FAA has proposed to require replacement of the anti-skid control unit of the Dornier 328-100 aircraft braking system with an improved unit. The move is intended to prevent disconnect of the anti-skid control unit and reversion to manual braking during operation on runways contaminated by standing water, slush or wet snow.
Unhappy Pan Am shareholders are expected to propose today to oust Chief Executive Martin Shugrue because of the carrier's poor financial performance. The shareholders' meeting, in Miami, is Pan Am's first.
Continental Express this fall is dropping five Brasilia markets from Newark because of airspace congestion that is"wreaking havoc on our operational integrity." Markets being dropped are Charlottesville and Roanoke, Nov. 1; Binghamton and Ithaca, Dec. 3; and New Haven, Dec. 18. The carrier, plagued by ATC-related delays and cancellations, decided nothing smaller than the 46-seat ATR 42 will be operated at Newark and is lobbying Congress and FAA - with support from local interests - to re-jigger the Newark airspace for more capacity.
Standard&Poor's believes U.S. carriers continue to benefit from a stable, profitable marketplace, unlike airlines in Europe and Japan. Despite steeper labor costs and progressively higher federal ticket taxes, U.S. airlines are in their third consecutive year of "strong profits and stable- to-positive outlooks industry-wide," S&P said in a report. The agency noted that deregulation in Europe and Japan is "causing upheaval" in those markets, while U.S. airlines are nurtured by a favorable balance of supply and demand domestically.
U.S. National, Regionals and Cargo Carriers Advertising Expense Second Quarter 1997 % Of Total Advertising Operating Expenses American Trans Air $ 2,637,216 1.45 Carnival 621,826 0.60 Hawaiian 2,692,084 2.63 Midwest Express 1,784,686 2.69
Business Express's American Connection service at first will comprise six cities in New England and Canada but later this fall will be expanded by an another seven cities (DAILY, Sept. 25). The code-sharing agreement initially will cover Business Express service from Boston to Burlington, Vt.; Portland and Bangor, Maine; Lebanon, N.H., and Quebec City, Quebec. Later this fall the connections from Boston will be expanded to include Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, White Plains and Islip, N.Y., and Ottawa, Ontario and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Load factors surged again in August for regional airlines, nearing 60% for The DAILY's sampling of 15. Average for the 15 was 59.01%, up nearly four percentage points from last year's average of 55.24%. United Express Air Wisconsin was over 70% for the second consecutive month - unheard of several years ago for a regional carrier. The carrier's 70.9% in August compared with July's 71.7%. Seven of the 15 carriers topped the 60% level while only Midwest Express unit Skyway fell under the 50% level at 44.6%.
Romaero of Romania will manufacture rear fuselages for the Galaxy business jet under contract to Aerospatiale affiliate Sogerma as part of a complicated agreement with under which Romanian national carrier Tarom will acquire nine ATR 42-500s, Aero International (Regional) announced. AI(R) also said the cooperation could later extend to work on the proposed AI(R) regional jet. Aerospatiale is a partner in the AI(R) consortium.
Negotiators in Tokyo agreed to meet next month in Washington after conceding they will not meet a Sept. 30 deadline for a new bilateral agreement. Both sides expressed optimism that an accord is within reach, but skeptics see obstacles over issues including beyond rights and access to slots.
Continental Express Monday opened for business in a newly renovated Terminal B at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport. The carrier had been operating out of Continental's Terminal C. "With increased space and facilities, we now have room to properly grow and focus on additional cities to serve with the Embraer [EMB-145] regional jet," said COEx President David Siegel. The carrier launched service from Houston with the new ExpressJet Sept. 7 to Wichita and will add Corpus Christi Oct. 1.
Cape Air named Michelle Haynes director of communications and marketing. The carrier, which claims to be "the largest non-affiliated airline in the United States," has more than 300 employees and serves Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, New Bedford, Providence and Nantucket. Its Florida unit, Key West Express, offers daily nonstop flights serving Fort/Lauderdale, Key West, Fort Myers and Naples.
...United's ire could be raised by Mesa's Nashville service, since it operates two daily roundtrips to Nashville from Denver, the Colorado Corridor's first gateway. Mesa is the primary United Express feed at Denver but is complaining loudly about low pro-rates and high operating costs at the new Denver airport. Mesa, operating as America West Express from Phoenix, also plans a December startup from Phoenix to Aspen and Grand Junction with CRJs. Access to Colorado ski areas is more convenient from both points than from United's Denver hub.
AirTran Airlines, formerly ValuJet, this week unveiled its business-class service, to attract more corporate travelers, and plans for growth that include adding cities and spending $1 billion on 50 new Boeing MD-95s. The business class, designed to build customer loyalty, will have four rows of two-by-two seats with seven inches more leg room than coach, and four more inches of seat width.
Finnair this week chose CFM International's CFM56-5B engines to power 12 A319/A320/A321 aircraft ordered from Airbus Industrie. The Finnish flag carrier, which bills itself as "the official airline of Santa Claus," valued the engine order at $150 million. Finnair will begin to take delivery of the aircraft in 1999, with the last to arrive in 2001. The CFM56-5B will be rated for 23,500 pounds thrust for the A319, 27,000 for the A320 and 33,000 for the A321.
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport will not have to apply restrictions on daytime traffic in 1997, following a decision by the Dutch monitoring committee on noise pollution that the stringent national noise limits will not have to be fully respected this year. The committee, comprising representatives of local authorities, environmental agencies and airline companies, in a letter sent yesterday to Dutch transport minister Annemarie Jorritsma in The Hague, said it would show some understanding.
Boeing hopes to complete about Nov. 1 an analysis of the Douglas Aircraft Co. commercial aircraft programs it acquired in the McDonnell Douglas merger, and to decide soon afterward which of the products to keep and which to drop, Boeing Chairman Philip Condit said yesterday.
Mesa Airlines will tap into a second Western Pacific Colorado Springs market in early November when it begins three daily Canadair Regional jet roundtrips to Nashville. The carrier Oct. 5 begins scheduled service from COS to San Antonio. Is there a COS hub in Mesa's future? The Boyd Group's Michael Boyd calls it a "slam dunk," noting that "The Springs" is the second gateway to the Colorado Corridor (Cheyenne to Pueblo). Other potential RJ markets include Indianapolis, Detroit, Portland and Seattle, San Diego, Baton Rouge and Corpus Christi...
Northwest will begin seasonal nonstop Anchorage-Tokyo service June 18, 1998, operating once weekly through Sept. 24, 1998. Anchorage is the ninth U.S. city with Northwest nonstop service to Japan.
Italian state-owned holding company Istituto di Ricostruzione Industriale this week paid a first installment of 840 billion lire (US$487.2 million) to Alitalia as part of the recapitalization package approved by the European Commission earlier this year.
DOT granted Polar Air's request for a fifth extension to inaugurate all- cargo service between the U.S. and the Philippines. The 120-day extension, the longest requested by the carrier in its efforts to gain approval from the Philippine Civil Aeronautics Board, extends the startup date to Jan. 20, 1998, almost a year after DOT awarded two-year initial exemption authority to Polar for the service, which was to begin within 90 days of the Jan. 24, 1997, award date. DOT earlier granted two 45-day extensions and two 30-day extensions.
The European Commission displayed internal squabbles yesterday in Brussels, even as it called for unity in Europe's aerospace industry. European Union Industry Commissioner Martin Bangemann believes the commission should not block mergers and acquisitions among European manufacturers because the world market already is dominated by U.S. giants.
Innotech Aviation, Montreal, will acquire Pacific Avionics and Instruments Ltd., Vancouver, and operate it as a division of its western base, also in Vancouver, the company said this week at the National Business Aviation Association convention in Dallas. Pacific provides avionics installation, integration and support services to corporate, regional aviation and military operators, and Innotech believes the acquisition will broaden its own avionics design and installation capabilities and complement its alliance with Airpro Interior Products of Abbotsford.
ILFC has leased one Boeing 747-400F to Korea's Asiana Airlines. The new freighter, equipped with CF6-80C2-B1F engines, will be delivered in April 1999 and leased for 10 years. Asiana leases four 737-400s and six 767-300s from ILFC.
Delta's stock, which fell 4.3% Tuesday after the company announced third quarter unit revenues would be weak, still is much higher than a month ago. On Aug. 22, Delta stock traded at $88 per share. It closed above $101 yesterday.
