United will upgrade seats and in-flight entertainment systems on 16 of its Boeing 777A model used in international service. "Currently, the number of market opportunities for 777 aircraft exceeds the number of 777Bs United has in its fleet," the airline said in a memo to employees. Because of this, the 777As will stay on United's international routes instead of being used solely for North America routes, as the company originally had planned.
In an attempt to improve maintenance service to RB211 operators at London-area airports, Rolls-Royce is expanding on-wing and off-wing capabilities at its Hatton Cross facility at London Heathrow. The company will install tooling at Hatton Cross for many major off-wing repairs that currently entail returning engines to rework shops. On-wing services will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Northwest and United asked DOT to include in several docketed and undocketed files at DOT their joint letter and memorandum outlining their concerns on DOT's recent actions in removing exclusivity provisions from some carrier code-share agreements (DAILY, April 8). The letter, dated April 2, is addressed to Brad Mims, DOT acting assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs; Joel Klein, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, and David Marchick, the State Department's assistant secretary for transportation affairs.
Barringer Technologies received a $9.5 million FAA contract for Ionscan explosives detectors. FAA already had ordered $6.4 million of the total, $4 million of it in December.
Alaska Airlines and its Association of Flight Attendants unit have begun to exchange opening proposals in an effort to expedite negotiation of a new contract. As agreed in their 1994 contract, the two sides will use interest-based bargaining this year and apply jointly to the National Mediation Board for federal mediation if they have not reached agreement by July 30. Tom Lent, president of the Alaska AFA Master Executive Council, said the union is optimistic that it can achieve a fair contract in a reasonable time using interest-based bargaining.
Air Canada launched a spring sale with reductions of up to 40% to more than 160 destinations. The sale continues until April 19. All travel to Canadian and U.S. destinations must be completed by Sept. 23, and the deadline for most international departures also is Sept. 23. Sample roundtrip fares include $277 Los Angeles-Toronto, $286 Houston-Calgary and $346 New York-Vancouver.
Atlantic Coast Airlines is again said to be close to a deal with Fairchild Aerospace for up to 50 328/428JETs, having said in its recent SEC 10-K report that it intended to operate regional jets of 44 and fewer seats. Complicating the deal is ASA's commitment of $47 million in lease payments to British Aerospace for 28 Jetstream 32 19-seaters for up to seven years (DAILY, April 2). BAe is said to be uncooperative, which means that Fairchild would have to eat those leases to complete the deal.
US Airways Express wholly owned affiliate PSA will begin service between Columbia, S.C. and Washington Reagan Airport on May 4, operating three daily roundtrip flights with 32-passenger, 335-knot-cruise Dornier 328 turboprops. PSA, based near Dayton, Ohio, is one of nine US Airways Express regionals.
Eight significant incidents involving burned or charred insulation blankets have been uncovered by technicians and accident investigators since late 1993, according to National Transportation Safety Board statistics revealed Wednesday at Aviation Week's Global Safety and Security Conference in Atlanta. Four of the incidents occurred on MD-11s, including the aircraft involved in the Swissair crash near Halifax last Sept. 2.
Continental and Alaska Airlines said they will begin selling tickets on code share flights Saturday for travel starting April 19. Horizon will have flights available for sale on April 24 for travel starting April 26. Continental will code share on 43 West Coast and Pacific Northwest routes operated by Alaska and Horizon, including service to Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau, Alaska; Spokane, Pasco and Pullman, Wash.; Eugene and Medford, Ore., and Redding and Sacramento, Calif.
United's fuel hedging program locked in prices too high and cost the airline $200 million last year and $40 million in the first quarter, according to Salomon Smith Barney. The airline "made some bad fuel hedging bets," the firm said.
British Airways lost no time announcing that it intends to serve Tripoli, Libya, planning three 737 flights per week subject to government approval. The carrier acted following the removal of United Nations restrictions on commerce with Libya after suspects in the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, were turned over to authorities.
FAA estimates that it will cost some $67.8 million to develop its proposed "damage-tolerance-based" inspections for 21 model-groups of aging regional and commuter aircraft, and that for some models, development work would uncover the need for model-specific structural modifications, either to make the aircraft inspectable or to replace elements determined to be uninspectable and subject to critical fatigue damage. Cost estimates of the likely modifications range from $10,200 to $168,800 per affected airplane depending on size and certification basis...
United's UAL Services unit will perform B- and C-checks on the charitable ORBIS flying eye hospital. The company agreed to provide $40,000 in maintenance services plus 1,500 hours of volunteer labor, the equivalent of a B-check, every year. Every three years, it will provide $120,000 in services plus enough volunteer hours to do a C-check. The company also provides ORBIS a full-time volunteer mechanic.
Delta will launch nonstop shuttle service between Washington Reagan and Boston Logan airports on June 1. The carrier plans departures every hour during the business day, using two Delta 727 aircraft and one Canadair Regional Jet operated by Delta Connection partner Comair. Future expansion plans for the route call for hourly service operated by Delta Shuttle aircraft.
Attorneys for the City of Fort Worth have filed suit against the Texas state attorney general opposing his opinion that the city must give Legend Airlines certain public documents that Legend requested in 1997 under the state Freedom of Information Act. The city refused to provide the documents because Legend refused to pay a $7,500 deposit the attorney general later ruled the city could not require. The city has filed its petition with the Texas District Court.
America West's March traffic grew 5.9% to a record 1.48 billion revenue passenger miles in March, the second consecutive month in which the carrier set a record. But capacity rose even faster, 7.8%, which resulted in a load factor decline of 1.2 percentage points to 67.9%. Year-to-date traffic was up 10.4% on 7.7% more capacity, boosting the load factor 1.5 points to 63.7%.
Canadian North - now Northern, owned by Air NorTerra Inc. - has added service between Ottawa and Iqaluit, the capital of Canada's newest territory, Nunavut, in conjunction with code-share partner Canadian Airlines. The new three-times-weekly service will double to six per week in the fall. The route was added to meet increased demand for passenger and cargo services between northern and southern destinations and to help develop the new territory. Flights operate Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, initially with two-class 737-200s.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the International Transportation Safety Association will conduct an international symposium on transportation recorders and the expanded use of data they collect May 3-5 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va. The symposium is intended to bring together for the first time professionals from all transportation modes to share information and experiences in investigating accidents and improving safety and efficiency.
American Trans Air reported a 13.2% increase in systemwide traffic on 11.1% more capacity in March, flying 1 billion revenue passenger miles and 1.32 billion available seat miles. Block hours gained 12% to 15,423 and passenger volume climbed 16% to 690,189. Scheduled-service RPMs grew 18.6% to 582 million and ASMs 14.2% to 707 million, boosting the load factor 3 percentage points to 82.3%. Block hours in scheduled service increased 16.3% to 10,093 and passengers 22.7% to 459,632.
FAA has targeted regional turboprops in its notice of proposed rulemaking that would require damage-tolerance-based inspections for Parts 121/129/135 multiengine aircraft after their 14th year in scheduled service and every five years thereafter. The inspections include records reviews to "ensure that the maintenance of these airplanes' age-sensitive parts and components has been adequate and timely (DAILY, April 7). Specifically cited were the Beech 99/1900/1900C and 1900D. The 99s have a design life goal of 46,000 hours and the 1900-series 45,000 hours.
Atlantic Southeast will bring Canadair Regional Jet service to Daytona Beach and Melbourne, Fla., and Islip, N.Y., as part of its summer schedule, the airline announced. At Daytona Beach, ASA will offer three daily flights with RJs to Atlanta, introducing one flight June 1 and another two flights July 1; at Melbourne, the regional will operate four daily flights, launching two flights to Atlanta June 1 and two more July 15, all with RJs; at Islip, ASA will inaugurate service Aug. 1 with three daily flights to Atlanta with RJs.
New Regional Aircraft Deliveries December 1998 Last 12 Months Carrier No. Type Engines Delivery Air Guadeloupe 1 ATR 42-500 PW127E 1 Air Guadeloupe 1 Do 228-212 TPE331-10GP-511 1
