Major Airlines

MY BEST SHOTDesert sentinelBy Marilyn V. Chamberlain, BaltimoreLots of red rocks, hoodoos and all sorts of strange formations show nature's power and create a fascinating Southwestern view. This picture was taken outside Sedona, Ariz., and, as the sky indicates, it was the prelude to a swift-moving spring snowstorm.A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCEFond farewell to LuxembourgBy Richard BaschSpecial to the SunThe first time I flew Icelandic Airlines, I hauled a duffel bag full of hope and a young wife from New York to Belgium via Luxembourg.

THE report of the National Commission to Ensure a Strong Competitive Airline Industry, appointed by the Clinton administration last May, could have been the work of Ronald Reagan. The commission did acknowledge that the airline and aircraft industries are in a tailspin, but offered much wind and little lift.As the commission noted, the airlines have lost $10 billion in the past three years; they are now $35 billion in debt. Meanwhile, the aircraft makers, hit with the treble shocks of declining military contracts, dwindling commercial orders and subsidized foreign competition, have laid off hundreds of thousands of workers.

Television stations like to tell us in their promotional messages how committed they are to diversity. But, when it comes time to walk the walk and air programs that might be controversial because of the diversity they celebrate, many stations run for cover.Maryland Public Television is backing up its campaign to promote diversity this television season with a couple of productions dealing with gay and lesbian issues, and our local PBS outlet deserves some recognition. Not that MPT has made a major commitment to gay and lesbian programming by any stretch of the imagination.

USAir's 1989 annual report depicts on its cover a scene at Baltimore-Washington International Airport: In the foreground, a USAir employee dressed in a bright-red blazer assists a passenger, the two of them bathed in natural light filtering down from a bright blue sky through the airport's distinctive skylight walls.If that photograph indicates USAir's sense of the importance of its BWI operations, it's fair to say BWI identifies even more strongly with USAir, by far the dominant airline in Baltimore with almost three-quarters of all the commercial flights and more than two-thirds of the passengers.

The new pier at Baltimore-Washington International Airport is drawing airline executives from around the world. They come in small groups, at least 20 in the past year, to inspect the whitewashed architecture and hear the state's marketing pitch.But one thing is still in short supply at the $140 million Gov. William Donald Schaefer International Terminal at BWI these days: More airplanes.Maryland's newest international gateway is a year old this week, and state officials say the facility hasn't blossomed into the bustling payoff they would have liked.

NEW YORK - American Airlines and four other U.S. carriers have matched Delta Air Lines Inc.'s lower fares, threatening to widen losses for the industry. American, the world's largest carrier, cut fares as much as 55 percent and ended requirements such as Saturday night stays, the airline said yesterday. Northwest Airlines Corp., United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc. set comparable fares on Delta's routes, said Tom Parsons, chief executive of BestFares.com, a Web travel site. US Airways Group Inc., of Arlington, Va., also said it followed Delta's fare cuts.

One day this week, Dawn Rowley flew to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, relaxed at a resort for eight hours and flew home to Baltimore. Not a bad day's work, she thought. As captain of a 168-seat USA 3000 Airlines' Airbus A320, that's not an uncommon day for Rowley. And it is one she's happy to have amid the turmoil in her profession. She began flying for startup USA 3000 after a seven-month furlough from US Airways, the Arlington, Va. carrier that emerged from bankruptcy last year and plans more cost-cutting than hiring.

Every airline has a chance to make enemies when it decides who and what it will allow in its passenger cabins. The airline can annoy animal lovers by banning pets, or it can annoy allergy-sufferers by permitting pets. And as many allergy-sufferers can attest, the largest airlines have quietly and unanimously come down on the side of the beasts.The last major carrier to be won over was Delta, which called off its passenger-cabin pet ban about a year ago because, a spokesman said, "Our customers wanted us to do it."

DALLAS -- Southwest Airlines Co., the world's biggest low-fare airline and the dominant carrier at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, said yesterday that second-quarter earnings rose 18 percent because of increased passenger demand along the East Coast.Net income climbed to $157.8 million, or 29 cents a split-adjusted share, from $133.4 million, or 25 cents, in the second quarter of last year. The most recent per-share results were in line with the average estimate of 30 cents from analysts surveyed by First Call Corp.

An article in yesterday's editions of The Sun about low-priced tickets being offered by some major airlines failed to point out that the sale ends Jan. 11.The Sun regrets the errors.