Northwest is urging DOT to "finalize promptly" its show cause order allocating it seven third-country code-share frequencies in the U.S.-Poland market. The carrier asked for speedy action so it could "begin requisite advance sales and marketing activities for these valuable new services, scheduled to commence Nov. 1, 1996," as provided for in the new U.S.-Poland memorandum of consultations signed March 22. DOT last month tentatively designated Northwest and United to operate third-country code-share service between the U.S.
GETS Marketing Company has added Air Moldova International, Emerald Airways and Zimbabwe Express to its list of participating carriers. GETS is a fully functional global distribution system that provides information to travel-related companies.
Sun Pacific International has been assessed $4,000 for operating unauthorized charter flights between the U.S. and Mexico. In a consent order issued last week, DOT said that even though the Arizona-based carrier did not receive its authority to operate foreign charter passenger service until March 8, it operated a one-way charter flight March 2 between Detroit and Cancun, Mexico, on behalf of Viscount Air Service; and a roundtrip charter flight March 3 between Indianapolis and Chihuahua and Loreto, Mexico, on behalf of American Trans Air.
Gerald Baliles, former Virginia governor and chairman of the National Airline Commission, will be the keynote speaker at an aviation/economic development conference and trade show to be held Sept. 29-Oct. 2 in Prague, Czech Republic. The conference, focused on project financing for regional development through airport/aviation commerce in Central/Eastern Europe, Russia and the Newly Independent States, is sponsored by the American Association of Airport Executives, the U.S. Department of Commerce, FAA, the Czech Airports Authority and others.
America West has extended its current fare sale to Aug. 15 and the travel completion date to Feb. 13. The carrier said the response to the sale has been "tremendous, and we'd like to see even more people be able to take advantage of these great deals." The fares are $50, $100 and $150 one way, depending on the market, based on roundtrip travel.
Canadian Air Cargo has signed new cargo-handling agreements with three U.S. airlines and moved into larger facilities in Honolulu. It has begun handling cargo in Honolulu for Continental and Air Micronesia and will handle cargo there for American beginning Oct. 1. Canadian will maintain its current arrangements to handle cargo for Qantas and EVA Airways. The company said it will soon be able to handle three times as much cargo at Honolulu.
Air 21 has taken delivery of its fifth Fokker 28 under a conditional sale and lease agreement with Helasco Aircraft. Mark Morro, chairman, president and chief executive, said the airplane will enable Air 21 to expand to new markets in the West and build its relationship with Reno Air, whose flights it feeds at Reno/Tahoe Airport. Air 21 plans to increase its fleet to eight by the end of the year and to 15 by the end of 1997. It trades on the Nasdaq Electronic Bulletin Board under the symbol FLYE.
In a comment on the United/SAS application for antitrust immunity, filed late last week, American continued its offensive against United's attempt to overturn DOT's approval of antitrust immunity for the American/Canadian Airlines International alliance. American said it does not oppose the SAS/United application but accused United again of having a double standard on international alliances.
The Commerce Department's International Trade Administration, conducting a Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 assessment of its data collection program, is seeking comments on the need to continue the inflight survey. The ITA's new Tourism Industries Office collects data for the survey, which is the only source for estimating international travel and U.S. passenger fare exports and imports. The office also generates visitation estimates, traveler profiles, an economic impact assessment of international travel on state economies, and other reports.
Bombardier Aerospace said it will roll out the first new Global Express business jet on Aug. 26, in time for celebration at the Farnborough Air Show, and will fly it for the first time next month. Ground vibration tests began Aug. 5 and will continue through midmonth. Bombardier said it placed a $27 million contract with CAE Electronics to design and build a full-flight simulator and a fixed-base simulator, which will be installed in December at Bombardier's training center in Montreal to support training of operators by early 1998.
After three days of negotiations with U.S. officials, Venezuela won a 30- day grace period, until Sept. 9, to improve the safety oversight of its carriers while the airlines continue to serve the U.S. The agreement, attained Sunday, followed disruption of air service between the two nations (DAILY, Aug. 9). American and United resumed flights to Venezuela late Friday after receiving assurances that their operations would not be delayed.
United is the first carrier to participate in Sabre Travel Information Network's (STIN) premium, pre-reserved seat product that enables travel agents to book seats for Mileage Plus Premier passengers. United Sabre also announced that the carrier has chosen its Claim It inventory and reservations management product, which provides immediate seat confirmation. United estimates it will save money with the product because it minimizes telephone calls to reservations centers.
Moody's Investor's Service raised its rating of International Lease Finance Corp. credit to A1 from A2 to reflect ILFC's increased financial flexibility following its accelerated pace of aircraft sales. Supporting factors were the quality of ILFC's aircraft portfolio and an improved outlook for industry fundamentals. ILFC's profitability is strengthening after being under pressure from industry overcapacity, Moody's said, and its portfolio has tripled since American International Group bought it in 1990.
World Airline Entertainment Association will hold its 17th annual conference and exhibition Sept. 17-20 at the Washington State Convention&Trade Center in Seattle. One of the featured speakers is Tim Fehr, Boeing VP of commercial avionics systems, who will discuss the inflight entertainment system of the 777. To obtain fax-on-demand forms and information on registration, call 212-709-7333.
Frontier Airlines' traffic increased 194% in July to 79.5 million revenue passenger miles, compared with 27 million RPMs a year earlier. Capacity was up 128.3% to 124.4 million available seat miles, and the load factor rose to 63.9% from 49.7%. After two years of service, the carrier is operating to 15 cities in 12 states with nine 737s. For the first seven months of the year, Frontier's traffic rose 171.4% to 453.4 million RPMs from 167 million, while ASMs increased 98% to 734.6 million from 371 million. The load factor improved to 61.6% from 45%.
United has donated $20,000 to Habitat for Humanity to renovate and build homes in the San Diego area. More than 200 United employees, retirees, family and friends will participate in the project.
McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and MD-80 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day First Quarter 1996 DC-9-30 -------------------------- Continental Northwest TWA Number of Aircraft Operated 31 103 36 Total Fleet Operations Departures 168 494 198
American Trans Air's board has elected Stanley Pace as its new president and chief executive. Pace, a partner of Bain&Co., will assume his responsibilities immediately, and George Mikelsons, chairman, chief executive and the airline's largest shareholder, will continue as chairman. Pace has led a team of consultants that has been working with the airline since May. While at Bain, Pace worked to develop and implement a strategic plan for Continental, "which led to one of the most successful turnarounds in the history of the industry," American Trans Air said.
Singapore travel agency Global Travel has cut over 29 terminals to Abacus Distribution Systems' AbacusWhiz, a new workstation that runs on Windows '95 and Windows NT. The change places Global among Singapore agencies with the largest number of personal computers running the workstation.
Canadian Airline International is bolstering service from Toronto in its 1996-97 winter schedule, offering business travelers what Don Casey, VP- capacity planning, said will be "more flights and greater convenience than ever before on the routes they travel most often." The carrier will add service from Toronto to Vancouver and Calgary, double flights to London Heathrow and add frequencies to Miami and Honolulu. It will offer daily Toronto-Rome service, up from five flights per week last winter, with partner Alitalia.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines posted a 10.9% increase in revenue passenger miles from the same 1995 month, while passenger enplanements grew 16.7%. For the first seven months, traffic was up 17.2% and passengers 21.5%. Capacity rose 5.4% for the month and 6.2% for the year-to-date. July 96 July 95 7 Mths 96 7 Mths 95 RPMs 73,440,958 66,209,681 513,441,877 438,032,201 ASMs 152,344,018 144,496,581 1,038,807,152 978,160,149
Tower Air's July block hours increased 1.8% from July 1995 to 5,182. For the first seven months of the year, the carrier operated 26,847 block hours, a 0.9% increase from the same period last year. The July gain was fueled by growth in scheduled passenger service capacity and charter operations but offset by a decline in military business, said Tower, adding that the increase came despite the grounding of a cargo aircraft to comply with newly restrictive FAA airworthiness directive requirements.
Air Pacific of Fiji launched twice-weekly nonstop service between Nadi and Los Angeles using a 747-200 with the interior configuration of a 747-400. The carrier plans to begin weekly nonstop service Nov. 1 between Fiji and Vancouver. Improvements to overhead storage compartments will provide about twice the capacity of the original 747-200 design, the company said.
Japan asked to resume aviation negotiations with the U.S. this week because it is concerned about getting into a battle of sanctions. Once again, the U.S. will press for solutions of existing problems and disputes, while Japan will look for action on overall passenger talks.
