Japan Airlines' marketing strategies, implemented to battle increasing domestic competition and the country's lethargic economy, have boosted local traffic and given the airline a lift during an otherwise dismal period. Domestic passenger traffic grew 12% in October and preliminary November results are well above last year's level. "Domestic competition is heating up, but so far our marketing strategies are working well," said Geoffrey Tudor, JAL spokesman.
TWA is planning more asset-based financings in the coming weeks and aircraft sale and lease transactions in 1998 to improve cash flow. Even if there are no favorable deals available to sell/lease four TWA 757s and several 767s, Chief Financial Officer Michael Palumbo is confident the airline is secure. "We do have in place adequate resources to carry us into and through next year," he told The DAILY.
TWA's board yesterday named William Compton, an MD-80 captain, president and chief operating officer of the airline. Compton, a board member since 1993, has been executive VP-operations since December 1996. He also was chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association's TWA Master Executive Council and a member of ALPA's executive board. He was involved in the mid-1990s as a member of TWA's labor/management task force and coordinated a company- wide productivity task force.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued several recommendations arising from a Feb. 5 incident in which an Air National Guard F-16, operating in a warning area over the Atlantic Ocean, intercepted a Nations Air 727 traversing the area. The proximity of the F- 16 activated the traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) on the 727. The board said its investigation "identified several areas of concern.
American offered Tuesday what could be the first breakthrough in the debate over changes in the Wright Amendment limiting commercial airline service at Dallas Love Field. AMR Chairman Robert Crandall indicated at a news conference that his airline would not oppose allowing Love Field passengers to fly anywhere they chose as long as they stopped first at a city within the original five states named in the amendment - Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
American Managing Director David Schwarte yesterday attacked the "hypocrisy" of United and other carriers opposing the proposed American- British Airways alliance, faulted DOT for imposing unprecedented evidentiary requirements on the proposal, and warned that U.S. regulatory authorities should not wait for European Commission action before proceeding further with their own review.
Icelandair contracted to perform heavy maintenance on the 757 fleets of two European charter airlines, Swedish carrier Blue Skandinavia, with five 757s, and Air Holland with four. Both contracts are for three years.
PROS Strategic Solutions will begin work with Vietnam Airlines on a contract that the Houston-based firm believes will increase the airline's revenue by 4%-8%. PROS will use its supply-and-demand forecasting technology to manage the airline's pricing and seat inventory. The Hanoi- based carrier will license a suite of products, including the PROS IV Passenger Revenue Optimization System and the PROS O&D Group Passenger Management System.
U.S.-French bilateral talks will resume Dec. 10-12 in Washington, with negotiators working to bridge the gap between the U.S. goal of open skies and France's desire for controlled liberalization. U.S.-Netherlands Antilles open skies talks are set for Dec. 9, also in Washington.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey told National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall yesterday that the agency has "concluded that improvements can be made that will greatly reduce, if not eliminate, the possibility of fuel tank explosions." She was replying to a safety board recommendation that FAA "preclude the operation of transport-category airplanes with explosive fuel-air mixtures in the fuel tanks." The board issued the recommendation along with numerous others following the explosion of TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996, over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all
The 10 largest U.S. carriers posted worse performance numbers for October, compared with September, for on-time arrivals, mishandled baggage and consumer complaints, according to DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report. The lone bright spot was the third quarter 1997 denied boarding rate of 0.80, an improvement from the second quarter, 1.20, and the third quarter 1996, 0.84.
DOT's decision adopting new rules for computer reservations systems is a victory for niche operators such as Frontier, which have argued that CRSs affiliated with major carriers unreasonably rank interline service lower than online connections, even when passengers will get to their destinations more quickly if they change operators en route. The American Society of Travel Agents also complained that some displays made it harder to find single-plane flights superior to connecting services.
European Commission said yesterday it will impose stricter emission standards on jet aircraft engines beginning in 2000 despite work under way in the International Civil Aviation Organization on a universal approach. The directive prompted a charge by an industry representative in the U.S. that the EC was "acting against the Chicago Convention."
Sabena's traffic for October swelled 35.8% and rose 24% in the first 10 months compared with the same 1996 period. It carried 680,000 passengers, up 40.8%, and cargo volume increased 21.1% in October.
Romanian authorities investigating the fatal crash of a Tarom A310-300 in March 1995 blamed human error and equipment failure for the accident, which killed all 50 passengers and 10 flight crew members. Sorin Stoicescu, head of the investigative commission, said last week two simultaneous events caused the aircraft to nosedive and plow into a cornfield minutes after it took off from Bucharest Airport - malfunctioning equipment and the "unavailability" of the captain in the cockpit immediately before the accident.
Boeing has chosen United to provide maintenance service for 757s used by the Air Force to transport the vice president, cabinet members, members of Congress and foreign dignitaries. The Air Force will receive the first two of four new 757s (C-32As) early next year, replacing aging 707s. The aircraft are based at Andrews Air Force Base. United, with nearly 100 757s, has more than eight years' operational experience with the twinjets. Its maintenance technicians will be on site at Andrews to provide logistics and technical support.
Malaysia Airlines has become the first Asian customer for a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ). The order is one of 29 total announced orders for the BBJ. A green BBJ costs $33.8 million and a fully equipped aircraft at delivery $40 million. Rollout of the first BBJ is mid-1998.
Northwest, complying with a request by the Office of International Aviation, formally asked for and received a new docket number for its renewal of China authority to undo confusion when it appeared separate segments were consolidated into one filing. Northwest is renewing Segment 1 of an Experimental Certificate for Route 378, filed in Docket OST-95-969 on Nov. 21. That filing was assigned its own docket, OST-97-3177.
Asiana leased two Pratt-powered 777-200s from International Lease Finance Corp. for delivery in October 1999 and May 2000. The carrier currently leases four 737-400s, six 767-300s and has contracted for a 747-400 freighter to be delivered in April 1999 from ILFC.
A recently released report from the President's Commission On Critical Infrastructure Protection casts doubt on the DOT policy of using the Global Positioning System (GPS) as the sole source of navigation. While vulnerabilities of the information and communications infrastructure affect every aspect of the transportation industry, the "most significant projected vulnerabilities are those associated with the modernization of the National Airspace System (NAS) and the plan to adopt the GPS as the sole basis for radionavigation in the U.S. by 2010," the report says.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida dismissed a suit by Laker Airways against British Airways that charged the carrier with violations of federal antitrust law and Florida statutes. Laker said BA controlled almost half of the London Gatwick departure slots that were available at viable times during the 1997 summer vacation season, and that BA unfairly used its influence with the slot allocation authority effectively to bar competition by Laker between London and Miami.
Pilots at Skyway Airlines, a subsidiary of Midwest Express, voted by 96% to ask its leadership to strike if no tentative contract agreement is reached by the end of the 30-day cooling-off period Dec. 20. Skyway pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, have been trying to reach an agreement on their first contract for nearly two years. The National Mediation Board released Skyway and its 125 pilots into a cooling-off period after 11 months of negotiations under NMB.
DOT granted requests by Polar Air Cargo and Air Micronesia to delay until June 30, 1998, startup of U.S.-Thailand all-cargo frequencies due to economic conditions in Thailand. Polar, which operates one of its two weekly frequencies, told DOT its market survey finds that "a startup during the first or second quarter of 1998 will be more economically feasible." Air Micronesia sought a third extension to begin operation of five weekly frequencies allocated for initial startup by April 1, 1997.
Air Transport Association members posted a 2.8% increase in October traffic on 3.2% more capacity, which lowered the load factor 0.3 percentage points to 69.7%. Domestic U.S. traffic grew 1.9% on 2.4% more capacity, while international traffic increased 5% on 5.5% more capacity.
British Airways will increase its U.K.-U.S. capacity by 11% this winter, with more frequencies and larger aircraft on routes where demand warrants. Chief Executive Bob Ayling noted that the U.S. continues to be the most important of all world markets.
