Sen. John Rockefeller IV (W.Va.), ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee, and four other Democratic senators have introduced a bill that would create a five-year, $100 million pilot program of grants for local initiatives by as many as 40 small and underserved communities to attract and promote air service.
The European Union's proposed non-addition noise rule, which Northwest said is discriminatory and aimed at excluding hushkitted U.S. aircraft from the European aviation market, would "mark the end of international respect for global aircraft performance standards and encourage even more discriminatory rules designed to advance parochial interests," U.S. enginemaker Pratt&Whitney told DOT, joining U.S. carriers, manufacturers and associations rallying behind Northwest's complaint.
TWA traffic for January fell 7.8% on 7.1% less capacity, which lowered the load factor 0.4 percentage points to 62.6%. Domestic traffic was down 4.5% on 3.4% less capacity, reducing the load factor 0.7 points to 62.3%. International traffic dropped 23% on 24.5% less capacity, resulting in a load factor of 64.7%, up 1.3 points. TWA said severe weather in St. Louis in early January resulted in a loss of 76 million revenue passenger miles. If the airline had operated those flights, traffic would have risen 1.7%.
The Northwest-Continental alliance may decrease competition in certain markets and could potentially harm consumers, according to a General Accounting Office report to Congress. The American-US Airways and United-Delta alliances may increase operating and marketing entry barriers for certain airlines, GAO said in an expansion of an earlier report to Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, and Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), chairman of the aviation subcommittee.
China Airlines is studying the feasibility of purchasing as many as eight new freighter aircraft. While reports published in several leading dailies said the carrier is looking at eight new 747-400s, a company spokesman stressed that the plan still is in the initial stage and that neither the number nor the type of aircraft has been decided. "We believe that the outlook for cargo operations is extremely favorable," he said. "However, any major investment must be undertaken only after a thorough study is concluded.
Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs has announced plans to permit easier importation of certain petroleum products, including jet fuel. Under new regulations, local petrochemical companies will be allowed to import liquefied petroleum gas, fuel oil and jet fuel for resale on the domestic market. The action will break the monopoly on sales of these products long held by the Chinese Petroleum Corp. Taiwan announced plans earlier for the complete liberalization of its oil and gas markets before the end of 2000.
DOT sent the Clinton administration's FAA legislative program to Congress yesterday, proposing an air traffic control system operated as a performance-based organization (PBO) with what a senior FAA official described as a "steady, reliable stream of funding" from user fees and a gradual reduction of excise taxes by 50% or more. Non-ATC operations would be funded by excise taxes. Eligible airports would be able to increase their passenger facility charges (PFCs) from the current cap of $3 to $5.
Boeing 747 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Third Quarter 1998 B747-100 United Total Number of Aircraft Operated 6 6 Total Fleet Operations Departures 11 11 Block Hours 63 63
Boeing said yesterday it has reached the firm design configuration stage in development of the 737-900, the longest of the next-generation 737s. At 138 feet two inches, the Dash 900 is nearly nine feet longer than the 737-800 and will accommodate 18% more cargo volume. The passenger cabin area will be about 9% larger but capacity will be the same as the 737-800's, 189 passengers, because Boeing would have to add another emergency exit to increase it. The requirement for an aisle to the door would have minimized the number of seats that could be added, Boeing said.
Northwest amended its exemption application for U.S.-Mexico code sharing with Continental to add two city-pairs, Newark-Mexico City and Houston-Cancun, opened by the Jan. 26 U.S.-Mexico cooperative marketing annex.
Qantas, in an unprecedented test of passenger loyalty, plans to charge its frequent flyers a fee for account keeping. Effective June 1, the airline will charge its members A$20 (US$13) every two years to recover some of its program administration costs. Members who fail to pay within 30 days from the effective date will have their accounts suspended. Several regular Qantas passengers told The DAILY in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore that the move is a slap in the face for their loyalty. "The situation now is take-it-or-leave-it for the customer.
Northwest traffic fell 6.8% last month on 6.8% less capacity, which left the load factor unchanged at 66.2%. Domestic traffic fell 5.3% on 5.4% less capacity, keeping the load factor at 62.2%. International traffic declined 8.8% on 8.8% less capacity, resulting in a load factor of 72.3%, unchanged from January 1998. Cargo traffic was down 5.1% to 163.9 million ton miles.
Singapore Airlines continued its string of international airline awards in January, winning 23 separate best-airline accolades from publications and groups in Europe, Asia and North America. It nearly swept the Jan. 19 OAG awards in Hong Kong, with 11 gold awards. The honors came as the carrier launched a S$500 million program to upgrade aircraft interiors.
Ranking House Transportation Committee member James Oberstar (D-Minn.), annoyed by European Union plans to impose restrictions on hushkitted Stage 3 aircraft (see Page 224), plans to introduce a bill today removing the noise waiver that allows supersonic Concorde flights to the U.S.The bill bars operation of any supersonic civil transport to the U.S. if it does not comply with Stage 3 rules.
United plans to suspend fights to New Delhi from London and Hong Kong April 4 because of disappointing profitability and a likely slowdown in traffic during India's lean summer season, United officials said yesterday. The airline's management in India declined to give a date for resumption of service, citing pending decisions on "certain major operational issues....But we're certainly intent on resuming the service later in the year," a senior official said, adding that the carrier is exploring the introduction of nonstop flights between the U.S. and India.
Swissair will suspend its two weekly MD-11 Hong Kong-Bombay-Zurich services effective March 24, citing increasing overhead costs. It will be the fifth airline to reduce or suspend flights into Hong Kong due to high landing charges and escalating operational cost in the former British colony. The other four are Varig, SAS, Lauda Air and United.
New Air Corp., which plans to apply soon for FAA and DOT certification for scheduled combination service, applied at DOT for exemption from the high-density rule at New York Kennedy.
Midway Airlines last week started nonstop New Orleans-Raleigh/Durham service, using the 11th of its new Canadair Regional Jets. Midway will offer two daily roundtrip flights that connect to the Northeast and Midwest.
American Chief Financial Officer Gerard Arpey gave AeroPeru General Manager Jaan Albrecht a letter of intent Friday to conduct a due diligence process that could lead to the purchase of the Lima-based carrier, The DAILY has learned. At press time Friday, Albrecht was expected to reveal some of his recent negotiations with American at a Lima news conference. Delta, which owns 35% equity in AeroPeru, supports the move to bring more money into the Peruvian carrier. "Delta recognizes that AeroPeru needs to produce new investors," said Delta spokesman Todd Clay.
Boeing 737 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Third Quarter 1998 B737-300 America West Continental Delta Southwest Number of Aircraft Operated 44 79 13 200 Total Fleet Operations Departures 252 305 69 1,549
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