Brit Air, based in Morlaix, France, signed an order for three Canadair Regional Jet aircraft valued at $60 million. Brit Air currently operates six CRJs.
USAir recorded a 6.6% gain in scheduled revenue passenger miles for August on a capacity decrease of 0.4%, pushing the load factor up 4.9 points to a record 74.1%. Domestic RPMs increased 3.4% on 3.4% less capacity. USAir's international RPMs rose 51.1% in August following the startup this year of service to several new European destinations. The number of passengers boarded rose 2.6% in August but dropped 1.9% for the first eight months. USAir's total capacity fell 7.6% so far this year, compared with the same 1995 period.
A Continental Express decision to order the EMB-145 rather than the Bombardier's Canadair Regional Jet or Saab's high-speed turboprop 2000 was based partly on the Embraer aircraft's profit potential on short-haul as well as long-haul routes, Continental Express said (DAILY, Sept. 4). The deal, worth a minimum of $375 million and perhaps as much as $3 billion if all options are exercised, was consummated following an intense competition with Bombardier and its CRJ and, to a lesser extent, the Saab 2000.
USAir has formed an 11-member employee task force to do something about its customer service. The panel intends to make recommendations on minimizing customer/employee conflicts to a steering committee by the end of the month. The task force was commissioned by President and Chief Operating Officer Rakesh Gangwal.
..."Jetprop" is the new marketing emphasis for the Saab 2000 in an attempt to convince government agencies and potential customers alike that the aircraft offers jet performance. The phrase is not just a sales gimmick, the company maintains. FAA slaps the same icing rules on all turboprops with boots, even though the 2000 spends the same amount of time in icing as pure-jet aircraft, having the ability to climb to 31,000 feet almost as fast as a jet. During its recent North American sales tour, the 2000 was able to obtain ATC jet departures most of the time.
French carrier Regional Airlines has increased its original order of Embraer EMB-145 regional jets to a total of 10, of which five are firm and five are options. Deliveries will run through 2000.
Continental reported yesterday its highest monthly load factor ever - 74.3% in August - up one point from August 1995. The international load factor fell 1.2 points to 74.9%, however, due to capacity that grew faster than total traffic. Revenue passenger miles rose 6.3% and available seat miles 5.5%. Aug 96 Aug 95 8 Mths 96 8 Mths 95 RPMs 4,119,339,000 3,876,916,000 28,323,757,000 27,472,872,000 ASMs 5,540,896,000 5,289,355,000 40,709,237,000 41,730,288,000
American posted revenue passenger mile gains of 2.3% in August on 1.4% less capacity, resulting in a systemwide load factor of 73.7%, 2.7 percentage points higher than in August 1995. Regional traffic results varied greatly, however. Atlantic RPMs declined 12.9%; Latin American RPMs jumped 8.4%, and domestic RPMs gained 4.8%. Capacity declined in all regions except Latin America, where available seat miles increased 8.5%. Although Atlantic capacity declined, the Atlantic load factor rose 0.3 points to 81.3%.
Alaska Airlines' traffic in August jumped 14.6% to 1.087 billion revenue passenger miles from August 1995, while capacity rose 7.4% to 1.437 billion available seat miles. Load factor for the month rose 4.8 points to 75.7%. For the first eight months of the year, traffic rose 16.4%, capacity 8.7% and the passenger load factor 4.4 points. Aug 96 Aug 95 8 Mths 96 8 Mths 95 RPMs 1,087,000,000 949,000,000 6,714,000,000 5,767,000,000
Bombardier has authorized its Regional Aircraft Division to offer the 70- seat CRJ-X aircraft for sale to potential customers, but the company said a final launch decision probably will be made this fall. The company said an official launch is expected before yearend after discussions with customers and partners and a review by Bombardier's board of directors. The standard CRJ seats 50 passengers.
Kiwi International Air Lines will start Kiwi Klub, a frequent flyer program it says will offer free roundtrips twice as fast as other programs - one to any destination after a member flies 18 one-way segments. Members' Klub cards will be stamped before each flight. The program starts Sept. 9, and passengers who fly on the airline's anniversary day, Sept. 21, will receive four extra flight credits. Kiwi also is offering a Fly Free in '97 certificate Sept. 15-30 celebrating its fourth anniversary. Certificates must be redeemed by Oct. 15 for travel in 1997.
Scandinavian Airlines has ordered four Saab 2000 turboprops and taken two options for its SAS Commuter subsidiary, and French-based Regional Airlines has placed orders that will increase its 2000 fleet from four to seven. The first two SAS airplanes will be delivered in February and the second two in April 1997.
DeltaTel, Delta's wholly owned communication subsidiary, has signed an agreement with TelecomUSA covering in-home, long-distance service at a cost of 9.5 cents per minute on domestic calls, plus a $5.95 monthly membership fee. The service will be marketed initially to Delta employees and DeltaTel customers. A campaign to market it to the general public will begin this fall. International rates will vary by country.
Snecma of France and Pratt&Whitney Canada have reached a tentative agreement on a joint venture agreement to develop a family of turbofan engines in the 12,000- to 16,000-pound-thrust range.
Delta Connection Atlantic Southeast reported a 15.2% increase in traffic to 77.6 million revenue passenger miles in August compared with 67.4 million in August 1995, as capacity grew 5.3% to nearly 155 million available seat miles from 147.1 million ASMs. As a result, the load factor jumped 4.3 percentage points to 50.1%. Enplanements rose 20.2% to 325,339. Aug 96 Aug 95 8 Mths 96 8 Mths 95 RPMs 77,594,333 67,383,622 591,036,210 505,415,823
The main terminal extension of the Washington Dulles Airport was formally dedicated yesterday in ceremonies involving Virginia Gov. George Allen and D.C. Mayor Marion Barry. The new facilities will be fully operational and open to the public by monthend.
Saab Aircraft has found a solution for its higher-than-guaranteed cabin noise level in the new 2000 high-speed turboprop - adding approximately one inch to the propeller shaft. Moving the prop slightly forward apparently brings the average cabin noise down from the current 77 dBA to give it a "healthy margin" under the 76 dBA guaranteed to launch customer Crossair. Final testing has not been completed, however, and the aircraft's active noise control system would have to be re-tuned.
Continental Express's firm order this week for 25 new Embraer EMB-145 50- passenger regional jets likely will push AMR Eagle into a regional-jet decision of its own, observers close to the situation said at the Farnborough Air Show in England. Eagle has been slow to act, ostensibly because sister airline American was still in negotiations on a new contract and scope clause with its pilots. Ultimately, the carrier is expected to take a large fleet of regional jets from Canadair or Embraer and a significant number of Saab 2000 high-speed turboprops.
Aero International (Regional) and Bombardier will be the industry leaders in regional aircraft, Patrick Gavin, the new AI(R) president, told The DAILY this week. His premise is based on the fact that they are the only two manufacturers able to offer a family of products ranging from 29- passenger turboprops to 70-passenger jets.
A decision this week by Republican leaders in Congress to adjourn early and not pursue enactment of a large tax cut may lead to another lapse in the aviation excise taxes, sources said yesterday. Although Congress still has ample time to pass a stopgap extension of the taxes, congressional budget rules militate against any extension beyond the current expiration date, Dec. 31, unless it is a long-term extension that would generate billions of dollars.
Fokker's demise was a setback for Shorts, "but is by no means fatal," Short Brothers Chairman Roy McNulty said Monday. Still, McNulty said that unless bankrupt Fokker finds a savior, Shorts likely will have to lay off 300 more workers, expanding a reorganization that already cost more than 700 jobs. Shorts designed and built the wings for the Fokker 70 and Fokker 100.
Air Canada said yesterday it expects to create 160 maintenance-related jobs at its Montreal Dorval maintenance center, opening next month, to handle third-party A320/A319 and 767 airframe and engine work. The carrier decided to expand its capabilities for the two aircraft types while contracting out airframe work for its nine 747s. Yesterday, Air Canada signed a memorandum of understanding with Air France, under which the French carrier will perform the 747 work. Air France will send its five 767s to Air Canada for airframe and engine maintenance.
InVision Technologies officials, who bill their CTX 5000 as the only FAA- certified automatic explosives detection system (EDS), expressed surprise yesterday that FAA is proposing to allow such systems to detect only detonators (DAILY, Aug. 30). Sergio Magistri, InVision president, said technology is not available to detect detonators based on organic materials, which make up 50% of detonators. Magistri said InVision has told Vice President Gore's Aviation Safety and Security Commission that it can supply as many as 700 EDSs in the next three years.
Alaska Airlines will embark on a $10 million program to modify its 737-400s and train flight crews to become the first airline in the world to integrate Global Positioning System technology with enhanced ground proximity warning systems (GPWS).
Dallas Airmotive has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire the Engine Services Division of Anglo American Airmotive Ltd., Bournemouth, England. The purchase includes all tools and equipment of the Anglo American engine unit, including a state-of-the-art test cell for Pratt&Whitney PT6A series engines, Dallas Airmotive said. The PT6A series powers Beech 99, 1300 and 1900 aircraft, as well as Shorts 330s and 360s.
