Varig will equip its fleet with automated external defibrillators. The systems, made by Physio-Control Corp. of Redmond, Wash., will be installed in 45 aircraft immediately, and the rest of its 82-jet fleet will receive them in 1998.
Charges against the government of Sudan that include international terrorism and human rights violations have prompted DOT to issue a show cause order outlining sanctions, including suspension of air cargo operations between the U.S. and Sudan. The DOT order proposes to add conditions to U.S. carrier certificates and foreign carrier permits, and to all exemptions, prohibiting the sale of cargo services that include a stop in Sudan, as well as any cargo transportation to the U.S. by Sudanese- registered aircraft. U.S.
Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Large Regionals September 1996 - August 1997 Total Total Cost Gallons (Dollars) 1996 September Domestic 1,068,178,267 729,839,815 International 389,850,411 291,529,745 System Total 1,458,028,678 1,021,369,560
The Netherlands and Austria suggested that the distance traveled by an aircraft could be used to calculate airport charges in the European Union. Several other EU governments are against the idea, saying it would introduce systematic discrimination against U.S. and other non-EU carriers. EU transport ministers are expected to debate this point as they discuss new EU guidelines on airport charges at their meeting this week in Brussels. Airlines are pressing their governments to modify EU legislation on airport charges, which they regard as excessive.
The council of European Union transport ministers plans to reject a European Commission proposal to open multilateral air traffic talks with the U.S., at its meeting Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels. In October, EU Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock suggested launching multilateral talks with Washington on "hard issues," such as traffic rights, in parallel with bilateral negotiations being held by several EU nations. The EC submitted the details of its proposal to the representatives of EU member states in November.
FAA should improve pilot and crew training, applying the greater oversight of a new Advanced Qualification Program to traditional Part 121 training, the General Accounting Office said yesterday. The agency studied the issue in response to a request from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), chairman of the committee's aviation subcommittee, and McCain said it is "absolutely essential" that FAA review and act on the report's findings.
KLM passenger traffic rose 10% in November on 7% more capacity, which boosted the load factor 1.9 percentage points to 74.3%. Traffic grew on routes to North America (12%), Europe (19%), Mid/South Atlantic (22%) and Asia (5%). Cargo traffic was up 2% on 2% less capacity.
U.S.-French talks set to start tomorrow in Washington are not expected to produce a breakthrough, a U.S. government official said, "but we are optimistic we can make additional progress" toward an agreement. Both sides are more hopeful because of the Paris round in October, when negotiators narrowed the gap between the U.S. goal of open skies and France's controlled liberalization.
The European Commission will give the first indication of its position on the proposed American-British Airways alliance and current transatlantic alliance around February 1998, European Union Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert said yesterday in Brussels. "The commission's final decision will come later," an EC spokesman said. Earlier, British Airways expected the commission to reveal its stance last month.
Delta is expected to announce tomorrow that it will add service to six destinations in Latin America, backing a pledge by new Chief Executive Leo Mullin to play a larger role in the region. The airline intends to unveil how it will expand from its Atlanta hub to increasingly lucrative Latin America. In a related move, Delta began daily service from Atlanta to Grand Cayman on Dec. 7, using a two-class, 180-seat Boeing 757. In the second quarter of 1997, Delta's Latin American division had one of the top operating margins of any U.S.
Lufthansa is selling its 33.2% stake of travel agent Deutsches Reiseburo (DER), as requested by the Bundes-kartellamt, the German antitrust authority, which is reviewing the merger of Lufthansa's charter subsidiary Condor with travel group NUR. The sale of DER addresses "only one of the problems identified by Bundes-kartellamt," said a spokesman of the authority. In parallel with the Condor/NUR merger, two other German travel giants, Hapag Lloyd and TUI, are forging an alliance.
Delta applied to broaden its service between the U.S. and Panama under the terms of the open-skies pact signed earlier this year. The carrier wants a new or amended certificate so it can operate to any points in the two countries, as permitted under the agreement. Its current certificate permits scheduled service from points in Panama to five U.S. gateways - Miami, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles.
Alaska Airlines has received a financial boost from the marketing agreement it signed last year with Disneyland. Sales of Disney packages are 10% higher than they were before the pact.
DOT issued an interstate certificate to Tradewinds Airlines in an order making final the department's determination finding the carrier fit to conduct interstate and foreign combination charter service. Tradewinds must notify DOT if it wants to operate more than five aircraft. (Dockets OST-97-2794, 2795)
Atlanta-based AirTran Holdings, Inc. has named Andrew Morgan VP-engineering and quality assurance and Klaus Goersch VP-flight operations for AirTran Airlines and AirTran Airways. Morgan, formerly VP-contracts, has been with AirTran Airlines since June 1993. He managed the company's FAA Certification Program. Goersch, formerly VP-operations, previously worked for Mesaba Aviation as and director-corporate training.
DOT renewed for one year Tarom's exemption to conduct one weekly combination roundtrip between Bucharest and Chicago via Timisoara. DOT earlier renewed and extended the exemption for 60-day periods, deferring the remainder of the Romanian carrier's request (DAILY, Nov. 4). United and Delta told DOT the Romanian government "refused to permit them to conduct services to Romania with their third-country code-share partners," but the carriers did not object to a 60-day renewal prior to U.S.-Romania talks held last week in Washington.
Airbus Industrie yesterday announced the industrial launch of the A340-500 and -600 airliner program, having received commitments for orders and options for some 100 of the airplanes. The announcement, by the Airbus Supervisory Board, follows commercial launch at the Paris Air Show last June. Since then, seven airlines have chosen the aircraft, Airbus said. Five - Air Canada, Egyptair, EVA Airways, Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic - have announced their decisions. Deliveries of the A340-600 are slated to begin early in 2002.
Top executives from GE Aircraft Engines and Pratt&Whitney have decided to keep their engine alliance in place following recent meetings to review the collaboration, and in 1998 managers plan to step up marketing efforts for their proposed new 75,000 pounds-thrust-class turbofan and firm up contractual arrangements with Airbus Industrie. "We're already getting more active with airlines," says GE's Bruce Hughes, who was named president of the alliance last week.
United has begun selling tickets for its first scheduled service between Chicago and Guatemala City. Daily nonstop flights will begin April 1. "Our research shows there is a large Guatemalan community in Chicago and more than 24,000 travelers flew between Chicago and Guatemala in the first nine months of 1997," said Maria Sastre, VP-Latin America. United will operate a 757 that previously would have remained unused overnight. Sastre said United's daily Los Angeles-Guatemala City flight has been performing "exceptionally well."
DOT issued an order for more information on delivery positions for regional jets to be acquired by Trans States Airlines and American Eagle/Simmons, both of which seek slots for Chicago O'Hare operations. Simmons' application for 60 slots is pending. Trans States applied earlier in the year for 32 slots, received 8, and filed a petition for reconsideration for 18 slots predicated on regional jet orders. (See related story o follow.)
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall opened public hearings on TWA Flight 800 yesterday by emphasizing a point made many times over - the crash was not caused by a missile or a bomb. The FBI reached and announced the same conclusion earlier, but Hall launched a week of hearings in Baltimore with witness after witness who testified that none of the evidence pointed to a criminal act. The TWA 747 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean July 17, 1996, shortly after takeoff from New York Kennedy Airport.
British Airways stiffened its resolve to bar drunken passengers from its aircraft. The airline took steps yesterday to empower ground staff and flight attendants to keep passengers who appear drunk off aircraft and stop serving alcohol to those who appear drunk during a flight. BA has told its flight attendants to take away duty-free alcohol from drunk passengers. The measures were enacted following two recent court cases in the U.K. where drunken passengers who assaulted flight attendants were sentenced to up to two years in prison.
British Airways will raise capacity on its London-Tel Aviv route in March, when it switches to 777-200IGWs from 767s and 757s. At that point, BA's 15 weekly flights will feature three classes of service, with 14 in first class, 56 in Club World and 197 in economy. BA has shifted arrivals to Heathrow's Terminal 4, improving connections from Tel Aviv to its flights to North America.
DOT denied startup Northern Airlines' request for confidential treatment of all documents with the exception of the stock distribution list of individuals holding at least 10% of Northern's stock. Northern must submit third-party verification of its proposed financing sources and explanations of the amounts shown in pre-operating expense estimates and first-year forecast financial documents already submitted in order for DOT to continue its review.
