Air Traffic Levels, Delays Continue To RiseThe Air Transport Association last month predicted 200 million passengers would fly on U.S. airlines between Memorial Day and Labor Day, a 4.1 percent increase from last summer that could lead to more delays. "In many markets, traffic and delays are back at a rate as severe as 2000, when travel disruptions were at their peak," said U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General Kenneth Mead, in recent testimony before the U.S. Senate's aviation subcommittee, "and in some markets they are worse." Mead said first-quarter delays were up 17 percent versus 2004, impacting one-quarter of all domestic flights, and that six airports should be closely monitored this summer. Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Newark, New York LaGuardia, Philadelphia and Washington Dulles, he said, each have had high delay rates since last summer with "substantial projected traffic growth this summer."
Marriott Sees Healthy RevPAR, Expansion Through 2008Marriott International last week told analysts and investors at a conference in Miami Beach that it expects revenue per available room to grow between 8 percent and 10 percent this year and between 4 percent and 8 percent from 2006 through 2008. The company will continue to expand and boost market share with the addition of 75,000 to 90,000 hotel rooms worldwide between 2006 and 2008, the chain said in a release. The chain plans to increase its European presence by 15 percent by the end of 2008 and have 75 hotels in China within 10 years.
AA Takes On Delta Between Atlanta and New YorkAmerican Airlines and regional operator American Eagle this week will begin five daily flights between New York LaGuardia and Atlanta. The flights will operate from the T concourse in the north terminal of Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. American's new service will compete directly with Delta Air Lines, which operates an extensive daily schedule between its primary Atlanta hub and all three New York airports.
SAS, Delta, UAL Sign New Card DealsSAS Group signed a corporate card deal with Eurocard and Diners Club that would provide administration and payment solutions to corporate travel purchasers in all Nordic countries, as well as ticketless travel across the region, effective this autumn. Nordea Finans, which backs the current SAS Corporate Card, agreed to terminate its SAS relationship early next year. Existing SAS Corporate Card users can transfer to Eurocard or Diners Club and retain access to account information and other functions of the SAS Travel Pass Corporate program
(BTN, April 3, 2000). Meanwhile, American Express and Delta Air Lines recently announced the new SkyPoints Credit Card for small businesses and consumers. Users accumulate SkyMiles points which can convert to credits for Delta flights. United Airlines' newest Mileage Plus Platinum Class Signature Visa card is co-branded with Chase and provides users easier mileage accrual and elite status qualification.
Delta Cuts Wichita Service Over AirTran SubsidiesDelta Air Lines on July 1 will reduce Wichita, Kan., service from 11 daily flights to three hubs to just four daily flights to Atlanta amid a dispute between the Federal Aviation Administration and the City of Wichita over subsidies paid to Delta rival AirTran. The city recently approved an extension for an AirTran revenue guarantee program which reimburses the carrier for any monthly losses on the Atlanta-Wichita route, in return for AirTran maintaining at least three daily flights. The renewed program stemmed from a 2002 city initiative that created an $8 million travel bank from the local business community to entice AirTran and Frontier. The city has set aside $7 million to cover any AirTran losses. According to the minutes of an April Wichita city council meeting, Delta vice president of network planning Doug Blissit said the city had either denied or ignored similar proposals by Delta. "We cannot be expected to compete when the city is subsidizing another carrier," a Delta spokesperson said last week. In telling Wichita to either abandon the program or propose a resolution, FAA said exclusive subsidies paid to AirTran are "unjustly discriminatory" and violate federal grant assurances for Wichita Mid-Continent Airport. An official said FAA is reviewing Wichita's latest response. "Prior to the introduction of competing air service by Air Tran, Delta was charging monopolistic airfares at Wichita," the city's lawyers said in a May 16 letter to FAA, noting that AirTran subsidies are derived from city, not airport, funds. "FAA's position that the city must also subsidize Delta is like telling the shepherd he must feed the wolf so that wolf can get bigger and stronger and slaughter more sheep."