Beginning this month, the main runways at four of Taiwan's domestic airports - Makung, Chiayi, Hualien and Taichung Shuinan - will be closed for repair work. The most extensive renovation will be at Makung, planned to last 400 working days. Travel officials say the Hualien project is the most worrisome, however - the backup runway there is lined by storehouses, several holding munitions and many within 70 feet of the runway's centerline. Hualien's main runway is being renovated by the military to handle F-16 and Mirage jets on order by the air force.
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Aircraft Operating Costs, Second Quarter 1996 Dollars Per Block Hours DC-10-10 DC-10-40 -------- --------- American United Average Northwest --------------------------------------------------------------------- Crew Cost $761 $1,083 $953 $978
Alaska Air Group subsidiary Horizon Air posted a 1.2% gain in traffic last month to 71 million revenue passenger miles from 70 million in October 1995. Capacity rose 10.2% to 129 million available seat miles from 117 million in the prior October, pushing the load factor down 4.9 percentage points to 55% from 59.9%. The number of passengers declined 2.9% to 306,200 from 315,300 in the prior period.
General aviation fleet is threatened by the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, which seeks to replace lead in aviation fuel by 2005, according to National Air Transportation Association President James Coyne. The Environmental Protection Agency has suggested that GA operators "must take their punishment" for contributing to pollution, Coyne says.
Combining their purchasing power for the first time, strategic allies United and Lufthansa are seeking bids jointly for economy-class electronic headsets. The two carriers use 1.6 million headsets each year, and a dozen vendors are expected to compete for the global contract.
Fairchild Dornier is in negotiations with Lone Star Airlines concerning unpaid lease payments on the Fort Worth-based regional's three Fairchild Metros and three remaining Dornier 328 high-speed turboprops. The carrier is in arrears by more than $3 million but recently signed a code-sharing agreement with American for service from Dallas/Fort Worth to Knoxville, DFW to Aspen and Aspen-Denver. American is third in total passengers at Denver with 4.4% compared to 5.2% for Delta and 67.1% for United through August 1996. American passengers totaled 975,548.
United Express affiliate Air Wisconsin made 75.9 million seat miles available for sale in October, a 6.3% decrease from 80.9 million in October 1995. Traffic rose, however, 6.8% to 44.9 million revenue passenger miles.
Las Vegas-based new-start TriStar Airlines was back on schedule with at least one airplane yesterday. The carrier terminated flights last week when lessor British Aerospace obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) forbidding TriStar from operating its four BAe 146 quadjets due to a "dispute" over the status of the leases (DAILY, Nov. 1). Thursday's re- launch was between Las Vegas and San Francisco with two daily roundtrips and a $49 fare on all seats that will extend through Monday.
The Dutch state did not properly notify the European Commission about an indirect aid package granted to bankrupt aircraft manufacturer Fokker in 1994, according to a report by Algemene Rekenkamer, the auditors' body for Dutch government spending. The report is examining state aid provided to Fokker, car manufacturer NedCar and truck maker DAF between 1987 and 1994.
Electronic Travel Auction (ETA) is developing a World Wide Web page to enable users to bid for airline seats, hotel rooms, cruise berths, vacation packages and other travel products. The service will be in beta testing this month and is expected to be available to the public in January. ETA said its auctions will have 40 product categories, including cruises and time-sharing for condominiums.
Falcon Air Express, a charter operator based in Miami, wants to operate more than the one aircraft DOT limits prescribe. The company started operations in March, using a 727-200 configured for 170 passengers. Falcon Air says in addition to numerous "urgent" requests that it has been forced to turn down, it has been approached by a tour company that organizes transportation for professional sports teams.
...Twenty percent or so of American pilots continue to be very much opposed to the operation of regional jets by Eagle. Many Eagle pilots also oppose the move, arguing that it could hamper their upward move to big jets with the big airline. But many American pilots counter that Eagle has no option but to respond to competition from the likes of regional-jet operations like Delta Connection carriers Atlantic Southeast, Comair and SkyWest, Continental Express and, likely, United Express.
Mesa Air Group's various airline units posted a 2.5-percentage-point increase in load factor last month to 56.8% compared with October 1995. Capacity dropped 7.2% to just under 201 million from 216.6 million as revenue passenger miles declined 2.9% to 114.2 million from 117.6 million. Oct. 1996 Oct. 1995 10 Months 1996 10 Months 1995 RPMs 114,217,000 117,588,000 1,135,998,000 1,032,252,000 ASMs 200,969,000 216,606,000 2,009,214,000 1,994,223,000
Air Canada, with alliance partner Lufthansa, will launch daily service between Montreal and Frankfurt, with a stop in Halifax twice a week, beginning June 15. All seats will be sold on a code-share basis with Lufthansa. Air Canada will fly nonstop five times per week from Montreal, and the two flights per week stopping at Halifax will be direct. All flights are timed to connect with Lufthansa passenger and cargo service to 200 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Aerolinhas Brasileiras, S.A. (ABSA) requested action to remove limitations on its authority that currently limit it to wet-lease cargo and mail operations in the U.S. ABSA wants to start conducting operations with its own crew and aircraft and needs specific authority to operate passenger charters to and from the U.S. (Docket OST-96-1372)
SkyWest's Operating Revenue, Not Income, Doubled In 1995 SkyWest's operating revenue - not income - almost doubled from $113.3 million in 1991 to $225.4 million in 1995 (DAILY, Nov. 1).
Cape Air will expand its Key West Express service Nov. 26 to Fort Lauderdale, offering 10 nonstop flights daily from Key West. Cape Air will offer $159 roundtrip introductory fares on the 55-minute flights. It currently connects Key West to the Cape&Islands region in Massachusetts through Fort Myers and Naples, Fla.
DOT has approved a foreign air carrier permit for Panamanian airline DHL Aero Expreso, even though, by DOT's own admission, it is waiving its requirement that the carrier be "substantially owned and effectively controlled by citizens of its homeland." The department said that 49% of the applicant's stock is owned by non-Panamanians, and two of its officers are not citizens of Panama.
FAA will publish soon an Advisory Circular (AC) to help airlines, crews and law enforcement officers deal with increasingly frequent rowdy- passenger incidents ranging from verbal abuse to actions that interfere with flight safety. Current regulations prohibit assaulting, threatening or intimidating crewmembers or interfering with their duties, prohibit boarding passengers who appear intoxicated, and require passengers to obey information signs, such as seatbelt and no-smoking instructions.
Shuttle by United will launch three daily roundtrip flights Feb. 11 between Tucson and Los Angeles, the day it also adds four daily Phoenix- Denver roundtrips to the nine that parent airline United currently operates. United does not serve Tucson-Los Angeles. At the end of last month, the Shuttle was operating 410 daily departures in 18 cities. By Feb. 11, it will have grown to 452 daily flights in 20 cities.
United Express affiliate Atlantic Coast Airlines flew 34.6 million revenue passenger miles last month, up 4.9% from the same 1995 month's nearly 33 million. Capacity increased 6% to 69.2 million available seat miles from 65.3 million. Oct. 1996 Oct. 1995 10 Months 1996 10 Months 1995 RPMs 34,584,000 32,962,000 301,910,000 293,676,000 ASMs 69,232,000 65,325,000 641,228,000 609,105,000 LF (%) 50.0 50.5 47.1 48.2
Continental's traffic rose 9.7% in October to 3.498 billion revenue passenger miles from October 1995, while capacity grew 9.1% to 5.296 billion. The load factor rose 0.3 percentage points to 66.1%. For the first 10 months, RPMs increased 3.9% to 35.1 billion, while ASMs fell 0.4% to 51.132 billion from 51.362 billion. The load factor improved 2.8 percentage points to 68.6%. October 1996 October 1995 10 Months 1996 10 Months 1995 RPMs 3,498,281,000 3,189,954,000 35,078,441,000 33,777,943,000
Bombardier and the Province of Ontario are feuding over Bombardier's option to acquire the remaining 49% of de Havilland from the province Jan. 31 for C$49 million-a deal penned when the two parties acquired the manufacturer from Boeing five years ago. Ontario Economic Minister Bill Saunderson says he wants to renegotiate the deal and that, "we might want to stay in." Bombardier says the agreement is "very clear" that it - Bombardier - has a substantial investment in de Havilland and fully expects to exercise its option to take control of 100% of the company.
McDonnell Douglas DC-10, Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Second Quarter 1996 DC-10-10 DC-10-40 -------- -------- American United Total Northwest
