Michigan's state attorney general joined 10 other states in an amicus brief supporting an antitrust case against Northwest stemming from its 1987 merger with Republic Airlines. Midwest Machinery Co. contends the merger led to illegal concentration of services at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. Attorney General Frank Kelly said yesterday Michigan faces the same "stranglehold" on competition under Northwest as Minnesota. The case was dismissed in U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, but is being appealed in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, St. Louis, Mo.
Austria, Germany and The Netherlands renewed their call for the unilateral introduction of a kerosene tax inside the European Union, at an informal meeting of European Union Environment and Transport Ministers last weekend in Chester. European Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock replied that their demand is "not realistic." The kerosene tax issue must be addressed globally, within the International Civil Aviation Organization, he said. The meeting in Chester produced no concrete results.
International Lease Finance Corp. reported pretax income of $131.9 million for the March quarter, up 53.5% from the same quarter in 1997. Revenues for the first quarter were up 16.2% to $483.1 million.
DOT Secretary Rodney Slater assured Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) last week that U.S. officials from DOT and State and Justice departments were taking a stand against sharp restrictions the European Commission might try to impose on airline alliances. Slater's April 23 letter, which echoed remarks made last week by DOT Assistant Secretary Charles Hunnicutt, came in response to a March 10 query McCain sent to Slater.
THY Turkish Airlines placed orders for two more A340-300s, bringing its total orders to seven for the four-engine aircraft, five of which are in operation.
US Airways is beginning hourly service between Boston Logan Airport and Washington/Dulles on June 1. The carrier will add eight flights, more than doubling the number of flights in the market.
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport debuted last week what it described as a first - "a suite of private, fully equipped offices for business travelers." Laptop Lane Ltd., the Seattle company that developed the concept, said it will open a second in June at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport. Negotiations are under way to have a Laptop Lane in nine airports by yearend.
Correction: House Transportation aviation subcommittee hearing on international agreements and the impact of alliances meets Thursday, April 30, in Room 2167 Rayburn at 9:30 a.m. An incorrect date was given April 27 in The DAILY.
Trimble Navigation said Royal Air Maroc has become the first 737 operator to obtain FAA certification for the Honeywell/Trimble HT9100 Global Navigation Management System.
Aircraft Parts International, Memphis, a subsidiary of First Aviation Services, said it will open a new distribution center in Calgary by May 1. The new facility will provide 24-hour service seven days a week.
Lufthansa carried 8.8 million passengers in the first quarter of 1998, 10.5% more than in the same period of 1997, the German group said Friday in Frankfurt. The seat load factor increased 0.7 percentage points to 68.3%. Lufthansa's regional subsidiary, Lufthansa CityLine, posted the highest growth, as its passenger numbers jumped 23.2% to 900,000. But Lufthansa Cargo recorded a 2.5% drop in volume, to 151,248 metric tons.
Pilots at American have given management until May 6 to come up with an agreement that will guarantee them a proportionate share of transborder block hours in the carrier's code-share pact with Canadian Airlines or pull American's codes from some Canadian flights.
Delta filed a 30-day notice advising DOT that it intends to code share on Austrian's nonstops between Vienna and Delhi, India, beginning about June 1. DOT approved blanket authority for the carriers April 30, 1997. Delta holds one of four available code-share designations, with no limit on frequencies operated, for service to India.
Arrow Air said yesterday it has entered an agreement with the U.S. Attorney in Miami in which it "pleaded guilty to six counts of falsely certifying the origin and airworthiness of certain aircraft parts." The Miami-based cargo carrier agreed to pay $3 million in fines to the U.S. and provide $2 million to the Center for Aerospace Safety Education, associated with Emory-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Olympic Airways is close to "self destruction," as the Greek carrier's cockpit and cabin crew were scheduled to go on staggered strikes this week, Chairman Theodoros Tsakiris warned in an open letter to the airline's 7,200 employees, published last weekend in the Greek press. Workers oppose a restructuring program adopted earlier this month by the Greek Parliament. Pilots have been working to rule for the past three weeks, causing the cancellation of a dozen flights daily.
Northwest pilots will conduct informational picketing at Honolulu Airport on Thursday to protest the slow pace of negotiations. Pilots are upset over management's continued requests for concessions. The picketing is scheduled to coincide with Golden Week, a traditional holiday in Japan. Pilots also picketed in downtown New York last Friday.
Advances in aviation technology over the past 30 years have achieved a 10- fold reduction in the accident rate, halved fuel consumption and cut aircraft noise, according to Airbus Industrie. Adam Brown, VP-forecasting and strategic planning, said it is time the "record was put straight" on these issues, acknowledging that perhaps aircraft manufacturers had failed to spread the word.
The European Commission "is very close to an agreement" with Lufthansa and United regarding their alliance, which the EC has been probing since July 1996, an EC official said yesterday in Brussels. "We expect to publish an opinion on the issue, including the solutions which would make it acceptable, in May," he said. The commission demands that the airlines give up slots at German airports, especially at Frankfurt.
The Business Travel Coalition (BTC) last week said continued mergers, acquisitions and code-share alliances will seriously hurt businesses and communities and further strengthen fortress hubs. BTC President Kevin Mitchell wrote DOT Secretary Rodney Slater and Assistant Attorney General Joel Kline expressing serious concerns over the pending American-US Airways alliance, which he said is a response to the pending Continental-Northwest alliance.
The breach-of-contract suit Boeing filed last September against US Airways has been resolved, the companies said Friday in a joint statement. They declined to disclose details of the accord but said it includes a payment by the airline to Boeing "in response to the breach of contract, which US Airways acknowledged." When ii filed the suit against its longtime customer, Boeing charged that US Airways breached "firm contracts" to take delivery of eight 757s and 40 737s (DAILY, Sept. 15).
Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) said that the British government's decision to deny US Airways a timely landing slot at London Gatwick for service from Charlotte will "force" him to oppose new U.S.-U.K. passenger service by any British carrier. "U.K.-based airlines should now consider reserving cruise liners...because there will be no new airline service until this dispute is resolved," Hollings stated. US Airways postponed startup of the service for lack of useful Gatwick slots (DAILY, April 22). Sen.
Air Traffic Services should be run by a single organization headed by a single person who reports directly to the FAA administrator, the FAA Research, Engineering and Development Advisory Committee said Friday. After two days of meetings, the group made ATS organization its No. 1 recommendation to Administrator Jane Garvey. The group also called for the continuation of R&D beyond Free Flight Phase 1 to define the evolution of the National Airspace System.
