Northwest flight attendants plan to hand out pamphlets at four airports today warning that "corporate greed is eroding customer service and threatening good jobs" at the carrier. Flight attendants, represented by the Teamsters, will hand out pamphlets at San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, Chicago O'Hare and Honolulu. Northwest flight attendants have been trying to reach a contract agreement for three years, the union said.
Lufthansa IT Services yesterday purchased a minority stake in New York-based aviation consultants Simat, Helliesen&Eichner Inc. (SH&E) for an undisclosed sum. The move is intended to broaden the consulting abilities of both companies and strengthen Lufthansa IT's growing North American presence. Lufthansa IT, separate from the airline, gains two seats on SH&E's nine-member board. For SH&E, with 100 employees, the connection with Lufthansa IT and its 1,300 workers is a step up.
Carol Carmody, former U.S. representative to ICAO, was presented this week with FAA's highest honor, the administrator's award for extraordinary service, even though she was a State Department employee during her term in Montreal. "We always felt she was part of our FAA family," said Assistant Administrator David Traynham.
American Eagle launched nonstop regional jet service from Dallas/Fort Worth to Knoxville, offering three daily roundtrip flights. On July 1 the carrier will initiate three daily RJ nonstops from Greenville/Spartanburg to Chicago O'Hare and two from Greenville/Spartanburg to Dallas/Fort Worth. It will add a third daily flight to DFW later this year.
Delta asked DOT for an exemption to engage in scheduled foreign combination service between points in the U.S. and Baku, Azerbaijan, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, launching U.S.-flag service to the two countries, "which are relatively thin markets that otherwise receive only very limited service." The U.S.-Uzbekistan open-skies agreement was completed in 1998. Delta plans to serve Baku under code share with Austrian Airlines, and the carriers separately submitted a 30-day notice of their intention to start the service under their alliance agreement.
Axon Airlines of Greece has leased two 737-700 aircraft from Bavaria International Aircraft Leasing Co. Axon, a new carrier based in Athens, plans to begin scheduled service within Europe this summer and have five aircraft in its fleet by yearend, according to Managing Director Haris Koutas.
China was confident enough this week about its Year 2000 systems testing to pledge that the country's air traffic control systems are Y2K compliant and any remaining issues will be solved by June 30. Y2K "will not affect air traffic control or passenger safety in China," the government said. The statement came this week as members of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) met with officials from 12 countries in Beijing. Eighty organizations were present.
Delta has introduced electronic mail offers at its SkyLinks web site. Customers can register at www.delta-air.com/email/index.html to receive automatic e-mail notification on Wednesdays of special fares available for travel the next weekend from their area. Tickets purchased through the web site are discounted, and Delta SkyMiles members who use it will earn 1,000 bonus miles for each roundtrip booked and flown by June 30.
DaimlerChrysler is flying a corporate A320 between Stuttgart and Detroit.The aircraft, configured with 52 seats, operates the route four times a week. It will be replaced in November by a similarly configured A319, which will make possible nonstop flights.
Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic December 1998 Revenue Ton Miles (000) January January % 1999 1998 Change Domestic Freight 746,245 771,814 (3.3) Mail 172,206 189,505 (9.1) Total 918,451 961,319 (4.5) International
Top 25 Domestic City-Pair Markets Over 750 Miles O&D Passengers Third Quarter 1998 1998 Average Long 1998 Non- Passen- Haul Mkt Stop ger Top Carrier Rank Rank City-Pair Mileage Per Day (% Share) 1 1 Los Angeles - New York 2,467 9,074 American (31.0)
Air France will expand worldwide service aggressively this summer and is intent on strengthening its alliances, Isabelle Koch, general manager for U.K. and Ireland, said as she announced the opening this month of a European reservations center near London (DAILY, March 26). Air France flew 34 million passengers in 1997-98 and posted an operating profit of 1.89 billion French francs (US$308 million). Koch pointed out that the French flag carrier is ranked fourth worldwide in international passenger transport and third worldwide for freight.
Delta announced policies for transporting animals during the summer. Effective immediately, passengers must notify Delta of plans to check a pet as baggage when the reservation is booked or as soon as plans are made. Especially during June, July and August, passengers with pets must travel in the morning or after 6 p.m. Delta will not accept live animal cargo if temperatures will reach 85 degrees F during any travel segment.
A report from American's Allied Pilots Association leadership to its rank and file warns of dire consequences for pilot jobs if American continues acquiring airlines and building alliances without APA running interference. The Special Report to the Membership lays out the union's concerns over the Reno acquisition and alleges that American would like to follow British Airways and Japan Airlines, whose pilots do not have a scope clause, in turning flying over to lower-paying partners.
Honeywell Airport Systems has formed an industry consortium to develop, certify and produce Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) equipment that will be integrated into the U.S. national airspace system, the company said yesterday. The consortium will include air carriers, airports, avionics suppliers and aircraft manufacturers, Honeywell said, and it will operate in partnership with (Continued) FAA to equip aircraft and airports to use Global Positioning System satellite data for instrument landings.
MetroJet is offering introductory fares to launch low-fare service between Washington Dulles and Columbus, Ohio, and St. Louis on April 7. One-way walkup fares of $59 for Dulles-Columbus and $85 for Dulles-St. Louis are available until April 16 for travel April 7-30.
Austrian Airlines this week began a second, later flight from New York to Vienna. In addition to its daily 6:30 p.m. departure from JFK, the carrier is operating a 9:30 p.m. nonstop three times a week. Beginning June 1, the late flight will operate six times weekly. The seasonal service ends Oct. 25.
Air-India has decided to reopen the office in Los Angeles it closed more than a year ago. Apart from serving its passengers and travel agents in the L.A. area, the office would help passengers on the code-share arrangement the Indian national carrier has firmed up with Singapore Airlines. The arrangement opens up connections from Singapore to several cities in India.
Vanguard Airlines yesterday proposed a one-for-five reverse stock split for shareholder approval May 18. The unusual move would reduce the number of outstanding shares to 17,078,549.
US Airways yesterday made plans to repurchase an additional $500 million in common stock, which will bring to $1.9 billion the total amount authorized for buyback. Nearly all of the $1.4 billion and 24.2 million shares previously authorized has been repurchased. The airline also said first quarter earnings will be affected by an "abnormally high number of cancellations" due to bad weather. US Airways still is transitioning to new information technology systems, a situation which "compounded" the bad-weather effects.
Challenging DOT's tentative allocation of 67 summer-season Chicago O'Hare-London roundtrip frequencies to United, American said it "disagrees with the outcome of the department's balancing test" for deciding the issue. In its tentative order, DOT said more competition at London Heathrow outweighs American's proposed daily London Gatwick service, which the carrier would operate for about three months during the seven-month season (DAILY, March 26).
Aerospace exports, imports and the trade surplus reached record highs last year, according to the Aerospace Industries Association's Aerospace Research Center. Exports rose by $14 billion to $64 billion and imports by $5 billion to $23 billion, AIA President John Douglass reported. The surplus, $41 billion, was up $8.7 billion from 1997. "Our legislators and government regulators need to remember that this $41 billion trade surplus is the largest in our national economy," Douglass said, contributing to "an all-time low" in the overall trade deficit.
U.S. and Argentine aviation officials, negotiating for four days last week in Buenos Aires, "made progress on all outstanding issues" that stand in the way of a U.S.-Argentina open-skies agreement, according to a DOT spokesman. The next round of talks is scheduled April 27-29 in Washington. Argentine President Carlos Menem visited the U.S. in January, and he and President Clinton urged their negotiators at the time to conclude an open-skies pact during the March meeting (DAILY, Jan. 13).
United and Aeronautical Radio Inc. (ARINC) have demonstrated that the flight management system in the airline's 747-400s will be able to communicate with ARINC's ground-based systems after Dec. 31. The companies used test facilities to conduct the experiment, so that current systems in operation would not be disrupted. The demonstration included the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), the global air-to-ground data link.
