Guest Operation Bomberclad Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 EDC SUBSIDIES BENEFIT AMERICAN CARRIERS IN TRANSBORDER COMPETITION Growing state airline cautiously optimistic: APPLETON, WIS.: Associated Press Air Wisconsin has been in a period of significant growth, with its fleet expanding and passenger traffic on the rise. But the future is uncertain as the airline industry and the major airlines Air Wisconsin serves continue to struggle. The Appleton-based company carried 1.1 million more passengers in the first nine months of 2003 compared with the same period a year earlier. Air Wisconsin also has increased its fleet to 72 jets, up from 17 planes only six years ago. It has 15 more on order for 2004. "We are comfortable," said Geoffrey Crowley, president and chief executive officer of Air Wisconsin. "But we take nothing for granted because the world can turn on us tomorrow." The company operates about 90 percent of its flights as United Express, which feeds United hubs in Chicago, Denver and Washington, D.C. The deal Air Wisconsin had with United allowed it to post a 12 percent revenue increase in 2001 when other airlines collectively lost $7.7 billion in sales http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/states/wisconsin/7000014.htm (Note: Some transborder flying went directly to Air Wisconsin after 9/11 which were formerly operated by ACRs.) YTZ POLITICAL FOOTBALL Miller criticized for supporting toll roads Gardiner, Don Valley: Rivals also attack his opposition to island bridge James Cowan National Post "...Mr. Miller also faced criticism from Robert Deluce, the president of a proposed new regional airline that would fly from the expanded airport. Mr. Deluce accused Mr. Miller of "willfully distorting the facts" by claiming the bridge would lead to jets flying from the airport. Jet planes are forbidden under the current agreement governing the airport. Mr. Deluce's airline, Regional Airlines Holding Inc., would use Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft instead. "Frankly, we are appalled by Mr. Miller's misrepresentations of the truth," Mr. Deluce said. Mr. Miller rejected the accusation, stating the bridge would inevitably lead to jet traffic. http://www.nationalpost.com/national/story.html?id=C1139B1A-FB17-46C2-A439-A03457F5E24A THE DARK SIDE OF LOW COST FBI finds suspicious bags, note on two airliners N.C. man being questioned about planted packages The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- The government on Friday ordered intensified security checks of the entire U.S. commercial air fleet after small plastic bags containing box cutters and other suspicious items were found on two Southwest Airlines planes. A 20-year-old North Carolina man was being questioned by the FBI in connection with the incidents, according to a congressional official and a senior law enforcement official, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. The congressional official said the man, described as a college student, had informed the Transportation Security Administration that he planned to put packages on planes in an effort to expose gaps in aviation security. http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/1003/17suspicious.html MAJOR CONSOLIDATIONS CONTINUE IN EUROPE 'SAS next likely takeover candidate' A leading Oslo-based investment analyst renewed speculation Tuesday that Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) may be the next European carrier to be taken over. Lufthansa is the most likely acquirer. The long-awaited announcement Tuesday that Air France would effectively take over KLM Royal Dutch set off predictions that other, smaller carriers also would be gobbled up over the next few years. Ragnhild Wiborg, investment chief for Odin Funds in Oslo, predicts Europe will eventually be served by three main airline groups: British Airways, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa-SAS. "All smaller airlines, most of which have economic problems, will land under the three umbrella companies," Wiborg told Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri. She thinks Lufthansa will take over SAS within the next year or two. http://www.aftenposten.no/english/business/article.jhtml?articleID=636759 U.S. REGIONAL HYPE Regional airlines fly growth route: As big carriers cut back, small ones stretch wings By Stephen H. Dunphy Seattle Times associate editor "...Robert Toomey, an analyst for RBC Dain Rauscher in Seattle, said he likes the fundamentals in the regional airline model. Most have moved from pro-rated contracts to fixed fee contracts with their airline partners. Toomey said that strategy locks in revenue with little exposure to cost variables except for performance and head-office overhead. Regionals also have lower costs. "You have to look at total trip cost," Toomey said. "A regional can fly for a much lower total cost than a major airline can." Bombardier, maker of regional jets, says the regionals' cost structures mean they can fly one of its small jets for a lower cost than even low-cost airlines. Another reason for the exceptional growth is the slow erosion of what are called "scope clauses," which protect pilots' pay scales at the major airlines. Regional airlines increasingly are able to fly larger regional jets but keep their lower pay scales...." http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001766290_regionals15.html (Note: Regional F/A's at Jazz make a wage equivalent to Horizon Airlines or American Eagle based on the current exchange rate. Air Canada's In-charges working on the CL-65's make the same wage as the flight attendants at Comair based on the exchange. Comair F/A's are organized under the IBT. This comparison may lose its point of fact if the $C attains equivalent value with the $U.S. The Fed in the states have every intention of seeing currency equivalence across the western world.) http://cnniw.newsreal.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=42694488&ID=cnniw&scategory=Aviation& MESABA CAUGHT IN HIGH STAKES REGIONAL BRINKMANSHIP Northwest May End Leasing Agreement with Mesaba Airlines Source: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) Publication date: 2003-10-17 Arrival time: 2003-10-16 Oct. 17--Northwest Airlines indicated Thursday that it may end a leasing agreement under which it provides 69-passenger Avro RJ regional jets to Minneapolis-based Mesaba Airlines -- but Mesaba still would have a shot at flying the 3 million people now transported in those planes every year. If the leasing deal is terminated, Mesaba would have to provide its own planes if it wins the contract for those routes -- and it will be in competition with other regional carriers for the business. http://cnniw.newsreal.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=42694488&ID=cnniw&scategory=Aviation& :[ NZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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