Uzbekistan Airways was criticized for showing "pirated U.S. films in flights to the United States and elsewhere." An annual report on trade barriers by the U.S. Trade Representative said the airline's action "is emblematic of the government's disregard for intellectual property rights."
DOT Secretary Rodney Slater said yesterday that an ICAO audit of FAA has found that it meets safety oversight standards for international aviation. ICAO conducted the audit last June, a first for the U.N. agency, after FAA volunteered in September 1998 to be one of the first civil aviation authorities to be audited. ICAO concluded that FAA conforms to worldwide standards in such areas as aviation legislation and regulations, organization, personnel licensing and training, and aircraft operations and airworthiness.
A national airspace policy assuring general aviation access to backcountry airstrips is needed otherwise airspace would be "reduced to a patchwork of confusing and inconsistent regulations and aviation safety would be severely compromised," Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association President Phil Boyer told a hearing of two House subcommittees last week.
Southwest was the best domestic major carrier in 1999 in terms of quality standards, according to the national Airline Quality Rating (AQR) study, but overall airline quality continues to decline relative to customer performance criteria. The annual survey, conducted by the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute, ranks the top 10 U.S. majors against a variety of quality and consumer measures. Southwest recorded the third largest margin of improvement in AQR score among the 10 airlines.
American Trans Air parent Amtran Inc. will continue to be a strong competitive force among U.S. major airlines largely due to its strong revenue stream and cost advantage, according to Deutsche Banc Alex.
FAA ordered inspections of bolts on the elevator power control unit of Boeing 737-600, -700 and -800 series aircraft. The agency said the airworthiness directive is intended to detect and correct loose nuts on the bolts of the input crank arms of the elevator PCU. Loose nuts could "result in the loss of pivot bolts on the PCU and consequent loss of control of the airplane during takeoff and landing," the agency said. The AD is effective April 25.
Correction: FAA's request for fiscal 2000 supplemental funding of $77 million for operations (DAILY, April 5) was in addition to the $9.991 billion already appropriated for the FAA in FY 2000. The DAILY erroneously reported that FAA funding was $13.2 billion, which actually was the amount of the House-approved FY 2000 supplemental.
Washington Dulles, with 25.8% passenger growth in 1999, was the fastest-growing airport among the nation's top 30, according to Airports Council International. The average North American annual airport growth rate was 4%. Dulles will be the fastest-growing large U.S. hub during the next 15 years, FAA says.
Amsterdam Schiphol is reducing staff 7.3% as it strengthens its international competitive position. Cooperation with partners, including Frankfurt Airport, is a priority, according to one Amsterdam official, but the layoffs will not affect customer service.
Signature Regional Maintenance Centers named Robert Hohlowski director-technical services for the West Palm Beach Regional Maintenance Center and Nina Cox sales and marketing research manager, based on Orlando, Fla.
TRAFFIC DATA FOR FEBRUARY 2000 RPMs Change ASMs Change In From In From Load Airline Billions 3/99 Billions 3/99 Factor America West 1.64 +9.8% 2.31 +5.3% 71.1% Delta 10.00 +6.1% 13.05 +4.1% 76.6% Mesaba 0.15 +27.7% 0.25 +24.2% 60.3%
US Airways expects to report a $140 million increase in jet fuel expenses for the first quarter, Chief Financial Officer Tom Mutryn said in an employee publication. Jet fuel spot prices in New York ended last week at 0.87 per gallon, up 5% from the beginning of the week and up 91% year over year, according to Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. However, crude oil futures for May traded down 25% from a nine-year high of $34.13 on March 7.
American Helicopter Society elected Chuck Vehlow, VP and general manager-Army Programs/Military Rotorcraft at Boeing Helicopters, chairman and John Murphey, president of Bell Helicopter Textron, president.
SAS board will make a final decision next month about setting up SAS Cargo as a separate unit. Airline sources said the new unit almost definitely will be formed. SAS Cargo would become a wholly owned subsidiary and could be set up by yearend or in early 2001.
Pratt&Whitney's expansion of its aftermarket services business "is priority number one," said Karl Krapek, chief operating officer of United Technologies. Although P&W said publicly that it foresees aftermarket services growing to $2 billion by 2003, Krapek told The DAILY recently he has internal projections which double that number. "Today, we only do 8% of our [own engine] overhauls," he said. "We need to do more."
Promulgation of Stage 4 noise regulations is a major uncertainty facing the airline industry in the new few years, according to Morten Beyer&Agnew, which is sponsoring a conference on the issue and on the continued operation and values of existing jet aircraft. The conference is scheduled April 19 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Pentagon City in Arlington, Va. MBA said ICAO's Noise Scenarios Group plans to release next January its recommendations for actual Stage 4 levels.
All Nippon Airways will lease three Boeing 767-300ERs to start its new regional carrier in January. ANA President and Chief Executive Kichisaburo Nomura told The DAILY that the carrier initially will offer flights to major Chinese cities and that a decision on a launch date for Southeast Asian services would be made in March 2001. The carrier, which has not been named, is forecast to reduce ANA's overall operating costs.
Galileo International has completed acquisition of Toronto-based Terren Corp. Terms of the deal were not released. Founded in 1979, Terren develops client-server software for business databases, data communications and information management with a concentration in the North American leisure tour operator and wholesale market. Terren's packages enable tour operators and wholesalers to manage their business processes from beginning to end with assistance in financial services, accounting, travel and hospitality, retail operations and marketing services.
CFM International's Project Tech56 swept wide chord fan blade has successfully completed full-scale blade-out rig testing with "outstanding results." This is a three-year technology acquisition program to look at potential new and derivative engines and provide upgrades to CFM56 engines. CFM ran the rig with a full set of swept fan blades at speeds above the CFM56-7 redline. A blade-out test involved setting a charge on a blade and detonating the charge to determine how the engine, fan containment and other blades would react.
European Regions Airline Association is pushing hard to ensure the European Commission takes all modes of public transport into consideration when it formulates consumer protection laws. ERA, responding to the EC's proposed passenger rights document, said it fears airlines will bear the brunt of consumer legislation, and it wants generic consumer protection laws that do not target airlines. ERA also insisted that proposed initiatives undergo a cost/benefit analysis.
Brazilian airline Vasp paid the first installment of its total debt of 80 million real Friday after the country's airport authority threatened to ground its flights. According to Reuters, Vasp paid 1.1 million real (US$630,000) in overdue airport rental fees and charges on the last possible day before the authority was planning to take action against the carrier. It was at least the second time that Infraero came close to canceling Vasp's flights because of unpaid debt.
