US Airways is upgrading inflight meal service, the result of suggestions from passengers and meetings with employees. First-class travelers will have snack options, such as hot sandwiches, peppercream shrimp salad, and cilantro chicken with tortellini. First-class dinner menus will include a filet with roesti potatoes or shrimp with oriental pasta. Passengers in coach will have a choice of breakfast options, including cinnamon apple pancakes. Lunch and dinner menus will have eight new entrees, such as pot roast, lasagna and turkey.
Tokyo Narita Airport police, who used to resolve passenger violence quietly, are changing their approach. Two United passengers were referred to the Chiba District prosecutor's office last week and charged with inflight violence. In both cases, male passengers more than 60 years old hit flight attendants.
US Airways has more decisions to make beyond tomorrow's deadline for confirming its mega-order with Airbus Industrie, according to a New York- based aviation consultant. Philadelphia's development as a transatlantic hub "is at a critical stage," he said, as is the airline's commitment to its Atlantic aircraft, the 767-200, which is smaller and less efficient than the 767-300ER.
United and MCI Telecommunications Corp. are offering frequent flyer miles to customers who use MCI services. Customers will receive five frequent flyer miles on United for every dollar spent on MCI services. A one-time enrollment bonus of 3,000 miles is available for signing up with MCI's long-distance service, 500 miles for a second MCI long-distance telephone line, and 5,000 miles for MCI Internet. MCI will automatically credit the customer's frequent flyer account each month.
Kellstrom Industries is pursuing a private placement of $50 million, plus as much as $7.5 million in overallotments. The aftermarket equipment specialist will use the proceeds for debt repayment, "potential acquisitions" and general corporate purposes.
U.S. Major Carriers Advertising Expense Second Quarter 1997 % Of Total Advertising Passenger Revenues Alaska $ 2,744,000 0.87 Domestic 2,559,000 0.87 Latin 185,000 0.87 America West 9,941,936 2.22 Domestic 9,903,777 2.26 Latin 38,159 0.39
Aviall elected Richard Schnieders, VP-merchandising and multi-unit sales, Sysco Corp., to its board. BAA plc appointed Lawrence Urquhart deputy chairman, a new position. Crown Technical Systems named Thomas Norton director-new business development. Day&Zimmermann promoted John O'Connor to president-Day&Zimmermann International and Ed Sanii to president-Day&Zimmermann Infrastructure.
AirTran Airlines, formerly ValuJet, is marketing nonstop service between Houston and Atlanta with one-way fares starting at $79. As part of its introduction, the airline is waiving its 14-day advance purchase requirement for travel completed by Oct. 15.
UPS pilots and management still differ sharply on their pending contract, a legal dispute over flight instructors and the intentions of union leadership. Independent Pilots Association members used mail ballots to vote on a contract during the past month, and the results will be counted Wednesday. Union leadership expects the contract to be rejected, but if the National Mediation Board follows through on its statements, it will not permit a strike before the Christmas season, a point UPS emphasized Friday at a news conference.
Foreign carriers that advertise services for which they do not hold economic authority are engaging in a "deceptive practice and unfair method of competition," DOT said in a notice clarifying its enforcement policy. Although relevant regulations are "specifically limited to U.S.
Full-page ads notwithstanding, Northwest is not the only carrier that opposes a Japan agreement accepting regulated expansion instead of open skies. The Washington Post advertisements to that effect, run last week by Access U.S.-Japan and the Midwest-Asia Aviation Coalition, overlook Alaska Airlines and America West, whose chief executives urged the administration to hold fast on open skies (DAILY, Sept. 4, Sept. 16).
American will add a second daily roundtrip between Nashville and Los Angeles on Nov. 1 despite signaling earlier that it would discontinue service on the route. The airline said its decision was based on commitments from the music industry and other Nashville area businesses.
Bombardier Business Aircraft sold three more jets, one Learjet 31A/ER and two Challenger 604s. The Learjet sale to Chunichi Press of Nagoya is Bombardier's first private-sector sale in Japan. The 31A/ER has a range of 1,621 miles, versus 1,391 miles for the standard version. Singapore-based Global Aviation Group purchased two Challenger 604s for delivery next summer and will be used for Asia/Pacific charters. Bombardier also delivered the first of five Canadair Corporate JetLiners to China last week.
President Clinton announced his intent to nominate National Transportation Safety Board Chairman James Hall to another term as board member. Hall's current term expires Dec. 31.
Icelandair ordered four Boeing 757s - two -200s and two larger -300s - on Friday, valued by the carrier at $272 million. The first aircraft will be delivered in the first quarter of 1998, and the second a year later. The two -300s will arrive in 2001 and 2002. The twinjets will enable Icelandair to expand its mid-Atlantic hub in Reykjavik, from which it serves six North American and 18 European destinations. "We have seen a healthy double-digit growth for five years in a row," said Icelandair President and Chief Executive Sigurdur Helgason.
Traffic between South America and the U.S. will triple the 1990 level by 2001, according to a forecast by Aviation Management Services. The U.S.- South American market has been and will remain the fastest- growing commercial aviation market in the world, said company president and Forecast 2001 author Bob Booth. The U.S.-Latin America/Caribbean market will grow from 26 million passengers in 1990 to 48 million in 2001. U.S.- South America will rise from 4.1 million in 1990 to 12.2 million in 2001.
The crash of a Garuda A300 Friday, killing more than 230 people, came during low visibility caused by fires on several Oceanic islands. Hundreds of flights were canceled every day last week in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Brunei. Malaysia Airlines canceled flights to five domestic cities.
United is introducing electronic ticketing Oct. 1 for flights Nov. 1 and later between the U.S. and the U.K. The service will be available on nonstop flights between London and Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Newark, San Francisco and Washington. Tickets can be purchased through a U.S.- based travel agency or directly from the airline. Beginning in early 1998, U.K.-based travel agencies also will offer the service.
Lengthening the list of U.S. and international airlines that are reducing travel agent commissions, Air Canada cut its international commission rate to 8% from 10%. Commissions for travel within Canada were not changed. Effective Nov. 1, Air Canada will reduce to 8% the standard commission rate for tickets purchased in the U.S. and Canada and retain the maximum payment of C$70 (US$50) for roundtrips and C$35 (US$25) for one-way flights. Overseas flights will have an 8% rate with no maximum.
Continental Micronesia asked DOT for initial two-year exemption authority to conduct scheduled foreign combination service between Guam and Noumea, New Caledonia - the first flights in the market - and integrate the authority with its existing Pacific network. The carrier, which plans three weekly 757 roundtrips beginning April 1, 1998, said its request to serve New Caledonia, an overseas department of France, is "consistent with the overall state" of U.S.-France aviation relations. (Docket OST-97-2920)
Spirit Airlines filed for slot exemptions to serve New York LaGuardia- Myrtle Beach, S.C., twice daily, seeking to enter a market vacated by Air South's bankruptcy. In separate filings, Spirit and Melbourne, Fla., Airport rebutted opposition from TWA and Delta to exemptions for Melbourne- LaGuardia service, and Pan Am/Carnival answered the majors' objections to exemptions for Boston-New York Kennedy.
Nashville, Tenn.-based Corporate Express Airlines will be the launch customer for the Jetstream 32EP program, designed for service from short fields and hot-and-high elevation airports with increased payload and range. Corporate Express recently took delivery of its first Jetstream 32EP, developed by British Aerospace Asset Management-Turboprops (BAe-AMT).
