.65 0.65 0.61 Federal Express Northwest Southwest Total Cost $98,606,000 $307,657,000 $115,421,000
DOT has tentatively selected Horizon Air and Mountain West to serve the Seattle-Vancouver, B.C., market - and issued a tentative denial of Wings Airlines' application to operate service in the market under a code- sharing agreement with Canadian regional carrier Time Air. The tentative decision, in keeping with current bilateral arrangements, would allow Horizon to operate in the market with any size aircraft (it intends to operate Fokker F28 jet aircraft) and Mountain West to operate with 60-seat or smaller airplanes (it plans to use 19-passenger Beech 1900s).
USAir's November traffic increased 6.9% over that of the same month in 1995 on 7.1% greater capacity, reducing the load factor 0.2 percentage points to 66.2%. Domestic traffic increased 3.2% in November, while international traffic jumped 83.8% due to the start of new service to Europe this year. Despite the gain, international revenue passenger miles in November represented only 7.9% of USAir's total.
Sweden's Malmo Aviation has reached an agreement with BAe Asset Management- Jets involving lease extensions and one purchase for the nine 96-seat BAe 146-200s in its fleet. Total value of the transaction, which includes the purchase and lease extensions by varying periods until June 2004, was placed at $47 million. The aircraft purchase (E2094) the airline's first since its formation in 1993.
The value of annual aerospace industry production in Taiwan will increase 17% a year and reach US$4.5 billion by 2004, an industry expert predicted. Speaking at a seminar on industrial development and market trends, sponsored by the Industrial Technology Department of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, Weng Sen-chi, an analyst with Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute, said aircraft repair and maintenance accounts for more than 50% of revenues generated by Taiwan's aerospace industry.
Farmington, N.M.-based Mesa Air Group posted declines in traffic, capacity and passengers enplaned last month. Revenue passenger miles dropped 9.8% to 101.8 million from 112.8 million; capacity dipped 6.4% to 190.5 million from 203.6 million; the load factor was off two percentage points to 53.4%, and passenger boardings decreased 8.7% to 482,956 from 529,042. Mesa said it "believes that the decline in load factor is primarily attributable to a portion of the Thanksgiving holiday traffic falling in early December 1996."
Aviation officials of China, Hong Kong and Macau have agreed in principle to adopt an integrated air traffic control system for China's Pearl River Delta region. The return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, to be followed by Macau a year later, has increased concerns in the area that ATC systems be brought together.
The Illinois House and Senate approved this week a state takeover of Chicago's Meigs Field (DAILY, Dec. 4). Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar is expected to sign the bill but will delay doing so in hopes of reaching a compromise with his opponent, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. "He is in no immediate rush for signing the bill," Edgar spokesman Gary Mack told The DAILY.
Delta Express, which is making a profit and has experienced higher-than- expected load factors, is teaching efficiency to the rest of Delta, a Wall Street source said. Express has turned an aircraft around from one flight for the next in just 26 minutes, rivaling Southwest's turnaround speed.
China will build or greatly expand at least 41 airports over the next five years to keep up with - and enable - the expansion of its aviation industry. In 1995, China spent 6.32 billion yuan (US$755 million) on civil aviation infrastructure, 26.4% more than in 1994. Two of its largest projects are construction of Shanghai-Pudong Airport and expansion of Beijing Airport. The first phase of Shanghai-Pudong, which is intended to become the major gateway to China, is expected to cost at least US$1.43 billion.
Delta has installed public fax stations at its 48 Crown Room Clubs and eight international lounges in the U.S. as an amenity for business travelers. The touch-screen machines can send or receive and accept all major credit cards.
U.S. aviation officials could have come away from their recent Far East tour with two open skies aviation agreements but held out for more, Singapore Airlines Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Cheong Choong Kong told the National Aviation Press Club of Australia this week. It was "no secret" that open skies bilaterals with Singapore and Malaysia were attainable "right away" during the trip (DAILY, Nov. 21), he said. "Unfortunately, it was all or nothing with them; they insisted on a critical mass of willing countries before they would proceed.
Brazilian civil aviation authority, following the TAM Fokker 100 accident at Sao Paulo's downtown Congonhas Airport Nov. 1, has told the regional that its flight crews no longer may stand outside the cockpit and greet boarding passengers because it may detract from pre-flight duties. The Fokker 100 crashed on takeoff when a thrust reverser apparently deployed, killing all aboard and two on the ground. TAM is a successful, growing regional carrier with a strong bent toward passenger relations, including a red carpet at every gate or loading ramp.
Lewis Jordan, ValuJet chairman, and Guy Gardner, FAA's new associate administrator for regulation and certification, will speak at McGraw-Hill Aviation Week Group's First Global Aviation Safety and Security Summit, to be held Tuesday at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington. For information, call 212-512-3225.
Lufthansa Group's airfreight subsidiary, Lufthansa Cargo AG, will raise rates sharply on cargo transport from Germany to its destinations in India, beginning Jan. 1. The increase will vary between 15% and 70%, depending on a consignment's weight and final destination. The company flies to Bangalore, Mumbai (Bombay), Calcutta, Delhi, Hyderabad, Madras and Trivandrum. LTAG said its average yields on India routes have decreased steadily in recent years and cargo service to the subcontinent has been "uneconomical for some time."
Pratt&Whitney, whose strategy from the outset in developing the PW6000 Mid-Thrust Family Engine (MTFE) series has been to look for exclusivity on airframes for the series, hopes its offer of Chinese industry participation will help seal the MTFE's place on the Asia Express 100 program. P&W this week signed an agreement with Aviation Industries of China (AVIC), which heads the AE100 program, for "significant production in China" (DAILY, Dec. 5). Pratt early this year signaled that "major" tie-ups with Asian manufacturers were possible.
United Express affiliate Atlantic Coast Airlines has reached an agreement in principle with Aero International (Regional) (AI(R) to order 12 new 29- passenger Jetstream 41 aircraft in a transaction valued at approximately $84 million, the two companies announced. Subject to final agreement, deliveries will begin in January and be completed in mid-1999.
Eight regional airline stocks rose in value an average of $1.32 during November (Air L.A. has been dropped from the index because it stopped trading on the Nasdaq exchange late in the month). Total market value of the eight stocks finished the month at $2.36 billion, up $148 million. With Air L.A. included at the end of October, the total market value was $2.22 billion. Leading during November, was Delta Connection Comair, up nearly 24% from $20.13 per share at the end of October to $24.88.
