British Airways Chairman Bob Ayling will issue today the airline's three- year plan to reduce annual costs #1 billion (US$1.6 billion) by 2000 and improve business efficiency. Job cuts have not been ruled out, but the carrier is expected to make any staff reductions voluntary.
U.S. National Carriers Traffic August, 8 Months 1996 August August % 1996 1995 Change American Trans Air Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 1,042,794 991,405 5.2 Available Seat Miles (000) 1,387,127 1,246,049 11.3 Load Factor (%) 75.2 79.6 Passengers 553,056 512,933 7.8
Lufthansa Technik has developed a luminescent strip to replace emergency floor lighting throughout Lufthansa's fleet, saving maintenance costs and gaining punctuality. Although the airline has yet to release the cost savings anticipated, the existing electrical system has caused so many flight delays that Lufthansa believes it can recoup initial costs simply by running a more efficient airline. "We've lost a lot of time from flight delays," said Charles Croce, Lufthansa director of corporate communication for the Americas.
DOT should not interfere in the contractual relationship between computer reservations systems and participating carriers, said Sabre and Worldspan, the two computer reservations systems (CRSs) predominantly owned by U.S. companies, in comments on proposed DOT CRS regulations. The CRS vendors, Commenting on a provision that would ban them from requiring a carrier to keep the same level of participation in all CRSs it uses, they asked DOT not to rule on this issue unless it is part of a more comprehensive rulemaking.
Australia kicked off the first phase of airport privatization last week when its Parliament approved two bills enabling the government to seek leaseholders for Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth airports. Companies wanting to purchase the renewable 50-year leases must register their interest by Oct. 10. Passage of the bills will enable the government to complete the leasehold sale of the first-phase airports during the 1996-97 financial year, Transport Minister John Sharp said.
Raytheon Co. continued its run of winning programs yesterday when FAA announced selection of the company's team to receive the $1 billion-plus Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) contract. With Hughes Aircraft Co., Magnavox and Sun MicroSystems as team members, Raytheon will develop a new air traffic control computer automation system for 172 FAA terminal and metroplex facilities across the U.S. and 199 Defense Department facilities. The first system is scheduled to be operational by December 1998 at Boston Logan Airport.
United agreed yesterday to sell 36 DC-10-10s to Federal Express in exchange for the hushkitting of 59 of United's 727-200s. United, which will receive its first hushkitted 727 next year, also took options on 16 hushkits, and FedEx acquired engine and aircraft spares. FedEx had been talking with American as well as United about acquiring used DC-10s, and it will convert the aircraft from United into a modernized "MD-10" configuration, with new components and digital cockpits that can be flown by a two-person crew.
USAir Chairman Stephen Wolf has set in motion internal discussions that will result in a consolidation of the company's headquarters near Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va.Wolf is looking at the consolidation to save costs and increase efficiency. USAir currently has senior managers in Pittsburgh and Winston-Salem as well as Arlington.
Continental is urging DOT to limit to 30 days or until Nov. 30 Fast Air's request to serve Buenos Aires as an intermediate point on its route between Chile and New York, via Miami. After initially applying for a 30-day exemption, the Chilean carrier now wants authority to serve the point for one year. While Continental has no objection to the 30-day exemption, it does not want DOT to extend Fast Air's authority beyond Nov. 30 until the government of Chile authorizes Continental to operate proposed nonstop service between Newark and Santiago.
American has opened a new Admirals Club at New York Kennedy Airport that is twice as large as its previous temporary club room. The club has a shower, two private conference rooms with audiovisual equipment and six work areas with desks. Membership in Admirals Clubs costs $300 for the first year.
Air New Zealand, mixing business with pleasure, announced the debut of "Business Break" fares. The tariffs offer a 25% saving on nonstop, business-class travel to Australia and New Zealand when combined with a Pacific island stopover on the return portion of the trip. ANZ said business travelers will have the option to stop over in some of the world's most desired locations, including Tahiti, Fiji, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Western Samoa and Honolulu.
Mesa Air Group said it is planning to inject low-fare jet service next May in the Dallas/Fort Worth market by starting service at Meacham Airport to points throughout Texas and the region. Mesa's ambitious plan calls initially for 11 daily departures with the 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet, quickly expanding to 60 daily flights from the airport.
United has developed a proprietary software program that slightly alters the routes of its flights and is reducing fuel burn for the airline by 2.5%. United's Information Services Division, working with the airline's fleet operations and flight operations units, has created a model for choosing the most fuel-efficient routing for a given city-pair. Called "4DPlan," the system is operative on more than 250 daily domestic flights.
System One Amadeus will demonstrate the Amadeus Central System at the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) conference Oct. 6-12 in Bangkok. The computer reservations system company said it will display several advanced productivity options that are unique in the industry. "At ASTA, current and potential customers can see firsthand some of the unfolding results of the joint venture that was formed among Amadeus, EDS and Continental Airlines about 18 months ago."
Reno Air has asked for a nine-month extension of the provision conditions attached to its exemption to operate scheduled combination service between San Jose, Calif., on the one hand, and Puerto Vallarta and San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, on the other. Reno initially filed an application for the authority on March 18, planning to begin both services by June 20. The carrier said, however, that DOT action on that application was delayed by a contemporaneous filing by Alaska Airlines for exemption authority in the same two markets.
A handful of carriers and others have asked DOT to adopt proposed computer reservations system rules - strongly resisted by the large CRSs vendors - that would enable non-owner airlines to vary the service level they purchase from different CRSs. Carrier participation agreements for three of the four major CRSs - Worldspan, Sabre and System One - contain mandatory uniform participation, or parity, clauses.
Former Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen, who served on the Senate Commerce Committee and chaired the Joint Committee on Taxation, has joined Continental's board. The appointment of the Texas native expands the board to 13 directors. Continental President and Chief Executive Gordon Bethune said, "Former Secretary Bentsen has an extraordinary background in public policy and brings a wealth of experience in the areas of international and domestic finance."
Hawaiian Airlines traffic rose 5.7% in August to 365.1 million revenue passenger miles from 345.6 million in August 1995. Capacity for the month was up 6.6% to 449.4 million available seat miles from 421.7 million, driving the load factor down to 81.3% from 82% last August. For the first eight months of the year, traffic rose 11.5% to 2.598 billion RPMs from 2.331 billion. ASMs increased 12.8% to 3.389 billion from 3.003 billion, and the load factor fell to 76.7% from 78%.
Allied Pilots Association board of directors, representing American's pilots, has voted in favor of approving in principle the tentative agreement reached on a new contract with American. The agreement will now be put into contractual language, and then another vote will decide whether the contract will be sent to members for ratification.
AAR Corp. reported net earnings up 50% for the three-month period ending Aug. 31, the company's fiscal first quarter. Net income rose to $4.85 million on revenues of $136 million, 24% higher. The company said it realized increased revenues from all three business areas: aviation/aerospace parts and equipment, technical services and proprietary manufactured aviation products.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic August, 8 Months 1996 (000) August August % 1996 1995 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 1,087,000 949,000 14.5 Available Seat Miles 1,437,000 1,339,000 7.3 Load Factor (%) 75.6 70.9 America West
Air France posted a 10.3% August increase in revenue passenger kilometers, to 5.4 billion RPKs. Available seat kilometers rose 6.8% to 7 billion, pushing load factor up 2.4 points to 76.9%. Worldwide freight ton kilometers rose 8.4% in August to 382 million.
Canadian Airlines and its regional partners will launch Friday the largest fare sale in the airline's history, covering more than 7,000 city-pairs in North America. Canadian is lowering air fares by as much as 30% on its lowest available tariffs. Travel can start Sept. 20 and must be completed by Feb. 28, except for a Christmas blackout period. The sale was organized after "close coordination" on pricing and scheduling with partner American, said Canadian's Gregg Saretsky, VP-passenger marketing. The promotion includes flights to London, Mexico City and Honolulu.
Air Espana, operating as Air Europa, is seeking renewal of its exemption to engage in scheduled combination service between Madrid and/or Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and New York, which expires Oct. 11.
DOT has granted authority for scheduled, all-cargo service to Thailand, as provided for in the aviation bilateral agreement reached in January, to UPS, Air Micronesia, Federal Express, Northwest and Polar Air Cargo. UPS received six weekly frequencies, Air Micronesia five, FedEx five, Northwest three and Polar Air Cargo two. It also confirmed an earlier grant to Northwest of three additional weekly frequencies, and one to FedEx. The aviation pact made it possible for DOT to grant all of the carrier's requests. The U.S.
