FAA said yesterday it is ordering, effective immediately, more frequent inspections and modification of 33 older 737s in the fleets of 16 U.S. carriers. The inspections involve 17 aircraft with more than 60,000 flights and the modifications impact 16 aircraft with more than 70,000 flights. An additional 34 aircraft in worldwide fleets have reached 60,000 cycles and four have more than 70,000, FAA said, and the regulatory agencies overseeing these aircraft will be alerted.
Vanguard Airlines is extending its fall fare sale through tomorrow. The tariffs, which apply to selected flights Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, are available with a three-day advance purchase and must be used by Dec. 16. Sample one-way fares include $52 from Atlanta to Denver, $26 from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Kansas City, and $102 from New York to San Francisco. Restrictions and blackout dates apply, and a one-night stay is required. Seats are limited and may not be available on every flight.
Reno Air has added six cities to its code-share agreement with American Eagle carrier Wings West. Reno will serve Albuquerque, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Denver, Detroit and Oklahoma City. The expanded agreement enables travelers to make reservations with Reno or a travel agent to or from nine Wings West destinations - Bakersfield, Carlsbad, Fresno, Las Vegas, Monterey, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.
DOT granted two-year exemptions to Air New Zealand and United for code- share operations between the U.S. and New Zealand. ANZ has authority to display United's code on Los Angeles-Papeete, French Polynesia, Honolulu- Nadi, Fiji, and Honolulu-Rarotonga, Cook Islands, flights. United may display ANZ's code on flights, nonstops or via intermediate points, between New Zealand and the U.S. and between Los Angeles and Vancouver.
Kiwi offers students flying Newark-Boston and Boston-West Palm Beach a standby ticket for $40 each way for the Newark-Boston portion. It also is marketing a student standby book of six tickets for $320 to all its destinations. The $40 standby tickets, valid until Dec. 20, must be purchased no later than one hour before the flight. Kiwi serves Newark, Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach and San Juan.
Beginning Dec. 1, Eastwind Airlines will offer Sunday-through-Friday service from Washington Dulles to Trenton, N.J., with connections to Greensboro, N. C. One-way fares between Trenton and Dulles are $99 to $159, and between Dulles and Greensboro $129 to $199, based on availability, with no advance purchase or Saturday night stay requirements. Eastwind recently purchased two new 737-700s, scheduled for delivery in April and June 1998. The carrier plans to announce new destinations in January.
Singapore Airlines parent SIA Group posted pre-tax first-half profits of S$601 million (US$382 million), up 20.3% before one-time items, as passenger traffic rose and unit costs declined. Traffic gained 9.9% on 9.6% more capacity, pushing the load factor up slightly to 70.4%. For the six months ending Sept. 30, the company reported S$3.52 billion ($2.24 billion) revenue, up 10.5%, while expenses grew 7.3% to S$3.08 billion.
Any global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as those proposed by the U.S. and Russia, must meet certain conditions, or the European Union will press ahead with its own system, EU Transport Commissioner told the Fourth World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems last week in Berlin (DAILY, Oct. 23). The EU's conditions are (1) collective international control over the system; (2) guarantees that the service cannot be withdrawn, and (3) opportunities for European industry to compete in all segments of the market. The U.S.
Lufthansa is weighing startup of a no-frills, low-cost carrier in a response to what one official described as Germany's "crushingly high" air traffic control and landing fees (DAILY, Sept. 5). Josef Grendel, VP- corporate communications, told The DAILY last week that Lufthansa launched a feasibility study Oct. 14 to determine how it might compete in Europe's growing low-fare niche market.
Western Pacific is offering "Can Do Spirit" fares as low as $69 one-way based on a roundtrip, seven-day advance purchase. Fares are available through Oct. 31 and must be paid for within one day of booking. Travel must be completed by Feb. 11 and ticketed on Westpac, though some flights may be operated by code-share partners Frontier and Mountain Air Express. Travel on Frontier is only good through Nov. 15. Blackout dates and some additional restrictions apply, and fares are non-refundable.
Bell Helicopter named Bell President Terry Stinson chief executive. Stinson joined Bell in January as president and chief operating officer. Chairman Webb Joiner will remain in his position until he retires in mid- 1998.
Tower Air said yesterday it filled more airplanes and reduced expenses during the third quarter, enabling it to post a net profit of $8.5 million, up from a net loss of $1.6 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 9% to $162.3 million and operating expenses fell 1% to $144.6 million. The third quarter load factor swelled to 82.3% from 73.1% in the year-earlier period as traffic rose 16.6% on 3.5% more capacity. Passenger yield declined 4% to 7.52 cents per revenue passenger mile, while revenue per available seat mile rose 8.3% to 6.19 cents.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey is making it "crystal clear" that sexual harassment will not be tolerated at the agency, Garvey told the House Transportation aviation subcommittee last week. Ten weeks into her tenure, Garvey acknowledged problems in place before her arrival and said she is implementing a program focusing on current policy, prevention through training and accountability - faster execution of sanctions on identified harassers.
H.R. 2476, the foreign carrier family assistance plans bill approved unanimously last week by the House Transportation aviation subcommittee, includes a key amendment from Chairman John Duncan (R-Tenn.). Making it consistent with the law affecting U.S. flag carriers, the amendment exempts small, foreign air taxis from having to file plans to assist families in the event of an air disaster (DAILY, Oct. 24).
Bombardier officials said Friday they are nearly ready to begin vendor selection for the Canadair RJ series 700, now in the joint definition phase. The company, which recently delivered the 200th CRJ-50 to Lufthansa, a launch customer, said it will soon select vendors for passenger seats, boarding music, galley equipment and emergency gear on the 70-seat version. The 70-seater is different in several ways from the 50- seat version. Its wing area is 32% larger and the fuselage has been stretched by 186 inches; the horizontal tail is increased 70%.
Compressor seal inspections on British Airways' high-time GE90 turbofans will continue for two weeks, following discovery of a crack in a BA engine seal last week, GE Aircraft Engines reported. The high-cycle fatigue problem first cropped up during a routine overhaul of a high-time GE90 from the flight test program, prompting inspection and eventual removal of at least one BA GE90 from revenue service (DAILY, Oct. 24).
The Boeing-Delta contract, as described in the French press, "is a blatant violation of the commitments made by Boeing to the European Commission," according to French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot, and France "is awaiting an explanation" from the EC. "Should the information [that Boeing is maintaining exclusive contracts] be accurate, the commission must react with the greatest vigor," said Gayssot. The commission's decision of July 30, which authorized the merger between Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, "ought then to be re-examined," he added.
It is "the traffic management system, not the high-density rule, that ensures the safe operation of the air traffic system," Patrick Murphy, DOT deputy assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, told the Senate Appropriations transportation subcommittee last week. At a hearing on making airports more competitive by deregulation, Murphy reported fare premiums at slot-controlled airports - 20% at Chicago O'Hare, 35% at New York LaGuardia and 40% at Washington National.
As part of its campaign to control noise, the Dutch transport ministry will allow only two of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport's four runways to be used between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., starting Nov. 1. The measure expands by two hours the current restriction, which begins at 11 p.m. Other anti-noise measures, imposed Oct. 1, include bans on takeoffs and landings of Chapter 3 aircraft land Chapter 2 widebody aircraft from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. The latter restriction affects all hushkitted Chapter 2 aircraft, Il-62Ms and -96s, DC-10s, 747-200s and -300s, and certain A300 models.
FAA has informed Aeroflot that regional carrier Khabarovsk Airlines, which has been flying between Khabarovsk, Anchorage and Seattle for five years using an Aeroflot code, does not have a Part 129 certificate. The carrier's rights to land in the U.S. may be suspended.
DOT late Friday granted takeoff and landing authority for several carriers to begin serving slot-controlled Chicago O'Hare and New York LaGuardia, but it denied Simmons's request for a 60-slot expansion at O'Hare. Atlanta- based AirTran Airlines, formerly ValuJet, was given 11 exemptions to serve Atlanta-New York and its merger partner, AirTran Airways, got four to serve Knoxville-New York. Frontier was given six exemptions to serve Denver-New York.
