FAA has brought Pacific oceanic airspace under its Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) for aircraft that meet stringent altimeter and autopilot performance requirements. Previously, RVSM applied only in the North Atlantic. RVSM is the reduction of vertical separation of aircraft from 2,000 feet to 1,000 feet at flight levels between 29,000 feet and 41,000 feet. FAA said air traffic on Pacific routes between the U.S. has increased steadily and is projected to continue growing.
Aviation groups, in a rare move, banded together this week to rally behind AIR-21, the beleaguered FAA reauthorization bill, due to its provisions calling for multi-year funding of the agency, the full use of trust fund revenues and reinstatement of general funds for such FAA functions as safety and security. Rep. Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), chairman of the aviation subcommittee, pressed the groups to urge their members to contact senators not on the aviation subcommittees in an attempt to break the deadlock between House and Senate conferees on the reauthorization bill.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines will introduce Canadair Regional Jet service May 1 from its Dallas/Fort Worth with roundtrip service to Columbia, S.C., and Lubbock, Texas. President Skip Barnette said the introduction of RJ service at DFW "marks the beginning of an increased Delta Connection presence" in the market.
DOT Secretary Rodney Slater yesterday said there had been "some thawing" in negotiations to try to work out a compromise FAA reauthorization, but he conceded that that the question of long-term funding for aviation investment still is unsettled. In an interview with The DAILY following his testimony at a hearing on the FAA budget request, Slater detailed the meetings he has had with the leading negotiators but added, "They haven't figured out exactly how they're going to do it" (long-term financing for the FAA).
FAA yesterday ordered operators of General Electric CF6-80C2 engines to replace two models of fan mid-shafts before their established life limits at a cost of more than $90,000 per engine. FAA estimated that 1,796 engines are affected, 230 of them on aircraft of U.S. registry. Estimated cost of the fix is $90,085 per engine, or $161.8 million for the world fleet. The order was prompted by "recent component test data," the agency said.
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Third Quarter 1999 DC-10-10 American United Total Number of Aircraft Operated 7 12 19 Total Fleet Operations Departures 12 33 45
BAA, like the airlines, suffered from reduced traffic over the New Year's holiday. As expected, January's traffic at its seven U.K. airports increased by just 0.3%, "due to the lackluster traffic" over the New Year period. However, it noted that traffic in the last three weeks of January rebounded with growth of 4.8%. European scheduled traffic at Stansted alone added 63% in January, contributing to the airport's overall 12-month total of more than 9.5 million passengers. Overall Irish traffic grew 2.9% for the month group-wide, while domestic U.K.
With a Saturday midnight strike deadline looming, Midwest Express and its Air Line Pilots Association unit are continuing contract bargaining talks this week with the help of the National Mediation Board. Midwest Express spokeswoman Lisa Bailey said talks began Tuesday and will continue at least through Friday. "We're committed to talking until the strike deadline and beyond," she told The DAILY. Bailey declined comment on how much progress the two sides have made thus far.
LastMinuteTravel.com yesterday added five international airlines to its membership -- Air France, Air New Zealand, Korean Air, SAS and Icelandair. The company's web site consists of time-sensitive offers from airlines with last-minute ticket availability on specific routes. Users click on a link to the carrier's own web site and booking engine. LastMinuteTravel does not handle direct fulfillment. The site is free to the consumer, and the airline's only fee is the posting on the site.
Arkia Israeli Airlines has received its first Boeing 757-300, which it plans to use on international charter flights. The carrier is to take possession of a second within the next few weeks.
Northwest VP-Marketing Tim Griffin will host a news conference this morning to announce a new initiative in the carrier's "mainline passenger marketing."A spokesman said the announcement will "change how people buy tickets."
AirTran's customer service, ramp and reservations agents rejected a bid by the Machinists to become their representative body. The National Mediation Board reported that the International Association Machinists received 437 votes of 1,584 eligible voters, less than 30%.
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 and MD-80 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Third Quarter 1999> DC-9-30 Continental Northwest TWA Number of Aircraft Operated 11 115 34 Total Fleet Operations Departures 50 541 164
Talus Solutions secured $25 million in funding to launch its revenue management suite that it hopes will make inroads in new industries. The suite is part of an initiative by Talus to "expand beyond the company's highly successful travel and transportation markets." Talus received much of its financing from General Atlantic Partners and Goldman Sachs. The revenue management suite comprises three pricing and revenue management software packages, including pricing, promotion pricing and target pricing.
Top executives of CFM International this week said they believe the engine joint venture is in good shape to meet more stringent Stage 4 noise and emission rules on aircraft turbofans. But just in case, the world's best-selling aircraft engine company, a joint venture between General Electric and Snecma, has set up an ambitious schedule of tests this year called Tech56 to prove new technology for its CFM series. President Gerard Laviec said CFMI captured 50% of the market last year for aircraft with 100 seats or more.
U.S. and Burkina Faso initialed an open-skies agreement in Ouagadougou yesterday following two days of talks, which built on earlier negotiations in Washington in December 1998. The pact -- the U.S.'s 43rd -- was initialed by Thomas White, acting U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for transportation affairs, and Alain Yoda, Burkina Faso's minister of transportation. The full open-skies accord is the first for the U.S. with a West African nation, and its third in Africa, following Tanzania last November and Namibia last week. White said the U.S.
EasyJet plans on asking the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority to regulate London Luton Airport's fee structure after talks between the airport and the carrier collapsed yesterday. The two parties have been in negotiations for more than two years, since the airport began building a new terminal. EasyJet, which maintains its base operation at Luton, complained that the three other major London airports have agreed to adhere to a pricing formula approved by the CAA, but Luton remains a monopoly.
Aer Lingus Chief Executive Garry Cullen unexpectedly resigned yesterday after 35 years with the airline, noting "personal reasons" for his departure. "Now that the airline privatization is clearly set to proceed, I have given full consideration to the position of chief executive during the IPO process and in its aftermath...it is a role that I do not wish for myself," he said in a statement. Larry Stanley, the airline's deputy chief executive, will become acting CEO until a permanent appointment is made.
Air Canada and its regionals and Canadian Airlines will add 30 new routes and 11 destinations to their route network this summer as Air Canada moves toward integrating Canadian and its regionals. The consolidation and expansion will enable both carriers to grow capacity using larger-gauge aircraft, maximizing aircraft utilization and modernizing their fleets. Canadian will reduce its operating costs by retiring its eight DC-10s and replacing them with four newer Boeing 767-300 widebodies.
A technical review committee, including the FAA, prime contractor Raytheon, the contractor team and Defense Department officials, is meeting for three days this week to work out problems created by too many false alarms in the Wide Area Augmentation System for GPS, an FAA spokeswoman said. The false alarms led to halting the tests, the spokeswoman added.
Virgin Atlantic has invested $3.2 million in its first arrivals lounge at London Heathrow Airport. The lounge is part of Virgin's planned upgraded Upper Class service, including showers and breakfast service. The lounge features free telephone, fax, Internet and e-mail access.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is considering a massive restructuring of its airline industry. The government organization is exploring the merger of the 27 existing carriers into three giant groups, according to a senior CAAC official. He said the consolidation was necessary to confront foreign competition after China's pending entry into the World Trade Organization. The official said the groups would be built around Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, known collectively as the Big Three.
European business-class fares remained relatively stable in the fourth quarter of 1999, rising less than 1% on average compared with 1998's last quarter, according to American Express European Corporate Travel Index (ECTI). But long-haul flights in business class become increasingly expensive, and differences between airports remain huge.
Continental Airlines and its flight attendants, represented by the Machinists union, reached a tentative contract agreement yesterday with the help of National Mediation Board mediator Patricia Sims. The deal would run for 54 months and would make improvements in retirement, work rules, vacation and pay. It also offers an industry-leading domestic-partner package and extends companion travel to all flight attendants. The tentative offer will go to the 8,500 rank-and-file for ratification.
