Canada Transportation Agency (CTA) turned down Air Canada and Air China's code share application because China is a single-carrier market served by Canadian Airlines. The carriers applied in April to place Air China's code on Air Canada Vancouver-Toronto and Vancouver-Montreal flights. Air Canada would not have placed its code on Air China flights. Air Canada spokesman John Reber said the code share was the first step in the carrier's attempts to develop a marketing pact with a foreign partner, and it may appeal the denial.
Air France yesterday confirmed an order for 16 Airbus A319s and four A320s and placed options for 20 more. All will be powered by CFM56-5B engines. By 2002, the twinjets will replace 19 Boeing 737-200s, which will be phased out because they "no longer comply with new international noise standards," the airline said. The options will be converted "if and only if competitiveness criteria are met," Air France said.
British Airways is offering a co-branded Visa credit card with First USA Bank. The card carries a $50 annual fee, which is waived the first year, and the Platinum-level card costs $65 per year. Card members can earn one Executive Club mile per dollar spent, and under BA partner agreements they can earn and redeem miles on Alaska Airlines, America West, American, Canadian Airlines and Qantas. Flight credits also can be earned on 11 of BA's European regional and franchise partner carriers.
Used Jet Aircraft Deliveries February 1998 Carrier # Type Engines Previous Operator Air Maldives 1 A310-200 JT9D-7R4E1 Airbus Industrie Air One 1 737-400 CFM56-3C1 Lufthansa Air Tanzania 1 737-300 CFM56-3C1 Taesa Airbus Industrie 2 A300B4-200 CF6-50C2 Carnival All Canada Express 1 727(F) JT8D-7B Express One
American Airlines/TACA Group Alliance Analysis Nonstop U.S.-Latin America/Caribbean Operations, Year Ended Oct. 1997 Share Of Share Of Departures Total Passengers Total American 88,332 27.9% 10,923,653 34.8% TACA Group Total 8,017 2.5% 708,494 2.3% AVIATECA 1,074 0.3% 74,865 0.2%
Carriers opposing antitrust immunity for the American-British Airways alliance made familiar arguments about market domination and the loss of competition in their most recent filings at DOT, and some of them expressed new concerns about the planned US Airways-American link and others envisioned a delay in immunity while competitors establish themselves over London routes.
Boeing said yesterday it will grapple through the rest of 1998 with ongoing production issues on its next-generation 737 aircraft, but it has replaced some program managers and begun moving some finishing work to Douglas facilities in Long Beach, Calif. Three 737s currently are being prepared for delivery in Long Beach, and Boeing executives expect to decide shortly how much more work Long Beach will acquire and whether that work will be moved permanently to Southern California.
A Lockheed Martin-Samsung team will develop the Korean Area Control Center at Inchon under a Korean Ministry of Construction and Transportation contract. Prime contractor Samsung will manage and coordinate the project and install the ACC system, with responsibility for all work done in Korea. The U.S. company will provide the air traffic control system. Beginning in 2001, the center will control Korean upper airspace for the Korean Flight Information Region, interfacing with other international ACCs and Terminal Control Centers in Korea.
Shuttle America Corp., Windsor Locks, Conn., applied for a scheduled combination service certificate, asking DOT to act in time for it to launch service in September. The carrier intends to operate 50-seat turboprops on short-haul point-to-point flights to "medium-sized cities and satellite airports of major cities" in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
The move in Hong Kong from Kai Tak Airport to its replacement, Chek Lap Kok Airport, already has started - on the ground. The first wave, planned for 60-30 days before opening, due early in July, was to move 4,000 ground vehicles, followed by 3,000 vehicles at least 30 days before, 2,200 seven days before and 1,700 the night before. The final 6,500 vehicles will be moved after the opening. The night Kai Tak closes, an expected 30 aircraft will fly the short distance to the new Hong Kong International Airport.
Dallas/Fort Worth Airport board, saying the economics buttressing the future growth of DFW "will never be realized" without the support of all signatory carriers, voted late Tuesday to sue Continental over its planned Continental Express services between Dallas Love Field and Cleveland. Continental Express said last week it plans to begin Dallas/Houston Intercontinental flights June 11 and service to its Cleveland hub July 1, using 50-seat Embraer 145 regional jets.
Airline Tariff Publishing Co. has selected SITA as its global telecommunications provider under a three-year, multi-million-dollar agreement. ATPCO, the industry's largest collector and distributor of airline fares, will use Global Voice Services, Managed Data Network Services and other SITA products. SITA will link 30 expected new ATPCO customers this year, connect ATPCO's more than 550 existing customers and integrate ATPCO offices in the U.S., London, Singapore and Sao Paulo.
A key sponsor of efforts to boost service and reduce fares for smaller communities said he doubts DOT's proposed airline competition policy will improve matters and has asked Secretary Rodney Slater to reconsider. Hugh Davis, president of the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority, wrote Slater Tuesday that he is unconvinced the policy will help small and medium-sized communities and may even hurt them.
United this week opened its new Denver Flight Center, built to house 35 full-flight simulators eventually. United moved into the facility in March. The new building contains three Boeing 777, one 757, three 747-400 and two Airbus A320 simulators. A third A320 simulator will arrive in December. Last year, United's pilots required more than 11,800 new-hire, recurrent and transition training classes.
The Canadian government is postponing bilateral talks with the U.S. until it settles international aviation policy questions of its own, centering on allocating access to foreign markets between Air Canada and Canadian Airlines International. Canada's transport ministry might consider phasing in changes, but no date has been set for a decision or for resuming talks with the U.S., according to Canadian government sources.
Air France Group earned a record net profit of 1.87 billion French francs (US$310 million) for the fiscal year that ended March 31, compared with a loss of FRF269 million ($44.6 million) in 1996-97, the carrier said yesterday in Paris. At FRF2.5 billion ($416 million), operating profit amounted to 4.1% of revenues, up from 0.3%. The company reported "strong" demand this year and predicted "further growth in its operations and results" in 1998-99.
Iberia and Aviaco's combined net profits jumped to 5.54 billion pesetas (US$36 million) in the first four months of 1998, compared with a loss of 3.44 billion pesetas ($22.9 million) during the same period last year, the Spanish flag carrier and its regional subsidiary said last week in Madrid. Revenues increased 11.5% to 188.8 billion pesetas ($1.3 billion). The operating profit was 160% higher than anticipated, Iberia said, but capacity was 3.6% less than planned.
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday ruled 7-2 in favor of 150 Delta pilots who took a grievance about their union fees to court rather than going through union arbitration. Under an agency shop clause, Delta's non-union pilots pay the Air Line Pilots Association a fee that can be spent only for collective bargaining. The pilots objected that ALPA was using the fee for political activities, a charge ALPA denied.
Legend requested that DOT reconsider its action taken in a order transferring and reissuing the interstate service certificates of Simmons d/b/a American Eagle to American Eagle, for service as American, and "issue a certificate in full compliance with the contractual restrictions on American's operations at Love Field." Legend said that the order and new certificate should be modified as they "are erroneously based on the conclusion" that American has authority to serve Dallas Love Field under the Wright Amendment when in fact American is "contractually prevented from
Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) expects the German government to clarify soon its financial support for revolutionary joint German-Russian research to develop new liquid hydrogen-fueled engines that offer much higher fuel efficiencies and virtually no greenhouse gas emissions, compared with conventional powerplants. Bonn's subsidy will require approval by European Union authorities.
Inland Aviation Services applied at DOT for a certificate of convenience and necessity to engage in interstate scheduled combination service. The carrier was organized in Alaska in 1995 and is a Part 135 certificated operator, carrying passengers and cargo between points in Alaska. Inland has applied at FAA for an air carrier certificate to conduct the proposed operations. It wants to provide the service within Alaska, operating one roundtrip three times a week between terminal points Aniak and Kalskag, using Cessna 172 aircraft already in its fleet.
Great Lakes Aviation yesterday reported a net first quarter loss of $3.9 million, slightly improved from the $4.8 million loss a year earlier. The United Express carrier shrank by 40% in terms of available seat miles and flew 142,000 passengers, 33% less than the March 1997 quarter. The airline also experienced substantially higher expenses in the quarter as it prepared to launch United Express service to 14 cities from Denver, taking over from Mesa Air Group.
The corporatization of Airbus Industrie, scheduled for Jan. 1, 1999, will be delayed, Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) Chairman Manfred Bischoff said in a recent interview with French business daily La Tribune. "We will not be able to solve all the questions by then," he said.
American Society of Travel Agents' (ASTA) survey of its members found Orlando and Florida to be the most requested U.S. city and state destinations for travelers this summer. While there were minor shifts among the top 10 in each category compared with last year, Massachusetts moved up from 12th place to eighth, with a corresponding increase in requests for bookings for Boston, which improved to ninth from 11th. Orlando remained the top domestic city destination and Florida the number- one state. Alaska slipped from sixth to 10th among states.
DOT ruled that two documents related to US Airways' lawsuit against BA do not have to be submitted into the American-BA antitrust immunity proceeding. DOT reserves the right to determine at any time that they are relevant. One was a US Airways pleading that described certain BA documents; the other was an e-mail discussing the contract dispute between BA and US Airways.
