National Air Traffic Controllers Association political action committee and the Raytheon PAC ranked among the top 50 PACs in terms of contribution increases in 1998, compared with 1996, according to a Federal Election Commission analysis.NATCA's PAC ranked 28th, with an increase of $178,600 for a total of $540,650, while Raytheon's PAC was 34th with a gain of $166,475 to $448,858. Raytheon is the prime contractor for FAA's Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System program and an important defense contractor.
American Society of Travel Agents and the Coalition for Travel Industry Parity calls Rep. John Sweeney's (R-N.Y.) Omnibus Airline Passenger Fair Treatment Act "the most complete answer yet to the problems faced by consumers and travel agents in dealing with the airline industry." Sweeney's bill, H.R.
Air France and Delta officials would not confirm or deny a report in Paris newspaper Les Echos that the two carriers will make an announcement June 22 about forming an alliance. An Air France spokesman told The DAILY the carrier still is in discussions with both Delta and Continental and would say only that a decision would be made by the end of the year. Les Echos reported that Air France executives met with airlines in the Wings alliance in Amsterdam this week but still remain "profoundly divided" on the issue.
Airbus has obtained the new JAR 21-G production approval from French and German airworthiness authorities. The approval authorizes Airbus to request airworthiness certificates for aircraft coming off the production lines without additional controls by the certification authorities. The approvals are part of the harmonization of European rules as JAA regulations are adopted.
Airline "delays worsened in the first months of this year, expectations for the future are dismal, and even greater difficulties can be anticipated in the medium term," European Union Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock told EU transport ministers meeting yesterday in Luxembourg. In a resolution adopted yesterday, the ministers "agreed to return to the issue of air traffic delays in Europe," but it will be too late to avoid this summer's expected chaos.
Delta Chief Executive Leo Mullin, one week after deferring future 777 orders, is not confident the airline will reach agreement in time to keep the 777 in its fleet. Mullin, responding to questions at the Paris Air Show, said the distance between pilots and management on 777 flight pay" is so great that we cannot see the high likelihood of concluding an agreement in time." Delta last week deferred future 777 deliveries because the deadline for an agreement had passed. Delta operates two 777s and five more are in the production pipeline.
Mo Garfinkle, president of GKMG Consulting Services, and Bill Swelbar, managing director of GKMG, will discuss the proposed regional jet coalition, comprising 15 airports and state aviation authorities, on Aviation News Today, to air Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Tower Air said an arbitrator's consent award "upholds the airline's right to assign flight attendants to flights on their guaranteed days off (GDO) in circumstances of operational necessity." The decision "will remain binding pending a future arbitration of the contract provisions pertaining to" GDOs. The carrier fired Jason Weber for "insubordination when he refused a direct order...to operate a legal extension of a Tower Air flight." Under the ruling, Weber is reinstated with two months of unpaid leave.
Big manufacturers with idle assets or excess inventory to get rid of - from hand tools and spare parts caches to one-megawatt generators - can sell items through online auctions managed by TradeOut.com, a new World Wide Web-based business-to-business exchange. Sellers can accept sealed bids or ask for a fixed price, all electronically, and for a fraction of what it costs to tie up staff with ad hoc sales efforts.
Lufthansa Chairman Jurgen Weber warned yesterday that the airline may lower its full-year earnings projections due to competition on transatlantic routes and the crisis in Kosovo (DAILY, June 16). Weber told shareholders at the annual meeting that the carrier's projected pretax profit of 2 billion Deutschmarks (US1.1 billion) might be "too optimistic." The airline earned DM2.48 billion in 1998. NATO air strikes in Yugoslavia and air traffic control difficulties in Europe caused more problems than anticipated, Weber said.
Airbus has sold 1,193 A320 family aircraft since Boeing's 1993 launch of the 737 new-generation series, according to Airbus President and Chief Executive Noel Forgeard.The A320 had a 52% market share in that period. In top alliance airline portfolios, the A320 has a 68% share of orders, he said at the Paris Air Show.
Indonesia's Sempati Air filed for bankruptcy in a local court this week after ceasing operations in June 1998. The carrier was crippled by the region's monetary crisis, and the government initially offered financial assistance but the company's total debt of 413 billion rupiah (US$14 million) and $102.9 million in outstanding foreign currency loans was too deep to recover, carrier officials said.
Australia passenger traffic in the Asia/Pacific region grew 1.4% last year, according to new government figures issued yesterday. A total of 14.3 million passengers traveled in the market, of whom 36.4% chose to fly on Qantas. According to the Department of Transport and Regional Services, the economic crisis hurt the lucrative Tokyo-Sydney route the most, with passenger traffic plunging more than 11%.
Crossair President Moritz Suter expects to sell the Saab aircraft that he will replace with new Embraer jets ordered this week. After some research, Suter found that the Saab 2000 "is a perfect little aircraft for DHL, UPS and Federal Express," with its 6.5-7 tons of payload capacity. "There are still some Lockheed Electras burning fuel like hell" in the cargo business, he noted.
Gulf Air, taking delivery of its first Airbus A330, will deploy the large twinjet on its core routes to London. The four-nation carrier will use Airbus's latest innovation to grow, but eventually it will replace all Boeing 767s with A330s. Gulf Air took delivery of the first of six A330-200s Wednesday at the Paris Air Show. It will receive four by yearend and two in early 2000, with options for six more, in a deal valued at US$550 million.
Air Europe today will inaugurate New York Kennedy-Pisa/Venice service. The first direct service in the market provides access to Florence and the Tuscany region. The Italian carrier, designated for the service under terms of the U.S.-Italy open-skies pact, will operate six weekly roundtrips on the route. Delta wants to serve the Kennedy-Pisa route when authority is available.
FAA, under the guise that it will "rigorously enforce" aircrew scheduling, is significantly changing the rules without assessing financial implications or giving industry an opportunity to comment, according to Jim Coyne, president of the National Air Transportation Association (DAILY, June 16). NATA and the Air Transport Association are planning responses to the FAA action. Coyne said the action "strikes at the very flexibility needed to perform on-demand air charter operations."
Carriers win short-haul travelers based on their experience at the airport, not aboard the aircraft, according to a study by Chicago-based Cambridge Group for United. The study based its conclusion on information from travelers who fly short-haul - trips of 500 miles or fewer - on United Shuttle, Alaska Airlines, Delta Express, Southwest, US Airways, Fasttrack by Northwest, BusinessOne by United and other airlines.
Flight attendants at Air Canada voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike yesterday if they fail to win pension and work condition improvements. Pam Sachs, president of the airline's Canadian Union of Public Employees unit, said 94% of voting members favor the strike authorization. The two sides agreed to resume talks today, she said. Negotiations, begun nine months ago, broke off May 27. The flight attendants dispute follows a crippling 13-day pilots strike in September 1998 that cost the airline about C$250 million (US$171.3 million) and led to a full-year loss.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic May, 5 Months 1999 (000) May May % 1999 1998 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 939,000 940,000 -0.1 Available Seat Miles 1,385,000 1,368,000 1.2 Load Factor (%) 67.8 68.7
Delta and Southwest will honor scheduled interviews and training dates for U.S. Air Force pilots who had planned to leave the service but were caught up in the Kosovo-related stop-loss program invoked this month. Delta will "preserve the mutual benefit of the Air Force, Delta Airlines and the Air Force pilots and other personnel who are now or will in the future seek employment with Delta," Charles Tutt, Delta's flight operations director and chief pilot, said during a recent airline, National Guard and AF Reserve pilot symposium.
Air Transport Association yesterday unveiled its once-delayed, voluntary Customer Service Plan, intended to ease the volume of consumer complaints and head off demands for passenger rights legislation in Congress. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), who called the ATA reforms "very significant steps," served notice that he will watch how the voluntary plan plays out.
Organizations representing large and small repair shops reacted differently yesterday to FAA's announcement that it will strengthen its rules governing oversight of the shops in the U.S. and abroad (DAILY, June 17). "It is absolutely unobtainable for many small repair stations," said Ric Peri, manager of technical services for the National Air Transportation Association, which represents Part 135 operators.
