Boeing 767 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day, Fourth Quarter 1998, B767-200, B767-300 Boeing 767 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Fourth Quarter 1998 B767-200 American Delta TWA Number of Aircraft Operated 30 15 11 Total Fleet Operations
Emirates plans to start nonstop flights to Munich from Dubai Nov. 1, initially operating six flights a week. The Munich service, the airline's 48th destination and its second point in Germany, will increase to daily operation Jan. 1, 2000. All flights will be operated with Emirates' Airbus A310-300 in a two-class configuration of 18 business- and 177 economy-class eats. The airline currently operates 25 aircraft, comprising two Airbus A330-200s, nine Boeing 777s, five A300-600Rs and nine A310-300s.
Air Lanka will begin service from Colombo to Stockholm on Nov. 12. The carrier will operate the weekly service via Dubai, headquarters of its minority owner Emirates Airlines.
Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) will no longer tolerate domestic airlines' practice of arbitrarily canceling or merging flights that are not fully booked and will begin issuing hefty fines to carriers that continue to do so. Passengers complain that carriers commonly cancel partly empty flights or merge them with later flights. The reason most airlines give for the cancellations is that the aircraft incurred a problem requiring maintenance.
House and Senate leaders negotiating the fiscal 1999 supplemental funding package have settled on a short-term FAA authorization extension until Aug. 6, the start of the month-long summer recess, congressional sources said yesterday. The decision is linked to assurances that the House leadership will permit a floor vote the week of June 14 on Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster's AIR-21, the five-year reauthorization that would take aviation trust funds off budget or provide firewalls protecting aviation appropriations.
Turkish Airlines applied to amend its foreign air carrier permit to include authority to provide scheduled combination service between points in Turkey and the coterminal point Miami, nonstop or via intermediate points Amsterdam and Brussels. It plans to begin three weekly Istanbul-Miami nonstops about June 1, using A340-300 aircraft. The carrier holds similar authority to serve New York and Chicago. The U.S.-Turkey aviation agreement allows Turkish carriers to operate to three U.S. points via a limited number of intermediate points.
FAA yesterday awarded three contracts worth $213 million to three companies to provide technical support for the hundreds of security devices at the nation's 80 busiest airports. Raytheon Technical Services, Battelle and TRW were on the receiving end of the awards, which DOT Secretary Rodney Slater said fulfill recommendations of the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security.
Cargo operator DHL has told DOT it supports Northwest's application for 11 weekly roundtrip passenger and cargo U.S.-China flights. DHL wants DOT to award the frequencies to Northwest, rather than FedEx, because Northwest would offer DHL useful lift for its shipments, and FedEx already has a substantial presence in the market. Northwest wants to offer daily roundtrip Detroit-Beijing and Shanghai service and four weekly roundtrip all cargo Chicago-Shanghai flights through Seattle, Anchorage and Tokyo.
Pilot hirings continued strongly in April, with 1,276 finding jobs, according to Atlanta-based AIR, Inc.So far this year, 4,904 pilots have been hired, with major airlines accounting for 1,686 and nationals 1,538. AIR, Inc. estimates that the rate of hiring will produce about 12,500 new pilot jobs overall in 1999.
Air Canada's board yesterday named former president and chief executive Lamar Durrett to the post of vice chairman and CEO, handing the president's title to Robert Milton, who will retain his title of chief operating officer. Air Canada spokeswoman Nicole Couture-Simard said the change in titles was made to reflect Durrett and Milton's executive responsibilities more accurately.
Thousands of aviation technical jobs are "going unfilled, which represents a critical supply and demand problem for aviation businesses," said Jim Coyne, president of the National Air Transportation Association. Coyne spoke at a recent Leadership Round Table in Cleveland by DOT Rodney Slater as part of National Transportation Week. "The growing shortage of candidates for skilled work in maintenance, avionics, charter and flight training is stifling the resurgent expansion of general aviation across the country," he said.
Beginning this month, the joint venture between UPS and Family Mart will expand service to customers in Taiwan to include express shipment of five- and 10-kilogram packages. UPS and Family Mart have been cooperating in the delivery of express letters since July last year. A spokesman for Family Mart said the service will cost about the same as that provided by the partnership of DHL and 7-Eleven.
Bankrupt cargo carrier Southern Air Transport and Southern Air Inc., the newly formed company that has acquired SAT's route authority and some of its assets, asked DOT to transfer SAT's certificates and exemptions to Southern so Southern can begin all-cargo service about Sept. 1. The Columbus, Ohio-based company, formed March 10, told DOT it plans long-term 747-200 wet-leases during its first year of operation, plus short-term charters if it has excess aircraft capacity. It does not expect the charters to be a "significant" part of its first-year business.
Great Lakes Aviation reported a 15.3% rise in traffic on 23.4% more capacity for April 1999, which pushed the load factor down 3.1 percentage points to 45.1%. Passenger boardings gained 30.3%. Year-to-date traffic jumped 31.5% and capacity 39.5%, lowering the load factor 2.6 points. Passenger boardings leapt 48.5%.
Midwest Expess reported gains of 22.7% in traffic and 20.5% in capacity for April, compared with the year-earlier period. The load factor rose 1.2 percentage points to 66.1% and passenger boardings grew 17.8%. Midwest Express Connection carrier Skyway Airlines posted a 12.6% increase in revenue passenger miles and 0.8% more available seat miles, pushing the load factor up 5.2 points. Passenger boardings jumped 12.3%.
Japanese transport officials this week unveiled three alternative approaches for Tokyo Narita's second runway, Tomomi Tsuchiya, transport counselor for the Japanese embassy in Washington, said yesterday. Japanese press reported that after failing for years to persuade local property owners to give up their land for the runway, the Ministry of Transport had abandoned that plan in favor of a shorter runway, and All Nippon Airways expressed disappointment over the move (DAILY, May 12).
Boeing 757 and 777Aircraft Operating Costs, Fourth Quarter 1998, Dollars Per Block Hour, B757-200, B777 Boeing 757 and 777 Aircraft Operating Costs Fourth Quarter 1998 Dollars Per Block Hour B757-200 America West American Continental Delta Crew Cost $371 $767 $674 $601
Turkish Airlines will begin the first-ever nonstop between Istanbul and Miami June 1. Miami is the third destination for the airline, after its daily service to New York and three weekly nonstops to Chicago. The airline will launch the Miami service with a $599 promotional roundtrip fare and offer double frequent flyer mileage during the summer.
CCAIR posted a 38.9% gain in traffic on 45.2% more capacity for April, lowering load factor 4.3 percentage points to 57.8%. The Charlotte, N.C.-based airline, which operates as US Airways Express, saw a 12.5% increase in passenger boardings. Year-to-date revenue passenger miles climbed 47.5% and available seat miles 53.3%, which pushed the load factor down 3.8 points. Passenger boardings rose 18.7%.
Qantas is warning that it may cut some domestic and international flights on Dec. 31 for safety reasons to avoid Year 2000 (Y2K) computer problems. In a report to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASE), Qantas said it only would fly if it was safe. But the carrier advised travelers to be prepared just in case it is forced to cut flights. As a company listed on the ASE, Qantas was asked for an update of its Y2K preparations.
Air Europe of Italy, currently authorized to operate charters to the U.S., wants to launch as many as seven scheduled roundtrips per week between New York Kennedy and Venice/Pisa, beginning no later than June 18.
BMW Rolls-Royce Chairman Klaus Nittinger said yesterday the venture is spending $5 million to expand its turbofan engine production facility at Dahlewitz, near Berlin. The project is being supported by a Brandenburg regional grant of 23% of the total investment. With entry of the Gulfstream V in April 1997 and shipments starting this year for Bombardier's Global Express and the Boeing 717, the company wants to allow for further growth.
UPS will provide new financial and management resources to its II Morrow subsidiary and change its name to UPS Aviation Technologies. Tom Weidemeyer, UPS Airlines president, told the Aircraft Electronics Association yesterday in Atlanta that UPS Aviation Technologies is "primed for rapid growth."
Brussels-based CityBird yesterday signed a five-year wet-lease agreement with Lignes Aeriennes Congolaises (LAC) of the Republic of Congo. CityBird will operate weekly passenger and cargo flights between Brussels and Kinshasa, using a Boeing 767-300ER and an Airbus A300-600 freighter. Flights begin May 17. CityBird, which also will act as LAC's general sales agent in Europe, recently began a wet-lease for Luxair between Luxembourg and Newark.
Approval of their "tripartite" application for antitrust immunity would "accelerate the momentum of the open-skies policy internationally," Alitalia, KLM and Northwest told DOT. The carriers applied jointly at DOT for approval and antitrust immunity, for a five-year term, for an alliance agreement between Alitalia and Northwest and a coordination agreement between the three carriers. The U.S.-Italy open-skies agreement, initialed Nov. 11, 1998 (DAILY, Nov. 13, 1998), was preconditioned by Italy on U.S. approval of antitrust immunity for Alitalia and its "chosen U.S.
