The French Bureau Enquetes Accidents (BEA) has called into question the quality of the part thought to have caused the crash of the Air France Concorde. In its preliminary report, BEA said the width of the metal piece varied between 29 and 34 millimeters and holes were not drilled in regular intervals. This could mean the part was not made by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
Atlas Air yesterday reported a 64% increase in third quarter net profits to a record $23.1 million. Revenue totaled $208.6 million, up 29% from the same 1999 period, and operating income grew 30% to $62 million. CEO Michael Chowdry attributed the company's growth to Asian markets. "With shipment backlogs already being experienced in countries such as Korea and Hong Kong predicting a record cargo year, the outlook for Asian cargo, in particular, remains very positive," he said.
America West initiated its daily nonstop service between Las Vegas and Washington National. While America West is the first airline to operate scheduled nonstop service between the two airports it will not be for long as National Airlines starts daily service Friday on the same route.
DOT scheduled public meetings beginning today for a cross-industry committee to determine categories for carrier delay reporting, which DOT Secretary Rodney Slater announced in late August as part of a government-industry effort to improve customer service. The Categories of Delay for Air Carrier On-Time Reporting Advisory Committee, with a membership of about 20 -- comprising representatives of airlines, consumer groups, labor organizations and airport operators -- meets Oct. 25-26, Nov. 1-2 and Nov. 8-9 at DOT, with a report due Nov. 21.
UPS may poised to be designated as the fourth carrier designated for U.S.-China service if Chinese officials accept ideas proposed by the U.S. to open the market for non-incumbent carriers, industry sources said yesterday. An award of some of the 10 available frequencies for other all-cargo services proposed by incumbents FedEx and Northwest would be consitent with newly established permanent normal trade relations between the U.S. and China and China's entry into the World Trade Organization, a source told The DAILY. The U.S.
FAA's Office of Airports will "take into consideration" the fiscal 2001 Transportation Appropriations' unprecedented earmarking of Airport Improvement Program discretionary funds but will continue to use its rating system for AIP awards, an FAA spokeswoman said yesterday. The spokeswoman's response to a query from The DAILY appeared to put FAA in the comfortable position of considering what the appropriators have done without committing the agency to follow them.
Continental Express will add weekend service between Cleveland and Daytona Beach, offering one flight each on Saturday and Sunday, using Embraer ERJ145s.
Delta flight attendants will participate in the company's shareholder meeting today to express concerns about Delta's "vicious anti-union campaign and job security at the airline," according to the Association of Flight Attendants, which is trying to unionize the company's cabin crew. Delta is the only major carrier whose flight attendants are not unionized.
Boeing is developing a plan to use its expanding capabilities to lead a rebuilding of the U.S. air traffic management system and later expanding the program worldwide, a company official told The DAILY yesterday at the Air Traffic Control Association's annual meeting in Atlantic City. Ronald Hill, program manager for commercial information systems at Boeing, said three teams are exploring the best ways to get the project under way. The effort is expected to cost more than $1 billion.
The Delhi High Court has ordered India's federal government not to enter any purchase deals for new aircraft with Airbus at least until the latter provides adequate and satisfactory information on a 1986 deal mired in a kickback controversy. The court order does not stop the government from ordering spares for aircraft already purchased from Airbus.
Datalex and Atraxis finalized a partnership to boost their e-commerce standing, offering new products and services. The partnership enables Atraxis to resell the Datalex Suite of booking products and integrate them with its own. The two companies also will share human resources. Atraxis recently invested in Datalex, taking a "substantial" minority stake in the firm. Atraxis CEO Armin Meier was appointed as a non-executive director to the Datalex board.
Qantas plans to introduce nonstop flights between Sydney and Johannesburg in January, reducing travel time by more than two hours. The Boeing 747-400 flights, operating five days a week, will take an average of 14 hours 20 minutes, down from 16 hours 30 minutes, due to a stop in Perth. The nonstop services will start as part of a new code-share agreement between Qantas and South African Airways. SAA will place its code on the new Qantas flights between Sydney and Johannesburg and will discontinue serving the cities with its own aircraft.
The Dutch Transport Ministry this week put teeth into its threat to enforce noise rules at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and fined the airport 500,000 Dutch guilders (US$190,000) for the breach of noise limitation rules. Earlier this month, the ministry warned the airport that it would be fined up to NLG5 million for infringements. Schiphol would have to take measures within six days to prevent further violations of regulations. At the beginning of October, the Dutch authorities said Schiphol was about to exceed the maximum noise limits set for the period until Nov.
A German court has supported a Lufthansa ruling that its domestic competitor Deutsche BA may not repeat allegations concerning Lufthansa's proposed investment in Eurowings. The carrier announced in September that it planned to take over 24.9% of regional airline Eurowings. Deutsche BA reacted with fierce statements about the deal. Among others, the airline's CEO, Adrian Hunt, said the only purpose of the move was to delete competition. Passengers consequently would have to pay monopoly prices. Lufthansa and Eurowings directly compete on four routes.
Benchmarking optimal capacity during various times of day at the 30 busiest airports would provide reasonable, credible basis for determining short-, intermediate- and long-term solutions to the delays that hobbled the U.S. aviation system this summer, the DOT Inspector General said yesterday. Kenneth Mead told the International Aviation Club that benchmarks would help determine the impact of air traffic control air traffic control procedures and modernization and ground infrastructure developments.
Japan Airlines yesterday introduced its first tour packages for Internet sales. For the winter season, JAL unveiled nine packages centered on a visit to a hot spring.
U.S. officials put forth several proposals to expand U.S.-China service, including a plan to gain access for new-entrant hopefuls Delta and American. Chinese officials were receptive to U.S. ideas "and none were rejected," said DOT Assistant Secretary Francisco Sanchez. He told The DAILY the U.S. wants to schedule formal negotiations in the first quarter of 2001 to discuss phasing in expansion between 2002-2004. The U.S. proposed doubling frequencies to 108 and adding two frequencies, sourcaes said.
Air Aruba suspended all operations yesterday after it was forced to return half its fleet to a lessor following a cash shortage. The carrier previously operated a fleet of six aircraft, but its three MD-90s were returned to Hwa-Hsia Leasing Ltd. as "certain payments were not made," said Ignacio Martinez-Ybor, general manager of North America. Compounding its troubles, the airline has one MD-88 in the middle of C maintenance check and a second undergoing engine repairs. Both MD-88s are on lease from GE Capital Aviation Services.
A FAA-sponsored study projects that runway collisions at towered airports in the U.S. could kill 700 to 800 people and injure 200 more over the next two decades (DAILY, Oct. 23). The study, by Arnold Barnett, of MIT and Gary Paull of MCR Federal in Burlington, Ma., was presented at a convention of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences in San Antonio.
United is testing self-checkin kiosks at San Diego and Chicago, giving customers holding electronic tickets the option of performing a variety of transactions without going to the ticket counter or gates. E-ticket holders can check in for a United, Shuttle or Express flight in North America; check baggage; select or change seat assignments; add their frequent flyer number and receive their United First or United Business class upgrade.
The House yesterday gave voice vote approval to a compromise airport security screeners bill that would expand the list of crimes that would disqualify screeners and tighten their training requirements. The bill now goes to the Senate for final congressional approval this week. With Congress likely to quit for the year this week, there was no time for a formal House-Senate conference to work out a compromise measure.
