Networks – Page 1277
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El Al tackles weekend trip
The Israeli government is coming under fierce pressure to lift the ban on flag carrier El Al's operations on the Sabbath. The limitation of a six-day operation is blamed for $50 million of the airline's $120 million loss in 1996 and contributed to last year's shelving of its planned privatisation. ...
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United target on legal front
Low-fare carriers in the US are avidly watching how a predatory pricing complaint against United Airlines by one of their number, Frontier Airlines, pans out. A win for the minnow could encourage other no-frills operators to follow suit. Denver-based Frontier has asked the Department of Justice to investigate ...
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Surviving the customer
Innovation has always been difficult in the airline business. The basic airline product is uniform throughout the industry, and any incremental change by one carrier is usually taken up by its competitors quickly - if it is successful. To survive and stay ahead of their competitors, airlines are constantly looking ...
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Startups slot into Japan
Japan's incumbent carriers are bracing for their first tussle with new competition in four decades, though analysts doubt that air travellers' expectations of dramatically reduced fares will be met. The incumbents are also facing a battle for the 40 new slots that will be created at Tokyo/Haneda when ...
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Competition rules, ok?
The buy/sell slot rules in the US are premised on the simple proposition that the market is better at determining the efficient use of a scarce resource than is an administrative or bureaucratic entity. Competition rules, however, are a different matter and properly the province of governments. To ...
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Alitalia in for a rough ride
The European Commission has asked Alitalia to reassess its proposed restructuring plan and even then looks set to rule that the carrier's planned injection is state aid. It will also be looking at Alitalia's linkup with Air France, while both carriers suffer further industrial unrest. The revelation that ...
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BA-AA rivals round on DOT
The posturing surrounding the proposed American Airlines-British Airways alliance has moved across the Atlantic with the US Department of Transportation coming under growing pressure from rivals to act. In the most extreme case, the outspoken chairman and chief executive of Continental Airlines, Gordon Bethune, is threatening to ask ...
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Weber pens strike plea
Chairman Jürgen Weber is attempting to stir up an internal debate at Lufthansa in a bid to persuade the pilot-dominated DAG union to pull back from strike action. In an unprecedented move Weber sent a letter to all Lufthansa employees in late January outlining the threats to Lufthansa ...
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Growth at a premium
When Salomon Brothers Hong Kong released a report on Malaysia Airlines in late December, it left little doubt that the airline was no gilt-edged investment opportunity. Recommending a 'hold' on the carrier's shares, which put in a weak performance during the carrier's latest financial year, the report's title says it ...
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Latin five set to liberalise
South America's five Mercosur nations are taking a significant if limited step towards open skies in the southern cone. The presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay have inked an accord that would give airlines from those countries the right to launch third and fourth freedom services ...
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It's all in the name
Martin Shugrue is being self-effacing these days. 'Hey, if it was just me calling up people and telling them about Air Marty Start-up Airlines, that would not get us anywhere,' he admits. What is attracting attention within the industry, he maintains, is the fact that his new airline is called ...
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US cracks softest nuts
Hard on the heels of a landmark open skies pact between the US and Singapore, neighbouring Malaysia is poised to sign a similar deal - giving Washington a significant boost in cracking the tough nut of protectionism that exists in Asia-Pacific. The US hopes the breakthroughs will have ...
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Viasa future looks bleak
Iberia and the Venezuelan government were playing a game of brinksmanship at presstime after flag carrier Viasa ran out of cash and ceased operations on 23 January. Both sides are believed to be willing to let the airline fold but, according to one source close to the negotiations, ...
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AA's China tie
American Airlines has signed an MoU with China Eastern Airlines envisaging codesharing on the Chinese carrier's services from Beijing and Shanghai to Los Angeles and its planned flights to San Francisco. China Eastern will also put its code on American domestic flights from the west coast. ...
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Freight frighteners
After persistently failing to ensure on-time delivery of its product to Japan by air, a major European pharmaceutical company was forced to take a multi-million dollar stake in a local Japanese drug company to ensure consistency of supply in a last desperate bid to retain a foothold in this lucrative ...
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Shares rise in the east
Four days before the Chinese New Year, China Eastern Airlines made an auspicious debut on the world's markets by raising an estimated US$250 million. The success of the issue should pave the way for the other Chinese majors to follow suit, although holding company China National Aviation Corp may well ...
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Global watch put on nations at risk
In these days of globalisation and robust economic growth in almost every region of the world, it is tempting to believe that nothing can go wrong. But in many respects this is the most dangerous phase of the economic cycle when businesses, whether they be banks, manufacturers or airlines, are ...
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People movers
Hang on. The flight attendant in the blue Delta Air Lines uniform has an unmistakable Dublin accent, akin to that of her green-clad colleagues on the Aer Lingus Dublin-JFK flight. Either 100 years of Irish immigration to the US have failed to alter speech patterns or airline alliances are taking ...
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Easy ride on the Hill for mega-deal
The face of special-interest politics in Washington is changing, and American Airlines is wearing a smile. An overhaul of the Senate Commerce Committee means the airline finds itself with new-found clout. The rise of Arizona Sen John McCain to chairmanship of the committee is a big win for American Airlines. ...