FAA has awarded information technology contracts valued at $1.25 billion to 14 small or disadvantaged businesses in its "largest such outreach effort," the agency said Friday. DOT Secretary Rodney Slater said the awards give these firms an "opportunity to compete for federal contracts," and FAA Administrator Jane Garvey said the companies "bring superior talent and resources to the FAA." The contracts cover computer services ranging from help desk operations to investment analysis support.
Nashville, with less than half the population of Pittsburgh, has 25.6% more origin-and-destination traffic thanks to dominant carrier Southwest's influence on fares, says Morten Beyer&Agnew. US Airways dominates Pittsburgh.
LanChile reported a net loss of $3.9 million for the second quarter, which it described as the weakest quarter for for airlines in the Southern Hemisphere. Chief Executive Enrique Cueto said the second quarter results were in line with analysts' expectations. He said the loss was the result of a decrease in operating margin to 0.4% from 5.3% in the same quarter last year. Operating income rose 20% to $273.3 million.
America West's board authorized purchase of up to five million shares of publicly traded Class B common stock and all 5.4 million outstanding publicly traded warrants.
On Friday DOT, for fifth time, extended for 30 days the period for taking action on the US Airways' allegation that the U.K. violated the U.S.-U.K. bilateral. DOT said "not all issues have been fully resolved" for US Airways to begin Charlotte-London Gatwick service. DOT Secretary Rodney Slater approved British Airways' Denver-Gatwick service, expressing DOT's "satisfaction that US Airways had obtained competitive access to London's Gatwick airport" (DAILY, July 24). US Airways vehemently denied that all its slots are commercially viable.
All Nippon Airways will fly its first-ever direct nonstop charter to the mainland U.S. Aug. 10 from Nagoya to Las Vegas McCarran. Another is set for Aug. 17; both are with 747s. U.S. charter service is not new for ANA, but it has been confined to points such as Hawaii and Guam.
- In Federal Register dated July 31...Issued an emergency airworthiness directive on all Airbus products requiring replacement of the braking dual distribution valve...Superseded an AD on Airbus A300-600 and A310 aircraft concerning the thrust control computer...Issued an AD on Airbus A300, A310 and A300-600 aircraft to require testing the fire shutoff valves...Issued an AD on Airbus A300-600 aircraft requiring inspection behind the scuff plates below certain doors...Issued an AD on certain Boeing 767 aircraft requiring inspection of the pin assemblies in the main landin
London City Airport said traffic in July shot up to 119,962 travelers - a 24% increase compared with the same period in 1997, making the 1998 month its busiest July on record.
Sabena and Finnair soon will expand their marketing cooperation between their hubs. Starting next month, the airlines will code share on six flights a week between Brussels and Helsinki, building on the single daily code-share flight currently operating between Brussels and Stockholm. The agreement also will cover reciprocal participation in frequent flyer programs.
Air Safety International, a private Florida-based flight academy, said it signed a consulting agreement with American to prepare for certification as a Part 142 flight training center. An American official said "any academy that conducts flight training in a Level 6 or higher simulation device must now be certified under Federal Air Regulation Part 142, a new FAA regulation for flight simulation training. Because of our expertise in this area, we have contracted with Air Safety to help them get certified."
English language standards in effect for aviation in the U.S. and worldwide are "dangerously insufficient" and FAA has "done very little to alleviate the problem," according to an aviation safety report issued by the Bar Association of New York City Committee on Aeronautics.
American named Doug Herring VP-controller and Greg Hall VP-maintenance. Amerijet International named Juan Morales corporate director-human resources. Cargolux appointed Ulrich Ogiermann senior VP-sales and marketing. El Al appointed Bill Gale district sales manager-West Coast and Thomas Riggs independent marketing representative-Midwest.
Flight Safety Foundation named James Burin, former director of the U.S. Navy School of Aviation Safety, deputy director-technical projects. Greater Orlando Aviation Authority named Kristine Dobson tour operator marketing manager.
Bob Bennett (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Problem, rejects FAA claims that it beat goals by completing renovations on 67% of mission-critical computer systems. He said that given the millions of lines of microcode involved, he won't be convinced until the computers are tested fully and validated independently. FAA says two former IBM programmers have worked 6,000 hours so far to examine one million lines of code.
Pacific International applied at DOT for a two-year exemption to provide scheduled and charter all-cargo services between points in the U.S. and any point in other countries. Current exemptions permit the Panamanian carrier to operate non-scheduled, charter and wet-lease services. Pacific International has been designated by Panama to conduct the service under a 1997 U.S.-Panama open-skies agreement provision that was amended recently to permit it. The carrier plans to use the new exemption authority to operate between the U.S.
British Airways reported a 17.8% increase in traffic on 21.1% more capacity for July 1998 over July last year, which depressed the load factor 2.1 percentage points. BA's revenue passenger kilometers were 11 million on 14 million available seat kilometers, creating a 75.6% load factor. Passengers carried rose 18% to 3,509,000. Year-to-date RPKs were up 10.3% on 13.5% more ASKs, depressing the load factor 2 points. Passenger enplanements were up 8.8%.
DOT - Approved an amended authority for an Airline Brokers Company charter using a Mexicana 727-200 or A320 for a total of 11 roundtrips carrying 155 passengers on a Miami-Havana-Miami routing Aug. 7-28...Approved an initial two-year exemption for TWA to provide scheduled foreign combination service between New York and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and St.
FAA has delayed from Aug. 4 to Jan. 1 the effective date of an order retroactively revoking the type certificate of all transport category cargo and combi aircraft operated under Part 135 with previous FAA-approved alterations. National Air Transportation Association said discussions will continue, but it has not changed its opposition to the action.
Southwest reported a 17.4% traffic increase in July on 7.3% more capacity, boosting the load factor 6.3 percentage points to 73.1%. Passenger enplanements increased 9.3%. For the year to date, traffic grew 12.5% on 7% more capacity, and the load factor increased 3.3 points. Passenger enplanements rose 4.3%. July 1998 July 1997 7 Months 1998 7 Months 1997 RPMs 2,997,425,000 2,553,486,000 18,121,414,000 16,101,035,000 ASMs 4,100,336,000 3,820,357,000 27,083,415,000 25,319,198,000
SAS has unveiled a new master brand strategy to simplify and standardize its travel products. The move involves creation of a new logo and the elimination of sub-brands, such as SAS Jackpot, SAS EuroClass and TouristClass, in favor of the more widely recognized industry standards of Business Class and Economy Class. The airline's charter services will fly under the name SAS Pleasure, and two classes of airport lounges have been renamed SAS Business Lounge and SAS Scandinavian Lounge.
The SAirGroup's technical maintenance subsidiary, SR Technics, will kick off the world's first heavy maintenance check on an Airbus A330. The A330- 300 aircraft, which belongs to Sabena, will arrive at SR Technics' Zurich base in October. A similar maintenance check on Sabena's two other A330-
Boeing 747 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day First Quarter 1998 B747-100 TWA United Total Number of Aircraft Operated 1 8 9 Total Fleet Operations Departures 1 14 16 Block Hours 11 76 86
Belgian ground-handling group Aviapartner has set up a joint venture with German company Industrieverwaltungsgesellschaft (IVG) to compete with Germany's ground-handling monopolies, starting Jan. 1, 1999. IVG already offers landside services to airlines at 10 German airports - Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Stuttgart, Munster Osnabruck and Hahn.
