IATA has issued a new edition of its Perishable Cargo Handling Manual. The publication, aimed at airlines, airports, handling agents, forwarders and shippers, is available from IATA Customer Services.
Nations Air Express filed a reorganization plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta. The Norcross, Ga., charter and scheduled service carrier will be acquired by a new company organized by David Fink, president of New Hampshire-based Guilford Transportation Industries. Fink is part of a group of investors that successfully negotiated to bring Pan Am out of bankruptcy in Florida last June.
New Air, which plans to begin service in January as a low-fare carrier based at New York Kennedy, signed an agreement to purchase 25 Airbus A320 family aircraft and took 25 options and 25 purchase rights. If all options and purchase rights are exercised, the contract will be worth more than $4 billion, based on list prices. The deal also includes seven leased A320s. The first purchased aircraft will be delivered next June.
DaimlerChrysler has set up DaimlerChrysler Aerospace Japan Co. in Tokyo to "signal our commitment to the Japanese market and to Japanese customers," said Stefan Weingartner, president of the aerospace unit. Eyeing the commercial satellite and aviation market, Weingartner said, "We want to expand our engagement in Japan and fortify our cooperation with the Japanese aerospace industry." The new unit arose from the existing DASA representative office and aerospace division of DaimlerChrysler Japan Holding Inc.
US Airways is offering group travel planners discount roundtrip fares for the year 2000, with tariffs for U.S. and Canada travel from $270 to $495 and a required seven-day advance purchase and minimum two-night stay.
Northwest, still recuperating from two years of labor disputes including last fall's pilots strike, posted a $29 million net loss for the first quarter 1999, or 36 cents per diluted common share. The carrier, estimating strike costs at $90 million pre-tax, reported an operating loss of $14 million. The net loss for the first quarter was $46 million, excluding an after-tax, non-recurring gain of $18 million on the disposition of certain securities.
FAA should withdraw the 'interpretive rule' that places blame on the pilot FAA should withdraw the "interpretive rule" that places blame on the pilot for errors in ATC clearance readbacks (DAILY, April 2), says AOPA President Phil Boyer."Fix the problem, not the blame," Boyer said. "Just as with the ticket program, FAA is sending the message that enforcement is more important than safety." Boyer complains that the rule absolves ATC personnel from any legal responsibility to correct misunderstandings between pilots and controllers.
Security precautions for the NATO summit in Washington will restrict access to the downtown area in which Aviation DAILY is published. Because of this, there may be delays in delivery of print issues on Friday, April 23, and Monday, April 26. On both days, readers may access The DAILY at the Aviation Week Newsletters web site, http://www.awgnews.com, by using the username aviation_daily and the password airline.
Aer Lingus Group posted a $77.6 million pre-tax profit for 1998, up 13.7% from 1997. Revenue improved 12.4% to $1.3 billion. The airline carried a record 5.8 million passengers last year, up 10%. Group Chairman Bernie Cahill said the profits are important for the carrier as it enters a period of higher fleet spending. Aer Lingus said it has been mandated to enter into alliance discussions and will make recommendations to the Irish government. "Proposals have been received from a number of airlines and are currently being evaluated," Cahill said.
FAA, acting on a report of a burnt insulation blanket, yesterday ordered operators of 45 U.S.-registered MD-11s with 72-inch cargo doors to inspect the wiring harness support bracket and clamp in the lower center cargo compartment. The agency said a missing bracket and clamp could cause a wire bundle to contact the blanket and rub against the fuselage frame, producing a possible fire source.
Hawaiian Airlines reported a 6.3% jump in traffic on a like increase in capacity for March 1999 compared with the same 1998 month, which raised the load factor 0.1 percentage points to 76.3%. The carrier flew 391.9 million revenue passenger miles and 513.9 million available seat miles. Passengers flown grew 6.6% to 489,959. Year-to-date RPMs jumped 11.5% and ASMs 4.0%, boosting the load factor 5.1 points. Passengers flown increased 9.1%.
CIT Group ordered 25 A320 family aircraft and five A330-200s with options to require more Airbus aircraft over five years, said Albert Gamper, president. Gamper said CIT deliveries will start in the fourth quarter of 2000. "We have been a lessor of aircraft for more than 30 years and this investment in new aircraft clearly reinforces our commitment into the next century," he said. Gamper said the deal is among the largest this year. CIT has the option of switching its orders among the A319, A320 and A321.
If the $45 million fine imposed on American's Allied Pilots Association by U.S. District Court Judge Joe Kendall sticks through APA's appeals process, it would wipe out the net assets in the union's emergency fund reported in APA's most recent financial statement. The union says it plans to appeal Kendall's decision, reached last week, forcing pilots to pay a penalty for the February sickout that American claims cost the company more than $50 million (DAILY, April 16). It has no insurance that would cover the fine.
U.S. Carriers Labor Expense, Fourth Quarter 1998 Major Carriers % Of Total Labor Operating Expenses Alaska 113,954,000 33.02 America West 111,882,642 24.23 American 1,225,817,000 33.95 Continental 493,768,000 29.21 Delta 1,058,917,000 33.06 Northwest 742,648,000 32.06
Czech Airlines (CSA) applied at DOT for rights to code share with Continental between Prague and Bucharest, for which CSA holds authority under its foreign air carrier permit. CSA wants the authority, provided for in the U.S.-Czech Republic open-skies pact, to display Continental's designator code on flights on the route beginning Nov. 1, extending to Bucharest code-share services operated by the carriers between New York/Newark and Prague.
United's discount vacation packages to Hong Kong, priced from $999, include 5,000 Mileage Plus bonus miles and cover roundtrip air fare, five nights at a Mandarin Oriental Hotel, airport and hotel transfers, a half day Hong Kong Island tour, and other benefits. The package is good for travel May 1-Dec. 31.
Southwest yesterday said it experienced its best quarter since 1981 and its best margins in years. "We enjoy a very significant cost advantage versus the industry, and it seems to widen every year," said Senior VP-Finance Gary Kelly. He said net income for the first quarter jumped 36.9% to $95.8 million, or 27 cents per fully diluted share. Included in the results was a non-recurring after-tax charge of $6.4 million, 2 cents per diluted share, related to the consolidation of certain software projects.
UAL Corp. yesterday reported what it termed a strong first quarter and said improving domestic yields and a rebound in Asia promise gains in the next three months. Earnings at United's parent were down year-over-year for the second consecutive quarter - net earnings dropped 14.2% to $187 million and operating earnings 13.9% to $328 million - but March net earnings set a record for the month as fears for the U.S. economy faded and premium travel gained.
The majority shareholder of Philippine Airlines has decided to inject the US$200 million required to keep the airline flying because interested parties had made unreasonable demands. Lucio Tan told The DAILY that most of those who showed interest to acquire a stake in PAL had the impression that he was cash-strapped and tried to take advantage. "We were prepared to give away a maximum of two board seats to whoever was successful, depending on the amount of investment they forked out. But it was shocking to note that two parties had wanted full control," Tan said.
America West Holdings yesterday reported record first quarter net income of $26 million, up 3.2% from $25 million in the same quarter last year, for America West Airlines and The Leisure Co. America West Airlines posted record revenue of $506.5 million, up 7.5% from $471 million. Operating expenses climbed 8.1% to $457.6 million from $423.1 million. Operating income was $48.9 million, up 2.2% from $47.8 million.
European Union Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock will have no time to spare today to meet with U.S. Commerce Under Secretary David Aaron when Aaron arrives in Brussels with a proposal to shelve Europe's hushkit rule in return for a commitment to develop Stage 4 noise standards (DAILY, April 16). European Commission officials believe the U.S. reneged on an agreement to work on changes in the rule rather than trying to scrap it, and they fear that the U.S. will win out as part of resolving major U.S.-Europe policy issues unrelated to aviation.
Midwest Express and Skyway Airlines have reduced fares to selected markets for travel May 2-Sept. 30. Tickets must be purchased at least 14 days in advance. Sample one-way fares are Milwaukee-Omaha $71; Milwaukee-Boston $111, and Kansas City-New York LaGuardia or Newark $113.
US Airways is the best domestic major carrier in 1998 in terms of quality standards, according to the national Airline Quality Rating (AQR) study, but overall airline quality is declining relative to customer performance criteria. The annual survey, conducted by the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute, ranks the top 10 U.S. majors against a variety of quality and consumer measures. Continental placed second and American third.
Raytheon said yesterday it has successfully completed testing two weeks early a key component of FAA's Wide Area Augmentation System project, for which it is the prime contractor. The company, using the 25 installed reference stations, two master stations and Inmarsat geosynchronous satellites, completed a required 72-hour signal-in-space test on April 9. Dan Hanlon, FAA program manager, said the agency's analysis of the WAAS signal showed the system provided a horizontal 95% accuracy of three meters and vertical 95% accuracy of five meters.
U.S. Carriers Maintenance Expense, Fourth Quarter 1998 Major Carriers % Of Total Maintenance Operating Expenses Alaska 30,370,000 8.80 America West 67,283,965 14.57 American 485,862,000 13.46 Continental 181,982,000 10.76 Delta 307,148,000 9.59 Northwest 358,715,000 15.49
