Top officials of Controllers United and the Teamsters will meet today with FAA leadership to follow up on a Feb. 22 White House meeting on hiring more former PATCO members.FAA plans to hire about 500 controllers in the next fiscal year, and Controllers United says it is "looking to get a majority" of that number. A White House aide also is expected to attend.
Federal Express Chairman Frederick Smith said yesterday in Paris the company plans to expand its main European hub at Charles de Gaulle Airport. FedEx could invest up to $200 million in upgrading the facility if market expectations are met, creating an additional 3,000 jobs over the next 10 years, the carrier said. Aeroports de Paris expertise was a "key factor in determining our choice," said Marie-Pierre Rogers, VP-southern European region.
Messier-Bugatti turned a profit in 1995 for the first time in several years, posting pretax income of $4 million compared with a loss of $2.8 million in 1994. Sales totaled $293 million, up from $290 million. The company said it achieved the rebound "despite sluggish aerospace markets worldwide and an unfavorable franc/U.S. dollar exchange rate." It employed 1,250 people at yearend. Its wheels and brakes profit center accounted for 40% of total sales, followed by repairs and services, 27%; hydraulic systems, 17%, and braking systems, 16%.
Canada and Korea have reached a new air services agreement that will allow carriers from the two countries to operate more flights. Air Canada and Korean Air each will be able to increase summer passenger service to five flights per week. Both currently operate three passenger flights per week on a Seoul-Vancouver-Toronto route. Korean also operates a cargo flight from Seoul to Toronto and Vancouver once a week. The carriers also will be able to boost their flying during the winter months.
More than half of North American companies responding to the Survey&Analysis of Business Travel Policies&Costs do not limit the number of employees who travel together. The survey, published by Runzheimer International, found that about one-third, faring accidents, have policies on the number of senior managers traveling together.
Air South is offering sale fares of $69 one way Tuesday through Thursday and $89 Friday through Monday between any points it serves. Tickets are non-refundable, good for travel through June 15 and must be purchased by May 3.
ValuJet Airlines has changed its fleet plans and will buy four MD-80s in addition to the two it intends to put in service in the first quarter of 1997 (DAILY, Feb. 14). Also, ValuJet will not accept one of the nine DC-9- 30s it agreed to purchase in February because the aircraft "failed to meet ValuJet's standards for acceptable condition and records." That airplane, scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of this year, had been operated by Air Aruba.
Frontier Airlines said it has signed a letter of intent to lease two 737- 200s from GE Capital Aviation Services. The two aircraft are scheduled to joint Frontier's five leased 737-200s and two 737-300s early in June. The two 737-300s also are leased from GECAS. President Sam Addoms said Frontier will use the additional aircraft to "further expand our Denver hub with new, low-fare flights to major destinations to be announced shortly." Frontier also said it sold about $3 million of newly issued common stock to a group of institutional investors.
USAir Group Inc. suffered a first quarter loss of $54.57 million but managed an operating profit of $10.79 million, improving on a first quarter 1995 net loss of $117.47 million after dividend set-asides and an operating loss of $42 million. The net loss for the start of 1996 translated to 86 cents per share, compared with $1.91 per share last year. While USAir Group turned an operating profit, its airline subsidiary, USAir Inc., had an operating loss of $8.91 million and a net loss of $54.93 million.
Radisson Hotels Worldwide plans to expand its locations in the Asia/Pacific region to 75 in 2000. The company announced plans this week to open six new hotels this year, for a total of 22, in Bali, Ujung Pandang, Bukit Indah City, Kuala Lumpur and Delhi. Peter Blyth, president of Radisson Hotels Worldwide Development, speaking this week at the annual convention of the Pacific Asia Travel Association in Bangkok, said, "We view the Asia/Pacific region of the world as the single biggest growth opportunity of our generation for the travel and tourism industry."
Federal Express has filed a complaint against the government of Taiwan seeking redress for that country's refusal to allow the carrier to exercise its right to handle its own inbound and outbound air express and air freight shipments at Chiang Kai Shek Airport (CKS) at Taipei. The carrier maintains that the U.S.-Taiwan Air Transportation Agreement, signed in 1980, gives it the right to self-handle.
Air traffic control equipment failures at Pittsburgh Airport cost USAir $2 million on March 27 and $500,000 on April 4, according to Robert Oaks, senior VP-operations. Oaks, in an April 5 letter to Arlene Feldman, Eastern Region administrator, said that after the March 27 breakdown at the Pittsburgh tower, FAA staff met with USAir to provide an "overview of the circumstances which led to this extremely expensive event and of the action plan to evaluate and fix the radar problems....
Air Jamaica has applied for renewal of its authority to operate scheduled combination service between Kingston and Montego Bay, Jamaica, on the one hand, and Fort Lauderdale, on the other. The carrier operates Boeing 727- 200 service on the route. (Docket OST-96-1286)
Boeing said it expects to increase its work force by 8,200 this year, to about 113,350, in order to keep up with sharply rising jetliner production rates. Most of the new jobs, 6,700, will be in Washington state. It will add 1,900 jobs in Wichita, Kan., and 400 elsewhere in the company, but it plans to cut 700 jobs at its helicopter unit in suburban Philadelphia and 100 at its Missiles&Space Div. in Huntsville, Ala.
Frank Hoak, chairman of the American Society of Travel Agents 66th World Travel Congress, to be held Oct. 6-12 in Bangkok, predicts Thailand's tourism will increase 20% in the year following the event. "Economically in the short term, we estimate that our presence will have a financial impact of $10 million on Bangkok during the six days of the World Travel Congress," Hoak said.
Onur Air of Turkey took delivery of its first Airbus A321 yesterday. The Istanbul-based charter carrier will receive two more A321s within two months. The first two aircraft are under lease from International Lease Finance Corp., and the third was purchased from Airbus Industrie.
Travel Industry Association's USA Marketing Council has developed a short- and long-term marketing plan for the interim USA National Tourism Organization, which will operate until a permanent organization is put in place within two years. The interim body will establish a public/private effort to promote travel to the U.S. One of its top priorities is to work with the Travel and Tourism Government Affairs Council to develop legislation to secure funding for the permanent NTO.
Singapore Airlines said it has signed a letter of intent to sell Northwest a 747-200 passenger aircraft and a 747-200 freighter. The freighter is currently leased to Korean Air. SIA also said it has concluded agreements to sell three 747-200 passenger aircraft to two unidentified U.S. carriers and a 737-300 freighter to an unidentified European carrier.
A tough first quarter pushed up ValuJet's costs and clipped profits for the fast-growing, no-frills carrier. While earnings increased year-over-year, they did not keep pace with revenue, which shot up 81.7% to $110 million from $60.75 million in first quarter 1995. Expenses skyrocketed further, by 100.3% to $92.47 million. Costs were pulled up by increases of 118% for jet fuel and 90.9% for maintenance. ValuJet paid 69 cents for a gallon of jet fuel during the quarter, compared with 59 cents in the first quarter last year and an average of 60 cents for all of 1995.
Delta yesterday announced five leaders of a "core team" to implement its low-cost or 100-seat initiative now that its pilots have approved a new contract. Also yesterday, Delta's Air Line Pilots Association Master Executive Council elected chairman Bill Brown to serve as its interim representative to the board. Brown will sit in on the board meeting today (DAILY, April 24). Skip Barnette, managing director-Low Cost Initiative, said the core team will comprise three subteams to focus on operations, selling, and planning and product.
A Clinton administration plan to place tighter restrictions on flights over national parks drew expressions of concern yesterday from the Regional Airline Association (RAA) and the United States Air Tour Association (USATA) (DAILY, April 23). DOT Secretary Federico Pena said he will propose action within 90 days to "protect the quiet" at the Rocky Mountain and Grand Canyon national parks.
U.S. State Department has issued a public announcement advising Americans traveling abroad to exercise "greater than usual caution" in light of terrorist attacks in the Middle East and threats against U.S. interests from Hezbollah and other extremist groups. State said it has not received any specific threats against U.S. citizens, but it cannot rule out "the possibility of random acts of anti-American violence." Travelers planning international trips can consult State's country-specific travel warnings, consular information sheets and regional travel brochures.
Apollo computer reservations system users can now issue point-to-point tickets on Britrail from London to 20 U.K. destinations. Apollo also announced that RoomMaster has expanded its Inside Availability participants to 33 by including Grande/DeVere Hotels. RoomMaster has added two new hotel chains to the Inside Link program, InterEurope Hotels and Reconline Hotels.
Reno Air Inc. logged a net profit of $275,104 in the first quarter, its fourth consecutive quarter of earnings and a rebound from its $3.19 million loss in the first quarter of 1995. On a fully diluted basis, the carrier earned two cents per share, compared with a loss of 39 cents per share in first quarter 1995. Operating income for the period was $444,011, up from a $2.85 million operating loss. Total operating revenues rose 32.4% to $72.82 million, while costs were up 26.5% to $72.38 million.
Regaining an investment grade rating from Wall Street is a top priority for United, Chairman Gerald Greenwald told shareholders yesterday at the company's annual meeting in Chicago. Greenwald said that based on the last time the carrier held investment grade ratings, he believes United could regain the rating by "late 1997, or early 1998." Earlier this week, the carrier reported that it took a $29 million charge in the first quarter in an effort to pay down debt ahead of schedule.
