All Strategy news – Page 1110

  • News

    Twin sales with a twist

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    The sale of significant minority state holdings in two of Europe's leading carriers has caused consternation in financial markets, albeit for different reasons. At presstime, the German government was hoping to sell off its remaining 35.7 per cent stake in Lufthansa before the end of the year, while ...

  • News

    Toughing out the boom

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    In 1997, can the major airlines improve on their performance in the boom year of 1996? Airline Business previews the main issues which will dominate airline executives' thinking in 1997. These are the good times, but life for the average airline manager does not appear to be getting any easier. ...

  • News

    Asia rife with labour strife

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    Industrial unrest is spreading across Asia-Pacific as the region's carriers react to a worrying economic slowdown and stiff competition, compounded by the global hike in fuel costs. At presstime, All Nippon Airways was at loggerheads with its cabin crew unions after wage negotiations broke down: a 24-hour strike ...

  • News

    Harry heads to Air Afrique

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    Let's hope Sir Harry Tirvengadum is ready for a challenging 1997. The charismatic chairman of Air Mauritius faces a tough transition when he moves over to head up struggling Air Afrique on 1 January 1997. The west African carrier continues to suffer government interference and union pressures which ...

  • News

    Alitalia pays a small price

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    Alitalia has been fined by the Italian antitrust authorities for bullying tactics against domestic competitors, and as it succeeds in removing one through a codeshare deal with startup Alpi Eagles, another potential threat appears in the form of Azzurra Air. The authorities found that Alitalia had 'impeded, blocked ...

  • News

    The battle for AOM begins

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    Barely having caught their breath after the furious scramble to take over insolvent Air Liberté, potential bidders are now lining up in the race for struggling French rival, AOM. And potential political problems are already brewing. British Airways' recent acquisition of a 67 per cent holding in Air ...

  • News

    United allies down under

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    The fierce fight for market share on routes in and out of Australasia is set to hot up even further following Air New Zealand's alliance with United Airlines and a new capacity-boosting bilateral between Australia and the UK. The fledgling partnership of Air New Zealand and Australia's Ansett ...

  • News

    China puts on the squeeze

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    China is having mixed success in its aviation policy. Despite easing the moratorium on aircraft orders, Beijing is now having to curb international capacity growth for fear of Chinese carriers losing out to their foreign counterparts. But the authorities are having more success in their drive for domestic consolidation. ...

  • News

    Coded for no competition

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    A study on codesharing for the European Commission recommends ending the practice on nonstop routes and reducing the number of CRS listings for codeshare flights to one. These are two of the main findings of a study by Amsterdam-based consultants Strategem. Their report finds that codesharing by two ...

  • News

    Global traders will win economic war

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    In the final years of this century, the new global 'geo-economics' has become the driving force of international relations and commerce. Autocratic regimes and domestically focused businesses are more likely to fail, or grow less slowly, than those which recognise the reality of the globalised economy. The days ...

  • News

    Wheeling out the service

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    For major airlines seeking high-margin travellers, customer service will be a key to profitability. Still, Philip Festa says pressures within the industry are threatening to squeeze carriers' service levels. Customer service is now the norm throughout almost all sectors of commerce: supermarkets, hotels, banks and fast food chains vie ...

  • News

    Is candid Crandall correct about IT?

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    When Robert Crandall, AMR Corp chairman, noted at the last Iata annual general meeting that 'there is no reason to believe that technology will make airlines more profitable,' there had to have been a few sets of raised eyebrows in the audience. Crandall, after all, is the one credited for ...

  • News

    Airline news

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    Austrian Airlines and Swissair have confirmed taking a 18.37 per cent stake in Ukraine International Airlines through a holding company in which Austrian Airlines holds 77.78 per cent and Swissair 22.22 per cent. KLMwill inaugurate twice weekly services to Abidjan and to Nagoya via Sapporo from April 1997 ...

  • News

    Delta dances Continental

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    The only certainty about suggestions of a merger between Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines is that it would create the world's largest airline. Beyond that analysts remain split as to whether such a deal would make strategic sense. The only clear winner is David Bonderman, who leads Continental's controlling ...

  • News

    Bespoke fortunes

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    Effective, efficient hubs are vital to most US majors' profitability. But do they operate in everybody's best interests and is stronger regulation needed? Karen Walker reports. You either love hubs or hate them. A government department has accused the US majors of continuing to use their hubs to raise fares ...

  • News

    A measure of Irala's intent

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    Iberia's new president has plenty of work to do if he is to fulfil his aim of privatising the carrier by 2000. Xabier de Irala talks to Mark Odell in the first major interview since his appointment. Xabier de Irala Estevez is a not only a newcomer to the airline ...

  • News

    Iberia eyes Latin return

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    Iberia may repurchase its stake in Aerolineas Argentinas as early as June 1997 in a move that could recreate its Latin American airline stable. However, the carrier remains embroiled in a legal dispute in Chile over the future of Ladeco, in which it has a 35 ...

  • News

    SAS takes a vital step towards free-flight target

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    SAS has become the first airline to install a certifiable example of one of the most important items of equipment needed by the industry to achieve the goal of free flight. The MMI5000 cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI) was installed in a Fokker F28 for a certification ...

  • News

    BAfrees USAir and prepares to intensify American fight

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    British Airways has finally agreed to sever its partnership with USAir, putting its shareholding in the US carrier up for sale and planning to draw the marketing alliance to a close by April. The news increases pressure on BA to push through its new alliance with American Airlines, ...

  • News

    Continental calls halt to merger talks

    1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

    CONTINENTAL Airlines says that it has broken off merger talks with rival air carriers, believed to include Delta Air Lines. In a message to employees, Gordon Bethune, Continental's chairman and chief executive , disclosed that the fifth-ranked US airline had recently undertaken "preliminary" merger discussions with "many different ...