Raytheon's Control-By-Light business segment delivered the first Distributed Flight Data Acquisition Unit (DFDAU) to Raytheon Aircraft's facility in Wichita last Friday to prepare to test the system on Raytheon's Beech 1900D, Raytheon executives told The DAILY. The DFDAU is a next- generation flight data recording system that uses fiber optic technology and remote sensors to gather and record data on passenger aircraft. The system already has undergone a bench test, with certification expected by yearend (DAILY, March 19).
Foreign ownership of U.S. carriers and cabotage are "unnecessary and impractical," Patricia Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, told attendees of the Eighth Annual International Aviation Symposium this week in Phoenix. Foreign capital would "drive out U.S. capital," she said, compromising job, safety, competition and national security. Friend said employees of foreign-controlled U.S. carriers would "probably be non-unionized" and the carriers likely would be low-cost, with their owners seeking the "cheapest way to operate.
Raytheon Control-By-Light and Smiths Industries Aerospace are jointly developing an optically powered aircraft fuel quantity indicating system that is expected to improve safety by eliminating all electrical connections between the fuel tank and the avionics and power buses. By replacing traditional twisted-pair copper wiring bundles, Raytheon's all-optical distributed sensors system will not be susceptible to electro-magnetic interference, lightning, arcing or wire chafing and corrosion. Smiths will provide the fuel gauging systems.
TWA logged a 1.3% rise in its total scheduled traffic on 0.6% less capacity for April 1999 compared with the same 1998 month, which boosted the load factor 1.4 percentage points to 77.2%. TWA flew 2.2 billion revenue passenger miles and 2.8 billion available seat miles. Boardings jumped 5% to 2,214,440, the highest for any April since 1978. Domestic RPMs climbed 6.1% to 1.9 billion and ASMs grew 3.2% to 2.5 billion, lifting the load factor 1% to 76.3%. Passengers flown grew 3.4% to 2.1 million.
Korean Air has reorganized the appointments of 25 senior executives to focus on ensuring aviation experience and specialization in key positions. Seventeen executives are in new positions, one was brought in from another Hanjin subsidiary, one was transferred to another subsidiary, one was a new appointment to KAL management and five changed their corporate status. Sang-Rok Kim, managing VP and head of the flight operations division, has stepped down and is being replaced by Managing VP and MD-11 Captain Myung-
U.S Major Carriers Productivity, In Revenues and Expenses Per Employee,Fourth Quarter 1998, In Dollars Total Total Operating Operating Revenues Expenses Total (000) (000) Employees Alaska 380,274 345,086 8,710 America West 496,541 461,757 11,455
The second terminal at Taiwan Chiang Kai-shek Airport will open for operations Jan. 1, 2000. An airport official said construction, which was nearly 20% behind schedule 12 months ago, is now 1.72% ahead of schedule. The opening of the US$665 million will bring the number of gates available at CKS to 43 from 30 at present and will give the airport a total of 90 departure counters, 94 entry document and identification checkpoint counters and 82 customs counters.
Singapore Airlines yesterday made its latest move to secure a position on the Star Alliance team by signing a marketing agreement with United. Singapore called the accord a "strategic bilateral alliance," indicating the level of closeness between the two. Code sharing was not mentioned as part of this alliance. The carriers will offer reciprocal frequent flyer privileges, starting July 1, and one-stop check-in capabilities from flights across both route networks in the third quarter.
Atlantic Coast Airlines, the Dulles, Va.-based regional carrier that operates in the eastern and midwestern U.S. as United Express, registered a 29% gain in traffic on 31.9% more capacity for April 1999 compared with the same 1998 month, lowering load factor 1.4 percentage points to 60.2%. ACA flew 86 million revenue passenger miles and 142.8 million available seat miles. Passenger boardings grew 28.2% to 267,366. Year-to-date RPMs jumped 43.1% and ASMs 37.1%, for a load factor gain of 2.3 points. Boardings rose 36.2%.
FAA officials this week demonstrated for the first time in the Asia-Pacific region how the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) works with the Global Positioning System (GPS) to provide precision approaches to airports. Previous tests were conducted in Mexico, Italy, Iceland and Chile. The latest demonstration was for 21 nations represented at the "Intermodalism and Satellite-Based Transportation Technologies" forum in Singapore. FAA worked with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore to provide the demonstration.
Air France's ground staff stationed in Nice went back to work yesterday after 20 days on strike. Air France calculated that in the two first weeks of the labor action, it lost 50,000 passengers. While the staff vote was unanimous, several unions rejected the agreement proposed by the management and called for "further actions to come." The strike aimed to show the union's opposition to subcontracting cabin cleaning and part of baggage handling. In the end, Air France pledged to suspend subcontracting of baggage handling and hire 15 additional staff members.
Continental reported an 8.1% jump in total jet traffic on 8% more capacity for April 1999 compared to the same 1998 month, pushing the load factor up 0.1 percentage points to 73.3%, the highest April load factor in its history. Continental flew 4.8 billion revenue passenger miles and 6.6 billion available seat miles. Domestic RPMs jumped 4.2% to 3.2 billion on 4.1% more ASMs, 4.3 billion, boosting the load factor 0.1 point to 74.2%. International RPMs gained 16.4%, 1.7 billion and ASMs 15.9%, 2.3 billion, growing the load factor 0.3 points to 71.7%.
Days after a settling a highly public argument with the European Commission on aircraft noise regulations, the U.S. will request World Trade Organization consultations with the European Union over French government aid for new avionics for Airbus Industrie. U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said the U.S. will invoke WTO dispute settlement procedures on European Commission approval of a $22.5 million French government aid package to Sextant Avionique and Smiths Industries for developing a new navigation suite for Airbus.
Delta saw an 0.1% decline in systemwide traffic on an 0.7% rise in capacity for April 1999 compared with the same 1998 month, which depressed load factor 0.6 percentage points to 73.6%. Delta flew 8.6 billion revenue passenger miles on 11.7 billion available seat miles. Domestic RPMs climbed 2.1% to 6.8 billion and ASMs grew 2.7% to 9.3 billion, pushing the load factor down 0.4 points to 73.5%. International RPMs dropped 7.6% to 1.8 billion on 6.3% fewer ASMs, or 2.4 billion, resulting in a load factor gain of 1 point to 74.1%.
The extent of U.S. reliance on the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) raises national security concerns about the impact of foreign ownership and control of U.S. carriers, Mary Lou McHugh, Defense deputy undersecretary for transportation policy, said this week at the Eighth International Aviation Symposium in Phoenix. The U.S. continues to restrict foreign investment and control of U.S.-registered carriers, while in Europe, within and beyond the European Union, wholly foreign-owned airlines operate under certificates of the country where they do business.
TACA chief executive Federico Bloch believes Latin American airlines will "consolidate and consolidate quickly."He expects carriers to take minority equity positions in other airlines in the region instead of outright mergers because of bilateral, ownership and labor restrictions. But a Latin American holding company structure could allow regional mergers, he said at the International Airline CEO Conference.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said yesterday he sees no way an FAA reauthorization can clear Congress by the end of this month, and another short-term extension will be needed. FAA is operating under a two-
America West asked DOT for an exemption to provide scheduled foreign air service through its code share with Continental. The airline seeks authority between Newark and Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester, U.K., and between Newark and Dusseldorf and Frankfurt. Continental would operate the flights.
U.S. Major Carriers Unit Revenues and Expenses, By Region, Fourth Quarter 1998 Operating Operating Operating Revenues Expenses Profit (Loss) Yield per ASM per ASM per ASM per RPM (cents) (cents) (cents) (cents) Alaska 9.05 8.21 0.84 11.82 Domestic 9.21 8.37 0.84 12.00 Latin 7.46 6.66 0.80 10.22
Canadian Airlines yesterday reported an operating loss of C$102 million (US$70.2 million) and a net loss of C$107.8 million (US$74.2 million) for the first quarter, compared with an operating loss of C$62.3 million (US$42.9 million) and a net loss of C$85 million (US$58.8 million) in the first quarter last year. The financially strapped carrier has been talking to the Canadian government about lifting its cap on foreign investments so it can seek out foreign investors and possibly increase code-share partner American's financial stake.
Philippines government has threatened to renounce its air agreement with South Korea if the country continues to ignore Manila's request for talks aimed at stopping a price war waged by two Korean carriers on the Manila-
FAA will delegate its international safety oversight strategy "in the near term," looking to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to take the lead in performing on-site safety visits. "ICAO will be the standard setter and standard monitor," said Nick Lacey, FAA director of flight standards. In the process, FAA will replace Category 3 safety standards with two straightforward designations - Cat 1 for countries that comply with FAA and ICAO standards and Cat 2 for those that do not.
FAA's much publicized Acquisition Management System (AMS) is a "good first step" but apparently not the panacea for modernizing the air traffic control infrastructure that the agency thought, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office. The AMS contains a weakness because it does not incorporate all FAA projects "into a complete strategy investment portfolio," GAO reported to Congress.
DOT made final yesterday its tentative decision awarding Delta authority to operate between Atlanta and Rome, assigning it the seven weekly frequencies made available in a protocol to the U.S.-Italy bilateral initialed last November. The department also confirmed its selection of US Airways for Philadelphia-Milan backup authority. DOT rejected arguments against the award by American, which had proposed Chicago-Rome service, and the City of Chicago.
The Congressional Budget Office has provided Congress with six options for reducing spending or increasing revenue in aviation programs, and all of them are likely to generate controversy. The options would eliminate Airport Improvement Program grants to large and medium-sized hub airports, end the Essential Air Service program, halt NASA's support for commercial transport aircraft technology, establish charges for airport slots, increase user fees for FAA certificates and registrations, and establish cost-based fees for air traffic control services.
