DOT Secretary Rodney Slater will speak today as the National Civil Aviation Review Commission issues its report on safety and FAA management. The event has been rescheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the Madison Hotel in Washington.
c The resignation last week of Mesa Air Group Chief Executive Larry Risley is no surprise given the carrier's turbulent history over the past two years, airline industry analysts say. While analysts declined to speculate on the effect of Risley's departure on Mesa, they contend that FAA scrutiny over maintenance problems, coupled with slow growth following the departure of VP Jonathan Ornstein, may have triggered his decision to leave.
Japan Airlines is selling flight attendants as holiday gifts. The Barbie- sized version of JAL's staff comes in uniform and has an apron and handbag, a serving cart complete with tiny coffee cups and cutlery, and a tiny book of inflight announcements. JAL expects to sell 30,000 dolls on 23 domestic routes during December.
Metropolitan Airport Authority of Rock Island County, Ill., registering "disappointment" in DOT's rejection of New York LaGuardia slots for AirTran Airways, joined other organizations criticizing the department's methodology in predicting market demand. "Even a cursory review of the traffic dynamics of the Moline/Quad Cities market proves that the department's estimate of only 7,000 annual passengers...is embarrassingly inaccurate," the airport authority said in a filing submitted by Director of Aviation Kent George and Denver-based aviation consultant Michael Boyd.
Airbus is the expected winner of a landmark 110-aircraft purchase by a group of at least three Latin American companies, sources said. Airbus confirmed yesterday that LanChile, TACA Group and TAM are involved in the mega-buy, and other names floated include VASP and Ladeco. All five carriers operate 737s, and all may switch to A320s.
The transport subcommittee of the U.K. government's Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry on regional air services in the U.K. and the importance of regional air links to London. Key questions include how the number of direct flights from regional airports to international destinations has changed over the last 15 years, and whether such service could be increased, perhaps by liberalizing international access or through cooperation between regional airports.
Carriers Aeromexico, American, Delta, Canadian, TWA and United are partnering with Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts to offer as many as 1,500 frequent flyer miles per night's stay from Dec. 15 through March 31.
Lufthansa has moved its London-area offices from Old Bond Street to the new World Business Center near Heathrow Airport. The new office houses the recently established area management for Europe North/East, the regional management for the U.K. and Ireland, and most passenger sales and service functions.
The heads of government of the U.K., France and Germany want their aerospace and defense electronics industries to develop by March 31 a "clear plan and detailed timetable" for integration of European industry in the civil transport, helicopter, space and missile sectors. U.K.
Delta announced yesterday an aggressive two-phase, three- to four-year expansion plan that aims to establish the carrier's presence in nearly all markets in Central and South America (DAILY, Dec. 9). In the first phase, Delta plans to operate to Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay, Peru, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama. This phase will begin in April 1998 and should be completed by December 1998, Chief Executive Leo Mullin said in Atlanta.
The future of Internet booking emerged as a key issue among otherwise familiar arguments this week as more than 30 parties filed to meet DOT's Dec. 9 deadline to comment on its comprehensive review of CRS regulations. Microsoft Corp. told DOT that CRS rules should not be extended to cover Internet travel services, "particularly not to independent services such as Expedia," owned by Microsoft.
Apart from its benefits for the U.S.-Romanian market, the new open-skies agreement is important because it is the second in Eastern Europe, Paul Gretch, director of DOT's Office of International Aviation, told The DAILY. The Czech Republic was first. "We're still anxious to do this with Poland and Hungary," he said. Those countries are longer-term projects. "We've been in constant contact with them," and though, both countries are open to possibilities, "they have not seemed ready yet."
Wingspan, the first 24-hour global cable TV channel devoted exclusively to air and space news and features, plans to begin broadcasting on April 2, 1998. President and Chief Executive Philip Osborne formally announced Wingspan, the Air and Space Channel, last week at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Wingspan will be carried in the Washington area and has a deal with Loral's Orion satellite division for worldwide distribution.
Midwest Express reported a 19.9% jump in traffic, a 7.1% increase in capacity and a 6.8-percentage-point rise in load factor to 63.2%, last month from November 1996. It reported 109.2 million revenue passenger miles, up from 91 million, and available seat miles grew from 161.4 million to 172.8 million.
Iberia asked DOT for exemption authority to conduct scheduled foreign cargo service between any points in "'Spain, via intermediate points, to any point or points in the United States, and beyond' as specified" in action taken in Docket OST-95-511. Iberia said additional lift is needed to meet demand due to increased commerce and trade relations between Spain and the U.S. "and beyond." Iberia wants the exemption for one year or until DOT issues it an amended permit "permanently incorporating these route rights, whichever is earlier." (Docket OST-97-3180)
Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) weighed in on computer reservations system rules, calling for DOT action on new Internet booking and agreeing with other carriers not affiliated with major CRS systems, notably America West, that travel agencies run up unproductive charges through passive booking and other practices (DAILY, Oct. 17)
DOT approved a one-year exemption for South African Airways to conduct scheduled foreign combination operations between Johannesburg/Cape Town and Tampa, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Raleigh/Durham, New Orleans, Cleveland, San Diego, Columbus, Jacksonville, San Juan and Buffalo. The code-share service, with American, will link the U.S. points with SAA's transatlantic service via its New York and Miami gateways early in 1998.
Delta's November traffic increased 5.4% on 2.8% more capacity, which forced the load factor up 1.7 percentage points to 67.8%. Domestic traffic rose 5.9% on 3.4% more capacity, while international traffic climbed 3.6% on 0.2% more capacity. Nov 97 Nov 96 11 Mths 97 11 Mths 96 RPMs 7,687,779,000 7,295,901,000 91,603,415,000 85,977,592,000 ASMs 11,347,397,000 11,042,258,000 127,167,009,000 122,154,311,000
Lufthansa Cargo AG (LCAG) climbed out of a deep loss last year to a healthy operating profit for the first nine months of 1997. The independent cargo division of the Lufthansa Cargo Group said an export boom and internal restructuring were the main sources of the improved performance. LCAG generated an operating profit of 100.4 million Deutschmarks (US$60.2 million) for the January-September period, an improvement of DM166.4 million ($99.8 million) from the 1996 period, when the carrier racked up a loss of DM66 million ($39.6 million).
Don Fuqua, who led the Aerospace Industries Association through the industry's post-Cold-War downsizing and restructuring, intends to retire next year, AIA said yesterday. Fuqua became president of AIA in 1987 when he left Congress, where he represented Florida's Second District for 12 terms and became chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee. He plans to return to Florida, AIA said. A search committee of AIA Board of Governors members will seek a successor.
Asian airlines have begun to defer and delay delivery of aircraft, possibly involving dozens of units, and aircraft manufacturers should expect more action as carriers react to worsening market conditions in several Pacific Rim nations, according to Edward Pieniazek, director of consultancy and information services for Airclaims Ltd. In a presentation yesterday at the Institute For International Research's Aircraft Finance Conference in New York City, Pieniazek cautioned manufacturers against dismissing Asia's problems as small.
The office of the president of Queens, the New York City borough that is home to LaGuardia and Kennedy airports, filed in opposition to slot exemption requests for service to those points by Access Air, American Trans Air, America West, Colgan Air, Pan Am/Carnival and Spirit Airlines. Queens Borough President Claire Shulman noted that outstanding requests for slot exemptions would increase flights at the airports by 54 per week, in addition to the 21 already approved in the grant of slots for Frontier at LaGuardia.
Southwest's November traffic was up 8.5% on 9.6% more capacity, which lowered the load factor 0.7 percentage points to 63.3%. It said that despite the load factor dip, revenue yield rose from year-earlier levels. Nov 97 Nov 96 11 Mths 97 11 Mths 96 RPMs 2,354,005,837 2,170,453,403 25,959,256,307 24,707,782,851 ASMs 3,717,046,532 3,391,808,007 40,658,311,354 37,222,031,959 LoadFtr% 63.3 64.0 63.8 66.4
