Strategy – Page 1009

  • News

    Two set for Tokyo launch

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Japan has taken several more steps towards deregulating its skies by liberalising overseas fares and licensing two new domestic airlines. The Ministry of Transport is promoting fares competition by allowing higher discounts on international tickets. From October, fares for overseas tours may be 35 per cent below International Air ...

  • News

    Cintra stake changes over

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    The Mexican government is trying to distance itself from the management of Cintra, the holding company for Aeromex-ico and Mexicana Airlines, even though plans for a sale of Cintra shares, including those owned by the government, have been delayed. The federal government has decided to transfer its 10 per ...

  • News

    Pilots fear US alliance

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Concern over job security in light of the proposed alliance with Continental Airlines has emerged as the key issue that could lead Northwest Airlines' pilots to strike from 29 August. The pilots' union says that, contrary to company statements, the dispute is about protecting jobs, not pay. The Air ...

  • News

    United's answer to Travelocity

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    UAL, the parent company of United Airlines, is somewhat belatedly taking a more aggressive tack in selling its online services. For several months United has been offering tickets on its world wide web site including weekly deeply discounted, Internet-only fares, actions most of its competitors took months ago. More ...

  • News

    PAL fights for survival

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Philippine Airlines' future hangs in the balance as it prepares a plan to avoid bankruptcy. PAL's interim receivership committee is being supervised by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission as it works towards the SEC's 21 September deadline. PAL is struggling to survive an ill-fated fleet expansion and Asia's ...

  • News

    Strong on caution

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Qantas needs to respond quickly to market conditions yet its managing director, James Strong, refuses to be rushed into any major decisions. If he has said it once, he has said it in a dozen ways: 'There's no use charging around the place; you don't just snatch at things ...

  • News

    SIA moves to link with CAL

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Singapore Airlines' latest linkup - with China Airlines - offers few clues as to whether it will join the Star Alliance. The agreement by Singapore Airlines and China Airlines to form a strategic partnership caught many by surprise because it does not follow the pattern of pacts between members ...

  • News

    A time for celebration

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    While 1997 certainly broke all industry records for profitability, there were already dark clouds on the horizon as the effects of the Asian currency crisis began to make themselves felt. There will be worse to come this year as economies in the region continue to slow. So while the ...

  • News

    Recipe for reform

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Romania's national airline still hopes to attract a western partner, if only the economy would improve. Take one battered old airport, add a few old Russian aircraft, and then throw in years of political instability. Stir with economic collapse, simmer for nine years, and serve with a garnish of ...

  • News

    Will Gangwal get BA back?

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    US Airways' president and chief executive officer, Rakesh Gangwal, is hinting strongly of renewed interest in British Airways as an attractive prospective alliance partner. The US airline has been free to pursue its expansion plans since signing an agreement with its pilots' union last year. According to Gangwal, efforts ...

  • News

    US alliances meet silence

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    A Wall Street analyst is predicting that none of the proposed US domestic airline alliances will be approved by the Department of Transportation because of the unfavourable environment in Washington DC and concerns about competition. Candace Browning, an analyst at Merrill Lynch in New York, points out that the ...

  • News

    Winds rise in the east

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Following the entry of MetroJet, US Airways' long awaited low cost spinoff, the rapidly growing US east coast market is becoming crowded with competitors. From Florida to Maine the story is the same - the US east coast is booming. Airports are growing capacity; airlines are adding frequencies; new ...

  • News

    Deregulation dogfight

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    The US majors are responding to the Department of Transportation's proposed policy against predatory behaviour by arguing that it will deter them from offering cheaper fares. The irony is obvious. This year is the 20th anniversary of deregulation in the US and the industry should be celebrating two decades ...

  • News

    Asia-Pacific

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    As Asia rocks from the effects of the year-old financial crisis, a new demon is lurking on the horizon in the shape of the year 2000 date change. The big question is whether Asian airlines will fix the millennium bug in time. Estimates of the global cost to make ...

  • News

    Europe: few direct answers

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Will Europe's aviation industry be ready for the year 2000? The honest answer is that nobody yet knows. To date, companies have largely been preoccupied with their own internal compliance issues, but the wider debate over how the issue will affect the industry as a whole has only just begun. ...

  • News

    Brussels has the last word

    1998-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Europe's privately owned and publicly quoted airlines must be wondering what they have to do to make a dent in the European Commission's stance on state aid. Their jubilation at the European Court of Justice's annulment of the FFr20 billion (US$3.3 billion) aid package to Air France on 25 June ...

  • News

    Air Jamaica plan for all-Airbus fleet hit by shortage of aircraft

    1998-08-26T00:00:00Z

    Graham Warwick/Washington DC Air Jamaica wants to move to an all-Airbus fleet "as soon as possible", to cut costs, but is being stymied by a lack of available aircraft. The Jamaican flag carrier is looking for at least four A320s and one A340, says chief executive Christopher Zacca. ...

  • News

    IAI seeks to wrap up FedEx deal with further Airtruck investors

    1998-08-26T00:00:00Z

    Israel Aircraft Industries' (IAI) Airtruck specialised cargo aircraft has been selected in principle by FedEx to meet its requirement for a Fokker F27 replace- ment. The Israeli company is struggling to meet FedEx's price demands, however, and is seeking additional customers, partners and investors to enable the programme to be ...

  • News

    Gill Air closes on Fokker 100 leases for franchise flights

    1998-08-26T00:00:00Z

    Gill Air is finalising a deal to acquire three Fokker 100s to enable it to launch jet operations on its Air France franchise routes early next year. The UK regional airline, based in Newcastle, has selected the 100-seat Fokker for its jet requirement over the similarly sized British Aerospace ...

  • News

    Transaero shake-up may lead to merger

    1998-08-26T00:00:00Z

    Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW A battle for control at Russian airline Transaero has seen the airline's founder, Alexander Pleshakov, ousted, with Aeroflot Russian International Airlines majority shareholder Boris Berezovsky now believed to be have taken control through a share trading deal. There is now speculation that the two airlines could be ...