Lufthansa Cargo is offering passenger bonus miles for freight bookings made via the Internet. Customers who book its same-day service will be credited with 250 miles in the Lufthansa Group's "Miles&More" program.
House Appropriations Committee, in its fiscal 2000 report on transportation appropriations, tells FAA it "must do more internally to control its rapidly increasing operating budget." The increases "threaten to choke off needed funding in capital programs" for ATC modernization and airport development.
US Airways' pilots won't deal with the company's request to add regional jets and to relax the 69-seat code-sharing limitation until management settles problems with its scheduling system.The union told the company it is underpaying some mainline and MetroJet pilots who fly split trips, causing a "significant increase in pilot unrest and pilot complaints" to the ALPA Master Executive Council. The MEC says it's difficult to focus on company concerns because it has to divert resources to pilot demands for corrective action.
Fairchild Aerospace named Greg Antonichuk general manager of its fixed-base operations Gen-Aero and AVSAT at San Antonio Airport and appointed Donald Weiner VP-sales, Pacific.
India's privately owned domestic carrier Sahara Airlines seeks permission from the country's civil aviation ministry to acquire 15 aircraft - two Embraer 120s and three Boeing aircraft - during fiscal 1999, ending March 31, 2000, airline officials said. The Boeing aircraft could be a mix of 737-400s, 737-700s and 737-800s. Simultaneously, Sahara has withdrawn an earlier application to acquire 10 70-seat British Aerospace ATPs, five of which the ministry approved earlier.
Ranking House aviation subcommittee Democrat William Lipinski (D-Ill.) offered DOT Secretary Rodney Slater some unsolicited advice on how to apportion the 17 new flights available to U.S. carriers under the recently negotiated U.S.-China bilateral civil aviation agreement. Lipinski, in a June 2 letter to Slater, said he would award United six new flights and Northwest eight. The awards, which would give United 20 and Northwest 17 China flights, would "help better balance competition" between the two incumbents, he added.
Approved an Aerolineas Uruguayas charter using a Ladeco d/b/a Fast Air Cargo DC-8 or 767 aircraft for 52 roundtrip cargo flights between Uruguay and the U.S. Feb. 8-Aug. 8...Approved a Project Children charter using Aer Lingus A330-300 series and MD-11 aircraft for two Belfast-New York Kennedy roundtrips operating June 27 and Aug. 8 and July 4 and Aug.
Low-fare Japanese carrier Skymark's load factors plummeted in April and May as a result of steep fare sales by its larger competitors. Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Japan Air System slashed prices 50% on the region's most profitable routes, including Skymark's successful Tokyo-Fukuoka route, according to parent company HIS Corp. As a result, the smaller carrier's load factors fell to 57.6% in May and 56.5% in April from 80% in the first three months of the year.
NASA Lifting Bodies and the Birth of the Space Shuttle by Milton Thompson and Curtis Peebles. Documents the technology that enabled astronauts to accomplish lifting re-entries and precise runway landings. Smithsonian Institution Press; $27.50. To order, call 1-800-782-4612.
Average One-Way Fare By Stage Length Large Hubs* to All U.S. Domestic Destinations In Dollars, Year End 1998 Stage Length (Miles) 0 to 250 to 500 to 1,000 to Large Hubs 249 499 999 1,499 Atlanta ATL $144 $118 $135 $185 Baltimore BWI $150 $95 $112 $164
Finnair's full-year profit dropped 33% because of a five-week air traffic controller's strike in February and higher operating costs. Net profit for the year ended March 31 fell to 343.3 million markka (US$61 million), down significantly from FIM509.7 million the previous year. Revenues rose 3.4% to FIM8.9 billion, but personnel costs were up 8.5% due to "expensive labor agreements and extra operational expenses."
Midway Airlines saw a 6.7% drop in traffic against a 0.3% rise in capacity for May, which caused the load factor to go down 4.7 percentage points to 62.9%. Passengers flown declined 5.5%. Year-to-date, the Raleigh/Durham-based carrier experienced a 0.1% gain in traffic and 0.3% more capacity, which lowered the load factor 0.1 points. Passengers flown increased 3.1%. "In spite of traffic decline, unit revenues thus far in the quarter are up, reflecting a strong increase in passenger yields," said Senior VP-Marketing Mark Coleman.
U.K.-based Debonair has launched flights from London to Perugia, Italy, linking the cities with scheduled service for the first time. The new service operates on Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturdays with British Aerospace 146-200 aircraft.
The Final Step In Flight Training by Nina Anderson. Provides potential answers for mistakes pilots make that have nothing to do with proficiency. Relates to both the weekend flyer and the professional jet captain. Safe Goods ATN Publishing; $7.95. To order, call 860-824 5301.
Continental and Southwest had the strongest traffic growth in May, 15.1% and 8.1% respectively, according to Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. The weakest carriers last month were Delta, United and US Airways. Analyst Susan Donofrio would be more bullish on major U.S. airlines if there were plans to scale back capacity growth, if fuel prices dropped or if revenue performance turned around. She notes that all three scenarios "appear to be unlikely."
In Federal Register dated June 4...Proposed an airwothiness directive on Pratt&Whitney JT9D-7R4 engines to require inspection of certain high-pressure turbine disks. In FR dated June 8...Issued an AD on Pratt&Whitney JT8D-200 engines requiring enhanced inspections of some components.
Indigo Aviation purchased a new 757 from Boeing and placed it on an 18-year operating lease to TWA under a deal arranged through United Technologies Corp. This is the first aircraft Indigo has purchased directly from the manufacturer and the first of this type in its portfolio. Indigo also purchased two 737-400s from Braathens, subject to lease with Virgin Express through 2004. The TWA aircraft and one of the Virgin Express aircraft were financed by First Union National Bank, Charlotte, N.C. The second 737 was financed by Nordbanken Finans, Stockholm.
FAA is giving airlines six months to make sure their scheduling system meets 1985 regulations governing flight crewmember duty and rest requirements. The notice likely will be published tomorrow in the Federal Register.
Rockwell Collins named Neal Keating VP and general manager-passenger systems and Steven Piller VP and general manager-air transport systems, and appointed company President Clayton Jones to the policy board of the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA).
BFGoodrich Co., hit by AlliedSignal's antitrust suit of its planned buy of Coltec Industries, may strike back by protesting AlliedSignal's planned buy of Honeywell. BFGoodrich, however, wants to talk to Honeywell, which buys its avionics equipment, to see how an AlliedSignal-Honeywell deal would affect its business, a BFGoodrich spokesman said. "Probably we would look to have some discussions with Honeywell," said Rob Jewell.
Aviation Sales Co. filed an amendment to its registration statement reducing the amount of common stock it will be offering from 2.6 million to 2 million shares.
