Guest Nova Zemlya Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 WHY SOCIALISM FAILED IN THE U.S. (Note: Company stick-handled right past the F/A's at NWA without even lifting a finger or batting an eye. The flight attendants did it all by themselves.) Flight attendants sue NWA October 3, 2003 ASSOCIATED PRESS MINNEAPOLIS -- Leaders of the newest union at Northwest Airlines Inc. have yet to meet with the carrier's CEO. Instead, they're suing the company. Three months ago, the Professional Flight Attendants Association (PFAA) ousted the Teamsters Union after a bitter election to represent Northwest's 10,800 flight attendants. Officials with the union say they had no choice but to sue because Northwest refused to collect dues for the new union through automatic payroll deductions as it had for the Teamsters. The airline -- the dominant carrier at its Detroit Metropolitan Airport hub -- insisted on a face-to-face meeting to negotiate the dues matter. But so far no meeting has occurred. Union leaders have balked because they fear Northwest would use the occasion to press for contract concessions. The conflict highlights a history of hard feelings between Northwest and the flight attendants. And it complicates CEO Richard Anderson's goal to cut labor costs by $950 million per year, with $134 million of that coming from the flight attendant ranks. http://www.freep.com/money/business/nwa3_20031003.htm NEW GRIST FOR COMPETITION WATCHDOG MILL Canada flights 'will boost tourism' An airline founded by a Scottish entrepreneur is to start scheduled flights between Glasgow and Canada. Zoom will fly to five cities - Calgary, Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver - starting from May 2004. The airline is also launching flights to the same cities, plus Edmonton, from London Gatwick. The airline's chairman, Hugh Boyle, said the flights would provide a "major tourism boost" to Scotland and Canada and fares would start at £89 one-way. "There are strong family, historic and cultural links between the two countries," Mr Boyle said. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3162442.stm AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT CURFUFFEL- A POLITICAL FOOTBALL (Note: Can anyone say- Airport Improvement, and increased landing fee?) Airport overpass 'crucial' Grit MLA champions improved access to Metro Moncton airport; Tory MLAs suggest knocking on feds' door for funding Times & Transcript Staff Another fight is taking flight between Moncton North Liberal MLA Michael Murphy and the city's Conservative caucus and this time the quarrel is over the lack of a westbound overpass leading into the Greater Moncton International Airport. Right now westbound drivers are forced to take a kilometre-long detour before they can enter Atlantic Canada's fastest growing airport. It is not only posing an inconvenience to drivers but apparently has blocked three eager entrepreneurs from opening up gas stations in the area. http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031004/TTEBRIEF/310040001/-1/FRONTPAGE THE DARK SIDE OF LOW COST AirTran jet evacuated at Boston's Logan Airport after engine catches fire Wednesday, October 1, 2003 (10-01) 11:36 PDT BOSTON (AP) -- An AirTran Airways plane was evacuated at Logan International Airport on Wednesday after an engine caught fire as the plane was taxiing to the runway. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/10/01/national0959EDT0535.DTL Ryanair hastens retirement of oldest jets after faults found with paintwork (Note: Industry observers speculate that Ryannair will not be able to keep up growth, because load factors are falling even though asms have increased, and therefore begin showing decreases in earnings.) ANDREW BEACH RYANAIR has been forced to speed up the retirement of some of its oldest jets after the discovery of scratches on their outer skin, indicating what it called an "inappropriate procedure" when the planes were last repainted. As a result, the Irish budget carrier said it would retire nine Boeing 737-200s this winter, up from a planned seven, and would lease newer aircraft to cover the temporary capacity shortfall. Ryanair said it would face a one-off charge of 5 million (£3.5 million). http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/business.cfm?id=1041312003 ASA again fares poorly in service rankings Staff report Atlantic Southeast Airlines continued to bring up the rear in two categories of the government's airline service rankings for August. The Delta subsidiary was last in on-time performance, with 68.1 percent of flights arriving within 15 minutes of schedule at reporting airports. It also had the worst rate of mishandled baggage, at 16.94 per 1,000 passengers. It has shown poorly in both categories since ASA was added to the Department of Transportation's monhtly reports earlier this year. Delta itself was 9th out of 17 in on-time performance in August, with 77.7 percent, and 10th in lost luggage. AirTran Airways, which competes with Delta and ASA in Atlanta, was next-to-last in on-time performance with a mark of 68.8 percent, but had the third-best rate of mishandled baggage. http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/delta/1003/03asa.html (Note: ASA was touted as the low cost model to follow, and thereby justfy cuts.) LOW COST MARKETING SKI PACKAGES OPERATED BY REGIONAL (Note: Great Lakes to operate short haul flying to and from vail out of Denver. Frontier also teaming up with Horizon) By Heather Draper, Rocky Mountain News October 1, 2003 Vail Resorts and Frontier Airlines just put their competitors on notice: They want people skiing out West this winter. On Tuesday, the two Colorado-based companies announced they have teamed up to offer the "Ultimate Season Pass" for ski fanatics nationwide. Advertisement For the base price of $2,999 (not including a $299 tax and service charge) per person, skiers across the country can take unlimited round-trip flights into Denver and do unlimited skiing and boarding at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone this winter. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/business/article/0,1299,DRMN_4_2312118,00.html Bitter pill: Frontier's turboprop plans deal a blow to Fair Fares effort Jerry Siebenmark Two local executives say they will scale back or stop using Frontier Airlines' Wichita-to-Denver service now that the low fare carrier plans to switch operators and aircraft on the route. Ron Engelbrecht, vice president and general manager of LSI Logic Storage Systems Inc., says his company will likely use United Airlines for its travel to Denver, since Frontier announced last week that Great Lakes Airlines would take over the route using turboprop airplanes instead of regional jets. "This is probably going to shift some of it, unfortunately, to United," Engelbrecht says. "I just think that's unavoidable." David Elkouri, managing principal of law firm Hinkle Elkouri, says he doesn't plan to use Great Lakes at all because of the turboprops. "I think it's a disaster," Elkouri says. "I won't fly them and I don't think anybody here will fly them." Opposition to turboprop service stems largely from the perception by travelers that they are inferior airplanes compared to jets. The perception is they are slower and unable to fly above bad weather. http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/travel/airlines_airports/2003/10/06/wichita_story2.html Air Canada to launch Toronto-Daytona service Air Canada is launching weekend nonstop seasonal service between Toronto and Daytona Beach International Airport beginning Dec. 13. To complement the new service, Air Canada Vacations plans to offer combined air and car rental packages. Air Canada's regional airline, Air Canada Jazz, will operate the flights using 50-seat Canadair regional jets. Because in-bound passengers will clear U.S. Customs in Toronto before boarding, the flights will operate from the domestic terminal in Daytona Beach. The new seasonal service will operate on Saturdays and Sundays through the spring. http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2003/09/29/daily1.html COST CUTTING TO BENEFIT WHOM IF AN AIRLINE IS PROFITABLE AND GROWING? Comair wants to reduce pay Pilots, attendants asked to reopen contracts By James Pilcher The Cincinnati Enquirer Erlanger-based regional airline Comair wants its pilot and flight attendant unions to reopen their contracts to negotiate pay cuts, company and union officials have confirmed. The requests come nearly 21/2 years after the carrier's pilots held an 89-day strike, one of the longest walkouts in recent airline history, which resulted in a contract that made Comair's pilots the highest-paid in the regional-airline industry. "Senior Comair regional jet pilots can earn as much as $100,000 annually if they fly 70-seat regional jets, or $95,000 for 50-seaters. A first-year pilot makes $23,000 annually.(Note: Ouchies!) The flight attendants signed a five-year contract in July 2002 that called for raises of 44 to 66 percent over the life of the pact or an average of about eight to 10 percent a year. A first-year flight attendant now makes just under $19,500 annually, while a senior flight attendant averages just under $45,000 a year." http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/10/04/biz_comair04.html REGIONAL CONSOLIDATION Mesa Air Makes Bid for Atlantic Coast Air Reuters Monday, October 6, 2003; 10:43 AM NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Mesa Air Group Inc. on Monday said it has offered to buy Atlantic Coast Airlines Inc. in an all-share deal that values each Atlantic share at $11.30. The unsolicited offer represents a 25 percent premium over Atlantic's closing share price on Friday and values the airline at a little more than $500 million. Atlantic shares were up 5 percent in morning trade. Mesa's offer comes against the background of Atlantic's recent failure to reach a contract with UAL Corp.'s United Airlines on payment for its regional feeder service. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51235-2003Oct6.html :[ NZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 NZ, Thakns for posting these news-snippets like you do. I like the way you post a few lines to get the point and then links for the full story. Take care, John Schretlen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 NZ, Thanks for posting these news bites like you do. I like the way you post a few lines to give an idea of the article and then links for the full story. Take care, John Schretlen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nova Zemlya Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 AND NOW FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT PORTION OF THE REGIONAL NEWS Simon Swears The recorded voice for Simon Swear's French Canadian swearing game sounds exactly the same as the voice for Jazz Regional Co's s french announcement voice box. It has precisely the same english inflections in the swearing, as in the canned french safety announcements and greetings. The listener must pay particular attention to the rolled "r's" to identify it properly. But you will have to try it for yourself... (Requires Shockwave Plug-in, and who ever said a tough job ever got done without swearing?) http://www.diyjoe.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/simonswears.html :[ NZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaEH Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 Airlines in the States are required by law to report their OTP and baggage statistics. How would you feel about Canadian carriers having to do the same? Westjet is the only Canadian airline to report their OTP statistics on their website at this time. For anyone who cares, the top 5 ranking carriers for OTP in North America for the past 3 months are: June 1. Westjet - 92.3% 2. Soutwest - 90.3% 3. JetBlue - 90.1% 4. Skywest - 90.0% 5. Alaska - 87.4% Monthly average: 82.4% July 1. Westjet - 92.0% 2. Skywest - 91.6% 3. Southwest - 85.4% 4. America West - 85.2% 5. ATA - 85.1% Montly average: 79.7% August 1. Skywest - 89.8% 2. Westjet - 88.0% 3. Southwest - 85.8% 4. United - 81.7% 5. Northwest -81.2% Monthly average: 79.0% All US carrier data is from the Aviation Consumer Protection Division of the US Department of Transportation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Terminated Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 Of course, WestJet figures they're on time as soon as the wheels hit the runway, even if they know they've got a 15 minute taxi to the gate. That's the catch---if the criteria is standardized, then WJ's stats would be worth more. But instead, they're as reliable as me saying my airline is on time 97% of the time. As long as it isn't weather or mechanical related delay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumpy Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 I thought that OTP is a reflection of on time depatures (within 5 minutes) rather than on time arrivals. If it was on time arrivals, how many AC flights would arrive on time waiting for the lead marshaller to show up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaEH Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 The stats are standardized. The arrival time is based on when the aircraft arrives at the gate, not when the aircraft touches the ground. Westjet uses the same guidelines as all of the American carriers - the same standardized criteria. A flight is counted as "on time" if it arrived at the gate no more than 15 minutes after the scheduled arrival time shown in the carriers' Computerized Reservations Systems. Thus, neither diverted nor canceled flights count as " on-time Average minutes late." Canceled and diverted operations are counted as late, but they are not included in the calculation of average or median minutes late. - as per the DOT's website. Jumpy: The stats are only based on arrival times, not departure times. I bet a lot of Air Canada aircraft wait for the marshaller to show up, and yes that still does affect your OTP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AME Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 On Oct. 3, 4 and 5, our on-time performance for arrivals (+15) was 86, 85 and 87 per cent respectively. Congratulations team! http://www.achorizons.ca/daily/en/default2.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaEH Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 Not bad at all, thanks for the information. Any idea what the monthly average for Air Canada is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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