American plans to launch service from Dallas/Fort Worth to Chicago Midway in May or June, sources said. The carrier has never served Midway but has a large O'Hare presence. The move is competitive with Southwest, which is backing a $722 million expansion at Midway, and pre-emptive against soon- to-start Legend Airlines, which had named Dallas-Chicago as one of three startup routes. More details of the Midway service are expected this week.
Airbus remains confident in the wake of IATA's reduced traffic forecast based on concern over financial turmoil in the Asia/Pacific region (DAILY, Feb. 20). A spokesman said, "Airbus does not anticipate any major change to its global forecast published in March 1997. There may be some short- term limitations, with some delivery slots on firm orders put back to 1999 or 2000." The manufacturer says it has had no indications of cancellations so far.
FAA said Austria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland comply with international safety standards under its foreign assessment program, which evaluates the work of civil aviation authorities.
Planned job cuts by KLM-UK, KLM's regional operator in Britain, are harbingers of approaching job losses linked to the June 30, 1999, deadline for abolishing duty-free sales in intra-European Union travel, according to the Federation of Transport Workers Unions in the EU (FST). FST said it has been notified by its U.K. affiliate, the Transport and General Workers Union, that KLM-UK will reduce cabin crews on jet services by 25% when they cease to make duty-free sales, starting April 1. The Brussels-based group released the job loss statistics Feb. 19.
Atlas Air promoted Richard Shuyler to executive VP-strategic planning and appointed Stephen Nevin chief financial officer. BAX Global named Shelley Uitzetter director-quality. Northwest appointed Dwayne Tucker VP-human resources. South African Airways appointed Phillip Bekker executive VP-Americas. Southern Air Transport appointed Clarence Lindsey senior VP-technical services. US Airways named Thomas Fink VP-purchasing, expanding the position to include responsibility for the aircraft sales unit.
Inside The Sky, A Meditation On Flight by William Langewiesche. A commercial pilot and former foreign correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly describes what the pilot sees, thinks and feels and how flight has altered humanity's vision of the world. Pantheon Books; $24.95, available in June 1998. To order, call Meryl Zegarek, 212-572-2687.
AirTran Holdings, the parent of AirTran Airways and AirTran Airlines, lost $96.7 million in 1997, more than double the loss of $41.5 million in 1996. The company's fourth quarter net loss was $54.3 million. Revenue fell to $211.5 million from $219.6 million while expenses jumped to $313.2 million from $271 million. Fourth quarter expenses included $5.2 million to repaint aircraft, eliminating the former ValuJet brand, plus spending to establish the new brand and put in business-class seating.
Just days after it announced a million-dollar campaign to organize Delta's flight attendants, the Association of Flight Attendants is facing a challenge from the Transport Workers Union, which also wants to represent Delta cabin crew. AFA announced Tuesday that it would set up an Atlanta office and launch one of the largest organizing drives in airline labor history (DAILY, Feb. 18).
America West will add daily nonstop service from Las Vegas to Fort Lauderdale beginning May 5. The airline currently serves three Florida points - Orlando, Tampa and Miami - with daily nonstops from Las Vegas.
Flight attendants at United, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, have resisted answering an AFA survey aimed at beginning a dialogue between membership and leadership. Some United AFA members still are angry about the contract AFA negotiated last October, which was ratified by a 51% to 46% vote. United AFA is urging flight attendants to complete the survey to send leadership a "loud and clear response."
Virgin Express disputed Belgian union claims the airline was disrupted by a brief walkout Feb. 17, when 100% of flights departed and none was canceled. The unannounced pilots strike lasted 2.5 hours last Tuesday and delayed one flight, said Paul Skellon, director-corporate affairs and a pilot for the airline. About 83% of flights departed on time, normal for the carrier. Belgian flight crews, which comprise 30% of the total, had complained about when their duty day actually began and ended.
Sabena Technics will supply Rolls-Royce with test cowlings for the Trent 500, in development for Airbus's A340-500 and A340-600 derivatives. The Belgian carrier's maintenance and technical services unit will produce four test cowlings under the first phase of its contract. If the development program is successful, Rolls will buy two more test cowlings for the production program. The total value of the contract is estimated at 220 million Belgian francs (US$5.8 million).
Faced with resistance from its Air Line Pilots Association unit, US Airways has told DOT it is withdrawing its application for code-share service to Japan with American and United. The carrier also is withdrawing its bid for Philadelphia-Tokyo service operated with its own flights on or before 2000. US Airways said it is not feasible at this time to pursue a code share to Japan. Under the US Airways-ALPA contract, the company is not allowed to code share on an international route with a domestic carrier (DAILY, Feb. 18).
Industry consolidation will continue this year, particularly among third- and fourth-tier companies, according to Aerospace Industries Association President Don Fuqua. "But the big thing will be acquisition reform in the international arena and changing the philosophy of our government about economic sanctions every time we disagree with someone," said Fuqua, who retires later this year.
U.S. and U.K. authorities are considering a mini-deal that would give Virgin Atlantic daily Heathrow-Las Vegas authority in exchange for another daily Chicago-Heathrow flight for United, all in advance of an open-skies agreement or American-British Airways alliance approval, sources said Friday. DOT Deputy Assistant Secretary Patrick Murphy declined comment.
FAA has requested comments on its proposal to requir child restraint seats and its rule upgrading the fire safety standards for cargo or baggage compartments in transport category airplanes (DAILY, Feb. 13). The fire safety rule eliminates Class D compartments as an option for future type certification. Compartments that can no longer be designated Class D must meet the standards for Class C or E compartments. The effective date of the rule is March 19. Comments must be received by June 17.
American has entered a reciprocal frequent-flyer agreement with TAM of Brazil, effective immediately. American's AAdvantage members can earn credit for TAM flights within Brazil and to many cities in Latin America. The frequent-flyer pact is part of a broader alliance in which the carriers intend to code share on selected flights .
Wexford Management is not a household word in commercial aviation circles. It will be. Through its Wexford Aviation subsidiary, the Greenwich, Conn., company is acquiring US Airways Express Chautauqua Airlines (DAILY, Feb. 17). Wexford also has 40 Embraer regional jets on firm order and recently made a large investment in Frontier. "We are acquisitive," said Wexford Aviation Executive VP Ed Wegel, noting that there are many Express markets for the jets and there "will be room for both" Chautauqua and Mesa Airlines RJs in the US Airways system.
The Environmental Protection Agency last week sought comments by April 13 on a petition for rulemaking filed last year by several environmental advocacy and wildlife protection groups to add Standard Industrial Code 45, Transportation by Air, including airports, to the list of facilities required to report releases of toxic chemicals listed on the Toxic Release Inventory.
Pilots at American do not support an American-US Airways code-share agreement for Japan service because it violates the US Airways' pilot contract. Gregg Overman, spokesman for American's Allied Pilots Association, said a statement by American spokesman Tim Smith that American's pilots are "perfectly comfortable" with the agreement (DAILY, Feb. 18) is not true.
Boeing intends to announce today a plan to establish a logistics and support center for large commercial and military aircraft at Kelly AFB, Texas, under a 20-year lease. Kelly was targeted for closure by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 1995.
British Airways will increase capacity 8% with its summer schedule, growing transatlantic service and adding frequencies to nine Latin American destinations. The carrier will begin double-daily service to Newark May 1 and increase flights to Seattle, Orlando and Tampa. Altogether, BA adds 13 weekly frequencies to the U.S. and increases U.S.-U.K. service to 333 flights per week, including 87 to New York and Newark. It will upgrade capacity on London-Phoenix and London-San Diego March 29, replacing DC-10s with 747-400s.
Slovenian national carrier Adria Airways is launching new service between Brussels and Ljubljana on March 4, to be operated three times weekly with 48-seat Canadair Regional Jets.
