Europe's major airlines "don't want and don't need" a satellite navigation system they fear they will end up paying for, the Association of European Airlines said Friday. The European Commission's proposal to create a European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) "does not have the capabilities to replace existing means of aircraft navigation," AEA said. "Improvements, if any, could be achieved in a much cheaper way." Unveiling EGNOS Jan.
Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Regionals January 1997 to December 1997 Total Total Cost Cents Per Gallons (Dollars) Gallon 1997 February Domestic 1,007,658,829 731,490,006 72.593 International 340,899,107 268,535,213 78.773
National Coalition for Aviation Education selected Sandra Campbell as the recipient of the 1998 Dr. Mervin Strickler Aviation Education Leadership Award.
United will "make a few announcements soon on Japan," President John Edwardson told The DAILY, confirming that the airline is nearing a code- sharing pact with an Asian carrier. All Nippon Airways is regarded as the likely choice.
Honeywell said Don Schwanz, president of its Space and Aviation Control division, will sit on the board of governors of the Aerospace Industries Association.
Rolls-Royce sales climbed 11% to a record #4.3 billion (US$7.1 billion) in 1997, with sales in the aerospace businesses growing by 19%, the company reported last week. Rolls said about 75% of its sales were from exports, as it earned 276 million pounds ($455.8 million) before taxes, up 17% from 1996 earnings before taxes of #235 million ($388.1 million). Chairman Ralph Robins said Rolls achieved its highest-ever share of the civil aero- engine market in 1997, but he did not elaborate.
Delta plans to code share on Swissair's service from Zurich to Muscat, Oman, starting March 29. Delta offers nonstop code-share service to Zurich from nine U.S. cities.
Spirit Airlines does not have its own gate at Detroit Metro Airport and complained last week about passenger facility charges being used to build six more for Northwest, but airport authorities see no foul. Apart from Northwest, "I am aware of no other party that has approached us" with a formal proposal to build more gates, an airport spokesman said.
Carleton Putnam, former chairman of Delta, died March 5 in Charlottesville, Va. He was born in 1901. In 1953, he merged Chicago and Southern airlines into Delta and became chairman. He remained on the board until his death.
Daimler-Benz earned 4.2 billion Deutschmarks (US$2.3 billion) before taxes in 1997, up from earnings of DM2 billion ($1.1 billion) in 1996. The company recorded sales of DM122.8 billion ($67.8 billion), as all four divisions reported increases of at least 15%. Operating profit climbed 78% to DM4.3 billion ($2.4 billion). Sales in the Aerospace Division grew 20% to DM15.3 billion ($8.5 billion).
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey plans to address a meeting of airline chief operating officers when they meet in April at Air Transport Association headquarters in Washington. Garvey wants to emphasize FAA seriousness concerning cooperation in air traffic control modernization efforts. FAA's "immediate focus is on the critical need to replace aging equipment," she says.
Orally approved an initial one-year exemption for Continental Micronesia to conduct scheduled foreign combination service between Guam and Saipan and Niigata and Okayama, Japan, and to integrate the exemption with the carrier's existing certificate and exemption authority... Orally approved a one-year exemption renewal for Japan Asia Airways to conduct scheduled foreign combination service between Nagoya, Japan, and Guam and Saipan...
Northwest will acquire 979,000 shares of Continental stock - and the majority control it thought it got in January but did not - under a purchase agreement with Barlow Investors III. Shares acquired by Northwest under the new agreement, signed March 2, plus its stake under the earlier deal will give it about 15.4% of Continental's common stock equity and 57.8% voting power, Northwest said in an 8-K filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Barlow stock cost $59.5 million, or $60.82 per share. On Friday, Continental closed at $56.438 per share, up $2.938.
Exports, fueled by the aerospace sector, now account for one in six new jobs and one in five manufacturing jobs, according to U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky. Since 1992, exports have accounted for more than one-third of U.S. economic growth, she said.
The 10 largest U.S. carriers improved their on-time arrivals rate in January, with lower mishandled baggage and consumer complaint rates, compared with December. DOT also published quarterly and 12-month denied boarding data, reflecting a decrease in bumping for both periods. The carriers posted an on-time record of 75.1% in January, an improvement over 73.5% in December and 68.4% in January 1997. US Airways was first, with 80.8%, Southwest second, 79.4%, Alaska ninth, 69.3%, and Northwest 10th, 69.1%
Air New Zealand asked DOT to amend its exemption to allow it to operate service "to the full extent authorized" by the U.S.-New Zealand open-skies agreement until Oct. 17, when the exemption expires, pending the issuance of an amended foreign carrier permit. The carrier wants blanket authority to engage in scheduled foreign combination service from points behind New Zealand via New Zealand and intermediate points in the South Pacific to points in the U.S. and beyond, to operate cargo services between the U.S.
- In Federal Register dated March 3...Issued an airworthiness directive on Pilatus PC-12 aircraft requiring elevator inspection...Issued an AD on Robinson R44 helicopters requiring replacing the aluminum elbows for the cooler lines...Proposed an AD on Eurocopter SA-350/355 helicopters to require inspections of the main gearbox suspension cross beam.
