DOT Secretary Rodney Slater, concerned that impetus in Congress for a one-year FAA extension won't address critical issues, is appealing to congressional leaders to have the House and Senate consider full-scale, committee-approved, multi-year FAA authorizations, his spokesman said yesterday. In Slater's view, "a long-term extension is the least preferred option," the spokesman said.
Malaysia Airlines has asked the Ministry of Transport to decide whether the airline has to move its domestic operations back to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) or remain at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (SAASA). MAS said it needs time to plan the move if MoT approves Malaysia Airports Berhad's (MAB) proposal to close SAASA to commercial traffic Aug. 31. MAB claims SAASA is no longer commercially viable. "MoT should decide now and let the three airlines operating from SAASA know of their decision," said an MAS official.
In keeping with plans to become the first U.S. regional to operate an all-jet fleet in 2001, Comair will intensify its analysis of 30 to 40-seat jet aircraft by comparing the Fairchild Aerospace 328 and 428 jets with the Embraer ERJ-135. Fairchild visited Comair in Cincinnati last week with its 328 jet aircraft and on May 27 Embraer will bring its ERJ135 to Cincinnati. Comair will test the 428 in the near future. Comair is evaluating the aircraft on flight maintenance and ground handling standards and is conducting flight tests on each.
British Aerospace Asset Management (BAeAM), the jet and sales leasing arm of British Aerospace, seeks to secure more third-party BAe 146 aircraft brokerage business. The company's portfolio of BAe 146 and Avro RJs currently is secured on long-term leases, prompting the firm to look for additional revenue elsewhere. It is targeting third-party sales, especially aircraft coming to the end of their leases. BAeAM is confident that it can offer a service placing aircraft off-lease on good terms.
European Space Agency ministers meeting in Brussels yesterday agreed to proceed with a full definition program for the Galileo global navigation satellite system in cooperation with the European Union, a move that could mean competition for the U.S. Global Positioning System. The action to develop Galileo shows a continuing reluctance by European policy makers to depend on the military-operated U.S. GPS. While the two systems are designed to be complementary, Galileo will be oriented more toward civil users and will offer the latest advances in space technology.
Boeing 757 and 777 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day, Fourth Quarter 1998, B757-200, B777 Boeing 757-200 and 777 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Fourth Quarter 1998 B757-200 America West American Continental Delta Number of Aircraft Operated 13 95 32 97
AlliedSignal said yesterday it will produce a general aviation Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) that costs less than $10,000. The product will enable the company to cover all market segments, from smaller general aviation aircraft to large air transports. "The EGPWS has been proven to be an incredibly effective deterrent to controlled flight into terrain, which is still the No.
British Airways opened its new $408 million World Cargo Center at London Heathrow. The new center, which at 892,473 square feet can hold 6,000 double decker buses, represents the airline's biggest investment ever outside its fleet. The new center will double BA's existing cargo capacity at Heathrow to 800,000 tons per year.
Forty lawmakers asked President Clinton to halt an open-skies agreement with Italy until Alitalia resolves a labor dispute with its New York Kennedy-based employees, who have been locked out for more than five years. The request comes on the heels of Monday's announcement that Northwest, KLM and Alitalia plan to ask DOT for antitrust immunity to pursue a joint venture. The International Association of Machinists, which represents the JFK work force, said Alitalia should not be allowed greater access to U.S.
Rolls-Royce yesterday announced a joint venture with partners in Israel to build jet engine compressor blades. The new company, Techjet (Israel) Ltd., is 50% owned by Rolls, 30% by Blades Technology Ltd. holding 30% and 20% by Wertheimer Co. Ltd. When fully established early next year, the new company, based in Tefen in northern Israel, will forge and machine as many as 450,000 compressor blades a year. Rolls said this will give it a competitive edge in product costs and delivery performance.
Ducommun Inc. said its AHF-Ducommun subsidiary received a long-term contract valued at $7.5 million to build leading-edge wing skins for the A330/A340.
India's government has given Indian Airlines access to the capital market for raising funds as a first step toward the state-owned domestic carrier's privatization. The decision, endorsed by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), will enable IA to renew and expand its fleet, while reducing the government's shareholding in the airline, civil aviation ministry officials said this week.
Launch of the next Global Positioning System satellite, tentatively scheduled May 15, has been postponed indefinitely because of possible water damage sustained while the satellite was on the launch pad.The satellite will be removed from the launch vehicle and examined for damage.
General aviation airport operators are using airport land for mobile homes, little league parks, senior centers and police/fire training grounds, and other unauthorized uses for facilities that accept federal grants, according to a report to Congress by the General Accounting Office. "Because FAA lacks an effective compliance monitoring program, the extent of authorized land use at general aviation airports is unknown," GAO said. "Unauthorized land use may lead to the loss of diversion of revenues or increased safety risks," it said.
AirNet Systems reported quarterly net income of $1.7 million after writing off $2.5 million due to the start of its Express business. This compared to net income of $2.9 million the same quarter last year. Revenue was $30.5 million, up 15% from 1998.
TWA and its International Association of Machinists will resume talks today in Washington at the headquarters of the National Mediation Board. The talks stopped last week as NMB released the sides into a 30-day cooling-off period that started Tuesday morning (DAILY, May 10). TWA President Bill Compton sent a letter to IAM leadership Monday asking the union to come back to the bargaining table. The same day NMB called the two parties saying talks would resume at 1 p.m. today.
Delta Connection carrier Comair reported a 24.7% rise in traffic on 22% more capacity for April 1999 compared to the same 1998 month, boosting the load factor 2.3 percentage points to 63.8%. Passenger boardings gained 16.5%. Year-to-date traffic climbed 23.8% and capacity 20.9%, which pushed the load factor up 2.4 points. Passenger boardings grew 17%.
A recently installed arrestor bed on a New York Kennedy runway brought an American Eagle Saab 340 to a safe stop over the weekend, according to FAA and port authority officials (DAILY, May 11). An SAS DC-10 overran the same runway in 1984 and ended up in Thurston Bay. The American Eagle incident resulted in very little damage to the aircraft and only one minor injury. This was the "first arrestment ever," Pam Phillips, senior airport engineer for the three New York area airports, said yesterday. "It was a complete arrest."
Polynesian Airlines has leased a 737-800 from International Lease Finance Corp. for delivery in November 2000. The carrier has one 737-300 on lease from ILFC.
Atlas Air says a claim by the Air Line Pilots Association that the company initiated pay cuts for its 615 pilots the day they voted for ALPA representation is not true (DAILY, May 10). Atlas spokeswoman Vicki Foster said pilots became ineligible for the company's profit-sharing plan April 26, the day they voted for ALPA representation, and Rick Shuyler, Atlas executive VP, denied that the airline made any changes in pilot salaries.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said yesterday he is discussing with Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) a range of options for the FAA authorization, including another short-term FAA extension or a one-year authorization if he cannot get Senate action on his multi-year FAA reauthorization. The negotiations, which McCain's spokeswoman said are ongoing, "could go either way," McCain told The DAILY.
Mesa Air Group and CCAIR will hold separate special shareholders meetings June 8 in Phoenix. At CCAIR's meeting, shareholders will be asked to approve the merger agreement of Jan. 28 between Mesa Air Group, Mesa Merger Corp. and CCAIR. Mesa shareholders will be asked for a vote approving the issuance of Mesa Air common stock in connection with the transaction and to elect nine directors to the Mesa Air Group board.
Boeing 747 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day, Fourth Quarter 1998, B747-100, B747-200, B747-400 Boeing 747 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Fourth Quarter 1998 B747-100 United Total Number of Aircraft Operated 5 5 Total Fleet Operations
