AOPA says it has learned that FAA will start allowing pilots to make slot reservations over the Internet, starting Sept. 18, for traffic bound to or from high-volume events. The first event allowing use of the new reservations system will be the Formula One Grand Prix race Sept. 22-25 in Indianapolis. Slots had been available through a cumbersome 10-step telephone keypad entry process.
Investigators are progressing with a massive rebuilding project they hope will shed light on what triggered the fire that crippled Swissair 111 during an otherwise routine September 1998 flight. Led by the Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB), investigators have been piecing together wreckage of the Swissair MD-11 in a Canadian Air Force hangar at Shearwater, Nova Scotia, not far from a seaside memorial erected by the provincial government. About 90% of the wreckage, by weight, was pulled from the ocean floor.
American Aircarriers Support said its AAS Aircraft Services subsidiary was awarded a contract by Pegasus Aviation to perform heavy maintenance on a Boeing 727.
El Al CEO Joel Feldschuh intends to resign from the airline, effective Oct. 30, after a rocky relationship with government officials. Feldschuh joined the carrier in the fall of 1996 and sent an e-mail message to employees yesterday stating that he is leaving because he feels that the tenure of the CEO should be limited, a spokeswoman said. Prior to joining El Al, Feldschuh served two years as president of Champion Motors Inc., importers of Volkswagen and Audi cars in Israel.
Europe's leading MRO providers are close to launching full e-business capabilities that will enable customers to complete tasks such as ordering parts and checking on the status of repairs online.
Air Austral has signed a 10-year contract with Lufthansa Technik, which will provide total engine support for CFM56-3 engines on the carrier's three Boeing 737s, starting immediately. The French carrier, an affiliate of Air France, gets a "worry-free" package for engine maintenance and overhaul, according to LHT.
Virgin Atlantic will add a second weekly flight to Cape Town starting Oct. 29 using an Airbus A340-300. The flight will be operated on Sundays from London Heathrow. Virgin's Chairman Richard Branson said the airline wants to fly daily ultimately and hopes to gain additional frequencies in 2001. Virgin will use a Boeing 747-400 for its Friday and Sunday flights to Johannesburg, while keeping an A340-300 on the route for the remainder of the week.
American and Delta filed jointly at DOT for allocation of seven U.S.-France frequencies each, proposing to divide equally the 15 frequencies available in DOT's allocation proceeding now that United has withdrawn its request. United pulled its bid for seven frequencies following its decision to defer own-aircraft services in the New York-Paris market (DAILY, Aug. 28). Delta and American, which each had requested 14 frequencies, now want allocation of seven each, with city-pair service flexibility and a 120-day dormancy period.
MTU Maintenance, the maintenance division of MTU Muenchen, plans to quadruple its engine leasing business over the next two to three years as part of its ongoing efforts to expand and attract more customers. A relative newcomer to engine leasing, MTU Maintenance currently has 10 engines in its portfolio but plans to increase that number to about 40. The engines will be a mix of the types for which MTU offers maintenance services -- the CFM56, V2500, CF6 and PW2000.
Continental takes delivery of its first Boeing 767-400ER today, the first of four to be delivered this year. The carrier plans on acquiring a total of 26 of the aircraft through 2005, replacing DC-10-30s that will be retired on routes to Europe and Latin America. Continental's first -400ER will be placed into revenue service on Sept. 14. Initially, it will fly two daily domestic round trips between its Newark hub and Orlando for two weeks, before beginning international service on Oct. 1 between Newark and Rio de Janeiro.
Brazilian startup carrier Gol, patterned after U.S. carrier Southwest, will start to operate in Brazil next March. The brainchild of Nene Constantino, owner of one of the largest fleets of Airbus aircraft in Brazil, Gol will operate with no-frills and less space between seats but at fares 50% lower than those of major domestic airlines.
Xelus was selected by British Airways to conduct service parts forecasting and planning. The XelusPlan software will be used by 120 planners to manage more than 600,000 part numbers held by BA Engineering. The implementation phase will begin immediately at London Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Xelus is based in Rochester, N.Y.
Worldwide passenger charters flown swelled 10% last year, according to new IATA data, after falling 1% in 1998 and growing just 3% in 1997. Scheduled service for all airlines rose 6% in 1999, but charters by scheduled airlines grew 13%.
Tourism has now replaced fishing as the primary industry in Maldives, an archipelago of 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean. Tourism now contributes up to 20% of the country's Gross Domestic Product, 70% of total foreign exchange earnings and 40% of government revenues, according to the Pacific Asia Travel Association. The main gateway to the Maldives remains Male Airport, but plans are under way to develop the four regional airports, now used for domestic transfers.
United unveiled a new print advertisement yesterday discussing the airline's operational problems and announced that it reached a tentative labor agreement with its pilots. The full-page ad will run in national newspapers through the end of the week, and is the second ad this month (DAILY, Aug. 17). The ad opens with, "A first, but very important step in the right direction," referring to the tentative agreement with pilots.
Ulrich Ogiermann, senior VP-sales and marketing for Cargolux, told The DAILY that the airline is one of the three unnamed cargo airlines that have expressed an interest in launching the Airbus A3XX freighter. Cargolux may become a launch customer for the Airbus A3XX or Boeing 747X freighter aircraft. Internal studies are currently under way. Ogiermann said that commonality with the carrier's existing fleet would be a plus for the 747X freighter. Cargolux currently operates 10 747-400Fs and takes delivery of another two in 2001 and 2002.
Korean Air's commitment toward enhancing safety and operations took a step forward with the implementation of a US$6 million Onsight System at the airline's operation control center in Seoul. Manufactured by Jeppesen Sanderson, the flight watch system (FWS) was commissioned today. Installation and customization was completed in June, with successful testing carried out over July and August.
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR JUNE 26, 2000 Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Embraer American American Embraer Eagle Eagle ERJ135/ AE3007A1 Embraer American American Embraer Eagle Eagle ERJ135/
Upgrading air traffic control infrastructure continues to be the focus of the Air Transport Association's response to DOT's call to deal with delays, according to ATA Senior VP John Meenan. ATA is working to develop a "robust planning tool" to chart out a proposed course for critically needed improvements, he told The DAILY.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic First Quarter 2000 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) Change Alaska 290 3.72 1,189 344,936 7.29 Latin 290 3.72 1,189 344,936 7.29
Hawaiian Airlines plans to launch daily nonstop flights between San Diego and Honolulu, beginning June 15, 2001. No other carrier offers scheduled nonstop service between San Diego and Hawaii, and the new service will complement six other daily roundtrips Hawaiian flies between California and Hawaii -- four from Los Angeles and two from San Francisco. Hawaiian will use a DC-10-30 configured for two classes on the new route. "With its strong demographic and economic base, San Diego is the logical next step in our growth," said CEO Paul Casey.
BFGoodrich Aerospace was selected by Lufthansa to retrofit Boeing 747s with the Isolated Fuel Quantity Transmitter system and 737s with the Transient Suppression Device, designed to minimize the level of energy entering an aircraft fuel tank. The two systems address the requirements of two FAA airworthiness directives. They do not alter existing equipment, such as in-tank wiring and hardware or flight deck indicators, and, as a result, spares inventory remains the same, BFGoodrich said.
Ansett Australia and Air New Zealand Engineering Services selected GE Aircraft Engines' new Inventory Management program to manage their GE and CFMI aircraft engine parts used during overhaul. GE Inventory Management will assume responsibility for parts inventory at all levels, including the supply of new parts, the overhaul of components, paperwork, storage, transportation and packing.
The German government said it sees a need for expansion at key airports in the country. Presenting the government's airport concept, Transport Minister Reinhard Klimmt specifically mentioned the airports in Frankfurt, Munich, Duesseldorf, Berlin and Cologne/Bonn. Klimmt said he expects air traffic in Germany to double by 2015. He stressed that the federal government supports plans to build a new airport near Berlin for about 20 million passengers annually.
Varig traffic for July jumped 15.8% to 2.5 billion revenue passenger kilometers after rising 16.2% in June. Traffic is up 5.9% so far this year and freight volume 16.7%, including 7.4% in July. Passenger load factor was 81.3% internationally and 75.9% on domestic routes. Varig carried more than 1 million passengers last month, up 15.8% from 1999.
