Pilots who fly for US Airways mainline and Shuttle operations are preparing to enter arbitration over seniority list integration, even as the company seeks mainline pilot permission to expand Shuttle flying (DAILY, July 15). A pre-arbitration hearing is scheduled Sept. 17 and arbitration will begin Oct. 12. Talks between the two pilot groups, both represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, have been rocky. So far they have been hampered by disagreements over a timeline for arbitration and allegations of uncooperative behavior on both sides.
FAA and America West reached an agreement under which the carrier will pay $2.5 million of a record $5 million civil penalty for alleged violations of rules governing maintenance and operations. The other $2.5 million will be suspended if the carrier complies with the terms of the agreement, FAA said.
Reno Air has named Greg Helleckson director-flight operations. Helleckson joined Reno in June 1993 and transferred to flight operations in July 1994. He was promoted to director-training in June 1996.
Rand Corp. is briefing National Transportation Safety Board officials today in Santa Monica, Calif., on the board's party system for breaking down accident investigating into categories - airframe, propulsion, cockpit operations and the like. The Mineta Commission recommended that the board re-evaluate the system.
Express shipper DHL is hoping to one-up rivals FedEx and UPS with new World Wide Web-based shipment and tracking software that also will provide a free gateway to a limited range of custom-tailored web sites, making DHL an export-related content provider.
If TWA's pilots reject the tentative agreement their negotiators reached Sunday, the Air Line Pilots Association unit will turn to federal mediation, delaying pay raises 12-18 months, Master Executive Council Chairman Joe Chronic told pilots in a recorded message. Chronic said the agreement represents all there is to be had from the company. The negotiating committee will discuss the contract with pilots today in Los Angeles, Friday in San Francisco, Saturday and Monday in St. Louis and Sunday and Tuesday in New York.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic, June, 6 Months 1998 (000) June June % 1998 1997 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 1,038,000 956,000 8.6 Available Seat Miles 1,466,000 1,351,000 8.5 Load Factor (%) 70.8 70.8 America West
Officials from Airbus, Boeing and FAA agreed this week that whatever computer problems the new century causes will not impact flight safety, either in the air or on the ground. But software problems caused by Year 2000 bugs could affect inflight entertainment (IFE) systems, creating bookkeeping and accounting problems for airlines, representatives of the manufacturers said at an Arlington, Va., conference sponsored by Morten Beyer&Agnew Inc. consultants (DAILY, July 15).
Continental began daily service this week to Glasgow from Newark using 757s. The 6.5-hour flight was launched with a Newark ceremony that included a Robert Burns poetry reading.
U.S. Carriers Food Expense, First Quarter 1998 U.S. Carriers Food Expense First Quarter 1998 Cost Food Per Passenger Alaska 10,955,000 3.83 America West 5,431,610 2.11 American 151,836,000 7.88 Continental 40,380,000 4.22
As Airbus and Boeing officials assured carriers yesterday that aircraft will not fall out of the sky due to Year 2000 computer problems, a leasing company warned that insurance companies may not insure them against problems related to the Y2K bug.
Delta Connection carrier Comair will offer jet service Nov. 1 on all seven daily flights between Toledo and its Cincinnati hub, and on its six daily Cincinnati-Fort Wayne, Ind., flights, using 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets.
Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn, the German railway company, have signed an agreement under which high-speed rail links will partially replace Lufthansa's short-haul services, starting in 2001. "Deutsche Bahn and Lufthansa want to shift domestic air traffic onto rail through the tight integration of their products," Johannes Ludewig, chairman of the German railway company, said this week in Frankfurt.
Civil Air Patrol board this week voted to withdraw from an FAA program under which its members conducted surveys of airport ramps for suspected drug-smuggling aircraft, although it believed the program was successful. The move came after the general aviation community objected to a humanitarian organization assisting FAA in an investigative capacity in the Operation Drop-In program. FAA had no comment.
British Airways said yesterday it will not alter the rollout of new tail art on its aircraft despite recent objections in Britain. "We are not planning to scrap World Images," said spokesman John Lampl. "We are continuing to implement the new identity." So far, 145 aircraft have been converted to new art liveries, comprising 25 designs by artists around the world. The airline has been criticized within Britain, most notably by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, for abandoning the British flag livery. Six of the designs are by British artists.
Air Canada reported a systemwide 6% increase in traffic and a 6.1% rise in capacity for June 1998 over the same month last year, which depressed the load factor 0.1 percentage points. Systemwide, the carrier flew 2.3 billion revenue passenger miles and 3.1 billion available seat miles, creating a 74.9% load factor. Domestically, the carrier flew 821 million RPMs, an 11.4% increase, and 1 billion ASMs, 9.9% more than in June last year, which resulted in a 78.4% load factor.
Delta yesterday authorized the repurchase of up to $750 million worth of common stock during the next 18 months. The airline said it expects to buy "a significant number" of shares before Dec. 31. The new program is in addition to an April 1996 stock repurchase plan related to employee stock options. Delta's board approved a two-for-one stock split, planned for shareholders of record on Nov. 2. Delta's stock gained $6.19 per share yesterday to close at $142.19.
Atlas Air said this week it has reached an agreement with Lufthansa Technik to maintain Atlas Air's fleet of new 747-400 freighters. Lufthansa Technik will provide all required airframe maintenance for Atlas's initial order of 10 freighters plus option aircraft on a "power-by-the-hour," fixed-cost basis over the next 10 years. Atlas said the pact is similar to one it has with KLM for its 747-200 fleet, and with GE Engines for its 747-200 and 747-400 engines.
Commerce Committee finished marking up a four-year FAA reauthorization bill yesterday, retaining a provision to increase Chicago O'Hare slots by as many as 100 per day and rejecting an attempt to authorize DOT to force majors to interline and offer joint fares with other airlines in underserved markets. Aviation subcommittee Chairman Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) called the latter "maybe the largest single step to reregulate that I can imagine," a description sponsor Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) rejected.
A report issued by French aviation officials assisting in the investigation into the cause of the Feb. 16 crash of a China Airlines Airbus A300-600 at Taiwan Chiang Kai-shek Airport says that the accident resulted solely from pilot error. According to the report, lack of coordination between the pilot and co-pilot, who were flying together for the first time, in addition to their combined lack of experience in attempting a go-around landing, was the reason for the accident. Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration questions the report, however.
US Airways wants to increase its Shuttle flights and is asking mainline pilots to waive a provision of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) - agreed to by management and pilots in 1992, when then-USAir began operating the Shuttle - that restricts the number of Shuttle flights. The company proposes to increase Shuttle departures from 448 per day in its two core markets - Washington-New York and New York-Boston. It would shift as many as 10 737-300s from mainline operations to the Shuttle and suggests that these aircraft would be replaced by new Airbus orders.
Durham, N.C.-based Midway Airlines reported a 29.9% jump in traffic on 17.5% more capacity in June compared with the same month last year, boosting the load factor 3.9 percentage points to 65.2%. Midway reported 83.1 million revenue passenger miles and 127.5 million available seat miles in June. For the first six months of 1998, RPMs rose 12%, ASMs 7% and the load factor 2.9 points.
Airbus's recent A3XX super-jumbo meeting drew 14 airlines, only two of them from the U.S. - United and Federal Express.From Europe, Air France, British Airways, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic and Cargolux attended. Japan Airlines, All Nippon, Cathay Pacific, Singapore and Malaysia Airlines were present, but no Australian carrier attended.
Last year was a "record year" for European airlines but profits remain marginal, the Association of European Airlines said last week in Brussels in comments accompanying the presentation of its latest yearbook. The 27 members of the AEA reported a total operating profit of $1.84 billion, up from $470 million in 1997, and an operating ratio of 103.6%. "This means that we had a profit margin of 3.6%," said AEA Secretary General Karl-Heinz Neumeister.
DOT is seeking public comment on whether it should change the content of data it collects from airlines and the systems it uses to handle the data. In an advance notice of proposed rulemaking scheduled for publication in today's Federal Register, the department said it is acting on its own initiative to investigate whether its current data requirements still are appropriate given aviation industry changes since the requirements were imposed, and how data systems can be "re-engineered" to improve efficiency and reduce DOT and airline costs.
