United reported increased customer satisfaction with its food service as a result of its Million Dollar Partnership with LSG Lufthansa Service/Sky Chefs. Improved food quality on 26 transcontinental flights from Newark has led to an "incredible increase in ratings" for food from April through July compared with last year, said Bob Sobczewski, United's manager of on- board service, North America. First-class customers rated overall meal satisfaction 14 percentage points higher, and ratings in economy went up six points over the year-earlier period.
Fine Airlines suspended operations after a 10-day inspection that FAA said found "inadequate control over its cargo operation," including hazardous materials violations. The action followed the fatal crash Aug. 7 of a Fine Air DC-8 freighter on takeoff from Miami Airport. The crash will affect the entire air cargo industry as FAA adopts tougher inspection measures. Administrator Jane Garvey said inspectors are immediately changing their focus on loading procedures as they inspect cargo carriers.
Orally approved a one-year initial exemption for National Airlines Chile to conduct scheduled combination service between Chile and Miami via intermediate points. Orally approved a one-year authority renewal for Polar Air Cargo to conduct twice-weekly scheduled cargo service between the U.S. and Thailand.
American continues to redefine the on-time rankings of major airlines. President Don Carty said the carrier's 84.5% on-time rating for August made it "first among the top six hub-and-spoke carriers that we benchmark ourselves against." Two major airlines outperforming American in August were Southwest, with 85.2% on time and TWA, with 85.15%.
Access U.S.-Japan Chairman Gerald Baliles says U.S. and Japanese negotiators have agreed that when they meet Sept. 22 in Tokyo they will work on a pact that would produce 3,600 new flights a year - almost 70 a week - for U.S. airlines to Japan. Launched from as many as 10 new U.S. cities, the flights would create new opportunities for U.S. all-cargo airlines in the Asia/Pacific region and expand U.S. carrier opportunities beyond Japan, Baliles says.
The Federation Of Air Traffic Controllers' Unions Of Russia plans to strike Sept. 29 at noon, Moscow time, unless the government can catch up on wage arrears. Payments to controllers are behind by an average of three months, totaling in the tens of billions of rubles. The union says 6,000 controllers throughout Russia have agreed to go on strike. The government made good recently on promises to pay Russian military personnel wages that were in arrears by many months. The ATC union is seeking moral support in the U.S.
ValuJet's revenue passenger miles dropped slightly and available seat miles rose in August compared with July, but the carrier still has not completely recovered from last year's traffic decrease following the May 12, 1996, DC- 9 crash in the Florida Everglades. In August, ValuJet flew 169.8 million RPMs compared with 170.6 million in July, and 298 million ASMs, up from 291.5 million. The August load factor was 57%, down from 58.5%, and enplanements totaled 332,280, down from 333,918.
National Civil Aviation Review Commission, having essentially finished the FAA financing piece of its charter, has turned to the aviation safety aspect of its mission. Panel members visited Boeing and other facilities in Washington state last week, and a public hearing on safety issues is planned Oct. 8. The commission aims to complete its work by late October or early November.
The four regional airlines that make up American Eagle flew 235.6 million revenue passenger miles in August, a 2.7% increase from August 1996. Capacity dropped 2.4% to 368.5 million available seat miles, boosting the average system load factor 3.2 percentage points to 64%. Passenger boardings increased 1.8% to 1,107,529. Aug. 1997 Aug. 1996 8 Mths 1997 8 Mths 1996 (System) RPMs 235,638,000 229,548,000 1,731,830,000 1,772,692,000
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Traffic First Quarter 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) Alaska 2,539 6.34 822 2,086,934 America West 4,471 6.37 862 3,855,674
American posted an August traffic rise of 0.4% on 0.8% less capacity, which edged up the systemwide load factor one percentage point to 74.7%. Domestic traffic rose 0.6% on 0.5% less capacity, while international traffic inched ahead 0.1% on 1.7% less capacity. Atlantic traffic dropped 3.4% on 7% less capacity; Latin America traffic was up 3.3% on 2.3% more capacity, and Pacific increased 1.1% on 0.4% more capacity. The Atlantic load factor grew 3.2 points to 84.5%. The Pacific division posted the highest load factor, up 0.6 points to 87.5%.
Tech-Source Inc., said it was awarded a contract by Raytheon to supply video graphics adapters in FAA's $1 billion Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) program. STARS will modernize and upgrade 311 terminal automation systems for FAA and the Defense Department, replacing aging systems with an open hardware and software system architecture. Tech-Source will supply its Raptor graphics accelerators, which are designed for use in mission-critical, ultra-high-resolution color graphics applications.
Small airlines are an increasingly "endangered species," according to Morten Beyer&Agnew Associates, and the trend worsened during the first quarter of 1997. MBA made this assessment days before one of 26 airlines in the segment, Air South, stopped flying and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (DAILY, Sept. 2). MBA's opinion is shared by Steven Quinto, chairman of the former Northeastern Airlines, which also was forced into bankruptcy. "We got caught well and truly kicked" by larger airlines, Quinto said.
Galaxy Aerospace yesterday rolled out its midsize business jet, which it described as the "only business jet available under $20 million that can routinely fly Paris to New York nonstop." The aircraft, priced at $14.5 million, is under development at Israel Aircraft Industries. It can hold up to 18 people in a corporate shuttle configuration, cruises at up to 540 miles per hour and has a maximum range of 4,500 nautical miles.
American Eagle has phased out of service its final six Shorts 360 aircraft, replacing them with ATR 42 and 72 aircraft. The phaseout program for the remaining 11 360s - passenger capacity 36 - began in May. American Eagle now flies nothing but the larger-capacity ATRs to the 20 Caribbean destinations it serves from San Juan. Eagle currently has 14 ATR 42s and two ATR 72s stationed at San Juan.
FAA decided last month it would no longer provide airmen accident and incident records to prospective employers requesting background information under the Pilot Records Improvement Act of 1996 (PRIA). A Regional Airline Association official said airlines have had a long practice of requesting this information - even before the new pilot record-sharing requirements were implemented - and FAA supplied it until recently. PRIA, however, does not require airlines to obtain accident/incident records and FAA determined it could not supply them under PRIA requests.
DOT issued a show cause order tentatively finding Custom Air Transport fit for interstate and foreign combination service, limiting the carrier's fleet to five cargo and two passenger aircraft. The Lakeland, Fla.-based carrier plans to inaugurate charter passenger operations in the Caribbean, using the trade name Tropic Aire, with one leased 172-passenger 727-200. It will add a 149-passenger 727-231 by the sixth month of operations, depending on demand.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic First Quarter 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) American Trans Air 1,392 (12.13) 1,587 2,209,584
Business Express Airlines (BEX), d/b/a Delta Connection and Northwest Airlink, gave DOT a 90-day notice of its intention to terminate service between Boston and Manchester, N.H., effective Dec. 1. The carrier operates, under code-share agreements with both Delta and Northwest, three daily nonstop roundtrips between Boston Logan and Manchester, using 34-seat Saab SF3 aircraft, which it will reduce to twice daily beginning Oct. 1. BEX will increase its 10 daily SF3 Delta Connection Manchester-New York LaGuardia roundtrips to 11 on Sept. 15 and to 12 on Oct. 1.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders, introducing legislation yesterday to reauthorize surface transportation funding, included in the bill a measure to take the aviation trust fund off budget. The highway bill incorporates the text of H.R.4, which would remove from the unified federal budget the receipts and disbursements of the four transportation trust funds, including aviation. H.R.4 has 245 co-sponsors, and the same legislation passed the House by a two-to-one margin in the 104th Congress.
Embraer is selecting a new advertising agency to replace New York-based Rudder Finn. Candidates are Keeton&Rich of Dallas and three New York firms, Young&Rubicam; Earl Palmer, Brown; and Bozell. The Brazilian manufacturer is seeking to combine advertising and public relations in one agency in an account described at "around" $2 million a year. Three finalists will make final presentations in October in Brazil to Embraer Chief Executive Mauricio Botelho. The contract is expected to cover Europe and Asia as well as North America.
FAA, together with the Society of Automotive Engineers, has scheduled a transport fuel flammability conference Oct. 7-9 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C. The conference is expected to attract experts from around the world to discuss issues related to fuel flammability. Manufacturers will discuss aircraft fuel system designs, safety considerations and testing requirements. Airlines will cover maintenance processes and procedures.
French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin wants Christian Blanc to continue as chairman of Air France within the directions defined by the government, according to a government statement issued last night after a two-hour meeting in Paris between Jospin and Blanc. Blanc refused to comment as he left the prime minister's office, but industry observers expect his resignation soon. He favors privatization of Air France, an option the government rejected (DAILY, Sept. 3).
