Thirteen million dollars is lost every day in the absence of a new U.S.- Japan bilateral, according to a Midwest-Asia Aviation Coalition study. The coalition used the U.S.-Canada agreement as a model, noting that when restrictions were relaxed the number of flights increased 16% in the first year. Similar growth with Japan would amount to 3,200 new roundtrips a year by U.S. and Japanese airlines, almost nine flights a day, and the coalition believes the projection is conservative.
Dragonair is increasing domestic package offerings as China's appetite for one-price vacation deals grows. The airline is charging as little as $340 for four-day, three-night excursions from Hong Kong to places like Guilin, Kunming and Xian. The price includes airfare, hotel, meals, tours and insurance.
Frontier appointed Arthur Amron, senior VP and general counsel of Wexford Management LLC, to its board and appointed Sheila Shafran assistant controller and Keith Schmitt city manager of Bloomington-Normal.
The latest round of U.S.-France bilateral negotiations, concluded late last Thursday in Washington, made less progress than the U.S. had hoped or expected, according to government agency officials, but "the process is moving forward" and the U.S. "hopes to schedule another round of talks as early as possible." While there was a "narrowing" of the distance between the two sides on some issues, no substantive resolution resulted from the talks, which concluded a day earlier than scheduled.
Two weeks on the job, new Pan Am Chief Executive David Banmiller eliminated the positions of 10 VPs this week and demoted several other managers in an effort to make the merged airline more efficient. Seventy workers were furloughed as part of a 465-person downsizing announced in October. But Banmiller took that a step further, eliminating the positions of VP- passenger services, VP-treasurer and VP-finance. Now, six VPs report to the CEO. "In some cases, the jobs were abolished, in others, the jobs were downgraded to managers," said spokesman Jeff Kriendler.
The National Civil Aviation Review Commission (NCARC) formally handed its final findings and recommendations to DOT yesterday, completing an effort that spanned much of this year. The report, Avoiding Aviation Gridlock&Reducing the Accident Rate, recommends nine basic changes, five in FAA funding and management and four in aviation safety. The funding and management recommendations are the same as those in the preliminary report of the commission's aviation financing task force, completed in September.
FAA plans to issue recommendations by June incorporating various aircraft systems into its aircraft inspection program, a National Transportation Safety Board hearing into the crash of TWA Flight 800 was told yesterday in Baltimore. Gregory Dunn, of FAA's Transport Directorate, said the agency is reacting to recommendations from the President's Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, chaired by Vice President Al Gore.
U.S. Carriers Commission Expense First Quarter 1997 % Of Total Commission Operating Expenses Alaska $ 30,049,000 8.49 America West 36,642,779 8.56 American 311,801,000 8.57 Continental 123,182,000 8.31
Western Pacific Chief Executive Robert Peiser, taking the first $10 million this week of up to $50 million in financial support from Smith Management, characterized his new partner as "smart, but tough to work with."
European Union transport ministers ordered the European Commission yesterday to "consider sanctions against Russia" in the dispute about Siberia overflight charges imposed on EU airlines. The EU is protesting "compensation payments" to Aeroflot that Russia imposes as a preliminary obligation to obtain the right to fly over Siberia. Russian authorities have not replied so far to European proposals to negotiate. "They keep on changing who's in charge of the issue," a commission official said.
Fairchild Dornier says that 30% or more of the production run of the new 34-passenger 328JET could be swept by corporate customers. Two firm U.S. customers for the corporate version already are on the books and the German/American company is pushing hard for more. The aircraft is billed as having an interior as large as a Gulfstream IV at the price of a Learjet 60 - about $11 million. The prototype 328JET was unofficially rolled out for the aviation press last week near Munich and is scheduled to fly Jan. 20 (see story below).
SAS will launch two daily flights between Stockholm and London Stansted Airport March 29 using 105-seat DC-9-41 aircraft. The service will be timed for connections beyond Stockholm to Moscow, Finland and the Baltic states. SAS will offer automated check-in at Stansted and separate check- in facilities for business and economy travelers. The Stansted service will boost SAS's London-Stockholm operations from five to seven flights per day.
The European Commission will launch legal proceedings against the nine European Union countries that have bilateral aviation agreements with the U.S., a spokeswoman for EU Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock said Wednesday in Brussels. "This is the point where we take our gloves off," she said.
Federal Express reported a 3% increase in net profit, to $107 million, for the quarter ended Nov. 30, but total revenues surged 16% to $3.3 billion. Operating income rose to $213.8 million from $184.9 million on the strength of 5% growth in international operating income. International Priority service jumped 18%. Domestic operating income rose to $167.5 million from $140.8 million. In the U.S., package volume was up 10% and revenue per package rose 4.7%.
Trying to break what it terms Europe's biggest monopoly air route, British Midland will launch eight-times-daily 737-500 roundtrip service between London Heathrow and Manchester airports March 29. Currently, nearly a million passengers use British Airways' Manchester-Heathrow service each year, more than on any other route in Europe served by a single airline.
Fairchild Dornier Saturday unofficially rolled out its new 32- to 34- seat 328JET near Munich for the aviation trade press with a projection that the company's business will double through 1999. The aircraft - a turbofan derivative of the 328 high-speed turboprop - is scheduled to make its first flight Jan. 20. The marketplace for the aircraft is "as good or better than we said in March," when the airplane was first detailed, said Jim Robinson, president of parent company Fairchild Aerospace.
Dutch airlines formed a united delegation that met with Transport Minister Annemarie Jorritsma Tuesday and pleaded for changes in the government's plan to increase restrictions at Amsterdam Schiphol, one of Europe's busiest airports. The group expressed its "grave concern" about the economic consequences of trimming takeoffs and landings and limiting runway use. The group included the executive boards of KLM, Air Holland, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Martinair Holland, Transavia Airlines and the Dutch Air Traffic Control authority.
U.S.-French bilateral talks produced little if any progress during the second day, sources said. One source said much of the French negotiators' presentation appeared to consist of what they had accomplished and compromised on during the last round in October. "Something may have changed within the French government since last time," he said. U.S. carriers will be pressing for another round of negotiations to be scheduled as soon as possible, particularly if the current session bears little fruit.
Atlantic Coast Airlines will introduce regional jet service from its Washington Dulles hub to Tampa, Fla., Jan. 1 and Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 1. Tickets are available for purchase tomorrow.
United flight attendants who call in sick will not be put on "did not fly" status for refusing to explain their illness to a nurse from an outside company as stipulated by an earlier decision, a United spokesman said (DAILY, Dec. 11). United will meet with its flight attendants union today to clarify issues regarding the call-in experiment, which will begin Dec. 15. The calls of about 6,500 flight attendants in Denver, Newark, Philadelphia and San Francisco who call in sick will be transferred to a nurse at United Health Care, Minneapolis.
Norman Mineta, chairman of the National Civil Aviation Review Commission, will discuss the panel's report, released yesterday, on Aviation News Today, to be broadcast Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and at 1:30 p.m.
Swiss regional carrier Crossair has ordered six new Saab 2000 turboprop aircraft. The airline's fleet already includes 15 Saab 340s and 25 Saab 2000s. Four of the Saab 2000s will be delivered next year, with the other two following in 1999. The Swedish manufacturer said the order "will have no effect" on its earlier decision to cease production of the regional aircraft. Saab announced on Oct. 23 that it would consider discontinuing production of the 340 and 2000 in order to establish ties with other commercial aircraft manufacturers.
Down-sizing Great Lakes Aviation enjoyed a 4.8-percentage point increase in its passenger load factor to 46.9% last month as its capacity dropped 47.1% to 29.7 million available seat miles, and its traffic dropped 41.1% to 13.9 million revenue passenger miles. Boardings declined 41.5% to 46,268. Nov. 1997 Nov. 1996 11 Mths 1997 11 Mths 1996 RPMs 13,936,000 23,646,000 186,819,000 275,084,000 ASMs 29,690,000 56,130,000 405,660,000 623,268,000
