House and Senate leaders "aren't even dialing [each other's] phones right now" to talk about renewing FAA's authorization, Norman Mineta, former congressman and chairman of the National Civil Aviation Review Commission, said yesterday.Speaking at a George Washington University Aviation Institute seminar, Mineta said backers of the House's six-month extension and the Senate's two-year bill are so far apart, Airport Improvement Program funds are once again in jeopardy of being suspended when the current bill expires March 31.
BFGoodrich said yesterday that operating income increased 27% in the fourth quarter and 31% for the year. David Burner, chairman, predicted "significant earnings growth" for 1999. BFGoodrich and Coltec agreed last November to a merger, which is expected by early April. The company reported sales for the quarter of $1 billion, up from $892 million. For the year, sales rose to $4 billion from $3.4 billion. Operating income for the quarter was $64.8 million, up from $51 million. For the year, operating income was $234.6 million, up from $179.3 million.
Evergreen International Aviation reported that revenues increased by 12% to $435 million in 1998, its fourth straight year of growth. The company experienced several turbulent years earlier in the 1990s at a time when U.S. airlines collectively lost $10 billion.
Munich Franz-Josef Strauss Airport will start construction of a second terminal this year. The building, to be financed and managed jointly by Lufthansa and airport company Flughafen Munchen GmbH, is planned to be operational in 2003 and have an annual capacity of 15 million passengers. Lufthansa and FMG have set up two companies - one for construction and one for management - in which FMG will hold 60% and Lufthansa 40%. Investment for the terminal will total DM1.3 billion (US$780 million).
Lufthansa Consulting and Mexicana signed an agreement to undertake a turnaround management project over three years. The German consultant will seek to improve the economic performance of the Mexican carrier, with emphasis on short- and medium-term cost reductions. Lufthansa Consulting already has agreed to train 4,000 Mexicana employees in service quality.
Vancouver, British Columbia-based Avcorp Industries posted a first-quarter loss of $184,000, or one cent per share, compared with earnings of $629,000, or four cents per share, for the comparable period one year earlier. Revenues increased 22% from the prior comparable quarter.
Canadian, objecting to an oral decision by DOT not to consider its pending application for Chicago O'Hare slots, asked DOT for exemption from the high-density restrictions at the airport, as several foreign carriers have done. The carrier wants six slots for the summer season so it can operate three additional daily Edmonton-Chicago and Vancouver-Chicago roundtrips. Canadian said its proposed service "qualifies as 'foreign'" under DOT statute, and the U.S.-Canada bilateral "does not in any way preclude issuance" of such an exemption to Canadian.
The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority's International Services Department will conduct a safety audit of air traffic services in Ghana under a contract from the Ghanaian Civil Aviation Authority. The award increases the role of the U.K. agency's consulting and training unit in Ghana's current assessment of how to manage ATS, regional airports and the privatization of Accra's Kotoka Airport. The newly contracted audit will review Ghana's technical strategy for ATS development in the Accra Flight Information Region and identify organizational issues.
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Aircraft Operating Costs Third Quarter 1998 Dollars Per Block Hour DC-10-10 American United Average Crew Cost $976 $1,061 $1,029 Fuel&Oil 1,126 1,219 1,184 Rentals - 12 8
Northwest said yesterday it will acquire 54 CRJ Series 200LR aircraft and has secured options for as many as 70 more of the 50-seat aircraft. Bombardier Aerospace said the Northwest order, at $1.3 billion, is its largest single sale to date. Mark Powers, Northwest VP-finance and president of Northwest Aircraft, said deliveries of the firm orders are scheduled to begin next April and continue through mid-2004.
A multinational military exercise that calls for jamming Global Positioning System signals along the East Coast of the U.S. is scheduled next week, sources told The DAILY yesterday. The exercise may be part of a Pentagon program aimed at developing counter-jamming techniques. The sources said GPS signals could be jammed for periods of up to six hours and the exercise could last for several days. It is to take place during nighttime hours and range from Jacksonville, Fla., to Newark, N.J., sources said.
FlightSafety International will provide flight simulator training for American Eagle under a recently signed agreement, FlightSafety said. The 15-year exclusive pact covers the use of ATR 72/42, Saab 340, Canadair RJ-70 and ERJ-145/135 simulators and "provides for simulator training facilities whenever the airline's needs exceed its internal training capacity," FlightSafety said. The agreement includes new aircraft types that may later be added to Eagle's fleet.
Excerpts from the House Transportation aviation subcommittee's recent hearing on FAA reauthorization, including testimony from FAA Administrator Jane Garvey and Air Transport Association President Carol Hallett, will be featured this week on Aviation News Today, to be broadcast Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Delta Chief Executive Leo Mullin, an alliance principal and supporter, called yesterday for governments worldwide to clear up the "morass of confusion" that clouds the outlook on airline partnerships. The European Union, conducting never-ending reviews of proposed and existing transatlantic alliances, is "very much unclear" about what its policy is, he said, and the U.S. is no better. At the same time, Mullin said Delta's alliance structure "isn't big enough to compete" with larger global groupings.
Delta and its Air Line Pilots Association unit have exchanged opening letters on pay and work rules for flying the 777, and negotiators are scheduled to meet later this month. ALPA representatives explained the openers last weekend in pilot lounges, and the union sent explanatory flyers to all pilots. Delta is scheduled to receive its first 777 next month and begin operations by summer.
New York-based Eastwind Airlines said yesterday it will initiate a daily nonstop Greensboro, N.C.-Boston service March 15, plus an additional Trenton-Greensboro roundtrip with direct and connecting services to Orlando. It will boost its Greensboro hub operation by doubling the number of daily scheduled flights to Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Trenton and Boston, and will start nonstop service from Philadelphia to Orlando and direct service from Pittsburgh to Orlando March 4.
TWA asked DOT yesterday for a dormancy waiver for seven U.S.-Japan combination frequencies the carrier planned to use beginning June 1 for St. Louis-Tokyo service (DAILY, March 18, 1998). TWA told DOT it could not operate the route profitably because of the "current distressed state of the Japanese economy in particular and Asian economies in general." The requested waiver would delay TWA's launch of the service by as long as a year.
The international routes from the U.S. with the most passenger volume reflect aviation's penchant toward funneling traffic through traditional gateways. But among the largest 39 routes analyzed by The DAILY, the biggest surprise was that the U.S. gateway in 10 routes was Los Angeles, not New York Kennedy, which had seven. The next largest gateways are San Francisco, with five routes; Miami, four, and Chicago O'Hare, three.
Aero California applied at DOT for an exemption to conduct Monterrey, Mexico-Chicago and Acapulco-Dallas/Fort Worth scheduled combination service. The carrier, designated by Mexico for such service, wants U.S. authority for an indefinite period in order to code share on American flights in the markets under an existing agreement between the carriers. The Mexican carrier filed separately for indefinite-duration blanket exemption authority to serve, under the American code share, any point in the U.S.
American's Allied Pilots Association (APA) has until April 12 to defend itself against contempt of court charges stemming from its failure to end a nine-day sickout after U.S. District Court Judge Joe Kendall issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) mandating a return to work. Kendall gave the union time to rebut American's claim of financial harm suffered from having to cancel more than 6,000 flights during the job action, waged in protest of talks surrounding the Reno Air acquisition.
United asked DOT to dismiss the carrier's complaint against the Russian Federation in light of the recent Russia-Germany agreement concerning third-country code-share services, amending their 1993 pact. United said it "expects the Russian Federation to restore its authority to code share" on Lufthansa's Frankfurt-Moscow flights. Russia's refusal to renew that authority prompted United's complaint (DAILY, Sept. 10, 1997). (Docket OST-97-2888)
WestJet said yesterday it is discussing a limited commercial agreement with Air Canada. The two airlines are not discussing exchange of equity or ownership, WestJet said.
The Association of Flight Attendants filed a petition Tuesday with the National Mediation Board calling for a representation election at Midwest Express. AFA filed the petition after receiving signed union authorization cards from what it called "an overwhelming majority" of Midwest's more than 350 flight attendants.
Boeing said airline demand for its digital troubleshooting aid for aircraft mechanics soared by 100% in 1998. The number of airlines using the portable maintenance aid (PMA) or signing letters of intent jumped from 47 at the beginning of the year to 95 at yearend. Boeing said the PMA puts an "entire technical library of key maintenance information in a laptop computer that a mechanic can carry directly to the airplane," eliminating trips to the crew room or airline reference library. A more powerful PMA will be available at midyear.
