National Transportation Safety Board hearing on the American MD-80 accident which opens tomorrow in Little Rock, Ark., is expected to take an "in-depth" look at several aviation safety issues, including flight crew duty time, approach and landing during severe weather and the interaction between flight crewmembers, between flight crew and ground, and airline operating procedures, senior FAA officials said yesterday. The crash last June 1 killed 11 of the 145 aboard when the aircraft went off the end of the runway.
Hong Kong's future as an air cargo hub hinges on becoming the airport of choice for the mainland's business, failing which, it risks losing out to Shanghai. David Dodwell, a consultant for the Board of Airline Representatives (BAR), an umbrella group for carriers operating to Hong Kong, said whether or not Hong Kong International Airport remains the leading air cargo hub in the region, depends on whether it captures that position for mainland China's market.
Air Bosna, national carrier of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has ordered two Airbus A319s and placed options for two more. The firm orders are to be delivered in 2003.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall said the board and the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority have agreed to a plan of further study of the EgyptAir Flight 990 crash. Hall said both agencies believe that operational aircraft system issues remain for consideration. Plans were drawn up for further work in the correlation of voice and data recorders and for flight simulation at Boeing facilities in Seattle, Hall said.
Continental plans to begin double daily service between Sacramento and its Houston hub, beginning May 2. The carrier will use Boeing 737-500 equipment on the route.
U.S. aviation negotiators met in Washington with representatives from Hong Kong last week, when the two sides agreed to launch open-skies talks in Hong Kong during mid-April. Hong Kong is interested in discussing both passenger and cargo liberalization, according to a U.S. aviation official, particularly with an eye to expanding cargo at Hong Kong International Airport. U.S. holds open-skies talks with Colombia in Cali starting today through Jan. 27 and with the U.K in London Jan. 27-28, with negotiators' schedules cleared for the weekend. Following London, the U.S.
Delta is awarding double miles to SkyMiles member who take qualifying Delta Shuttle flights between New York LaGuardia, Boston Logan or Washington National airports through March 31. SkyMiles member who book through Delta's web site at www.delta-air.com will receive an additional 1,000 bonus miles for each roundtrip ticket taken by March 31 or 500 bonus miles for one-way travel.
Helicopter Association International named Daniel Tyler, senior pilot with NRMA Careflight, recipient of the 1999 Pilot of the Year Award; Daniel Hawkins, president of Hawkins&Powers Aviation, the recipient of the 1999 Robert E. Trimble Award, and Charles Johnson, president of Era Aviation, the recipient of the 1999 Lawrence D. Bell Memorial Award.
Virgin Express named Laurent Jossart chief financial officer, Neil Burrows director-flight operations; Hugo Lucke director-customer services; Ignace Bral legal counsel, and Yves Panneels manager-communications and public relations.
Triple J Leasing filed a complaint with ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris, charging Air Kazakstan with breach of contract. The legal action by the Washington-based leasing firm calls for damages resulting from the lease and termination of one of the two Boeing 737-200s the carrier operates.
DOT denied requests by the City of Fort Worth and American to stay the department's decision on interpretation of statutes allowing Legend Airlines to offer long-haul service from Dallas Love Field pending a federal appeals court decision. DOT's decision "didn't come as a surprise," Dee Kelly, attorney for Fort Worth and American, said. "We move forward from here." The interpretation of the federal legislation applies similarly to Ozark Airlines, which planned service from Love Field to Columbia, Mo.
American named James Beer VP-corporate development and treasurer; Jeff Campbell VP-Europe; Thomas Horton senior VP-finance and chief financial officer and Henry Joyner senior VP-planning.
American Trans Air requested comprehensive DOT authority for U.S.-Canada scheduled service. ATA has not announced specific service plans, according to Stan Hula, VP-planning, but wants the flexibility to operate scheduled service in the market. The carrier operates charter service to Canada. ATA, the largest national U.S. carrier, "anticipates it will shortly be reclassified as a major carrier," and also is the largest U.S. charter airline. (Docket OST-00-6808)
U.S. and Argentinean officials continue their dialogue on the U.S.-Argentina open-skies agreement, agreed to in August and signed in December, according a U.S. official. The new bilateral, cast into uncertainty over Aerolineas Argentinas' financial woes, is being reviewed "as a matter of course" by the new Argentine government, he said.
The U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels, in a statement Friday, said The DAILY's Jan. 20 report on the hushkit dispute is "incorrect and may reflect a misunderstanding of what was said at the press conference in Brussels. The U.S. government decision to proceed with the complaint in ICAO was taken after a full consultation among all interested agencies of the U.S. government. The U.S.
Software difficulties in the WAAS master station prompted FAA Tech Center officials to shut the air traffic system down two weeks into a planned 60-day test. Sources said the difficulty lies with the algorithms used in the master station, which sends information to geostationary satellites to correct ionosphere errors. "The bottom line is that FAA is trying to push this system as an operational system and that is just not so," an industry source said.
Evergreen International Aviation named Joseph O'Gorman president and chief executive officer and Timothy Wahlberg chairman, succeeding Del Smith, founder and owner.
