FAA said it plans to fine Northwest $375,000 for "violating maintenance requirements" on a DC-9 and "operating the airplane in an unairworthy condition." The agency said it acted after a review of discrepancy reports filed by pilots who flew the aircraft in July 1997 after a wing spar had been repaired.
Swissair, having suffered what it termed "years of competitive disadvange" with respect to European Union carriers, said it is satisfied with the bilateral agreement negotiated last week with the European Commission (DAILY, Dec. 14). The Swiss government and the EC included aviation in the package deal by which they concluded nearly five years of on-and-off negotiations to balance transportation interests between the two parties.
United and the Air Line Pilots Association have agreed on how to equip the airline's Boeing 777B fleet with crew rest facilities, the last step needed for United to operate the aircraft in the Pacific for the first time. On nonstop flights longer than 12 hours, FAA requires U.S. airlines to have dedicated pilot rest facilities. The 777B crew rest area will be similar to that of United's 747-400s. At the same time, United will add bunks for flight attendants as well, in compliance with their contract.
U.S. Major Carriers Pacific Share of Service Third Quarter 1998 Total Revenue Departures American 709 Delta 919 Northwest 4,851 United 5,699 Total 12,178 Average Number of Seats Per Departure American 232
Air Atlantic Dominicana received a one-year exemption renewal from DOT to operate scheduled foreign combination service between Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and co-terminal points Miami, New York/Newark and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Aerolineas Uruguayanas received an initial one-year exemption to engage in charter cargo service between Uruguay and the U.S. and operate other all-cargo charters. Neither carrier will be allowed to conduct U.S.
Air Line Pilots Association said yesterday it will recommend that its members not perform land and hold short operations (LAHSO) after Feb. 19 if FAA cannot adequately address its concerns about the safety of such operations. Both FAA and the Air Transport Association expressed confidence that a resolution of ALPA's concerns can be found before that date.
Passenger volume at the seven U.K. airports operated by BAA plc increased 7.1% year-over-year in November to 8.1 million, BAA reported. More than 7 million of them used the three London-area airports, where Stansted continued rapid growth through development of scheduled service to Europe. Volume at Stansted was up 34.2% to 527,300 for the month and 25.4% to nearly 6.7 million for the first 11 months of 1998. London Heathrow served nearly 4.6 million passengers during the month, up 3.4%, and the total at Gatwick was 1.9 million, up 10.1%.
Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) predicts that 325 million international passengers will travel to, from and within the Americas by 2011, more than double the 1996 total of 154 million. The Americas' traffic will grow 5.1% annually through 2011, according to the forecast. The U.S. is expected to grow somewhat more slowly, at 4.9% per year, but will continue to generate the lion's share of new passengers and account for 240 million of the 325 million passengers in 2011.
The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) asked the Justice Department yesterday for a full investigation of airlines' selling practices, saying carriers have launched "a systematic campaign to force consumers to buy air travel direct" and circumvent travel agents. "They should not be engaged with processes to interfere with a travel agent's right to do business," ASTA President Joe Galloway told reporters.
The European Union is considering a reprieve for airports and the duty-free industry from its ban on duty-free sales for passengers traveling within the EU, scheduled to take effect July 1, 1999.
The crash Dec. 11 of a Thai Airways A310 was the carrier's sixth fatal accident since it was founded in 1959 and the 12th Thai Airways/Thai Airways International hull loss. The previous crashes killed 279 persons, and fatalities in the Dec. 11 crash totaled 101 as of yesterday. Thailand is rated Category 1 - meeting ICAO standards - in FAA's assessment of civil aviation authorities worldwide.
Kitty Hawk has "temporarily parked" one of two 747-100 passenger aircraft operated by its American International Airways unit pending a decision about whether to sell the aircraft or convert it into a freighter, the company said. This leaves one 747-100 and two L-1011s for Kitty Hawk's passenger charter business. "Kitty Hawk's core business is cargo transportation, and we are taking a hard look at our passenger charter operation and its place within the Kitty Hawk organization," said Chairman Tom Christopher.
France is willing to reduce its ownership share of aerospace manufacturer Aerospatiale, according to Minister of the Economy Dominique Strauss-Kahn. British Aerospace and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany insist that Aerospatiale be fully privatized if the companies are to merge into a European Aerospace and Defense Company (EADC).
Air Transport Association (ATA) is launching an all-out battle against the Year 2000 computer bug, increasingly concerned that non-airline components of the aviation industry in the U.S. and abroad will not be prepared. Y2K is ATA's number one priority next year. To drive home the point, the association will open a command center in Herndon, Va., in December 1999 with government and manufacturing experts to identify potential problems prior to and during the magic Jan. 1, 2000, date.
American was surprised last week that it its acquisition of Reno Air drew no regulatory objections."That must be the first thing we've ever done that didn't have objections from regulators," Chief Executive Don Carty told employees.
U.S. Major Carriers Change In RPMs, ASMs and Load Factor Third Quarter 1998 Load Factor (%) 1998 1997 Pts. Change Alaska 69.0 70.2 -1.2 America West 71.9 70.5 1.5 American 73.2 72.4 0.8 Continental 75.8 74.5 1.3
Raytheon Co.'s operating performance will be strong once it has assimilated its 1997 acquisitions of Texas Instruments' and Hughes's defense businesses, but the company's debt protection measures will be "under pressure" until assimilation is complete, according to Moody's Investors Service. The acquisitions, for about $3 billion and $9.5 billion, respectively, make Raytheon the top U.S.
Airport officials are scheduled to tell European Commission competition authorities today that they share an interest in competition but oppose conditions the EC is proposing for airline alliances. The commission's DG 4 competition directorate, is holding hearings today and tomorrow in Brussels on the United-Lufthansa-SAS alliance, and witnesses will include airport officials, airline officials and labor leaders.
Theodore Forstmann, Gulfstream Aerospace chairman since 1993, also will become chief executive, the company said last week. The change is part of a new management structure designed for the next phase of Gulfstream's growth. Other appointments are Bill Boisture, who moves to president and chief operating officer from executive VP, and Chris Davis, who will add the duties of chief administrative officer to his responsibilites as executive VP and chief financial officer.
Association of Flight Attendants said Friday that a federal arbitrator ordered US Airways to stop cutting benefits of flight attendants on disability and return thousands of dollars in benefits. US Airways reduced the amount of disability benefits by deducting the cost of living awards flight attendants received annually from Social Security. US Airways was not immediately available for comment.
Austrian Airlines, which joined the US Airways frequent flyer program Dec. 1, carried 3.13 million scheduled passengers in the January-October period this year, up 15.1% from the same 10 months last year. Charter passengers were flat at 667,458.
Arinc, which now provides airline and airport communications services, said it is teaming with Sky Media to provide live video and radio news and entertainment services to airline passengers. The alliance combines Arinc's experience in air/ground voice and data communications with the satellite broadcast experience of Sky Media. The service initially will comprise live brand-name television and radio programming and will begin next year with two major U.S. airlines. Sky Media satellite broadcast technology currently is on 450 aircraft of three major U.S.
Air Force is looking for sources for its Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS), the military version of the Local Area Augmentation System. The Air Force wants to capitalize on research and development performed to date and ensure interoperability between military and civil operations while mitigating risks to the military landing environment. About two years ago, the military rejected an offer to join the civil program.
