US Airways' Air Line Pilots Association unit is asking the company to consider purchasing or leasing an additional 767 aircraft to be flown by US Airways pilots rather than seeking a wet-lease agreement for the first year of Charlotte-London Gatwick service while awaiting delivery of its first A330 (DAILY, March 22). The union would consider accepting a shorter-term wet-lease as a last resort to preserve the company's transatlantic flying.
European Union transport ministers yesterday postponed by one month their decision on phasing out hushkitted aircraft, but it was not clear whether the action was anything more than a reprieve. German Minister for Traffic, Construction and Infrastructure Franz Muenterferring, who chaired yesterday's meeting of ministers in Brussels, said the proposed legislation "will be adopted unchanged on 29 April," and EU and U.S. officials will resume talks in the meantime.
Bangkok Airways (BKKA) will press the government of Thailand for authority to operate regional flights. After fighting a losing battle over eight years for the rights of second-designated flag carrier, BKKA is prepared to play second fiddle to Angel Airlines, which got the nod. BKKA President Prasert Prasarthong-Osoth told The DAILY he will settle for rights to operate regional flights to Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Laos and Cambodia, and the carrier has applied to the Ministry of Transport and Communications for these rights.
U.S Carriers Systemwide Market Share at Leading U.S. Airports U.S. Major, National and Commuter* Carriers The Year 1998 Minneapolis/St. Paul Enplaned Percent Passengers Marketshare Northwest 9,074,178 72.70 Mesaba 968,016 7.76 United 570,930 4.57
American is negotiating with the French government about the conditions surrounding its move from Paris Orly to Charles de Gaulle airport, which will end American's longtime partnership with Orly-based Air Liberte. Once the move occurs - possibly this year - American "will no longer be able to code share with Air Liberte," said American spokesman Mark Slitt. The date of the move "is fluid and has not been decided," he said. The French government is forcing long-haul flights to use CDG and domestic service to operate from Orly.
Boeing Business Jet No. 1 flew from Boeing Field to Raytheon facilities in Waco, Texas, where its interior will be installed over the next few months. The aircraft was fitted this month with Aviation Partners blended winglets and flight tested in Arizona. API winglets are now part of the baseline configuration. In October, when the interior is completed, the aircraft will begin an 18-month assignment as a sales demonstrator. Its first public appearance is expected at the 1999 National Business Aviation Association convention in Atlanta.
DOT renewed for two years Nova Airlines AB's exemption to conduct foreign charter combination service between Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and other charters. In a separate action DOT renewed through March 31, 2000, the Danish carrier's authority to wet-lease aircraft to Premiair A/S for passenger charters between Scandinavia and Miami. (Dockets OST-98-3509, 99-5238)
FlightSafety Boeing Training International said yesterday it has received a contract to provide recurrent training for Airbus A300 pilots from China Northern. The carrier, one of China's largest regional airlines, operates eight A300s, 26 MD-82s and 11 MD-90s. The A300 pilots will undergo seven days of training at FlightSafety Boeing's Miami training center, one of 15 locations in its system.
Lufthansa CityLine is beginning new scheduled and charter service throughout Europe this week, including a boost in its service to and within Italy. CityLine is operating daily Canadair regional jet service from Cologne/Bonn to Geneva, bringing to 18 the cities it serves from the soon-to-be-former German capital. The carrier is beginning six flights per week on the Hannover-Vienna route using CRJs.
DOT granted a joint request by SAS and Lufthansa to amend their authority to permit Lufthansa to code share on SAS flights between Houston and Frankfurt and for SAS to code share on Lufthansa flights between Chicago and Stockholm. (Docket OST-99-5212)
British Airways and its International Association of Machinists (IAM) unit are scheduled to resume contract negotiations in Washington April 6-9, but sources said the talks may be postponed a week. IAM and BA were released by the National Mediation Board into a 30-day cooling-off period that ends at midnight on April 17.
DOT issued a consent order directing two Venezuelan carriers under common ownership, Aerovias Venezolanas (Avensa) and Servicios Avensa (Servivensa), to pay compromise civil penalties for reporting delinquencies. Each carrier failed "numerous times" during the past two years to file required reports on time, DOT said.
SunJet and Midway Airlines have agreed to accept tickets from passengers stranded by Kiwi's shutdown. Midway said passengers ticketed by Kiwi before March 24 may present their original tickets at Midway and pay a $50 service charge each way for standby travel through April 15. SunJet will accept Kiwi tickets on a standby basis for travel between New York and Orlando, Tampa/St. Petersburg, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. It will accept as standbys Kiwi passengers who were ticketed prior to March 24 and scheduled to travel by April 15.
An amendment added to the Senate budget resolution last Thursday has the potential to rein in House Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster's (R-Pa.) drive to take the aviation trust funds off budget. The move reflects a belief that Shuster's exercise of power in the House is so awesome that not even congressional detractors are confident of the outcome. Approved without debate, the Senate amendment expresses the sense of the Senate that no additional firewalls should be enacted for transportation activities.
Air New Zealand and Ansett Australia declared that their participation in the Star Alliance as of Sunday marks "a shift in aviation competition" in the Australia/New Zealand market. The rivalry is with domestic leader Qantas and its oneworld links with British Airways and Cathay Pacific. ANZ and Ansett became the seventh and eighth Star members, with All Nippon Airways set to join in October. Star now serves more than 720 destinations in 110 countries, and frequent flyer points can be earned and redeemed on all member airlines.
FAA will conduct a ground delay training course for dispatchers and air traffic control coordinators working for commercial, business and general aviation operators. Completion of the 2.5-day course will satisfy an initial qualification for formal participation in FAA/aviation community ground delay program initiatives regulating traffic flow into constrained airport environments.
A London High Court ruling last week in favor of slot trading at London Heathrow Airport fueled debate about the secondary slot market in the European Union and improved prospects that British Airways and American can sell rather than give away London slots as a condition of their prospective strategic alliance. On the basis of current EU airport capacity allocation rules, the European Commission considers slot trading illegal, and a spokeswoman for EU Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock made clear yesterday that the London decision does not settle the issue.
DOT Secretary Rodney Slater and British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott will follow up on their Friday meeting in London when Prescott visits Washington in mid-April, a DOT spokesman said yesterday. Slater and Prescott will "get together to see if there are grounds to continue talks" that were stalled last October by the U.K.'s "unwillingness" to progress toward open skies, the spokesman said. "There has to be some sign from the British" on which to base a decision to continue formal negotiations, he said.
US Airways applied for an exemption to operate Pittsburgh-London Gatwick service, proposing Pittsburgh as a rover point for year-round daily nonstops to compete with what it termed British Airways' "historically seasonal" monopoly service in the market. The carrier, which serves London from Philadelphia, said Pittsburgh has a large catchment area and would provide beyond service to 72 cities.
United is offering "Easter E-Fares" in 52 domestic markets for departures April 2 or 3 and returns April 4 or 5. Sale fares, limited to roundtrips, are available only at United's web site, www.ual.com. Sample fares include $110 for Seattle-San Francisco, $129 for Chicago-Dallas/Fort Worth, $199 for Denver-San Francisco and $299 Los Angeles-Boston.
The Sabre Group announced Friday it is restructuring to unify its sales, marketing and technology functions for its information technology solutions and electronic travel distribution divisions, under the name of Sabre. Travelocity.com will remain a separate operating unit.
