Jet Aviation is now operating from its new base at Dallas Love Field, the former Jet East facility that Jet Aviation agreed to buy earlier this year. The transaction closed in October and the new Dallas base "will greatly enhance our global ability to provide world-class service to our growing customer base," said Thomas Hirschmann, chairman and chief executive of Jet Aviation.
Continental and KLM signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday to begin code sharing on flights beyond hubs on both continents and to share marketing initiatives. The cooperation is seen as "another step toward building a strategic global alliance" among Continental, KLM, Northwest and Alitalia, the airlines said. The pact includes frequent flyer cooperation and reciprocal lounge access. Continental and KLM will implement the MOU in the second quarter of 2000. "This was the first step," said a Continental spokesman.
U.S. and Australian representatives agreed to unrestricted bilateral cargo operations by all-cargo carriers of both countries during discussions this week in San Francisco. Talks on open skies for passenger services are planned for early next year.
DHL Airways plans to introduce a service that will permit shippers to determine in advance the additive charges imposed by foreign customs authorities. The service, to be provided through an alliance with Syntra Technologies, will be "particularly useful for companies involved in international e-commerce," DHL said. Currently, government-imposed duties, tariffs, taxes and other charges associated with international shipping cannot be quoted until a shipment has been delivered, it said.
Air Canada has purchased Canadian Airlines' authorities and licenses to operate scheduled service between Toronto and Tokyo Narita. The sale is still subject to regulatory approvals in Canada and Japan. Canadian said it will receive an immediate cash payment from Air Canada and will operate the route for at least the next 90 days. The sale gives Canadian extra cash in the event that the Air Canada takeover bid is delayed. Canadian has operated the Toronto-Tokyo route with service through Vancouver.
The European Commission is fining KLM 40,000 euros for supplying "incorrect or misleading information in competition procedures," the European Union's competition watchdog said Dec. 14 in Brussels. The commission also imposed fines on three other companies for similar reasons. "Firms which fail to comply with their legal obligations, deliberately or not, should not expect to escape sanction in the future," said EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti.
American Chief Executive Don Carty reiterated his calls for air traffic control reform and the creation of a "level playing field" for a multilateral open-skies regime. Speaking to the Wings Club in New York yesterday, Carty repeated a speech he gave at the DOT aviation summit last week in Chicago. He added a few words endorsing a single rail link between New York Kennedy and the city's Penn Station.
Air France will grant gay partners the same kind of advantages and discounts as married couples, the French airline said this week in Paris. "Our aim is to treat the staff and the customers who have signed a 'Pacte Civil de Solidarite' like married couples," a spokeswoman said. The new conditions will be announced "before Christmas." The Pacte Civil de Solidarite (Civil Solidarity Pact), which gives legal status to unmarried couples, was created in October.
Continental earned the top web site ranking in the travel category due to its high usability and customer service, according to a Forrester Research survey issued yesterday. The Forrester "PowerRankings" combine survey data from online consumers, shopping-experience tests and "unbiased expert analysis" to provide rankings of consumer e-commerce sites. The survey noted that Continental's is one of the few airline sites to integrate hotel and rental car reservations with the ticketing process.
With 3.2 million "unique home visitors" in November, one survey named Priceline.com as the top Internet site for U.S. Internet users shopping for travel information during the Thanksgiving holiday period. According to a study issued yesterday by PC Data Online, Internet activity on travel sites rose 71% from October's figures. Travelocity.com and expedia.com followed with 2.8 million unique visitors, up 8% from last month, and 2.1 million, up 6%.
Eurocontrol is predicting more delays in more places and at higher levels, according to European Regions Airline Association Director General Mike Ambrose. In a recent edition of Regional Report, Ambrose cites the study as predicting that in three to six years, current capacity plans will be inadequate. Eliminating national boundaries and revising airspace structures would help, Ambrose said. The average delay per delayed flight could increase from the current 23 minutes to more than 90 minutes, and more during peak months.
Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic October 1999 Revenue Ton Miles (000) October October % 1999 1998 Change Domestic Freight 932,076 910,550 2.4 Mail 185,022 174,209 6.2 Total 1,117,098 1,084,759 3.0 International
Spanair, Spain's No. 2 airline, eager to develop its presence in South America, will start three weekly flights in March from Madrid to Buenos Aires, one nonstop and two with stopovers in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The carrier, which owns several hotels in Spain and Cuba through subsidiary Hoteltur, also expressed interest in purchasing a hotel in Argentina.
FAA in yesterday's Federal Register published its first ever proposed rule completely rewritten in plain language. The proposed rule, detailing the public process for participating in FAA rulemaking, is part of a White House initiative to simplify the rulemaking process by writing all future regulatory documents in plain language. The agency said the new process is "specifically designed to reduce the confusion in the federal aviation regulations and will result in all future rules incorporating plain-language principles.
DOT Secretary Rodney Slater yesterday issued a rule that doubles to $2,500 the minimum limit airlines may set for bags lost on domestic flights. Slater said DOT will review the Consumer Price Index every two years and adjust the amount, if necessary. The previous minimum of $1,250 was set in 1984. Airlines are free to pay more than the new minimum but may not lower it, Slater said. He also pointed out that customer service commitments made by the major airlines become effective today, including the new minimum for lost bags.
Members of the Fractional Ownership Aviation Rulemaking Committee established by FAA Administrator Jane Garvey have finished an initial draft of their recommendations to FAA on how fractional aircraft providers should be regulated, and a spokesman for the group remains optimistic those recommendations will be viewed favorably by all segments of aviation.
Cathay Pacific has ordered three more A330-300s for delivery in the first quarter 2001. The contract increases Cathay's total firm orders for A330/A340 aircraft to 26, including 15 A330s. Airbus said the additional Cathay orders will have the increased maximum takeoff weight of 233 tons, providing additional range or payload.
British Airways and American will participate in a signing ceremony today in Madrid to finalize the delayed Iberia privatization deal.BA will become Iberia's largest shareholder with a 9% holding, and American will hold 1%. "It's a small investment, but it cements American's relationship with Iberia," an American spokesman told The DAILY. The Spanish government plans to carry out a planned IPO of the airline during the first half of next year.
Startup Crystal Airways entered a contractual agreement with a private investment group to place 20% of the carrier's common stock for $60 million. Terms of the agreement were not released. The funding is expected to be placed within a few weeks, and the airline hopes to begin service next spring, subject to government approval. "While we are still seeking additional funding, the main focus of the company will now shift to identifying the best markets for our service and completing the certification process with the FAA and DOT," said Chairman Tim Rivers.
American Eagle has taken delivery of its 44th Embraer ERJ-145 and the 200th regional jet off the assembly line. The carrier has 145 ERJs on firm order - 50 ERJ-145s and 95 ERJ-135s. It holds options on another 132 Embraer ERJs. American Eagle and its wholly owned Business Express Airlines unit have a combined fleet of more than 265 jet and turboprop aircraft and offer more than 1,700 daily flights to 138 cities in the U.S., Canada, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.
After the failure this year to enact legislation that would have put the families of aviation accident victims over international waters on a par with those associated with accidents over land, congressional backers are promising to renew the fight early next year.
Sabre plans to pursue aggressively new outsourcing contracts with the industry's alliances next year, following its spinoff from American parent AMR Corp. Many of American's competitors have been hesitant to entertain bids from Sabre because it was controlled by the airline, but once the spinoff is completed in the next quarter, "the last vestiges of concern will go away," Senior VP-Marketing and Sales Scott Alvis told The DAILY.
Wreckage of a SATA Air Acores ATP that crashed Sunday has been located on a mountain near Sao Jorge, Azores. There was no sign of survivors among the 31 passengers and four crew who were aboard the scheduled flight. Radar and radio contact was lost about 10 minutes before the aircraft was due to land at Horta.
FAA should develop a two-tiered certification process for repair stations that maintain large Part 121 aircraft and those that work on general aviation airplanes, the National Air Transportation Association recommended. In comments on FAA's proposed rewrite of Part 145 regulations governing repair stations, NATA offered the two-tiered certification process as a "reasonable alternative" to a one-size-fits-all proposal that is unworkable for a large number of GA repair stations.
DOT has issued an order granting the State of Hawaii the right to expand air services at Honolulu and Kona airports. The order grants blanket exemption authority to foreign air carriers, except those from the U.K., to expand cargo transfer flexibility at the two airports and serve either facility equally. DOT also invited eligible foreign carriers to apply for authority to serve new U.S. points on an extra-bilateral basis as long as they also serve Honolulu and/or Kona.
