American has signed a "cooperative agreement" that includes code sharing on selected flights with Lone Star Airlines, beginning Dec. 1. Lone Star operates 32-seat Dornier 328s. American will code share on flights from Lone Star's Fort Worth base to Knoxville, Tenn., and to Aspen, Colo., and between Denver and Aspen. The Aspen flights are operated as Aspen Mountain Air under the deal between Lone Star and Peak International, an Aspen-based airline services group.
Fallout from the ValuJet crash has paralyzed FAA decision-making at the national level, according to industry sources. At least one association advises its members to resolve problems with FAA at the regional level. FAA is "totally incapable of making a decision at the national level because it is afraid of attacks from the press and Congress," one association leader says.
Calling USAir's contentions "unwarranted and unfounded," American filed a motion Friday asking a federal judge to dismiss USAir's lawsuit against American arising from that carrier's proposed alliance with British Airways. "USAir's lawsuit reflects USAir's frustration with their BA agreement," said Anne McNamara, senior VP and general counsel for American.
Use of GPS in the oceanic environment could be an environmental godsend, according to FAA Administrator David Hinson. Based on data from 50 Boeing 747s flown in the Pacific by United, Northwest and Qantas, Hinson said about $2 billion in fuel expenditures could be saved annually if all aircraft flying in the oceanic environment used satellite navigation and flew more direct wind- favored routes. "That's $2 billion dollars worth of kerosene that is not burned and emitted into the atmosphere," he said.
U.S. Major and National Carriers Food Expenses Second Quarter 1996 Cost Per Systemwide Passenger Alaska $ 11,359,000 $ 3.78 America West 6,103,775 1.33 American 160,754,000 7.95 Continental 31,418,000 3.40 Delta 84,650,000 3.40
Today British Midland introduces its Diamond EuroClass business-class service on all domestic and international flights, and the carrier is taking several other actions to upgrade business-class service. This week, the carrier will unveil new business-class lounges at its key destinations - Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, Frankfurt, Nice, Paris, Prague and Zurich.
After a gap of nearly four years, Japan Airlines will resume services to India Oct. 3, airline officials said Friday. The resumption comes close on the heels of All Nippon Airways' start of similar services earlier this month. JAL plans to operate two nonstop flights weekly from New Delhi to Tokyo and Osaka, respectively, using 233-seat McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft, JAL sources said.
AirNet Systems, said it has completed its acquisition of Midway Aviation of Dallas For $3 million. AirNet also announced acquisition of six Learjet 35 aircraft. Midway, a regional air courier, operates 10 aircraft, primarily in the southern U.S. The acquisition is expected to add 5,000 miles per day to AirNet's existing 85,000-mile nationwide system and expand its services by 10 cities. Two of the Learjets are to be delivered immediately, and the remaining four will be purchased from Executive Jet Aviation and delivered late in October.
Taking Measures Across the American Landscape by James Corner with photos by Alex MacLean. Contains thoughtful essays and spectacular photos taken from the cockpit of a Cessna airplane, offering a fresh perspective on the ways human groups as diverse as the Hopi tribes and 20th century lumber companies have forged America's topography. Yale University Press; $45. To order single copies, call 203-432-2394.
Colombia's Aeronautica Civil, in a report issued Friday, blamed the flight crew of an American 757 that crashed into a mountain Dec. 20 near Cali. Of the 163 aboard, four passengers survived. The Aeronautica Civil said the flight crew failed adequately to plan and execute the approach to Cali, which resulted in a controlled flight into terrain, one of the biggest causes of fatal accidents in aviation.
National Mediation Board on Oct. 25 will count ballots cast by FedEx pilots for either the current bargaining agent, the Air Line Pilots Association, or the new independent union, the FedEx Pilots Association. If more than half of those eligible to vote do not return a ballot, neither union wins. In a turn of events that may open the dooror a contested election, the NMB agreed to accept return envelopes that were taped shut due to water damage.
Despite learning from the "Southwest effect," major carriers may be losing revenue from overpriced short-haul routes. One Ohio company last week opted to charter a Beech 100 instead of paying Northwest $758 per person for an unrestricted Columbus-Detroit roundtrip fare. The company transported five people for $220 each on the day trip, saving $2,690 off Northwest's fare. Northwest's price for the walkup fare equals about $4.30 per revenue passenger mile on the 175-mile trip.
Southwest Chairman Herb Kelleher is not overly concerned with the prospect of increased competition if Mesa moves into Fort Worth's Meacham Airport next spring (DAILY, Sept. 17). He told reporters this week in Dallas that years ago, before American came up with its Super Saver fares, the Fort Worth area was responsible for about 19% of Southwest's traffic at Dallas Love Field. But that percentage has dropped off dramatically, he said, and downtown Fort Worth today probably accounts for less than 2% of its Dallas traffic.
Alamo Rent A Car is offering double and trip miles on American to customers who rent a compact car or larger vehicle from Alamo North America or Alamo Europe through Dec. 15. Customers will receive 1,000 AAdvantage miles for rentals of three or four consecutive days, and 1,500 miles for rentals of at least five consecutive days. No qualifying flight is required.
Ninety international airlines, including India's state-owned national carrier Air-India and domestic carrier Indian Airlines, have bid for a 40% stake in Sri Lanka's national carrier Air Lanka, Sri Lankan diplomats said Thursday.
Rep. Jim Lightfoot (R-Iowa) yesterday introduced legislation for "linked financing" of FAA activities under which aviation user taxes would depend on what Congress authorized the year before. Lightfoot, a member of the transportation subcommittee, said this means that when FAA spending increases, the taxes collected would go up by a corresponding amount the following year according to a predetermined formula.
This year's Travel Industry Association National Outlook Forum will include a special session on Oct. 16 to review progress on the 44 recommendations to promote travel and tourism that came from last October's White House Conference on Travel and Tourism. The outlook conference will be held Oct. 16-18 at the Radisson Plaza Hotel at Mark Center in Alexandria, Va.
AMR Combs said it has reached agreement with Air/Lyon to acquire certain assets of its executive aviation services business at John Wayne/Orange County Airport in Santa Ana, Calif. AMR Combs is acquiring the fixed-base operation, the executive aviation hangar complex and the flight operations program at the airport, which have operated under the name Martin Aviation since 1923. Air/Lyon retains use of the Martin Aviation name for other aviations businesses.
ALM Antillean Airlines carried 12% more passengers for the first eight months than in the comparable 1995 period, the carrier said. The airline, a code-share partner with both KLM and United, said its August passenger count was 21% higher than last year's. Cargo volume was up 14% for the year to date.
The load factor for the four American Eagle affiliates jumped three percentage points in August to 60.8%, Eagle said - the ninth straight month in which the system recorded a year-over-year increase in load factor. System traffic dropped 5.5% to 229.4 million revenue passenger miles, however, as capacity declined 10.2% to 377.2 million available seat miles. Eagle pointed out that if statistics for Nashville - where American is shutting down a hub - are excluded, system traffic rose 6.7% on a 1.2% capacity rise, resulting in a 3.2 point load factor increase.
Business Express flew 29.1 million revenue passenger miles last month, a 34.9% drop from 44.7 million in the same year-ago month. Capacity did not decline quite as fast - 30.3% to 61.7 million available seat miles from 88.5 million - limiting the carrier's load factor dip to 3.2 percentage points, to 47.3% from 50.5%. The number of passengers boarded dropped 20.6% to 153,961 from 193,938. August 1996 August 1995 ----------------------------
Southwest, which began Florida service in January to two cities, will be operating 90 flights a day to the state when new service to Jacksonville starts next January, and it sees still more opportunities in the region and along the East Coast. Although the airline soon will face new competition from the Northeast to Florida from the new Delta Express, the two low-cost carriers will compete in only six markets and operate under different pricing structures.
DOT has renewed Ghana Airways' exemption to operate scheduled combination foreign air transportation between Accra, Ghana, and New York, using its own aircraft and crew. The carrier asked that the exemption be for two years; however, the department granted only one year, saying the period is consistent with its usual policy of granting interim authority. (Docket OST 95-622)
AMR Eagle's announcement this week that it will code-share with Reno Air at Los Angeles also is likely to anger American pilots. But it is the first of a number of such agreements with domestic and international carriers at both Los Angeles and New York Kennedy. The company is looking for code- sharing opportunities at points where American is not a dominant carrier and where Eagle feeds a smaller percentage of its passengers to American. At Los Angeles, Eagle carrier Wings West will fly under both the AA and Reno's QQ codes.
Southwest's planned incursion into the Jacksonville, Fla., market is likely to send several regionals scurrying for cover. The low-fare carrier will introduce service in two intra-Florida markets now served only by regionals - Fort Lauderdale and Tampa. Southwest will put five daily roundtrips in the Fort Lauderdale market, currently served by six USAir Express FloridaGulf Brasilia frequencies and three Comair Brasilia trips.
