American said its preparations for daily Dallas/Fort Worth-Osaka nonstops are almost completed, and service is scheduled to begin Dec. 20. Osaka will be the airline's fifth route to Japan and its 23rd international destination from DFW. The carrier will fly 238-seat MD-11s.
DOT issued an order, following a review requested by TWA, affirming staff action on its grant of authority for Korean Air to transport U.S. mail under code share with Northwest on San Francisco-Seoul-San Francisco, Chicago-Seoul-Chicago and Los Angeles-Seoul flights. TWA told DOT it does not serve the U.S.-Korea market, but it "has concerns over the precedent set" by DOT's action - that allowing a "foreign carrier to move mail that would otherwise move on U.S. carriers...puts U.S. carriers at risk of losing a substantial portion of U.S.
International aviation liberalization strengthens the argument for establishing procedures for the European Commission to oversee airline competition on routes between European Union nations and other countries, an EC official said at a recent conference on aviation law in Vienna. The EC proposed such authority for itself unsuccessfully in 1981 and in 1989 and is trying again this year.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association elected David Caplan, chairman of Pratt&Whitney Canada, as association chairman. Charles Suma, president of The New Piper Aircraft, was elected vice chairman.
United will expand its Lufthansa code share in the Middle East and Africa, starting Jan. 16, adding its code to Lufthansa-flown service from Frankfurt to Sanaa, Yemen, via Cairo three times weekly. United recently added its code to flights to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Amman, Jordan; Harare, Zimbabwe, and Cairo.
Federal Express and its Fedex Pilots Association (FPA) hope to have a tentative deal in place soon, according to a source, especially since the current FPA leadership is up for re-election.Nominations close Dec. 14 and elections open Dec. 29. Ballots will be counted Feb. 1. FPA President Frank Fado is not expected to run again, but VP Byron Cobb may run for president.
Transaero, Russia's first independent scheduled passenger airline, will begin nonstop service Dec. 18 from Moscow to London Gatwick, using 737-700 aircraft. The carrier, which is targeting the business and leisure market, plans to add more frequencies next year. The airline, a member of IATA and the BSP (U.K.), will operate from Moscow Sheremetyevo-1 Airport, where it connects with more than 30 flights in Russia and the CIS. The current fleet comprises 11, mostly Boeing, aircraft.
Rolls-Royce's AE 3007A1 turbofan, developed to provide increased thrust to the 50-passenger Embraer RJ-145LR regional jet, has received type certification from the FAA.
Salary and per diem pay remain the key sticking points in contract talks between America West and its flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). Rank-and-file members earlier rejected a tentative deal that included no per diem, said America West AFA Council 66 President Bill McGlashen. The two parties were in talks Dec. 1-4 with the National Mediation Board (NMB). McGlashen said that during the talks the union rejected a company proposal and the company rejected the union's counterproposal.
Cielos del Peru, which absorbed Export Air del Peru by merger in January, asked DOT to expand and reissue for one year exemption authority unused by Export Air since the Fine Air-Peru weapons controversy in 1995. Export Air, required under 1993 and 1995 DOT orders to use aircraft wet-leased from a carrier authorized to operate in the U.S., was providing twice-weekly scheduled Miami-Lima cargo service on a Fine Air Services wet-lease when Peru accused Fine of transporting arms to Ecuador during Peru- Ecuador hostilities.
US Airways will begin low-fare MetroJet service from Washington Dulles to Atlanta, Birmingham, Ala., and Raleigh/Durham, starting Feb. 3. It was the second flight expansion in a week announced from Dulles, which already receives low-fare service from AirTran and Delta Express. MetroJet's single-class 118-seat 737-200s also will serve Raleigh/Durham to Orlando. After expanding to 216 daily flights this month, MetroJet will enlarge to 248 flights a day in December, 264 in January and 332 in February.
Debonair has begun scheduled services from Zurich to Venice and Bologna on behalf of Swissair and Air One, operating three daily roundtrips to Venice and one to Bologna with BAe 146 aircraft. As part of the expansion, Debonair said recently it will add another BAe 146 to its fleet, bringing its total of the type to 12.
DOT and State Department representatives met with Chinese officials last week to discuss informally the benefits of liberalizing the U.S.-China aviation regime. Members of the U.S. delegation, which includes David Marchick, deputy assistant secretary of state, and Brad Mims, DOT deputy assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, spoke with Chinese aviation and business leaders in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou about expanding cargo and passenger services to enhance trade and economic activities. A U.S.
An open dispute between France's Aerospatiale and its partners British Aerospace and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA) of Germany over the latter's proposed merger with British Aerospace is threatening to postpone once again the corporatization of the European Airbus consortium, scheduled for the end of 1999.
Midway Airlines ordered three more Canadair Regional Jet Series 200ERs from Bombardier. The $64 million contract is a conversion of three options to firm orders. The aircraft are to be delivered in December 1999 through March 2000. To date, Midway has received nine of 23 CRJs. The order book stands at 434 aircraft for the 50-seat Series 100 and 200 and at 71 for the 70-seat Series 700, on which deliveries are to begin in early 2001. Midway will use the aircraft to open new markets.
KLM traffic for November rose 2% on 2% more capacity, keeping the load factor flat at 74.2%. Traffic rose steadily in Africa, up 14%, the Middle East, 8%, Asia/Pacific, 7%, and Europe, 4%. The Load factor on flights to and from the Asia/Pacific region jumped to 78.5% from 71.3%. For the Mid and South Atlantic, the load factor grew to 79% from 77.9%. Capacity to Africa increased 21%, which, with the 14% traffic rise, meant a lower load factor of 72.6%. North Atlantic traffic was flat year over year, while capacity gained 3%, forcing the load factor down to 73.5%.
Lufthansa Cargo said it has developed a "Sales Partner" concept that will integrate midsize forwarders into an existing cooperative partnership with major forwarders. The carrier disclosed the plan at a meeting with the German Federal Forwarders and Logistics Operators Association in Frankfurt. Lufthansa Cargo also plans to offer a training package to member companies.
United's comments on Chicago-O'Hare slots (DAILY, Dec. 4) being contested by American Eagle and United Express are "telling," American Eagle said, calling for O'Hare slots held by United and its Express carriers to be "aggregated for competitive purposes." Overall network holdings of each carrier and its affiliates would be a more "proper comparison" than comparing commuter slots, American Eagle told DOT, noting that American's network totals 916 O'Hare slots and United's 1,049.
Great Lakes Aviation reported a 50% jump in traffic on 44.5% more capacity for November 1998 from the same month last year, boosting the load factor 1.8 percentage points. Great Lakes flew 20.9 million revenue passenger miles on 42.9 million available seat miles, creating a 48.8% load factor. Passengers flown leapt 64.8% to 76,389. Year-to-date RPMs grew 21.6% on 8.6% more ASMs, compared with the first 11 months last year, boosting the load factor 5.5 points. Passengers flown increased 26.5%.
TWA's International Association of Machinists (IAM) unit plans to hold a rally today demanding that Chief Executive Gerald Gitner and President William Compton resign for failing to make the airline profitable two years after taking over, and for failing to reach a contract agreement with the union. IAM said yesterday it planned the rally for this morning at Kiener Plaza in St. Louis. IAM represents 75% of TWA's employees, including mechanics, ramp personnel, flight attendants and customer service and reservations agents.
Troubled Philippine Airlines yesterday submitted its restructuring plan to the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission, calling for a 6 billion peso (US$153 million) infusion in two stages and scrapping the recent agreements with employees that ended strikes. After Cathay Pacific last week said it had suspended talks with PAL over its last-minute, white-knight investment possibilities, Singapore Airlines said yesterday it is not interested in purchasing a stake in PAL.
National Transportation Safety Board has asked FAA to require modifications of General Electric's CF6-50 and CF6-80C2 engines to prevent low-pressure turbine (LPT) fan fracture and to prevent the blades from "being liberated through the engine cowling." The board said information provided by GE pointed to 25 LPT failures in the CF6-50 and six in the CF6-80C2 as of 1997, including events on American, Continental, FedEx and Pakistan International widebodies. The equipment involved included 747, DC-10, MD-12 and A300 aircraft.
FAA said the $3.8 billion increase in air traffic control modernization costs reported by the General Accounting Office (GAO) for the first time, reflects a change in accounting practices to include life cycle costs. The GAO had explained the figure in a footnote (DAILY, Dec. 4).
