Pegasus Aviation ordered 23 hushkits from FedEx to support its growing portfolio of 727 lease aircraft. The order brings the total number of kit orders by Pegasus to 44, making it FedEx's largest hushkit customer. The latest order will provide Pegasus a combination of lightweight and heavyweight Stage 3 kits to support varying takeoff weights and engine combinations.
...Jim Robinson, Fairchild Aerospace president, said the closely held company is in a "quiet period" before it goes to either the debt or equity markets for $400 million-$700 million to help finance the $1.2 billion 728JET program. He declined to say whether it would be a debt or equity offering. The program will require $400 million for product development and $300 million in inventory and working capital. Investment in the 42- to 44-passenger 428JET, which has been slipped to early 2003 due to 728JET demands, will be financed through cash flow.
Airlines operating at Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Airport want airport authorities to eliminate or reduce the HK$39 (US$5) levy charged to the carriers for every departing, arriving or transit passenger using the terminal building. The fee is in addition to the airport tax of HK$100 (US$12.80) paid for every departing passenger. Three airline officials who spoke to The DAILY on condition of anonymity said the levy is affecting their yield. "How can the airport authority charge the airlines for passengers using the terminal?" one official asked.
American and its Allied Pilots Association recessed mediated talks Tuesday evening over the Reno Air acquisition dispute and will resume them again in April. American said the two sides made progress in three days of discussions that began on Sunday outside Washington with mediator George Nicolau. Both sides have agreed not to discuss the negotiations while they are continuing. APA on Tuesday and Wednesday hosted the semi-annual meeting of the oneworld alliance's Flight Crew Coalition (DAILY, March 23).
FAA has successfully completed testing to make sure that its Leased Interfacility NAS Communications System (LINCS), which provides air traffic controllers much of the information they need to separate aircraft, will operate properly in 2000, the agency said yesterday. The system connects mission-critical radar, radio, computer and weather-reporting sites to ATC facilities. FAA said more than 5,000 components were upgraded to make the system Year 2000-ready, including 3,750 monitoring systems and 800 network switching systems.
British Airways franchise partner CityFlyer Express is adding another ATR 72 to its fleet in April. With the arrival of two more British Aerospace Avro RJ100s from August, plus its five ATR 42s, the London Gatwick-based airline will be operating a total of 18 aircraft on its European network this summer. CityFlyer plans to phase out its smaller ATR 42s over the next two to three years as it builds up its Avro RJ fleet.
Air France will open a reservations center next month in Wembley, near London, to handle calls from the U.K. and Ireland. In June, it will cover Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, answering in five languages. Air France considered three sites in Europe and chose London for its multilingual service ability.
Northwest said a claim in Minnesota Planning's report that Northwest carries 81% of passengers at Minneapolis is misleading because the figure includes connecting traffic (DAILY, March 24). Northwest says the correct figure is about 62%.
U.S. Major Carriers Fuel Analysis By Carrier Year Ended Third Quarter 1998 Fuel Percent of Cost Fuel Cost Expense Total Operating Per Gallon Per ASM (000) Expenses (Cents) (Cents) Alaska Domestic 271,376 21.2% 50.91 0.91 Latin 20,468 23.1% 49.80 0.80
Fairchild Aerospace has selected CASA of Spain to build the wing and empennage for the new 728JET family of large regional jets. The state-owned company previously built the wing for the Saab 2000, now out of production. CASA, it is said, is considering teaming with ATR on its proposed 70-seat AIRJET. Fairchild also has selected the team of AerMacchi of Italy, a long-time supplier, and France's Hurell-Dubois to produce the nacelle for the GE CF34-8D turbobans. Fairchild will produce the fuselage itself at its plant in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany...
ATR in a recent seven-day period delivered a record seven new turboprop aircraft to four customers, the Franco-Italian partnership reported. Tarom of Romania took delivery of four ATR 42-500s; Air Dolomiti of Italy received one ATR 72-500; Cimber Air of Denmark one ATR 72-500, and Arkia of Israel one ATR 72-500. Separately, ATR said its Asset Management unit placed 11 used ATR aircraft with eight carriers in Europe, South America and Africa during the first quarter of 1999.
DOT issued a show cause order tentatively allocating to United the 67 additional Chicago-London roundtrip frequencies available for the summer season, choosing United over American as the best way to "increase the opportunity for effective competition" in the market. All of United's proposed service is to Heathrow Airport, and DOT said the best use of the frequencies would be to maximize competition there.
Latin America is now the region with the strongest international traffic growth, despite troubles in Brazil, according to Francois Dormoy, IATA manager of business development.Chilean traffic is forecast to grow 10.5% annually through 2002, Peru 9.4% and Argentina 8.5%. Poland, Vietnam and China are other top international growth markets.
The timetable for House consideration of AIR-21, Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster's (R-Pa.) bill to use aviation trust fund surpluses for a substantial across-the-board infusion into aviation accounts, began to emerge yesterday as a result of a deal Shuster made with the House Republican leadership that essentially gave him what he wanted.
Kiwi, grounded Wednesday by FAA, met with agency officials yesterday to answer questions and find out what it will take to return to service. FAA revoked Kiwi's operating certificate, saying the airline's safety oversight had deteriorated to the point that "without constant monitoring" Kiwi "is no longer able to sustain safe operations." Kiwi appealed the revocation Wednesday night with the National Transportation Safety Board.
Orders and options for regional jets of up to 70 seats now stand at 1,817 aircraft, including those already delivered. That is just 10 years after Bombardier announced development of the Canadair Regional Jet in 1989. Included are 1,010 for the CRJ family, of which 776 are for the 50-seater and 234 for the 70-seater. Embraer has a total of 763, of which 454 are for the 50-seater and 309 for the 37-seater. Fairchild Dornier had hard orders for 44 32-seat 328JETs, but an options figure was not immediately available.
Atlantic Coast Airlines' common stock price tumbled in recent days but showed signs of turning around yesterday. The issue hit a closing high of $33.38 on March 9, falling 27.3% to $24.25 Tuesday. It came on news Monday that the United Express carrier would miss Wall Street earnings estimates for the first quarter by three to five cents per share due to weather-related canceled flights. Although average daily volume on the stock has been 301,000 shares over the past month, the volume hit 1.9 million shares Tuesday, falling to a low of $21.25 during the day.
DOT has tentatively decided to award Glennallen, Alaska-based air taxi Wrangell Mountain Air a certificate authorizing scheduled service. Wrangell intends to provide two roundtrips daily from May 15 to Sept. 15 between McCarthy, Alaska - in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park - and Chitina, Alaska, using one five-passenger Cessna 206. (Docket OST-99-5010)
Low-fare airlines garnered a 21% share of U.S. domestic traffic during 1998, more than ever before, according to a study by George Washington University and Roberts, Roach&Associates. The number of passengers on low-fare airlines has more than tripled this decade, to nearly 84 million last year from 25 million in 1990. Of all city-pairs with more than 300,000 annual passengers, 70% have "meaningful" low-fare competition, defined as a low-fare market share of at least 5%.
FAA said this week regional air carriers will enplane 71 million passengers this year, jumping to 74.9 million in 2000, an increase of 5.5%. By 2010, enplanements will reach 123.8 million, up 74.4% over 1999. The agency said in its annual forecast that regional revenue passenger miles will total 17.5 million this year, increasing by 116.6% in 2010 to 37.9 million. It predicted that the regional fleet would stand at 2,094 at the end of this year. That number is expected to grow 38.8% in 2010 to 2,886 aircraft.
Delta said yesterday that the first of 13 custom-designed 777 aircraft will arrive Friday at its Atlanta base. The aircraft is the first 777 with Delta's new BusinessElite cabin, with 52 seats for premium-fare passengers. The carrier said it will offer the "first intercontinental business class with five feet of space between its sleeper seats. There are no middle seats in the premium cabin, but there are 225 seats in the main cabin. The $1.4 billion 777 order will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines generating 92,000 pounds thrust each.
FAA's HOST and Oceanic air traffic control computer system replacement will be completely functional by October, FAA Administrator Jane Garvey said yesterday at the agency's forecast conference, sooner than the recent target of January 2000. Eleven of the 20 HOST replacement computers are running.
