Cathay Pacific, ARINC and Rockwell Collins have implemented GlobaLink/High Frequency Data Link (HFDL) on a 747-400. The aircraft is now in commercial service and using HFDL for long-range aeronautical operational control communications (AOC). The HFDL is used routinely when the aircraft is outside VHF data link coverage. The HFDL provides continuing AOC for polar operations. The three companies plan to use HFDL-equipped aircraft in the coming months to demonstrate its reliability for air traffic service applications.
Las Vegas-based startup National Airlines has named its senior managers, led by airline founder Michael Conway as chairman, president and chief executive officer.
Southwest's September traffic grew 9.2% on 5.1% more capacity, which raised the load factor 2.3 percentage points to 62.8%. For the first nine months of 1998, Southwest's traffic surged 11.7% on 6.9% more capacity, resulting in a load factor of 66.9%, up 2.9 points. The average length of haul in September rose 5.4%, from 577 miles to 608. Southwest carried 39.3 million passengers in the first three quarters of this year. Sept 98 Sept 97 9 Mths 98 9 Mths 97
Massport said Icelandair will begin weekly freighter service Oct. 25 between Boston and Reykjavik. As the first transatlantic all-cargo service to be operated from Logan Airport since September 1996, the launch is "great news for New England importers of seafood and for exporters," Massport Executive Director Peter Blute said.
U.S. Major Carriers Latin Share of Service Second Quarter 1998 Total Revenue Departures Alaska 1,948 America West 1,265 American 25,365 Continental 11,519 Delta 3,308 United 4,502 US Airways 1,768 Total 49,675 Average Number of
TheTrip.com and Biztravel.com score big with travel agents, according to a survey of Internet sites conducted by Gomez Advisors. Gomez published its first Internet Travel Agent Scorecard at its web site, www.gomez.com, ranking the effectiveness of the Internet delivery of travel services by 19 online travel agents. The firms were ranked by overall score, which was based on five categories - ease of use, customer confidence, on-site resources, relationship services and overall costs.
Calling the current U.S.-U.K. aviation agreement "antiquated and anti-consumer," City of Chicago Aviation Commissioner Mary Rose Loney, leading city representatives who are part of the official U.S. delegation to the U.S.-U.K. bilateral talks in London, yesterday voiced hope that negotiators can reach a more liberal agreement in this round of talks, scheduled through tomorrow. Loney cited the "mini-deal" with the U.K. that allowed United to add service to Chicago-London, resulting in a 73% traffic increase on the route over the last two years.
CityFlyer Express, British Airways' London Gatwick-based franchisee, has recruited its first batch of cabin crew from Ireland. Eleven cabin crew have passed the four-week training course and are operating on the airline's ATR and RJ100 routes, including three daily flights to Cork and five to Dublin.
U.S. Major Carriers Atlantic Share of Service Second Quarter 1998 Total Revenue Departures American 6,107 Continental 2,980 Delta 7,181 Northwest 2,335 TWA 1,963 United 4,638 US Airways 1,582 Total 26,786
More than 200 United programmers and analysts have finished an initial technical assessment of the airline's Year 2000 computer problems, investigating more than 14,600 items, including many airport systems. United, the first major carrier to complete its total Y2K assessment, believes Y2K issues could affect computer programs that handle payroll, revenue accounting, flight planning, aircraft scheduling, maintenance planning, parts inventory management, marketing programs and customer reservations.
Midway Airlines has initiated nonstop jet service between Indianapolis and its Raleigh/Durham hub. Using the seventh of its new Canadair Regional Jets, Midway offers three daily roundtrip flights with connections all along the East Coast. Midway has firm orders for 13 additional CRJs and holds options on 10.
As Rome and Brussels negotiate a compromise on the international use of Milan's new airport at Malpensa, the European Parliament's transport committee overwhelmingly threw its support last week behind the European Commission's position that Italy is discriminating against foreign carriers. The committee steamrolled over a declaration by four of its Italian deputies, who labeled the EC's stance "totally unfounded." Led by its French president, MEP Jean-Pierre Bazin, the Euro-Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee voted down a resolution by Italian members.
The 47 foreign carriers given one last chance to file family support plans or risk loss of permits and exemptions (DAILY, Oct. 2) are not flocking to respond. Three carriers - Windward Islands Airways International of the Netherlands Antilles, Translift Airways of Ireland and Aerotranscolombiana de Carga of Colombia - responded quickly. Translift's plan arrived at DOT "about an hour after we issued the order," a DOT spokesman said, making it unlikely that the carrier was responding to DOT's prodding.
Boeing had 36 undelivered jet transports - nine 747s, three 777s, one 767, 10 737s, eight next-generation 737s and five MD-90s - in storage at the end of the third quarter, the company said yesterday. Although some carriers, particularly Asian carriers, have delayed or canceled orders, the majority of the in-storage aircraft "are awaiting final customer-financing arrangements, most of which are expected to occur in the fourth quarter," Boeing said. The company stuck by its forecast that it will deliver 550 airplanes this year.
United Express carrier Atlantic Coast Airlines will begin flying a regional jet on one flight per day from its hub at Washington Dulles, Va., to Columbus, Ohio, Detroit, Mich., and Hartford, Conn., beginning Oct. 31. The carrier currently provides turboprop service in all three markets. Upgraded service will be aboard 50-passenger Canadair Regional Jets.
Senate approval of a treaty modernizing international air cargo liability rules drew praise yesterday from the Air Transport Association. The Senate approved Montreal Protocol No. 4, which permits the transmission of electronic waybills and streamlines cargo documentation. ATA President Carol Hallett said U.S. cargo carriers "will no longer be competitively disadvantaged and will now benefit from the same lower transportation costs and reduced travel times their foreign competitors enjoy."
LatinPass creator Aviation Management Services (AvMan), with Pace Direct of Greensboro, N.C., will create a frequent flyer program for a group of European regional carriers. Pace Direct is a subsidiary of Pace Communications, the largest inflight magazine publisher in the world. The two firms have selected the Miami-based advertising firm Public Image to support creative and ad requirements. AvMan President Guy Booth will lead the team, and Debonair's Barry Zorn, the airline's director-strategic planning, heads the steering committee.
Affiliates of the International Transport Workers' Federation representing workers at all the major carriers discussed recently a coordinated trade union approach to proposed global alliance oneworld. They also reviewed the latest proposals from European and U.S. competition authorities and discussed the impact of oneworld on workers of the affected airlines - American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Canadian Airlines and Qantas.
Philippine Airlines, which plans to resume domestic service tomorrow, expects to add some international flights by Oct. 15. The airline's initial plan calls for domestic service using 12 aircraft. Afterward, PAL intends to resume service to the U.S., starting with four flights a week each to San Francisco and Los Angeles. By the end of October, PAL predicts it will operate two daily flights to Hong Kong and one to Taipei.
Canadian Airlines is making its Virtu@l Ticketing service available for flights between Canada and the U.S. beginning Oct. 15. Passenger will be able to buy electronic tickets on transborder, flights to Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas, Dallas, Chicago, Raleigh-Durham, Miami, Orlando, New York and Boston.
SAS opened an office in Hanoi last week and said the move is a precursor for possible direct service between Vietnam and Scandinavia.SAS has been helping in Vietnamese aviation training for more than a decade, and last year Denmark and Norway were part of a new aviation agreement signed to open access to Vietnam.
DOT Secretary Rodney Slater warned DOT appropriations conferees yesterday that he might not recommend that President Clinton sign their bill if they include "a provision that bars the Department from issuing airline competition guidelines." Slater wrote Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and ranking member Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston (R-La.) and ranking member David Obey (D-Wis.) that it would be "difficult for me to recommend that the President sign the bill" under those conditions.
American Eagle reported a 19.8% gain in systemwide traffic on 9.5% more capacity in September, pushing the load factor up 5.4 percentage points. Revenue passenger miles totaled 299.7 million and available seat miles 368.3 million, creating a 62.4% load factor. The three American regional affiliates that have merged as American Eagle - Simmons, Flagship and Wings West - flew 210.5 million RPMs on 333.6 million ASMs, increasing the load factor 5.8 points to 63.1%.
Curtis Carlson, founder and chairman of the board of Carlson Companies Inc., has been elected the sole 1998 inductee of the Travel Industry Hall of Leaders. The award is presented annually to an individual who has made substantial and sustained contributions to the advancement of the U.S. travel industry. Carlson Company, based in Minneapolis, provides hospitality, travel and marketing services to corporate and consumer clients in more than 140 countries.
Switzerland-based Air Engiadina is interested in acquiring a jet family, but not immediately, according to Managing Director Charles Schnider. "The 328 still suits us best," he said. "We interested in the 44-seater, but we are still evaluating our future needs." The carrier wants to become a network partner of KLM, he added, a relationship that began last month, when it joined the larger carrier's Flying Dutchman frequent flyer plan. "If we were not in the scheme we would lose out." He said the other option was to become a franchisee of a larger company.
