FAA said it will fine Bath&Body Works $750,000 for shipping improperly packaged hazardous materials. It said the company, which operates a chain of domestic retail stores, knowingly shipped ethyl alcohol-based cosmetics with flash points less than 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which did not comply with the terms of an exemption. On at least 23 occasions, Bath&Body offered FedEx shipments that leaked, FAA said.
Olympic Airways ordered two Airbus A340-300s and took options on two more. It ordered two of the same aircraft in August and will have six A340s by 2000.
Schiphol Airport's World Trade Center reports it has achieved a 95% rate of rental occupancy since opening its doors a year ago. Some 80 companies, ranging from banks to airlines, are located in the building.
Three Latin American airline groups are in final negotiations for orders and options for nearly 200 Airbus aircraft, valued at $8 billion (DAILY, Dec. 11). Specifics on engines and deliveries still are under negotiation. Bob Booth, editor of DAILY affiliate Aviation-Latin America&Caribbean, said the transaction will give the carriers "aircraft ownership at a competitive cost to their U.S. and European competitors. It clearly shows the strength of the three airline groups working together.
FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are collaborating on several programs growing out of the board's investigation of the July 1996 TWA Flight 800 accident, FAA Administrator Jane Garvey said Friday. FAA will form by yearend a team of experts to study NTSB contract research that suggests that the relationship between fuel temperature and ignition energy is significantly different from published literature, she said. The team will meet with the board and report back within 45 days.
Air Macau has ordered an A321 for delivery by Airbus Industrie in November 1998. The aircraft will join a leased fleet that includes four A321s and two A320s.
Skyway Airlines and its pilots union continued negotiations Friday evening in hopes of averting a strike. The pilots, members of the Air Line Pilots Association, were released from mediation Nov. 19 into a 30-day cooling-off period that ended at midnight Friday. Late that afternoon, ALPA spokesman Bob Flocke reported progress and said negotiators had "covered and agreed on some pretty sticky areas." He said the negotiators were discussing money issues and expected to continue until midnight.
British Airways said it does not believe charter operations at London Gatwick should be banned or moved, countering statements made by the International Air Carrier Association (DAILY, Dec. 11). BA said it has made no statement that said so, and that continued charter presence at Gatwick would not inhibit its growth there, since many charter operations are at off-peak times.
Central European Air Traffic Services Site Evaluation Core Group has not been able to resolve major issues on the location of a new upper air center for the region. The effort has been frozen in its tracks because two countries involved in the program altered the scoring method for selection criteria, a source told DAILY affiliate ATC Market Report. As a result, the parties have walked away for the time being.
UPS and its pilots union will not go to arbitration over pay and scheduling grievances filed on behalf of 400 pilots following the Teamster strike last summer. The carrier and the union have reached an agreement in principle, canceled a scheduled meeting scheduled to meet with an arbitrator last Friday and will meet again Jan. 8 to settle the matter, a union source said.
AirTran Airlines is offering holiday fares as much as 50% less than regular one-way walkup fares through Jan. 5. No advance purchase is required, but seats are limited and fares are non-refundable. Sample one-way fares include $109 Philadelphia-Fort Lauderdale and $149 New York LaGuardia- Dallas/Forth Worth.
Last week's massive air traffic control failure in the Kansas City center sets the stage for an NBC TV movie, "Blackout Effect," depicting a midair disaster caused by an ATC glitch, which airs Jan 4. An aviation consulting firm, Boyd Group/ASRC, observes that ATC failures are "not fictional events." In the movie, FAA management is accused of covering up the cause.
Alitalia severed ties with partner Malev Hungarian as it hooked up with KLM last week (DAILY, Dec. 18), selling its 35% Malev stake to a group of Hungarian entities for $65 million. The move was recommended by several European groups as a way the Italian carrier could better focus on its finances.
NJS Acquisitions is completing the purchase of Newark-based Kiwi International Air Lines in a reverse merger. NJS will assume Kiwi's name and stock symbol on completion of the transaction, expected by the end of the month. The move is similar to Frost Hanna's reverse merger with Pan Am to get the airline off the ground last year, after which Frost Hanna took on Pan Am's corporate identity. NJS invested $16.5 million in Kiwi, $3.5 million of it from rescue artist Charles Edwards, to bring it out of bankruptcy.
Eastwind Airlines has leased a third 737-200 from CIS Corp. for delivery in February. The carrier will use it to add service from Greensboro, N.C. It plans to take delivery of two 737-700s from Boeing in April and June.
- In Federal Register dated Dec. 12...Superseded an airworthiness directive on certain Boeing 747 aircraft concerning inspection for damage of the sleeving and wire bundles of the boost pumps in fuel tanks...Issued an AD on Boeing 727 aircraft requiring inspection for cracking of the rear spar web.
Aviall elected Bruce Whitman, executive VP of FlightSafety International, to the board. DFS Group Limited appointed Fred Chiu president-Hong Kong region and Phaik Hwa Saw president-Singapore region. Eagle USA Airfreight promoted Ron Talley to chief operating officer. Gateway Freight Services named Ernie Donner president. InVision Technologies appointed Horst Bruening VP-engineering.
Air France reported a 1.76 billion franc (US$296 million) net profit for the first six months of its fiscal year, nearly triple the year-ago figure. Revenue rose 8.3% to FF31 billion (US$5.34 billion), and the company posted a net margin of 5.7%. The results were the first since the consolidation of Air France with Air France Europe, formerly Air Inter. Passenger revenues were up 9% and freight sales 13.4%. Passenger traffic grew 1.6% as capacity fell 0.6%, boosting the load factor to 76.1% from 74.5%. Air France paid 12.7% more for fuel, since the U.S.
Although several aviation groups gave lukewarm support to the National Civil Aviation Review Commission recommendations (DAILY, Dec. 12), the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said the measures might "trigger a substantial tax increase on the flying public." AOPA also said "dire predictions of air travel grinding to a halt" due to congestion "conveniently ignore existing, inexpensive solutions FAA is already pursuing."
Civil Aviation Computer Information Center of China signed a $16.8 million contract with Unisys to upgrade its passenger services capabilities and accommodate a forecast doubling of growth to 100 million passengers per year.
C&T Charters Inc., licensed by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control to arrange charter flights to Cuba, plans to operate such flights in conjunction with the visit to Cuba by Pope John Paul II in January. Travel to Cuba is being licensed by U.S. and Cuban authorities. Lloyd Aereo Boliviano asked DOT for authority to conduct nine roundtrip passenger charter flights for C&T on a Miami-Nassau-Miami routing. Direct U.S.-Cuba transportation in prohibited, so onward transportation will be arranged with a charter operator in the Bahamas.
Lateco, the French fuselage component manufacturer re-signed a "general strategic cooperation agreement" with the Taiwanese government, a company spokesman said last week in Paris. Lateco and the Aero Industry Development Center (AIDC) of Taiwan, which is controlled by the ministry of the economy, reportedly intend to bid to develop elements of Airbus Industrie's A340 derivatives, the A340-500 and A340-600.
U.S. embassy officials in Lisbon and representatives of the Portuguese civil aviation authority have agreed on formal aviation negotiations in Washington Jan. 13-14. They exchanged views on open skies, and a U.S. official said Portugal showed "great vision and leadership." The U.S. is looking to expand its open-skies lineup in Europe to countries in the South, the official said.
The alliance between KLM and Alitalia will become effective in November next year, when the new Milan Malpensa Airport is expected to be fully operational, Leo Van Wijk, KLM chairman, and Domenico Cempella, Alitalia managing director, said Friday in Rome. The carriers intend to operate a multi-hub system linking Malpensa, Amsterdam Schiphol and Rome Fiumicino airports, the executives said.
