La Quinta Inns reported a 30% increase in second quarter net earnings to $21.7 million. Worldspan's Hotel Source now provides travel agencies with direct connectivity to the internal reservations system of Marriott Lodging and all Marriott brand hotels. American Hotel&Motel Association has entered into a marketing agreement with Sabre to market Direct Request for Hotels. The agreement will give association members discounts when they subscribe to the new booking product.
Midway Is Oceanic Society's Newest Ecotour Adventure Oceanic Society Expeditions (OSE) has broadened its mission from operating educational natural history trips and conservation research, to programs that help restore natural habitats. Its newest project, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is guided tours and research expeditions on Midway Atoll.
GATX Corp. said second quarter earnings totaled $25.7 million, compared with $29.9 million during the same quarter last year. Revenues increased to $338 million from $317 million. For the first six months, earnings declined to $50.4 million from $55.6 million while revenues rose to $641 million from $608 million. The company said the lower earnings reflect "utilization and pricing pressure" at certain terminal locations, but it is "looking forward to a strong second half of 1996."
American Society of Travel Agents has launched a membership campaign, called "Take ASTA for a Test Drive," that offers travel agencies a six- month trial membership for $150. The offer expires Aug. 15. The campaign is aimed at owners and managers of full-firm agencies belonging to the Airlines Reporting Corp.
Airstar International Airlines, hoping to start charter service by January 1997, is attempting to do so in much the same way as the new Pan Am - by acquiring an established airline. Airstar, based in Fort Lauderdale, is in preliminary discussions with a Part 121 airline that has some international service and is based in the southwestern U.S., John Poindexter, Airstar president, told The DAILY. He declined to name the carrier, saying only that it operates aircraft smaller than the DC-10, which Airstar intends to use.
Falling in step with other airline companies posting record net profits and operating revenues USAir Group Inc. more than doubled its 1995 second quarter earnings to $242 million before accounting for more than $41 million to cover 1992 profit-sharing obligations. After the payout, the net profit totaled $200.8 million. The results also include a $29.5 million credit for subleasing BAe 146 aircraft previously written down. The company's $2.15 billion in operating revenues, up 8.4% from second quarter 1995, also set a record.
Apollo will hold its 1997 Travel and Technology Conference July 17-25 at the Chicago Hilton&Towers. The theme will be Apollo&You: Changing the Business of Travel. Apollo expects 5,400 participants. On hand will be 250 Apollo employees and 150 representatives from United, USAir and Galileo International.
America West reported record earnings of $29.5 million for the second quarter of 1996, a 41.4% jump, or $8.6 million, from second quarter 1995 levels. Combined with last quarter's record earnings, the carrier posted net income of $43.2 million in the first six months of the year, 65.8% more than in the comparable 1995 period. Earnings per share totaled 60 cents on a fully diluted basis, up 33.3%.
Air France Tour Operator In The Red Air France's tour operator subsidiary, Jet Tours, posted a 227 million French francs net loss in the year ending March 1996 on revenues of FRF1.475 billion. Jet Tours said the deficit was due to a fall in flight- only sales, and it expects to break even for the full year 1996. The net loss before calculating extraordinary one-time charges was FRF76.7 million. Restructuring provisions for Jet Tours cost FRF44 million and for its foreign subsidiaries FRF 62 million.
Rebutting opposition from Northwest, Alaska Airlines and United, Amerian and Transaero asked DOT for immediate approval of their request for authority to code-share between Moscow and Chicago, and beyond to Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Orlando, Seattle and Washington, D.C. All three opponents complained that Russia is denying them what American and Transaero seek from the U.S. Northwest and Alaska asked DOT to defer action until Russia rescinds its disapproval of their code-share agreement.
Hawaiian Airlines said cost-cutting and revenue-raising efforts made the second quarter its fifth consecutive quarter of operating profits and its strongest second quarter ever. The carrier expects to report a net profit of $1.5 million, compared with a net loss of $451,000 in the second quarter of last year, and an operating profit of $3 million, up from $431,000. Operating revenues are expected to rise to $96 million from $85.5 million. Net income for the quarter includes an extraordinary gain of $340,000 for the early retirement of $4.5 million in debt.
The European Commission has formally approved the acquisition of Allders International duty-free shops by Swissair, the European Union's competition watchdog said this week in Brussels. Allders's shops are based at airports worldwide and on cruise ships, while Swissair sells duty-free items inflight. Following the acquisition, Swissair will hold 6% of the duty- free retailing market in the European Economic Area - the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Delta will write checks for $144 million Sept. 11 for its profit-sharing plan. Employees received the maximum possible award, 5% of their annual salary, in February.Next month's payout, to U.S. personnel, is 3.2% of a possible 5% based on the carrier's just-published 1995-96 net earnings of $156 million.
The European Commission yesterday authorized payment of the third and final tranche of state aid to Air France - 5 billion French francs of a total of FF20 billion - after the French government pledged to put FF1 billion of the amount into an escrow account. The commission also ordered France to open up the West Terminal at Paris Orly Airport to foreign carriers and rolled back Air France fare reductions on routes to The Netherlands and Scandinavia. Lufthansa said the commission should have acted on fares to Germany as well.
Midwest Express Holdings reported net income of $6.6 million for the second quarter, down 18.3% from the second quarter 1995 but still the second-highest quarterly net income in its 12 years of operations. "We had a very good quarter," said Chief Executive Timothy Hoeksema, citing a 9.4% increase in yield, steady traffic, improved results at Omaha and record high load factors in May and June at the Skyway Airlines (Astral Aviation) turboprop unit.
Travel Industry Association is offering travel suppliers a video on selling the U.S. Called Destination USA: A Video Tour of the U.S., the five-minute film montage highlights the U.S. from coast to coast, including cultural and scenic attractions and where to find shopping, sports and nightlife. TIA said it also is marketing the video to international tour operators and chambers of commerce overseas. The tape costs $35 for TIA members and $50 for non-members.
FlightSafety International reported that net income for the second quarter of 1996 rose to $21.3 million on revenues of $90.7 million, compared with net income of $20.9 million on revenues of $79.4 million in the same period a year ago. For the first six months, net income totaled $42.2 million on revenues of $179.9 million versus net income of $41.1 million on revenues of $157.2 million a year earlier.
Industry and government officials report little to no progress in last week's first round of U.S.-U.K. talks. Despite the great promise of the British Airways-American alliance, U.K. officials were not in any hurry to give on any points, said one observer, noting that a great deal of time was spent on foreign ownership of U.S. carriers. The parties will meet again July 30-31 in Washington (DAILY, July 22). Meanwhile, American is taking aim at Virgin Atlantic - a staunch opponent of the BA-American alliance.
FAA awarded a $13.7 million contract to Northrop Grumman Norden for three full- scale development versions of the Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS), intended to detect potential runway incursions and alert controllers in time to prevent ground accidents. The contract is a cost- plus-fixed-fee modification to the company's existing AMASS contract. The three systems will be located at St. Louis, Detroit and Atlanta, and the contract modification sets field test completion dates of September 1997 for Detroit, November 1997 for St.
U.S. enginemakers General Electric, AlliedSignal and Allison Engine Co. together ordered some $6 million worth of engine casings, shafts and rotating parts from the Middleton, Mass.-based Middleton Aerospace unit of Canada's Fleet Aerospace, Fleet reported. Middleton will make parts for GE CF6 and CF34 turbofans, Allison AE 3007 turbofans and Model 501/T56 turbines, along with spares supplies for the U.S. Navy.
Japan's computer reservations system, Infini Travel Information, owned by All Nippon Airways and Abacus, has implemented Equal Host with Royal Brunei Airlines. Infini said the system providess subscribers with real-time availability displays in the primary screen.
Debonair Airways, the U.K. carrier that began low-fare operations last month from London Luton Airport, will launch service Wednesday between Munich and Barcelona plus direct fifth-freedom service within Germany, between Munich and Dusseldorf.
Northwest Airlines Corp. continued to "maximize its profitability" in the second quarter, achieving a net income of $202.8 million - $98 million more than in the second quarter of 1995. The carrier continues its strategy of building on its strengths - Detroit, Tokyo, Minneapolis and Memphis - and paying attention to customer service while managing information better with new technology, President and Chief Executive John Dasburg said yesterday.
Japan Airlines reported a 6% increase in revenue passenger kilometers during May to 5.874 billion as it carried 3.5% more passengers during the month, for a total of 2,343,391. The carrier's revenue cargo ton kilometers rose 4.3% during the month to 293 million. For the first five months of the year, RPKs rose 13.5% to 29.7 billion, and RTKs 2.8% to 2.495 billion.
Crisis management consultant Craig Conroy is offering his 212-page Effective Crises Handbook for the first time without the related seminar. The book gives advice on handling hostile media, grandstanding politicians and ground transportation for families. The manual, which is serial- numbered and registered, will be sold only to aviation-related companies, airlines, airport management organizations, fixed-base operators and related trade associations. For more information, call 412-443-6876 or 800-344-1492.
