US Airways was expected to have called an emergency board meeting last night, several sources tell The DAILY, though the airline issued a "strict no comment" when asked about what was happening.
The Frontiers of Flight Museum at Dallas Love Field will have a new home thanks in part to a $7.2 million grant from the Texas DOT. The museum features artifacts that include a propeller fragment from the Hindenburg air ship, a piece of cloth from the Wright Flyer and the first pilot's license ever issued. The museum will move from its current location in the Love Field terminal to a new 100,000-square-foot, three-story structure at the airport's southeast corner. Construction on the building will begin early next year.
American Eagle President Peter Bowler said 70-seat regional jets are about as big as the airline can expect to fly, noting he is "less optimistic" about the future of 90- to 100-seat RJs in the U.S. regional industry. Speaking to the Aero Club in Washington yesterday, Bowler said he did not expect American Eagle to push for bigger RJs, which might create conflict between pilots and management.
Although the House Appropriations Committee approved FAA's requested $144.3 million for aviation security in the fiscal 2001 budget, the panel described itself as "extremely disappointed" over long-standing management issues that continue to plague the program. The committee cited these examples:
LanChile successfully implemented its new passenger reservations, inventory and passenger management systems last week. The new systems comprise a combination of Amadeus reservations and Resiber inventory and passenger management systems developed by Amadeus International and Iberia, respectively. The systems have been fully installed in LanChile, Ladeco and LanPeru and will "facilitate the company's entrance into the oneworld alliance in the near term," LanChile said.
MarchFirst, Inc., the new Internet company created by the merger of Whittman-Hart and USWeb/CKS, signed one-year, multi-million dollar deal with American for site hosting and management for AA.com. MarchFirst's Integrated Application Services Group will host AA.com in two data centers with one in Sunnyvale, Calif., which opened April 2, and the second in Herndon, Va., to open this month.
Atlantic Coast Airlines will add regional jet service from Columbia Metropolitan Airport to United's hub at Chicago O'Hare on July 1. The three new daily flights will complement ACA's existing schedule of four flights per day to Washington Dulles. Service will be aboard 50-passenger Canadair Regional Jets.
US Airways plans to expand its growing Caribbean route network with additional nonstop flights from its Philadelphia and Charlotte hubs to St. Maarten, beginning Nov. 12. The airline's Philadelphia Saturday and Sunday-only service will become daily service, and US Airways' Saturday-only flight between Charlotte and St. Maarten will operate both Saturday and Sunday. All flights in these markets will be operated with Airbus A320 aircraft. US Airways filed with the DOT to serve four new Caribbean routes Nov.
British Airways yesterday revealed its worst financial result since its privatization 13 years ago. It finished the 1999-2000 year with a loss of 216 million pounds (US$323 million), down from a #15 million profit for the year ended March 31, 1999. However, last year's loss includes one-time gains of #249 million ($372 million) from the sale of BA's share in Galileo International and Equant. In the March quarter of this year, BA lost #306 million ($457 million). Operating profit for the fiscal year was #84 million ($126 million), down 81%.
Airbus has letters of intent for the A3XX from four more customers who "will remain undisclosed for a while," and "at least two more are in the pipe," CEO Noel Forgeard said yesterday in Toulouse. Airbus earlier announced that it had received letters of intent from Emirates and Singapore. John Leahy, senior VP-commercial, said the consortium is studying an A330-100 that would "compete directly against the 767-300."
National Mediation Board has sent ballots to Mesaba's ramp and customer service employees, who will vote on representation by the International Association of Machinists, which seeks to represent 971 employees in 17 states. Ballots will be counted June 21.
Less than a week after British Airways claimed to be the first airline in the world to successfully transmit "live human data" from a transatlantic flight to ground stations, Virgin Atlantic matched the effort yesterday, becoming the launch carrier for a new inflight health monitoring system. The Tempus 2000, developed by Hampshire-based Remote Diagnostic Technologies, can handle almost any inflight passenger medical incident.
Vanguard Airlines and BAX Global's Supply Chain Management division signed a deal this week to jointly implement an integrated supply chain management system for the airline. Under this agreement, BAX Global will take over warehouse operations at Vanguard's Kansas City Airport headquarters and provide Vanguard with management of its supply pipeline, the component repair cycle, warehouse management and calibrated tools management.
KLM and Alitalia quashed hopes of reviving their alliance with a joint announcement yesterday that they will "de-merge their integrated organizations in an orderly fashion." Joint services will stop Aug. 31.
Used Jet Aircraft Deliveries For December 1999 Previous Carrier # Type Engine Operator AAR 1 737-200 Adv JT8D-17A Varig AAR 2 747-100 JT9D-7A British Airways ACG 1 737-200 Adv JT8D-9A America West Aerolineas Argentinas 1 737-200 Adv JT8D-15A Pegasus Capital
DOT this week granted Midwest Express comprehensive U.S.-Canada rights for service between any points in the U.S. and any destinations in Canada. Midwest Express plans offer service from Boston to Halifax, Ottawa and Quebec, placing its code on American Eagle flights. (Docket OST-00-7287)
DOT's allocation of 30 Chicago O'Hare slots among six carriers gains five airlines -- Legend, Mesa, National, Spirit and Sun Country -- their first entry into O'Hare, while enabling America West to grow its service to Las Vegas. DOT, saying it sought to grant the carriers "sufficient access to O'Hare so that they could establish new competitive operations," granted six slots each to Mesa, Spirit and Sun Country, four to Legend, and fulfilled completely the requests by America West for three slots and by National for five.
Southwest has begun working with an outside vendor, Certified Airlines Passenger Service (CAPS), to secure and transport baggage from four Las Vegas hotels to McCarran Airport. Passengers may check their bags at a participating hotel anywhere from two to 12 hours before their flight departs. The service is available to Southwest passengers staying at Mandalay Bay, Imperial Palace, Sahara, and Bally's hotels but is planned to expand to other properties in the near future. Las Vegas is Southwest's largest O&D airport in terms of passengers per day.
Continental recently announced that as of June 1 all pets traveling on the airline will be accepted only as cargo and will be coordinated through the QUICKPAK Live Animal Program. Continental will no longer accept pets as checked baggage. Pets will be accepted as checked baggage for customers who purchased tickets before May 22 and are traveling on the return portion after June 1.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has warned Chinese carriers that they risk being barred from operating certain domestic routes if they do not consent to participate in the revenue-sharing policy implemented recently. CAAC has named 25 of the 34 carriers that will be included in the scheme. Together, they cover 100 key domestic routes. To date, only 20 have signed the CAAC documents acknowledging their approval, but they are far from content, while the other five have appealed to be exempted, citing losses on other routes.
Northwest and Hawaiian Airlines renewed and expanded their commercial cooperation agreement yesterday for five years. The two carriers in May 1996 formed a partnership that features code-share flights, reciprocal frequent flyer programs and seamless airport service. Northwest flight codes appear on Hawaiian's inter-island flight network between its hub at Honolulu and Hilo, Kahului, Kona, Lanai City, Lihue and Molokai.
Boeing has lowered the takeoff and landing weights of its basic 717-200 version, increasing operating economics -- and therefore customer appeal -- in the hotly contested 100-seat jet transport market. Boeing plans to unveil details later this week. The changes, referred to as the "Year 2000 Spec" by Boeing, lower the 717's maximum gross takeoff weight by 4,000 pounds to 110,000 lbs., while maximum landing weight declines by 2,000 lbs. to 100,000 lbs.
FAA awarded three companies grants totaling about $8.6 million to develop explosives detection systems that will be less expensive than current devices but have the same high detection and low false-alarm rates. These systems will be used to scan checked baggage at smaller air carrier stations that do not need the high baggage-processing rate of current systems. "Our current certified systems are built to handle peak passenger loads at busy airports, and they cost about $1 million apiece," said Cathal Flynn, FAA's associate administrator for civil aviation security.
Northwest Airlink Express Airlines I unveiled its first Canadair Regional Jet last week, named Spirit of Memphis Belle, and took possession of its second CRJ, both of which will go into service next month. The airline plans to operate at least 42 CRJs as part of its Northwest Airlink service, in addition to its Saab 340 fleet. President and CEO Philip Trenary told The DAILY that he expects passengers and revenues to triple over the next three years.
