Singapore Airlines is offering the Singapore government's new immigration smart card free to its Priority Passenger Service Club members during a promotional period. The Checkpoint Access Card, launched last week, enables passengers to identify themselves through their thumbprint, speeding customs and immigration processing. The access card normally costs S$30 (US$18). About 350 SIA and SilkAir crewmembers were involved in the pilot test program.
BMW Rolls-Royce was granted design organization approval by the German Aviation Authority under JAR-21. The company said it is the first engine manufacturer in continental Europe to be approved under JAR-21.
European Commission, assessing its many options for approving an American- British Airways alliance, is considering limits on the way airlines pool frequent flyer miles in multiple countries, and on how many code- share listings an airline can have, sources said.
Vanguard Airlines, celebrating its new nonstop service from Pittsburgh to Chicago and New York City, will give away 1,000 roundtrip tickets to both cities today to the first 1,000 people - one free ticket per person - who bring a 24-can case of food to donate to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
Air New Zealand is dropping the floor under low fares for flights between the U.S. and New Zealand and Australia. The airline is offering roundtrip "Early Bird" fares as low as $648 for travel Down Under from April 13 to June 30. Los Angeles-Auckland tickets bought by Jan. 9 will cost $648, with prices rising slightly for travel booked between Jan. 10 and Feb. 9.
Mexicana and United filed a joint application at DOT to expand their U.S.- Mexico code-share services. The blanket request effectively would link their respective domestic networks "to the extent...available under the U.S.-Mexico bilateral." Expedited approval is sought as the carriers propose to begin expanding code-share services Jan. 15. The application states that the carriers "understand that it may be necessary to defer certain city-pair authority pending resolution of designation issues between the U.S.
Air France Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta, in a meeting with company executives this week, outlined privatization plans aimed at cutting state ownership to a little over 50% from 95%. The state's share already is scheduled to drop to 86% in June as a consequence of an employee ownership scheme launched in 1994. Spinetta wants 20% of the capital to be in the hands of the company's employees. Half of that stake would be reserved for pilots, in exchange for a 15% wage cut. Talks with pilots unions are slated to start this week.
Frontier Airlines will add on Feb. 1 a third daily nonstop flight between its Denver hub and New York LaGuardia Airport. The carrier received DOT slot approval in October for three daily roundtrip flights to the LaGuardia market. It introduced its first two flights Dec. 3, using 136-seat 737-300 twinjets.
Sunworld International has become an Airlines Reporting Corp. participant, and as of Dec. 22 agents may begin reporting their Sunworld sales through ARC. Sunworld, based in Fort Mitchell, Ky., provides weekly connecting service from Cincinnati to Grand Cayman, St. Croix, and St. Maarten, and weekly service between Indianapolis and St. Louis and Grand Cayman, using 727-200s.
Federal Express reported expiration of the waiting period for regulatory review of its agreement to acquire Caliber System Inc. Stockholders for Caliber and Federal Express are scheduled to vote on the takeover Jan. 9 and 12, respectively. FedEx said the merger will provide it with a broad range of transportation, logistics and supply services.
Belgian aircraft maker Sonaca SA predicts banner results in 1998 on the basis of strong demand for Airbus Industrie aircraft, for which it manufactures fuselage parts. After three financially shaky years, the Charleroi-based company will finish 1997 with a small but solid profit.
Boeing Commercial plans to lay off 12,000 production and other workers next year once it solves its assembly line problems and nears completion of its current development programs, President Ron Woodard said yesterday. The company has stopped hiring except in some critical areas, Woodard told a news conference, and the layoffs are expected in the second half of the year. Woodard said he did not know how the layoffs will be proportioned between Seattle and the Long Beach facilities of former competitor McDonnell Douglas.
Northwest Airlines still may be able to purchase a 14% stake in Continental and form an alliance that would enable the carriers to feed passengers into each others' systems, a source close to the discussions told The DAILY yesterday.
FAA has agreed to purchase Lockheed Martin Corp.'s baseline software for the Common Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS), a move the company said brings closer to implementation an air traffic control upgrade that will increase safety at U.S. airports. "Common ARTS consolidates a roomful of computer and communication equipment into one rack for most of the 145 small- to medium-sized airports" and into three triple redundant racks for larger airports, Lockheed Martin said.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, said yesterday a study by Boeing concludes that lifting the perimeter rule at National Airport may decrease aircraft noise because airlines use equipment that has better range and fuel efficiency for longer routes. The study, done at the request of the aviation subcommittee, compares takeoff noise produced by the same aircraft while taking into account the different fuel weights that would have to be carried on flights within and beyond the 1,250-mile perimeter.
Standard&Poor's yesterday revised upward its outlook on UAL Corp. and United Airlines Inc., after the airline said it expected record results in 1997 and 1998 (DAILY, Dec. 16). S&P raised its outlook to positive from stable for both UAL and United, and affirmed its double-B-plus corporate credit and double-B-minus preferred stock ratings. United is "reporting solid profits from almost all markets served and expects to grow seat capacity only 2% next year, which should allow it to maintain healthy pricing," S&P said.
More passengers flew more miles on regional airlines in the third quarter of 1997 than in the third quarter of 1996, the Regional Airline Association reported this week. Revenue passenger miles rose 11.6% to 4.2 billion and available seat miles were up 3.2% to 7.1 billion. Enplanements reached 17.8 million, 1.6 million more than in the 1996 third quarter. The industry completed more than 1.15 million departures, RAA reported.
DOT granted a second 90-day exemption to Volga-Dnepr J.S. Cargo Airline to operate scheduled cargo service between the Russian Federation and New York and added authority to serve intermediate points as requested by the carrier. The department noted that the authority Volga-Dnepr requested "was encompassed" by the U.S.-Russia bilateral. The annexes to the agreement expired May 31, but "they continue to be invoked by both parties as the operative source of the route rights governing the relationship," DOT said.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic, November, 11 Months 1997, (000) November November % 1997 1996 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 813,000 740,000 9.9 Available Seat Miles 1,267,000 1,134,000 11.7 Load Factor (%) 64.2 65.3 America West Revenue Passenger Miles 1,231,171 1,224,822 0.5
Skyway's pilots union is preparing a strike center in Milwaukee as the clock runs down to the end of the 30-day cooling-off period. On Nov. 19, the pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, were released from negotiations into a cooling-off period that ends Saturday. Talks resumed in Washington today, with both sides expressing hope of averting a strike.
American said yesterday it will serve Dallas/Fort Worth-Manchester and Boston-London Gatwick daily in the spring. On April 5, American intends to begin nonstop service to Manchester using 207-seat 767-300ERs in three- class configuration. That flight will complement its Chicago-Manchester service, which it has operated since 1986. On May 21, American's 192-seat A300, also in three-classes, will operate from Boston. The carrier already serves Boston-London Heathrow twice daily.
MOU frequencies are virtually a settled case and solutions on third- and same-country code sharing appear within reach at U.S.-Japan bilateral talks in Tokyo. But Japanese negotiators are assessing the long-term implications of the code shares and the question of slots remains unanswered, sources said. The talks are gaining some traction, however, and the two sides are strongly considering extending them into Thursday, one day past the original schedule.
