FAA yesterday issued an emergency order for MD-11 operators concerning inspections to verify correct wire terminations of certain circuit breakers in the cockpit overhead switch panel. The order supersedes an earlier airworthiness directive to include additional airplanes and removes a reporting requirement. The agency said that since it issued the first order, "the airplane manufacturer has informed the FAA that it inadvertently omitted manufacturer's fuselage Nos.
Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airlines signed a code-share agreement yesterday covering their respective flights between Hong Kong and Malaysia. The agreement includes the two airlines' routes between Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, and between Hong Kong and Penang. The code-share pact will begin Sept. 2, subject to final government approval. Cathay Pacific will put its designator code on the nine MAS flights each week between Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, including two that stop over in Penang.
South African Airways wants action by today on an emergency request, filed Monday, to add Lagos, Nigeria, as an intermediate point on its U.S.-South Africa routing. The carrier wants to operate a promotional flight Aug. 15 via Lagos as part of its regular Johannesburg-New York service. A second such flight "may operate on or about August 22, 2000, in conjunction with the visit of President Clinton to Nigeria" with up to three additional flights in September and October.
In a sweeping order that will affect airlines worldwide, FAA yesterday ordered airlines to check the oxygen masks on more than 2,200 Boeing 737, 757, 767 and 777 aircraft in the U.S. fleet, an order that is likely to be extended by other airworthiness authorities to the 4,547 such aircraft in the worldwide fleet. The cost of the inspections and replacing the mask lanyards will run into millions of dollars.
TRAFFIC DATA FOR JULY 2000 RPMs Change ASMs Change In From In From Load Airline Millions 7/99 Millions 7/99 Factor American Trans Air 1,300.0 +6.6% 1,600.0 +6.2% n/a Frontier 247.3 +19.8% 353.9 +16.2% 69.9% Mesa 141.6 +12.5% 246.8 +7.2% 57.4%
China Southern Airlines signed a code-share agreement with Asiana Airlines yesterday covering the airlines' Guilin, China-Seoul, Korea, service. The new pact comes on the heels of last week's code-share signing between China Southern and Vietnam Airlines and is the third international code-share pact for China's largest airline. China Southern also has a code-share agreement with Delta.
American Trans Air yesterday reached tentative agreement with the Transport Workers Union on an initial collective bargaining agreement covering the airline's 26 flight dispatch employees. No details of the 48-month agreement, which is pending ratification, were released by the company.
U.S. National Carriers Productivity In Revenues And Expenses Per Employee First Quarter 2000 Total Total Operating Operating Revenues Expenses Total (000) (000) Employees AirTran Airlines 132,408 120,570 3,882 Aloha 64,956 69,486 2,477
Singapore Airlines completed the purchase of 16.7% of Air New Zealand yesterday in the form of "B" ordinary shares for NZ$285 million from Brierley Investments Ltd. Together with the April purchase of 8.3% of the share capital of ANZ in the form of "B" shares, SIA raised its total stake in ANZ to 25%. Under the current guidelines for foreign ownership, 25% is the limit that a single foreign airline can hold in ANZ. As a result of ANZ's 100% ownership of Ansett Holdings, SIA now has a strategic stake in the Australian carrier as well.
Delta signed a letter of understanding with El Al last week stating that the two carriers intend to explore the development of an "enhanced marketing relationship." Meetings will be held over the coming months, but there is no established deadline for the signing of definitive agreement, which would require government approval. El Al officials hope to start code sharing with Delta in the first half of 2001 on Delta's domestic flights that feed its New York Kennedy service. Delta would put its code on El Al's service from JFK to Tel Aviv.
United Parcel Service is now planning to expand its role in the air cargo and parcel market in Colombia through Challenge Air Cargo, a company it acquired last year. Up until now, UPS had been represented by an authorized subcontractor, T.G. Express, but Challenge now will operate directly and enlarge the present roster of 400 customers and the volume of some 3.2 million parcels a year to and from Colombia.
Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings yesterday reached agreement with Bombardier to acquire up to 30 more 50-passenger Canadair Regional Jets for delivery between early 2002 and the end of 2003. ACAI, with its subsidiaries Atlantic Coast Airlines and Atlantic Coast Jet, now operates 30 CRJs and had previously announced firm orders for 36 more. Yesterday's announcement increases the total in service and on order to 96. Atlantic Coast said it obtained additional options as part of the new agreement for future delivery positions through 2007.
The European Commission authorized the creation of B2B marketplace MyAircraft.com yesterday in Brussels. MyAircraft.com, whose creation was announced by United Technologies Corp. and Honeywell International in February, is "the first B2B e-commerce marketplace to be approved by the commission," the European competition watchdog said Monday.
TWA will operate seasonal daily nonstop New York-St. Maarten service from Dec. 20 through April 30 using MD-83 aircraft. TWA opened a sales and ticket office in St. Maarten. In addition, TWA is code sharing with Gulfstream International Airlines from St. Maarten and San Juan, with connections to six cities in the U.S., plus Santo Domingo and Aruba.
With its new South American hub in Lima starting last month, Grupo TACA continues to set passenger traffic and revenue records. Traffic is up 5% year over year, and seasonal traffic already has increased by 9% from 1999. Capacity remains constant with a systemwide load factor of 70%, 4 percentage points over 1999 and peaking at 82% in mid-summer. Year-to-date revenue has increased 11%. TACA management is elated with the record passenger and load factors and also is satisfied with revenue and yield trends.
Emery Worldwide pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, said contract talks are "reaching a critical and perhaps final phase" in Aug. 8-11 negotiations under National Mediation Board Member Magdalena Jacobsen. The union has asked the NMB to issue a proffer of arbitration, which, if rejected, could trigger a 30-day cooling-off period. Job security and the extent of outsourcing flying are among the outstanding issues, according to ALPA.
In order to avoid a strike called for today, financially troubled VASP on Friday paid its staff back salaries for July. However, union Chairman Grazziella Baggio said pilots and flight attendants might still stop work as of midnight tonight because "salaries are but one of our grievances against the company." Baggio appealed to Chairman Wagner Canhedo to "uphold workers' rights that have not been respected by management" while trying to restructure the company financially.
UPS is the "likely winner of new air routes to China," according to The Kiplinger Letter July 21 issue.UPS, vying with others for the 10 available U.S.-China frequencies, will win approval due to the growth in cargo, while passenger flights "are coming and going with empty seats." The same issue of the Kiplinger Letter failed to predict either Richard Cheney or Joseph Lieberman as possible vice president choices.
After heavy losses in the last full financial year, British Airways seems to be showing the first signs of a slow improvement. The carrier posted a $75 million first quarter loss with the operating profit at $145.5 million. The sale of BA's French subsidiary to Taitbout Antibes resulted in a $84 million loss, the biggest contributing factor to the net loss of 5.5 pence per share. Taitbout Antibes paid $45 million for the airline.
EVA Airways raised its forecast for pretax profits for the year by 33.2%, from NT$1.51 billion (US$48.6 million) to NT$2 billion (US$65 million). Unaudited operating revenue is "exceeding" the airline's initial expectations for 2000, and has been revised from the NT$52.1 billion ($1.68 billion) forecast in April to NT$52.7 billion ($1.7 billion) for the year. "The travel market in Asia made a strong recovery the first half of this year, the Asian economy has steadily expanded, and the air cargo market is very prosperous," said K.W.
U.S Major Carriers Productivity, In Revenues and Expenses Per Employe First Quarter 2000, In Dollars Total Total Operating Operating Revenues Expenses Total (000) (000) Employees Alaska 397,888 410,091 9,310 America West 549,921 538,067 12,430
Startup Air Caraibes, just formed with the merger of three airlines in the Caribbean, has ordered two Embraer ERJ-170s and three more for 2003 with several options.
United Parcel Service awarded a 10-year contract to Pratt&Whitney Engine Services to provide maintenance for the JT9D-7A engines that power its fleet of 12 Boeing 747-100 freighters. Pratt valued the contract at $410 million.
TRAFFIC DATA FOR JULY 2000 RPMs Change ASMs Change In From In From Load Airline Millions 7/99 Millions 7/99 Factor America West 1.77 +12.1% 2.29 +5.7% 77.3% Delta 11.02 +5.5% 13.51 +1.7% 81.5% Northwest 7.78 +6.3% 9.53 +4.1% 81.6%
