Number of scheduled courier flights departing U.S. cities will top a record-high 40,000 this year, according to William Bates, president of the International Association of Air Travel Couriers, which publishes The Air Courier Bulletin. "We are beginning 1999 with 40% more courier flights than we had just six months earlier," Bates said. He attributed the growth to the opening of new routes to destinations such as Athens and Kuala Lumpur, the addition of Boston and Orlando as new courier cities and a stronger schedule from Washington, D.C.
Continental has asked DOT to dismiss a complaint filed by United States Travel Agent Registry (USTAR) after Continental and other carriers capped commissions on international travel booked by U.S. travel agents. USTAR filed against Continental, United, Delta and American in November claiming the airlines were practicing unfair discrimination against U.S. travel agents by capping their international commissions (DAILY, Dec. 3).
National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Robert Francis is on his third circumnavigation of the world. Francis leaves today for an American Association of Airport Executives meeting in Hawaii. He departs Jan. 7 for Manila for talks with the minister of transport and leaves Manila Jan. 12 for Hong Kong, where he will meet with officials at Cathay Pacific. He departs Jan. 13 for New Delhi and will be keynote speaker for the Aeronautical Society of India. On Jan. 20, Francis will depart for London, arriving back in the U.S. on Jan. 22.
Frontier Airlines has named Sean Menke director-planning and scheduling, including market selection and aircraft resource allocation. Menke most recently was senior planner-domestic scheduling planning at United.
Maintenance of all engines on an airplane at the same time or by the same team "presents the potential for error and the possible loss of thrust from all engines," according to two Boeing engineers. If possible, scheduled maintenance should be staggered to avoid multi-engine maintenance by the same personnel during a single shop visit, say Thomas Murray, a safety engineering analyst, and Vince Robel, manager of 777 engine programs.
Castle Harlan, a New York merchant bank, said it is acquiring AMR Services from AMR Corp. AMR Services provides ground services for 200-plus airlines at more than 60 major airports in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia.
DOT deferred through March 5 the period for taking action on United's complaint against the European Commission and the national authorities of Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, at the carrier's request. United filed a complaint July 8 with DOT on the conditions, precluding bilateral open-skies rights, the EC wants to impose on the carrier's alliances with Lufthansa and SAS (DAILY, July 9).
European Union efforts to regulate slot trading strictly are misplaced and irrelevant in light of the sector's long-established practice, airline and national aviation experts said at a slots seminar presented last month by the European Aviation Club in Brussels. "The EU is convinced that slot trading is the most important aspect facing liberalization of Europe's air transport industry, but in reality it has been taking place for years and is a political issue beyond [airport slot] coordinators' control," Eric Herbane, Paris airports coordinator, told participants.
U.S. Carriers Commission Expense Third Quarter 1998 Major Carriers % Of Total Commission Operating Expenses Alaska 26,453,000 7.16 America West 24,585,853 5.49 American 291,590,000 7.84 Continental 125,529,000 7.06 Delta 252,110,000 7.59
Hawaiian Airlines has acquired two DC-9-50s, joining 13 others of the type in its interisland fleet. The two aircraft previously were flown by Italian scheduled airline Meridiana.
Aviation Industry Stock Performance December 1998 Closed Closed Monthly Change Symbol 12/31/98 11/30/98 ($) (%) Alaska Air Group ALK 44.250 37.438 6.812 18.2 America West (Class B) AWA 17.000 14.125 2.875 20.4 AMR 1 AMR 60.250 65.938 (5.688) (8.6)
Legislation passed in the last congressional session imposing a waiting period on certain joint-venture agreements between major U.S. airlines does not apply to those carriers' pacts with non-airline partners, such as tour operators or rental car companies, DOT General Counsel Nancy McFadden wrote to counsel representing US Airways. The law would apply to blocked-space ticket-purchase agreements between or among major U.S. carriers but not between a carrier and tour or charter companies.
American's request that DOT deny Lufthansa Chicago O'Hare slots for a second daily summer season 1999 Chicago-Frankfurt roundtrip would "precipitate a serious bilateral controversy with the German government," the German carrier told DOT. Lufthansa said American bases its argument on one instance in which American was allocated arrival and departure slots at Frankfurt, for service to New York, within one hour of the times it requested (DAILY, Dec. 22).
American and Delta jointly asked DOT yesterday to reconsider the one-year exemption the department granted to Northwest and Continental from certificate transfer requirements, contrary to DOT policy on acquisition of control of one carrier by another. The carriers filed no application, and DOT gave no notice for interested parties to comment. (Docket OST-98-4963)
The government of India has no immediate plans to merge state-owned carriers Air-India, which operates international routes, and Indian Airlines, which operates a domestic network, according to Civil Aviation Secretary P. Jayakrishna. Responding to questions from The DAILY after the carriers' joint board proposed a merger and was immediately sacked (DAILY, Dec. 17), Jayakrishna said no merger can take place without the consent of the minister of civil aviation, and the final say has to come from the prime minister.
Swissair yesterday agreed to install an intranet system to boost its sales, marketing and human resources departments. The system is the third major efficiency enhancement from Cambridge, which relaunched Swissair's web site last summer and introduced an interactive sales software program Dec. 14. The human resources element of the system will be available to all 7,800 employees in 130 worldwide offices.
Thai Airways International has taken delivery of its first 777-300. The business-class seats are equipped with personal computer power outlets, integrated telephones and in-seat videos. A Communications Center with a fax, table and telephone is available to all passengers. Thai, a launch customer, powers its 777-300s with Rolls-Royce engines.
Delta will announce today a major international expansion, mostly from its megahub in Atlanta.The airline will unveil four new routes, including three from Atlanta, but all to destinations it already serves.
In a bid to clear approval bottlenecks, revamp the private investment system and attract foreign investors, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said he will create a separate ministry to expedite the screening process for project approvals in infrastructure sectors, including civil aviation. The Ministry for Infrastructure Development (MID), to be structured on similar models in Japan, the U.S. and South Korea, will serve as a "single-window" nodal agency for clearing projects involving energy production, ports, and road and rail construction.
FAA issued an emergency order requiring the deactivation of thrust reversers on Airbus A310 and A300-600 aircraft powered by Pratt&Whitney engines to "prevent inflight deployment." FAA said it was notified by French authorities (DGAC) that the thrust reverser of engine number one of an A300-600 had deployed during climb. FAA said a subsequent investigation revealed that the pressure regulator shut-off valve was defective.
AirNet Systems named William Sumser acting chief financial officer, replacing Eric Roy, who resigned his positions as executive VP, CFO and director Jan. 1.
