Northwest and its Air Line Pilots Association unit will begin early contract talk openers. The current deal becomes amendable Sept. 13, 2002, and the two sides will exchange openers in January 2002, rather than June 13, as planned. Both sides said they hope to reach an agreement by the amendable date. A pilot strike in the fall of 1998 cost the airline millions in lost revenues.
New York jet fuel spot prices ended last week at $1.02 per gallon, down 9% from the beginning of the week, but up 42% from a year ago, according to Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. Oil futures continued to fall last week, closing at $28.44 a barrel on Friday.
U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) probes of two British Airways Concorde incidents failed to determine conclusively what caused critical flight-control surfaces to separate in flight, but officials believe bonding failures are the most likely explanation.
Francisca Piedra, KLM's marketing manager in Peru, confirmed that there are conversations under way for possible commercial alliances between the Dutch carrier and three Peruvian airlines, TACA Peru, AeroContinente and LanPeru. Regarding LanPeru's recent differences with partner LanChile and suspension of Lima-Miami services, Piedra said these events have not affected conversations.
Rockwell International is splitting in two, creating a stand-alone avionics and communications company by spinning off Rockwell Collins to shareholders in a tax-free share distribution. Existing shareholders will get a Rockwell Collins share for each Rockwell share they own and it would create a $3.1 billion communications and aviation electronics business headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It would be headed by current Collins President Clay Jones.
FAA Friday reported that basic government safety oversight requirements are being met, but most U.S. airlines "could do a better job" documenting procedures for many of their programs. FAA issued its findings after completing its program review of nine U.S. major airlines. In a news conference, Nick Lacey, director of FAA's Flight Standards Service, said many airlines currently depend on "informal procedures based on corporate knowledge."
British Midland this week signed a 10-year agreement with GE Capital Aviation Training, under which GECAT will provide pilot ground-school and specialized engineering services to British Midland. GECAT will install an Airbus A330/A340 simulator to train the carrier's British Midland pilots for their recently announced entry into the transatlantic market.
Maryland, home of US Airways' Baltimore/Washington hub, opposes the merger with United. Gov. Parris Glendening expects United to cancel 30 daily US Airways flights at BWI to eight markets and predicts that Southwest would increase fares, which rarely happens when competition wanes. After a merger, 32% of BWI passengers would have a choice of airlines, versus 52% now.
American's Association of Professional Flight Attendants has asked the National Mediation Board to release the union from mediation, and APFA President John Ward said a strike vote is "forthcoming." Ward said he sent NMB a letter Wednesday asking for release, and he criticized the company's latest offer as "the same pie sliced a different way." APFA, miffed that American is presenting the latest offer as an improvement over the previous one, has labeled the proposal "hush money for the holidays." American is offering a total 8% pay increase.
President Clinton, in announcing a performance-based air traffic organization within FAA, said it would be like putting "the Ferrari engine of FAA excellence into a new, more streamlined, more efficient body."
American says it has no conflict of interest with the agencies seeking to break up and sell the two major airlines in the region. Sources in Mexico City report that Eli Vasquez, senior American official in Mexico, denied reports of links between the U.S. carrier and the family of Fernando Sanchez Ugarte, president of the Mexican Federal Competition Commission (CFC). The agency recently decreed that Cintra, the holding company for AeroMexico and Mexicana, should be split and sold separately.
A federal judge last week lifted a temporary restraining order (TRO) against United's International Association of Machinists (IAM), but will decide on Wednesday whether the union violated the TRO from the time it was initiated until the time it was lifted and could find the union in contempt. The judge said the TRO hadn't been effective and did not want it to interfere with contract talks which resumed in Washington last week. As of Friday, the IAM was unsure whether talks would continue through the weekend, an indication of progress.
America West Friday blasted FAA Director of Flight Standards Nick Lacey for comments attributed to him in a story in U.S. News and World Report published this week. In the story, Lacey is quoted as saying America West is "at the end of the rope" and questioned the "competency and commitment" of the airline's management.
Delta and its Air Line Pilots Association could hear today whether a court will grant the airline a temporary restraining order against the union for an alleged illegal job action. Delta filed for the TRO earlier this week after canceling 386 flights over the weekend, claiming that pilots are refusing to fly overtime in a bid to put pressure on contract talks.
European Commissioner Loyola de Palacio is looking at two plans to solve denied boarding problems: deny passenger refunds if they fail to show up and deny/limit airline abilities to overbook, the European Regions Airline Association reports. ERA is working on a voluntary charter and the EC will propose legislation if airlines don't have a viable voluntary plan.
American Aircarriers Support, Inc. and several of its wholly owned subsidiaries have started to liquidate its business after it was not able to negotiate a reorganization budget with its current group of lending banks. The group includes Bank of America, the CIT Group/Credit Finance and National Bank of Canada. American Aircarriers on Oct. 31 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
