Raytheon received a letter of intent from Boeing Business Jets and Executive Jet to design, engineer and install VIP interiors on nine Boeing NetJets aircraft, with options for 16 more. The work will be done at Raytheon's Waco, Texas, facility. A mockup interior contains a "spacious lounge," a dining/conference room, a private office convertible to a bedroom, a full bedroom suite and three lavatories, two with showers.
If the House votes to impeach President Clinton and the Senate trial sidetracks the FAA reauthorization, the $1.95 billion Airport Improvement Program (AIP) would be most in jeopardy, congressional sources acknowledged. FAA has an appropriation for all of fiscal 1999, which ends Sept. 30, 1999, but its six-month authorization expires March 31. The appropriation sets an obligation limit of $1.95 billion for AIP, but the authorization provides only a six-month AIP contract authority. This is "the hook" that requires reauthorization, one source said.
Great Lakes Aviation flight attendants asked the National Mediation Board for a proffer of arbitration to resolve stalled contract negotiations. Flight attendants, represented by the Teamsters, have been in talks with the company for more than one year.
A new breed of Loran "loop" antenna is immune to interference from electrostatic discharge from aircraft, according to recent tests at Ohio University sponsored by FAA in an evaluation of Loran as an aid to the Global Positioning System/Wide Area Augmentation System in IFR navigation. The high-voltage tests under extreme p-static conditions showed little degradation of Loran reception or performance, according to Robert Lilley of Illgen Simulation Technologies, who said there is "no longer the need to be concerned over Loran use under instrument weather conditions.
Aer Lingus has brought back its free companion-fare ticket to Ireland from the U.S., starting at $488 to Dublin, Shannon and Belfast. The "2For Ireland" fare is good for travel from Jan. 11 through March 10.
U.S. National Carriers Traffic November, 11 Months 1998 November November % 1998 1997 Change Air Wisconsin Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 76,885 42,834 79.5 Available Seat Miles (000) 116,143 78,172 48.6 Load Factor (%) 66.2 54.8
Frontier said yesterday that despite efforts by an investor, it has no interest in pursuing a merger with Kansas City-based Vanguard. "After careful consideration, we believe that a combination with Vanguard Airlines is not the best road for Frontier," said Chief Executive Sam Addoms. "Such a combination lacks strategic merit for Frontier and is inconsistent with our commitment to developing strengths at Denver." Investor Bill Hambrecht and his company, W.R. Hambrecht&Co., advocated a merger.
British Midland has won its appeal to serve Moscow from London Heathrow as the second U.K. airline in the market, after British Airways. The license originally was awarded to Virgin Atlantic, but Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott instructed the Civil Aviation Authority to re-hear the application after British Midland appealed. British Midland intends to operate four services a week initially, increasing to seven a week by summer 2000.
Last week's decision by European Union heads of government to reconsider the June 30 deadline for abolishing duty-free sales is "good news for the citizens of Europe and particularly for the users of European airports," says Airports Council International-Europe. The Council of Europe's request for a European Commission analysis by March of potential economic repercussions (DAILY, Dec. 15) is a major tactical victory for airports, the travel industry and other proponents of duty-free who have sought such a study.
DOT's international aviation policies "should mirror its substantial efforts to support and sustain new entrants and smaller carriers as an essential competitive force in domestic markets," US Airways Chairman Stephen Wolf told DOT yesterday in exhibits submitted by the carrier in the U.S.-Italy route proceeding. US Airways, Delta, American and the cities of Chicago and Philadelphia filed in the competition for seven weekly U.S.-Italy frequencies prior to a future open-skies agreement between the two countries.
Reducing runway incursions is a top aviation safety issue cited by the DOT Office of Inspector General in response to a House Government Reform and Oversight Committee request. Terming runway incursions "a major risk factor at airports," the OIG said FAA also must effectively implement its new inspection process, improve the accuracy of safety databases and enhance the quality of inspector training.
US Airways is offering electronic ticketing to all US Airways, US Airways Express, MetroJet and US Airways Shuttle destinations worldwide. President and Chief Executive Rakesh Gangwal said 45% of US Airways' passengers use e-ticketing, and more than 19 million have used it since it was introduced in April 1996. Customers can purchase e-tickets at US Airways' Internet reservations system.
Japan Airlines filed yesterday with the Japanese Ministry of Transport to start Tokyo-Dallas/Fort Worth nonstop service on March 15. JAL intends to operate three weekly flights using 314-seat 747-400s and code share with American beyond Dallas in the future. JAL also said it will discontinue Tokyo-Atlanta flights in mid-March. It has served the route for 13 years and currently offers three weekly flights, but Delta entered the market recently with daily service.
China Eastern selected Boeing to convert two MD-11s into freighters and took options for three more conversions, the manufacturer reported. The conversions will be done at Long Beach, Calif., under direction of Boeing Airplane Services, a new unit that brings together the company's modification and related engineering organizations and interior reconfiguration work.
Air Transport Association (ATA) and Northwest filed replies in the competition policy docket to comments made by Spirit Airlines and Alfred Kahn. Kahn filed late and Spirit filed at the comment deadline, Sept. 25, and ATA told DOT they were able to make new arguments while commenting on materials filed by ATA and others.
US Airways and its pilots union agree on the need to ditch the U.S.-U.K. Bermuda II agreement.The Air Line Pilots Association unit's Master Executive Council condemned the agreement unanimously in a recent resolution because, among other things, bilateral talks with the U.K. have broken down "due to intransigence on the part of U.K. negotiators." The resolution calls for support of DOT efforts to ensure U.S. carriers equal competitive access to the U.S.-U.K. aviation market.
South African Airways is increasing Hong Kong-Johannesburg nonstop service to three weekly flights to handle increased traffic from Hong Kong. SAA said more than 20,000 people have traveled from China to South Africa since the countries established ties last January.
Federal Express and the Fedex Pilots Association (FPA) believe they might have their first-ever contract in place before Christmas, FPA said yesterday. FPA spokesman Bob Clement said the two sides are close to finishing up contract language in several important areas, and he sees no "show-stoppers" on the horizon. He said pay discussions are "in the final stages" and noted that FedEx has said it wants a ratifiable contract this time. FPA members have rejected tentative contract agreements twice.
Air Canada reported a 9.5% increase in systemwide traffic on 3.4% more capacity in November, boosting the load factor 3.6 percentage points to 64.6%. The carrier flew 1.7 billion revenue passenger miles and 2.6 billion available seat miles. Domestic RPMs grew 8.5% to 614 million and ASMs 3.5% to 915 million, and the load factor gained 3.1 points to 67.1%. International RPMs climbed 10.1% to 1.1 billion and ASMs 3.4% to 1.7 billion, which caused the load factor to grew 3.8 points to 63.1%.
Pro Air launched Detroit City-Atlanta roundtrip service and added flights to Baltimore/Washington and Newark. The carrier will operate two Atlanta nonstops per day on business days and a reduced schedule on weekends. One-way unrestricted fares are $69 in coach and $144 in first class. Service to BWI and Newark increased from two flights per weekday to three in each market.
American asked DOT for an exemption to operate, under code share with Venezuelan carrier Aeropostal, combination service between points in the U.S. and six Venezuelan points - Barcelona, Barquisimeto, Maturin, Puerto Ordaz, San Antonio and Valencia - and to integrate the exemption with its U.S.-Venezuela certificate and exemption authorities. The carriers applied separately for code-share service authority under their recently signed code-share and marketing alliance (DAILY, Dec. 11). (Docket OST-98-4911)
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) yesterday lost its bid to represent American's more than 14,000 passenger service employees, as only 41% of the agents cast ballots for the union. Under the Railway Labor Act, a majority of the workers in a unit must vote for an election to be valid, and anyone not returning a ballot is counted as a "no" vote. CWA said it will file objections immediately with the National Mediation Board (NMB), charging illegal actions by American management during its representation drive.
