Tunisair ordered seven A320s and three A319s, making it the first A319 customer in both Africa and the Arab world, Airbus said. The carrier has been an Airbus customer since 1980 and currently operates eight A320s and one A300. The first A319 is to be delivered next summer.
Primac Air has received Canadian government approval to operate nonstop cargo and charter flights between the U.S. and Canada. The Part 135 carrier operates two Cessna 402s configured for six seats and two Cessna 310s with four seats. Primac, one of a few woman-owned airlines, operates as Primac Air Courier Service and Primac Air Charter Service from New York area airports.
Donna Rosato, a reporter for USA Today, will discuss the role of the Internet in the air travel industry on Aviation News Today, to air Sunday on Washington's Newschannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
National Air Transportation Association has criticized FAA moves to require changes to operating manuals for more than 100 aircraft models with pneumatic deicing boots and unpowered roll control autopilot systems. NATA argued that airworthiness directives are intended "to correct specific products with unsafe conditions," not "to address the operation of airplanes during icing conditions."
Western Pacific Airlines, filing this month for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, reported a 45% jump in traffic and a 52.5% gain in capacity for September 1997 over September 1996, reducing the load factor 2.6 percentage points to 50%. Westpac flew 171 million revenue passenger miles, compared with 118 million a year earlier, and capacity rose from 225 million available seat miles to 342 million. Year-to-date RPMs were up 34.8% and ASMs 32.3%, and the load factor gained 1.1 points.
Sabena unions' preference for Boeing aircraft notwithstanding (DAILY, Oct. 15), a large measure of the carrier's choice between Boeing and Airbus narrowbodies lies outside Belgium.Swissair, which owns 41.5% of Sabena, opted earlier for Airbus aircraft, and Switzerland, a European Union non- member, has been trying to prove its European credentials.
Sun Country Airlines selected AeroThrust Corp. for a three-year, $23 million contract with two one-year options to maintain the JT8D-17 engines that power its 10 727-200 aircraft. Sun Country also operates nine DC-10s.
A recent opinion poll shows the public supports Northwest's position that the U.S. should push for an open-skies agreement with Japan, Northwest Senior VP Ben Hirst told reporters yesterday in Washington. Hirst spoke amid reports that despite obstacles, the U.S. and Japan are lurching toward a bilateral setting out regulated expansion instead of following the pattern of 25 open-skies agreements the U.S. has signed elsewhere.
Maytag Aircraft Corp. was awarded air terminal and ground-handling service contracts by the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command. The contracts, valued at $11.5 million, run from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 1998, with four one- year options. Officials of the Mercury Air Group subsidiary said it is Air Mobility Command's largest provider of contracted air terminal services at 18 locations worldwide.
Eurocontrol will conduct an international conference Feb. 17-19 in Brussels to review airborne collision avoidance system (ACAS) implementation in Europe's airspace, scheduled to start in 2000. Tailored to European Civil Aviation Conference member states, the meeting will review ACAS implementation requirements, controller and pilot training, and avionics installation, certification and maintenance. On Jan.
Jules Rondepierre has been named senior VP for commercial sales by Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. He is former senior director of sales for Airbus North America and is based at the company's Fort Lauderdale Embraer Aircraft Corp. subsidiary. Reporting to Rondepierre are Jim Beard, VP- Europe, the Middle East and Africa, based in Paris; Mark Hale, VP-the Americas, and Peter Obeysekere, VP-Asia and Australia. Beard recently joined Embraer from Saab, where he handled the American and Northwest accounts.
Airbus Industrie said it has signed an agreement with Finavitec to explore cooperative opportunities in industrial activities, saying that "both parties recognize mutually beneficial opportunities in integrating Finavitec into the Airbus network of partners and subcontractors." Following an evaluation of Finavitec industrial facilities, the companies will form a joint task force to assess the areas in which Finavitec could best meet the needs of Airbus. Finavitec previously worked with Saab and McDonnell Douglas.
Pearljet Corporation of Australia has placed an order for one new 19- passenger Metro 23 and an option for a second. The firm order will be delivered in December.
Little more than a week after its members approved a contract with United, the Association of Flight Attendants will recount ratification ballots today in Washington. The recount was requested by a group of United attendants who were unhappy with the election results, AFA said. AFA spokeswoman Jane Goodman did not know who wanted the recount or why but said "AFA is a very democratic union," and a request for recount by even one flight attendant is enough to make it happen. Of the 19,000 flight attendants who cast ballots, 51% voted for the contract and 46% against.
Aer Lingus will serve Newark from Dublin and Shannon year-round, beginning April 15, 1998, a year earlier than expected. The carrier inaugurated service to Newark in June, promising to fly the route through mid-October for the next two summers using A330s. Aer Lingus, which stopped service Oct. 12, opted for year-round flights after "passenger numbers and consumer response far exceeded our expectations," said Jack Foley, executive VP- North America.
Air China, the only airline allowed to fly the Chinese flag, will offer stock for the first time at exchanges in China and overseas, China Daily reports. The 43-year-old airline is China's largest civil aviation company. The move mirrors action by domestic competitors China Eastern in February and China Southern in July, both of which listed on Hong Kong and New York exchanges. Air China President Yin Wenlong said the initial offering was needed to combat domestic and international competition.
Boeing 737 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Second Quarter 1997 B737-300 America West Continental Delta Number of Aircraft Operated 40 65 13 Total Fleet Operations Departures 258 275 71 Block Hours 498 702 129
Some of the nation's largest freight carriers have formed a national trade association to represent the interests of unionized Less Than Truckload (LTT) carriers. The Motor Freight Carriers Association is designed to give unionized carriers a greater voice in public policy and economic issues. Founding members include ABF Freight System, Consolidated Freightways, Roadway Express and Yellow Freight System. Members include A-P-A Transport and New Penn Motor Express.
Nav Canada board named John Crichton acting president and chief executive following the departure of Kenneth Copeland, who resigned to pursue "entrepreneurial opportunities." Nav Canada last week released its operating plan, including safety management and upgrading and streamlining operations.
International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations, meeting in Luxembourg with Mady Delvaux, chairman of the European Transport Council, stressed the need for frequency spectrum protection to ensure the safety of future satellite navigation. Frequency allocation will be discussed at a meeting of the World Radio Conference next month.
Laker Airways has asked DOT for two-year exemption authority to operate scheduled combination service linking Orlando and Fort Lauderdale with Toronto using two dormant frequencies, once allocated to TWA, that reverted to the department. "TWA has authorized Laker to state that TWA has no objection" to Laker's request, the filing said. The carrier wants to select Orlando and Fort Lauderdale as U.S. points under the U.S.-Canada air transport agreement. Starting Dec.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. yesterday reported a net profit of $323 million or $3.55 per share, well above the consensus Wall Street estimate of $3.29 per share. Group revenues increased 5.2% to $4.8 billion. The company pointed to strong systemwide September results, big gains at the Miami hub and improvements in international yields as some of the reasons for the positive results. Airline Group pre-tax earnings reached $443 million, producing a pre-tax margin of 10.1%.
British Midland Chairman Michael Bishop said "unjustifiably high" airport charges in Europe are preventing further reductions in air fares and damaging the long-term health of the airline industry. Speaking at an Airports Council International conference this week in Venice, Bishop said the absence of any real competition between airports eliminates the incentive to reduce costs.
Christian Blanc, who resigned as chairman of Air France Group following a disagreement with France's newly elected left-wing government, is moving into the retailing and computer sectors. French retailing group Carrefour said this week in Paris that Blanc will become a member of its board in April 1998. Blanc recently became a member of the supervisory board of French computer services group Cap Gemini Sogeti.
TWA and Ukrainian International Airlines have asked DOT for permission to code share on a Donetsk/Kiev-Paris-New York/Chicago routing. Ukrainian, which operates four weekly nonstops between Kiev and Paris, wants to connect them with TWA's Paris-New York Kennedy and daily Kennedy-Chicago O'Hare flights.
