FAA told the Joint Aviation Authorities that it supports JAA's proposal to permit single-engine commercial cargo flight at night and in instrument conditions. Nick Lacy, director of Flight Standards, told JAA in a May 20 letter that the "expanded single-engine IFR authority provided a higher safety standard for United States operators."
KLM has met one of two conditions for its proposal to reduce the number of outstanding shares by completing a secondary offering of 35% of the outstanding shares of Galileo International priced at $45 per share. KLM held 10.6 million shares in Galileo and total proceeds to the carrier amounted to $466 million after fees. KLM announced May 4 that it plans to reduce outstanding shares by up to 25% through a reverse stock split and a capital redemption to shareholders.
National Airlines, which launched service last week from Las Vegas to Chicago Midway and Los Angeles, said it will keep Midway service even if its application for O'Hare slots is approved.
United's public contact employees, who voted last July to be represented by the International Association of Machinists (IAM), ratified a tentative agreement reached in April with the company (DAILY, April 26). Ballots were cast by 70% of employees eligible to vote, with 70% voting in favor of the agreement. The contract covers more than 19,000 U.S.-based customer service, reservations, ticket office and cargo air freight employees.
Bombardier's 70-passenger CRJ700 made its first flight late last week, marking the start of the flight test program with service entry planned for the first quarter of 2001. The company to date has firm orders for 96 aircraft from six airlines, with options for another 140. Customers are Brit Air, Morlaix, American Eagle, Atlantic Southeast, Lufthansa CityLine, Comair and Horizon Air.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic November 1998 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (miles) (000) Change Alaska 93 27.68 1,148 106,785 29.27
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic November 1998 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (miles) (000) Change AirTran Airlines 475 54.82 539 256,254 36.76
-- In Federal Register dated May 17...Issued an AD on Bombardier Regional Jet and Challenger aircraft requiring inspection of the cable harness of the integrated drive generator in the right engine nacelle...Proposed an AD on several Learjet models to require inspection of the electrical wire leads of the horizontal stabilizer anti-ice system.
The International Civil Aviation Organization last week hailed an agreement reached by member states that ICAO President Assad Kotaite said will mean better protection and compensation for victims of international air accidents. "We have succeeded in modernizing and consolidating a 70-year- old system of international instruments of private international law into one legal instrument that will provide, for years to come, an adequate level of compensation for those involved in international air accidents," he said.
FlightSafety International named Jerry Hill manager of the Bethany Learning Center. B.H. Aircraft elected Don Fuqua to the board of directors. Bombardier Business Aviation Services named Jim Lundeen customer service manager in Denver; Kirk Schiebelhut, Wichita; Don Nolan West Coast regional manager; Tom House Great Lakes regional sales manager and Heinz Tom regional manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services in Berlin.
LanChile traffic in April jumped 13.2% on 4.4% more capacity, which raised load factor 4.6 percentage points to 58.7%. Cargo volume fell 15.8% to 95.3 million freight ton kilometers. The airline carried 232,520 passengers last month, up 1.4%.
TWA wants DOT to require alliance applicants Alitalia, KLM and Northwest to include in their information submissions an analysis of markets where Continental competes with Alitalia. DOT did not include such a requirement in its multi-point order requesting additional information from the three carriers (DAILY, May 25). The airlines are seeking an antitrust immunized alliance that would serve to make effective U.S.-Italy open skies (DAILY, May 13). DOT asked the carriers to analyze the competitive effects "in city-
EasyJet has established a base in Geneva and is opening new routes from there to Amsterdam, Barcelona and Nice. Seats are for sale now and flights will begin July 28. Nice service will operate twice a day and there will be daily flights to Amsterdam and Barcelona. Roundtrip airfare for all seats will be 79 Swiss francs ($52), including taxes, until Aug. 5.
FAA yesterday asked for comments on its proposals for minimum performance standards for two classes of Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems (TAWS). This is the second opportunity for review and comment before FAA publishes it as a final document. FAA received 300 suggested changes to its first proposal, issued Nov. 4.
Air travelers in Europe are suffering from "unacceptably high delays this year," said Pierre Jeanniot, director general of IATA. "The delay situation will only get worse during the summer unless some governments make the necessary urgent improvements in air traffic services they had agreed to in their capacity plans." Flight delays are "growing out of control," he said, increasing 253% in March and 175% in April from the same months last year. The Kosovo crisis is accounting for at least 30% of these figures due to airspace restrictions (DAILY, May 27).
All Nippon Airways yesterday posted a net loss of 6.5 billion yen ($54.1 million) for fiscal 1998-99, a loss that could have been worse in the face of Japan's recession. Revenue fell 1% to 903 billion yen ($7.52 million). "It has been a challenging year," said President Kichisaburo Nomura, noting that the airline is making "radical changes" to achieve profitability. Last year, international passenger totals rose 11% to 3.49 million, but international revenue fell 4% to 172.9 billion yen ($1.44 billion).
British Regional Airlines will boost its fleet with another five new Embraer 145 jets, with options on an additional five. The options, if taken, would bring its potential Embraer RJ fleet to 25, making the airline the largest single ERJ operator outside the U.S. The additional aircraft will be used to replace its existing turbo-prop fleet and will allow it to further develop U.K. and European routes. British Regional operates under the British Airways banner and is the largest BA franchisee, with 40 aircraft operating on 50 routes.
Virgin Atlantic has named a new firm, Plane Handling, to take over its ramp and baggage handling at London Heathrow in November. British Midland had handled Virgin's needs previously. Plane Handling, a 50/50 joint venture between Virgin and ground handling operator GHI, already works with Virgin Atlantic Cargo at Heathrow. The three-year contract with Virgin Atlantic is worth more than #12 million - about $US19.1 million - and follows the European Commission directive to permit open access for ground handling operators at airports.
House Transportation Committee yesterday made its expected funding reductions in AIR-21/HR 1000, the five-year FAA authorization that would take the aviation trust fund off budget. The bill faces opposition from appropriators and others who claim even the reworked version threatens funding for other programs. Separately, DOT Secretary Rodney Slater this week told House Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) that Slater could not recommend President Clinton sign it if it retains off-
United's outgoing Chief Executive Gerald Greenwald, in one of his last speeches to an industry audience, yesterday credited the carrier's ESOP for the relative labor peace United has enjoyed compared with American and Northwest. "I think if there is one thing that United has shown over the past five years is that there is another way," Greenwald told the Aero Club of Washington. "It gave us a platform on which to rebuild a relationship...
The average delay of a scheduled U.K. flight was 13 minutes in 1998, the same as in 1997. Charter flights, however, faced increasing average delays - 33 minutes versus 30 in 1997. The statistics, published by the Civil Aviation Authority, cover five London Airports - Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Luton and Stansted - as well as five regional airports - Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle. Among the top 75 destinations served there was a wide variation in punctuality during the last quarter of 1998.
National Airlines yesterday became the newest U.S. carrier, with service from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and Chicago Midway.The carrier offers hot meals served on china in both the main cabin and first class.
New Aircraft Orders And Options January 1999 Firm Orders Options Carrier # Type # Type Engines Aegean Aviation 2 AVRO RJ1002 2 AVRO RJ100 LF507-1F American Trans Air 1 757-200 0 RB211-535E4 BWIA International (IL) 6 737-800 0 CFM56-7B
