DOT extended through June 10 the period for taking action on the complaint of US Airways against the U.K., filed March 12. The complaint stems from US Airways' inability to obtain "timely and competitive" London Gatwick slots for its DOT-approved Charlotte-London service. (Docket OST-98-3615)
FAA plans to withdraw a proposal to require the certification of companies that provide security screening of passengers and baggage at airports because it is field-testing an automated screener testing system that will provide uniform data on screener performance. FAA said it plans to propose requiring performance standards as an "integral part of the certification of screening companies." FAA said that it is "critical" to have a "reliable and consistent way to measure" the performance of screeners.
Northwest, which two years ago hoped to form an alliance that would improve connections to Beijing, will lead three U.S. partners today in signing a broad code-share and marketing alliance with China's leading international carrier, Air China. The agreement will include Northwest's new U.S. domestic mega-alliance partners - Continental, Continental code-share partner America West and longtime Northwest partner Alaska Airlines. Industry observers said the partnership would be the first quadripartite airline alliance signed with a single carrier.
Palma de Mallorca-based Air Europa has signed a contract with British Aerospace Asset Management for the lease of a sixth Advanced Turboprop (ATP) for its regional operator, Air Europa Express. Air Europa also agreed to a lease extension for two aircraft until 2002. Air Europa operates five ATPs independently from Canarias Regional Air, which continues to fly three ATPs from the Canary Islands.
European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) states have begun using a new "basic area navigation" (B-RAV) system that provides navigational accuracy down to five nautical miles above the lowest applicable flight level in each state. The system, which became mandatory April 23, is the culmination of a 1991 decision by ECAC transport ministers to develop standardized area navigation for all en-route operations, starting in 1998. A number of operators have not yet complied with the B-RAV requirement because of equipment delays, however.
The European Commission is planning to make a first decision on two transatlantic alliances, United-Lufthansa-SAS and American-British Airways "on May 27 or June 3," said a spokesman for European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert yesterday in Brussels. The EC will first publish "proposed remedies" - changes to the planned agreements, which the European executive body sees as necessary to make the accords comply with European competition law. These remedies have been intensely discussed by the Commission and the airlines concerned over the past months.
Continental has introduced nonstop service between Houston and Aruba, the only scheduled nonstops to the island from west of the Mississippi. Service is aboard a 104-seat 737-500 aircraft.
DOT approved a one-year exemption for American to provide scheduled foreign combination service between Los Angeles and San Francisco and Beijing and Shanghai, China, which American will use to implement a code-share pact with China Eastern. DOT approved the code share for a period of indefinite duration. The carriers plan to begin the service June 1.
Allied Pilots Association, which represents the pilots of American, said it has established a Graphic Navigation Committee to pursue solutions in flight deck display technology in response to the global growth of air transportation.
Woodside Travel Trust is hosting a meeting June 4 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington to discuss its new coalition, Consumers for Fair Air Travel. Travel agencies and their corporate clients, consumer groups, community representatives, members of academia and government are expected to attend.
Legislation to combat industry concentration is a long shot despite last week's call for a moratorium on domestic alliances. Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) said he is considering a bill on the issue depending on how events pan out, but a Hill source said Republicans, including House Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) and aviation subcommittee Chairman John Duncan (R-Tenn.), are not inclined to move such a proposal. Pending competition bills likely will start moving once highway funding issues are settled, the source said.
Tower Air reported a 30% rise in traffic and a 39.7% jump in capacity for April, compared with the same month last year, depressing the load factor 5.1 percentage points. Tower reported 264 million revenue passenger miles and 380 million available seat miles, creating a 69.5% load factor. Passenger enplanements grew 31% to 93,000. Total block hours flown declined 11% to 4,362. First quarter RPMs jumped 31.8% and ASMs 27.6% from the same period last year, boosting the load factor 2.4 points. Passenger enplanements went up 32.4%.
DOT awarded rights available under the new U.S.-French bilateral, acting on services to be launched this year and deferring action on others. US Airways received authority to operate new daily Pittsburgh-Paris service, and United's award of daily roundtrip Washington-Paris rights will enable it to launch its second daily flight on the route. Tower Air received four weekly roundtrips that will be added to current New-York Paris service. Continental and Delta received authority to code share with Air France.
Great Lakes logged 16.7 million revenue passenger miles last month, down 28.7% from April 1997. The carrier voluntarily shut down under FAA pressure in May 1997 and later restarted on a smaller scale. Available seat miles were off 37.1% to 34.6 million, driving the load factor up 5.7 percentage points to 48.2%. Passenger enplanements totaled 56,926, down 27.7%.
Development of new Foreign Repair Station regulations has taken too long, FAA Associate Administrator Guy Gardner conceded last week, but he said it has entered the last stages of executive review. Gardner made the comments at a Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee hearing on S.1089, which proponents say would ensure that foreign repair stations handling U.S. aircraft meet the same safety standards as those in the U.S.
Members of United's International Association of Machinists unit at Chicago O'Hare are angry over a management letter which they say questions their honesty about the hours they work. The union is upset that United reinstituted the use of card swipes in April to keep track of hours and payroll. Management says payroll exceptions were out of control and some employees abused the system. "Easy hours and late lunches were 10 times the number of other large hubs," United Senior VP-Fleet Operations Andrew Studdert wrote the employees.
Delta named Robin Connolly system manager-airport customer service safety and compliance and Dick Doubrava system manager-airport customer service security and regulatory compliance.
TWA will eliminate advance boarding passes on all domestic and international flights as of June 1. Boarding passes will be available at TWA ticket counters, departure gates and Ambassador Club locations. The carrier will continue giving out advance seat assignments.
Pan Am's prospects for growth improved last week as Guilford Transportation made a $2 million good-faith investment in the carrier, half of the amount earmarked for unsecured creditors. In addition, Wexford Management, an investor in Frontier and Chautauqua, may try by May 20 to better Guilford's $28.5 million offer. In either scenario, Pan Am could emerge from bankruptcy in June.
