Global alliances, brand management and travel technology will be discussed at the 1996 American Automobile Association's Travel Industry Conference in Vienna Sept. 8-11. AAA said it expects more than 400 AAA club chief executives, club travel executives and travel industry leaders to attend the event, to be held at the Vienna Hilton.
Reno Air is offering Labor Day fare specials for travel on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. A sample of the one-way prices are Chicago-Reno and Chicago-Los Angeles for $78, and Denver-Reno, Los Angeles-San Jose, and Colorado Springs-Las Vegas for $48.
The new Pan Am, with newly granted tentative approval of its request for a certificate (DAILY, Aug. 21), is aiming for a September service startup. The carrier plans to operate initially low-fare scheduled passenger service to New York from Los Angeles and San Francisco using leased 257-passenger Airbus A300-B4200 aircraft. By the end of its first year of operations, it expects to add two A300s and launch service to Miami and New York from Chicago. It wants a fleet of eight A300s during the second year.
USAir appointed Captain William Barr its new VP-flight operations. A veteran pilot with 32 years of experience, Barr will be responsible for setting and implementing flight standards and procedures, overseeing training and international flight operations, and coordinating with FAA on operational matters.
Australia's national government is proposing a 0.75 cents-per-liter reduction in the aviation fuels tax, effective Sept. 1, saying the tax generated too much money the most recent fiscal year. The new Liberal government, which opposed the Labor government's initiative last year to increase the tax, said the reduction "rightfully returns these monies to the industry, consistent with the Government's commitment to fair and equitable charging arrangements."
Northwest will offer Chuck Yeager flight instruction, an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie premiere and 32 other packages Sept. 27 to the highest bidders at what the carrier described as the first auction open to the general public in which items are priced in frequent flyer miles. With miles available for five cents apiece, most of the proceeds from the Northwest DreamPerks Auction at Sotheby's in New York will go to Habitat for Humanity.
Eager to move quickly into the regional aircraft market, Samsung Aerospace of South Korea resumed talks with Dutch officials this week that could lead to acquiring bankrupt Fokker, officials of the Dutch Economics Ministry confirmed yesterday. A nine-aircraft order from KLM added enough to Fokker's business to keep it producing until next spring at a low rate. It also bought more time to look for solid rescue partners.
International Chamber of Commerce filed yesterday at DOT supporting immunity from antitrust laws for airlines participating in agreements that increase compensation to relatives of accident victims. After the liability issue is settled, issues related to air cargo should be made a priority, ICC said. Jeffrey Shane, chairman of the Chamber's Air Transport Commission, said ICC has been working with the International Air Transport Association to establish an efficient means of settling damages when the airlines and claimants fail to reach agreement quickly.
Sabre's Travelocity is offering $15,000 in weekly travel prizes to promote use of the Internet service. Each week, a shopping spree will give each of five winners a $3,000 credit for airfare booked through the Internet site.
FAA will unveil 737 flight control system changes today. Thomas McSweeny, director of Aircraft Certification Service, will describe the changes, which stem from analysis of two fatal accidents. The more recent accident involved a USAir 737 crash near Pittsburgh in September 1994 for which the National Transportation Safety Board has not determined a probable cause.
The National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center has developed computer graphics to improve displays of areas of the country threatened by tropical storms or hurricanes. Computers now will superimpose three-color illustrations over the satellite images of swirling air usually shown on television. The new graphics will show current coastal watch and warning zones, the areas that probably will be affected over a three-day period - even with only heavy winds - and the areas already affected.
European motorcoach tour operator Trafalgar Tours is the Apollo computer reservations system's 19th participant in LeisureShopper. Apollo is expanding the LeisureShopper index to display three to 10 packages on one screen. It currently presents one package per screen.
Destination Florida has formed strategic partnerships with The E.W. Scripps Co., GeoSystems/MapQuest and Pineapple Press for collaboration on the interactive travel magazine's Internet site. The one-year Scripps agreement covers content, marketing and sales in the six markets where Scripps has newspapers and television stations, and it promotes Destination Florida, which in turn will share revenue on advertising sold and provide links to Scripps's Florida World Wide Web sites.
Saying the proposed American-British Airways alliance is inconsistent with the continued development of its alliance with BA, USAir asked DOT for certificate authority to operate scheduled service between London Heathrow Airport and Philadelphia, Boston, Charlotte and Pittsburgh. Beginning April 1, 1997, USAir proposes to serve these routes using 767-200ER aircraft configured for 210 seats and additional aircraft it plans to acquire for its transatlantic services. It supported open skies between the U.S. and the U.K.
The Carlson Companies has appointed Michael Batt president of its associate and leisure travel group division, effective in October. Batt will lead the $3.6 billion-per-year company's franchising efforts and take responsibility for the largest travel agency franchise operation in the industry, Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates-U.S., and the largest independent leisure travel agency in the U.K., A.T. Mays. He also will lead a new leisure product and package development effort.
Travel to Cambodia is on the rise, and travel experts estimate that the country will see 450,000 visitors this year, much more than Cambodian officials expected. Cambodia airport arrivals in the first three months of 1996 grew to 300,000, nearly half the full-year total for 1995.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic July, 7 Months 1996 (000) July July % 1996 1995 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 996,000 881,000 13.1 Available Seat Miles (000) 1,433,000 1,346,000 6.5 Load Factor (%) 69.5 65.5 America West
Nearly 1,000 large cargo jets are operating without the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), which FAA requires for passenger airliners, prompting the Air Line Pilots Association to express concern yesterday that FAA has not moved to bring these airplanes under the regulation. Terry Hanson, an airline pilot and ALPA's TCAS expert, told ALPA's annual Air Safety Forum in Washington that he does not understand why airlines such as Federal Express, UPS, Emery, Airborne and DHL are allowed to operate without TCAS.
Continental joined the ranks of airlines sending special travel offers to subscribers via e-mail, with weekly updates on fare discounts. The Continental On Line (COOL) specials are offered at no charge "at this time." Customers can subscribe to the service through the table of contents at Continental's Web site at http://www.flycontinental.com.
United States Travel Agent Registry is challenging airlines on a number of fronts in recommendations submitted to the Gore commission on aviation security. Among them are the immediate cessation of electronic ticketing, overhaul of code-sharing practices and joint development by airlines and computer reservations systems of a personality profile that would alert check-in personnel to high-risk passengers, such as those traveling only one way, paying cash and not checking bags.
Wall Street analysts, already bullish on the airline industry, are predicting particularly solid results for Delta based on cost-cutting payoffs and its entrenchment in strong markets. Susan Donofrio, NatWest Securities, believes airlines are in a better position to control prices than five years ago because they are "sticking to their home markets." Carriers in the best position to offset a possible negative impact from reinstatement of the 10% ticket tax are those with the greatest geographic diversity - American, Delta and United.
TWA will introduce seasonal 727 service Dec. 18 from St. Louis to Yampa Valley Regional Airport in Hayden, Colo., which serves the Steamboat Springs ski resort. The daily flights will begin in Atlanta at 9:55 a.m., depart St. Louis at 11:45 a.m. and arrive in Hayden at 1:16 p.m. TWA will start a second, weekend-only flight Feb. 5.
AirWays Corp. Director Jack Olbrych has resigned, saying he has substantially increased his outside business obligations and is the chief financial officer and chief operating office of a Massachusetts company. Olbrych was interim secretary, treasurer and chief financial officer of AirWays from April 1995 until April 1996 and served in the same role for predecessor company AirTran Corp. and wholly owned subsidiary Mesaba Aviation from August 1994 to August 1995.
AirTran Airways will inaugurate 737 service Oct. 31 to Chattanooga, Tenn., from Orlando with one nonstop flight six days a week and fares as low as $49 one way until Dec. 18. Introductory fares must be purchased by Oct. 15. In the future, it will offer four levels of one-way fares, ranging from $59 to $119. The carrier recently dropped out of three markets that have been or will be entered soon by low-fare competitors Southwest and Delta Express. Chattanooga is one of five markets in which it will launch service (DAILY, Aug. 19).
