Emirates has accused the Australian government of obstructing its efforts to increase flights to Australia. According to Emirates Group Managing Director Maurice Flanagan, the airline has applied to launch daily flights between Dubai and Sydney and four weekly flights each to Perth and Brisbane. Authorities told Emirates, however, that its request was deferred while the government considers its policy on the future its bilateral air agreements.
A full-scale virtual airport tower that can simulate events without endangering lives was installed at NASA Ames Research Center in California. The Silicon Graphics tower will support NASA and aviation industry efforts to combat airline accidents and reduce airport gridlock. It is designed to help reduce the high cost that traffic delays cause travelers, airlines and airports. NASA officials said the virtual tower is an accurate replica of real air traffic control towers found at the largest airports.
A House Transportation Committee spokesman agreed yesterday with Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott's assessment that another short-term FAA authorization extension will be needed (DAILY, May 5). FAA is operating under a two-month extension that expires May 31. The spokesman said there are too many differences in the Senate Commerce Committee and House Committee bills to resolve in conference by May 31. The House Transportation bill still is on the schedule for House floor action in late May, the spokesman noted.
American reported a systemwide 1.4% increase in traffic on 1.2% more capacity for April 1999 compared with the same 1998 month, which grew the load factor 0.1 percentage points. American flew 9.2 billion revenue passenger miles and 12.9 billion available seat miles, creating a 71.5% load factor. Domestic RPMs and ASMs both dropped 0.2% - RPMs totaled 6.3 billion and ASMs 8.8 billion, leaving the load factor flat at 71.3%.
U.S. and Pakistan have reached an open-skies accord, DOT announced yesterday. The agreement, which extends open skies to South Asia, was concluded through an exchange of notes.
U.S Major Carriers Productivity, In RPMs And ASMs Per Employee, Fourth Quarter 1998 Revenue Available Passenger Seat Miles Miles Total (000) (000) Employees Alaska 2,748,670 4,203,831 8,710 America West 4,033,754 6,237,061 11,455 American 26,512,203 38,822,755 82,470
KLM's board will reduce the company's number of outstanding shares by a maximum of 25% through a reverse share split and a capital redemption to shareholders. The transaction results in part from the sale of KLM's stake in Equant and the proceeds expected from the sale of its stake in Galileo International.
Foreign ownership of airlines and related issues could be resolved by multinational treaty, KLM Director Rutger Jan toe Laer suggested yesterday at the 8th International Aviation Symposium in Phoenix.His proposed "Treaty of Phoenix" would require open-skies agreements as prerequisites and would be a "face saver" for countries opposing foreign ownership. KLM is discussing the idea with Dutch aviation authorities and supports it in the European Union. A treaty "would make impending U.S.-EU negotiations a success," he said.
ARINC received FAA certification as a repair station for its San Diego engineering center. The shop can remove, inspect, test, repair and install radio and radio navigation equipment in all airframes. VP Stewart Baily said the license is an "important step toward becoming a full spectrum provider of avionics engineering, repair and installation services."
First Aviation Services is exploring the sale of its National Airmotive Corp. unit, a leader in gas turbine repair and overhaul. NAC registered record sales and profits in its most recent quarter. Management expects NAC to have sales of about $110 million and operating income of $10 million in the current fiscal year, he said.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey and National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall said yesterday they will co-sponsor a committee to examine how new flight data technology can help maintain the currently level of safety into the crowded skies of the future. Such technology, Garvey told an NTSB symposium in Arlington, Va., "could mean immediate access to critical information" for future accident investigators. The committee will be on an accelerated track, with a final report expected next spring. It will draw members from U.S.
AirTran Holdings Senior VP and Chief Financial Officer Richard Schroeter will leave the company at the end of June and move back to Minneapolis to be with his family, the company said yesterday. President Robert Fornaro will assume the additional duties of CFO.
Raytheon's Control-By-Light business segment delivered the first Distributed Flight Data Acquisition Unit (DFDAU) to Raytheon Aircraft's facility in Wichita last Friday to prepare to test the system on Raytheon's Beech 1900D, Raytheon executives told The DAILY. The DFDAU is a next- generation flight data recording system that uses fiber optic technology and remote sensors to gather and record data on passenger aircraft. The system already has undergone a bench test, with certification expected by yearend (DAILY, March 19).
Foreign ownership of U.S. carriers and cabotage are "unnecessary and impractical," Patricia Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, told attendees of the Eighth Annual International Aviation Symposium this week in Phoenix. Foreign capital would "drive out U.S. capital," she said, compromising job, safety, competition and national security. Friend said employees of foreign-controlled U.S. carriers would "probably be non-unionized" and the carriers likely would be low-cost, with their owners seeking the "cheapest way to operate.
Raytheon Control-By-Light and Smiths Industries Aerospace are jointly developing an optically powered aircraft fuel quantity indicating system that is expected to improve safety by eliminating all electrical connections between the fuel tank and the avionics and power buses. By replacing traditional twisted-pair copper wiring bundles, Raytheon's all-optical distributed sensors system will not be susceptible to electro-magnetic interference, lightning, arcing or wire chafing and corrosion. Smiths will provide the fuel gauging systems.
TWA logged a 1.3% rise in its total scheduled traffic on 0.6% less capacity for April 1999 compared with the same 1998 month, which boosted the load factor 1.4 percentage points to 77.2%. TWA flew 2.2 billion revenue passenger miles and 2.8 billion available seat miles. Boardings jumped 5% to 2,214,440, the highest for any April since 1978. Domestic RPMs climbed 6.1% to 1.9 billion and ASMs grew 3.2% to 2.5 billion, lifting the load factor 1% to 76.3%. Passengers flown grew 3.4% to 2.1 million.
Korean Air has reorganized the appointments of 25 senior executives to focus on ensuring aviation experience and specialization in key positions. Seventeen executives are in new positions, one was brought in from another Hanjin subsidiary, one was transferred to another subsidiary, one was a new appointment to KAL management and five changed their corporate status. Sang-Rok Kim, managing VP and head of the flight operations division, has stepped down and is being replaced by Managing VP and MD-11 Captain Myung-
U.S Major Carriers Productivity, In Revenues and Expenses Per Employee,Fourth Quarter 1998, In Dollars Total Total Operating Operating Revenues Expenses Total (000) (000) Employees Alaska 380,274 345,086 8,710 America West 496,541 461,757 11,455
The second terminal at Taiwan Chiang Kai-shek Airport will open for operations Jan. 1, 2000. An airport official said construction, which was nearly 20% behind schedule 12 months ago, is now 1.72% ahead of schedule. The opening of the US$665 million will bring the number of gates available at CKS to 43 from 30 at present and will give the airport a total of 90 departure counters, 94 entry document and identification checkpoint counters and 82 customs counters.
Singapore Airlines yesterday made its latest move to secure a position on the Star Alliance team by signing a marketing agreement with United. Singapore called the accord a "strategic bilateral alliance," indicating the level of closeness between the two. Code sharing was not mentioned as part of this alliance. The carriers will offer reciprocal frequent flyer privileges, starting July 1, and one-stop check-in capabilities from flights across both route networks in the third quarter.
Atlantic Coast Airlines, the Dulles, Va.-based regional carrier that operates in the eastern and midwestern U.S. as United Express, registered a 29% gain in traffic on 31.9% more capacity for April 1999 compared with the same 1998 month, lowering load factor 1.4 percentage points to 60.2%. ACA flew 86 million revenue passenger miles and 142.8 million available seat miles. Passenger boardings grew 28.2% to 267,366. Year-to-date RPMs jumped 43.1% and ASMs 37.1%, for a load factor gain of 2.3 points. Boardings rose 36.2%.
FAA officials this week demonstrated for the first time in the Asia-Pacific region how the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) works with the Global Positioning System (GPS) to provide precision approaches to airports. Previous tests were conducted in Mexico, Italy, Iceland and Chile. The latest demonstration was for 21 nations represented at the "Intermodalism and Satellite-Based Transportation Technologies" forum in Singapore. FAA worked with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore to provide the demonstration.
Air France's ground staff stationed in Nice went back to work yesterday after 20 days on strike. Air France calculated that in the two first weeks of the labor action, it lost 50,000 passengers. While the staff vote was unanimous, several unions rejected the agreement proposed by the management and called for "further actions to come." The strike aimed to show the union's opposition to subcontracting cabin cleaning and part of baggage handling. In the end, Air France pledged to suspend subcontracting of baggage handling and hire 15 additional staff members.
