Hughes Airwest Corporate Profile Spring 1979

Boeing Advanced 727-200
CORPORATE
PROFILE
Hughes Air Corp. Spring 1979
1978 in Review
Geographic Scope
Flights were inaugurated to Milwaukee, Des Moines, Denver and
Houstons close-in Hobby Airport. These were the first new U.S. cities
to be added to the Hughes Airwest system in 10 years.
The airline began nonstop service from San Francisco and Los An-
geles to Alberta. It started 14 other new nonstop routes in December,
most of them the first result of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978.
Nearly six million passengers established all-time records in every
traffic category. Passenger and cargo boardings and miles flown were up
more than 20 percent. The company reported its seventh consecutive
profit.
Two classes of service were offered for the first time with the addition
of Business Coacha partitioned front-end section with four-abreast
seating on all DC-9s. Installation of enclosed overhead storage compart-
ments and new decor throughout DC-9-30s was begun.
Fleet range and payload capabilities were boosted through an inno-
vative program of upgrading engines on DC-9-30s and increasing fuel
capacity on 727-200s.
Five DC-9-30S and one Boeing Advanced 727-200 were added to the
Hughes Airwest fleet.
Greatly simplified 30 per-
In 1979 ... cent fare discounts were in-
Hughes Airwest is . . . troduced in ail U.S. markets.
Boosting interstate service link- airlines on-time aver-
ing California metropolitan satellite ^ge in major markets was one
airports-Oakland, San Jose, Bur- of the best and frequently led
bank, Ontario and Santa Ana/Orange entire industry.
County with cities throughout its
system.
Begining nonstop flights linking
Denver-Salt Lake City, Phoenix-Sac-
ramento, Phoenix-Reno and Spokane-
Reno and increasing the number of
seats between Seattle and Phoenix
fivefold.
Taking delivery on four more
Boeing Advanced 727-200s and add-
ing Business Coach service to all 727
trijets in service.
Offering a Business Coach fare
of only a flat $10 more than regular
coach on almost all U.S. routes, re-
gardless of distance, and continuing
its Yes for Less 30 percent coach
discounts in all U.S. markets.
Hughes Airwest serves 48 cities in the
U.S., Mexico and Canada.
It flies to 41 cities in 12 states (Arizona,
California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Mon-
tana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Wash-
ington and Wisconsin), including more
cities west of the Rocky Mountains than
any other airline.
It serves five resorts in Mexico and the
two largest cities in Alberta, Canada.
If the north-south span of its system
Edmonton to Manzanillowere extended
in an east-west direction, it would con-
nect San Francisco and New York.
The airlines service region contains
most of the countrys pleasure destina-
tionsnational parks, monuments and
recreational areas; winter ski centers;
summer and winter sun destinations; and
Pacific Coast beach resorts.
Hughes Airwest also flies to most of the
largest and fastest growing metropolitan
centers.

Major
Facilities
The People
Who Make
It Work
Sundance
Fleet
San Francisco International Airport (mailing address)
San Francisco, California 94128
(Area Code 415) 573-4000; TELEX 33-1493
Hughes Airwest industry code: RW
INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
Its at 3125 Clearview Way at Hillsdale Boulevard in San Mateo
midway between San Francisco and San Jose. This is the home and
operational nerve center for the airline.
Around-the-clock flight operations are directed from this facility.
It also houses one of the industrys most modern reservation centers.
Hughes Airwest is the only airline with a flight attendant training
school in the Bay Area.
MAINTENANCE CENTER
Its at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenixthe only such
maintenance and engineering facility in Arizona.
Here, work on the airlines fleet is done by 600 skilled super-
visors, technicians, engineers, avionics and instrument specialists,
supply clerks and support staff.
Expansion of this 152,000-square-foot facility began this year and
is expected to be completed by mid-1980 at a cost of nearly $10
million. More than 116,500 square feet will be addeda 76 percent
increase. Hangars will be able to handle aircraft as large as a
DC-10 or L-1011.
The Phoenix base is certificated by the Federal Aviation Admin-
istration to perform repair and service for other airlines on Boeing
727s, DC-9S and F-27s.
The airline has reached beyond the confines of its own operation
by completing contract work on small executive aircraft and mainte-
nance, technical assistance and training for many foreign countries.
A work force of more than 5,000 is employed throughout the
system. It is led by a management team comprised of a board of
directors, officers and 500 management personnel.
Nearly 700 pilots and 900 flight attendants are based in San
Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle and Phoenix.
Some 600 telephone sales agents are in Phoenix, Los Angeles,
Seattle and at the airlines International Headquarters.
Six labor unions represent segments of the work force. They are;
Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA); Association of Flight Attendants
(AFA); Air Line Employees Association (ALEAstations, reserva-
tiens and clerical personnel): Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Associa-
tion (AMFAtechnicians and cleaners); International Association
of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (lAMAWsupply clerks): and
Transport Workers Union (TWUflight dispatchers).
A total of 48 aircraft perform nearly 800 arrivals and departures
a day. The fleet consists of*:
Six Boeing Advanced 727-200 trijets (155 passengers)
Thirty-one DC-9-30 jets (96 passengers)
Ten DC-9-10 and DC-9-15 jets (71 passengers)
One F-27 propjet (40 passengers)
These numbers reflect the active fleet status as of March 15,
1979. These are changing due to aircraft sales, deliveries or leas-
ing. (As of March 15, six 727-200s were on order.)
Published by the Public Relations Department, Hughes Airwest
International Airport, San Francisco, California 94128
REDOING/I
CABO SAN LUCAS
SAN JOSE DEL CABO'
PUERTO VAUARTA
Top
12 Cities
Based on boardings
in 1978, they are:
Las Vegas861,121
Phoenix544,529
Los Angeles448,613
Seattle404,826
San Francisco378,523
Santa Ana321,584
Salt Lake City-272,550
Spokane230,330
Tucson194,990
Burbank189,978
Reno-187,946
Portland-180,512
These represented 70
percent of the system-
wide total.
They are in 23 major cities it flies toBoise, Burbank,
Calgary, Denver, Des Moines, Edmonton, Houston, Las
Vegas, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Oakland, Ontario, Phoe-
nix, Portland, Reno, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Fran-
cisco, San Jose, Santa Ana, Seattle, Spokane and Tucson.
City ticket offices are in 13 cities: Anaheim (Disney-
land), Calgary, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Reno, Salt Lake
City, San Francisco, Seattle, Sun Valley (seasonal). La
Paz, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarte and Cabo San Lucas.
Sales personnel also are in Mexico City; Tokyo; Hong
Kong; Sydney; Rio de Janeiro; San Jose, Costa Rica; Lon-
don; Frankfurt; Zurich; New York City and Honolulucities
to which the airline does not operate scheduled flights.
This multi-nation sales effort is supported by the most
advanced computerized communications systems in the
transportation industry. They are called SITA (for Socit
Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques)
and ARINC (for Aeronautical Radio, Inc.).
Through these two organizations, Hughes Airwest can
instantly communicate and exchange passenger reserva-
tion information with more than 300 airlines worldwide.
MANZANILLO#
Sales
Offices
The assets of Air West Inc. were purchased in April, 1970 by
Hughes Air Corp., which operates the airline as Hughes Airwest.
The predecessor carrier was formed in 1968 by the merger of
three pioneer airlines in the West; Pacific Air Lines (based in San
Francisco), Bonanza Air Lines (Phoenix) and West Coast Airlines
(Seattle).
Pacific began scheduled passenger service as Southwest Air-
ways in 1946 and became Pacific Air Lines 10 years later. Bonanza
started as a flight school and charter service at Las Vegas in June,
1945 and operated its first scheduled flights in August, 1946. West
Coast started service in March, 1946; in August, 1952, it purchased
Empire Air Lines, a feeder carrier that was established in April, 1944
under the name Zimmerly Air Transport, later Zimmerly Airlines,
Hughes Air Corp, is a privately held company with the majority
of its stock owned by Summa Corporation, headquartered in Las
Vegas, Nevada. Summa is a diversified firm with interests in hotels,
helicopter manufacturing, real estate and other fields. It was wholly
owned by Howard Hughes, industrialist and aviation pioneer, who
died April 6, 1976.
Hughes Airwest is one of only a few airlines in the world that is
providing technological, managerial and training assistance as well
as consulting services to overseas air transportation companies.
It currently maintains contracts with airlines in Mauritania' Saudi
Arabia, Argentina, The Philippines and Ivory Coast.
These countries use Hughes Airwests skills to help them develop
air transportation systems tailored to their particularand varied
needs.
It has completed contracts in Burma, Japan, Nepal, Iran, Liberia
and Ghana.
The airline has 40 experienced employees and their families as-
signed to its programs overseas.
International
Route System
A Brief
Look Back
Overseas
Business
Programs

Financial Results
(In thousands, add 000)
1978
1977
1976
1975
1974
1973
1972
1971
1970
Operating revenues
$313,152
$253,986
$202,162
$169,493
$159,914
$130,107
$96,701
$96,231
$85,204
Operating expenses
300,881
238,041
195,489
166,729
147,545
123,823
94,176
98,001
92,245
Operating earnings (loss)
12,271
15,945
6,673
2,764
12,369
6,284
2,525
(1,770)
(7,041)
Non-operating earnings (loss)
(4,936)
(3,696)
(1,629)
(336)
(2,324)
(1,437)
(615)
(1,548)
(5,049)
Net earnings (loss) before taxes 7,335
12,249
5,044
2,428
10,045
4,847
1,910
(3,318)
(12,090)
Provision for taxes
2,000
2,845
1,400
725
2,100
180


(13)
Net earnings (loss)
5,335
9,404
3,644
1,703
7,945
4,667
1,910
(3,318)
(12,077)
Performance
1978
1977
1976
1975
1974
1973
1972
1971
1970
Revenue passenger miles
2,484,628t
2,036,763
1,654,730
1,496,983
1,443,426
1,259,908
891,373
881,890
892,611
Available seat miles
4,183,6401
3,758,455
3,108,909
2,840,686
2,600,620
2,456,863
1,875,100
1,919,294
1,985,701
Load factor (per cent seats filled)
59.41
54.2
53.2
52.7
55.5
51.3
47.5
45.9
45.0
Average density
(passengers per mile)
56.21
51.0
47.2
45.9
47.1
41.2
38.8
34.3
31.5
Passenger boardings
5,845,4291
4,850,674
4,038,811
3,700,519
3,662,179
3,365,910
2,557,975
2,731,127
2,898,258
Yield (revenue per
passenger mile in cents)
11.021
10.95
10.77
10.17
9.54
8.62
8.64
8.77
7.87
Average passenger trip miles
4251
420
410
405
394
374
348
323
308
Average passenger fare
46.861
45.97
44.12
41.12
37.58
32.27
30.11
28.31
24.24
Cargo boarded (tons)
28,8021
20,875
18,875
17,941
18,054
17,799
14,750
19,140
19,014
Cargo ton miles
12,3231
10,214
8,879
8,464
8,308
7,811
6,012
6,952
6,057
Block hourstotal
147,7261
133,719
121,383
115,162
113,799
123,932
94,720
109,452
123,725
Aircraft hourstotal
121,3571
109,691
99,990
95,167
93,380
103,201
79,070
91,109
102,556
Revenue departures performed
156,707
148,895
139,769
137,574
143,517
157,664
124,348
146,570
163,7711
Revenue block hours
145,0101
132,159
119,185
113,370
111,630
121,225
92,222
107,208
121,114
Revenue aircraft hours (airborne)
119,0391
108,349
98,049
93,599
91,699
100,836
76,850
89,136
100,273
Revenue ton miles
260,7851
213,878
174,334
158,149
152,675
133,737
95,106
95,125
94,917
Available ton miles
526,7761
469,358
386,756
352,733
321,681
300,630
229,777
237,625
248,485
Revenue aircraft miles flown
44,2241
39,929
35,046
32,594
30,624
30,614
22,989
25,695
28,313
Scheduled aircraft miles
44,5511
39,996
35,153
32,736
30,952
30,864
23,104
25,959
28,739
Scheduled aircraft miles complte
44,0241
39,689
34,749
32,308
30,307
30,371
22,908
25,602
28,195
Completion percentage
98.8
99.21
98.9
98.7
97.9
98.4
99.2t
98.6
98.1
On-time % (within 15 minutes)
79.0
80.1
84.8
84.2
77.1
83.7
84.7
85.4t
85.2
The
Major
Expenses
The largest and most rap-
idly increasing in 1978 was
for salaries$108 million, or
25 percent more than the
$86.7 million payroll in 1977.
The bulk of the companys
payroll burden is in four
cities where most manage-
ment personnel and pilots
and flight attendants are
based. Salaries in each city
were: Phoenix, $31 million;
San Francisco, $23.1 million;
Las Vegas, $16.5 million; and
Seattle, $13.3 million. In the
Los Angeles area, where
Hughes Airwest serves four
airports and has its regional
headquarters, payroll totaled
$6.9 million.
The second highest ex-
pense was for aircraft fuel.
In 1978, js jumped 22 percent
to $56.3 million from $46.3
million.
Property and other taxes,
plus licenses, increased 9
percent to $11.8 million from
$10.8 million.
Landing costs, fees levied
by airports, rose 7 percent to
$6.2 million from $5.8 million.
The cost of facility rentals
and other related services
jumped 11 percent to $6.3
million from $5.7 million.
*Add 000.
i Ail-time annual record.
^Results affected by severely restricted service during a four-month labor dispute that ended in mid-April, 1972.
Printed in U.S.A.
3/79