United and Northwest called US Airways' bid for Pittsburgh-Paris premature, since it must await changes hoped for in a new bilateral with France, but the local Allegheny County Department of Aviation supports the move as buttressing the region as a "economic epicenter" of the U.S.
LanChile and Canadian Airlines International have entered into a joint marketing and code share alliance, effective March 1. Passenger will be able to take Canadian's Vancouver-Los Angeles service and connect with LanChile's Los Angeles-Santiago flights. Canadian also operates Toronto- Buenos Aires, while LanChile serves Buenos Aires-Santiago. The carriers have linked their frequent flyer programs, Canadian Plus and LanPass.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued three citations covering 18 separate violations against FAA for what the National Air Traffic Controllers Association termed "mishandling of asbestos exposures and other life-threatening incidents" at the Boston air route traffic control center. FAA said it has been "working with OSHA verbally since the problems began" - in August - and will submit a formal report to OSHA soon.
Delta's pilots union is considering management's counterproposal on pay rates, rules and working conditions for new 737 aircraft. The union wants an industry-standard contract and is increasing its information campaign on the plan, permitted under the current contract, for pilots to park the new airplanes if no agreement is reached within six months of their delivery.
Delta, soon to become the first airline to carry 100 million passengers in one year, is even more of a behemoth when it stands next to its Atlantic Excellence partners. Swissair, Sabena and Austrian Airlines combined would need more than six years to equal Delta's 1997 passenger total.
United said American's and Iberia's failure to address adequately whether their proposed code share will affect the Miami-Central America market demonstrates why the proposal should be consolidated with the American/TACA proceeding. American has said that as long as Iberia retains fifth-freedom service in Miami-Central America, the code-share partners will compete for that traffic, adding that American is not in a position to know what Iberia's plans for the market are.
AAR Corp. said it will be Delta's only source except for original equipment manufacturers of engine parts and bare engine accessories. Its Delta contract includes a joint marketing program in which it will help the carrier dispose of excess engine parts. Delta engine overhaul facilities service more than 700 engines per year from all the major manufacturers.
Morocco has restored its civil aviation safety oversight system to compliance with international standards, FAA said after a reassessment. On April 22, 1996, FAA rated Morocco "conditional" after its inspectors found areas that did not meet International Civil Aviation Organization standards.
National Air Transportation Association is warning members that general aviation slots at Washington National Airport are at risk from two bills pending in Congress to provide opportunities for new entrants at slot- controlled airports. NATA says US Airways, the largest carrier at National, and "the airline pilots union" have threatened to take away GA slots. It is "distressed with recommendations to eliminate availability of GA slots at National."
European Aviation, U.K. airline parts supplier and parent company of European Aviation Air Charter, has taken delivery of the first of two 737- 200s it acquired from United as a "commercial opportunity." The company purchased 20 British Airways BAC-111s in 1993.
-- In Federal Register dated Oct. 31...Superseded an airworthiness directive on Airbus A320 aircraft concerning flap setting during landing...Issued an AD on General Electric CF6-50/80 engines requiring removal of defective high-pressure compressor rotor spools...Issued an AD on certain Raytheon 1900 aircraft requiring replacement of the bearings on the vent blower assemblies...Issued special conditions on Sino-Swearingen SJ30-2 aircraft...Proposed to supersede an AD on Twin Commander series aircraft concerning inspection of the flap system.
Indonesian Air Carrier Association Secretary General Benny Rungkat wants Indonesia to follow Singapore and Malaysia and sign an open-skies agreement with the U.S., Indonesian government news agency Antara reported. Cities in the eastern provinces are closer to the U.S. than Singapore and Malaysia and "even more strategic" for tourists flying to Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and China, he said.
Southwest traffic declined 2.6% in October on 11.5% more capacity, resulting in a 63.1% load factor, down 9.1 percentage points. The year- over-year comparison reflects heavy traffic last year, when the carrier offered seats nationwide for $25 in celebration of 25 years of operation. Southwest said this year's revenue per passenger mile was up sharply. Oct 97 Oct 96 10 Mths 97 10 Mths 96 RPMs 2,491,870,000 2,557,378,000 23,605,250,000 22,537,329,000
Taiwan and Palau have reached consensus on details of a bilateral air agreement, clearing the way for the formal signing. Under terms of the pact, Palau will grant fifth-freedom rights to Taiwan carriers enabling them to continue onward to two designated destinations - most likely Guam and Saipan. In return, Taiwan agreed to limit the number of flights to Palau by Taiwan-based airlines to at most four per week. Far Eastern Air Transport operates two Kaohsiung-Palau flights per week and plans to begin twice-weekly service between Taipei and Palau at yearend.
U.S. Carrier Systemwide Market Share At Leading U.S. Airports U.S. Major, National and Commuter* Carriers Six Months 1997 (Part 2 of 2) New Orleans Enplaned Percent Passengers Marketsharee Southwest 569,801 26.43 Delta 425,525 19.74 Continental 278,924 12.94
British Airways intends to launch nonstop London Gatwick-Denver service early next summer, subject to government approval. The daily flight, using Boeing 777s, would establish BA's 22nd U.S. gateway. The carrier acknowledged the "support and tenacity" of Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, the City Council and the Denver Chamber of Commerce. BA needs approval from the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, and a hearing is scheduled Dec. 1.
Siemens said sales of its wholly owned U.S. businesses jumped 12% to $9.5 billion, including exports of more than $1.3 billion, in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30. Orders increased 6% to $9.9 billion. The company said its U.S. operations, including Siemens Transportation Systems, Stromberg- Carlson (now Siemens Telecom Networks) and Siemens Energy&Automation, employed 49,000 people at yearend.
Air Ontario has boosted its Baltimore-Toronto Pearson service to six flights from four, and this week dedicated one of its Dash 8-100 aircraft to the City of Baltimore. Air Ontario, a wholly owned Air Canada subsidiary, is upholding a tradition of naming aircraft after the cities it serves - which, in the U.S., include Baltimore, Cleveland, Hartford, Columbus, Allentown, Harrisburg, Richmond and Providence. In Canada, Air Ontario serves Toronto Pearson, Toronto City Centre Airport, London, Ottawa, Montreal, Sarnia, Windsor, North Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste.
Eight regional-airline stocks posted an average increase of nearly 10% during October. The average price per share was up from $15.98 at the September close of trading to $17.54 at the October close, an increase of 9.8%. Delta Connection carriers, usually the pack leaders, were mixed on the month. Comair soared by nearly 35% from $27.25 to $36.75 per share while SkyWest jumped 22.8% from $19.75 to $24.25 per share. Atlantic Southeast slumped by nearly a percentage point, however, from $28.13 to $27.88 per share.
These are jets please! Embraer changed the marketing designation of the 50-passenger EMB-145 to the RJ145 because the EMB-145 does not show up on computer reservations systems as a jet. Competitive regional jets do. The Canadair RJ shows up on the CRS screens as the CRJ and the British Aerospace Avro RJ85/100 shows up as the ARJ. Continental Express found itself at a competitive disadvantage in that the EMB-145 designation did not indicate that the aircraft is a jet. The new EMB-135 37-seater will be the RJ135. (For what Embraer says, see below.)
