U.S.-Argentina open-skies talks are scheduled for the week of Oct. 19 in Washington. U.S. and Japan have agreed on Sept. 9-10 as the dates for their pricing liberalization talks in Anchorage.
The Second District Court Of Appeals in Fort Worth, Texas, will accept written arguments through Friday on whether the issue of continued limitations on commercial flights at Dallas Love Field should be heard in Dallas rather than before Fort Worth District Court Judge Bob McCoy. McCoy, who enjoined Continental Express temporarily from offering Love Field-Cleveland service and later halted mediation on the issue, was scheduled to decide in October whether he should decide the cases without a jury.
Boeing 737 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day First Quarter 1998 B737-300 America West Continental Delta Southwest Number of Aircraft Operated 43 65 13 186 Total Fleet Operations Departures 268 272 65 1,573
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Friday rejected an effort by six airlines to overturn DOT's March 1997 approval of airline rates and charges at Miami Airport. The carriers - Air Canada, Delta, Lufthansa, TWA, United and US Airways - argued in a petition for review that DOT failed to apply the correct standard of reasonableness, relied on findings unsupported by substantial evidence and made arbitrary and capricious decisions.
Piedmont Aviation Services and Hawthorne Aviation have merged to become Piedmont Hawthorne Aviation. The Carlyle Group, Washington, D.C., will be the majority stockholder in the new company, which will have headquarters in Winston-Salem, N.C. American Beechcraft, Leesburg, Va., fixed-base operator and Raytheon aircraft dealer, will be merged into the company, as will Transportech Inc., an FBO in Raleigh, N.C. With 21 owned and managed facilities, the merged entity will be the nation's second-largest FBO organization in terms of locations.
FAA is assigning Year 2000 experts to ICAO to help the U.N. unit coordinate worldwide efforts to deal with problems that air traffic control computers could encounter at the turn of the century. ICAO asked for the help and will foot the bill.
American had to cancel up to 463 flights in July because of trouble staffing them, according to the Allied Pilots Association. The union and management are negotiating issues left over when they agreed on a new contract last year, an American spokesman said. Talks broke off Thursday evening but resumed Friday. The spokesman blamed the cancellations on a union recommendation eight weeks ago that pilots not volunteer for open flying. American flew 63,200 flights in July and canceled less than 1% of its schedule, he said.
Moody's Investors Service raised its ratings of AMR Corp. and American Airlines debt Friday, citing the carrier's strong operating performance, strengthened balance sheet and prospects for alliances. Noting the company's use of cash flow to pay down debt and redeem preferred stock, Moody's said AMR "has one of the lowest leverage ratios, adjusted for off-
Continental asked DOT for an exemption to operate scheduled combination service on Cleveland-Cancun and Newark-Cozumel routes. Neither route is served by a U.S. or foreign carrier, Continental said. Continental wants to provide weekly roundtrips beginning Dec. 15 to each of the Mexico markets "during the winter seasons only" using 737 aircraft. It requested indefinite-duration authority. (Docket OST-98-4263)
Textron Lycoming and Detroit Diesel Corp. have agreed to design, develop, certificate and manufacture turbocharged diesel engines of about 200 horsepower for general aviation aircraft. The companies said the appeal is strong for aero-diesels in remote areas and regions where aviation gasoline is scarce.
Delta management has mailed its pilots a video of Chief Executive Leo Mullen discussing the pending United-Delta code-share alliance. Delta's Air Line Pilots Association unit leadership, in a recorded message to pilots, said that while Delta has the right to educate pilots on the proposed alliance, the union will decide through its scope clause whether the deal will have a positive impact on pilot jobs. The union's code-share analysis committee has begun to study the proposal.
Pratt&Whitney PW4098, which at 98,000 pounds thrust is the most powerful member of the 112-inch fan PW4000 series, has received FAA certification and is beginning final flight tests before entering service at yearend on a Korean Air 777-300.
Willis Lease Finance Corp. reported record second quarter net income of $2.1 million, up 70% from $1.3 million in the same quarter last year. Revenues were up 30% to $20.7 million. The company attributed the results to strong growth in operating leases, spare parts sales and equipment resale.
The International Air Transport Association said yesterday it will begin a series of meetings next week with Argentine authorities and the consortium selected to run 33 airports in Argentina, to discuss assurances airlines would like to obtain over operation of the privatized airports. Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 (AA2000) - a consortium that includes Ogden Corp. of New York, Milan (Italy) Airport and an Argentine media conglomerate - signed a 30-year concession agreement in February to operate and develop the airports, among them the two Buenos Aires airports.
Malaysia Airlines cannot entertain a request from Austrian Airlines if approached for a code-share agreement for the Kuala Lumpur-Vienna route. A MAS official from the operations planning department in Kuala Lumpur said the carrier has an agreement with Lauda Air, and a similar accord on the same route with another carrier would create a conflict of interest.
Aer Lingus has leased a new A330-200 from International Lease Finance Corp., with delivery scheduled in May 2000. The carrier also has three A330-300s, two A321s and one 737-500 on lease from ILFC, and will take another A321 next March.
In 58 consecutive quarters Delta Connection Atlantic Southeast Airlines' operating profit margin has dipped below the double-digit level only twice. The carrier, which tops the regional industry in operating margins, posted one of 27.1% in the period ended June 30 but has averaged 22% since the first quarter 1984 (accompanying graph shows five years back). In 40 of those quarters, ASA's margins were above 20% and in five above 30%, which is extremely rare for an airline, hitting an historic high of 33.1% in the second quarter of 1989.
Flight attendants at Atlantic Coast Airlines, which flies as United Express, will hold a demonstration at Chicago O'Hare on Monday to protest low starting wages that have resulted in a flight attendant shortage, and the slow pace of contract negotiations. ACA's approximately 200 cabin crew are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants. The union and management are in federal mediation.
World Fuel Services reported fiscal first quarter net income rose 7.3% to $4 million while revenue was up 3.6% to $193 million. It said revenues would have risen sharply had it not been for a substantial decline in world oil prices.
Indonesia's IPTN has flown its N-250 flight-test article seldom, if at all, since the onslaught of the country's financial crisis earlier this year and the naming of the manufacturer's president, B.J. Habibie, to succeed President Suharto. The government slashed IPTN funding to comply with the $43 million bailout by the International Monetary Fund. Allison Engine Co. pulled its representative out of Indonesia as a result of the public unrest, and the phones at AMRAI Inc., the U.S. marketing firm and an IPTN joint venture company in Phoenix, have been disconnected.
The Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee is recommending - over vigorous objections from its public member, the Aviation Consumer Action Project - that FAA combine ignition prevention and flammability reduction measures in a single regulation as it tries to reduce the incidence of fuel tank explosions. Terming the recommendation a "do-nothing" approach, ACAP Executive Director Paul Hudson called for ullage washing and directed ventilation of fuel tanks in the current fleet and inflight inerting of fuel tanks in new airplanes.
Northwest's Air Line Pilots Association unit yesterday rejected a National Mediation Board proffer of arbitration and entered a 30-day cooling-off period that could presage a strike. The union will be free to strike and management will be free to impose a contract on Aug. 29 if no agreement is reached. Pilots in June voted overwhelmingly to strike if they could not reach an agreement.
Voyageur Airways, operating as Air Canada partner Air Connexion, will launch frequent, non-stop commuter service between Syracuse and Toronto Sept. 20, Air Canada announced. The service, four daily nonstops and three nonstops on Saturdays and Sundays, will be operated with new 18-seat Beech 1900 turboprops and will constitute the only nonstop service between the two cities. One week before - on Sept.
DOT issued an order permitting Great Lakes Aviation d/b/a United Express to terminate subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Alpena and Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., three daily roundtrips to Chicago O'Hare using 19- seat Beech 1900 aircraft, once Mesaba d/b/a Northwest Airlink inaugurates EAS to the two communities. Mesaba has announced that on Sept. 9 it will begin subsidy-free EAS from Alpena and Sault Ste. Marie to Detroit Metro. Great Lakes asked to terminate its service with less than 90 days' notice (DAILY, July 17).
Air France is halting services to Cape Town, Maputo and Harare for insufficient profitability. The French airline's daily flight to Johannesburg currently continues four times a week to Cape Town, once a week to Harare and once to Maputo. The Harare services will be scrapped Nov. 1 and the Capetown and Maputo frequencies April 1, 1999. Benoit Guizard, Air France VP-African and Middle Eastern operations, said this week his airline is considering a direct service from Paris to Cape Town.
