American is expanding its code share with Iberia by placing the AA code on Iberia's daily New York-Barcelona service, which will begin March 28. The carriers began code sharing last May.
America West has appointed C.A Howlett senior VP-public affairs. Howlett will continue to be responsible for federal, state and local government relations, congressional and legislative affairs and community service for the holding company, the airline and America West's leisure travel subsidiary, The Leisure Company. Howlett has been with America West since 1995 as VP-public affairs.
TWA's 83.2% reported on-time rate for February means the company has reached one of its major goals for 1999, and as a reward each of about 22,000 employees will receive a $100 bonus. TWA spokesman Jim Brown said the on-time rate was the company's highest for any February since DOT began reporting performance. TWA's completion rate for February was 98.6%.
Aer Lingus will debut its nonstop service from Dublin to Los Angeles on May 28 with specials aimed at attracting families. The Los Angeles family fare of $1,999 covers roundtrip travel for a family of four and is less expensive than the $698-per-person introductory fare. Aer Lingus will operate an A330-200 on the route, which continues to Shannon three times a week.
AlliedSignal said its new 331-600 auxiliary power unit has been selected for two growth versions of the Airbus A340. The contract is expected to generate more than $1 billion in original equipment, aftermarket parts, repairs and overhaul services. The first 331-600 engine to test will be this May with entry into service in 2002.
Continental wants to operate U.S.-Mexico code-share service with Northwest and Alaska. Continental applied for exemption authority to code share with Northwest between Detroit and Cancun, Cozumel, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City; Memphis and Cancun; Minneapolis/St. Paul and Acapulco, Cancun, Cozumel, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Puerto Vallarta and San Jose del Cabo, and between Tampa and Cancun.
Air Transport Association (ATA), on behalf of four airlines and supported by pilots unions and industry, is expected to request within two weeks that FAA increase by 15% the maximum flying time from an airport, currently 180 minutes, that carriers may operate Boeing's 777 twin-engine transport. Requests are expected to follow that carriers also be allowed to operate Airbus's A330 twin 207 minutes from a landing site. This summer, FAA is expected to get a request to allow 180-minute extended twin-engine operations (ETOPS) for the next-generation Boeing 737s.
Malaysia Airlines has moved up the launch date of its new service from Kuala Lumpur to Manchester, U.K. MAS began flying yesterday, after originally planning to start July 1. The new route operates with 777s three times a week, and flights in both directions include a stop in Munich. Service to Manchester, MAS's 112th destination, is in addition to 14 weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to London.
Japan Airlines and Singapore Airlines plan to expand their code-share freighter flights between Tokyo and Singapore from one a week to three a week, beginning next month. Subject to government approval, the two new code-share flights will include one service with a Japan Airline 747-200 freighter and one with a SIA 747-400 freighter. The code-share freighter service began in November 1998. JAL currently operates five all-cargo flights using its own aircraft on the route.
Japan Airlines yesterday confirmed that it is exploring the development of a joint computer reservations system with domestic competitor Japan Air System. The action is being taken to lower costs for both carriers, although JAL spokesman Goro Abe insists that both airlines are being careful to share system costs but not data. "We won't be seeing each other's reservations," Abe said. The joint CRS system could cut reservations expenses up to 20%. JAL and JAS have signed no agreement, and development is expected to take several years.
Air New Zealand passengers soon will be able to look downward and out through the nose of a new Boeing 747-400. The aircraft is outfitted with a landscape camera. Channel 10 of its inflight entertainment system will show downward views and channel 11 forward views, enabling passengers to follow takeoffs, landings and everything in between. ANZ also is conducting trials of inflight cordless phones.
The European Union will postpone its decision on banning hushkitted aircraft, which was scheduled to be formalized on March 9. "We have interest in defusing the tension with the United States," a spokeswoman for EU Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock said yesterday in Brussels. The U.S. has been opposing EU plans to forbid the addition of hushkitted aircraft to EU carrier's fleets as of April 1.
Uzbekistan Airways (UZB) asked DOT for indefinite-duration authority to block space for Air Ukraine and display its designator code on nonstop New York-Kiev flights. UZB said it will operate its Tashkent-New York service via Kiev rather than Amsterdam, beginning April 2. Air Ukraine has an exemption for Kiev-New York service, and UZB may serve Tashkent-Kiev-New York under its foreign carrier permit. U.S.
The House Transportation Committee has not decided how it will address removal of slot restrictions at Chicago O'Hare Airport in FAA reauthorization legislation it is working on, a committee spokesman said yesterday. He said there is a 50/50 possibility a decision will come this week. The slots provision is attached to FAA reauthorization legislation the panel is preparing for House consideration after a reauthorization for the balance of fiscal 1999 clears Congress.
China Southern Airlines will commit to spending $250 million on facilities and pilot training during the next 20 years at its Western Australia Flying College, said Chairman Yan En Yu. The college is a joint venture between the airline and its managing director, Barney Fernandes. China Southern plans to train 3,000 pilots at the college, 250 kilometers east of Perth. The carrier placed training costs at $100,000 a pilot.
United agreed to a second limited waiver, through June 3, of the 180-day statutory deadline for DOT action on the carrier's complaint against the European Commission and the national authorities of Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. United challenges the EC's intention to impose conditions, regardless of bilateral open-skies rights, on United's alliances with Lufthansa and SAS (DAILY, July 9, 1998). DOT extended the deadline until March 5 (DAILY, Jan.
As the U.K. government moves to separate air traffic control system operations from regulatory oversight, the head of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sees advantages in a combination of functions that draws criticism of FAA in the U.S. - regulating the system and promoting aviation. "My view is that, while they [the regulators] will remain the guarantors of standards, they will also come to be seen, and to see themselves, as champions of the flying public," CAA Chairman Malcolm Field said in a speech at last week's ATC Maastricht '99 conference in The Netherlands.
