As the planned shutdown last night of Philippine Airlines was proceeding, the Philippine government is allowing another troubled national carrier, Air Philippines, to resume service following a mandated shutdown. The Philippine Civil Aeronautics Board said Air Philippines, the country's second-largest airline, has complied with safety requirements for two of its fleet of 12 aircraft. The carrier was expected to have a half dozen flights in the air by yesterday.
The stage is set for government intervention in future labor negotiations, a panel of airline experts said yesterday at the Deregulation 20 Summit in Washington. Deregulation has created a dynamic market that has, in turn, brought about serious labor problems, as witnessed by the recent Northwest pilots strike, which led DOT and a White House emissary to step in and jump-start talks.
Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) is trying to fend off attempts to change DOT's proposed competition policy through House-Senate conference committee amendments to the Fiscal 1999 DOT appropriations bill. The Commerce Committee's FAA authorization bill reached the floor only yesterday, and McCain objected to a potential money bill maneuver recently in a letter to Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).
Oneworld alliance is expected to invite three more airlines to join, in addition to already declared Iberia.Japan Airlines, Finnair and Dragonair, part-owned by founding member Cathay Pacific, are professing their eligibility for membership in the five-airline cooperative.
Virgin Express reported August traffic of 112.9 million revenue passenger kilometers, up 25.3%, on 22.1% more capacity. Load factor increased 2.0 percentage points to 78.8%. The Brussels-based airline flew 244,819 passengers last month, up 36.7%.
AirTran and its ValuJet predecessor have contributed considerably to fare declines in large, medium and small markets, according to an Air Transport Association study. Among 28 city-pairs showing significant drops in ticket prices over a five-year period, AirTran operated in 12. The entry of Vanguard and Spirit helped reduce fares in four markets each among the 28.
American's opposition to a request by Continental and Northwest for additional U.S.-Japan frequencies should not stop DOT from granting their joint request, Continental and Northwest told DOT. "Neither American nor any other party has requested the additional frequencies sought" by the two carriers following release of the 14 frequencies by TWA and Delta last month.
Inflammatory issues raised by Love Field operations must "be decided under federal law," Legend Airlines told DOT, or litigation will "go on indefinitely." Most issues cited by opponents to expanded use of Love - American, Fort Worth and their supporters - "are not genuine." Those parties are continuing their long-term efforts to quash competition from Legend, Continental Express and Southwest, Legend said.
Airlines involved in three of the five most recent controlled-flight-into-terrain (CFIT) accidents had received the joint Boeing/Flight Safety Foundation CFIT training program, according to AlliedSignal's Don Bateman, chief engineer for Flight Safety Systems. "It was just sitting on a shelf gathering dust," he said at this week's Global Safety&Security conference in Washington.
U.K.-based Debonair plans to operate a daily scheduled service to Paris Express Cergy-Pontoise Airport from London Luton, starting Nov. 16. The low-fare carrier will fly the route initially twice daily, with plans to increase to four flights a day, using British Aerospace 146 aircraft. The airport has been chosen as it is most convenient for the business district of Paris at La Defense and also the Champs-Elysees area. There are good links to Paris by road and rail, each taking about 35 minutes to reach the city center.
TWA will introduce its TWQ premium business-class service on Dallas/Fort Worth-St. Louis and Minneapolis/St. Paul-St. Louis routes Oct. 5. Passengers can pick up electronic tickets and mileage upgrade certificates at the gate. Between Oct. 5-Oct. 31, TWQ customers get 1,000 extra frequent flyer miles if their flight is more than 15 minutes late or canceled after they have boarded.
Air France traffic increased 9.4% in August to 7.1 billion revenue passenger kilometers, as capacity rose 8.3% to 9.1 billion available seat kilometers. The higher traffic gain meant the load factor also grew, to 78.3%, up 0.8 percentage points. The airline posted an 8.3% drop in cargo traffic, to 381 million freight ton kilometers.
DOT is considering international aviation liberalization that would go beyond open skies and is questioning current restrictions by the U.S. and other countries on cabotage, seventh-freedom rights, foreign ownership of airlines and travel by government employees, Charles Hunnicutt, assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, said yesterday at Aviation Week's Deregulation 20 Summit in Washington. The U.S.
Gemini Air Cargo was granted an initial two-year exemption to provide scheduled cargo service between New York and Brussels and permission to integrate the service with other services it provides under its certificate and existing exemption authority consistent with applicable international agreements. Unused rights to limited-entry markets acquired through the route integration may be requested by another carrier, and DOT would decide the issue in a competitive selection proceeding. (Docket OST-98-4433)
Lufthansa Technik AG (LTAG), the aircraft maintenance subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, has opened a new center for engine cleaning and crack-detection operations. The 5 million Deutschmark facility, opened Sept. 22 at LTAG's maintenance headquarters in Berlin, occupies 10,800 square feet and is based on strict compliance with environmental protection requirements. Automatic metering within an encapsulated space, for instance, reduces water consumption by 80% and thus energy consumption by 50% in comparison with traditional engine flushing methods.
Building an offshore airport for The Netherlands would relieve traffic levels not only at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport but also at Brussels Airport International (BAI) at Zaventem, says Jan Pronk, the Dutch environment minister. The offshore airport idea is one of four options being studied by the Dutch government to deal with the burgeoning passenger traffic predicted for Schiphol in the next 15 years.
American and British Airways said the hybrid hearing DOT plans to hold Oct. 26-28 on their alliance proposal is unprecedented for an antitrust immunity case and fully adequate, rejecting United's and others' call for a full oral evidentiary proceeding. American-BA, filing rebuttal testimony on the case, said a hearing before an administrative law judge was not used for antitrust immunity for United's alliances with Lufthansa, Air Canada or SAS, or for other cases, and there is no reason to subject American-BA to "discriminatory procedural treatment."
DOT granted Air Exel Netherlands, which operates as KLM exel, a one-year initial exemption to code share with Northwest between Paris and Eindhoven, Netherlands. The Dutch regional carrier will display Northwest's code in the market, connecting with Northwest's Detroit-Paris service (DAILY, Aug. 18). Separately, DOT renewed for one year Air Exel's exemption authority to carry Northwest and KLM codes on its flights between Amsterdam and domestic Netherlands points. (Dockets OST-98-4333, 97-2637)
Mesa Airlines and its flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, have reached a tentative contract agreement. No details were available yesterday, but the carrier's approximately 120 flight attendants are expected to vote on the deal soon.
Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain's (R-Ariz.) hope to bring the FAA reauthorization to a vote on the Senate floor today probably will not be realized thanks to opposition from slot expansion foes and others. Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said yesterday he may force a vote on the bill through a cloture motion, a maneuver that could take several days and requires at least 60 votes in the 100-member Senate.
China Southern is altering its Boeing 777 nonstop service from Guangzhou to Los Angeles, introducing a new first-, business- and economy-class structure. First class, with 18 seats, becomes PremiumBusiness class and the section with 67 business-class seats becomes PremiumEconomy class. The seats in premium class have a 60-inch pitch, personal television monitors, satellite telephones and fax service, while business class has a 40-inch pitch.
National Transportation Safety Board Bar Association will hold its Safety Enforcement Law Workshop Oct. 28 at the Capitol Holiday Inn in Washington, D.C. For more information, call Mark McDermott at 202-331-1955.
Aeropostal de Venezuela selected Pratt&Whitney to provide engine fleet management for its new A310 aircraft. It is leasing two A310s from Airbus Industrie.
