Robert Harvey has been named by Pratt&Whitney to the new post of VP- operations. The former General Motors executive will head Pratt's major product manufacturing centers.
Hamilton Standard said it established a spare parts distribution center in Frankfurt to speed deliveries to airlines across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The center will be managed by Lufthansa Technik Logistik.
InVision Technologies said its newest automated explosive detection system, the CTX 5500 DS, has completed FAA certification testing. The system, the first "intelligent" EDS, continuously monitors bag flow and the security status of each piece of baggage, InVision said, and it can process baggage 30% faster than the CTX 5000 at comparable cost. The CTX 5500 DS is available as an upgrade kit for CTX 5000 users. Israel's Ministry of Defense is the latest customer, purchasing four systems for $3.8 million.
FAA is failing to provide leadership in aviation weather programs even though adverse weather conditions have been cited as the cause of or a contributing factor in nearly 25% of aviation accidents in the last decade, the General Accounting Office said yesterday. FAA has not acted on recommendations made between 1995 and 1997 by the National Research Council and two FAA advisory committees on ways to improve its weather programs, the GAO told Congress.
Varig selected Ducommun subsidiary Brice Manufacturing to supply two shipsets of main cabin seats for Boeing 747 aircraft. Brice said the order made Varig the launch customer for its new B1000 passenger seats.
FAA said yesterday that Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ethiopia comply with safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The assessments made by FAA are to determine whether foreign civil aviation authorities are providing the proper oversight, not whether individual foreign air carriers are safe.
Banner Aerospace reported net earnings of $81.5 million for its fiscal year, which ended March 31, up from $7.5 million the previous year. The increase resulted mainly from a $124 million gain before taxes from disposition of its Hardware Group and PacAero unit to AlliedSignal last January.
Postmaster General William Henderson defended international marketing practices yesterday before the Senate Governmental Affairs international security and federal services subcommittee, whose chairman, Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), has introduced S. 2082, a bill to subject USPS international products to the same oversight as its domestic operations.
Transavia said profits for fiscal year 1998 grew to $16.55 million, up from $2.3 million in the previous year, on revenues that increased by 20% to $337.5 million. The Dutch carrier attributed the improvements to favorable market conditions and steps taken in 1997 to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of the company.
FAA yesterday announced a new policy that will provide digital information directly to the cockpits of general aviation pilots. The Flight Information Services (FIS) will feed pilots weather graphics and text, special-use airspace information, notices to airmen and other information. Such data now are provided through voice radio communications by air traffic controllers and flight service stations. FAA said access to up-to- date weather information will help pilots make critical decisions. More than 200 GA fatalities a year result from hazardous weather, FAA said.
The amount of fuel burned by aircraft in U.S. airspace could be reduced by 10 billion pounds a year by 2015 based on free-flight capabilities provided by planned communications, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) improvements, according to a preliminary assessment by FAA. In a working paper presented at last month's ICAO CNS/ATM Implementation Conference in Rio de Janeiro, FAA said the estimates were developed for an assumed mixed fleet using projected traffic increases by phase of flight in the continental U.S.
Lufthansa Flight Training plans to locate its administrative offices and facilities for aircrew training, currently at its Frankfurt location, under one roof of a new training center at Frankfurt Airport. The new center is expected to be ready for occupancy early in 2000, and a simulator building with at least 14 flight simulators will be in place by 2007, the carrier said. Lufthansa said the facility is necessary because airport officials need the land to expand Terminal 1.
Canadian Transport Minister David Collenette said yesterday he will seek rights for new daily Toronto-Hong Kong service for Air Canada and open the way for new code-share opportunities for Air Canada and Canadian Airlines. Collenette, who had promised to review limitations on Air Canada's access to Hong Kong before this summer, said he will pursue bilateral talks with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for daily flights for Air Canada, adding to its four weekly Vancouver-Hong Kong flights.
The passenger's situation was described as "chaotic" yesterday at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport as some Aeroports de Paris (ADP) ground-handling staff went on strike, adding to the confusion created by Air France's pilots strike. Employees of ADP subsidiaries Eurobag and Sasper - in charge of handling baggage and towing aircraft, respectively - went on strike over pay, working conditions and new hirings, a union source said. Approximately 100 agents in charge of ground-handling for foreign carriers also stopped work.
Nav Canada has begun a 60-day period of consultations with industry on proposed new and revised charges for its air navigation services. The charges, effective Nov. 1, will complete a two-year transition from government funding to full cost-recovery from users.
U.K. Aviation Minister Glenda Jackson, in an effort to improve security, has tightened regulations governing the carriage of air cargo. Any air cargo agents who break screening rules will be blacklisted for at least a year before being allowed to apply for listed agent status again. The blacklisting period previously was three months long. Jackson said the changes are intended to improve aviation security in the U.K. "Given that about 80% of the cargo carried by air from the U.K.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) wrote Secretary of State Madeleine Albright objecting to the European Commission's "retroactive application" of "burdensome" conditions on U.S.- European airline alliances already approved by the respective countries. European Union Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert continues to work on his review and potential conditions on United-Lufthansa, Northwest-KLM and Delta-Swissair-Sabena-Austrian, in addition to American-BA, which has yet to be approved.
Air Europa has leased a used 737-400 from International Lease Finance Corp. for four years. The Spanish carrier currently leases two 737-300s and two 737-400s from ILFC.
DOT and FAA officials serving on DOT's airport practices task force will examine four areas related to airline competition, FAA Administrator Jane Garvey said yesterday. In a speech to the American Association of Airport Executives, Garvey also said FAA officials "are not as optimistic as we were a few months ago" that Congress will act this year on the Clinton administration's air traffic control reform and FAA reauthorization proposals.
Internet Travel Network will integrate Galileo International's proprietary interface software technology into its corporate product, ITN Global Manager, integrating the retrieval capabilities into its booking engine for corporate clients. ITN and Galileo will market the ITN Global Manager product jointly, ITN under its own brand and Galileo under the name Corporate Travelpoint.
Passengers flying out of London Heathrow on British Airways with hand baggage only can check in at Paddington Station in central London if they are traveling to the airport on the new Heathrow Express rail link. The check-in desks are alongside Platforms 6 and 7, where the special trains run every 15 minutes into Heathrow's Central Terminal area and Terminal 4 stations.
El Al Israel Airlines reported a $4.2 million loss for 1997, compared with an $83.1 million loss in 1996. Revenue grew 1% from 1996 to $1.2 billion. Passenger volume reached nearly 3 million and the passenger load factor was 72.5%. The carrier decreased its work force 2.5% in 1997. "In spite of intense competition, El Al has improved its financial standing, cutting losses by almost $79 million," said President Joel Feldschuh.
United said it has completed a major expansion of its Flight Center in Denver, increasing the number of simulator bays from 26 to 36. The carrier said it also expanded ground-training classrooms and briefing rooms, and added new flight training devices. The expansion was undertaken to accommodate plans to continue acquiring aircraft and to support more than 200 customer airlines using the center, said J.D. Whitlatch, VP-flight standards and training.
American posted a systemwide 1.7% gain in revenue passenger miles and a 0.3% rise in available seat miles for May 1998 compared with May last year, which boosted the load factor 0.9 percentage points. Year-to-date RPMs rose 1.3% and ASMs 0.5%, creating a 0.6-point rise in the load factor. May 98 May 97 5 Mths 98 5 Mths 97 RPMs 9,237,004,000 9,084,829,000 43,708,948,000 43,166,082,000 ASMs 13,206,867,000 13,166,983,000 63,641,296,000 63,341,932,000
