Lufthansa will resume nonstop service between Houston and Frankfurt beginning March 29, offering four weekly flights using A340s. On the remaining three days of the week, Lufthansa will offer service via Dallas. The carrier served Houston nonstop between 1985 and 1990 but has offered one-stop service through Dallas since then. Lufthansa serves 10 U.S. cities.
Moody's Investors Service has placed Continental's debt ratings under review for possible upgrade, following Monday's link with Northwest. About $3.2 billion in debt is affected. Moody's confirmed Northwest's ratings.
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, asked FAA Administrator Jane Garvey last week to establish immediately a team to handle her agency's Year 2000 date-logic computer problem. Data-processing failures are looming from the inability of computer software programs to properly process dates past 1999, and Host computers at en route air traffic control facilities could be affected.
U.S.-French bilateral talks will resume in Paris Feb. 25-27, a DOT spokesman said. The U.S. is pushing for a transition to open skies, which France has resisted despite willingness to accept a substantial degree of liberalization over time.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund - Income Statement October 1, 1997 - October 31, 1997 Current Month RECEIPTS (Revenues) Revenues: Excise Taxes (Transferred from General Fund): Liquid Fuel other than Gas $ 7,366,000.00 Transportation by Air, Seats, Berths, etc. 1,279,813,000.00 Use of International Travel Facilities 106,182,000.00
Aero International (Regional), the regional aircraft partnership, posted revenues for 1997 that were 60% higher than 1996. The group took orders for 94 new aircraft with a combined book value of $1.6 billion. No profit figures were released. The company said it sold 77 ATRs, including 20 new ATR 42s, 34 new ATR 72s and 23 used ATR 42s, up from 25 new Aerospatiale- produced ATR aircraft sold in 1996. ATR claims it had 55% of orders for the 50- to 70-seat turboprop market.
DOT issued Global Air Cargo a certificate to engage in foreign charter cargo service, in addition to the certificate for interstate charter cargo operations issued in December. (Docket OST-97-2683)
FAA and general aviation officials believe Loran will provide the best backup system for the GPS-dependent Wide Area Augmentation System, but the airlines, which already have VOR and ILS and have been far less enthusiastic in the past about Loran, are meeting this week at the Air Transport Association on their choice of a backup system for terminal radionavigation services.
GE Aircraft Engines and CFM International said they won 70% of engine orders for large commercial aircraft in 1997. Of 1,600 orders last year, 1,314 were for the CFM56. GE said it received orders for 286 CF6 and GE90 engines. GE and CFMI said they have won more than 50% of all engine orders in the 1990s.
Delta Express said yesterday it will add daily nonstop flights May 1 to Cleveland, Kansas City and Houston from Orlando and increase service to other points. The low-fare unit of Delta will institute service between Boston and Fort Lauderdale, between Columbus, Ohio, and Tampa and between Washington Dulles and Tampa. With the additions, Delta Express will operate 144 daily flights. Kansas City and Houston are the no-frills operation's first destinations west of the Mississippi River. The Delta Express fleet of 737-200s now numbers 25.
American and China Airlines filed a joint application for renewal of authority to offer reciprocal U.S.-Taiwan code-share services. Under the accord, the Taiwan carrier displays American's code on flights between Los Angeles/San Francisco and Taipei and American displays CAL's code on flights between Los Angeles/San Francisco and Dallas/Fort Worth/New York Kennedy/Chicago, and between Los Angeles and Washington Dulles.
Japan's Ministry of Transport says that of the people injured Dec. 28 in the United 747 encounter with air turbulence, nine still are hospitalized, two of them with quadriplegia (DAILY, Jan. 5). One person died in the accident and 129 were injured. The MOT and airport officials are in talks with airlines on improving information and communications regarding medical emergencies.
TWA's "We Want To Be Your Airline" advertisement won best national/international airline ad for 1997 at the 41st Annual Adrian Advertising Awards. The competition comprised 1,650 entries from 55 countries.
Most elements of the U.S.-Japan framework agreement appear to be worked out, sources said, but United Parcel Service has raised its hand to ensure MOU cargo rights are not overlooked, and new concerns are arising about the FedEx Narita slot compromise. UPS has expressed its concern that most concessions directed toward U.S. MOU carriers apply to passenger airlines, sources said.
Filings at DOT on Argentina all-cargo frequencies last week found FedEx promoting the benefits of a strong U.S. carrier in the U.S.-Argentina cargo market, Polar saying it needs additional access to compete with FedEx, Fine insisting the market would benefit from new entrants and Southern Air Transport questioning the traffic forecasts of its competitors.
The Northwest-Continental code-share alliance announced yesterday is a stepping stone toward a larger global partnership that executives of both carriers hope will give them greater marketing strength across all borders.
Just as Northwest was solidifying a new relationship with Continental, it reached agreement with longtime partner KLM to merge the regional operations of the carriers in North America and Europe. Northwest will manage KLM's operations in North America and KLM will operate Northwest's stations and duties in Europe. The result will be cost savings for both carriers but likely more for KLM. About 740 KLM jobs in North America will be affected, including 500 in Elmsford, N.Y.
The Independent Association of Continental Pilots has vowed to oppose Continental's long-term strategic global alliance with Northwest in the absence of an industry-standard contract with scope provisions that protect pilot jobs. There will be "no final coming together of these two great airlines" without such an agreement, "including adequate protections and seniority rights for the 5,000 members of the IACP," union President Len Nikolai warned yesterday.
Denver-based Frontier is offering travel agents a 15% commmission for bookings to Boston, New York LaGuardia and Baltimore/Washington. The increase, valid until Feb. 28 and for travel through May 20, applies to new Frontier bookings from the three cities to Denver or any other point on Frontier's system, and on flights to those cities originating in Denver. Frontier usually pays a 10% commission with no caps.
A new European Union-Switzerland draft proposal to resolve truck transit problems across Swiss territory will open the door soon to discussion of new aviation freedoms, according to EU Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock. "We have obtained what member states asked us to negotiate: an agreement that is beneficial to the economies of both Switzerland and the European Union, while guaranteeing environmental protection for the Alps," Kinnock said after concluding the bilateral talks in seven hours of negotiations on Friday.
Spirit Airlines will begin nonstop service between Myrtle Beach and Orlando Feb. 14. The service will operate initially on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Spirit operates daily nonstops to Orlando from Detroit and Atlantic City.
LanChile responded to DOT's request for missing information on the carrier's bid for antitrust immunity with American. Like American, LanChile has now submitted a Bates index for the confidential filings, and translations for headings and titles on Spanish-language tables and charts. LanChile told DOT it provided origin&destination data only for the top 25 markets, rather than the top 100, because of the nature of the market, though it is now working to add what it can. Santiago is the only gateway in Chile for flights from U.S.
Eight international airlines and alliances have joined the fare war in India that began last week when British Airways cut fares 40% and Air-India responded promptly with a 45% discount, plus a free companion ticket in business or first class.
New runway space at Haneda, Tokyo's domestic airport, will enable Japan Airlines to increase frequencies on trunk routes this year. The airline will launch a daily flight between Fukushima and Sapporo and suspend service on the Nagoya-Miyazaki and Sendai-Obihiro routes. With the rise in domestic competition, JAL will reduce capacity on some feeder routes, serving them with 737s instead of 767s. JAL will retire three aircraft and add 10 - four 747-400s, three 777-300s, two 737s and one leased 747F.
Swissport International, SAirGroup's airport handling company, has taken a majority stake in Swift, a ground-handling company that serves airports in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, South Africa. Swift, which has about 160 employees, will operate under a new name, Swissport South Africa. Swissport International has moved aggressively into foreign markets in recent months. Its Brazilian subsidiary, Swissport Brasil Ltda, took over new ground-handling responsibilities at five Brazilian airports on Jan. 1.
