Grupo TACA will begin three daily nonstop flights April 20 to two U.S. points. The company will offer new service from San Salvador to New York Kennedy and Washington Dulles and from Guatemala City to New York, using Airbus A320s. TACA will add a Guatemala City-San Salvador extension in both directions. Later this year, it will launch business-class service, said Melvin Leiva, sales director. Noting the recent open-skies accords between the U.S. and Central American countries, TACA said it provides the only nonstop scheduled service to nine U.S. markets.
Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications, under increasing public attack because of the island's poor aviation safety record, is studying the feasibility of requiring Taiwan's nearly one dozen domestic airlines to merge into three or four larger companies. A ministry spokesman said a merger scheme would result in companies with greater financial stability and an increased capability to adhere to safety standards.
Armenian Airlines will lease, with an option to purchase, an A310 to be delivered this summer, Airbus said yesterday. The carrier plans to grow its fleet to 10 Airbus aircraft by 2005. The Yerevan-based carrier plans to operate the Pratt-powered aircraft in two classes seating 194 passengers.
Austrian Airlines, encouraged by the success of its two weekly direct flights to New Delhi introduced late last year, is firming up plans to add a third flight on the Vienna-Delhi-Vienna route in its winter schedule, airline officials said Friday. Talks with Indian authorities on the third frequency are under way, they added. "Bookings have far outstripped expectations, and we're gearing up to meet a projected passenger volume demand of nearly 26,000 in 1998," a senior official said. Austrian Airlines also has plans to start a fourth flight to Mumbai, he added.
U.S. Major Airlines Unit Revenues and Expenses Fourth Quarter 1997 Operating Operating Operating ASMs Revenue Per Expense Per Profit Per (000) ASM (Cents) ASM (Cents) ASM (Cents) Alaska 3,848,000 9.09 8.46 0.63 America West 5,949,516 7.95 7.26 0.69 American 38,239,131 11.06 10.12 0.93
RTCA Special Committee 186 and Eurocae Working Group 51 will hold a joint meeting April 1-2 on the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) program. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at RTCA, 1140 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Suite 1020, Washington, D.C.
Although both the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) have run into opposition from airlines in Europe and the U.S., the Association of European Airlines (AEA) appears to see promise in the Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) favored by Air Transport Association (ATA) airlines in the U.S. In fact, Category 1 LAAS could be available by 2000 for revenue use at test airports in the U.S. and Europe, both organizations believe.
Austrian Airlines yesterday gained full control of Tyrolean Airways after purchasing a stake in the regional carrier from the Austrian share-holding company, Leipnik Lundenburger Invest Beteiligungs Aktiengesellschaft. Under the agreement, Austrian took Leipnik Lundenburger's 14.3% stake in Tyrolean, giving it 100% ownership. Austrian said the change in ownership structure "will in no way affect" Tyrolean's independence within the Austrian Airlines Group, and the smaller airline will continue to concentrate on domestic and regional air services.
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport will inaugurate its new Hall F on March 27, followed by its operational debut two days later. The new terminal, the airport's fifth, will handle principally Air France's intra-European traffic to Austria, Belgium, Spain, The Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland and several destinations in southern France.
Swissair will contract new Eastern Europe service to regional partner Crossair, beginning May 1. Swissair will serve 10 cities in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States through the agreement. New destinations include Baku, Azerbaijan; Yerevan, Armenia; Riga, Latvia; Samara, Russia, and Tbilisi, Georgia, which will receive two to four weekly flights using MD-83s operated by Crossair for Swissair. The 123-seat aircraft will have the unusual configuration of 68 business-class and 55 economy seats.
British Airways will invest more than $105 million over the next three years at 22 U.S. airports. Most of the funds will be spent at New York Kennedy, and $5 million will be spent this year at Miami, Boston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston and Baltimore.
Southern Air Transport has acquired three 747-200F aircraft from Cargolux for delivery this summer. The deal will increase Southern's 747-200 fleet to eight.
Periodic strikes planned by Iberia's pilots could "cause delays" in the airline's privatization, Spanish Industry Minister Josep Pique warned in an interview broadcast Sunday by a Spanish radio station. Sindicato Espanol de Pilotos de Lineas Aereas (SEPLA), the pilots union, called for strikes every Monday and Friday March 27-July 31. Pique said the action is "out of proportion" to the dispute, which centers on the wet-lease of aircraft from private company Air Europa and the hiring of Air Europa pilots.
Spectrum Capital Ltd., Greenwich, Conn., will establish Spectrum Aviation Services Inc., offering asset valuation and technical services. The president and chief executive of the new company will be Lawrence Crawford, founder of the Avitas and Crawford Aviation Associates consulting businesses.
Airport advocates have a better chance of raising the limit on passenger facility charges than increasing funding for the Airport Improvement Program, congressional staff members said yesterday at an airports conference, but even the PFC boost is far from assured. House Transportation Aviation Subcommittee Counsel David Schaffer rated the chance for a gradual or limited PFC increase at "50-50" but said he did not sense the "grassroots" pressure needed to increase the current cap - $3 per segment, with a limit of charges at four segments.
FAA has approved an increase in the types of airplane modifications Boeing carries out at its facilities in Wichita, Kan., the company said. The supplemental type certificate will allow Boeing to convert 747-200 Combis with stretched upper decks to full-freighter configuration. The stretched upper deck provides for more passengers but reduces cargo capacity. The modifications restore the cargo capability.
A federation of 17 unions at Olympic Airways plans a three-hour strike today to protest a restructuring program announced last week by the Greek government. The plan, based on a report last year by international consultant McKinsey, aims to cut annual costs $155 million by means of a three-year wage freeze, longer working hours and termination of unprofitable routes. The unions unanimously rejected the plan, which they are expected to discuss with the airline's management today. The union federation was successful in checking a previous restructuring plan in 1994.
Air Transport Association President Carol Hallett yesterday announced a reorganization that creates four new divisions "designed to embrace change and better serve our member airlines." John Ryan, who has been VP-air traffic management, was named acting head of the new Aviation Safety and Operating division, encompassing all of ATA's technical departments. Mike Rioux, who was senior VP-operations and safety, now is VP-engineering, maintenance and materiel, part of Aviation Safety and Operations.
US Airways' Baltimore MetroJet operation on July 6 will launch four daily flights to Tampa/St. Petersburg, its sixth destination. A seven-day advance ticket on the route will cost $89 one way.
Canadian Air Traffic Control Association and Nav Canada over the weekend reached agreement on a tentative three-year contract that contains a new pay package. The proposed contract is the first for CATCA and Nav Canada, the private-sector provider of civil air navigation services that took over from the government in November 1996. Before then, controllers were employed by the federal government.
Boeing will not alter announced plans to boost production of its next- generation 737 aircraft from seven to 14 next month despite the fact that it is producing more aircraft than it can deliver. Boeing ran into problems when the Joint Aviation Authorities demanded a bigger escape hatch over the wing on the 737-700 and FAA required modifications to the horizontal stabilizer. "It is not a situation we like to be in," a spokeswoman said yesterday.
