Approved a request by VASP to continue, through July 15, wet-leasing equipment to Ecuatoriana for scheduled services between Ecuador and co- terminal points Miami and New York and deferred the balance of the request...Approved an American Seafoods of Russia charter using an Aeroflot Il-62 carrying Russian fishing crews to and from Vancouver on a Khabarovsk- Vancouver-Khabarovsk routing May 16-17...Approved, subject to adherence to DOT-approved routings, an Air Sea Broker charter using an Air Foyle An-124- 100 carrying 100 tons of automobile parts from Vitoria, Spain, to
Frequent travelers say flight attendants in general are not as readily available, helpful or courteous as in the past, and there are not enough of them on some flights, the annual J.D. Power and Associates/Frequent Flyer magazine survey reported. The Association of Flight Attendants said cabin crew are being asked to do more with less staff and are facing more demands from passengers than ever before.
Delta and Aer Lingus are expanding their code share to include new service between Newark and Shannon and Dublin. Aer Lingus begins the service with A330s on June 1. The airlines code share from New York Kennedy to Shannon and Dublin.
Target Airways d/b/a Great American Airways had its certificates revoked by DOT for reasons of dormancy. The carrier held certificates to engage in interstate scheduled combination service, interstate and foreign charter combination service and interstate all-cargo service. Target ceased air transportation operations on April 13, 1997, following FAA's emergency revocation of its air carrier certificate for alleged record-keeping violations brought to FAA's attention by a whistleblower (DAILY, April 15, 1997).(Dockets OST-95-797, 49289)
FAA added aircraft with 30,000 to 40,000 flight hours to an order requiring airlines to inspect fuel pump wires. These aircraft must be inspected within 45 days. FAA also extended the order to include center pump wires. The amended order now requires inspections of center pump wires and Teflon sleeves within five days of aircraft with 50,000 hours. Aircraft with 40,000 or more hours have 10 days and aircraft with 30,000 or more hours have 45 days. The new-generation 737s are not affected since they do not have electrical wires in conduits within fuel tanks.
United Technologies Corp. elected William Trachsel senior VP and general counsel, succeeding Irving Yoskowitz, who is retiring to become a senior partner in Global Technology Partners.
Riots, violence and dozens of deaths in downtown Jakarta, Indonesia, have forced thousands to flee the country to virtually anywhere else in Southeast Asia. Airlines in the region told The DAILY Friday they are extremely concerned about the safety of their Indonesian staffs, and most have contingency plans in place to fly employees out should the death toll rise substantially. But as of Friday, most airlines are operating as close to normal schedules as possible, carrying full loads out of Jakarta every day.
American believes recent airline alliance announcements show how American- British Airways opponents base their claims on an "anyone but American" strategy rather than a consistent set of principles. "We find it interesting that DOT seems to be all tied in knots over our alliances with British Airways, TACA and LanChile, and our alliances seem to be under attack from various carriers," an American spokesman said. "But these are all in markets where there is growing competition with open skies now or in future, like in Chile, Central America and the U.K." he said.
Air Canada will begin daily service July 3 between San Jose Airport and Toronto, using new 112-seat A319s. Introductory roundtrip fares starting at $267 will be available until June 1 for travel until Sept. 13.
Toronto-based Signature Vacations has pulled its charter business from Canada 3000 in favor of Royal Aviation. Signature's agreement with Royal is effective Nov. 1 for the 1998/99 winter season. Signature President John MacNeill estimated 70% of its business has gone to Canada 3000 in the past nine years. He said the decision to switch to Royal was based on a significant price difference between proposals by Royal and Canada 3000, Royal's exclusive focus on vacation passengers, and Canada 3000's decision to start an in-house leisure travel business.
Some at FAA are expressing concern that the fine line between the agency and the National Transportation Safety Board is getting a little too hazy. Sources say Administrator Jane Garvey has met for social occasions with NTSB Chairman Jim Hall and Peter Goelz, the board's managing director, at Goelz's house. They fear Garvey could be swayed due to her lack of technical expertise.
Delta asked DOT for an exemption of indefinite duration to provide service from the U.S. to several points in Africa, which it would operate under its code share with Air France. The carriers will apply separately for a statement of authorization. Delta wants the exemption to "take advantage" of third-country, code-share opportunities for beyond-France service made available under the U.S.-France bilateral. It requested route integration authority to combine the requested service with existing certificates and exemptions.
United's internal System Roundtable has suspended activities of its wage and Employee Stock Ownership Plan subcommittees while passenger service employees vote on representation by the Machinists union. United said it wants to avoid any suggestion that the roundtable improperly interfered with the election process. United also is deleting references to the committees from its most recent SRT minutes.
DOT Inspector General's Office has called on DOT to improve air cargo security and the use of the explosives-detection device being deployed at U.S. airports, and said the FAA needs a strategic plan to pull together the many technologies and procedures safeguarding the aviation system from terrorists.
Inspector General's Office is about to release a report finding continued technical and program uncertainties in the Wide Area Augmentation System. The report is the result of an ongoing review requested by House Appropriations transportation subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-Va.).
Lufthansa Technik's pretax earnings rose 53% the past year to 94.1 million Deutschmarks (US$56.5 million), while cash flow reached DM260 million ($156 million). Sales volume was up 5.8% to DM3.03 billion ($1.81 billion). The customer base added 14 airlines. Wolfgang Mayrhuber, chairman of the executive board, cited two "most important investments" during the year - acquisition of a 20% interest in parts manufacturer Heico Aerospace, Hollywood, Fla., and establishing Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services in Berlin.
Star Alliance carriers are unveiling a series of more visible changes at airports around the world. Star will open its first joint lounge at Hong Kong's new Chek Lap Kok airport in July, following the first joint ticket office opened in London. Frankfurt has the first joint terminal and Chicago and Toronto feature co-located operations.
Mexicana applied at DOT for an exemption for at least one year to operate scheduled foreign combination service on Cancun-Fort Lauderdale and Puebla- Dallas/Fort Worth routings. The carrier plans to start service shortly after receiving DOT approval, using 727-200 or A320 aircraft configured for 156 passengers. (Docket OST-98-3828)
Northwest is offering double frequent flyer miles on selected coach tickets for travel until June 30 in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Northwest also will award double miles until Sept. 1 to first- or business- class tickets for travel within North America or from the U.S. to Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India on Northwest or KLM.
