China Airlines President Sandy Liu, working aggressively to boost the airline's safety and maintenance program, sees several signs that the worst effects of the region's economic crisis have "dissipated." Speaking to the International Aviation Club of Washington yesterday, Liu said the economic growth rate of East Asia decreased sharply in 1998 but started to show "bright signs" at the beginning of 1999. "In general, East Asian economies are moving toward a recovery," he said.
The Belgian government confirmed that it would not ban night flights at Brussels National Airport. Last month, Transport Minister and Green Party member Isabelle Durant unveiled plans to outlaw night traffic, starting in summer 2003. Her decision was overruled by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who said his administration would come up with a wide-ranging plan. The Belgian government announced last week that it was aiming at a 30% reduction in noise problems around Brussels airport by 2010.
Deutsche BA has named Peter Kranich chief operating officer, filling a post that had been vacant since former COO Adrian Hunt was promoted to chief executive. Kranich, formerly the technical director at Deutsche BA, previously worked for German Cargo and Lufthansa CityLine as head of maintenance.
Japan Airlines and subsidiary Japan TransOcean Air (JTA) launched a trial program yesterday using streaming video technology for online advertising and promotional videos on their respective web sites. SeeItFirst.com signed a agreement last year with the JAL Group's information unit, JAL Information Technology Co. Under the deal, JIT recommended SeeItFirst.com's patented technology to JAL and JTA for a trial program to enhance the web sites.
Air France will spend "more than one billion francs" (US$150 million) over the next five years to improve its service, benefiting some 10 million passengers, the French airline said yesterday in Paris. All long-haul aircraft will be "progressively" equipped with personal videos in all classes, for an estimated FRF480 million ($73 million). All long-haul services to and from Paris Charles de Gaulle will have screens displaying connecting flights, an investment of FRF10.3 million.
Air China wants authority to display Northwest's designator code on flights between Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Northwest holds authority to serve the points. DOT approval would enable Air China to permit Northwest to "sell through transportation" between points in the U.S. and the three China points by "code sharing on flights operated by Air China between these three Chinese gateways." (Docket OST-00-6909)
Canadian and Air Canada applied at DOT for reciprocal code sharing on flights between the U.S. and Canada. The request, necessitated by the acquisition of Canadian by Air Canada, includes the carriers' commuter affiliates -- Air Canada's Air Nova, AB Limited and Air Ontario and Canadian's Canadian Regional Airlines. Some of the flights also would be under code share with American. The Air Canada-Canadian code-share arrangement "plays an integral role in the acquisition of Canadian approved by...
Malaysia Airlines and Garuda have signed a code-share agreement for 58 flights a week between Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan and Denpasar and between Penang and Medan. The agreement takes effect today. Garuda will resume its Kuala Lumpur-Medan service on April 1 after suspending it for 28 months.
AirTran should show earnings growth of 19% in 2001, predicted SunTrust Equitable Securities analyst Jim Parker. He also said that AirTran will restructure its $230 million debt, due in April 2001, this year, creating a $7.2 million annual increase in interest expense that will be somewhat offset by cost savings from its Boeing 717 aircraft. Parker said AirTran, "like the phoenix...has risen from the ashes" to become a "substantially profitable and growing airline" with estimated $31 million earnings in 1999.
Walter Henry Hagan, 77, special services consultant for American Airlines, died Feb. 13 at his home in Dallas. Hagan retired from the airline as its Dallas/Fort Worth manager of special services in 1995.
Air Canada will begin daily nonstop service between Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and Toronto June 5 with Airbus A319 aircraft. With the introduction of this new service, Air Canada said it will become the first carrier offering scheduled international service from Austin, and the only airline linking Austin and Canada.
American Eagle plans on launching nonstop regional jet service from Baton Rouge, La., to its Chicago O'Hare hub on April 24. American Eagle will offer two daily round-trip flights with 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 and 37-seat ERJ-135 regional jets. The regional carrier also plans to upgrade some its equipment on its service between Lubbock and Dallas/Fort Worth to ERJ-145s from turboprops on April 2. American Eagle will replace the turboprops on five of the 11 daily flights the airline operates between Lubbock and DFW.
Delta will boost its international feed from the Northeast by launching nonstop Hartford-New York Kennedy service with Boeing 767-300ER equipment, starting June 1. Delta's new service will connect at JFK with international departures.
British Airways remains "interested" in purchasing the Airbus A3XX but does not want to be considered a launch customer. Carl Michel, BA's commercial director, told The DAILY yesterday the airline will maintain a wait-and-see approach. But "if the price is right, and the economics make sense, count us in," he said. The super-jumbo project, however, appears "more political than rational," he added.
Trans States Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, authorized their union to strike if contract talks do not result in an agreement. Negotiations with management began in June 1998 and are continuing at a "disappointing rate," said ALPA President Duane Woerth, ALPA president. Trans States is a regional carrier with code share ties to several U.S. carriers, including TWA, United and Delta.
Triumph Air Repair, a Triumph Group company based in Phoenix, was named the exclusive factory service center for the Honeywell GTCP660 Series APU, installed in Boeing 747-100, -200 an -300 aircraft. Triumph Air Repair will be responsible for the full repair support role for the 660 program, previously handled by AlliedSignal, now Honeywell. Commenting on the transfer of the program to an outside source, Ulf Henriksson, Honeywell's VP-commercial APU program, said, "The service provided to our customers will essentially be seamless.
Ozark Air Lines President John Ellis said the carrier was awarded its Part 121 operating certificate by FAA following a "long and difficult process," which brought it "from a blank piece of paper to full certification." Ozark plans to open its reservations office tomorrow and begin offering scheduled service from Columbia, Mo., to Chicago Midway on Feb. 21. Flights will follow to Dallas/Fort Worth.
GE Aircraft Engines has another, less expensive option for customer of the CF6-80C2 to comply with a recent FAA airworthiness directive. FAA estimated the fix, involving two models of fan mid-shafts, to cost $90,085 per engine. But GE, noting that FAA's estimate is based on replacement of shafts by new parts, is giving customers an option that also provides one-third more part life -- to 20,000 cycles versus 15,000 currently.
Airbus and Fokker Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Third Quarter 1999 A320-100/200 America West Northwest United Total Number of Aircraft Operated 33 70 53 156 Total Fleet Operations Departures 140 294 175 608
Olympic Airways yesterday cut over to a new revenue accounting system designed and implemented by Mercator, the Dubai-based provider of aviation computer systems and the technology subsidiary of the Emirates Group. The system, branded "Rapid by Mercator," and Socrates by Olympic, provides the airline "with an integrated package of passenger and cargo revenue accounting, and will enable the airline to maximize profits." The contract with Mercator was signed last year, and Olympic is the largest passenger carrier on Mercator's client list.
Sun Country Airlines asked DOT for scheduled U.S.-Mexico authority, with plans to begin scheduled seasonal and year-round nonstops May 22, using Boeing 727-200 aircraft. The carrier, which operates charter services in the markets, "seeks only to convert the character" of its services. It plans to offer twice-weekly flights in transborder markets lacking scheduled nonstop service by a U.S. carrier, including Dallas/Fort Worth-Cozumel, DFW-Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, San Antonio-Cancun, San Antonio-Cozumel, Austin-Cancun and Austin-Cozumel.
Airbus and Fokker Aircraft Operating Costs Third Quarter 1999 Dollars Per Block Hour A320-100/200 America West Northwest United Average Crew Cost $614 $614 $879 $656 Fuel&Oil 606 454 639 553
U.S. airlines found 23 Douglas twinjets with horizontal stabilizer jackscrew problems by FAA's deadline yesterday for inspecting the 1,100 aircraft in the fleet, FAA said. FAA ordered the inspections following evidence that the jackscrew may have contributed to the crash of an Alaska Airlines MD-83 Jan. 30 off the coast of California. The findings ranged from "gritty grease," which is a function of normal wear-and-tear, to metal slivers, which are shavings off the gimbal nut, FAA said.
Aloha Airlines launched its first service to the mainland U.S. yesterday with an inaugural flight departing Oakland Airport for Honolulu with Boeing 737-700 equipment. Aloha's new service will include one daily roundtrip flight between Honolulu and Oakland and another, starting Feb. 28, between Kahului, on the island of Maui, and Oakland.
As the House Transportation subcommittee prepares to hold a hearing today on the breakdown in U.S.-U.K. aviation negotiations, the U.S. yesterday turned down an offer by the U.K. to settle one of the points of contention. In a call to U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair last week, President Clinton urged Blair to resolve the matter of Pittsburgh-London service and also pressed for greater access to London Heathrow for U.S. carriers. Blair's written offer, made Friday, was "rebuffed" yesterday, according to a British official, who said U.S.
