Northwest and its pilots agreed on a four-year contract late Thursday, but the airline moved forward Friday with plans to cancel service through Sept. 15. The Northwest pilots' Master Executive Council was scheduled to meet Saturday in Minneapolis to approve the contract and the pilots will remain on strike until the MEC backs the deal. Northwest not only canceled its 1,700 daily flights through Tuesday, but also suspended inbound service from Asia and Europe as well as flights within Asia through Wednesday.
Sabreliner said its Dimension Aviation in Goodyear, Ariz., has received FAA approval for maintenance and overhaul work on Boeing 737s. Dimension has been working on DC-10 and MD-11 aircraft at the facility since March 1997.
Rep. James Oberstar's (D-Minn.) bill to bar the sale of international routes was prompted partly by Northwest, he said on the House floor last week when introducing the proposal (DAILY, Sept. 11). He said the carrier pledged its international route authorities as collateral when it drew down a $2.08 billion line of credit in preparation for the pilots strike. "The purpose of the drawdown was to provide Northwest with sufficient funds to survive a strike until its employees agreed to Northwest's terms," he said.
Mexicana, seeking exemption from high-density slot restrictions at Chicago O'Hare, asked DOT for two slots to continue its daily midday nonstop to Mexico City during the winter season. It has served the market "without interruption" for over 30 years and currently carries United's code on the flights. The carrier said it has operated the flights for many years with slots obtained from FAA or "from other carriers through barter" at slot conferences.
Northwest is expected to place a "large order" soon for the Boeing 717, according to reports circulating last week at the Farnborough Air Show. A Northwest buy would be a huge marketing boost for the aircraft, which has languished in sales since a 50-firm, 50-option launch order by AirTran, then ValuJet, in October 1995. European charter carrier Bavaria International then ordered five of the 100-passenger aircraft May 5.
Airport construction schedules depend on the outcome of confirmation hearings scheduled tomorrow by the Senate Commerce Committee for three members of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board (MWAA). Two senior DOT nominations also are on the agenda.
Edward Stimpson, president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association for 25 years and currently its vice chairman, will receive the 1998 Wright Brothers trophy, the National Aeronautic Association said Friday.
FAA identified projects at five airports Friday for its Innovative Finance Demonstration Program. FAA was authorized 10 such projects in fiscal years 1997 and 1998 under Airport Improvement Program legislation passed by Congress in 1996, and Susan Kurland, associate administrator for airports, said the agency is "very pleased with the success of the program to date in demonstrating the benefits of flexible non-federal matching requirements.
DOT will drop its litigation against Northwest and Mesaba if the tentative agreement between Northwest and its pilots produces a quick resumption of service. A hearing on DOT's suit trying to force Northwest to provide support services and Mesaba to fly to 13 EAS points is scheduled today, but the point - to re-establish air service - would be moot with a contract agreement, a DOT spokesman said Friday.
Computers may not be FAA's only Year 2000 problem.With President Clinton in political trouble and few nominations coming out of the White House, the agency stands a chance of going through a full presidential term without a deputy administrator for the first time. Few qualified people are considered likely to take the job under current conditions - political uncertainty and little more than two years before the next administration.
Aero Continente of Peru disputed charges leveled by Fine Air that it may be linked to a drug trafficker and said Fine's inability to re-enter the U.S.-Peru market is no reason to block Aero Continente's effort to launch service to the U.S. Peru ended Fine's Peru service in 1995 after arms were found on a Fine aircraft during a border war with Ecuador, and Fine maintains repeated investigations by U.S. and Peru officials have exonerated it.
Representatives of several telecommunications companies, including AT&T, MCI, Sprint, GT&E and Bell, met recently with Joe Canny, DOT deputy assistant secretary for transportation policy, on the importance of Loran C to their industry.
Trade association executives wrote the Senate leadership Friday urging passage of the FAA reauthorization bill, already through the House, before Congress adjourns. Without a Senate bill, a conference agreement and a presidential signature, FAA will not be able to spend Airport Improvement Program funds after Sept. 30.
Hawaiian Airlines will begin new Maui-Los Angeles nonstop service, as well as new Maui-Kona-Los Angeles flights, starting in mid-March 1999. The new service increases the number of weekly Hawaii-Mainland flights to 118 and adds 2,100 seats in the market. The airline will acquire two DC-10-30s and hire 150 employees to handle the service. Hawaiian currently operates 10 304-seat DC-10-10s and 13 139-seat DC-9s.
US Airways will increase the capacity of its MetroJet operation, shifting some mainline service into the lower-cost unit. The low-fare division will operate two Tampa-Boston and two Tampa-Hartford roundtrips per day and offer Baltimore/Washington-New Orleans nonstops in competition with Southwest. MetroJet currently operates 13 aircraft serving 12 cities with 80 daily departures. The company plans to operate at least 22 aircraft to 16 cities with 124 daily departures by yearend and will continue to grow through 1999.
House Transportation aviation subcommittee member Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) introduced a bill to reform FAA's Liaison and Familiarization Training program. "What began as a valuable training tool for air traffic controllers has been perverted into a means of obtaining free air travel for vacations and personal trips," he said. "This abuse of a public position shows a tremendous lack of ethics by those FAA employees who have exploited this program."
Fairchild Aerospace and Newcourt Capital are establishing the Millennium Leasing Co. as an independent aircraft leasing firm to provide operating and finance leases for Fairchild customers. Millennium, based in San Antonio, will be involved in the sale of new and used turboprop and regional jet aircraft and will provide a way to remarket used aircraft taken on trade from Fairchild customers. The company initially will purchase Fairchild's existing portfolio of leases, valued at $140 million, and will acquire and offer for lease additional aircraft each year.
Mesaba Airlines posted a 29.6% traffic increase for August, despite the effects of the Northwest strike. Mesaba's flights were suspended the last three days of August. August capacity increased 25.3% and load factor increased 2.0 percentage points to 60.6%.
