Linda Bauer Darr was appointed DOT deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Budget and Programs. She will serve as deputy to Assistant Secretary Jack Basso, the previous deputy secretary. Darr comes to DOT from the American Trucking Associations, where she was VP-international affairs.
Export-Import Bank and Korean Air on Friday signed agreements under which the Ex-Im Bank will provide $796 million in financing to support KAL's lease of six aircraft from Boeing. The financing covers two 747-400s, one 747-400F and three 777-300s and is the single largest aircraft transaction by the bank. All aircraft will be powered by Pratt&Whitney engines. The transaction is structured as a full-payout finance lease.
Frequent flyer miles, given for virtually anything, now can be earned from everyday food. ConAgra's Healthy Choice brand is doing a promotion with six carriers - American, Delta, Northwest, TWA, United and US Airways - that awards 500 miles for submitting receipts from 10 products purchased. Miles can be earned from buying everything from soup and bread to ice cream and deli meat.
Bangladesh startup Bismillah Airlines last week launched its first commercial operation, between Bangkok and Dacca, Bangladesh, using a Boeing 707. BAL, the first private carrier in Bangladesh, is owned by the Mollah Group of Companies. Sharja, United Arab Emirates, will be added today and Hong Kong will come on line next week.
AeroMexico asked DOT for an exemption for combination service between San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and Houston. The carrier wants to begin six weekly roundtrips beginning July 12, under wet-lease with affiliate Aerolitoral, using Saab 340 aircraft. The market receives no nonstop or single-plane service, AeroMexico noted. (Docket OST-99-5887)
Spanair, buoyed by a sharp traffic increase this summer, will float its stock on the Spanish stock market in November. The airline has hired Banco Santander Central Hispano as financial adviser, according to Frank Badino, Spanair's director of scheduled services. Spain is currently enjoying a strong stock market, but Badino said if the market changes, the timing of the initial public offering could be altered.
Midwest Express already is following many of the protocols outlined in Air Transport Association's Airline Customer Service Commitment. Midwest Express Chief Timothy Hoeksema told employees that following ATA's customer service guidelines "should not require a great deal of work" by the airline.
Northwest said its Fly North Dakota program, which it tested for nine months to stimulate business passenger traffic, has produced mixed results. The carrier will continue market development with a 35% discount business fare for travel between Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot and Bismarck and all cities Northwest serves in the U.S. It also will launch a 45% discount business fare for travel in South Dakota between Aberdeen, Watertown, Pierre, Rapid City and Sioux Falls and other domestic cities on its network.
House Transportation Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) and Rep. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) seemed to be working in tandem last week to knock out the $5.9 billion FAA operations funding from the House Appropriations transportation money bill. They are hardly best friends. Last year, Coburn complained about Shuster inviting House members to request funding for projects in their districts. "The process stinks," said Coburn at the time.
ARINC signed a contract with Swisscontrol to provide ARINC European VHF Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) data link system throughout the nation. Swisscontrol will provide support for siting, maintaining and operating ground stations and will have unlimited use of the air/ground service. ARINC will operate the system, conduct marketing, provide customer support and handle billing and collection.
India's Directorate-General of Civil Aviation will ban all aircraft, including helicopters, from operating in Indian airspace after Dec. 31 unless they are fitted with A- and C-type transponders, DGCA officials said last week.
DOT late Friday called a meeting tomorrow of parties who raised "serious issues" on change-of-gauge and code-sharing rules slated to take effect July 13. Brad Mims, acting assistant secretary, and Nancy McFadden, general counsel, will meet with eight parties, including the Air Transport Asociation, to discuss compliance concerns.
Alitalia, KLM and Northwest must inform DOT "whether and, if so, how Continental's operations will be integrated with those of the proposed alliance" among the first three carriers.
Yugoslav Airline JAT today will resume some international flights that have been grounded since the start of NATO's bombing campaign on March 24. The first flight will be to Moscow, and by July 9, JAT plans to restore flights to Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Tunisia and China. Officials still are not sure when the airline will be allowed to resume flights to its other destinations in Europe because it was banned under European Union sanctions in April for Serbia's actions in Kosovo.
British Aerospace yesterday said it will take a pretax charge of $395 million as part of a restructuring of its manufacturing operations that will result in the "voluntary" loss of 1,400 jobs. The exceptional charge is $300.5 million after tax, $229.4 million of which will be taken this year and $71.2 million in 2000, BAe said. The cash cost of the actions will total $237.3 million after tax, of which about $158.2 million will be incurred this year.
Qantas unveiled plans to raise its profile on the U.S. East Coast with a direct New York-Sydney flight, beginning in October. Initially, the Boeing 747-400 service would operate three times a week with a stop in Los Angeles, increasing to five flights a week in April 2000. The carrier will continue to code share with American between New York and Los Angeles. The New York service will begin in Los Angeles in time to connect with the airline's new nonstop LAX-Melbourne route (DAILY, June 16).
The Business Travel Coalition is forming a Y2K Working Group made up of 35 member corporations to address Year 2000 computer issues from the perspective of the traveler. The group's mission is to prepare and share the best policies and programs to support corporate travelers during 2000. BTC has been conducting research and focus groups with corporate travel, human resource and information technology managers and has completed a preliminary report.
New Aircraft Orders and Options March 1999 Last 12 Months Firm Orders Options Orders Options Carrier # Type # Type Engines Del Dates # Type # Type Air 2000* 2 767-300ER - CF6-80C2 4/99-4/00 - - Air France+ 1 737-500 - CFM56-3C 3/99 21 A319 -
Lockheed Martin, in an audacious move, said yesterday it plans to put together a private consortium to provide the space segment of FAA's future air navigation system. The company filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission for broadcast spectrum and satellite orbital slots for an "affordable" Regional Positioning System (RPS) to supplement FAA's troubled Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS).
Midway Airlines will use its new Boeing 737-700s to bolster capacity in its busiest markets and to replace its entire fleet of Fokker 100s. The airline's decision to lease two 737-700s, purchase 15 and option 10 is a step to remain competitive as Southwest and MetroJet fight for a share of the growing Raleigh/Durham market, analysts contend. The new jets will increase capacity in Florida and East Coast markets and carry passengers who come in on CRJs north of Raleigh/Durham, said Midway Chief Financial Officer Steven Westberg.
Venezuela's Aeropostal said its June 8 launch of service to Paris was delayed for five months due to a slot shortage at Charles de Gaulle Airport, resulting in lost revenue from the lucrative summer season.
New Jet Aircraft Deliveries March 1999 Last 12 Months Carrier # Type Engines Delivery Air 2000 1 767-300ER CF6-80C2 - Air France 1 A319 CFM56-5B5/P 1 Air France 1 737-500 CFM56-3C1 2
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall yesterday denied published reports that the safety board is conducting a separate investigation into safety practices at American Airlines. Hall said the board's investigation into the crash of American Flight 1420 is "being conducted under the board's standard procedures. There is no separate probe being conducted by the NTSB of American Airlines....Reports that the board is conducting any examination as an outgrowth of our on-going accident investigation are incorrect."
