US Airways is launching its Charlotte-London Gatwick service with a $298 introductory roundtrip fare to travelers who begin their trip in Charlotte. The fare is available through April 7 for travel on Mondays through Thursdays during the June 12-30 period. It applies only to roundtrip travel that includes a Saturday night stay. The airline also is offering special fares to Gatwick from other U.S. points, including $796 from Los Angeles and $554 from Tampa. Tickets from points outside Charlotte are available through April 21 for travel June 12-July 31.
Salary is important to cabin crew in labor negotiations, but a survey by the Association of Flight Attendants indicates that scheduling is the contract area that needs improving most. AFA surveyed members at all carriers where it is the representative.
DOT enforcement of the Air Carrier Access Act is so "grossly inadequate" that the law needs to be changed to give disabled people the use of private right of action and provisions for attorneys' fees and damages, according to a report by the National Council on Disability. DOT has yet to file a single amicus brief on an ACAA case, the report says.
Asia/Pacific-based distribution system Abacus has started visiting travel agencies to verify that all its products will operate correctly after the Year 2000 date change. The company's Y2K Verification Assessment Team will visit about 200 travel agencies this month in Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan. In May and June it will visit agencies in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.
Airbus is considering high hydraulic pressure for its proposed 555-seat A3XX. The consortium says increasing pressure from 3,000 psi to 5,000 psi would save 1.5 tons of weight. The A3XX would be the first modern subsonic transport with a high-pressure system, like those in widespread use in military aircraft. Concorde uses a 4,000-psi system.
Former House Transportation aviation subcommittee member Jon Fox (R-Pa.) filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission, keeping open the option to run for his old House seat next year. Fox, who represented one of the most competitive two-party congressional districts, would have to survive a Republican primary as well as the general election to return to the House.
Air New Zealand Engineering Services (ANZES) and software giant SAP, with help from consultants Ernst&Young, have modified SAP's basic R/3 business-running package for airline maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO). E&Y reported that ANZES, whose new system went live on March 28, now can apply enterprise resource planning (ERP) principles - tracking revenues and costs and managing assets and productivity in all facets of a business - to the full MRO life-cycle, from planning a repair or modification to inspection and signoff.
Between 1978 and 1998, U.S. airline traffic increased 120% but 400 smaller cities experienced declines in air service and 180 more lost all service, according to information supplied to Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore)., a member of the House Transportation aviation subcommittee, by Morten Beyer&Agnew.
When Congress returns next week from its spring recess, it will be entering the most critical period of the year for aviation funding and decision-making. Between mid-April and the end of May, it faces decisions on:
Fedex Pilots Association's merger committee is making plans on the possibility that rumors of a FedEx merger prove to be true. In a recorded message to members last week, FPA President Mike Weiland noted FDX Corp. has raised a billion dollars in cash and cited media reports that the company is going back into the heavyweight freight business "in a big way." That, plus a halt on new-hire training, has the union concerned.
The 10 largest U.S. carriers posted an on-time arrivals record of 78.9% in February, better than January's 67.7% and February 1998's 75.4%, according to DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report. TWA was first, 83.2%, followed by Continental, 83.0%, Southwest, 82.8%, and Northwest, 82.4%. US Airways was eighth, 74.5%, American ninth, 71.5%, and Alaska 10th, 70.9%. The 10 carriers' February mishandled-baggage rate, 5.05 per 1,000 passengers, improved on the 8.08 posted in January but is higher than February 1998's 4.91. America West reported the lowest rate, 3.52.
Sabre has released a Frequent Flyer Automated Upgrade enhancement that simplifies travel agent requests for seat upgrades for frequent-flyer clients. Travel agents have had to call an airline to request an upgrade at the time of check-in. Frequent Flyer Automated Upgrade enables Sabre agents to request the upgrade with the passenger's reservation, and it updates the reservation automatically once the carrier has confirmed. Travel agents also can request special meals, specific seats and traveling-companion upgrades with a single entry.
Kiwi International Air Lines' new trustee, Charles Stanziale, has vowed to get the carrier back on its feet and says liquidation is out of the question. Stanziale, a former Kiwi board member and general counsel, was named trustee last week, and his appointment was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Rosemary Gambardella. Stanziale was with Kiwi from 1992, when it was formed, through 1995. He said he is familiar with the company, its employees and its unique problems.
In Federal Register dated March 26...Issued an airworthiness directive on Boeing 767 aircraft requiring inspection of the lugs of the diagonal brace of the nacelle strut...Issued an AD on Lockheed L-1011-385 aircraft requiring inspection of the elevator assembly...Issued an AD on certain British Aerospace 3201 aircraft requiring replacing the nose landing gear downlock actuator. -- In FR dated March 30...Proposed to revise an AD on Pratt&Whitney JT9D engines concerning inspections of certain high pressure compressor disks.
The U.S. and the U.K. "have not closed the gaps on any of the core open skies principles," David Marchick, assistant secretary of state for transportation affairs, said in a recent speech in Frankfurt."In my view, we have a window of opportunity this year that may narrow because of the U.S. political cycle. I hope we seize it, and I would think the British would want to as well."
