Crossair of Switzerland, a unit of Swissair parent SAirGroup, has taken a 35% stake in a new French regional that tentatively has been named Europe Continental Airways (ECA). The new carrier will be based at EuroAirport Bale Mulhouse Freiburg, which is in both Switzerland and France, and will give Crossair access to European Union airports (Crossair recently was denied access to Italian airports for scheduled operations) at lower EU landing fees and airport charges. ECA will be closely tied to Crossair in personnel, training, technology and marketing.
Varig posted 7.5% more traffic and 4.5% higher freight volume in August than in the same month a year earlier. The passenger load factor was 75.3% on international routes and 65.8% domestically. The Brazilian carrier had 2,318 international and 9,897 domestic departures.
American Eagle's four regional airlines posted an average 57% load factor in September, an increase of 3.9 percentage points from the same 1996 month. Revenue passenger miles rose 1.2% to 191.8 million while available seat miles declined 5.7% to 336.4 million. Enplanements totaled 907,704, a 2.1% increase from September 1996. Sept. 1997 Sept. 1996 9 Mths 1997 9 Mths 1996 RPMs 191,792,000 189,493,000 1,923,705,000 1,962,185,000
Swisscontrol, the Swiss air traffic control authority, is moving its main operations from Bern to Geneva. Zurich, which has supplanted Geneva as the country's main international gateway, lost out in the ATC competition but will remain a backup control center. Swisscontrol's administration will be installed in Geneva by the end of 1998 and the main operational center will be built up between 2001 and 2004. The choice of Geneva resulted partly from negotiations between France and Switzerland on setting up a joint control center.
Mesa Airlines this week filed with DOT 90-day notices that it would suspend service at Alamosa and Pueblo, Colo.; Rock Springs, Laramie, Cody and Riverton, Wyo; Scottsbluff and North Platte, Neb. With the sole exception of Cody, which Delta serves from Salt Lake City, none of the points receive other commercial air service.
Delta, Continental and United issued replies to filings on the U.S.- Chile combination service case, which will allocate seven weekly roundtrip frequencies available starting Dec. 15. United and American are incumbents on the route. The Memorandum of Understanding limits any one carrier to a maximum of 21 weekly frequencies, which American has reached.
US Airways' new tentative agreement with its pilots is much more restrictive on the issue of regional jets. Affiliated US Airways Express carriers - wholly owned or independent - will be barred from operating jets if any US Airways pilots are on furlough, and they cannot fly them at all until two years after the new contract is signed. Even then, the Express jet fleet may not exceed 15 aircraft or 69 passenger seats per aircraft. The contract is so restrictive that as a practical matter it precludes the use of regional jets at all.
Independent Association of Continental Pilots expects its board to reject the airline's latest contract offer on Monday, IACP said yesterday. Holding up the threat of a strike, IACP President Len Nikolai said IACP consistently has asked for an agreement by Oct. 1 or it would look for "alternative ways to pressure the company." Last week, IACP said if the board rejects the offer, the union will ask the National Mediation Board to release it from negotiations and prepare to strike. NMB yesterday declined comment on the question of release.
Pan Am Corp. and Carnival Air Lines asked DOT to authorize use of the trade name "Pan American Airways Corp." by Carnival, now a Pan Am subsidiary. The acquisition, approved last week by Pan Am shareholders (DAILY, Sept. 29), was permitted by DOT on condition that Carnival be maintained as a separate entity. An application for de facto transfer of Carnival's certificates and economic authorities to Carnival under Pan Am's ownership is pending with DOT (DAILY, Aug. 8).
U.S. National Carrier Productivity, In RPMs And ASMs Per Employee Second Quarter 1997 Revenue Available Passenger Seat Miles Miles Total (000) (000) Employees American Trans Air 2,201,018 3,097,052 4,447 Carnival * 651,527 950,227 1,400
House version of the District of Columbia appropriations bill, recently approved by the Appropriations Committee, includes a measure effectively prohibiting the District of Columbia government from granting a business permit to a person or company that provides helicopter tours over any portion of the city. The National Air Transportation Association yesterday called the measure "a slap in the face" to the progress made recently to find a middle ground on air tour and overflight issues.
Operators of the ATR 72 now may add the equivalent of up to five years' operation between major airframe inspections of the turboprop, Aero International (Regional) said. "The Maintenance Review Board Process (MRBP), composed of major Airworthiness Authorities including [the French] DGAC, [U.S.] FAA, [U.S.] DOT, AI(R) and ATR operators, has concluded that the ATR 72 airframe integrity is such that the structural checks can be deferred" another 12,000 cycles from the current 24,000, AI(R) said.
Thai Airways International, taking the unusual step of responding publicly to rumors, said yesterday the Thai government and leaders of the airline are fully committed to being a part of the Star Alliance. Thai said it is "under no circumstances considering a pullout." After a week of brushing aside rumors, the state-run airline admitted that the subject of exiting the alliance was brought up by some members of management at a Sept. 25 board meeting. "That is their opinion and does not in any way reflect the official standpoint of the alliance," Thai said.
British World Airlines, an independent carrier based in London- Southend, has agreed to acquire Australian Jet Charter Pty Ltd. from its owners, Citistate Corporation Ltd. AJC is a fixed-based operator and aircraft management organization based at Sydney Airport that has worked under contract for Qantas, United, Air Caledonie, Air Vanuatu and Polar Air. The company's Mascot, Australia, facility specializes in heavy maintenance, particularly for Dassault, Gulfstream and Cessna business aircraft. AJC is a distributor for Bombardier and Fairchild as well.
DOT has tentatively decided to reselect F.S. Air Service to provide subsidized Essential Air Service at Seward, Alaska, for the two-year period beginning Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 1999, at an annual subsidy rate of $77,918. The carrier was last selected for the service Nov. 3, 1995.
Susan Kurland, FAA associate administrator for airports, will discuss Airport Improvement Program funding, the agency's airport privatization pilot program, letters of intent and other issues on Aviation News Today to air on Washington's NewsChannel 8 Sunday at 12:30 a.m. and at 1:30 p.m.
Boeing and Skoda signed a business cooperation agreement under which they will help each other pursue opportunities in the Czech Republic and international markets.
Eight regional-airline stocks rose an average of 2.8% to close the month of September at $15.94 per share. Total market value of the eight issues was nearly $140.4 million, up $4.4 million. Topping the gainers was United Express Atlantic Coast Airlines, which rose $2.13 per share to $21.50. ACA jumped another $1.50 Wednesday on news that it likely will be permitted to operate its new Canadair Regional Jets in United Express colors, closing the day at $23.
Delta received oral approval from DOT to waive the 90-day dormancy provision for the 9.25 frequencies the carrier plans to use for U.S.-Russia code-share services.
Air Miles, a U.K.-based loyalty management company and a British Airways subsidiary, has selected Unisys Customer Loyalty System for a $3 million contract to provide consulting services. Air Miles is trying to develop more personalized service for its 4 million U.K. customers.
DOT believes informal actions to ensure competition are no longer adequate, Deputy Assistant Secretary Patrick Murphy will tell a Business Travel Contractors Corp. conference today. A Murphy speech prepared for delivery at the conference is short on naming names but suggests DOT is on the verge of a series of actions that will address competitive issues, including predatory pricing and slot controls.
British Midland will sponsor two ab initio pilot courses at Oxford Air Training School, each with 12 pilots, in July and September 1998. Students, to be bonded by British Midland, will have to be between the ages of 20 and 28 years when they enter training, be able to obtain a U.K. CAA Class 1 medical certificate, and meet educational qualifications. Established in 1964, the school has 300 pilots and engineers from 18 countries under full-time training. Major client airlines include British Airways, British Midland, Kuwait Airways and Royal Brunei Airlines.
U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has taken a key role in the formation of Air Eurosafe, an organization aiming to raise air safety standards worldwide by offering help to countries having difficulty meeting minimum standards laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organization. Using the skills of the U.K.
A state-of-the-art traffic control center at Swanwick in southern England will not be ready before the end of 1999 at the earliest, more than three years behind its originally scheduled opening date, the U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority announced last week. Software bugs, integration problems and extended training periods are the causes for the delay, it said. The CAA's announcement follows complaints from the British Air Transport Association (BATA) that the delay is costing its members money. In a letter last month to U.K.
