British Midland will intensify its pressure on U.K. government authorities to negotiate an open-skies agreement with the U.S. after key talks were postponed again last week (DAILY, July 1). Chairman Michael Bishop said he will begin a public campaign in September to convince the traveling public and U.K. businesses that they are suffering under the current Bermuda II air agreement. Bermuda II limits to four the number of airlines flying from Heathrow to the U.S. Bishop said business travelers still are being penalized by "exorbitant" fares to the U.S.
Air Canada and its flight attendants reached an 11th-hour deal Wednesday night, narrowly averting a walkout by the company's 5,100 cabin crew. Talks literally went down to the wire, coming about an hour before the deadline, when flight attendants would have been free to strike, said Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Airline Division spokeswoman Catherine Louli, who took part in the negotiations. "We had pickets ready at the airports," she said.
Airborne Express said net earnings for the second quarter will not meet expectations. The consensus estimate of analysts was for earnings per share of 63 cents, but Airborne said actual results will be in the 45- to 55-cent range. Chief Financial Officer Roy Liljebeck said lack of growth in domestic shipments is the "primary reason for the shortfall." Liljebeck said the "lack of growth precludes any productivity gains which normally offset cost increases."
British Airways will be the first carrier to offer specially designed child seats for toddlers up to two years old on long-haul flights, beginning Aug. 1. The brightly-colored seat, designed by Britax, will be offered to passengers at no extra cost as part of BA's campaign to attract families to its redesigned World Traveler economy class. A maximum of 12 infant seats will be installed on each of BA's Boeing 747s and will be bookable in advance on a first-come, first-served basis.
A move by the Office of Management and Budget to drop funding for the Loran-C navigation chain in the northeastern U.S. has alarmed users in the U.S. and abroad. OMB's stance is delaying a DOT announcement that funding for Loran-C will continue until the transition to sole-means navigation is completed in 2008. It also is postponing issuance of the 1998 Federal Radionavigation Plan (FRP), even though 1999 is half over.
Swissair parent SAirGroup will acquire a 42% stake in Portugalia by buying the majority stake held by Grupo Espirito Santo. The move will strengthen its Qualiflyer Group by feeding passengers flying Portugalia's regional routes onto Qualiflyer hubs, airline officials said yesterday. The purchase of a stake in the privately owned regional carrier follows SAirGroup's announcement in April that it plans to acquire a 20% stake in Portugal's state-owned TAP Air Portugal. The TAP transaction has yet to be concluded due to delays in the airline's privatization.
Singapore Airlines, which was expected to join the Star Alliance this year, could be close to entering the new Delta/Air France alliance. Analysts are predicting the change after Star member Air New Zealand said it would block SIA's proposed acquisition of a 50% stake in Ansett from News Corp., causing the latter to pull out of the sale. SIA is predicted to join either an opposing alliance or remain independent, sources told The DAILY. An SIA spokesman said reports on SIA's intentions are "pure speculation."
Dennis Feldman, 77, former deputy assistant administrator of public affairs at FAA, died July 5 in Bethesda, Md., of respiratory failure. Feldman retired from FAA after 30 years' service with the agency.
Columbia, Mo.-based Ozark Air Lines has ordered two Fairchild Aerospace 328JETs, valued at more than $25 million, to begin nonstop service to Dallas and Chicago. The 328JET's wide body, tall cabin and turbofan engines are "a perfect match for the route structure of the new Ozark Air Lines," said Chairman Wes Stricker. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery beginning in September, and service will start soon thereafter. The 32-passenger 328JET has the widest and tallest passenger cabin in the industry, according to Fairchild.
Philippine President Joseph Estrada objected to the Transport Department's decision to support an open-skies policy that would allow foreign carriers to operate domestic services within the Philippines. Four months ago, the department said foreign carriers were welcome to apply to operate domestic services and to fly to points outside Manila from their countries of origin. Singapore Airlines was singled out as the first foreign carrier to receive the rights because of Singapore's liberal policy on landing rights, but no decision was made.
Great Lakes Aviation reported a 7.9% gain in traffic on 10.7% more capacity for June, compared with the same 1998 month, which depressed the load factor 1.3 percentage points to 53.8%. Passengers flown increased 21.5%. Year-to-date revenue passenger miles jumped 22.5% and available seat miles 29%, causing the load factor to drop 2.5 points. Passengers flown rose 37.3%. President and Chief Executive Douglas Voss attributed the gains to added flying at Great Lakes' Denver hub and the assignment of all Brasilias to its Chicago O'Hare hub.
America West is introducing ski vacations featuring custom air-inclusive packages to top ski resorts in Colorado, California, Nevada, Utah and British Columbia, Canada, through its America West Ski Vacations, a brand of the Leisure Company. All packages include roundtrip air fare on America West or Continental from 15 U.S. cities and lodging, with optional add-ons, such as lift tickets, ski rentals, ground transfers and ski-ready car rentals.
FAA plans to require certain airport operators to conduct their daily systems inspections at least one hour before the first air carrier operation on Jan. 1, 2000, to safeguard against year 2000 computer problems. Current rules require daily checks but do not specify the time. FAA said it also will revise the amount of time these operators have to repair or replace certain emergency equipment.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey has upheld an administrative law judge's $250,000 fine against American for security violations at its Dallas/Fort Worth hub. American was cited for 51 violations regarding proper display of identification badges. The fine was assessed early last year.
Sun Country signed a lease and operating agreement with the Seattle Port Authority to become a signatory carrier. The airline's ticket counter will remain in the same building at the airport but move to a new location, between Continental and American. On June 1, Sun Country began scheduled nonstop service from Minneapolis/St. Paul to major U.S. destinations, including Seattle, Anchorage, Boston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York Kennedy, Orlando, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Francisco and Washington Dulles.
Southwest this week officially opened its new flight attendant base at Baltimore/Washington Airport. Southwest introduced service at BWI in 1993 with eight daily departures, which have grown to 86 daily flights to 21 cities.
Aloha finished reconfiguring the first-class section of its 17 Boeing 737 aircraft. The new design adds four first-class seats and expands the section by 50%, providing frequent flyer business-class travelers more chances to upgrade to first class. Aloha also removed a row of seats from the coach cabin to expand legroom. It now offers seating for 10 to 12 first-class and 102-112 coach passengers, depending on configuration.
Swissair has filed a veto with the federal office for civil aviation against EasyJet's plans to fly from Geneva to Barcelona. Officials from the Swiss civil aviation office said yesterday that Swissair based its veto on a November 1998 law that guarantees the carrier a monopoly for the Geneva-Barcelona leg until 2008. A decision on the case is expected within two weeks, the office added.
Continental Express will introduce nonstop service from Dayton to Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport Sept. 9, offering service from Dayton once daily with the new 50-passenger Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet, the ExpressJet. Continental Express, the regional subsidiary of Continental, also serves Dayton from its Cleveland and Newark hubs. Continental Express also launched nonstop service from Knoxville to Houston, offering connections to cities in the western U.S., Latin America and Tokyo. It will add a second daily Knoxville-Houston flight Aug.
The Star Alliance is the first customer for Amadeus Alliance Display, which enables customers to access schedules and flight availability for alliances on a single display, including the member airline flights and connections for the chosen itinerary. The Star Alliance comprises Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Ansett Australia, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai Airways International, United Airlines and Varig. Customers can access alliance schedules by entering the code "A" instead of an individual airline's code.
FAA said yesterday it plans to reduce the vertical separation minimum (RVSM) in Pacific oceanic airspace from 2,000 to 1,000 feet at high- altitude flight levels. Only aircraft meeting "stringent altimeter and autopilot performance requirements" will be eligible for RVSM, the agency said. RVSM currently is available only on North Atlantic minimum navigation performance specification airspace. FAA said RVSM will save fuel and time and enhance airspace capacity. It said international planning groups have agreed to implement RVSM by next Feb. 24.
Legislation introduced in the Senate would limit airline passengers to two pieces of carry-on baggage. The bill was introduced by Senate Commerce Committee ranking Democrat Ernest Hollings (S.C.) and by Hawaii's two senators, Daniel Inouye (D) and Daniel Akaka (D). Inouye also is a member of Commerce, which has jurisdiction over the airline industry. The measure directs FAA, within six months of enactment, to draw up regulations placing the limit on carry-on baggage and specifying that the measurements of each carry-on piece not exceed 9x14x22 inches.
