Delta said yesterday it will code share on two intra-Europe routes announced by partners Swissair and Sabena. Delta will put its code on daily Zurich-Oslo service, operated by Swissair regional subsidiary Crossair using Avro regional jets, and on Sabena's daily 737 service between Brussels and Oslo, both beginning March 13.
Airbus Industrie has shifted the target date for the A3XX entry into service from late 2003 to the third quarter of 2004 due to design issues related to the 500- to 600-seat aircraft, the aircraft consortium said yesterday. "Our decision for the schedule shift was made in concert with the carriers involved in the project," Airbus said.
DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead told Congress yesterday he is concerned that runway incursions - near-collisions on runways - increased 54% between 1993 and 1996, from 186 to 287. Mead told the House Appropriations transportation subcommittee that FAA's 1995 Runway Incursion Action Plan is "not working as intended," and that FAA airworthiness inspectors were not "routinely provided basic technical training for the aircraft systems they were assigned to inspect. We reviewed the credentials and training of 39 FAA inspectors.
FAA solicited public comment on child restraint systems, and FAA and DOT issued two final rules yesterday, the first anniversary of Gore Commission recommendations on safety and security. FAA gave interested parties 120 days to file comments on child restraints and said it will weigh them in deciding whether to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking.
United Express affiliate Atlantic Coast Airlines said it will serve Savannah, Ga., with the Canadair Regional Jet, beginning April 1. The carrier will offer four roundtrips daily between Washington Dulles and the Georgia city. ACA VP-Sales Angie Shermer said it would be the first nonstop service between Washington and the Savannah and Hilton Head Island, S.C., areas.
The Asian economic downturn is slowing the demand for used and new aircraft and is making more available to those who need them, according to the chairman of World Airways."Today's market appears to be softening to the benefit of the buyer," said Russell Ray.
Fairchild Dornier has named Earl Robinson president of Fairchild Dornier's Regional and Business Aircraft unit, where he will be responsible for all activities involving the aircraft business, Fairchild Aerospace President James Robinson announced. The company also named Michael Meshay president, responsible for the Airbus, international logistics and helicopters/maintenance businesses at the company's facilities in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, as well as for all San Antonio operations.
Despite its recent expansion into beach markets south of California, the state of Alaska still remains big business for Alaska Airlines. Passenger operations within Alaska and between Alaska and the lower 48 states accounted for 26% of the airline's 1997 traffic, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed. West Coast traffic accounted for 66%, Mexico service 8% and flights to five cities in Russia less than 1%. The airline's leading airports by enplaned passengers are Seattle, Portland, Anchorage and Los Angeles.
Continental pilots are threatening to work against the airline's long-term code-share alliance with Northwest unless the company puts job protection guarantees in writing. Pilots, represented by the Independent Association of Continental Pilots (IACP), held "virtual strikes" yesterday at Newark, Cleveland and Houston airports. IACP and Continental are in negotiations in Washington this week with the National Mediation Board.
Traffic at Mesa Air Group last month declined 0.5% to 104.9 million revenue passenger miles as capacity climbed 4.1% to 214.1 million available seat miles, causing a 2.3 percentage point drop in the load factor to 49.0%. January 1998 January 1997 Rev. Passenger Miles 104,906,000 105,460,000 Available Seat Miles 214,137,000 205,614,000 Load Factor (%) 49.0 51.3
United has purchased 600,000 Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies for economy-class passengers flying this month on snack-box-service flights departing San Francisco and Los Angeles. United also donated $5,000 to support Girl Scout programs.
Alberta Citylink, a codesharing partner with Air BC and Air Canada, will launch the Jetstream 32EP program in Canada, BAe Asset Management announced. Alberta Citylink, which operates three Jetstream 31s, will have its J32 retrofitted with the EP package, which is designed to increase payload and runway performance under normal and hot-and-high conditions. Alberta Citylink is the fourth airline to use the program, after Corporate Express of Nashville, Tenn,; AeroVIP of Argentina, and O'Connor Airlines of Mount Gambier, South Australia.
American, Delta and Continental have applied for a combined 106 new frequencies for service to Japan under the new U.S.-Japan framework agreement, which makes 90 new frequencies available for non-incumbent U.S. carriers. That total will be divided among the three existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) carriers and the two that will come on line, a fourth immediately and a fifth by 2000.
Mesa Air Group, Farmington, N.M., has signed a 10-year "fleet management plan" agreement with Pratt&Whitney Canada for support of Mesa's PW123D-powered Dash 8s. The pact also covers repair and overhaul of accessories, engine components and Mesa's EMB-120 engines.
A U.S. bankruptcy court has approved a financing plan for charter carrier Sun Jet Airlines that will put it back in the air in about 90 days. Debtor-in-possession financing is being supplied by Aviation Industries Corp., a newly formed New Jersey-based investment banking firm that specializes in regional and charter aviation markets. Sun Jet plans to recall about 60 employees. Aviation Industries has until March 20 to file a reorganization plan.
Denver-based Frontier saw a 38.1% increase in traffic and a 53.2% jump in capacity for January 1998 from January 1997, which caused a 5.9 percentage point drop in load factor. Frontier reported 103.6 million revenue passenger miles, 194.3 million available seat miles and a load factor of 53.3%. Passenger enplanements increased 9.6% to 115,450.
Atlantic Southeast's January load factor, 46.9%, was three percentage points higher than in January 1997, as traffic increased 8% to 67.4 million revenue passenger miles and capacity climbed 1.2% to 143.8 million available seat miles. January 1998 January 1997 Rev. Passenger Miles 67,387,437 62,415,464 Available Seat Miles 143,791,420 142,052,816 Load Factor (%) 46.9 43.9
U.S.-Senegal aviation talks ended late Wednesday in Washington with a safety and security agreement DOT said will "raise standards up to the strongest the U.S. has with any of its partners." The two sides discussed liberalization, especially code sharing, to which Senegal said it is committed but will require further study.
Fairchild Dornier plans to continue production of the 19-passenger Metro series at a rate of 10 per year "until we can't sell any more," said Fairchild Aerospace President Jim Robinson. Recent sales of the aircraft, developed about 30 years ago, have been in China. Fate of the 19-seat Dornier 228 turboprop is less certain. The manufacturer has components to build four or five more, but there is no activity on the production line. In all, 546 Metros of all series have been produced and about 508 are in service.
Austrian carrier Rheintalflug has placed a firm order with Bombardier Aerospace for one de Havilland Dash 8Q Series 300 and a conditional order for another aircraft, Bombardier announced. In addition, Royal Wings, the regional subsidiary of Royal Jordanian Airlines, has acquired a second de Havilland Dash 8 Series 300 to expand its services in the Middle East, the manufacturer said.
Traffic for Cincinnati and Orlando-based Comair, a Delta Connection carrier, rose 17.7% to 136.5 million revenue passenger miles and capacity climbed 4.3% to 250.7 million available seat miles for January 1998, compared with January 1997. January 1998 January 1997 Rev. Passenger Miles 136,522,000 115,993,000 Available Seat Miles 250,683,000 240,317,000 Load Factor (%) 54.5 48.3
Mesaba Airlines between January 1997 and January 1998 more than doubled in size, measured by revenue passenger miles. The Northwest Airlink affiliate flew 69.8 million RPMs during the month, up 117.6% from January 1997's 32.1 million. Capacity grew 100.6% to 144.5 million available seat miles, and the load factor jumped 3.8 percentage points to 48.3%.
Midwest Express Holdings reported increases in traffic and capacity at its Midwest Express operation and a slight decrease in traffic and capacity at Skyway Airlines for January 1998, compared with the same 1997 month. Midwest Express traffic grew 11.9% to 104.1 million revenue passenger miles. Capacity went up 10.8% to 193.9 million available seat miles, edging the load factor up 0.5 percentage points. The number of passengers boarded rose 8.4% to 118,031. Skyway reported a 0.5% decline in RPMs to 4.86 million and a 1.6% drop in ASMs to 12.9 million.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic July 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (miles) (000) Change American Trans Air 479 (11.11) 1,988 953,152 (4.40) Carnival 233 1.62 1,145 267,112 (2.59)
Vanguard Airlines posted a 20.4% drop in traffic and a 30.9% reduction in capacity in January 1998 from January 1997, which lifted the load factor 7.9 percentage points. The carrier reported 53.5 million revenue passenger miles and 89.6 million available seat miles, producing a load factor of 59.72%.
