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Monday, February 21, 2005

Quick Takes

  • Four months of not talking may be costly for Mesaba Aviation [MAIR]. The carrier's mechanics are now circulating a strike ballot due to the stalled negotiations. The ballots will be counted on March 16. Even if the mechanics vote to strike, the long-cumbersome process of the Railway Labor Act could delay a strike for months. Last year, Mesaba and its pilots had exhausted all the hurdles of the labor law and reached a new accord just hours before the pilots would have gone on strike.
  • The voluntary flight reduction accord at Chicago O'Hare International Airport is apparently working. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) extended an accord until Oct. 30 which limits peak arrivals to 88 per hour. The pact, which was negotiated last summer by the airlines and DOT, was to have expired on April 30. With the records of only one operational month available, DOT reported that the on-time arrivals at O'Hare improved by 20 percent and the average delays dropped 40 percent. The extension is viewed only as an interim measure as DOT drafts formal rules to address the congestion at the airport.
  • Flight subsidies are not limited to the Essential Air Service program. The U.S. Virgin Islands is underwriting American Eagle flights between St. Thomas and St. Croix. It is estimated the deal could cost the commonwealth government $1.3 million by the time the contract expires on May 1. The local Senate is now questioning the program contending the government does not have the cash to make the payments. While American Eagle's flights are eligible for a subsidy, the flights by Cape Air are not. Their 9-seat Cessna 402s on average are 55 percent full on its seven daily flights. The bulk of the tourists, who arrive by cruise ships in St. Thomas, never travel to St. Croix, the poorest and largest of the three islands in the U.S. territory.
  • Aegean Airlines, a regional carrier in Greece, has submitted a bid to buy Olympic Airlines, the state-owned international flagship carrier. While Olympic has been losing money, Aegean is expect to post a profit of $9.1 million. Aegean, now in its sixth year of operation, was the European Regions Airline Association 2004 airline of the year.
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