Business travelers give code-sharing flights mixed reviews, according to IATA's annual corporate air travel survey of more than 1,000 international travelers. IATA said nearly half of survey respondents who found themselves on an airline they did not expect to be flying said they had a "negative experience" with code sharing. Many were confused and others angry about not being informed of who was operating the service. The IATA survey also found: - Two-thirds of respondents favor electronic ticketing over paper tickets.
Aeromexico is seeking authority from DOT to operate to Austin and Washington from Mexico City, beginning Nov. 15, initially under a code- sharing arrangement with Delta. Some Delta flights between Dallas and Austin and between Atlanta and Washington would carry the Aeromexico code. Both carriers will file a joint application soon, Aeromexico said, and if approved, Aeromexico would offer two daily roundtrips via a change in Dallas in the Mexico City-Austin market, and two daily roundtrips via a change in Atlanta in the Mexico City-Washington market.
American Trans Air launched an early winter fare sale, reducing fares for travel through Jan. 31 for tickets purchased by Nov. 13. One-way fares include $69 for Indianapolis-St. Petersburg, $97 for Milwaukee-Fort Myers, $99 for San Francisco-Indianapolis and $88 for Chicago-Orlando.
Lufthansa's CityLine regional operator will slow its growth next year from a speedy 20% expansion during the past 12 months and focus on building its Munich hub into a significant central European operation in 1997, said Karl-Friedrich Rausch, CityLine managing director. The airline, which will become an all-jet carrier during the next few months, will increase flights at Munich beyond its current 70 per day, and grow service at Berlin in the future. Currently, 20% of CityLine's 320-330 daily flights are out of Munich.
The French government's decision on who will win the battle for bankrupt Air Liberte may be announced as early as today, industry sources said. Although British Airways is thought to have made a solid offer to purchase the carrier and guarantee 1,250 jobs, the government's decision "is anyone's guess," said one French aviation industry source. The government, which has encouraged aviation competition in France, traditionally has protected French national interests in most business transactions.
Frontier Airlines has hired SMG of Denver to publish its first inflight magazine, to be called Spirit of the West. The magazine will debut in early 1997 with a western flavor, the carrier said, and will feature "off- beat" stories about people and places on Frontier's routes.
A group of air traffic assistants yesterday filed a class action complaint against FAA before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, charging that the agency is discriminating against them by showing preference for hiring former PATCO members and college graduates for air traffic controller jobs. A spokesman, Milton Torres, said 73 of the FAA's 327 air traffic assistants (ATAs) are African-American, 72 are female, 46 are Hispanic and 126 are white males over 40, while the former PATCO members FAA is hiring are predominately white males.
TriStar Airlines has raised travel agent commissions to 12% from 10%, applying efficiencies it will realize from cutting over to an in-house reservations system. It also has set up a travel agent hot line. TriStar's reservations line is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. PST.
USAir has reduced fares in 3,400 domestic markets and 225 transatlantic markets on tickets purchased by Friday. Domestic fares are for travel between Nov. 11 and Dec. 18, and tickets must be purchased at least 14 days prior to departure. Transatlantic sale fares are good for travel Nov. 5 through March 13, and tickets must be purchased seven days prior to departure. Travel must originate in the U.S. no later than March 8. The lowest fares available are $131 roundtrip for domestic travel and $344 for transatlantic travel.
United, Denver and the Stapleton Development Corporation will announce agreement tomorrow to expand United's Flight Training Center as part of the redevelopment of the Stapleton Airport property. According to United, the expansion will make the facility "the largest pilot training center in the world." Growth will enable United to acquire more simulators for training of its own pilots, and for training of other airlines' pilots by UAL Services Corp.
Emirates has increased the frequency of service between Dubai and Johannesburg and Nairobi. Johannesburg service will add one weekly flight, from three to four. Traffic in that market is up 94% in the first six months of 1996. The service is part of a code share with South African Airways. Flights to Nairobi will increase to four per week Dec. 8.
Germany shipped more air freight last year, 5.94 billion pounds, than any other nation, according to the Colography Group, an industry consultant.The U.S. was a distant second at 4.89 billion pounds, and France was third with 4.04 billion. Hong Kong, with 2.26 billion pounds, shipped more than Japan's 1.11 billion.
Northwest agreed to acquire 12 Avro RJ-85 aircraft, valued at more than $300 million, and took options for 24 more from Aero International (Regional). It will sublease the aircraft to Mesaba Airlines to be operated as a new service called Northwest JetLink. As part of the deal with Mesaba, Northwest also receives warrants equal to 4.7% of Mesaba common stock. The regional aircraft will be operated out of Minneapolis and Detroit, replacing service now operated by Northwest with DC-9-10s that are 28 to 31 years old.
Western Pacific Airlines lost $910,000 in the third quarter, mostly due to aggressive capacity growth, stiff pricing from competitors at Colorado Springs and Denver, and higher fuel costs. The loss was in line with company expectations. Despite 21.5% higher jet fuel costs - 78.1 cents per gallon on average - the carrier lowered its cost per available seat mile to 6.23 cents from 6.31 cents. Its fleet nearly doubled, to 15 737s, and it said it plans to lease one 737 in the next six months. Next May, it will begin to take delivery of six new 737s from Boeing.
Canadian Airlines' traffic was up 0.1% in September over the same month in 1995 as domestic traffic fell 5.4%. International and charter traffic rose 3.3% and now comprises 65% of Canadian's total. The systemwide load factor dropped 0.7 percentage points to 75.7%. Increased competition in Canada "reaffirms our continuing strategy to shift capacity to more profitable international markets," said Don Casey, VP-capacity planning.
Boeing has established what it called a "first-of-its-kind" World Wide Web site that gives airlines quick access to 410,000 different types of spare parts it keeps in stock for aircraft maintenance and repair. The Web site reduces paperwork and errors and "instantly gives order and shipping status as well as data on price, inventory and part interchangeability," the company said. Boeing manages its spares business through a computerized system that integrates seven worldwide distribution centers into a single logistics network.
Negotiators reached agreement during the weekend on Air France's winter schedule to the U.S., giving the carrier essentially what it asked for in exchange for similar opportunities for the U.S. Air France added five weekly frequencies to last winter's operation - two to Chicago, two to Los Angeles and one to San Francisco. Although U.S. carriers asked for more, they too got five, all for existing service and no more than three to be used in any single city-pair. France and the U.S.
Midwest Express chose The Mark Travel Corp. to operate Midwest Express Vacations in 1997-2000. Like Midwest Express a Milwaukee company, Mark Travel provides tour services for United, Southwest, Sheraton and USAir, as well as Funjet Vacations and Mountain Vacations.
Career Pilots Association has established a World Wide Web site at http://www.erols.com/burnside/cpa.htm, and plans to publish a newsletter, Working Pilot. The newly formed organization said it intends to "enhance aviation safety, protect pilots' rights and lead the fight for better working conditions by representing professional pilots who have, until now, not had a unified voice."
USAir's electronic tickets can now be booked by travel agents using the Apollo computer reservations system. Ticketless travel for domestic flights on USAir has been available through Sabre since Oct. 17 and will be expanded to the System One CRS by yearend. The carrier said it also is working with Worldspan to develop the capability. In a separate announcement, USAir appointed Julie Roberts VP-reservations, responsible for the work of 4,000 sales representatives.
DOT's Aviation Enforcement Office Monday charged American Airlines and the Sabre computer reservations system with violating rules against unfair bias in CRS systems. The office seeks a cease-and-desist order and a $500,000 civil penalty, the latter "unprecedented and excessive," according to American. The complaint is against Sabre's Preference MAAnager software, distributed to at least 650 travel agencies between April 1993 and February 1996, according to the enforcement office.
Singapore Airlines, pressured locally by intense competition and a stronger Singapore dollar and internationally by 22% higher fuel costs, posted a first-half operating profit of S$318 million (US$225 million), 22.7% lower than the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose S$115 million (US$81 million) to S$3.19 billion (US$2.25 billion). Expenses grew faster, however, at a rate of 7.8%, to S$2.87 billion (US$2.03 billion). The airline's yield slid 6.7% in the six-month period, mostly due to unfavorable currency fluctuations and a 3.5% stronger Singapore dollar.
USAir and British Airways will end the link of their frequent traveler programs March 29, but USAir will maintain its ties with Air France, Alitalia, Sabena, Swissair, All Nippon Airways, Northwest, Qantas and the 17 Latin American members of LatinPass (DAILY, Oct. 25).
Boeing 737 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Second Quarter B737-300 America West Continental Delta Number of Aircraft Operated 40 65 13 Total Fleet Operations Departures 260 284 70 Block Hours 472 679 120
Flight Dynamics' head-up guidance system (HGS) has accumulated more than one million flight hours of passenger service and package carrier operations on 250 737s, 727s, Dash 8s and Canadair Regional Jets, the company reported. More than 300,000 landings have been made using the system, which the company said improves the precision of landing operations in all weather conditions and provides lower minimums in low-visibility conditions for both takeoff and landing.
