Legend's request that DOT review the American Eagle interstate certificates it transferred and reissued - to exclude Dallas Love Field authority because American is contractually prohibited from operating interstate services there - is untimely and unnecessary and should be dismissed or denied, American and American Eagle carrier Executive Airlines told DOT. The department should amend the certificates to conform with the Wright Amendment, incorporating the amendment by reference, American and Executive said.
Other nations' postal systems pursuing service in the U.S. represent another reason the U.S. Postal Service needs to be free of regulation on international services, Postmaster General William Henderson said last week at a Senate hearing. Denmark, France, Belgium and Sweden pursue various levels of sales activity in the U.S., he said, and the Dutch PTT Post and the U.K. Royal Mail are aggressively trying to capture international mail traffic through U.S. points.
Air Line Pilots Association Delta unit elected Charles Giambusso chairman of the Master Executive council, Christopher Renkel vice chairman and James Icenhour secretary-treasurer.
TWA reported a 4.4% increase in traffic and a 4.8% drop in capacity for May 1998 compared with May 1997, which pushed the load factor up 6.6 percentage points to 74.6%. Passenger enplanements increased 7.9% Year-to-date traffic climbed 4.1% while capacity went down 1.9%, causing a 4.1 point rise in the load factor. Passenger enplanements grew 7.1%. May 98 May 97 5 Mths 1998 5 Mths 97 RPMs 2,200,637,000 2,108,247,000 10,133,798,000 9,733,545,000
State-owned Airports Authority of India increased its airport rates for cargo handling services, effective June 1, AAI officials said. "The major change is that as per the latest revision, the terminal, storage and processing (TSP) and warehousing charges will be computed by the per- kilogram per-day system as against the earlier per-parcel per-week system," a senior AAI official said. The new system has reduced the current seven free days to two working free days. For general import cargo, the new TSP rates are 3.50 rupees (8.75 U.S. cents) per kilogram.
FAA ordered air traffic controllers at local control towers to undergo two hours of refresher proficiency training following a near-collision at New York LaGuardia even though the incident "did not technically meet the definition of an operational error." The National Transportation Safety Board said it has launched an investigation into several aspects of the incident, including why it was not classified as an operational error. The April 3 incident involved a US Airways DC-9 that was landing on Runway 22 and an Air Canada A320 that was taking off from Runway 31.
China's airlines lost $250 million during the January-April period after massive fare sales, which were spurred by the country's removal of discount pricing restrictions. Fifty-seven discount classifications brought Beijing-Shanghai fares to less than $13 for the 75-minute flight. China reimposed restrictions a few weeks ago, capping discounts at 20%.
US Airways experienced a 1.5% decline in scheduled service traffic and a 5.3% drop in capacity for May 1998 from May last year, which increased the load factor 2.9 percentage points. Year-to-date scheduled service traffic fell 2.6% and capacity 5.1%, which pushed the load factor up 1.8 points from the same period last year. May 98 May 97 5 Mths 1998 5 Mths 97 RPMs 3,597,668,000 3,653,954,000 16,692,302,000 17,143,725,000
Among options being considered by European Union Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert to cure alliance competition problems is allowing small European carriers to participate in transatlantic alliance carriers' frequent flyer plans- or limiting alliance members' credited miles to those flown "across the ocean."
Mitre will continue its support of the User Request Evaluation Tool (URET), a key component in Phase I of the Free Flight development program. Some FAA officials had feared Mitre would drop its development of software for URET, which will tell controllers how to sequence aircraft.
European Union Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert said Friday that there was no communications breakdown between the European Commission and the U.S. DOT, that his position and the U.K.'s on alliance issues have become much closer during the past month, and that he "fully adheres" to the U.S. Justice Department's analysis of the proposed American-British Airways alliance. Justice filed comments last month saying it would not approve the alliance as proposed under U.S.
Delta is offering electronic ticketing on Amadeus, making its e-tickets available on all four computer reservations systems for U.S.-based agents. The carrier also expanded its partnership with SkyMall Inc. to include the World Wide Web. Delta passengers can shop SkyMall through Delta's SkyLinks web site, at www.delta-air.com, as well as on all domestic flights.
Canadian Airlines introduced Ottawa-London Heathrow nonstop service last week through a code share with British Airways. The three-times-a-week service uses 767 and DC-10 aircraft. Canadian has not served the market since 1991.
Alaska Airlines' traffic for May 1998 increased 11.7% over May 1997 and capacity went up 8.3%, pushing the load factor up 2.1 percentage points. Alaska reported 940 million revenue passenger miles and 1.367 billion available seat miles, creating a load factor of 68.8%. Year-to-date RPMs and ASMs rose 7.2% compared with the first five months last year, and the load factor increased 0.1 point.
Southern Air Transport (SAT) said Friday it is permanently closing its maintenance facility at Rickenbacker Airport in Columbus, Ohio, and laying off 100 full-time and 10 part-time employees at its Columbus headquarters. The company said the actions are part of a restructuring plan to "restore Southern Air Transport to profitability after several years of substantial losses." SAT said it will incur non-recurring costs associated with the restructuring but it "fully anticipates a return to profitable operations in the fourth quarter of 1998."
- In Federal Register dated June 1...Issued an airworthiness directive on Shorts 360 aircraft requiring inspection for discrepancies of certain diode mounting assemblies...Issued an AD on de Havilland Dash 8 aircraft requiring inspection of wear of wire segments of certain lighting units.
Korean Air Lines will order 27 Boeing 737-800s and -900s next week in a strategic move reflecting confidence that Southeast Asia economies will recover by the time deliveries begin, in 26 months. The $2 billion order is the only commitment by an Asian carrier to new aircraft since the region's economic free-fall began last year. The order will be announced officially on June 9 as newly elected Korean President Kim Dae Jung visits the U.S. and the two countries sign their open-skies aviation agreement.
Alaska Air Group subsidiary Horizon Air flew 88.1 million revenue passenger miles last month, an increase of 28.9% from May 1997. Capacity climbed 26.7% to 144.3 million available seat miles. May 1998 May 1997 5 Mths 1998 5 Mths 1997 RPMs 88,100,000 68,400,000 403,000,000 337,000,000 ASMs 144,300,000 113,900,000 678,000,000 571,000,000 LF (%) 61.1 60.1 59.5 59.1
John Anderson of the General Accounting Office painted a dim picture of the competitive implications of domestic airline alliances yesterday, singling out the United-Delta proposal as the one with by far the most potential to harm consumers. Anderson, GAO director of transportation issues, told a Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee hearing that the alliances have potential benefits as well, and he emphasized that the United-Delta, Northwest-Continental and American-US Airways proposals must be examined in detail before anyone reaches definite conclusions.
Skyway Airlines, the Midwest Express Connection carrier, has petitioned FAA to allow local community operation of airport advisory services at facilities without FAA presence. FAA manuals currently provide for advisory services only by FAA facilities. In closing most of the hundreds of flight service stations it operated, the agency eliminated such services at airports without towers. Skyway suggested a mix of manual and automated systems to advise of area airborne traffic, ground and weather conditions and active runway usage.
As promised, the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Board filed a counterclaim yesterday against American, seeking a declaratory judgment to stop the carrier from operating interstate service at any Dallas area airport other than DFW. The board filed last month against Continental after the carrier announced plans for Continental Express Love Field service to Houston and Cleveland (DAILY, May 28).
