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.
By all rights, Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), the very visible chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, should be staying out of the spotlight. Under a Republican Conference rule that limits chairmanships to six years, he is in his last two years as chairman of House Transportation. House sources say his attempt to retain a seat on the House Intelligence Committee was denied by new Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), an abrupt putdown compared with former Speaker Newt Gingrich's (R-Ga.) willingness to overlook House rules to permit Shuster to stay.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic January 1999 (000) January January % 1999 1998 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 856,000 767,000 11.6 Available Seat Miles 1,379,000 1,254,000 10.0 Load Factor (%) 62.1 61.2 America West
Change U.S. Major Carriers RPM Market Share 1994 to 1998* 1994 1995 1996 United 21.939% United 22.069% United 21.591% American 20.016% American 20.281% American 19.356% Delta 17.493% Delta 16.811% Delta 17.379% Northwest 11.852% Northwest 12.369% Northwest 12.714%
Air France and Middle East Airlines will cooperate and code share on service to several cities beyond both ends of the Paris-Beirut route. The agreement, effective June 1, is part of a formal discussion between the airlines that began last August. Both carriers serve Paris-Beirut with A310s, Air France nine times per week and MEA 10. MEA will transfer its flights from Paris Orly to Air France's Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2 hub, giving it connections to 90 destinations beyond Paris.
Appropriators concede that the biggest aviation issues this year are in the authorizing committees - taking the aviation trust fund off budget, the general revenue fund contribution to FAA spending, reallocating slots, competition and increasing passenger facility charges. One congressional source likes to put it this way: The authorizers "will figure out the architecture of the system" and the appropriators "will figure out how to pay the bill."
Air Canada reported a 0.4% increase in systemwide traffic on a 2.2% decline in capacity for January 1999 compared with the same 1998 month, which pushed the load factor up 1.7 percentage points to 64.9%. Systemwide, the carrier flew 1.7 billion revenue passenger miles and 2.6 billion available seat miles. Domestic RPMs grew 0.5% to 580 million on a 1.2% drop in ASMs to 890 million, boosting the load factor 1.2 points to 65.2%. International RPMs rose 0.3% to 1.1 billion on 2.7% fewer ASMs, or 1.7 billion, growing the load factor 1.9 points to 64.7%.
General aviation industry, which is introducing new models at a rapid rate, also is pouring money into research and development. Dave Caplan, chairman of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association and head of Pratt&Whitney Canada, said the company has invested $400 million in R&D over the past two years, "over 20% of our sales." Other industries average R&D spending of 3% to 4% of sales.
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chairman of the House Appropriations transportation subcommittee, has found himself frequently on the opposite side of issues from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and its high-profile chairman, Bud Shuster (R-Pa.). This year promises to be no different. Before the current Congress was sworn in last month, Wolf was making it abundantly clear that he opposes Shuster's plan to take the aviation trust funds off budget. In a Dec.
Northwest's International Association of Machinists unit, representing about 18,000 employees, said yesterday that preliminary results of a contract ratification vote indicate the tentative deal will pass. A union spokeswoman said the official vote will be tallied next week. IAM represents clerical, office, fleet and passenger service personnel, in addition to baggage handlers, stock clerks and plant security workers.
