China Airlines introduced electronic tickets on its Hawaiian route. The airline currently offers e-tickets on its service from its Taipei hub to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Bangkok.
A new national poll finds voters more concerned about research that could improve the efficiency and safety of the nation's commercial airways than NASA's dwindling aeronautics research budget would indicate.
SAS has finalized an order for CFM56 engines to power six firm and four option Airbus A340-300 aircraft. The order was announced last December, and SAS will take delivery of the first six A340s between July 2001 and mid-2003.
The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents cabin crew at United, is furious at United management's decision to appeal the recent court ruling that found the company's restriction on weight discriminated against female employees. United said Friday it would appeal the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (DAILY, June 26).
Expedia reached a deal this week to receive private investments of $50 million from Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), a venture capital firm, and $10 million from Microsoft. Microsoft spun off its Expedia unit in an initial public offering last November.
Southwest has chosen Orbix 2000 for continued development of its Internet reservations system. Orbix 2000 will enable Southwest to integrate ticketing systems, customer databases and other customer support applications to make its site easier to use.
Uzbekistan Airways will voluntarily withdraw from its participation in the Airlines Reporting Corp. upon completion of the sales processing for the week ending July 9. The airline will continue operations from New York Kennedy, however. All ticket sales will be handled directly by the carrier after its ARC withdrawal.
U.S. aviation must learn that it cannot dominate opinions and policies on aircraft environmental standards "or any other element of air transport policy," contends Mike Ambrose, director general of the European Regions Airline Association.Ambrose noted that U.S. administrators have had "little real exposure to the environmental pressures" that operators elsewhere in the world must work under.
Delta is in midst of negotiations to secure equity positions in 14 emerging Internet companies and is preparing to launch new Internet products by yearend, according to Chief Marketing Officer Fred Reid. He also claimed that Delta is the "leader" in the development of "industry consortia," such as Orbitz and the new B2B aerospace exchange. Reid told The DAILY this week that the carrier expects to reach $1 billion in revenue from its online ventures alone by yearend 2001. The carrier already has enjoyed large revenue benefits from its holdings in Internet companies.
German regional carrier Eurowings is disappointed with the development of its alliance with Alitalia. The German carrier, the 10th largest regional worldwide, began cooperating with Alitalia two years ago but now said it may have to cut back on its feeder services because of lower-than-expected load factors and losses on the routes from Germany to Rome and Milan Malpensa. Eurowings CEO Friedrich-Wilhelm Weitholz told The DAILY that with Alitalia's Malpensa hub not working, Eurowings may pull out of Hanover-Milan in the fall.
Used Jet Aircraft Deliveries For December 1999 Previous Carrier # Type Engine Operator Aeroparts 1 747-200B JT9D-7A Air Atlanta Air Alfa 2 A300B4-600R PW4158 AWAS Air Gulf Falcon 1 707-320C JT3D-7 Santa Cruz Imperial
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) yesterday warned the U.S. airline industry that if it doesn't improve its voluntary customer service initiatives by yearend, he will move forward with enforceable passenger fairness legislation. DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead gave the airlines a mixed assessment for the first six months of their voluntary plans. Airlines can improve performance in disclosing lowest fares, refund availability and required check-in times to passengers.
Air Macau has dismissed the possibility of shutting down in the wake of strong indications that direct flights between Taiwan and China will start soon. The possibility has surfaced as 70% of the 1.4 million passengers that Air Macau carried last year were from Taiwan. Air Macau operates 67 flights a week to Taiwan -- 51 to Taipei and 16 to Kaohsiung. AMC's deputy CEO and Commercial Director Zhou Yunda said direct flights do not worry the airline.
FAA plans to negotiate a sole source bridge contract with MCI WorldCom for continuation of Leased Interfacility NAS Communication System (LINCS) services. The current LINCS contact expires in March 2002. The contract provides telecommunications services for all critical FAA operational communications.
SAirGroup Chairman and CEO Philip Bruggisser is trying to avoid a strike at its French subsidiaries AOM, Air Littoral and Air Liberte that are supposed to be merged into a single airline. Bruggisser met with more than 70 representatives of French trade unions yesterday. The unions have announced strikes for Friday and Saturday at all three carriers.
Priceline.com finalized a deal with General Atlantic Partners yesterday to form a Priceline.com Europe company that is expected to bring about an aggressive global expansion of Priceline's patented "name-your-price" concept. Initially announced in February by company officials, Priceline.com Europe will launch its services in the fourth quarter, offering leisure airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars and long-distance telephone calling (DAILY, Feb. 29). Specific product roll-out timetables will be announced in the future.
King Juan Carlos of Spain, meeting yesterday with the new Argentinean ambassador Ricardo Lafferiere in Madrid, was optimistic about reaching agreement to save Aerolineas Argentinas from bankruptcy, sources said. The King assured that the Spanish state, as majority shareholder of Aerolineas, would do everything within its power to resolve the crisis. Argentina's secretary of infrastructure, Nicolas Gallo, yesterday phoned Madrid to promise SEPI Chairman Pedro Ferreras that Argentina is ready to support SEPI's business rescue plan.
FedEx yesterday reported that fiscal fourth quarter revenue was up 11% to $4.9 billion while operating income increased 9% to $426 million and net income by 11% to $245 million. For the full fiscal year, FedEx said revenue was up 9% to $18.3 billion, operating income was up 5% to $1.2 billion and net income was up 9% to $688 million. Chairman Frederick Smith said the FedEx global express network is "delivery very strong growth, particularly in Asia." Revenue from priority service grew by 21% in the quarter and 18% in the full year.
Bombardier Aerospace workers who are members of the Canadian Auto Workers this week ratified an agreement on a three-year contract that was reached over the weekend. The 3,800 organized workers at the Toronto-Downsview site returned to jobs during normal shift hours as of midnight. The new pact included higher pay, better benefits and pensions and more flexibility in work assignments.
SkyTeam alliance has chosen Worldspan's Alliance Display to provide additional information about all members' flights options to travel agents. Alliance Display enables Worldspan subscribers to view all flights and routes operated by participating alliance member airlines.
EasyJet introduced an online same-day booking feature on its web site yesterday, enabling customers to book seats up to two hours before departure. Previously, same-day bookings were available only through the EasyJet telephone reservations center.
Like regional carriers in the U.S., Europe's regional airlines are struggling to fill pilot positions, even reducing minimum entry requirements which in turn means more time in training, said European Regions Airline Association Regional Report Editor Gideon Ewers. Robert Somers, VP-Crossair Training Center, said the airline will need at least 40 new pilots this year to keep pace with growth, Ewers reported recently. The shortage is being fueled by many of the same factors that have caused U.S.
Nav Canada yesterday commissioned its new Toronto air traffic control tower, which it said is "equipped with the most advanced electronic systems of any air traffic control tower in the world."
