Michael Levine, executive VP-marketing and international and a major power at Northwest, is leaving the company as of Feb. 1. Levine will continue as executive VP until his retirement on Feb. 28. Levine previously was president of New York Air under Frank Lorenzo and the dean of Yale University School of Management. He also was general director of the now-defunct Civil Aeronautics Board. Levine, who has been with Northwest since 1992, is credited with the company's decision to overhaul its DC-9 fleet.
DOT, seeking to promote Alaska as a hub of international aviation, plans to include in reciprocal bilateral agreements a waiver of limits on the number of carriers and flights operated via Alaska by carriers of both countries, expanding designation and frequency limitations. DOT included such provisions in recently adopted annexes to the U.S-Russian bilateral. Under the plan, DOT would grant foreign carriers - excluding those of the U.K., but not affecting existing Alaska service by U.K. carriers - holding rights to serve the U.S.
Reno Air is increasing service between Los Angeles and San Francisco to a total of eight daily roundtrips as of March 1. The airline will add five flights in each direction and retime its current three flights to offer service every two hours throughout the business day. Reno spokeswoman Nancy Raymond said the move will increase service to Reno and American customers on one of the most important routes on the West Coast.
Rolls-Royce Trent 8104 turbofan has exceeded 110,000 pounds thrust during initial test runs, Rolls said. The engine is proving new technologies that will benefit all new members of the series, including a "swept" fan blade. The Trent 8104, to be certified at 104,000 pounds thrust, will offer the highest-thrust powerplant for the Boeing 777-200X/300X aircraft, Rolls said.
Crossair's new Internet home page offers direct booking, flight schedules and details on joining the airline's flight or ground crew. The web site address is www. crossair.ch.
American yesterday rolled out a new 757 painted in its 1959 livery to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first coast-to-coast jet flight it operated with a 707 on Jan. 25, 1959. The 757 yesterday participated in ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles.
Southwest is offering $39 one-way fares for intra-California travel through March 12. Southwest serves nine California cities - Ontario, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Burbank, Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento and San Jose.
The new year is ushering in a string of aviation privatization in Europe's Mediterranean countries. Air France, Iberia and Alitalia are scheduled to seek private investors almost simultaneously. The French and the Spanish carriers are set to begin the process immediately while Alitalia seems to be lagging behind.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) yesterday rescheduled tomorrow's planned markup of his FAA reauthorization bill, the Air Transport Improvement Act, until Feb. 3.
Spanair, Spain's second-largest airline, will add six MD-80 aircraft to its fleet and four more domestic cities to its growing list of destinations once dominated by Iberia. The carrier expects to sign a code-share agreement this year with a U.S. carrier in an attempt to gain greater international leverage in 2000. After growing its domestic fleet of 12 MD-80s serving 11 Spanish cities, Spanair will add two aircraft Feb. 21 and four more March 28.
ARINC said it has completed deployment of the first phase of the high frequency data link (HFDL) ground station network supporting the GlobaLink/HF data link service. The 10 ground stations provide coverage of most of the earth's surface with the heaviest air traffic routes. ARINC plans to deploy more ground stations this year and add capacity as needed.
Revised* Airport and Airway Trust Fund - Balance Sheet As of September 30, 1998 ASSETS September 1998 Undisbursed Balances: Available for Investment 601,409,674.41 TOTAL UNDISBURSED BALANCE (Cash in Account) Receivables: Interest Receivables 134,127,702.23 TOTAL RECEIVABLES Investments:
State of New York officials said yesterday they have submitted their final application to privatize Stewart Airport, Newburgh, N.Y. Gov. George Pataki said the application makes his state the first to privatize a commercial airport. The move would transfer Stewart from the state's department of transportation to a New York subsidiary of National Express Group plc, U.K., which has a variety of mass transportation operations and owns two regional U.K. airports, East Midlands and Bournemouth.
International Airline Support Group and Barlow Partners said yesterday they have been retained by World Airways to assist in a fleet restructuring and to explore other "operational, strategic and financial avenues" to develop a new business strategy. Last month, World announced management changes and a desire to increase its position in the cargo market. IASG President Alexius Dyer said the company has completed similar assignments at CCAIR, WestAir and Mesa.
American unveiled plans yesterday to build a $1 billion, 59-gate terminal at New York Kennedy Airport. The 1.9 million-square-foot facility, to be completed in 2006, will serve American, American Eagle and certain carriers with which American has marketing partnerships. The building's three concourses will accommodate more than 14 million passengers a year, and about 110,000 square feet will be devoted to concessions. American will build the terminal in four phases and expects to begin construction this year.
Newark-based Kiwi International Airlines reported a 4% gain in traffic on 1% more capacity for December 1998 compared with the same month in 1997, which boosted the load factor 2 percentage points to 61%. Kiwi flew 68.8 million revenue passenger miles and 112.1 million available seat miles. Passengers flown declined 1% to 68,880. Full-year RPMs grew 32% on 14% more ASMs, pushing the load factor up 8 points. Passengers flown rose 13%.
Daniel Mehan will be FAA's first chief information officer, Administrator Jane Garvey announced yesterday. Mehan, most recently international VP-quality and process management at AT&T, will serve as the principal FAA adviser on information technology and will direct strategic planning activities for information technology.
India's left-wing parties have threatened to launch nationwide protests against the Indian government's move to corporatize the country's international airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, and Bangalore (DAILY, Jan. 22).
America West, telling DOT that it qualifies as a new entrant by holding fewer than 12 slots at Chicago O'Hare, asked DOT to reallocate to America West five exemption slots held by Reno Air for Reno-Chicago service. The carrier said Reno Air is not using two of its seven O'Hare slots, which "have a 'use-it- or-lose it' condition," and asked DOT to transfer the two dormant slots to America West immediately so that it can operate a daily roundtrip of low-fare service during the high-demand, slot-controlled period.
COPA Airlines of Panama has ordered eight 737-700s and will lease two more of the aircraft from Tombo Aviation Services and two from GE Capital Aviation Services, Boeing said last week. Deliveries will begin in April. COPA serves 24 points in 18 nations in the Americas.
Northwest and its International Association of Machinists (IAM) unit reached a tentative contract agreement late Friday, and IAM leaders are confident the rank-and-file will ratify the deal when it comes to a vote. The proposed contract would provide 14% raises over its four-year term and pay 3.5% of wages retroactive to October 1996, when the contract became amendable. The contract affects 18,000 ground workers, ticket agents, reservations personnel, clerks and security guards.
American Airlines Cargo reported that freight ton miles for 1998 were down by 2.8% to just under two billion. For December, FTMs were down 3.5% to 116.8 million. Cargo President Dave Brooks said "international economic conditions have had an adverse effect on the demand for air freight services." AA Cargo expects capacity to increase about 10% this year due to delivery of new aircraft with improved cargo payloads.
UPS has signed an agreement with its China partner, Sinotrans, to expand UPS-branded operations to a total of 21 cities in China. The pact includes additional investments to develop dedicated operations and exchange training and managerial expertise.
The oneworld alliance - American, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas - will begin operations Feb. 1. The partners will begin phasing in a wide range of initiatives aimed at improving levels of service, value and increased opportunities for frequent flyer participants when flying to any of the 632 destinations served by the carriers.
Continental and Continental Express will increase jet service 25% over last summer from the Cleveland hub in conjunction with the opening of its new regional jet facility there. Continental will boost the number of destinations from 64 to 73, increasing jet-to-jet connection opportunities at Cleveland by 75%. Beginning in the spring, Continental Express will provide service to eight new cities, using 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145s, and add a third ExpressJet to St. Louis.
