US Airways unit of the Air Line Pilots Association has elected Chris Beebe chairman of its Master Executive Council. Craig Skinner was elected vice chair and Philip Osterhus secretary/treasurer.
DOT extended for a fourth - and final - time, through Jan. 4, 1999, the period for taking action on United's complaint against the European Commission and the national authorities of Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. DOT may extend the action deadline up to 180 days from receipt of the complaint, which United filed July 8. DOT rules require the department to "approve, deny, dismiss or set a complaint for hearing, or institute other procedures proposing remedial action" by Jan. 4.
American International Airways asked DOT for a certificate to engage in scheduled foreign cargo service between the U.S. and any points in 124 countries. Not included on the list of countries were Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Taiwan and Hong Kong - the carrier noted it holds certificate authority to serve those nations.
Boeing said Friday all final assembly work on its 737s will remain at Renton, Wash., and that it has canceled plans to assemble three to five aircraft per month at Long Beach. Boeing had planned to produce three to five aircraft per month in California, retaining about 600 jobs. Dick Pearson, VP-Long Beach Division, said, "We have increased production rates on the 737 from 14 to 21 airplanes per month at the Renton, Wash., facility, with very satisfactory results.
DOT officials reported that they "made progress" with Argentine aviation representatives in talks held Dec. 8-10 in Washington. Further negotiations are planned in March in Buenos Aires.
AlliedSignal Aerospace obtained a $225 million order from British Airways for products and services for BA's new A319/A320 aircraft. The company said the agreement could bring another $575 million in potential long-term value over the operating life of the aircraft. "This agreement reinforces our confidence that AlliedSignal will grow its aerospace sales by 7% in 1999 and that the longer-term outlook for the business continues to be strong," said Frederic Poses, president and chief operating officer.
Reno Air reported a 0.3% increase in traffic on 4.5% less capacity for November 1998 from the same month last year, which pushed the load factor up 3.1 percentage points to 64.1%. Reno flew 228.2 million revenue passenger miles and 356.2 million available seat miles. Passengers flown totaled 426,095, relatively stable compared with last year. Year-to-date RPMs dropped 1.9% and ASMs 0.8% from the first 11 months last year, depressing the load factor 0.8 points. Passengers flown declined 3.4%.
DOT's insistence that Brad Mims, assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, give an uninvited political speech at a recent Flight Safety Foundation meeting in Capetown, South Africa, is causing worldwide concern. Mims, in effect, ordered attendees to support DOT Secretary Rodney Slater's Safe Skies Africa campaign. Ordinarily, FSF speakers are approved by a panel. Mims's wife Ava, head of aircraft maintenance for Flight Standards Division at FAA, had been invited to the meeting.
ICAO, acting swiftly following endorsement last October of a universal safety oversight audit, has reported positively on an assessment of the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority's (CAA) safety oversight system. The ICAO assessment focused on personnel licensing, flight operations and airworthiness of aircraft. The objective was to assess the implementation of the safety-related Standards an Recommended Practices (SARPS) and associated procedures in those three areas as described in the Chicago Convention.
Bombardier said Robert Brown has been named president and chief executive, effective Feb. 1, succeeding Laurent Baudoin. Baudoin, 60, who has headed Bombardier since 1966, will continue to oversee long-term operations of the corporation as executive chairman and president of the executive committee. Brown, 53, joined the company in 1987 as VP corporate development; he became president of Canadair in 1989, and later was named president and chief operating officer of Bombardier Aerospace.
TWA, which has cut capacity and seen traffic fall 2.4% so far this year, has shrunk since deregulation, while competitors have blossomed. TWA flew 28.3 billion revenue passenger miles in 1978 and only 25.1 billion in 1997. Its market share plunged from 12.1% to 4.1% last year. Since deregulation, United has grown from 41.4 billion RPMs to 121.3 billion; American from 29.4 billion to 107 billion, and Delta, taking advantage of the demise of Pan Am and Eastern, grew from 23.5 billion to 99.7 billion last year.
ATR hopes to launch a family of regional jets of between 60 and 95 seats and is talking with possible partners in the program, including Fairchild Dornier, Casa of Spain and Embraer of Brazil, The DAILY has learned. Under the plan, which could be announced by the end of this year or early next year, ATR - itself a partnership consisting of Aerospatiale of France and Alenia of Italy - would hold 50% of any RJ partnership and the other half would consist of one, or possibly two of the other prospective partners.
United Express affiliate Atlantic Coast Airlines will use Miami Airport-based Pan Am International Flight Academy to train pilots on simulators for the carrier's Canadair RJ 200s under a recently signed contract. The 10-year exclusive contract also calls for PAIFA to develop a 30,000-square-foot training complex near ACA headquarters in Loudoun County, Va., that would be completed during the fourth quarter of next year.
Embraer Chief Executive Mauricio Botelho, commenting this week on the Canada-Brazil dispute before the World Trade Organization over subsidies, said the Canadian case against Embraer was an attempt to restrain access of a developing country with high-technology products into the world marketplace. Canada's subsidies for the Bombardier CRJ range from $5.5 million to $6.5 million per unit, he said, compared with the Brazil ProEx program subsidy of $2.5 million per aircraft. He said the ERJ-145 weighs two tons less than the CRJ and costs less to buy and operate.
Airlines Reporting Corp. said total travel agent sales increased 1% to $5.5 billion in November 1998 from November last year. Domestic fares rose 1% to $3.5 billion, and international fares remained even at $1.5 billion. Domestic commissions declined 3% to $231.8 million, while international commissions rose 12% to $235.1 million. Credit card billings gained 1% to $4.5 billion. Electronic tickets accounted for 30.96% of total ticket sales.
United continues to show a profit on its Taiwan operations despite economic woes besetting much of the Asian region and a sharp downturn in passengers volume on transpacific routes. Although passenger volume between Taiwan and the U.S. has fallen nearly 15% from year-earlier levels, United continues to enjoy a load factor of more than 50% thanks to its 55% market share on the Taipei-San Francisco route. The company's bottom line also is helped by its highly profitable Taipei-Okinawa cargo service.
Cathay Pacific is introducing new branded inflight amenity kits for first- and business-class passengers on long-haul flights. The kits, created exclusively for Cathay by Crabtree&Evelyn, will contain a different line of products on inbound and outbound Hong Kong flights. The men's kit, in a navy blue bag, contains lip balm, shaving cream, moisturizing lotion, socks, eye shade, toothbrush, toothpaste, razor and ear plugs.
Atlantic Coast Airlines this week announced a new flight schedule beginning Jan. 31 that will mean more regional jet service to four markets and increased frequencies in five cities. ACA will upgrade its hourly scheduled Dulles-Raleigh/Durham, N.C., by offering five of its current 15 daily departures on 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets and adding one frequency. ACA currently offers three jet flights on that route. The new service will bring to 16 its total daily Dulles-Raleigh/Durham flights.
Rep. John Ensign (R-Nev.) has conceded defeat to Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in their close Senate race last month because an ongoing recount in Washoe County, the most populous Nevada county, shows him cutting only marginally into Reid's lead. Reid is a member of the Senate Appropriations transportation subcommittee. Ensign told The Las Vegas Review-Journal that he "didn't win enough [votes] in Washoe County to turn this over." He trimmed Reid's 401-vote lead to 379 votes, based on completed recounts in all other counties.
Vanguard Airlines is offering a special fare for the holidays, starting at $29 for nonstop flights, $49 for one-stops and $69 for two-stops. Travlers must make reservations by today for travel through Jan. 5.
Indianapolis-based Chautauqua Airlines, a US Airways Express carrier, flew 14.7% more traffic on 11.5% more capacity in November 1998 than in November last year, causing the load factor to climb 1.1 percentage points to 51.1%. Chautauqua reported 13.8 million revenue passenger miles and 27.1 million available seat miles. Passengers flown grew 14.7% to 62,786. Nov. 1998 Nov. 1997 11 Mths 1998 11 Mths 1997 RPMs 13,837,600 12,067,600 154,979,000 141,811,100
Frank Lanza, chairman and chief executive of L-3 Communications Holding, and Joe Paresi, president of L-3 Communications Security Systems, discuss aviation security issues, and new explosives detection system technology on Aviation News Today, to air Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
