The $94,500 fine FAA proposes to levy against CCAIR could sting a little. The carrier, which is contesting the fine, posted a net income of just $520,260 for the fiscal year ended June 30 on operating revenues of $68.5 million. But prospects would have been even worse in the prior fiscal year, when the Jetstream operator's $95,755 net profit would have been nearly wiped out by such a fine. FAA says the carrier failed to comply with an airworthiness directive requiring visual windscreen inspections of certain Jetstream aircraft (see story below).
Magellan and Ashtech will merge to become a $125 million satellite navigation, positioning and communications products company. Orbital Sciences Corp. signed an agreement to merge Ashtech into its Magellan subsidiary. The combined company will consist of four key operating units : GPS and GPS plus Glonass solutions under the Ashtech brand; consumer GPS products from Magellan for marine and aviation applications; vehicle navigation products, and Magellan's satellite-based wireless communication products.
Leading Carriers at Top U.S. and Latin America Gateways Year Ending March 31, 1997 U.S. Gateways to Latin America (Nonstop) Inbound Outbound Rank Market Passengers Passengers 1 Miami 5,675,744 5,735,860 American 3,063,122 3,046,798 2 New York Kennedy 1,971,668 1,971,216 American 871,148 871,097
As the bankruptcy hearing on Western Pacific continued yesterday, Frontier told the court it will not submit a bid for Westpac's assets after Westpac's unsecured creditors committee voiced support for a bid by New York-based Smith Management Corp. (SMC). Westpac is petitioning the court for approval of the reorganization financing provided by SMC.
Servisair said it won the aircraft and cargo handling contract for Air Mauritius at London Gatwick for the carrier's new weekly A340-300 service to Port Louis.
Top 20 Carriers Operating Nonstop Between the U.S. and Latin America Year Ending March 31, 1997 Total Total Rank Carrier Passengers Departures 1 American 10,753,596 87,319 2 Continental 2,621,976 29,091 3 Mexicana 2,197,628 21,735 4 United 1,727,651 13,512
EVA Airways will start service in March from Taipei to Osaka Kansai under a code-share agreement with Air Nippon, a subsidiary of All Nippon Airways. The carriers will offer daily service, each operating four weekly frequencies. They have been operating joint flights eight times a week on the Taipei-Fukuoka route for two years, and current plans call for that number to increase to 10. The two airlines were awarded the route after a Japan-Taiwan Consultation on the Exchange of Traffic Rights meeting Nov. 27.
Alaska Airlines reported a 9.9% increase in November traffic from the same month a year ago. A corresponding 11.7% rise in capacity resulted in a 1 percentage-point drop in load factor to 64.2% from 65.2%. Year-to-date RPMs were up 5% and ASMs 2.7%, boosting the load factor 1.5 points. Nov 97 Nov 96 11 Mths 97 11 Mths 96 RPMs 813,000,000 740,000,000 9,478,000,000 9,029,000,000 ASMs 1,267,000,000 1,134,000,000 14,108,000,000 13,740,000,000
British Airways has completed the sale of its London Heathrow catering division to Gate Gourmet, part of SAir Group. The unit's 1,200 employees have transferred to Gate Gourmet with a benefits package and some travel privileges on BA flights. The Heathrow division produces 50,000 meals daily. BA announced the sale in April and the acquisition price was not disclosed.
Japan Airlines' marketing strategies, implemented to battle increasing domestic competition and the country's lethargic economy, have boosted local traffic and given the airline a lift during an otherwise dismal period. Domestic passenger traffic grew 12% in October and preliminary November results are well above last year's level. "Domestic competition is heating up, but so far our marketing strategies are working well," said Geoffrey Tudor, JAL spokesman.
TWA is planning more asset-based financings in the coming weeks and aircraft sale and lease transactions in 1998 to improve cash flow. Even if there are no favorable deals available to sell/lease four TWA 757s and several 767s, Chief Financial Officer Michael Palumbo is confident the airline is secure. "We do have in place adequate resources to carry us into and through next year," he told The DAILY.
TWA's board yesterday named William Compton, an MD-80 captain, president and chief operating officer of the airline. Compton, a board member since 1993, has been executive VP-operations since December 1996. He also was chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association's TWA Master Executive Council and a member of ALPA's executive board. He was involved in the mid-1990s as a member of TWA's labor/management task force and coordinated a company- wide productivity task force.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued several recommendations arising from a Feb. 5 incident in which an Air National Guard F-16, operating in a warning area over the Atlantic Ocean, intercepted a Nations Air 727 traversing the area. The proximity of the F- 16 activated the traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) on the 727. The board said its investigation "identified several areas of concern.
American offered Tuesday what could be the first breakthrough in the debate over changes in the Wright Amendment limiting commercial airline service at Dallas Love Field. AMR Chairman Robert Crandall indicated at a news conference that his airline would not oppose allowing Love Field passengers to fly anywhere they chose as long as they stopped first at a city within the original five states named in the amendment - Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
American Managing Director David Schwarte yesterday attacked the "hypocrisy" of United and other carriers opposing the proposed American- British Airways alliance, faulted DOT for imposing unprecedented evidentiary requirements on the proposal, and warned that U.S. regulatory authorities should not wait for European Commission action before proceeding further with their own review.
Icelandair contracted to perform heavy maintenance on the 757 fleets of two European charter airlines, Swedish carrier Blue Skandinavia, with five 757s, and Air Holland with four. Both contracts are for three years.
PROS Strategic Solutions will begin work with Vietnam Airlines on a contract that the Houston-based firm believes will increase the airline's revenue by 4%-8%. PROS will use its supply-and-demand forecasting technology to manage the airline's pricing and seat inventory. The Hanoi- based carrier will license a suite of products, including the PROS IV Passenger Revenue Optimization System and the PROS O&D Group Passenger Management System.
U.S.-French bilateral talks will resume Dec. 10-12 in Washington, with negotiators working to bridge the gap between the U.S. goal of open skies and France's desire for controlled liberalization. U.S.-Netherlands Antilles open skies talks are set for Dec. 9, also in Washington.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey told National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall yesterday that the agency has "concluded that improvements can be made that will greatly reduce, if not eliminate, the possibility of fuel tank explosions." She was replying to a safety board recommendation that FAA "preclude the operation of transport-category airplanes with explosive fuel-air mixtures in the fuel tanks." The board issued the recommendation along with numerous others following the explosion of TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996, over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all
The 10 largest U.S. carriers posted worse performance numbers for October, compared with September, for on-time arrivals, mishandled baggage and consumer complaints, according to DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report. The lone bright spot was the third quarter 1997 denied boarding rate of 0.80, an improvement from the second quarter, 1.20, and the third quarter 1996, 0.84.
DOT's decision adopting new rules for computer reservations systems is a victory for niche operators such as Frontier, which have argued that CRSs affiliated with major carriers unreasonably rank interline service lower than online connections, even when passengers will get to their destinations more quickly if they change operators en route. The American Society of Travel Agents also complained that some displays made it harder to find single-plane flights superior to connecting services.
European Commission said yesterday it will impose stricter emission standards on jet aircraft engines beginning in 2000 despite work under way in the International Civil Aviation Organization on a universal approach. The directive prompted a charge by an industry representative in the U.S. that the EC was "acting against the Chicago Convention."
Sabena's traffic for October swelled 35.8% and rose 24% in the first 10 months compared with the same 1996 period. It carried 680,000 passengers, up 40.8%, and cargo volume increased 21.1% in October.
Romanian authorities investigating the fatal crash of a Tarom A310-300 in March 1995 blamed human error and equipment failure for the accident, which killed all 50 passengers and 10 flight crew members. Sorin Stoicescu, head of the investigative commission, said last week two simultaneous events caused the aircraft to nosedive and plow into a cornfield minutes after it took off from Bucharest Airport - malfunctioning equipment and the "unavailability" of the captain in the cockpit immediately before the accident.
Boeing has chosen United to provide maintenance service for 757s used by the Air Force to transport the vice president, cabinet members, members of Congress and foreign dignitaries. The Air Force will receive the first two of four new 757s (C-32As) early next year, replacing aging 707s. The aircraft are based at Andrews Air Force Base. United, with nearly 100 757s, has more than eight years' operational experience with the twinjets. Its maintenance technicians will be on site at Andrews to provide logistics and technical support.
