A group of aviation consumer advocates is petitioning DOT to cease distribution of its new quarterly domestic fare report, describing it as a "seriously flawed" document that shows the department has "little understanding of the process airlines actually use in establishing fares and marketing tickets." The group said that if consumers use the report as an aid to choosing service, "they are likely to make bad choices." Petitioners include product-rating agency J.D Power Associates, the Ralph Nader-affiliated Aviation Consumer Action Project, Douglas Frechtling of Georg
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport announced drastic measures yesterday to reduce traffic and noise. Dutch carriers KLM, Martinair and Transavia estimated they will lose "several hundred million guilders" because of the changes. The airport, which said earlier it will limit nighttime traffic, said yesterday it will shut down two of its four runways at peak periods and increase landing fees 50%, beginning Nov. 1, a KLM spokesman said.
SAirGroup plans to extend Swissair's cooperation with TAP Air Portugal and AOM, France's former colonial long-haul operator at Paris Orly. Swissair, which coordinates a limited number of scheduled services with the two parties, will increase them in two new accords. The agreements also extend SAirGroup's marketing relationship with TAP and AOM to include services by its SAirLogistics and SAirRelations units. The TAP agreement calls for closer coordination of timetables and code-share flights between Switzerland and Portugal.
Ralph Nader and Wesley Smith have asked Boeing Chairman Philip Condit for assurances that the company's quality control will remain high as its production rate increases (DAILY, Aug. 18, Aug. 29). Nader and Smith, authors of Collision Course: The Truth About Airline Safety, wrote Condit Sept. 5 citing press reports that Boeing is increasing production 35%. "Could we please have your assurance in some detail that the pace of production has not impacted Boeing's quality control?" they asked.
Atlantic Southeast posted a 4.5% increase in traffic to 81.1 million revenue passenger miles last month, as capacity inched up 0.6% to 155.9 million available seat miles. The resulting load factor - 52% - was 1.9 percentage points higher than the one recorded in August 1996. Aug. 1997 Aug. 1996 8 Mths 1997 8 Mths 1996 RPMs 81,122,772 77,594,333 610,285,547 591,036,210 ASMs 155,866,908 154,958,862 1,206,293,912 1,193,766,014
General Electric has completed altitude testing of its growth T700 turboshaft engine, demonstrating performance rating conditions at sea level to 20,000 feet and temperatures of minus 40 degrees to plus 135 degrees Fahrenheit, the company reported. Next milestone is flight testing, scheduled to begin later this year in the engine's T700/T6E configuration. Flight testing of the CT7-8, the civil counterpart of the T700/T6E, is to begin in 1998, with certification by FAA planned for 1999.
British Airways is introducing a fourth daily ATR 72 service on its London Gatwick-Cologne/Bonn route, operated by franchise partner CityFlyer Express. CityFlyer expects to carry about 55,000 passengers on the route during its 1997-98 fiscal year. (More regional aviation news to follow)
Northwest Airlink Mesaba Holdings, with its new Minneapolis routes taken from Express I Airlines and the first full month of Avro RJ85 quadjet service, saw its traffic jump 81.5% during August, year over year, to 77.4 million revenue passenger miles. Since April, RPMs increased 79.6% versus a 60% increase in capacity, measured by available seat miles. The increase includes the first full month of operating 13 Minneapolis routes previously served by Express Airlines I, which was acquired earlier in the year by senior partner Northwest.
A U.S. District Court judge ruled yesterday that American should be liable for damages as a result of a fatal airplane crash. American said it plans to appeal a ruling in Miami by U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Marcus that found the airline guilty of willful misconduct in the December 1995 crash of Flight 965 near Cali, Colombia.
Southwest launched nonstop roundtrip service between Albuquerque and Florida, with flights to Orlando and Tampa Bay. The carrier is the first to offer New Mexico-Florida nonstops, according to Area Marketing Manager Terry Eisenbart. It is offering an introductory roundtrip fare of $258 through Jan. 13, 1998. A stayover of at least one night is required.
A hearing on an Independent Pilots Association injunction request against UPS was conducted yesterday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, but no resolution had been reached at DAILY press time. IPA filed suit Aug. 24, alleging that UPS threatened to bar four pilots from their pre-Teamster-strike duties as flight instructors. Following the strike, UPS management told three pilots they would not be welcomed back to their previous jobs because they had been seen on the picket line, according to an IPA statement.
DOT approved until Oct. 29, 1998, Air Canada's request to wet-lease a 767- 300 to Air New Zealand for ANZ's Vancouver-Honolulu service. The twice- weekly roundtrips, scheduled to begin Oct. 29, will be conducted in conjunction with ANZ's Honolulu-Auckland flights, for which the carrier operates its own aircraft. Air Canada noted in its application that the recently signed U.S.-New Zealand open skies agreement "expressly authorizes the operation of wet-lease services."
Aviation Distributors said the Bank of New York has agreed to retain its $15 million credit facility despite the resignation of the company auditor, Arthur Anderson. Some covenants of the agreement between the company and the bank are in default as a result of the resignation and the withdrawal of reports related to the company's financial statements for certain periods, Aviation Distributors President Osamah Bakhit said, but the bank agreed to a 90-day waiver of the covenants to give the company time to obtain audited financial statements.
New Pan Am, which started flying a year ago this month, is in discussions with banks regarding a securities offering of up to $115 million prior to its merger with Carnival. The new preferred stock would pay Carnival's and Pan Am's debt and fund the new airline, according to a securities filing.
FAA has issued its final application procedures for participation in the airport privatization pilot program, which allows the transfer to the private sector of as many as five airports. As proposed in April, FAA will not accept applications before Dec. 1, but the agency has adopted suggestions for a two-stage process rather than the original plan to require airport sponsors and proposed private operators to present completed agreements (DAILY, April 22).
Boeing announced the start of major manufacturing of the 757-300, with assembly of the 63-foot wing spar, which will be clamped in place in an automated manufacturing tool so assembly can begin. The 757 application is the first use of the automated tool, the company said.
American and British Airways asked for an extension of the deadline for filing alliance documents - originally set for yesterday - and on the Sept. 15 deadline for petitions of reconsideration of the order. DOT Friday asked for additional documents from American-BA when it set the procedural schedule for consideration of the alliance and outlined its plans for an oral hearing (DAILY, Sept. 8).
Carriers competing for new Chilean service touted the advantages of their hubs in filings this week. Continental said it offers the only new nonstop service between the countries, United said its proposal is the only one to challenge American in its Miami hub, and Delta outlined the benefits of new gateway service from its Atlanta base with connections from Cincinnati.
Airline executives meeting with State Department officials yesterday expressed concern over the implications of the proposed United Nations treaty that would impose emission caps on industrialized nations (DAILY, Sept. 10). The treaty and other environmental issues will be the focus of a U.N. conference in Kyoto, Japan, in December. Industry officials met with Stuart Eizenstat, under secretary for economic affairs, and Timothy Wirth, under secretary for global affairs. The meeting was requested by airline officials.
Delta said yesterday it plans to build a $28.7 million operations center at its Atlanta headquarters that will be able to accommodate 10 aircraft simulators and simulator support and training areas, with space for future development. The carrier has two other operations centers in Atlanta that can handle 20 simulators and support facilities. The third center, expected to be completed in a year, will be used for 737-800 and 767-400 simulators.
FAA has chosen five airport sponsors to receive about $7 million in fiscal 1997 airport grants issued under a demonstration of innovative use of small amounts of Airport Improvement Program funds to leverage larger amounts for development. The pilot program, established by Congress last year, allows FAA to finance 10 projects under the program through fiscal 1998.
Tower Air reported a gain of 6.5% in total block hours flown in August, to 4,821, mainly because of increases in scheduled service. Block hours for the first eight months of 1997 decreased 6% to 29,489, compared with 31,375 for the same period in 1996. For the eight-month period, the scheduled- passenger load factor rose 4.3 percentage points to 77.5%. Revenue passenger miles decreased 7.4% to 2.3 billion and available seat miles fell 12.5% to 3 billion.
America West reported record-breaking August traffic but a slight decrease in load factor. Traffic jumped 7.6% over August 1996, but capacity was up 8.2% and the load factor fell 0.5 percentage points to 74.3%. The carrier launched a sale, cutting fares as much as 35% through Sept. 17 for travel from Sept. 22 through Feb. 12, 1998. One-way fares based on a roundtrip purchase include Las Vegas-Los Angeles, $53; Salt Lake City-Las Vegas, $56 ; Phoenix-San Jose, $82; New York-Chicago, $119; Boston-San Diego, $185, and New York-San Francisco, $191.
