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.)
Regional Airline Association's board elected George Bagley, president of Horizon Air, chairman, succeeding Bryan Bedford, president of Mesaba, who held the post for 1998. Newly elected members include Jerry Atkin, president of SkyWest, Andy Price, president of Commutair, and David Reed, president of Astral Aviation.
Royal Air Maroc has obtained from DOT an initial one-year exemption to conduct scheduled foreign combination service between Morocco and Boston/Chicago/Los Angeles/Miami/Orlando/St. Louis/San Francisco/Washington under code share with TWA. (Docket OST-98-4294)
Flight attendants at America West, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, voted by 99% to strike if the union and management cannot reach a contract agreement. More than 87% of eligible flight attendants cast ballots which were counted in Washington, D.C. yesterday. Contract talks continue through Nov. 5 and again Nov. 16-20 under the auspices of the National Mediation Board. Flight attendants have not yet asked the NMB for release from mediation but have vowed to do so if talks to not improve.
Honeywell said its "WorldNav" avionics were selected by a consortium of Latin American carriers for up to 195 Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft. The equipment includes the Pegasus Flight Management System, integrated Air Data/Inertial Reference System, and TCAS 2000 collision avoidance system.
Aviation Industry Stock Performance October 1998 Closed Closed Monthly Change Symbol 10/30/98 9/30/98 ($) (%) Majors Alaska Air Group ALK 35.938 34.063 1.875 5.5 America West (Class B) AWA 15.438 12.500 2.938 23.5 AMR . AMR 67.016 55.438 11.578 20.9
Hawaiian Airlines yesterday posted a net third quarter profit of $6.1 million, the best quarter ever for the 69-year old carrier. The profit level was more than four times that of last year's quarter, $1.4 million. Revenue climbed 9.7% to $115.5 million. Chief Executive Paul Casey cited the carrier's aggressive marketing, an improved cost structure and its service approach. "We are on a path to achieve a record year of financial performance," he said, which will "position the company for a new era of operational growth."
The HK$1.6 billion (US$207 million) Cathay Pacific Catering Services (CPCS) facility, one of the largest catering sites in the world, has opened for business at Hong Kong Airport at Chek Lap Kok. The division, wholly owned by Cathay Pacific, has a 15-year franchise at the airport. The 50,400-square-meter facility produces 35,000 meals per day and has the capacity to make 80,000 meals. During its first days of operation, the facility produced more than 1.3 million meals for its 35 customer airlines.
DOT granted Tower Air an initial two-year exemption to operate scheduled combination service between New York, Boston, Miami and San Juan and Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Tower earlier held authority to serve the Dominican Republic; it wants to begin the service Dec. 13, using owned or leased 747 aircraft. (Docket OST-98-4569)
British Airways today will ask the U.K. government to spearhead a worldwide effort to eliminate "air rage," disruptive and violent behavior by air travelers. The airline intends to issue a three-point rallying cry for the government to undertake, starting with assuming leadership of an international effort to create a unified and effective reporting system among regulators. Second, it should seek agreement from overseas governments to extend the jurisdiction of arrest to its local police forces for incidents on British registered aircraft.
Texas District Judge Bob McCoy of Fort Worth last week denied a claim by Legend Airlines of Dallas that Fort Worth exhibits a double standard opposing Love Field service while it develops Alliance Airport, north of Fort Worth. McCoy ruled that Legend was not a party to agreements designed to protect DFW from competition at other airports and, therefore, has no standing to sue over their provisions. Legend Chief Executive Allan McArtor said he is "not surprised at all" by the ruling, adding that it shows the "double standard" being applied by the Fort Worth court.
Continental and its Continental Express pilots, represented by the Independent Association of Continental Pilots, reached a tentative contract agreement on Friday. The pact followed weeks of mediation by National Mediation Board mediator John Schrage and intensive mediation under the supervision of NMB member Ernest DuBester. Details of the agreement were withheld pending membership ratification.
BFGoodrich said it will designate a Super 27 customer support office in Abu Dhabi to provide support to a growing customer base for re-engining kits in the Middle East. Robert Korn, business development manager, said he believes there are "many additional opportunities" for customers in the region. The Super 27 program features installation of new nacelles and engines produced by BFGoodrich Aerospace/Aerostructures Group and Pratt&Whitney.
Inspec Foams, a worldwide supplier of aircraft insulation materials, said it has submitted to FAA a way to "greatly enhance fire safety aboard commercial aircraft" without tearing out all the old insulation. The Plano, Texas, company said it is supplying "add-on" insulation test materials and technical assistance "in full support of efforts to make air travel safer." Robert Tait, general manager, said the company provided FAA with a potential system solution combining a non-flammable flexible film bonded to its Solimide polyimide foam.
FAA will hold a public meeting Dec. 8-9 to get comments on its "current draft rule to require the retrofit of improved seats in air carrier transport category airplanes." The agency's notice of proposed rulemaking requiring more crashworthy seats dates from May 17, 1988.
Friday's approval of expanded code-share service to points in Africa by Northwest and KLM is a component of DOT's commitment to improve travel options to the continent, according to DOT Secretary Rodney Slater. He said DOT's interest in resolving the Northwest pilots strike was in part to enable the carrier to "move forward in this mighty and visionary way."
FAA, faced with criticism from industry and labor groups, appears to be backing off its controversial plan to issue tickets for "administrative violations." Administrator Jane Garvey said Friday the agency still wants to streamline the way it handles administrative violations but "perhaps not issue a ticket on the spot." Industry and unions saw the proposal as "punitive," Garvey said. In a wide-ranging interview with reporters, Garvey also said:
National Aircraft Resale Association elected Matthew Huff, Tyler Jet Aircraft Sales, chairman; John Foster, O'Gara Aviation Co., vice chairman; Nick Cerretani, Miller Aviation, president, and Jim Amador, Stevens Aviation, VP.
Maybe FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will put their feuding on a back burner now that top officials of both agencies are talking to each other. Peter Goelz, NTSB's managing director, and Tom McSweeny, FAA associate administrator for regulation and certification, had lunch last week. Earlier, FAA Administrator Jane Garvey got together with NTSB Chairman Jim Hall.
