United and American decided over the weekend not to go along with last week's Continental-initiated 1% business, 3% leisure fare hike, which thwarted the action.Other airlines backed away from the increase, which would have been the second in less than 30 days.
The U.K. government authorized National Air Traffic Services and the Civil Aviation Authority to sign a "major multi-million-pound contract" for initial design and development of the new Scottish air traffic control center at Prestwick. The contract will be with Sky Solutions, the Lockheed Martin-Bovis joint venture named preferred bidder for the project after an open tender. Work will cover the first phase of developing the facility, including detailed design of the building and its computer systems, under the U.K.'s public private partnership concept.
Michael Miller, 34, has been promoted to editor-in-chief of Aviation Daily, effective May 3, publisher Stephen Munro announced yesterday. Miller, The DAILY's financial editor since 1996, succeeds David Bond, who is leaving after a six-year tenure as editor-in-chief and editorial director to develop an aviation consulting business. Miller is a licensed private pilot.
Sense of the Senate language aimed at House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bud Shuster's (R-Pa.) five-year FAA authorization, which would expand aviation financing from trust funds and provide for general government revenue that could not be shifted to other uses, remained an open issue as the House-Senate budget conference resumed yesterday following a two-week congressional recess, sources said.
In what is being viewed by many as a sign that Taiwan's airlines believe the government may be moving closer to relaxing its decades-old ban against direct flights between Taiwan and mainland China, Taipei-based Far Eastern Air Transport Corp (FAT) has acknowledged that it has been sending pilots to China for advanced training since last year. Starting in 1998, China Southern Airlines (CSA) has been providing FAT pilots with training in CSA's flight network, terminology and flight routes in preparation for FAT's entering the Chinese market once restrictions are eased.
Boeing said yesterday it has moved up by one week the release date of its quarterly financial results. Debby Hopkins, chief financial officer, said the change reflects increased emphasis on efficiency and urgency. The release date is being moved forward from April 22, the third week of the quarter, to April 15. "Obviously, the sooner we can get the books closed each quarter, the faster we can act on the results," Hopkins said.
America West Holdings Corp. said yesterday that its board has approved a major reorganization of senior management at America West Airlines. William Franke, chairman and chief executive of America West Holdings, will reassume the duties of president and CEO at the airline, now held by Richard Goodmanson. Douglas Parker, formerly the airline's senior VP and chief financial officer, was elected executive VP. Gilbert Mook, formerly a senior operations officer with Federal Express Corp., was elected VP and chief operating officer.
Allied Pilots Association President Rich LaVoy has written Iberia, urging it to settle differences with disgruntled pilots out of court. Iberia is suing its pilots for refusing to fly eight days, including Easter weekend (DAILY, April 8). Pilots were protesting management's failure to sign a contract, agreed to in November, while they work under an imposed contract that allows Iberia to contract out flying, which is prohibited under the new agreement. LaVoy wrote Iberia as chairman of the oneworld Cockpit Crew Coalition.
Indigo Aviation of Sweden said it bought two MD-82 aircraft subject to lease through 2001 with Reno Air from EDS Capital Markets. Indigo also said it re-leased to Frontier Airlines a 737-300 that had been leased to Maersk Air and subleased to Deutsche BA.
American and its Transport Workers Union (TWU) have reached an agreement on Reno Air employee integration. American said it is finalizing plans for integrating agents into its airport and reservations facilitates. TWU represents American's aviation maintenance technicians, fleet service clerks, stores clerks, automotive and facilities mechanics, dispatchers and technical specialists. These employee groups at Reno are not unionized.
British Airways, which will relocate its North American headquarters and outsource jobs when the lease expires in 2002, is guaranteeing that no jobs will be lost. Company spokesman John Lampl reiterated the airline's commitment to New York and its employees, saying BA has "guaranteed" that there will be no jobs lost among 600 staffers affected, nor will there be losses in salary. "New York has been the North American headquarters for BA for 50 years," he said. "We've been in New York and the preference is to stay in the New York area."
US Airways has told its pilots it cannot lease an aircraft to fly the first year's service on its new Charlotte-London Gatwick route, so it will suspend one of its existing international routes to free up an aircraft. The company has not determined which route to suspend, according to its Air Line Pilots Association unit.
Emery Worldwide said it added two 747s to its North American fleet to serve companies in Southern California through Los Angeles and in the southeastern U.S. and Puerto Rico through Raleigh, N.C., and San Juan. The company said air cargo space for Puerto Rico has been greatly restricted recently because of reductions in the use of widebody aircraft serving the island. Emery said delivery of the first of five DC-10s is expected by mid-April, and of the other four over the next two years.
Bonds backed by international credit card sales of airline tickets can receive higher ratings than the airline's host-country currency on its own, according to Moody's Investors Service. The agency said that "properly structured" transactions can exceed the ratings ceiling of the carrier's host country if the credit card receivables are generated electronically outside the airline's base of operations.
SAS traffic in March increased 1% year-over-year to 1.79 billion revenue passenger kilometers. The load factor was 63.9%, compared with 58% in February and 54.4% in January. Freight volume dropped 11% in March and 5% during the first quarter. SAS carried 1.9 million passengers last month, up 2%.
FAA Year 2000 Program Manager Ray Long said yesterday the results of the agency's Year 2000 test at Denver International Airport during the weekend look good initially and will be made public today. "We are still awaiting preliminary results of the Y2K tests," Long said yesterday, "but an onsite viewing showed that the systems made the transition from Dec. 31, 1999, to Jan.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters is committing resources to help Northwest flight attendants achieve a contract, union leaders said yesterday. General President James Hoffa called the flight attendants' contract campaign a fight against "corporate greed" that is important to all Teamsters.
CCAIR posted a 57.4% increase in traffic last month to 17.8 million revenue passenger miles as capacity climbed 52.9% to 30.5 million available seat miles, compared with March 1998. As a result, the load factor rose 1.7 percentage points to 58.2%. The traffic increase reflects longer flights - passenger boardings were up 25% to 78,067.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank said it is guaranteeing the financing of two Boeing 737-300 aircraft going to China's Zhongyuan Airlines. The aircraft, powered by CFM International engines, are the fourth and fifth Boeings for Zhongyuan. The financing, by Chase Securities, is being structured as a full payout finance lease. The Bank of China is guarantor.
House Transportation Committee sources say no basic decisions have been made yet on content of the passenger bill of rights package that will go from the aviation subcommittee to the full committee, or on whether the consumer bill will go to the House floor before the AIR-21 five-year FAA reauthorization. Absence of bill-of-rights decisions and the fact that reauthorization has to clear Congress by the end of May mean AIR-21 probably will move first.
IATA, owed $32 million by Philippine Airlines, has rejected the carrier's restructuring plan and vowed not to re-admit PAL into the organization if the plan is adopted. IATA kicked PAL out of its clearinghouse last year, meaning that money paid by passengers could not be gathered and disbursed by IATA. PAL will need membership in the international body if it succeeds in its attempts to develop code-share agreements with several international airlines.
Current and retired employees of American, American Eagle, Reno and Business Express will be able to fly on the four carriers' aircraft at reduced rates on a space available basis, effective April 15.
