Federal Express and its pilots union leaders said yesterday they have reached a first tentative contract agreement. Under the contract, pilots at Subic Bay, the Philippines, will be able to use Memphis as their home station, placing them under the protection of the Railway Labor Act. Protection for the Subic Bay pilots had been one of the major sticking points in the negotiations. The union will vote on ratification of the agreement for Subic Bay pilots this month.
The Dutch cabinet's recent decision to allow more growth at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport "in principle" sends "an important signal to the international business world that the door to The Netherlands is not locked," said Hans Smits, president of the airport. The airport operator agrees with the Dutch cabinet that growth must be regulated according to strict environmental conditions, which the Dutch government will monitor.
San Antonio-based Fairchild Dornier this week reported net earnings of $70 million on sales of $507.3 million for its fiscal year ended Sept. 30. It was the first financial report for the company, formed in 1996 when Fairchild of San Antonio purchased Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH of Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, from Daimler-Benz Aerospace. The company called the results a "significant improvement" from the previous year, which included large losses at Dornier before the acquisition.
Barry Valentine leaves FAA today, stepping down as acting deputy administrator and returning to his home in Annapolis, Md. A replacement has not yet been selected, FAA said.
Northwest and its pilots union have been unable to agree on whether a proposal to purchase a 14% stake in Continental and form a code-share alliance is dead or alive. The union is continuing to look at details of the proposal despite management's contention that the deal is off. A source close to the talks said the pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, still consider the deal viable provided the company gives them time to look at how it would affect them as shareholders and whether it would violate the scope clause of their contract (DAILY, Dec. 17).
Atlantic Coast's request for 36 Chicago O'Hare regional-jet exemption slots would bring to five the number of United Express carriers feeding the hub if that and all other slot requests are approved. The incumbent carriers are Air Wisconsin, Great Lakes and United Feeder Service, which is owned by Trans States' Hulas Kanodia. The fourth is Trans States, which separately asked for 18 slots for as-yet-unordered Canadair Regional Jets, and ACA is the fifth.
Raytheon Aircraft received an order from Proteus Airlines in Lyon, France, for 10 Beech 1900D turboprops in a contract Raytheon valued at about $50 million, including aircraft, training, spares and technical publications. Proteus is expected to take delivery of the first aircraft this month with the rest to be shipped through the third quarter of 1998.
British Airways issued a contract to Oxford Air Training School, part of CSE Aviation Group, to train about 80 cadet pilots per year for two years. The contract is the "largest ever" of its kind, said the school's VP- marketing, Peter Moxham. Paul Douglas, a senior BA pilot responsible for cadet pilot training, praised CSE for continued high training standards and said BA needs more pilots because of booming business and better fleet utilization.
FAA will report today to House Appropriations transportation subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-Va.) on Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System human factors tests conducted last week at the FAA Technical Center in Atlantic City, N.J. The tests identified 99 issues that need work, none of them show-stoppers.
DHL International said it will add nine Airbus A300B4-200 converted freighters to its European fleet over the next year. The first aircraft arrived yesterday in Brussels.
Aermacchi is another example of switching focus to commercial projects. It contracts with Fairchild Dornier to build the cockpit and forward fuselage of the 328 series and assemble the complete fuselage except for the tail cone and empennage that is built by Dornier Luftfahrt in Germany.
Southwest took delivery of Boeing's first 737-700 Wednesday, nearly two months late because of the manufacturer's production problems. Southwest has ordered 63 of the aircraft.
American's Miami hub will endure competition from several U.S. hubs, including one it may not expect.New Latin American service is planned from Atlanta, Chicago and Houston, and Dallas/Fort Worth Airport is promoting itself as the fastest-growing gateway that will reduce Miami's Latin America domination.
Western Pacific founder Ed Beauvais has sold 600,000 shares of common stock in the bankrupt carrier, netting about $300,000.A Wall Street source said Beauvais' action may lead other investors to sell, fearing that the outcome of Smith Management's reorganization will render the stock worthless.
Friends of American employees will pay at least 50% more to fly than they do now, effective Jan. 1 under a new rate structure that has raised the hackles of the airline's unions (DAILY, Dec. 10.) American President Don Carty said the employee travel program is a money-loser and defended the increase in travel costs for employees and their friends - despite record profits - as necessary to stay competitive. "Any number of things can quickly turn our present good fortune to ashes," Carty said.
Bombardier Aerospace is preparing for the first flight of its 70-seat de Havilland Dash 8Q Series 400 this month. The Canadian manufacturer unveiled the regional turboprop last month at its de Havilland facilities in Downsview, Ontario. Rollout comes two and one-half years after the program's official launch, with certification scheduled in first quarter of 1999. The flight test program, which will occur at the Bombardier Flight Test Center in Wichita, Kan., will involve four aircraft over the next year.
Regional Airline Association's list of the top 20 regional airlines for the third quarter, as ranked by enplanements, can be seen above. Also tabluated are third quarter traffic statistics (DAILY, Dec. 17)
Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) discusses air service issues and domestic competition this week on Aviation News Today, to be broadcast Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Continental will expand service from its Houston hub in 1998 with the addition of four international routes, one intrastate route and expanded service to five other destinations. In April, Continental will add daily flights to Tampico, Mexico, and four weekly flights to Veracruz and, subject to government approval, Merida. In June, the carrier will add three daily ExpressJet flights to Amarillo and, subject to government approval, two daily flights to Calgary.
Air Transport Association expects load factors as high as 84.8% as 33 million travelers take to the air this holiday season. The prospective passenger volume is up 1 million from last year, the result of a strong economy. Today through Sunday will be the busiest days, ATA believes. Load factors are predicted to reach 83.9% today and peak at 84.8% Sunday, 3 percentage points higher than last year, said an ATA spokeswoman.
New breed of airframe component manufacturer is emerging with the downsizing of military business in the post-Cold War era. Companies that have traditionally thrived on military business are in the hunt for civilian and commercial contracts. Example is OGMA of Portugal, a government-owned heavy maintenance and overhaul facility for Lockheed C-130 and P3 aircraft that was made a public limited company in 1994 and charged with making a profit. It recently contracted with Italy's Aermacchi to produce fuselage shells for the Fairchild Dornier 328/328JET...
Frontier Airlines may have Embraer RJ145s in its future. Wexford Management LLC, The Greenwich, Conn.-based investment manager that recently committed up to $15 million to Frontier, coincidentally has 20 RJ145s on order plus 20 options - the largest RJ order by a leasing company (DAILY, Oct. 10). Frontier says it is more intent on first adding six 737s to its fleet of 13. Then it may take a look at some regional markets, such as those it abandoned in Montana and North Dakota, which might be able to support the 50-passenger jets.
The integrated product team working on the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) needs to come to terms more precisely on the number of satellites needed to support WAAS, according to FAA acquisition chief George Donohue. The satellites are geostationary spacecraft similar to the two Inmarsats contracted by FAA to carry L-1 signals on a transponder. The satellites would provide ranging information and broadcast the correction signal.
Raytheon Chairman Dennis Picard yesterday announced completion of the company's merger with Hughes, a $9.5 billion transaction that created one of the largest industrial corporations in the U.S. Picard also announced formation of Raytheon Systems Co. and named William Swanson as chairman and chief executive. It will be headquartered in the Washington, D.C., area and include Hughes defense operations and operations that were part of Raytheon Electronic Systems, Raytheon TI Systems and Raytheon E-Systems.
