Northwest yesterday doubled its June order of single-aisle aircraft, placing a firm order with Airbus Industrie for 50 A319s and taking options for 100 A319s and A320s. At the Paris Air Show in June, Northwest signed a memorandum of understanding for 25 firm orders and 25 options. Deliveries will begin in 1999 and continue through 2003 at a rate of 10 per year. The order makes Northwest Airbus's largest airline customer in North America and is the second major North American order this month for the A319, after ILFC's 31 on Sept. 2 (DAILY, Sept. 3).
Swiss World Airways is contracting with AMR Airline Services, not with American Airlines (DAILY, Sept. 23). AMR Airline Services will act as general sales agent and provide ground-handling and airport agent services.
The Independent Association of Continental Pilots (IACP) said yesterday its board of directors will consider the airline's latest contract offer, but if the directors reject it, IACP will ask the National Mediation Board to release the union from negotiations, clearing the way for a strike. While the earliest possible strike date would be Thanksgiving, it is unlikely the NMB will react quickly enough to give IACP the requisite 30-day cooling-off period. IACP's board has given the go-ahead to vote on a strike following NMB's release.
AAI/ACL Technologies will provide a pneumatic test cell and other hydraulic test equipment for the aircraft support facility British Airways plans to open next year near London Heathrow Airport. The U.S. company values the work at more than $8 million and is bidding on a contract to maintain the facility for 10 years. BA will support its fleet at the facility and hopes to increase its third-party maintenance business.
Northwest will start flights Oct. 2 from Mumbai and New Delhi to connect with more than 250 destinations in North America and 65 in Europe, through its global code-sharing arrangement with KLM, Northwest officials said this week. The services will operate through 15 gateways in the U.S. and Canada: New York Kennedy, Newark, Washington, Boston, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.
British Airways yesterday called "speculative" reports from Tel Aviv that it is contemplating buying a stake of El Al. Israeli Transport Minister Yitzhak Levy was quoted in several wire service reports that BA was interested in acquiring a stake after El Al is privatized next year.
The French government has authorized the construction of two new runways at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, in addition to the two existing ones, provided the airport strengthens noise restrictions, French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot said this week in Paris. The work was scheduled initially to start July 15, but Gayssot overrode the decision made by his right-wing predecessor and held another round of consultation. The 1.5 billion French franc project is scheduled to be completed by spring 2001.
EasyJet Airlines ordered CFM International's CFM56-3 engines for the 12 Boeing 737-300 aircraft ordered last week. The aircraft will be delivered in 1998 and 1999. CFMI valued the engine order at $85 million.
Lufthansa will resume service to Beirut Oct. 26 after a gap of 14 years and will operate again to Amman in summer 1998. Frankfurt-Beirut flights will be operated with a 126-passenger A319 and Amman service with a 144-seat A320.
Negotiators in Japan appeared to be far apart yesterday but may simply be probing each other's limits. Ben Hirst, Northwest senior VP-corporate affairs, told reporters in Washington he believed a deal is unlikely by Friday, the scheduled end of this Tokyo round. Gerald Baliles, chair of Access U.S.-Japan, told reporters in a news conference next door he believed fair progress was being made, but he didn't know if it would take "two days or two weeks" to sign a deal.
National Transportation Safety Board is "frustrated" by how long it is taking to determine the causes of the 1994 USAir 747 crash in Pittsburgh and last year's TWA 747 crash in New York, but each investigation already has produced NTSB's most important product - safety recommendations - Chairman Jim Hall told the Aero Club of Washington (DAILY, Sept. 24). The board makes recommendations as soon as it determines a need for them, Hall noted, and the USAir investigation, NTSB's longest and still running, has resulted in 20 so far.
Air France and Danish airline Maersk Air signed a code-sharing agreement, effective Oct. 26. Maersk Air's two daily 737 services between Billund and Paris are expected to feed Danish passengers into Air France's route network. Air France recently signed a similar accord with Finnair.
International Airline Support Group posted a net profit of $985,000 in its first fiscal quarter, up 186%. Revenues jumpedv 34% to $5.6 million. The aircraft spare parts supplier said that since Aug. 31, it purchased one DC- 9-50 and has a purchase agreement for a second. Both aircraft will be leased.
Continental asked DOT to reject the proposed American/TACA code share, describing it as part of a "behemoth" of alliances involving those carriers and Austral, Avianca, LanChile, Iberia and TAM. Calling American a "predatory creature," Continental warned that the carrier's market domination of key world cities was illustrated similarly by an American- LanChile deal that would control 82% of available seats between the U.S. and Chile.
U.S. Airways has agreed to use a labor arbitrator in talks with its Air Line Pilots Association unit. ALPA's counterproposal addresses the company's US2 and parity concerns, said ALPA spokesman Mike Oakey.
British Airways has issued a plea to regional communities throughout Britain to back its bid for an alliance with American. The airline's appeal follows an announcement by its wholly owned subsidiary British Airways Regional that it will suspend one of its three transatlantic routes, a direct result, it said, of the delay in approving the alliance. Starting Nov. 1., British Airways Regional will cease nonstop service from Glasgow to New York and Boston, extending instead its daily Manchester-New York service to originate in Glasgow four days a week.
The airline that gave Canadian carriers pricing fits after it began domestic service now is looking across the border at routes its competitors say are very profitable. WestJet Airlines, Canada's first startup airline in recent history to post a first-year profit, is considering service to several U.S. cities and has been discussing interline agreements with U.S. carriers. The Calgary-based short-haul domestic airline does not intend to expand rapidly, however.
US Airways, Northwest, KLM and Lufthansa said yesterday they will cut travel agent commissions from 10% to 8%, saving hundreds of millions of dollars annually and spurring a new call to battle from travel agent trade organizations. Northwest and KLM said they must match the reduction, initiated by United and matched by Delta and American, to stay competitive. Northwest and KLM will pay 8% on tickets purchased in the U.S. for domestic and international travel, with separate caps for domestic and Canadian travel.
American yesterday signed a code-share agreement with Business Express Airlines. The link, called "American Connection," will cover flights from Boston to northern New England and Canada.
A consortium of nine Indian banks is reviewing a proposal to help relaunch the defunct East-West Airlines, airline officials said Monday. "We could be flying as early as December 1997 if our proposal is accepted," they said. East-West is one of three major private Indian airlines, along with NEPC Airlines and Modiluft, that shut down during the past year, citing financial and managerial problems.
The European Commission authorized KLM to take full control of its British subsidiary Air UK yesterday in Brussels. The Dutch airline announced this summer its intention to purchase 55% of Air UK, in addition to the 45% it already owns. "The concentration will not have a significant competitive impact on any of the routes served by the two companies," the EC said, as "in view of KLM's pre-existing joint control over Air UK, which dates back to 1988, and the commercial integration between the two companies since that time."
Continental Express officially unveiled its new home in Terminal B at George Bush Airport. The move enables the airline to increase flights by 25% over five years. It is part of a two-year, $190 million expansion to shore up its hub operations.
European Union Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert told reporters in London this week the 350 slots he expects American and British Airways to give up at London Heathrow as a condition of their alliance are non- negotiable, a European Commission spokesman confirmed.
Senate Commerce Committee approved two bills yesterday, S.1193, the Aviation Insurance Reauthorization Act of 1997, and S.1196, the Foreign Air Carrier Family Support Act. The latter, introduced by Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and similar to one proposed last week by Del. Robert Underwood (D-Guam) in the House, extends to foreign carriers operating to the U.S. the requirement to file plans for family assistance in an aviation disaster.
