Two low-cost airlines, Southwest and ValuJet, are among the five finalists in the transportation category of the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards for the information technology industry. The annual awards dinner will be held June 3 at the National Building Museum in Washington. The carriers are competing with CAE Electronics Ltd., General Motors OnStar and MTA Bridges and Tunnels.
Macau's newly opened airport is posing a strong challenge to Hong Kong in the race to become the entry point to mainland China for Taiwanese travelers. Reports in several of Taipei's leading daily newspapers say that as many as 60% of Taiwanese tour groups to mainland China in the last two months have selected Macau as the gateway. The reports say that roundtrip travel between Taiwan and China via Macau costs an average US$150 less than by way of Hong Kong.
New designer saris will be worn by 100 British Airways flight attendants working out of bases in India and Bangladesh - Delhi, Bombay, Madras and Dhaka. The six-meter-long pieces of fabric were created by two local designers. The carrier's saris were last redesigned eight years ago.
Mesaba Holdings has signed an amended service agreement with Northwest by which Northwest will buy all Mesaba's capacity at a predetermined rate and shift heavy maintenance costs for Dash 8 aircraft to Mesaba. The agreement, retroactive to Jan. 1, will be in effect until March 31, 1997. Mesaba said the pact enables both carriers to benefit from Mesaba's lower cost per available seat mile. A Northwest spokesman said the carrier will be able to control scheduling and pricing better through coordination with Mesaba.
Cathay Pacific has agreed to allow the Chinese government to take a larger stake in the carrier, although under the agreement, parent Swire Corp. still will have majority control of the company and manage it for the long run. The transaction calls for Cathay to issue about 573 million new shares to China International Trust and Investment Corp. (CITIC) to raise a total of HK$6.30 billion. CITIC's stake in Cathay Pacific would rise to 25% from 10%, while Swire's holding would shrink to 43.9% from 52.6%. Also as part of the transaction, China National Aviation Corp.
Hughes Aircraft, a subcontractor to Wilcox on the $475 million Wide Area Augmentation System contract being terminated by FAA, will take over as the prime contractor. FAA intends to enter a contract with Hughes on a single-source basis after it terminates the contract with Wilcox for the "convenience of the government" (DAILY, April 29).
Chairman Gerald Greenwald hinted at United's annual shareholder meeting in Chicago last week that he may retire when his five-year employment contract expires in July 1999. Greenwald, who will be 64 by then, was quoted by Reuters as saying that at that point, "I'm going to the mountains."
Amadeus has six new airline participants, two new hotels and nine new car rental companies. The new airlines using standard access are Aerosweet of Ukraine, Krasnoyarsk of Russia, Tame of Ecuador, Hemus Air of Bulgaria, Noman of Spain and World Airways.
Future Aviation Professionals of America will hold an airline career day for pilots May 31 at the Georgia International Convention Center, College Park, Ga. FAPA said recruiters from Delta, UPS, FedEx, Airborne Express, American Eagle, TWA and American Trans Air will participate.
Boeing Chairman Frank Shrontz reported yesterday first quarter sales of $4.3 billion and net earnings of $119 million, compared with sales of $5 billion and net earnings of $181 million the same quarter a year ago. Shrontz attributed the slide in earnings to fewer commercial aircraft deliveries - down to 40 from 59 - and a higher income tax rate. He said deliveries of all models were limited because of the 10-week Machinists strike in the fourth quarter of 1995.
DOT has assessed civil penalties of $20,000 against ValuJet for violating the department's regulations on fare advertisements. In a Feb. 2, 1996, Washington Post ad promoting fares to Florida points, the carrier failed to provide required information on the amount of the applicable passenger facility charges. Also, in a Jan.
British Airways has renewed its $105 million advertising contract with M&C Saatchi and Publicis. The contract originally was awarded to the agency in 1995 for one year.
Sabre has launched Direct Request for Hotels, a booking program that caters to small hotels and bed and breakfasts. The new product is designed to be economically feasible for small properties because it requires equipment they usually already own - a fax machine. When a request is made, Sabre generates a fax message to the property with the booking information. The hotel responds, also by fax, and Sabre electronically reads the information and updates the reservation. Direct Request for Hotels will be shown on the standard hotel availability display.
Revenue Management Quarterly's Revenue Management Achievement Award has gone to British Airways. The carrier won in the category for continuous improvement. "A continuous focus on improving revenue management is one of the reasons BA has been one of the most consistently profitable airlines in the world," the revenue management publication said.
British Midland parent Airlines of Great Britain Group (ABH) has acquired 100% of Aberdeen, Scotland-based Business Air. Business Air will continue to fly under its own colors from Scotland to Manchester, the Shetland Islands and Denmark, and it will provide flying to British Midland under a wet-lease agreement. ABH also owns Manx Airlines and Loganair.
Royal Jordanian will add a third weekly flight between Amman, Jordan, and Chicago and schedule six charter flights to Detroit from Amman during the peak travel season this summer. The new Chicago flights will start June 1 and run through Oct. 26. The carrier will operate the Detroit charters between June 13 and Sept. 2. Last month, Royal Jordanian announced plans to add two flights a week from Amman to New York during the summer.
Aerovias de Mexico (Aeromexico) reported a first quarter net profit of $27.36 million, a strong turnaround after a first quarter 1995 net loss of $129.35 million. The profit on a per-share basis was 0.32 cents, compared with net loss of 33.4 cents per share last year. The turnaround came despite a 1.3% decrease in operating revenues. Revenues totaled $219.5 million during the quarter, compared with $222.46 million in the year- earlier period.
Sprint has teamed up with America West to promote its dime-a-minute calling rate by offering 100 customers the opportunity to fly from New York to Las Vegas, roundtrip, for the price of a dime a minute. The first 100 people to show up at a site to be announced on the radio with 330 dimes, or $33, to pay for their ticket will be flown to Las Vegas May 3 for the weekend. Lodging for two nights is included. America West may participate in other Sprint offerings if the promotion goes well, a carrier spokesman said.
Icelandair has performed D checks on two Maersk Air Fokker 50 aircraft and has a contract to work on two more. Icelandair provides maintenance service for 757s and 737s as well as F50s at a 12,000-square-meter maintenance facility it opened recently in Keflavik. SAS Commuter has selected Icelandair to carry out D checks on three of its Fokker 50s this summer.
Express One International asked DOT for a fitness determination enabling it to start scheduled passenger service June 1. Initially, the carrier plans to operate subservice under contract to Western Pacific in the Colorado Springs-Newark and Newark-Colorado Springs-Atlanta markets. (Docket OST- 96-1319)
Lufthansa's general manager for Taiwan, Klaus Fussi, has denied reports appearing in the Taiwan press that blamed low capacity for the carrier's decision to halt service between Frankfurt and Taipei. He said that, contrary to the reports, Lufthansa in the past year has enjoyed the highest seat load factor of any all-passenger carrier operating direct flights between Taipei and Europe.
