Federal Express pilots on Friday authorized the board of the Fedex Pilots Association to implement a no overtime flying policy. The FPA board will decide when to implement the policy.
Swissair had to move all of its Milan operations to the new Malpensa airport, which was to open Sunday, Oct. 25, and Lufthansa relocated the bulk of its flights. Swissair lodged an emergency legal proceeding with a Milan court last week, together with Air Malta, Royal Air Maroc and Turkish Airlines, but the court rejected the claim. The Swiss airline was expecting "traffic disruptions," a spokesman said last Friday in Zurich. Swissair beefed up its ground staff to help passengers and organized ground shuttle service from Linate airport to Malpensa.
Nav Canada says it has begun to deliver substantial savings to airlines and the flying public. Its new fee-for-services system, replacing a transportation tax, has saved the traveling public an average C$25 (US$16) per ticket. Charges to airlines are expected to fall by C$190 million ($123 million) per year. The U.S. to date has not been able to gather the political will to put FAA on a pay-for-services basis.
Delta announced Friday that 15 757 option aircraft converted to firm orders over the past 18 months will be powered by Pratt&Whitney PW2037 engines as are 757s currently in the fleet. The aircraft are to be delivered through April 2000.
Singapore Airlines' parent SIA Group on Friday posted a net profit of S$246 million (US$152 million) for the six months ending Sept. 30, down 44.2%. Pre-tax profits fell 29% to S$426 million ($263 million), even after accounting for the bonus of S$116 million from the sale and leaseback of three 747-400s and the outright sale of one A310-200 plus spare parts. SIA took delivery of four 777-200s and two A340-300s during the period. The changes lowered SIA's average fleet age to 5.2 years.
Northwest has reached a tentative agreement with its Aircraft Technical Support Association on a new six-year contract. The accord is subject to ratification by the union's members. A vote is expected by Friday. ATSA, the fourth largest union at Northwest, represents training personnel, technical writers, production and line planners, and reliability and technical analysts.
Frontier promoted Henry Barringer to VP-customer service and station operations and Roger Sorensen to director-Denver station operations, and appointed James Upchurch to the board.
Cincinnati-based Comair, which flies as Delta Connection, will introduce nonstop jet service between Dayton Airport and Boston Logan with one daily roundtrip flight, beginning Dec. 1. Comair will begin nonstop Dayton-New York/LaGuardia jet service in June. With the new jet flights, Comair will operate 11 daily nonstop departures from Dayton, including nine to its Cincinnati hub.
Delta Express is not just profitable but has operating results "the same or slightly above the mainline" carrier's, said Delta Chief Marketing Officer Fred Reid. The carrier is shifting focus to the northeastern U.S., most recently adding service to upstate New York, and will grow to 38 aircraft by yearend.
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French startup Fairlines is on the brink of bankruptcy after filing for insolvency in a Paris commercial court last week. The court will decide Oct. 29 whether to allow Fairlines to resume MD-80 Paris-Nice service that was halted. The route launched the carrier in January.
U.S.-Canada open-skies talks, resuming next month, will tackle fifth-freedom rights and restrictions on marketing of sixth-freedom traffic. Also on the table will be limits on U.S. carriers wanting to serve two Canadian points on a co-terminal basis or in sequence.
An Airbus A320 with a vertical tailfin that has a leading edge covered with thousands of tiny perforations connected to an air pump is being used to test "hybrid laminar flow." The tests are to last through this year and, if successful, the technology could go into future Airbus products.
National Air Transportation Association is criticizing new FAA requirements for on-airport security, particularly background verification of employees. NATA says airport tenants were "blind-sided" because the agency did not call for public comment before imposing the rule.
Orcon Corp. said Friday that it is working with industry and FAA on initiatives for new standards in aircraft insulation. The Union City, Calif.-based manufacturer of aircraft thermal and acoustic insulation said it also is working with FAA and industry to develop more stringent certification tests for flame-retarding insulation. Orcon also said it is working to develop specifications for its trademark product, Curlon, a thermal acoustical insulating material that slows the penetration of fire into an aircraft cabin.
Grupo TACA named Joaquin Palomo VP and chief financial officer, Richard Kromka senior VP and chief information officer, Julio Flores VP-cargo and regional operations, Roberto Carbone, VP-marketing and sales, Alfredo Schildknecht VP-fleet and maintenance, Larry Ganse, VP-operations, Scott Dickson, VP-planning and revenue management, Jose Rojas, VP-corporate and government relations and Enrique Beltranena, VP-human resources and communications.
Delta's new Atlanta-Tokyo nonstop has "taken off like a shot," says Chief Executive Leo Mullin, despite the depressed Japanese economy. Load factors have averaged around 90% lately.
Reno Air and Canadian Airlines have entered a code-share agreement that will offer passengers of both carriers broader access to destinations throughout North America, Canada and Asia, the carriers said. Under the pact, Canadian will place Reno's 'QQ' code on its flights between San Jose, Calif., and Vancouver, B.C., and between San Diego and Vancouver. The agreement becomes effective Nov. 22.
Hewlett-Packard said Friday it has acquired Open Skies, a privately held company in Salt Lake City that provides reservations services to small and medium-size airlines. HP said its HP Systems and Open Skies software will "enable small to medium-size airlines to achieve extremely affordable airline-passenger reservations services. For a transaction-based fee of just cents per ticket, airlines could save potentially millions per year in ticket distribution costs," said David Evans, president of Open Skies.
Boeing 727-200 and 737 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Second Quarter 1998 B727-200 American Continental Delta Number of Aircraft Operated 640 336 562 Total Fleet Operations Departures 2,180 1,262 2,659
