DOT approved a joint application by Delta and China Southern for code-share service between Guangzhou, China, and 17 U.S. points, via Los Angeles. China Southern was granted an initial one-year exemption - it had requested the authority for two years - to provide scheduled foreign combination service between Guangzhou and Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Fairbanks, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.
Carol Carmody, U.S. representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization for five years, said yesterday she is leaving her post at the end of the week to work as a consultant for the Air Transport Association.
Cathay Pacific will add personal televisions with 10 channels on March 1 to economy classes of nighttime flights from Los Angeles and New York to Hong Kong. The personal TVs, located in the seatbacks of the 747s, will include dedicated programming for Asian passengers. Three-times-weekly daytime flights will feature the upgraded economy class by yearend. The new daily San Francisco-Hong Kong nonstop is flown with Airbus A340-300s, which have personal TVs in all classes.
House Commerce Committee Ranking Democrat John Dingell (Mich.) entered the increasingly crowded field of aviation legislation yesterday by introducing a bill that embraces passenger rights and competition enhancement, including airport slot auctions.
Olympic Airways merchant bankers Salomon Smith Barney and National Bank of Investment and Industrial Development are reviewing the bids of companies wishing to take over management of the troubled Greek airline. Contrary to what was announced earlier, the Greek government shied away from releasing the list of candidates. Greek government sources said they were surprised by the number of candidates, which include foreign airlines and their subsidiaries. Greek press reports claim British Airways' Speedwing is leading the race, ahead of Lufthansa and American.
SunJet, the New York-based low-fare carrier to Florida, will expand its schedule March 4 with nonstop service from Newark to West Palm Beach and Orlando at one-way fares starting at $79. The new service brings SunJet's number of daily New York-Florida flights to seven. Flights from Newark to West Palm Beach and Orlando will operate daily except Tuesdays. On March 4, SunJet also will reinstate service from New York Kennedy and Islip to Fort Lauderdale.
Mercury Air Group said it has restructured the operations of subsidiary Mercury Air Cargo with a letter of intent to sell cargo-handling operations at Miami Airport. The Miami operations "never attained sufficient revenues" to make a profit, and the termination is expected within 60 days, it said. Mercury Air has cargo operations in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Montreal and Toronto.
Joe Tymczyszyn, career FAA pilot who flight-tested the Cessna 504 and the first Boeing 707 and DC-8, ushering in the jet age, died Feb. 19 at his home near Lancaster, Calif.
FAA said it plans to fine Airborne Express and three companies with which it contracts to handle hazardous materials a total of $210,000. FAA alleged the companies failed to provide "appropriate training to employees who handle and load hazardous materials for transportation by air." The three companies are Hilson&Fergusson, Fernandina Beach, Fla.; Canuck Industries, Bellingham, Wash., and Motor Air Dispatch, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Czech Airlines (CSA) withdrew its request for an exemption from slot restrictions at Chicago O'Hare for twice-weekly Chicago-Prague nonstops. The carrier told DOT that "contrary to prior assurances, it has proven impossible for CSA, in a timely fashion, to locate an aircraft configured and equipped comparably to the two aircraft" it uses for transatlantic operations. It planned to use an A310-300 on the route (DAILY, Jan. 19).
Star Alliance member airlines are launching an information technology organization with as many as 20 IT employees. The group will work in one location, to be determined, and manage systems development for all member carriers. Staff assignments will last two years initially.
Qantas used its on-board defibrillators to help save the life of a passenger in the boarding area at Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Airport on Feb. 1. After being the first carrier to use the technology, Qantas upgraded its equipment last year.
Americans have a "special relationship" with the U.K. and expect it to "speak out loudly in our defense when the EU proposes anti-American legislation," John Douglass, president of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), said yesterday in London. Douglass told the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC), "If you do not, the disappointment will be palatable on our side, and it will be a factor in the political reaction to future U.S.-U.K. joint endeavors."
McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co., an indirect subsidiary of Boeing Co., and MD Helicopters Holding, an indirect subsidiary of RDM Holding, said they have completed an agreement on the purchase of the Boeing MD 500, MD 600N and MD Explorer series of light commercial helicopter lines. The sale was approved by the Federal Trade Commission. RDM also builds submarines and other defense vehicles.
Northwest's clerical, ramp and security employees represented by IAM ratified their contracts Northwest's clerical, ramp and security employees represented by the International Association of Machinists ratified their contracts yesterday. Clerical, office, fleet and passenger service voted 6,249-2,038 in favor. Equipment service and stock clerk employees approved their contract 3,277-2,071, and plant protection employees ratified their agreement 13-3.
The government of Malaysia has turned down an application by Air Asia, the country's second designated national carrier, to operate international flights from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Kuala Lumpur. Failure to get approval prompted the airline to drop its Kaohsiung, Jakarta, Pattaya and Taipei routes. Using two leased 737-300s, it operates domestic services to Langkawi Island, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Miri and Labuan. The government's decision frustrates Air Asia's hopes to expand and become a full-fledged international carrier.
American reiterated its offer during the weekend to seek arbitration or mediation to help resolve its dispute with the Allied Pilots Association (APA) over its acquisition of Reno Air. The two sides last met on Thursday and the APA board was scheduled to meet yesterday to consider the proposal for outside intervention. The airline said yesterday APA's key demands are "simply out of step with regard to an airline merger," and it accused the union of presenting "a huge obstacle to concluding this deal.
FAA and the Luggage and Leather Goods Manufacturing Association unveiled a brochure providing guidance to travelers on carry-on baggage. The brochures will be distributed through FAA's Aviation Safety Program and to airlines and travel agents, and members of the association will distribute them with luggage products.
America West announced yesterday that it has "terminated consideration of expressions of interest" by other carriers in acquiring the Phoenix-based airline. The decision caps a month of speculation that United would acquire America West (DAILY, Jan. 22). America West said it reviewed the "highly conditioned expressions of interest," as well as antitrust, regulatory and employee factors, and favored remaining on its own. "We are confident about the company's future as an independent airline," said America West Chairman Bill Franke.
United Technologies Corp. will acquire Sundstrand Corp. for $4.3 billion in cash and stock in what analysts consider a move to solidify its aerospace business and its place in the market. Announcing the deal yesterday, the companies said UTC will pay 50% in cash and 50% in stock to combine Sundstrand with its Hamilton Standard division and form one of the world's largest suppliers of airframe components and subsystems, to be named Hamilton Sundstrand. The deal is subject to approval by Sundstrand shareholders and regulatory reviews in the U.S.
International Lease Finance Corp. said 1998 pretax income rose 6.9% to $562.3 million from $526.2 million and revenues 4.5% to $2.05 billion from $1.96 billion.
Spanair launched nonstop service from Madrid to Alicante, Vigo and Oviedo Sunday. With three daily roundtrips to each destination, the expansion is the first of several route moves this year. Spanair is offering a $297 roundtrip fare from Washington Dulles to Madrid and the new cities, as well as other Spanish destinations, through April 30.
A House subcommittee yesterday issued a periodic report on government resolution of Year 2000 computer problems and gave DOT and FAA an F, down from a D last November. An FAA spokesman took the rating in stride, saying the agency remains on target to meet its June 30 deadline for Year 2000 compliance.
