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.
U.S.-Japan negotiators made progress last week toward all the chief objectives of the U.S., State Department Assistant Secretary Alan Larson told reporters Friday, but there still is a long way to go before an acceptable agreement will be in sight. Larson said he was focusing on a completing a "good agreement" rather than meeting a deadline. But asked whether negotiations would continue past Federal Express's hoped-for Jan. 1 launch of beyond service to China, he said he would be "very troubled" if they required "even half of that." Asked if the U.S.
Boeing Chairman and Chief Executive Phil Condit said the company is "making significant progress" on recovering from considerable aircraft production problems that led to a third quarter net loss of $696 million. Although Condit admitted the company needed to take "drastic action," including shutting down 737 and 747 production lines for a month, he said it was "not a broad-based problem." The 757, 767 and 777 lines have been affected little by recent supplier delays and production issues.
FAA and Italy's Ente Nationale Di Assistenza Al Volvo (ENAV) conducted test flights using U.S. and Italian satellite test beds, a step toward what FAA called a "seamless, satellite-based worldwide air navigation system." The tests, Oct. 20-22 at Ciampino Airport near Rome, were intended to show the capabilities of the U.S. Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) in European airspace. An FAA 727 used signals from the U.S. National Satellite Test Bed (NSTB) and Italy's Mediterranean Test Bed (MTB).
U.S. justifications in the move to restrict work on U.S.-built aircraft at foreign repair stations are "bogus," Jurgen Weber, chairman and chief executive of Lufthansa, said last week in Brussels at the European Aviation Club. "I smell a rat when U.S. legislators propose a so-called 'Aircraft Repair Station Safety Act' to allegedly protect the safety of U.S. airline passengers," said Weber, whose company offers extensive maintenance services. Under the legislation, FAA would certify foreign repair stations only if U.S.
