Lufthansa will add three new cities to its global network when its winter timetable kicks in Oct. 25. The first is Muscat, with three flights a week via Dubai offered to Oman. Dubai and Abu Dhabi will be served once a day. The second new destination - Christchurch, New Zealand - will be served with code-share partner Air New Zealand. The two will offer a daily connection via Singapore, while Auckland, the third new point, will get two weekly flights via Los Angeles.
Continental completed yesterday what was called the first commercial flight using a Global Positioning System Landing System (GLS) developed by Honeywell and Pelorus Navigation. The MD-80 flight originated in Washington, D.C., and made landings in Newark and Minneapolis/St. Paul. GLS is expected to alleviate airport congestion and delays at far less cost than an Instrument Landing System. The Honeywell/Pelorus system, the SLS-2000, has received FAA certification. Newark and Minneapolis/St. Paul were industry pioneers when they commissioned the system in January.
For a limited time, United will not require flight attendant candidates from outside the company to speak a second language. The carrier, which expects to hire more than 2,000 flight attendant trainees in 1999, has a limited number of positions for people who speak only one language. It always has waived the language requirement for applicants who already work for the company.
International Civil Aviation Organization will hold its 32nd triennial session Sept. 22-Oct. 2 in Montreal and will consider issues "so consequential that I believe the decision of the assembly will have a determining impact on the direction and scope of international civil aviation for decades to come," said Council President Assad Kotaite.
Taiwan's EVA Air expects Asia's downturn to last two to three more years. The airline, calling itself healthier than most in the region, plans to counteract the Asia/Pacific recession by diversifying and increasing its focus on cargo, which has grown to one-third of total revenues. EVA Air is targeting a 50% share.
A global alliance among American, British Airways, Qantas, Canadian Airlines and a new link - with Cathay Pacific - will be announced at a news conference today in London, The DAILY has learned. Japan Airlines will not be involved, an airline spokeswoman said. Swissair, currently a Delta partner, could play a role in the alliance eventually and has been courted by BA, sources said.
Southwest and its Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association (SWAPA) have agreed to keep their 10-year labor contract that became effective in 1994. The carrier's 2,000-plus pilots voted by more than 78% to continue the contract, which will become amendable Sept. 1, 2004. The 10-year agreement froze their pay scale for the first five years in exchange for a substantial number of stock options. It also contained a unilateral provision allowing the pilots to reopen negotiations at the contract's midpoint, in 1999.
Availability of aircraft situation displays on the Internet is causing concern among National Business Aircraft Association member companies. NBAA is working with members of Congress on legislation to ensure that flight tracking software vendors block aircraft registration numbers on request. NBAA says a voluntary program did not work.
Hourly cost of employee compensation in aircraft manufacturing increased slightly in 1998, to $34.27, after declining in 1997, according to Aerospace Industries Association. The wages and salaries component rose 3%, or 69 cents, to $23.32 per hour. The hourly cost of benefits declined for the second straight year, to $10.95.
Northwest's Air Line Pilots Association unit leadership is taking its new labor contract to the rank and file. Roadshows discussing the agreement will begin tomorrow in Minneapolis and go to Detroit and Anchorage on Wednesday. Others are scheduled for Memphis on Friday, Seattle Sept. 28, Tokyo Narita Sept. 30 and Honolulu Oct. 2. The union disconnected its strike hotline Friday.
DOT vacated its order requiring Mesaba and Express Airlines I to reinstate essential air service at 17 communities, where the carriers had dropped service during the Northwest pilots strike, and directing Northwest to provide support services to the carriers. The strike left 22 communities without scheduled service.
FAA - In Federal Register dated Sept. 11...Issued an airworthiness directive on CFMI CFM56-3 series engines concerning replacement of suspect starter gearshafts...Proposed to supersede an AD on Lockheed L-1011-385 aircraft concerning inspections for cracking of the bulkhead. - In FR dated Sept. 14...Withdrew a final rule on Bombardier CL-215 aircraft concerning loss of battery bus power.
InsideFlyer magazine is looking for Delta frequent flyers to update its WebFlyer web site ratings of Delta's SkyMiles program for the October issue. The site, at www.webflyer.com, ranks domestic and international frequent flyer programs on earning ability, award choices, partnerships, elite level, rules and conditions and service support. Top-rated programs thus far include Alaska's, US Airways', United's and Air Canada's.
SkyWest will launch six daily roundtrip Vancouver-Seattle flights Oct. 25 as part of United Express's expansion in the Pacific Northwest. It will serve the route with 30-seat Embraer Brasilia turboprop aircraft.
Pilots from three of the six Star Alliance carriers met last week in Brussels with Claude Chenne of the European Commission competition directorate to protest proposed United-Lufthansa-SAS service reductions the pilots say would cost 313 of 927 pilot jobs on the eight routes involved and reduce the quality of service offered. The cuts, which the EC has termed "appropriate" to preserve competition against the alliance, would require the carriers to turn over slots to competitors and reduce frequencies on Copenhagen-New York and several U.S.-Frankfurt routes.
Oklahoma Republican Sens. Don Nickles and James Inhofe last week increased to 12 - eight Republicans and four Democrats - the number of senators who have written DOT Secretary Rodney Slater expressing concerns about DOT's proposed competition policy. Both stated "strong opposition" to the policy and recommended that it "not be implemented," telling Slater that the benefits of deregulation would be eroded by "imposing ambiguous pricing and service guidelines" on carriers at their hubs.
SAirGroup and Qantas have signed a code-share agreement for flights between Zurich and Sydney via Singapore this winter. Starting Oct. 26, Swissair will operate Zurich-Singapore nonstop and Qantas the Singapore-Sydney leg. The carriers will offer cross-participation in each other's frequent flyer plans. The two sides will review later whether to expand their cooperation to joint direct flights between Zurich and Sydney.
A biometric reader for hand geometry and computer cross-references of information on a special card will speed low-risk, frequent business travelers bound from Vancouver to the U.S. With the INS Passenger Accelerated Service System (INSPASS), launched by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and Vancouver Airport, participating passengers insert a pass card into the INSPASS kiosk, go through the identification process, get a receipt and proceed to U.S. Customs. Processing time at the kiosk is no more than 30 seconds.
Atlantic Coast Airlines President and Chief Executive Kerry Skeen said the new terminal facility at Washington Dulles Airport will improve passenger access to aircraft by increasing parking places for airplanes, not automobiles. Also, when ACA replaced a turboprop with a 50-passenger regional jet on its Charleston-Dulles route, the average number of passengers rose from 12 to 21. The DAILY incorrectly stated the change as a load factor of 90% (DAILY, Sept. 18).
Sun Country Airlines, the Minneapolis-based charter carrier that increased service to help passengers stranded by the Northwest pilots strike, expects to cut its crew-scheduling cost in half with new SBS International software for crew planning and management, and operations control. SBS Crew Planning System comprises pairing and line-building modules that generate crew schedules, SBS Maestro monitors and maintains daily crew schedules, and Operations Control provides accurate, timely information on equipment and flights.
