World Airways pilots, represented by the Teamsters, approved a new three-year contract that includes a salary exchange program under which 10% of crewmembers' wages will be exchanged for company stock. The agreement was approved by 83% of the pilots who voted. World and its dispatchers, represented by the Transport Workers Union, also reached a tentative agreement that would run through June 30, 2004. The deal includes a salary exchange similar to the pilots' deal. The company is negotiating with flight attendants as well.
Federal Express wants U.S.-Italy authority, with behind, intermediate and beyond rights "without limitation." The cargo carrier wants to replace its current temporary U.S.-Italy certificates with integrated authority for its scheduled worldwide operations. It plans to continue its five weekly Paris-Milan flights, connecting with flights from the U.S. via Germany and the U.K.
Air New Zealand selected Rolls-Royce to supply a new upgrade kit for three Rolls-Royce RB211-524-powered Boeing 747-400s. The -524G/H-T engine standard will be phased into the fleet over the next two and a half years. Rated at between 58,000 and 60,600 pounds thrust, the -524G/H-T engine standard incorporates Rolls-Royce Trent technology, and its combustor reduces NOx emissions by 40%. The G/H-T can be installed as a new production-standard engine or retrofitted to existing engines.
British Airways bumped Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive Richard Branson from the passenger list soon after his carrier signed a code-sharing deal with Air-India ensuring Virgin's entry into the Indo-U.K. sector, a senior AI official said yesterday. "We have accommodated him on an AI flight for his trip back to London," he said.
Former Delta Communications Director Bill Berry will become the senior VP and communications chief at flightserv.com, developer of an Internet gateway for private aviation and related travel services. Berry left Delta earlier this year after 34 years of service at the airline. At flightserv.com, Berry will be responsible for strategic corporate programs, including communications and news media relations, and will serve as the company's chief spokesperson.
Sabre said it will make a "significant announcement" this morning, which sources believe will include naming a new chief executive or a spin-off from parent company AMR Corp. PaineWebber analyst Sam Buttrick said announcements in both areas have been "long expected."
Mesa Airlines is in discussion with America West to expand regional jet flying and hopes to extend its agreement with the carrier through 2008 or 2009. America West's board is expected to approve the expansion tomorrow. Mesa currently operates 17 Canadair RJs, seven Beech 1900s and 12 Dash 8s for America West and 39 Beech 1900s, 16 Jetstream 32s, 10 de Havilland Dash 8s and 15 CRJs for US Airways. It also operates 8 Beech 1900s independently out of Albuquerque. Mesa has ordered 36 Embraer 145 and 135 RJs and will operate the fleet for US Airways.
Datalex claimed to be among the first technology providers to make a live airline reservation using WAP technology on a Nokia cell phone last week. The reservation was made from the company's office in Dublin, Ireland, using Datalex's Internet travel reservations system, BookIt!, on a server located in Atlanta, Ga. Datalex developed the interface using the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and Wireless Markup Language (WML) and their Java-based BookIt! server.
Midwest Express posted a 24.9% rise in traffic on 16.7% more capacity for November compared to the same 1998 month, which boosted load factor 4.3 percentage points to 66.3%. Passenger boardings grew 20.1%. Skyway Airlines' traffic climbed 32.7% and capacity 24.7%, pushing load factor up 2.9 points to 50%. Passenger boardings increased 27.2%.
American's Association of Professional Flight Attendants leaders fired off a letter to Association of Flight Attendants International President Patricia Friend telling her to back off trying to bring the union under AFA.Friend sent two e-mail messages to officers that APFA said tried to drum up support and stated that a growing number of APFA members have contacted AFA since a recent contract deal failed. Friend emphasized that AFA has "no interest in raiding APFA" and promised to work toward affiliation if APFA members want it.
A Quebec Superior Court over the weekend ordered 15 InterCanadian turboprops and regional jets seized to cover the carrier's overdue bills. InterCanadian, which did not return calls, owes Nav Canada, three Maritime airports and the Toronto Airport Authority a total of about C$1.7 million. The airline had 23 planes, three of which were seized earlier by airports in Montreal and Ottawa. Nav Canada spokesman Louis Garneau said InterCanadian owed Nav Canada C$2.8 million.
Domestic U.S. capacity grew 4.8% in November while international capacity rose 2.4%, according to PaineWebber analyst Sam Buttrick. His system capacity growth forecast for 2000 stands at 4.4%, anticipating fractionally slower growth than in 1999. "Capacity growth in 2001 should be a bit slower yet," he said. November traffic rose 8.2% versus 6.6% in October.
DOT and Senegal signed a memorandum of cooperation last week to arrange technical assistance and training for Senegal in the areas of security, safety and regulation. Assistance will be provided with the World Bank's support, DOT said. "Safe air travel and secure airports are prerequisites for Africa's integration in the global economy," said DOT Secretary Rodney Slater.
Talks between Northwest and its flight attendants union stalled after the union presented a proposal the company considered too costly. The National Mediation Board recessed talks and did not set a date for the next round of bargaining.
Southwest unveiled several new nonstop flights to begin April 2. The airline will add daily service between Las Vegas and Columbus, Indianapolis and New Orleans, as well as between Austin and Raleigh-Durham and San Diego. It also will start an additional daily nonstop between Houston Hobby and Chicago Midway and between Las Vegas and Omaha.
An FAA enforcement official said Friday that the agency will not give air carriers any more time to begin making sure that reserve flight crews get the proper amount of rest. Peggy Gilligan, deputy associate administrator for regulations and certification, said she was sending out letters Friday to several air carriers denying extensions of the Dec. 12 deadline, including Northwest, American, US Airways, American Eagle, Piedmont, Allegheny, Midwest Express, Air Midwest, PSA and Skyway. Comair is the only carrier to get an extension, until April.
TAP Air Portugal's October traffic rose 5.9% from the same month last year, but was down 0.6% for the first 10 months of 1999. The airline did not provide capacity data. Freight traffic fell 8% for the month and 14.4% for the year.
American and four members of the Qualiflyer group started frequent flyer cooperation Friday. Qualiflyer airlines include Swissair, Sabena, Crossair and Turkish Airlines. Under the arrangement, American AAdvantage members may earn mileage credit when traveling on non-transatlantic flights operated by the four, excluding flights within Turkey. AAdvantage members also may earn credit on Swissair's or Sabena's transatlantic code-share flights.
Fairchild Aerospace is close to a deal in which New York investment firm Clayton, Dubilier&Rice would take a major stake in the company, sources in Germany indicate. The deal could be announced as early as this week. The manufacturer has been looking for an investor for months because the company needs cash to develop the 728JET and 428JET. An agreement with CDR was expected earlier but discussions took longer than foreseen. Chairman Carl Albert, who owns 56% of Fairchild, is believed to be selling most of his stake to CDR.
US Airways Express launched daily nonstop regional jet service last week between New York LaGuardia and Atlanta. Service is aboard 50-seat Embraer 145 RJs. The airline also has initiated nonstop regional jet service between Washington National and Toronto. US Airways Express offers three roundtrip flights daily using 50-seat Canadair RJs. Passengers can receive double bonus frequent flyer miles until Feb. 28.
The Dominican Corporation of State-Owned Companies (CDEE) announced that four airlines are interested in acquiring the rights to Dominicana de Aviacion, the national airline now grounded. Operations could resume before August 2000. To make its privatization especially attractive, the Dominican Aviation Board, now intent on upgrading the country's Category 2 FAA safety rating to Cat 1, has granted the future airline exclusive rights to operate to the U.S. for six years.
