All Nippon Airways will begin daily Tokyo-San Francisco service Dec. 1 pending government approval. The flights are ANA's first new U.S. service since the U.S. and Japan negotiated a new bilateral treaty early this year. "ANA has been waiting for this moment for a long time" and is looking forward to further U.S. expansion, said Shinji Nakajima, senior managing director-government affairs. ANA will operate 747-400s on the route with 336 seats - 14 in first class, 62 in business and 260 in economy. San Francisco is the third most popular U.S.
Anticipating the shutdown of Philippine Airlines this week, the government has approved a "partial open skies" policy. A senior official of the Department of Transport, Felix Gomez, told The DAILY the government will allow initially five airports to accept flights from any foreign airline, but Manila Ninoy Aquino Airport will not be included. Gomez declined to elaborate on Manila's exclusion. Only one of the five, Cebu, is qualified to handle a fully loaded 747-400, and as a tourist destination it could benefit from the policy.
Business Travel Coalition President Kevin Mitchell yesterday told DOT in a letter that its proposed competition policy "is meant to address the single greatest competition problem - unfair competitive practices." The letter, sent to DOT Secretary Rodney Slater, carried the signatures of 426 individuals representing a broad base of the transportation industry, including airline, small-business, university, travel management, low-fare carrier, airport and other sectors.
Pilots at Bloomington, Minn.-based charter carrier Champion Air yesterday voted for union representation by the Air Line Pilots Association. Ballots were counted by the National Mediation Board Sept. 14. Forty-nine of the 67 pilots eligible to vote cast ballots for ALPA.
Aerolineas Argentinas has delayed for 30 days its much-anticipated board meeting, planned for today, that would have installed an American Airlines executive to run the airline. American parent AMR Corp. said yesterday it is prepared to complete the stock transaction and had "no prior knowledge" of the delay. American is acquiring a 10% stake in InterInvest, one of the Argentine carrier's major shareholders. InterInvest is controlled by Iberia parent SEPI, a Spanish holding company.
In a bid to increase its market share on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route, Japan Airlines will reduce its roundtrip fare by 6% to US$84, starting Oct. 2. JAL, Malaysian Airlines and Singapore Airlines serve the route. JAL operates a daily MD-11 flight, while MAS and SIA each have 10 flights each way with no restriction on aircraft type. MAS and SIA's roundtrip fare is US$116. Qantas suspended the service last month. A JAL official in Kuala Lumpur said the carrier's current load factor on the route is about 92%.
Safety experts from the U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority, in a bid to raise air safety standards across the Caribbean, have been holding presentations on aircraft maintenance, flight operations and airport safety. About 200 people attended the events, which were held in Trinidad&Tobago, Antigua, Barbuda and the Bahamas. Representatives from governments, aviation authorities, maintenance organizations and airlines attended the roadshow.
American Eagle, an American Airlines affiliate, will launch ERJ-145 nonstop service between Columbus, Ohio, and Miami Airport Dec. 12. The carrier will fly two roundtrips every Saturday and Sunday during the winter travel season, feeding American Airlines Vacations in Florida, the Bahamas, Latin America and the Caribbean. American Eagle has received 12 of the 42 ERJ-145s it ordered last year and is continuing to accept new aircraft at the rate of two per month.
Iberia announced plans to acquire as many as 11 more A340-300s from Airbus Industrie. The aircraft will join a fleet of eight A340s operating in Madrid-U.S., -Latin America and -South Africa markets. Iberia last June ordered up to 76 A320 series aircraft, one of the largest orders placed by a European carrier. Iberia also has 22 A320s and eight A300s.
DOT Secretary Rodney Slater will be the keynote speaker at the Deregulation 20 Summit at noon today, the 20th anniversary of airline deregulation. The two-day conference, at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, is co-hosted by DOT and McGraw-Hill's Aviation Week Conferences&Exhibitions. Panelists will include DOT Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs Charles Hunnicutt, Rep.
Mechanics and stock clerks at Allegheny Airlines/US Airways Express have voted for representation by the Teamsters in an election conducted by the National Mediation Board. Of 140 eligible mechanics, 93 voted for the Teamsters. Of the carrier's 17 stock clerks, 10 voted for the Teamsters.
Fairchild Corp. reported a net loss of $11.5 million for its fourth quarter, which ended June 30, but a strong performance by its Fairchild Fasteners division, which generated sales of $16.5 million and operating income of $14.2 million. Total sales were $174 million, down from $210.6 million in the same quarter last year, producing a net profit of $8.9 million. Sales for the year were up to $741.2 million from $680.8 million, while net earnings rose to $101.1 million from $1.3 million.
Eurocontrol Director General Yves Lambert said yesterday that while the Global Positioning System is an "excellent system," and other nations are grateful there is no charge for using it, "we feel uncomfortable that the government is unable to make any kind of acknowledgment of international liability." Lambert, speaking in Washington at the Global Aviation Safety&Security Conference, said "liability is an issue that simply has to be faced....GPS is the global de facto standard, but a technical and institutional framework with an international mandate is needed."
Legend Airlines, embroiled continuously in Dallas debates about whether it should be able to offer flights from Love Field, is days away from gaining its initial approval from DOT, Chairman and Chief Executive Alan McArtor said yesterday. In a roundtable discussion with reporters, McArtor said American has been waging and funding a war against his startup using tactics that are predatory. He said American's support for one of the several Love Field lawsuits is "one of the most obscene examples of predatory behavior" he has witnessed.
Air Transport Association said its member carriers reported a 0.6% gain in August traffic, as domestic revenue passenger miles rose 0.8% and international RPMs 0.2%, compared with the same month last year. Airlines produced average load factors of 76.7% systemwide, down 0.4 percentage points, and 76.1% on domestic routes and 78.2% on international flights.
The big three aren't quite as dominant as they used to be.United, American and Delta controlled 53.4% of total U.S. traffic in August, down from 60.1%, in August 1993. While Northwest's market share dropped from 12.4% to 10.6% during the five-year period, Southwest's rose by nearly half, to 4.9%.
ING Lease International Equipment Management has sold and delivered an Airbus A300B4 to DHL International. The aircraft will be converted into a freighter.
DOT granted American an initial two-year exemption to provide scheduled combination Chicago-Moscow service, allocating the carrier seven weekly U.S.-Russia frequencies for an indefinite period. American said it plans to begin nonstop service June 1, 1999, using 204-seat 767-300ERs (DAILY, Aug. 17). DOT granted the authority under the U.S.-Russia aviation agreement, noting that both countries continue to invoke the expired annexes to that accord as the source of the rights.
Hawker Pacific Aerospace, which has several airline customers around the world, said it has signed a 25-year lease on a facility four miles from London that will be the new home of its U.K. landing gear repair operations.
Crossair's board approved a new corporate structure for the company, changing the financial and marketing divisions and corporate controlling, effective Jan. 1, 1999. The management team also will undergo changes. Following the departure of Josef Felder, Richard Heideker was appointed executive VP general manager-product management. The sales department, headed by Hans Maurer, and the two regional commercial organizations, all currently within the commercial and finance division, will be transferred to the product management division, as will the charter unit.
SAirGroup and French regional Air Littoral joined hands yesterday with the signing of a strategic and financial agreement under which SAirGroup will take a 44% stake in Air Littoral. Nice-based Air Littoral will join the Qualiflyer Group as its 10th partner, bringing a route network rich in code-share possibilities for charter and leisure travelers to southern France.
An analysis of 621 global fatal accidents to passenger aircraft between 1980 and 1996 showed that 41% occurred due to lack of positional awareness in the air, Adrian Sayce, head of safety analysis for the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, said yesterday. Sayce, in a report released at the Global Aviation Safety&Security Conference in Washington, said half of the 621 fatal accidents occurred during approach and landing. Design shortcomings and post-crash fire each were causal factors in 10% of all fatal accidents, he said.
Northwest, which returned to full operations Monday following its recent pilots strike, is offering bargains throughout North America to promote the Oct. 1 start of its nonstop Duluth/Superior-Detroit service. Passengers can purchase tickets for travel Oct. 1-Nov. 15 with some restrictions, and a 14-day advance purchase is required. Sample fares from Duluth/Superior are $109 to Detroit, $59 to Minneapolis/St. Paul and $109 to Boston. Duluth/Superior-Detroit service will be aboard RJ-85 regional jets operated by Northwest Airlink partner Mesaba Airlines.
