Transport Workers Union said yesterday it does not know if it will proceed with another attempt at unionizing America West fleet service workers. TWU organizer Frank Trotti said the union was surprised by Monday's election results, in which 54% of the ballots rejected union representation, because surveys had shown the union had enough support to win. Trotti said it will be up to the national TWU whether to try again. Of 1,899 eligible employees, 1,028 voted against union representation, according to the airline.
Delta and its pilots union have begun negotiations on pay for pilots who fly 737-700 aircraft due for delivery beginning in August 1988. The union is asking for industry-leading pay rates, and the Air Line Pilots Association unit's Master Executive Council is developing a contingency plan for use if management and the union cannot reach agreement within six months of the aircraft's entry into service. The plan would allow the pilots to park the aircraft, and it calls for a 1% assessment on union member salaries to pay the pilots until they can fly again.
The increasing globalization of air transport demands multilateral transatlantic pacts regarding tariffs, capacity limits and other restrictions that hold back development, said European Union Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock.
Senate Commerce Committee will hold a confirmation hearing today at 9:30 a.m. in 253 Russell on the renomination of John Hammerschmidt, George Black and Chairman Jim Hall as members of the National Transportation Safety Board. House Transportation aviation subcommittee will hold a hearing tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. in 2167 Rayburn on foreign repair station legislation.
Tarom requested renewal of its exemption authority from DOT, last granted for 60 days, to conduct one weekly Bucharest/Timisoara-Chicago roundtrip, maintaining the only direct service "to the ethnic Romanian community in Chicago." The U.S.-Romania bilateral authorizes two weekly roundtrips by Romanian carriers to New York, which Tarom currently operates. Tarom said a DAILY report of progress in U.S.-Romania open skies negotiations (DAILY, Sept.
AirTran Airlines, formerly ValuJet, reported a 37.9% load factor for September and a year-to-date load factor of 58.3%. The airline flew 99,973 revenue passenger miles on 263,797 available seat miles. AirTran spokesman Gregg Kenyon said the company spent virtually no advertising dollars in the last week of August and the first three weeks of September in view of its name change. But it plans to spend nearly as much on ads in the last quarter of 1997 as in all of 1996 - roughly $10 million-$12 million - which should boost traffic.
Vanguard Airlines will initiate nonstop service between Kansas City and Washington Dulles Airport Dec. 17 with one flight daily. It is offering an introductory one-way fare of $119.
Atlas Air has contracted to provide a second 747-200 freighter to Lineas Aereas Suramericanas. Atlas currently operates five aircraft in South America. Its contracts provide for aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance.
US Airways traffic increased 6.6% on 0.9% less capacity in September, pushing the load factor up 4.6 percentage points to 67%. Thus far in 1997, US Airways traffic has risen 9.8%, while systemwide capacity has increased 4.8% and domestic capacity has risen just 2.4%. In September, domestic traffic rose 5% while domestic capacity dropped 2.1%. Despite the domestic shrinkage, US Airways continues to grow internationally - traffic on international routes improved 18.7% on 12.8% more capacity.
Efforts to reduce ignition sources in fuel tanks containing fuel-air mixes are "good, but what I do not want to see is a reflexive reaction by industry that leads to a rejection out of hand" of four recommendations issued by the National Transportation Safety Board following the crash of TWA Flight 800, NTSB Chairman Jim Hall told a Transport Fuel Flammability Conference yesterday in Washington. Rep.
Among Western Pacific's top 20 creditors, which together are owed more than $20 million, are Sabre Decision Technology ($331,906), Continental ($276,403) and Midwest Express ($166,272).Worldspan, Galileo and Amadeus each are owed more than $100,000.
Aviation Industry Stock Performance September 1997 Closed Closed Majors Symbol 09/29/93 08/28/93 Alaska Air Group ALK 32.875 27.438 America West (Class B) AWA 14.563 12.063 AMR AMR 110.688 100.750 Continental (Class B) 1 CAI.B 39.375 36.625
Solair, a Banner Aerospace subsidiary, signed a three-year, $150 million contract to supply airframe materials, including rotables, repairables and expendables, to Delta.
Continental is giving its OnePass members a chance to fly first class for 10 years, free of charge, in celebration of the frequent flyer program's 10th anniversary. OnePass members can enter a drawing for the grand prize, two first-class or BusinessFirst-class tickets to any destination each year for 10 years. Ten more winners will receive one of 10 vacation packages to Paris, Honolulu, Sao Paulo, New York, Las Vegas, London, San Francisco, Caracas, Orlando and Phoenix. Packages include hotel, car rental and $500 in American Express gift checks. Until Dec.
House and Senate negotiators on the fiscal 1998 DOT appropriations bill (H.R.2169) agreed yesterday to add Alabama, Kansas and Mississippi to the list of states that can be served without restrictions from Dallas Love Field, and to adopt legislation that will allow proposed startup Legend Airlines, or any other airline, to offer unrestricted Love Field flights using aircraft reconfigured for 56 passenger seats. The changes are the first modifications of Love Field restrictions since the so-called Wright Amendment was adopted 18 years ago.
Turkish Airlines yesterday ordered 26 Boeing 737-800s and placed options on another 23, in a total order Boeing valued at $1.33 billion, or about $51 million apiece list price. Delivery will occur between 1998 and 2002. If all options are exercised, the order could be worth $2.5 billion.
Continental's September traffic soared 17.8% over that of September 1996 on 10.5% more capacity, resulting in a record September load factor of 67.7%, up 4.2 percentage points. The airline's domestic performance set the pace - domestic traffic rose 11.3% on 2.4% more capacity, while international traffic increased 32.9% on 31.4% more capacity. The international load factor rose slightly to 68.8% and domestic loads jumped 5.4 points to 67.2%. Continental's year-to-date traffic was up 13.5% on 9.1% more capacity.
Reliance on satellites for navigation, communications or surveillance "has the potential for vastly increased delay or total shutdown of the ATC system," former FAA Administrator Langhorne Bond told the Air Traffic Control Association's annual meeting last week in Washington, D.C. Bond questioned the value of the Wide Area Augmentation System, predicting that WAAS will be abandoned because no one will need it, and accused responsible government officials of refusing to address the vulnerability of the Global Positioning System.
Attendees voting on proposals to aid new-entrant airlines approved all three measures examined at last Friday's Business Travel Contractors Corp. conference (DAILY, Oct. 6). The proposals have been forwarded to members of Congress supportive of niche-airline and competition issues, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee Chairman Slade Gorton (R-Wash.).
Southwest's traffic dropped 3.8% on 12.3% more capacity in September, causing the load factor to plunge 10.1 percentage points to 60.5% from 70.6%. Last year, the airline conducted several promotions, including a $25 fare on every route segment. The load factor this year was "in line with historical performances and our expectations," said Chairman Herb Kelleher. The monthly yield - not disclosed - was up, he said.
KLM's total traffic increased 9% in September compared with the same month of 1996 as capacity grew 5% and the overall load factor reached 81.9%, 2.4 percentage points higher than in August and 3.3 points higher than in September 1996. Passenger traffic in September was up 15% and capacity expanded by 9%, and the passenger load factor was 83.1%, up from 78.7%. KLM said its strongest increases in passenger traffic were on its North American and Latin/South American routes, up 30% and 27% respectively. Business-class traffic expanded by more than 20%.
Legend Airlines' business plan depends on the specific advantages of Dallas Love Field established yesterday by provisions of the fiscal 1998 DOT appropriations bill that permit the carrier to use DC-9-class aircraft configured for low-capacity operations, Legend President and Chief Executive Allan McArtor told The DAILY yesterday.
