Air France has increased capacity 10% in its winter schedule, which began last week. In addition, its code-share agreements with Delta and Continental allow Air France to offer through fares to 37 U.S. cities. On the Miami-Paris route, the carrier now offers 10 weekly flights with its partners, versus seven previously. The airline has added frequencies to London, Geneva, Frankfurt and Madrid in Europe; Shanghai, Seoul, Jakarta and Beijing in Asia; and Buenos Aires, Santiago, Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City in Latin America.
DOT General Counsel Nancy McFadden said she is disappointed that the Air Transport Association (ATA) is turning the debate on proposed competition guidelines into a political issue (DAILY, Oct. 26). Speaking Monday at the 1998 Corporate Travel West conference in Santa Clara, Calif. , McFadden referred to ATA President Carol Hallett's memo to airline chief executives which said ATA plans to "inject" DOT's proposed guidelines into the presidential debate in hopes of changing the political dynamic and making it difficult or impossible for DOT to act on them (DAILY, Oct.
International environmental groups will mount a campaign across Europe Nov. 6-7 pushing for "green pricing" in air transport. Organized by Friends of the Earth and coordinated by its Dutch chapter, the campaign - "The Right Price for Air Travel" - will bring together parties from 20 European countries plus Australia, Canada and the U.S. The groups aim to pressure policymakers to curb the environmental impact of air travel with new taxes that would discourage or retard growth in carbon dioxide emissions, noise levels and aircraft movements at Europe's airports.
British Airways will spend #150 million (US$250 million) in the next three years on a complete makeover of its World Traveller product. Unveiling the new international economy service yesterday in London, Marketing Director Martin George said BA will offer seats with adjustable headrests, footrests and more knee room; personal video screens with at least 12 channels, including a children-family channel; and food service improvements including a new menu, double-decker trays, "help-yourself" snack bars and "Feed Kids First" meal service.
A National Transportation Safety Board team led by member John Goglia yesterday began investigating an AirTran landing accident Sunday evening in Atlanta. Flight 867, a 737 with 100 passengers and five crew, had taken off from Atlanta and was en route to Dallas when a light indicated a hydraulic problem. The captain returned to Atlanta, touched down and landed without incident, "but there was hydraulic failure in the ground steering and the aircraft veered off the runway to the left and came to rest on an embankment," an AirTran spokeswoman said.
The goal of DOT's Safe Skies for Africa Initiative "at minimum" is for the countries to achieve Category 1 status under FAA's international aviation security program, enabling national flag carriers to fly to the U.S., DOT Secretary Slater said last week in announcing program participants.
A strike by FedEx pilots would change the company, and customers who leave would not come back, FedEx President and Chief Executive Ted Weise warned pilots in an internal memorandum. FedEx and its Fedex Pilots Association (FPA) are embroiled in a contract dispute, and pilots could walk off the job in early December. The company and the union have been fielding calls from shippers, catalog vendors and catalog trade publications concerned holiday shipments. Weise warned that customers want assurances and the company is running out of time to provide them.
Korean Air will sell six Boeing 747s and two MD-11s by the end of this year as it takes possession of seven new aircraft. The airline's average airplane will be less than seven years old, making its fleet one of the youngest in the world, and the changes come at a time when some Asian carriers are deferring or canceling new aircraft deliveries. Korean Air will sell three 747-200s, one 747SP, two 747-300s and two MD-11s from its 111-aircraft fleet in the next two months. At the same time, it will acquire three 777s, two 747-400s, one 747-400 freighter and one A330.
A German/Spanish ground-handling consortium will compete with airport company Flughafen Frankfurt Main AG (FAG) as of Jan. 1, 1999, said Lothar Klemm, regional transport minister of German state Hessen, last week in Frankfurt. The consortium was set up by Spain's Acciona construction group and Bremen-based LUG Verwaltung. LUG already is operating Frankfurt airport's Perishable Centre as well as Tradeport Frankfurt, a freight-handling joint venture with FAG. LUG also operates a freight-handling business at Stuttgart Airport.
The conference report on fiscal 1999 FAA appropriations provides $41.7 million for explosives and weapons detection. The total is slightly below the Senate's $42.2 million request but substantially more than the House's $34.2 million.
FAA Regional Administrator Arlene Feldman will become chairman of the Air Traffic Control Association at its annual conference this week in Atlantic City. Feldman currently heads FAA's Eastern Region.
AlliedSignal said wheels and brakes for Russia's Ilyushin 96T aircraft made by its Rubix joint venture exceeded all performance requirements during a test last month in Russia. In the Rejected Take Off test at Russia's Gromov Flight Research Institute, the pilot of the Il-96T accelerated to full speed, then applied brakes just before the point of takeoff, AlliedSignal said. It said that with the brake discs fully worn, the Rubix brakes halted the 270-ton airliner 300 meters short of the required limit. Thrust reversal was not used.
National Mediation Board has ruled that Midway Airlines illegally interfered with union elections for flight attendants and has ordered a rerun representation election. NMB ruled that Midway interfered with a bid by the Association of Flight Attendants to represent Midway's flight attendants. Secret ballots will be mailed to flight attendants Nov. 9, and the count date is set for Dec. 18. NMB ruled Midway illegally improved wages and benefits and favorably revised flight attendant staffing during AFA's organizing campaign.
American's traffic increased 3.4% in October on 2% more capacity, which raised the load factor 1.0 percentage points to 69.1%. In the first post-Northwest-strike traffic report, American said its domestic network experienced traffic growth of 2.9% on 0.7% less capacity. The load factor was up 2.4 points to 69%. Similar to September figures, American's international traffic rose 4.6% in October, but capacity grew more quickly, at 8.5%, which lowered the load factors in its Atlantic and Pacific divisions.
Taking advice from employees and passengers, United is lengthening the connection time between flights in some of its key markets, a move expected to ease burdens on travelers, improve operations and boost the airline's on-time performance. Last weekend, United increased connection times from 30 to 35 minutes for widebody departures at Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington Dulles, and from 25 to 30 minutes for all other aircraft at Denver.
U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aldrich has denied a motion by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) to force FAA to take back operation of air traffic control towers currently in its contract tower program, which called for privatizing 129 Level 1 towers between 1994 and 1998. Judge Aldrich ruled March 2 in a suit brought by NATCA that FAA did not comply with Office of Management and Budget regulations requiring federal agencies first to determine whether services should be performed by federal employees before they are contracted to private parties.
Bruce Bishins, president of United States Travel Agent Registry (USTAR), responding to plans by the Sabre Group to change airlines to implement e-ticketing in foreign countries, predicted that travel agents will bear the brunt of what he called "this latest plan by a CRS to fatten its coffers at the industry's expense" because carriers will now expand their e-ticketing plans for direct sales (DAILY, Nov. 2).
SAS Cargo and Lufthansa Cargo over the weekend began loading cargo and express shipments on each other's flights. The capacity sharing will apply initially to European, Scandinavian and Nordic destinations, but it will spread eventually to cover the carriers' global networks. United Cargo also is making plans to join the service of its Star Alliance partners.
Vice President Al Gore said he is "deeply disappointed to learn that Newt Gingrich and the House Republican leadership have chosen to side with the airline industry rather than help the people of Iowa and other states obtain access to the competition in airways that produces low fares and higher levels of service." Gore was responding to media reports of a memorandum sent to airline chief executives by Air Transport Association President and Chief Executive Carol Hallett outlining ATA's strategy for defeating DOT's proposed competition guidelines (DAILY, Oct. 26).
Boeing Business Jets President Borge Boeskov said the 737-700 platform that will be the basis of the BBJ has received FAA and Joint Aviation Authorities approval. Boeing Business Jets' current order book totals 46. Nine are committed to the Boeing NetJets fractional ownership program, a joint venture between Boeing Business Jets and Executive Jet. The BBJ program was launched in 1996 by Boeing and General Electric, which provides the engines. Deliveries are scheduled to begin by the end of this year.
BAA plc yesterday reported an operating profit increase of 6.4% for the six months ended Sept. 30, based on passenger growth at its airports, reasonable retail performance despite "tough" trading conditions, the U.K.-based company said. BAA's pretax profit for the period was #307 million ($506.6 million), and operating profit was #351 million ($579.2) million, up 6.4% from the year-earlier period.
TWA and Delta had the best on-time arrival rates for August and Delta has improved the most since its near-last ranking in the third quarter of 1997.At the bottom, only 63.9% of Northwest's flights arrived on time and America West's rate was 65.5%, far below the industry average of 77%. (See chart on Page 212.)
