Continental's pilots union is urging members to vote yes in their strike authorization ballots, even though the union has reached a tentative contract agreement with the carrier. The Independent Association of Continental Pilots wants to keep up pressure on management in the event that members do not ratify the deal.
Passengers aboard Delta will be allowed two carry-on bags, a handbag, food for onboard consumption and assistive devices for disabled passengers under the carrier's new carry-on baggage policy, effective April 15. Laptop computers and other items, such as duty-free purchases, are no longer considered carry-on exceptions and if taken on board will be counted in the two-bag limit. All carry-on bags must be able to fit inside Delta's "Size Wise" units, located at curbside, ticket counter and gate.
South African Airways has opened a first-class lounge at Johannesburg Airport. The 88-seat facility offers showers and a business center, including e-mail and Internet connections. The original lounge was converted for business-class passengers and seats 205.
Airlines should implement automated ticket stock and ticket scanning systems that track, identify and confiscate stolen tickets, according to the American Society of Travel Agents. If a travel agency is found liable for a theft, it should not be forced to pay beyond the value of stolen tickets that actually are used, and airlines should be fair and reasonable in assessing the amount of loss, ASTA VP-Government Affairs John Bennison wrote Chairman John Duncan (R-Tenn.) of the House Transportation subcommittee on aviation last week.
Canada has picked Kelowna Flightcraft International Air Cargo to provide all-cargo scheduled service to China under rights obtained during bilateral negotiations last October. The company will have a year to begin the service or face replacement. Additional all-cargo rights to Beijing or Shanghai will be available Jan. 1, 2000, said Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy on behalf of Transport Minister David Collenette. Kelowna will serve the Chinese market from Winnipeg.
Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee hearing to examine international aviation agreements and antitrust immunity will take place March 19. An incorrect date was reported March 2 in The DAILY. Time and place remain the same - 2 p.m., Room 226, Dirksen.
United is introducing entrees by chef and television cooking show host Martin Yan in all classes of service. Beginning this month, the entrees will be available on flights between four points in the U.S. and five in Asia - New York Kennedy, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, and Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Hong Kong and Taipei. United chefs have worked with Yan to design Asian-style cuisine that has no MSG and is low in fat, cholesterol and salt.
AirTran Airlines will add daily nonstop service from Atlanta Hartsfield Airport to Buffalo, Greensboro and Richmond, beginning April 1. The Orlando-based carrier will offer two flights per day to Buffalo, three to Greensboro and three to Richmond. Fares for every seat on flights to the three cities from all AirTran destinations are on sale at the lowest 14-day advance purchase fare through April 30.
Though progress was evident in recent U.S.-France talks and the French foreign affairs ministry believes a pact is possible (DAILY, March 3), one high-ranking industry veteran warns the U.S. "is closing in on a new agreement in the same way the Titanic closed in on the iceberg." The U.S. may achieve its objective of a transition to a more liberalized aviation market and may be able to claim open skies, he told The DAILY. But the terms the U.S. is considering will codify gains the French achieved since renouncing the bilateral, he said.
Korean Air has offered another Internet fare sale for Pacific travel that shows again how Asia's problems are turning into bargains for travelers. The airline is marketing two economy-class tickets from Los Angeles to Hong Kong for $799, or $399.50 each roundtrip. Six months ago, the $799 two-
Iberia will take full direct control of Aviaco, following an agreement last week by state-owned holding company SEPI to sell 67% of the regional carrier to Iberia for 38 billion pesetas (US$266 million). The Spanish flag carrier previously held a 32.9% stake in Aviaco. Iberia, earmarked for privatization, is 99.8% owned by SEPI. Aviaco's personnel is being polled about the alignment of their salaries with those of their counterparts at Iberia.
Prosecutors in Taiwan have issued a gag order covering details of last month's crash of a China Airlines Airbus A300 in which 202 people died. In issuing the order, an official of the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office said the Ministry of Justice is directing investigations into the accident, and officials of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, which falls under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, are to make no more statements about the crash without MOJ authorization.
Romanian carrier Tarom asked DOT for exemptions to enable it to perform all operations available to it under the U.S.-Romania open-skies agreement, initialed in December 1997 and being phased in over four years. The carrier seeks authority through March 31, 1999, to operate seven frequencies, or a total number of weekly frequencies equal to the number offered to Romania by U.S.
U.S. and Vietnam have scheduled formal negotiations toward a bilateral, the first aviation talks between the two countries in the postwar period, March 23-24 in Hanoi. Dates also have been set for Russia talks, April 21-23 in Washington. Open-skies talks with Peru opened yesterday in Washington.
Hamilton Standard, Windsor Locks, Conn., acquired full ownership of France's Ratier-Figeac from French industrial company Bertrand Faure. Hamilton Standard, announcing the deal this week, said it has held a minority interest in the French company for more than a decade.
The SAirGroup has created two new positions to handle its corporate and public affairs at local and international levels. Martin Kaspar, former head of communications for the group's catering, travel retail and hotel businesses, will take over April 1 as head of corporate communciations. He replaces Peter Gutknecht, who will shift to the new position of public affairs officer with responsibility to handle relations with local resident groups and airport authorities at Swissair's main hub at Zurich.
The Sabre Group has entered a 10-year, $165 million agreement with Bahrain- based Gulf Air to handle the airline's information technology (IT) functions. Sabre also announced that three companies - Computer Associates, Phillips Petroleum Co. and USAA - are installing Sabre Business Travel Solutions (BTS).
Colombia's civil aeronautics authority, UEAC, plans once again to seek proposals for the private operation of Alfonso Bonilla Aragon Airport, near Cali, under a concession contract. The government sought interest in privatization of Cali several years ago, but the requirement that the private operator be responsible for security dampened interest in the contract due to the area's drug trafficking. UEAC is reviewing not only the wisdom but also the legality of the requirement.
The RTCA Select Committee on Free Flight yesterday endorsed most of the recommendations of the National Airspace System (NAS) Modernization Task Force. The endorsement keeps the momentum behind a concept that would build user benefits into the air traffic control system as early as possible, while forestalling full-scale development of some programs that require more realistic time frames.
Following a major challenge by IATA, the U.K. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions has agreed to "substantial improvements" in its consultation process regarding new noise limits for the three main London airports. As a result, IATA has agreed not to proceed with its application for permission to apply for judicial review of the consultation process, which was to have been heard in the High Court in London.
FAA proposed fines of $60,000 each against Bismuth Cartridge Co., DHL, and American for, respectively, knowingly offering, accepting and transporting undeclared hazardous materials by air. On July 8, 1996, Dallas-based Bismuth offered shipment of 215 boxes of shotgun shell cartridges from Dallas to Birmingham, U.K., to DHL, which offered the shipment to American on July 10, 1996. Flown aboard two regularly scheduled American flights, the shipment arrived at London Gatwick Airport.
FAA's runway incursion program has been "ineffective in reducing ground- level near-collisions at airports," DOT Inspector General said following an evaluation. The IG said incursions increased 54% between 1993 and 1996 "and still trend upward." FAA regional offices had not focused on local solutions "that could resolve problems specific to individual airports," the IG said.
US Airways has written its pilots criticizing its Air Line Pilots Association unit for failing to waive code-sharing provisions of the contract and allow service to Japan.Master Executive Council Chairman Jon Bryan said the letter was "replete with inaccuracies and is a regrettable escalation of management's recent public relations debacle." Bryan is sending a response to the pilots this week.
SAirGroup, which controls Swissair and its subsidiaries, reported strong improvements in annual results for 1997. Operating revenue, operating profit, net profit and cash flow rose substantially, compared with 1996, because of internal restructuring, favorable currency conditions and a streamlining of Swissair's operations at its Zurich hub. Consolidated operating profit soared 91% to 658 million Swiss francs (US$454 million) from SF344 million ($237 million) in 1996, Swissair said last week.
DOT's system for collecting origin-and-destination data from U.S. carriers is "obsolete" and the data it collects are "unreliable," the DOT Office of Inspector General reported Friday. The report recommends replacing the current paper-ticket-based system with one that extracts data from carriers' computer reservations systems.
