If National Mediation Board Chairwoman Magdalena Jacobsen had her way, there would be no need for the NMB. "I would love to see us moved out of business and see people get the [negotiating] job done without us," she told The DAILY in an interview. Jacobsen, who started her second term as NMB chairwoman July 1, would like to see airline labor and management take more initiative in settling their own disputes and hammering out contracts, as TWA and its Air Line Pilots Association unit did recently.
Approved an amendment of United's U.S.-Peru frequency allocation, enabling the carrier to increase its weekly operations in the Lima-Santiago market from three to seven flights with local traffic rights through June 12, 2001, when frequency limits under the bilateral terminate for beyond-Lima services...Approved an initial two-year exemption for Airbus Transport to operate charter foreign cargo service between the U.S.
Like major European competitors Lufthansa and British Airways, Air France has modified its system for setting travel agent commissions. A previous attempt, which was due to take effect last month, was challenged in court in March by Syndicat National des Agents de Voyage (SNAV), the French travel agent's association. On Friday, SNAV and Air France reached a three-year deal that will start Jan. 1, 1999. Travel agents will have a commission of 7%, increasing to 8% if agents accept "additional quantity commitments" - higher sales goals.
Korean Air is offering a fare of $500 roundtrip for Los Angeles-Seoul available only via the Internet. The fare applies to travel on Flight 8062, added for the summer season, and regular nonstop Flight 14.
U.K. carrier Love Air, headquartered at London Stansted, has launched service from Biggin Hill to the French resort Deauville, using a 18- passenger Jetstream 31 acquired recently from British Asset Management.
Indonesian regional Merpati Airlines was operating at less than half strength with 39 of its original 86 aircraft as of Friday, the majority of the fleet now turboprops, the airline told The DAILY. Merpati management has decided to operate only some of the aircraft it owns. "At this moment, Merpati operates only its own aircraft, and leased aircraft, such as [the] A310 which serve Perth and Melbourne, must be returned to the lessor," said Merpati spokesman Tondo Widodo.
Reno Air posted an 8% decline in traffic on 2.8% less capacity for June compared with June 1997, which pushed the load factor down 3.9 percentage points to 69.3%. Reno flew 269.7 million revenue passenger miles and 389 million available seat miles during the month. In the first half, the carrier reported a 2.2% decline in RPMs on 1.1% more capacity, which depressed the load factor 2.3 points. Reno expected the negative results, which reflect schedule changes intended to improve profitability, said VP-Marketing and Planning Joanne Smith.
International Lease Finance Corp. is leasing two new 777-200ERs for five years and five new A319s for six years to Air France in a deal valued at $520 million.
AeroMexico will alter its schedule Sept. 3 on New Orleans-Cancun service to accommodate summer travelers. The twice-weekly flights leave New Orleans on Thursdays and Sundays, returning Wednesdays and Saturdays.
A "technical correction" in the Senate's FAA reauthorization bill attempts to nullify the court decision that invalidated FAA overflight fees.The court threw out the fees because they were based on value of services, not cost to the user as required by law. The Senate bill would change the law to permit value-based fees, critics charge.
Standard&Poor's has revised to positive from stable its debt outlook for Atlantic Coast Airlines. The revision, affecting $132 million of rated debt, was due to ACA's "improving financial profile."
Air Algerie has ordered seven 737-800s and three 737-600s for delivery between 2000 and 2002 to replace 727 and 737-200 aircraft. Seddik Belyamani, Boeing VP for the region, said all three North African carriers - Air Algerie, Royal Air Maroc and Tunis Air - have committed to next- generation 737s.
United management has promised to address work rules and wages of passenger service and reservations agents following Friday's win by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Of the 17,938 employees eligible to vote, 9,519 voted for IAM representation, according to the National Mediation Board, which has not yet certified the results. Seventy-eight votes were voided and 284 invalidated, and 34 votes were cast for other unions. United President and Chief Operating Officer John Edwardson applauded IAM for its campaign.
Flight 2000 and bomb-detection initiatives are jeopardized by Senate Appropriations Committee recommendations, DOT Secretary Rodney Slater told the committee. The panel's $4 million for Flight 2000 planning defeats the purpose of the demonstration program for which DOT requested $90 million in fiscal 1999, he said. The committee killed $100 million for bomb-detection devices and increased airport grant authority by the same amount, but Slater said requiring grant applications removes the centralized management necessary for highest-priority installation.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) will offer an amendment scaling back Chicago O'Hare slot expansion from the 100 a day he originally proposed to 30, under a compromise reached with Illinois Senators Carol Moseley-Braun (D) and Richard Durbin (D). As before, the expansion will be phased over three years. The slot amendment, like the original proposal, will be moved with the FAA's fiscal 1999 reauthorization.
U.S. and Japan probably will meet early in September in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss price liberalization, as specified in the new bilateral agreement. U.S. and Italy have agreed to meet Sept. 23-25 in Washington to discuss open skies.
Year 2000 computer fixes at American and Canadian Airlines are "almost fully complete," Sabre President Michael Durham says, and the company will speed up Y2K-compliant software deployment at travel agencies this year. Worldspan VP Sales and Marketing Sue Powers estimates the company will spend up to $24 million for fixes and updates at 15,000 travel agent offices and attain full Y2K compliance by Sept. 30.
Airlines, community groups and travel agencies filed answers to service plans proposed by U.S. carriers for 22 weekly U.S.-Tokyo Narita slots (DAILY, July 15). Polar Air Cargo said each carrier filing seeks to expand its services, while it needs slots to begin air service to Tokyo. The other U.S. carriers have code shares to be used in serving the U.S.-Tokyo market; "Japanese freighter operators, JAL and NCA, have already entered into code-share arrangements with U.S. carriers," while Polar cannot do so under the bilateral.
- In Federal Register dated July 13...Proposed an airworthiness directive on McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and MD-80/90 series aircraft to require inspecting the forward attach pins of the outboard flight spoiler actuators.
FAA controller training is "consistently underfunded," the Senate Appropriations Committee said in its fiscal 1999 FAA appropriations bill report. It urged the agency to commit the full $23 million request for the training. "If the pattern of the past several years continues of diverting training funds for other purposes," it said, "additional measures may be taken to insure that critical training activities are not underfunded."
The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) has embraced a recent development in Europe enabling unions to raise key concerns regarding air traffic control directly with Eurocontrol. After several years of lobbying, much of it in conjunction with the Federation of Transport Workers' Federation in the European Union (FST), the unions won the right to be included in Eurocontrol working groups, starting in May this year. Among the key issues they will address are controller workload, working hours and fatigue, workload orientation, training and licensing.
Royal Jordanian's May traffic fell 25.7% to 1.5 billion revenue passenger kilometers. Traffic has fallen 25.3% in the first five months and its passenger count, 439,920 through May, is down 20.1%.
Air France will increase capacity on Europe-Asia routes by 12.4% this year and is in the middle of a 40% Asia expansion under a plan ending in late 1999, Reuters reported, quoting Marc Benedetti, Air France regional director, Southeast Asia and Australia. The airline, contacted by The DAILY, refused to confirm details of the Asia expansion even though it briefed the press last week in Singapore. Air France will increase frequencies in September between Paris and Shanghai, and on routes to Mumbai, New Delhi, Osaka, Nagoya and Beijing.
