DOT issued permanent certificate authority to Sunworld International Airlines to operate interstate and foreign scheduled passenger service, which includes certain Caribbean and South American points. The carrier was granted certificates in 1996 that included a condition limiting their effectiveness to one year due to DOT's concerns about Sunworld's "managerial competence and compliance disposition." DOT will monitor the airline's reporting timeliness, noting the carrier has filed five 1998 monthly reports an average of 14.1 days late.
Comair's board is asking shareholders to double the number of common stock shares available to 200 million. The vote, on Aug. 11, is intended to increase the airline's flexibility. There were 66.55 million shares outstanding on May 29.
Japan Airlines and Swissair will announce a marketing alliance today at a meeting of top executives in Tokyo. The pact will cut costs and improve the reach of both carriers.
The European Commission confirmed that it will announce a first opinion about two transatlantic airline alliances Wednesday in Brussels, publishing "remedies" that would make the prospective American-British Airways and the current United-Lufthansa-SAS accords compatible with European Union legislation. The commission is expected to demand that BA and American give up about 200 weekly slots at London Heathrow Airport and some 50 slots at Gatwick. Last year, EU Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert wanted the carriers to relinquish a combined 350 slots.
Airline profits are as high as they have ever been and may climb even higher for the rest of the year, airline analysts said yesterday. Lower jet fuel cost, strong traffic, a vibrant pricing environment, limited fare sales and steady U.S. economic growth are converging at the right moment for U.S. carriers, which will begin reporting second quarter earnings July 15. The U.S.
CCAIR, which flies as US Airways Express in the southeastern U.S., reported an 8.9% rise in traffic and a 3.4% drop in capacity for June 1998 from the same month last year, which pushed the load factor up 12.8 percentage points. The regional carrier flew 14.2 million revenue passenger miles and 22.9 million available seat miles, creating a 61.9% load factor. Passenger enplanements rose 9.9% to 77,855. Year-to-date RPMs were down 2.2% and ASMs 17.5% from the first six months of 1997, creating an 18.7-point boost in the load factor.
The nine bilateral aviation agreements Hong Kong has reached during the year since political control of it reverted to China from the U.K. - the latest is with Mauritius, signed July 3 - were made possible in part by the opening of the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, according to Stephen Ip, Hong Kong's secretary for economic services.
Japan's Ministry of Transport has allocated 202 more weekly takeoff and landing slots at Tokyo Narita Airport, adding to the 2,590 already in use.Starting in October, carriers from Japan will receive 86 slots, U.S. 74, Russia 10, Philippines six, China, France and the U.K. four each, and Germany, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Sri Lanka two each.
Avensa Airlines of Caracas has ordered four firm and six option JT8D-217C engines and related hardware to re-engine as many as five of its 727-200 aircraft, according to Dan Webb, senior VP-the Americas for Pratt&Whitney. Webb said Avensa is the 17th operator to select the upgrade to meet the Stage 3 noise rule, which takes effect at the end of next year. In the Super 27 upgrade, 20,000-pound-thrust engines replace the two original outboard engines, 16,000-pound-thrust JT8D-17.
Northwest is offering transpacific vacation package roundtrips for as little as $769, including four nights in a hotel in Beijing, Bangkok, Hong Kong or Singapore. Additional hotel nights sell for as little as $24. The packages are available in July and August.
Comair, a Delta Connection carrier, began three daily nonstop flights July 1 between Houston Bush Airport and its hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, using 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets with two-by-two seating.
U.S. aviation negotiators met with their Russian counterparts in Moscow June 30 through July 2 and continued talks, with wide-ranging discussions including code shares, renewal of expired annexes to the U.S.-Russia agreement, and overflight rights. No agreements were reached, and the two sides expect to meet again in the fall.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund -- Income Statement October 1, 1997 - May 31, 1998 RECEIPTS (Revenues) May 1998 Revenues: Excise Taxes (Transferred from General Fund): Liquid Fuel other than Gas $ 80,852,000.00 Transportation by Air, Seats, Berths, etc. 525,370,000.00 Use of International Travel Facilities 69,786,000.00
FAA, Coast Guard and DOT officials decided last week not to kill the Loran-C program as scheduled in 2000, but instead to upgrade Loran facilities during the transition to satellite-based navigation. Steve Zaidman, FAA acting deputy associate administrator for research and acquisition and one of the principals at last week's joint meeting, signaled the policy change last month at the RTCA Spring Forum. "It makes sense to fly it a couple of more years," he said at the time. "We should not have a drop-dead date" to decommission Loran (DAILY, June 26).
FAA named Herman Rediess director of the Office of Aviation Research. Rediess was chief scientist for test and evaluation at the FAA Technical Center, Atlantic City, N.J.
Time Air applied at DOT to register a change in its name to Canadian Regional Airlines (1998) Ltd. d/b/a Canadian Regional Airlines, retaining the same ownership and officers. Ontario Express and Time Air were amalgamated into the entity Canadian Regional Airlines July 1 under the laws of the province of Alberta. Ontario Express has ceased to exist. (Docket OST-98-3981)
Airport and Airway Trust Fund -- Balance Sheet As of March 31, 1998 ASSETS May 1998 Undisbursed Balances: Available for Investment $ 315.71 TOTAL UNDISBURSED BALANCE (Cash in Account) Receivables: Interest Receivables $ 229,136,113.06 TOTAL RECEIVABLES Investments:
FAA said yesterday it plans to fine ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering, Mobile, Ala., $100,000 for "offering chemical oxygen generators for transportation by air that were not marked or labeled" in accordance with hazardous materials rules. FAA said the company offered three boxes containing 30 generators to FedEx for shipment to United in Oakland, Calif. United alerted the agency that it had received what looked like an "improperly prepared shipment," FAA said.
Eastwind Airlines, nearing the end of its third year of operation with three aging 737s, still is searching for a viable route network and a profitable growth strategy. With two new 737-700s - one in service and a second scheduled for July 22 delivery - the Greensboro, N.C.-based startup this month is pulling out of two of its three Florida markets. It will leave Fort Lauderdale, which it served for five months, and Tampa; it may drop Orlando in September. Airline consultants doubt the carrier can survive.
British World Airlines is looking for a new home for the last Vickers Viscount. The last of 444 Viscounts is at London's Southend Airport, which is threatening to levy huge parking fees unless BWA moves the jet. The first Viscount flew 50 years ago this month.
American Eagle, the regional affiliate of American, reported a systemwide 8.3% increase in traffic and a 5.7% rise in capacity for June 1998 from the like month last year, which boosted the load factor 1.6 percentage points. Systemwide, the carrier posted 245.2 million revenue passenger miles and 366.6 million available seat miles, creating a 66.9% load factor.
TWA and Royal Air Maroc agreed yesterday to a code-share and marketing pact covering service through New York Kennedy. The carriers plan to begin code sharing Oct. 25, pending a final agreement and government approval. RAM will put its code on TWA flights from Boston, Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, San Francisco and St. Louis to New York, where the carrier operates four weekly 747-400 flights to Casablanca. TWA will gain another transatlantic destination and beyond to Tangiers, Marrakech, and Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Thousands of Hong Kong's residents lined the streets and buildings around Kai Tak Airport Sunday evening to witness its last day of operation and the relocation of materiel to the new facility at Chek Lap Kok. Police blocked off roads, access points around Kai Tak were crowded with trucks and barges jockeyed for access to docking areas to collect equipment for ferrying to the new site. Five days of occasionally intense rain preceded the relocation, but the move proceeded largely according to plan through only sporadic showers - and no typhoon.
TWA and its Air Line Pilots Association unit could reach a tentative contract agreement within a few days, TWA ALPA Master Executive Council Chairman Joe Chronic said yesterday. Chronic was cautiously optimistic based on what he described as a positive tenor of talks last Friday, and the union and management were scheduled to re-enter negotiations last night and today.
The upcoming first-class mail price increase will "simply provide more money to the Postal Service to compete unfairly in the [package delivery] marketplace," UPS complained. The increase was announced last week "despite a 393-12 approval by the U.S. House of Representatives of a resolution calling on the Postal Service to reject the increase," UPS said.
