Omni Air Express asked DOT to register Omni Air International Inc., as its new corporate name. The carrier will continue to do business under the name Omni Air Express. (Docket 0ST-97-2750)
Continental plans to lease 50 EMB-135 regional jets and has "locked in" rates for up to 150 more, for a total of 200. The Oct. 21 DAILY gave an incorrect total. Air Liberte affiliate Flandre Air is the launch customer for the EMB-135 (DAILY, Oct. 10), and Continental plans to launch it in the U.S.
Pan Am and Carnival, responding to charges filed with DOT by Richard Bartel, a Pan Am shareholder, asked the department to reject Bartel's opposition to the Pan Am-Carnival merger as it has rejected "the majority of Bartel's [previous] spurious allegations" concerning Pan Am. Bartel warned DOT that approval of exemptions and route transfers relating to the carriers' stockholder-approved merger could ease Carnival into bankruptcy and leave its creditors without access to assets (DAILY, Oct. 10).
DOT "intends to exercise its exemption authority to a limited degree to allow some additional competition at the high-density airports," Deputy Assistant Secretary Patrick Murphy told the Senate Appropriations transportation subcommittee yesterday. Murphy told subcommittee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) that DOT's just-started slots study will consider "several bills to redistribute slots" recently introduced in Congress. Murphy telegraphed - but did not promise - slot exemptions early this month (DAILY, Oct. 3).
TAG Group of Luxembourg, recently selected to develop Farnborough Airport as the U.K.'s first business aviation facility, sees the move as a key element in its strategy to build its business aviation interests into a global operation, including aircraft sales, charter, management and maintenance (DAILY, Oct. 21). TAG has been involved in general aviation for more than two decades, and its wholly owned subsidiary TAG Aeronautics Ltd.
BAA plc., which operates seven of Britain's largest airports, says it will discount tobacco and alcohol prices deeply at its retail shops in the second half of 1999 if duty-free sales for intra-European travel are abolished. BAA is counting on sales volume to compensate for an expected drop in profit margins after June 30, the European Commission's deadline for eliminating duty-free sales for air travel among the 15 European Union countries.
Air Canada will add 250 weekly flights to its winter schedule this year and double the number of European destinations. The new schedule begins Oct. 26 and increases capacity 10.7% over last year. The carrier will increase seats on its U.S. transborder service 25% and expand its new Executive Class to more routes. Canada-Europe routes are the most noticeable addition to Air Canada's schedule, due in part to expanded code sharing with Star Alliance partners Lufthansa and SAS.
Geneva-based, government-backed Swiss World Airlines will start transatlantic service in mid-December to Chicago, Miami and Newark. The carrier will operate four weekly flights to Newark, increasing to daily service in January. Chicago will receive three weekly flights and Miami two. The airline will add 400 jobs to the Geneva region, and annual passenger and cargo revenues are expected to reach between 27 million and 34 million Swiss francs. AMR Airlines Services and its partner T.G. Shown Associates will provide Swiss World with a U.S.
US Airways has added Canadian destinations to its electronic ticketing service, which has grown to the point that more than 20% of the carrier's passengers use it. Electronic ticketing also is available on US Airways Shuttle flights and to several Caribbean destinations. Travel agents can book US Airways electronic tickets on Apollo, Sabre, System One and Amadeus, and they will be available on Worldspan by the end of the year.
US Airways has told its pilots union that it has secured delivery positions for 21 Airbus Industrie aircraft through the fourth quarter of 1999. The Air Line Pilots Association unit said the company will take delivery of six A319s in the fourth quarter of 1998, four in the first quarter of 1999, three in the second quarter and three in the third. The company will receive three A319s and two A320s in the last quarter of 1999 and is seeking delivery positions for additional aircraft.
Northwest yesterday posted a 14.3% surge in third quarter net profits as strong domestic pricing produced record passenger and total revenues, overcoming continued weakness in Pacific markets. Net earnings rose to $290.3 million from $253.9 million a year earlier, and revenues increased 2.4% to a record $2.8 billion. The carrier reported an operating margin of 18%, up from 17.2% in the year-earlier period. Passenger revenue increased 1.2% to $2.45 billion, also a record.
UPS and its pilots union will meet Nov. 3 with the National Mediation Board in preparation for resuming negotiations in 1998. Member Magdelana Jacobson will meet with UPS that afternoon. The Independent Pilots Association is scheduled to meet with Jacobson in the morning but has asked to meet with all three board members. IPA rejected management's latest contract offer Oct. 1 and has wanted to go back to the bargaining table this year. UPS spokesman Ken Shapiro said the negotiation schedule was fixed by NMB, which postponed talks until January.
Arriva Air International asked DOT to dismiss without prejudice its applications for two certificates for interstate and foreign all-cargo charter service. DOT granted tentative approval earlier, but questions persisted about foreign ownership and control and the department raised concerns about adequate funding as a result of the carrier's startup delay (DAILY, Aug. 5). (Dockets OST-96-1334, 97-2184)
Boeing and Executive Jet officials yesterday announced in New York a joint venture to market fractional interests in Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) products (DAILY, Oct. 21). The aircraft is a business version of the new- generation 737-700, which BBJ President Borge Boeskov said is selling two to three times as fast as anticipated. He said Boeing's assembly line could produce two to three aircraft a month. When BBJ was formed last year with General Electric, "we said we can sell 10 a year. Well, the sales rate has been more like three times that," he said.
Boeing 747 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Second Quarter 1997 B747-100 TWA United Total Number of Aircraft Operated 5 13 18 Total Fleet Operations Departures 6 24 30
General Aviation Action Plan Coalition urged Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) to act quickly on the nomination of George Donohue to be deputy administrator of FAA. It is unlikely that Donohue can be confirmed before January, however. James Coyne, chairman of the National Air Transportation Association, writing on behalf of the coalition, said it "looks at Administrator [Jane] Garvey with high optimism, but of concern to the general aviation community is the vacant permanent post that remains at deputy administrator."
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled last week that only certain challenged provisions of the DOT/FAA airport rates and charges policy - not the policy as a whole - are null and void and must be reconsidered by the department. DOT and FAA had sought clarification of the court's Aug. 1 ruling that the department's decision to allow airport operators to use any reasonable methodology in setting non-airfield aeronautical fees is arbitrary and capricious (DAILY, Aug. 4).
The KLM-Northwest agreement to extend their alliance 10 years might actually last 13 years, because even at the 10-year mark, each carrier is required to give the other three years' notice before the relationship could end. Northwest approaches the agreement as a "13-year deal," according to Chief Financial Officer Jim Lawrence.
Geneva Airport is expected to duplicate next year the emissions-based aircraft tax that took effect last month at Zurich Airport. Basel could join the eco-tax bandwagon as well if approval is granted by France, which splits control of the airport with Swiss authorities. On Sept. 1, Zurich became the world's first airport to impose an emissions-based pollution tax on aircraft landing at it. Seeking to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, Zurich applies the green tax to five categories of aircraft.
American is offering electronic upgrades, beginning Nov. 5. When an AAdvantage member buys or earns upgrades, they will be deposited automatically into the member's electronic upgrade account and will be withdrawn when they are used. Platinum and gold AAdvantage members who travel ticketless will be able to bypass the check-in counter and proceed directly to the gate.
Tower Air said it is leasing out seven 747s to two foreign carriers on a short-term basis. Three will go to a major Asian airline for two months each year over the next three years for the annual Hadj pilgrimage. The other lease is to a Middle East carrier for nine months. Morris Nachtomi, chief executive, said Tower is in a position to lease during the winter season when aircraft use is at its lowest. The two carriers are not being identified for competitive reasons, Tower said.
Italian airport management company SEA-Aeroporti di Milano obtained the second tranche of a 400 billion lire (US$330 million) European Investment Bank loan to finance the Malpensa 2000 project, part of the company's 2 trillion lire program to centralize airline operations at Malpensa. The company is expected to transfer all international and some domestic traffic from Milan Linate Airport to Malpensa in October 1998. Following the transfer, Malpensa will handle about 80% of Milan's passenger traffic and 90% of its freight traffic.
FedEx, replying to Saudi Arabian Airlines' request for a detailed explanation of its contract with Falcon Express for all-cargo service to Saudi Arabia, told DOT the service does not constitute a code share, as neither carrier holds out service under the other's designator code. The FedEx-Falcon deal "provides for the guarantee of certain stated minimum amounts of cargo capacity" for FedEx traffic, and cargo capacity above the minimum "is not reserved for the exclusive use of Federal Express."
-- US Airways is offering lowered fares on travel between most eastern U.S. markets and South Florida and the Caribbean. Sample roundtrip fares include $178 from Hartford to West Palm Beach, $198 from New York to Sarasota, and $398 from Philadelphia to St. Maarten. Travel must be completed by Feb. 5, 1998. Fares require a 14-day advance purchase and a Saturday night stay, with a three-night minimum stay for Caribbean travel. Sale fares to Florida are available on travel from Tuesday through Thursday, and for Caribbean travel from Monday through Thursday.
