FAA yesterday ordered airlines to inspect and possibly replace electrical wiring above the forward passenger doors on MD-11s. Inspections must be done within 10 days and the results given to FAA in 10 more days. FAA said it learned from the investigation into the Swissair MD-11 crash off Nova Scotia in September that damaged electrical wires were found near the doors during scheduled heavy maintenance. FAA said there is no evidence that damaged door wires are related to the crash. The order affects 65 U.S.-registered aircraft of 174 in worldwide service.
Net fare partnerships like the one between Pro Air and General Motors and Chrysler represent the future of corporate air purchasing, predicted Business Travel Coalition President Kevin Mitchell. "Corporations should use their purchasing power to influence the industry-wide direction of these programs," but they should conduct a thorough analysis of the partnership before signing on.
General Electric said Continental placed an order for CF6-80C2 engines to power 10 Boeing 767-200ERs in an engine deal valued at $160 million. Aircraft delivery will begin in 2000.
Southwest yesterday announced long-anticipated plans to inaugurate daily service at McArthur Airport, Islip, New York, March 14. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Herb Kelleher said the airline will offer 12 daily departures to four cities - Baltimore/Washington, Chicago Midway, Nashville and Tampa. Initial service will include eight nonstops to BWI, two to Chicago, one to Nashville and one to Tampa.
The House Transportation aviation subcommittee is considering two different routes for the FAA authorization next year - one bill or two - subcommittee sources said yesterday. Under the one-bill approach, the six-month authorization needed for the balance of fiscal 1999 would be included in a package with a multi-year authorization. Thus the duration of the bill would be 30 months, 42 months or whatever number of years was agreed on, plus six months.
The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) has told Vice President Al Gore that the union opposes DOT's proposed airline competition guidelines and that there are "a great many Democrats in Congress who agree with our position and do not support [DOT] Secretary [Rodney] Slater's proposals." AFA President Patricia Friend sent a letter to Gore Nov. 20 after Gore said he was "disappointed" with Republican House leadership for backing the Air Transport Association's attempts to sideline the competition policy (DAILY, Nov. 3).
United's most recent graduating class of pursers increases the number of flight attendants in this role to 1,000. Pursers, replacing the chief purser/first flight attendant title, require special training in leadership, teamwork and onboard service initiatives. Flight attendants are chosen for the program based on their work record at United, which plans to train 3,000 pursers by mid-1999.
Rolls-Royce said yesterday it is entering joint ventures in engine leasing with GATX Capital and in aircraft leasing with Pembroke Capital. Rolls is giving GATX Capital a 50% stake in Rolls' Rolls-Royce and Partners Finance (RRPF) unit, one of the largest engine leasing companies, with a portfolio of 90 engines. Rolls-Royce will merge its Aircraft Finance and Trading with Pembroke.
Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic October 1998 Revenue Ton-Miles (000) October October % 1998 1997 Change Domestic Freight 858,519 852,916 0.7 Mail 148,783 169,724 (12.3) Total 1,007,302 1,022,640 (1.5) International
The House Transportation Committee will take the high-risk approach of pushing for airport and airways trust fund spending at the level of last year's user fees in the bill providing for a six-month authorization for FAA, which has to be enacted by March 31, a committee aide said yesterday. Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) succeeded this year with the same approach in cracking the Highway Trust Fund and the end result was a 43% one-year increase in state highway funding in the six-year, $217 billion Transportation Equity Act.
Sen. John Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), a leading advocate of federal legislation to improve air services in underserved markets, has been named ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee in the 106th Congress, Senate sources said yesterday. He succeeds Wendell Ford (D-Ky.), who did not run for re-election last month. Rockefeller was fifth in seniority among subcommittee Democrats in the 105th Congress, behind Ernest Hollings (S.C.), Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) and Richard Bryan (Nev.) as well as Ford.
Northrop Grumman will eliminate 1,100 more jobs next year "as a direct result" of Boeing's announcement last week that it will cut commercial aircraft production, a Northrop Grumman spokeswoman said yesterday. At the same time, Cordant Technologies, Salt Lake City; Howmet International, Greenwich, Conn., and Coltec Industries, Charlotte, N.C., joined the ranks of companies saying the Boeing cutbacks (DAILY, Dec. 2) would not affect 1999 sales.
Malaysia Airlines said it will put no caps on international travel agent commissions. The carrier will offer 8% commissions on normal published fares, 25% on published fares with no upgrades and 15% on promotional excursion fares.
Emirates is adding a fourth weekly flight from Dubai to Malta, beginning Jan. 2. The airline will operate the service with A310-300 configured for 173 passengers in a three-class layout. The carrier also has received permission to add two flights to London Heathrow from Dubai. The two one-time Heathrow flights will use 777s equipped with 49 business and 304 economy seats. The first will be flown Dec. 19 and the second Jan. 9. Emirates serves Heathrow twice daily from Dubai.
Tower Air reported a 6.2% decline in traffic on 5.2% less capacity for November 1998, compared with the same month last year, which pushed the load factor down 0.8 percentage points to 70.4%. Tower flew 257 million revenue passenger miles and 365 million available seat miles. Passengers flown fell 1.8% to 107,000, while total block hours grew 5.1% to 3,224. Year-to-date RPMs were up 14.5% on 16.8% more ASMs from the first 11 months last year, depressing the load factor 1.5 points. Passenger boardings increased 22.3% and block hours 5%.
Washington State Employment Security Commissioner Carver Gayton said yesterday the agency has been meeting with Boeing, union leaders and other work force organizations for several months to prepare for tens of thousands of layoffs. Boeing said last week job reductions could be as high as 48,000 over two years, although some are expected to occur through attrition (DAILY, Dec. 2). Gayton said helping these workers get unemployment insurance benefits "is the first step, but job placement and training will also be needed.
Northwest received a two-year initial exemption for scheduled combination service between points in the U.S. and Lome, Togo, via Amsterdam. The carrier plans to operate the service under code share with KLM. (Docket OST-98-4739)
Federal Express and the Fedex Pilots Association (FPA) held face-to-face talks yesterday to discuss work rules and scheduling.FPA leadership remains "cautiously optimistic" that the two sides will reach a tentative deal the rank and file can ratify. On Monday, FedEx's stock price jumped 11 3/4 points to 79 in the first 20 minutes of trading and stayed high the rest of the day. FPA said this is a good sign for the company and its employees.
United said tougher enforcement of its long-standing carry-on bag policy, which includes sending baggage through sizer templates, is producing the desired results, according to an early assessment. The carrier said it is using the policy to improve on-time performance, make boarding easier and reduce the risk of passenger injury from heavy bags that fall out of overhead bins. Carry-on templates installed at Chicago O'Hare have reduced delays caused by cabin-checked baggage by 72%, compared with the same period last year.
FAA yesterday dismissed with prejudice a complaint by Legend Airlines that the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Board, the City of Fort Worth, and American have been improperly controlling air service out of Love Field through anti-competitive actions. Legend filed with FAA Nov. 18 asking the agency to withhold federal aviation funds because of discrimination. FAA said the complaint falls under DOT's jurisdiction.
TWA Chairman and Chief Executive Gerald Gitner yesterday asked President Clinton to support legislation to repeal the federal statute that allows DOT to grant antitrust immunity to alliances between U.S. and foreign carriers. TWA has largely been left out of the alliance game, and in a letter to Clinton, Gitner said the airline has struggled to return to profitability, but "at present, we find our ability to succeed hampered by the competitive environment created by the U.S. government's policy of granting antitrust immunity to alliances between U.S.
Virgin Express, the Brussels-based subsidiary of Virgin Express Holdings, reported a 30.9% increase in traffic on 17.5% more capacity for November 1998, compared with the same month last year, pushing the load factor up 7.2 percentage points. Virgin flew 97.4 million revenue passenger miles and 139.4 million available seat miles, creating a 69.9% load factor. Passengers flown grew 23.8% to 211,923 and charter block hours jumped 42.7% to 1,015.
LTU International will ban smoking from all Germany-U.S. flights, starting Jan. 1. The airline, which banned smoking on domestic flights in 1995. continues to offer smoking on its service from Germany to the Caribbean, Mexico, Africa, Asia and elsewhere in Europe.
Mercury Air Cargo secured a contract with Grupo TACA, the four-airline Central American alliance, to provide cargo handling at Miami Airport. Last year, Grupo TACA moved 70,000 tons of cargo in and out of the airport.
