O'Connor Airlines of Mount Gambier, Australia, will be the launch customer for British Aerospace's Jetstram 32 Enhanced performance aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region, BAe announced. The aircraft is designed to increase hot-and-high performance. In a separate announcement, BAe said Australian aviation authorities have certificated the Jetstream 41 to operate from narrow runways and gravel strips. The company designed a gravel protection kit and flight manual changes for the aircraft.
Saab Aircraft will become a leasing company with a portfolio of about 320 aircraft as it phases out production of the 340B and 2000 by mid-1999. It says it will not take orders for any new aircraft. Product support will be developed as a separate business entity to support more than 500 Saab aircraft in service. A separate business unit will be established and based in Stockholm. Saab expects the yet-to-be named organization to be a major player, turning around from 25 to 30 aircraft per year.
Continental's new Newark-San Jose, Costa Rica, route is a distance of 2,215 miles, not 1,215 (DAILY, Feb. 25). The service is the airline's 11th Latin American destination from Newark and 37th overall in Latin America.
Southwest has moved up the starting date of its "cost-to-coast direct flights " - Orlando-Kansas City-Portland, Ore. - to April 5. On the same day, it will begin nonstop service between Houston Hobby Airport and Baltimore/Washington International, and between New Orleans and BWI. Introductory fares are $99 one way for Orlando-Portland, Houston-BWI and Portland-Kansas City and $79 one way for New Orleans-BWI and Kansas City- Orlando.
Justice Department stepped up its investigation of possible anticompetitive practices by major U.S. carriers, soliciting information from small carriers on predatory pricing and service increases by major carriers in markets they seek to dominate. "We are investigating predatory or exclusionary conduct among airlines at hub airports," a DOJ spokesman told The DAILY. On Feb.
The American Association of Airport Executives, the U.S. Contract Tower Association and FAA will conduct a contract tower "summit" today and tomorrow at FAA headquarters. Participants will address eligibility criteria for the contract tower program and a cost-sharing proposal for airports that are not eligible for the program.
Regional German airline, Augsburg Airways -Lufthansa's first and largest franchise partner - has taken delivery of three Dash 8 aircraft painted in 'Team Lufthansa' colors. The new aircraft comprise one Dash 8Q- 200, which has just received German certification, and two larger Dash 8Q- 300s.
Former Mesa Chief Executive Larry Risley may be out of power, but his influence will last. As part of his severance, Risley will be paid $275,000 per year for five years as part of a contract that includes the title manager of special projects. Risley, the company founder, also will be nominated for the Mesa board each year though 2003.
Singapore may be having second thoughts about the 100-passenger AE317 regional jet under study by China and an Airbus consortium. Asked whether Singapore Technologies Aerospace might pull out of the program, President Wee Siew Kim replied that a final decision will depend on the business case. "We are working with our partners to look at the economic viability of the program," he told DAILY affiliate Show News in Singapore. "At this point, the business case is not proven."
A support venture of Star Alliance partners United, Air Canada and Lufthansa Technik will try to reverse the long-standing failure of airlines to exchange spare parts efficiently among themselves and ensure the most profitable disposal of items they no longer need. Except for a limited number of bilateral agreements, the market for pre-owned spares from airlines and overhaul organizations is fragmented, even though it 10% of the $10 billion airlines spend each year on spares.
The Continental Express RJ145 training-flight accident Feb. 11 at Beaumont, Texas, was the result of a failed-engine drill. There were two minor injuries among the four people on board and there is debate as to whether the airplane was totaled. Sources say the training captain told the pilot that he would simulate the failure of a certain engine for a single-engine go-around but selected the other engine instead - and the pilot failed to respond properly.
Angered about a 50-cent charge on electronic ticket transactions that Galileo International Computer Reservation Systems will enact Sunday, Continental and US Airways have decided they will no longer conduct e- ticket transactions on the CRS. Both carriers are telling travel agents who use Galileo to contact them directly if they want to book e-tickets.
Pan Am yesterday filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code and expects to stop all flight operations today, temporarily. Just as with the original Pan Am, the death knell was lack of cash to run the airline. Pan American World Airways Inc. and Pan American Airways Corp. filed for Chapter 11. The parent, Pan Am Corp., did not file and is seeking debtor-in-possession financing "or a merger, to attempt to resuscitate the airline in the near future," Pan Am said.
Trans States Airlines, which plans to add its first regional jets to its mix of some 70 turboprops, increased its order for the 50-passenger Embraer RJ145 to nine firm with options for 18, Embraer said Tuesday in Singapore. Trans States signed a letter of intent in December for seven of the RJ-145s with options for 18 more, securing the initial agreement with a "substantial" non-refundable deposit (DAILY, Dec. 23). Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Crossair and Lufthansa CityLine are the potential lead customers for the proposed 70-seat Fairchild Dornier 728JET. The U.S./German company also expects a major U.S. carrier to sign up soon. The European orders could be substantial - 50 for Crossair, launch customer for the Saab 340 and Saab 2000, and up to 90 for Lufthansa, launch customer for the Canadair Regional jet. Both carriers are looking for a family of aircraft in their next- generation fleets.
Matt Wald, transportation reporter for The New York Times, will discuss FAA Year 2000 computer challenges on this week's Aviation News Today, to be broadcast Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Aeromexico asked DOT for authority for one year to display Austrian Airlines' code on flights between New York and Mexico City in order to transport Austrian's traffic between Austria and Mexico City. The carriers plan to begin the code-share/blocked-space arrangement March 29.
Southwest yesterday agreed in principle to acquire three 737-300s formerly operated by defunct Western Pacific. Southwest wants to buy two of the aircraft from one leasing firm and lease the third from a different lessor. Terms were not disclosed. The airline said the acquisitions are contingent on inspections of the equipment and negotiation of final documents. Westpac's average aircraft was about nine years old.
Split-up of the Aero International (Regional) consortium - which the venture is calling a "restructuring" - appears inevitable. Only the final details need to be worked out. The Avro RJ85/100 quadjet program will revert to British Aerospace Regional Aircraft Ltd. and the ATR turboprop program will become Aerospatiale-ATR as a company rather than as an Aerospatiale/Alenia partnership. The parties want to maintain an AI(R) umbrella as an "alliance."
The government of Mexico has launched its airport privatization initiative by publishing general guidelines for the privatization of 35 airports. As expected, the government will establish four holding companies that will hold 50-year renewable concessions on each of four regional groups of airports - Southeast, Pacific, North Central and Mexico City, which includes the existing airport and planned second facility.
Virgin Express booked 6,967 passenger segments Feb. 25, 39% more than its previous record. Flights from Brussels to Rome and Barcelona have been well received and service from Rotterdam has been successful, said Rohan Alce, director of sales and promotions.
Ryanair is expanding its network across Europe with the launch this summer of scheduled services to six new points. The decision pitches the low-cost Irish carrier into head-to-head competition with British Airways, Alitalia, Air France and SAS. The new services originate from Ryanair's U.K. operating base at London Stansted Airport to Venice, Pisa, Toulouse, Lyon, Rimini (Rome) and Malmo. Ryanair will offer twice-daily frequencies to all but Rimini and Malmo, which will receive one daily flight.
GE Engine Services and Rolls-Royce plan to form separate overhaul and maintenance companies in conjunction with Asian businesses. GE and EVA Airways of Taiwan intend to set up an EVA-controlled joint venture, Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp., to provide engine overhaul and aircraft maintenance services for EVA and other Asia/Pacific airlines. Rolls-Royce, Singapore Airlines Engineering Co. and Hong Kong Aero Engine Services Ltd.
Northwest asked DOT to award it immediately all 21 beyond-Japan and 28 U.S.-Japan same-country weekly code-share frequencies. No other partners have filed for the beyond code shares, and with US Airways' withdrawal from the Japan case only the TWA-Delta partnership is competing for same-country gateway-to-gateway code shares. Northwest wants DOT to deny that application because it was filed one day late.
Airbus Industrie will be in a position to launch both the 100-seat AE31X and the 555-seat A3XX at the end of the year after working out the "business case" for the former and technical questions involving the latter, according to Airbus Managing Director Jean Pierson. Airbus and its AE31X design, development and production partners in China and Singapore "know the where and the need of" the 100-seat market, Pierson said, but the difference between cost and selling price estimates "still gives us some headaches," he said.
