Alaska Airlines is the latest carrier to transform its internal workings in search of better on-time performance. Admitting in an employee newspaper that it is "below the average" of major U.S. airlines, Alaska has involved several divisions in the effort and set an 82% on-time-arrivals goal. In August, the airline's 74% ranked eighth among majors. It was last in mishandled baggage.
Arbitration hearings for integration of pilot seniority lists at US Airways and US Airways Shuttle begin today in Washington, D.C. The hearings are scheduled to continue through Friday.
Reiterating the U.S. position that open skies is "an essential predicate to any possible grant of antitrust immunity," DOT announced late Friday that the oral hearing on immunity for the proposed American/British Airways alliance "has been postponed indefinitely" because "the United Kingdom was not prepared to resolve any of the core issues in open-skies negotiations in London this week." The action marks an aboutface in DOT's efforts to bring all interested parties to the hearing it had scheduled for Oct. 26-28 in Washington.
Randolph Babbitt, who will step down as president of the Air Line Pilots Association in December, believes firefighting standards at some airports fall far short of ensuring passenger safety despite strides made in the past two years, and there are other safety issues he would like to see resolved - land-and-hold-short, federally imposed duty and time limits and protection under the Railway Labor Act for U.S. carrier pilots stationed overseas.
Rolls-Royce, which announced last week a joint venture with Singapore Engineering Co., expects the engine overhaul market to double over the next five years. Rolls says joint ventures are a "fundamental part" of a strategy in which it has doubled its market share for repair of engines it manufactured to about 50%. Rolls wants to "work with our customers rather than compete against them."
The Instrument Flight Manual, Fifth Edition, by William Kershner. Gives an overview of IFR operational requirements and helps establish patterns of decision making in instrument flight. Iowa State University Press; $32.95. To order, call 800-862-6657.
Air France will relocate its 11 weekly cargo flights from Paris Orly Airport to Charles de Gaulle on Jan. 1, 1999, three months after this month's opening of its new terminal at CDG.
Rockwell Collins Support Services named Scott Watson director-business development, Mark Harris managing director-business operations, and Scott Gunnufson director-customer programs.
Milwaukee-based Midwest Express Holdings reported a 21.9% jump in traffic on 11.5% more capacity for September 1998 over September last year, pushing the load factor up 5.8 percentage points to 67.9%. Midwest Express reported 142.6 million revenue passenger miles on 210.2 million available seat miles. Passenger enplanements increased 22.1% to 169,501. Midwest Express Connection carrier Skyway Airlines logged a 36.3% gain in RPMs on 1.3% fewer ASMs, boosting the load factor 17.2 points to 62.1%.
American, faced with senior pilots taking early buy-outs, will accept applications for pilot jobs Nov. 2-30. Prospects can stop hanging around Chief Pilot and VP-Flight Cecil Ewell's office, because American will accept applications only by mail, with a self-addressed return envelope carrying $1.01 in postage. In a recorded message to pilots, Ewell said applicants with resumes in hand are lined up when he comes to work at 5:30 a.m.
SAS established its presence Thursday as the dominant carrier at Gardermoen, Oslo's new airport, by operating its first early-morning flight there. Gardermoen replaces Fornebu as the Norwegian capital's main airport. With 90,000 square meters of space and 4,300 employees at the site, SAS is Gardermoen's largest tenant and, except for the airport's owners, its largest property developer.
Swissair, continuing its unilateral action to assist families of the downed Flight 111, said it will offer to pay each victim's family roughly 195,000 Swiss francs (US$150,000). The airline, which still has up to 15 people working daily with victims' families, will be offering the sum to families during the next two to three weeks. This comes after 145 families took advantage of the carrier's immediate payout of CHF30,000 or $20,000.
Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Large Regionals September 1997 - August 1998 Total Total Cost Cents Per Gallons (Dollars) Gallon 1997 September Domestic 1,100,609,483 654,496,663 59.467 International 422,761,158 268,269,645 63.457
LanPeru, a new carrier backed by LanChile and a Peruvian hotel chain, has applied to launch service within Peru and to international destinations, according to AvMan Services. The airline likely will begin with three aircraft and have an alliance with Chilean airline Natch.
FA - In Federal Register dated Oct. 2...Issued an airworthiness directive on certain Saab 2000 aircraft requiring tests of the operation of the nose wheel steering system limit switch...Proposed an AD on Boeing 737-100/200 aircraft concerning inspections for missing nuts and damaged secondary support hardware adjacent to the aft engine mount...Proposed an AD on Bombardier Dash 7/8 aircraft to require inspection of the serial number of the brake shuttle valves of the main landing gear.
Selection of Continental for U.S.-Romania code-share authority would do more to expand U.S.-Romania and U.S.-Eastern Europe airline competition than an award to Delta, Northwest or United, Continental told DOT in the department's proceeding on three U.S.-Romania third-country code-share opportunities available April 1, 1999 (DAILY, Oct. 2).
Aeroports de Paris and SAB, the management company of Bierset Airport in Liege, Belgium, have agreed to develop a common strategy in the air freight sector. The airport operators aim to create a long-term working relationship "according to their respective complementarities" for intermodal transport based on Europe's high-speed train network as well as air cargo.
Three Washington Dulles Airport projects are being held up by the failure of Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) to release three appointments to the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA). The appointees, including former Reps. Norman Mineta (D-Calif.) and John Paul Hammerschmidt (R-Ky.), have had confirmation hearings before the committee but their names have not been released for a floor vote. With Congress adjourning, observers believed Friday they stood little chance of being confirmed before the next Congress.
FAA has completed the transition to a Common Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS) at the Chicago Terminal Radar Approach Control (Tracon) facility, Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management said. Chicago is the third large metroplex facility to use Common ARTS since deployment began in February. Now in use at New York, Denver and 25 smaller facilities, it eventually will replace air traffic control systems at 136 Tracons across the U.S.
Korean Air and Asiana rated below the average of most international airlines for aviation safety, according to a study by Rep. Kim Hong-il of South Korea's National Congress For New Politics. Korean Air rated 72.4 and Asiana 75.3 out of 100 possible points. The average for most airlines is 92.6. Korea's airlines also rated lower than other Asian carriers, which collectively averaged 85.4 points. Korean flag carriers have been involved in 51 separate accidents and incidents since 1970, resulting in 836 deaths.
As investors dumped airline stocks in recent weeks, affecting nearly all carriers without regard for their individual outlooks, Atlantic Coast Airlines has been "unnecessarily punished," said BT Alex Brown analyst Susan Donofrio. Regionals "should be in much better position to weather the next downturn, due to their high percentage of business traffic (70%) versus the majors (40%)," she said in a report.
