DOT has tentatively decided to reselect Trans Executive Airlines d/b/a TransAir to provide essential air service at Kamuela, Hawaii, Oct. 1, 1997 through April 30, 1998. Under the decision, TransAir will continue to operate its current level of service - 10 roundtrips a week from Kamuela to Honolulu using nine-seat Cessna 402 aircraft at an annual subsidy rate of $292,061 - through the end of the month. With the beginning of the new fiscal year Oct. 1, the carrier will operate 12 weekly C402 roundtrips at an annual subsidy rate of $376,848.
Members of Congress and other government officials on a fact-finding tour in Europe last month found European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert taking a "tough line where U.S. carriers are concerned," a congressional staffer said. The delegation, led by House Transportation aviation subcommittee member John Duncan (R.-Tenn.), inquired about the Commission's reasoning in getting involved in the Boeing-Douglas merger, and Van Miert detailed its effect on European interests, as he has previously.
Alaska Air Group subsidiary Horizon Air beginning Dec. 7 will operate only de Havilland Dash 8 turboprops on its five daily flights to Port Angeles from Seattle, the company said. Currently, four daily flights are operated with 18-passenger Metros, and only one with a Dash 8. Horizon said, "The new flight schedule also marks Horizon's transition to larger aircraft at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. After Dec. 7, every Horizon flight from Sea-Tac will be operated with either the Fokker F28 twinjet or Dash 8 aircraft."
TWA, which has rebounded operationally but not financially, will launch a series of targeted marketing and route initiatives during the next several months to improve its revenue outlook and regain favor with business travelers. In two weeks, the airline will reintroduce its Trans World One business class as the first of four major initiatives.
Jim Beard, long-time leading salesman at Saab Aircraft of America, has joined Embraer as VP- sales in Europe. Beard left Saab at the end of last year after being responsible for Saab 340 sales to both American Eagle (115) and Northwest Airlink Mesaba (50 plus 22 options). He had been with the company for 12 years. He is a former corporate pilot and worked in airline marketing in London. Beard is based at Embraer's Paris subsidiary and will be responsible for EMB-145 regional-jet sales throughout the region.
British World Airlines will take delivery of its first British Aerospace ATP QC on Sept. 15. A second ATP will be delivered in December, and the carrier will acquire more aircraft next year. It will use the 68-seat, quick-change aircraft for charters, wet-leases and aircraft/crew/maintenance/insurance contracts, replacing its Viscount fleet.
India's northeastern states are forming an airline to serve the region, beginning next year, civil aviation ministry officials said. The North- East Council, representing the administrations of seven states and approved by the federal ministry, took the move because of "growing reluctance" of the state-owned domestic carrier Indian Airlines and private airlines Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines to operate in the region - current service totals fewer than 100 flights per week.
FAA has agreed to major parts of a proposal from Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) that will reduce aircraft noise at Van Nuys Airport, one of the world's busiest general aviation facilities. FAA has agreed to roll back an existing curfew from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m. for nighttime takeoffs of aircraft producing 74 or more decibels. The curfew will continue to end at 7 a.m. FAA also approved LAWA's adoption of a non-addition rule, prohibiting an increase in the number of Stage 2 aircraft. It also outlined a process to include helicopters in the curfew.
Two dominant players are shaping up on the German travel market following the takeover this week of logistics and leisure group Hapag-Lloyd by diversified steel group Preussag. Preussag is purchasing 99.2% of Hapag- Lloyd from seven main shareholders in a 2.8 billion Deutschmark (US$1.7 billion) operation. The transaction is due to be confirmed by Preussag's supervisory board in mid-September before presentation to German antitrust authority Bundeskartellamt and the European Commission.
International Lease Finance Corp., adding new aircraft (DAILY, Sept. 3), also plans to sell 30 to 35 jet transports a year from its current portfolio of about 380. Last year, the leasing firm sold 37 used jets for $946 million.
A government official yesterday confirmed an informal meeting Tuesday between Assistant Secretary of State Alan Larson and Jiro Hanyu, Transport Ministry deputy director general for Japan (DAILY, Sept. 3) but played down its significance. The two officials concluded their discussions yesterday, the government official said. "It's an overstatement to say that they were trying to break a deadlock or avoid an impasse," the official said.
Christian Blanc, chairman of the state-owned Groupe Air France, openly displayed his conflict with the French government yesterday in an interview broadcast by France Inter radio. Blanc, whose predecessor, Bernard Attali, was driven from Air France by pressure from its unions, did not say whether he will ask for the renewal of his appointment when the board meets Sept.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic March 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) American Trans Air 561 (12.81) 1,569 880,642 Carnival 226 (1.70) 1,224 276,995
FedEx launched "the first around-the-world cargo flight" and said it will significantly reduce transit times from Europe to the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Asia. Originating in Indianapolis, the flight will serve Europe through the FedEx hub in Paris before continuing to Dubai, Mumbai, Bangkok and Subic Bay returning to the U.S. via Anchorage.
In a four-week survey at more than 200 public-access Internet kiosks, CIC Research and ATCOM/INFO found that more than half of respondents who cited American, Delta or United as their preferred airline were willing to buy products or services online and were "technically savvy" in using communications tools. Nearly 25% of them make 10 or more business trips per year, and the group is weighted heavily toward top jobs, airline airport clubs and gold and platinum credit cards.
The National Civil Aviation Review Commission (NCARC), approving last week its preliminary report on aviation funding subject to final editing, called for a change in the budget treatment for FAA, reorganization of air traffic control, a new system of user funding and more money for airport development. Commission staff members are putting the finishing touches on the preliminary report, and the panel plans to give it to DOT next week for review and comment, sources said.
Dragonair will resume service to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from Hong Kong, effective Sept. 16. Several carriers suspended service last month because of violence in the Cambodian capital.
Northwest told DOT it opposes American/China Airlines and FedEx applications to serve Vietnam while "numerous other applications...including one filed by Northwest in 1989, remain pending." DOT deferred the earlier requests - Northwest wanted to combine Vietnam and U.S.-Japan service on a single flight - in the absence of a Vietnam bilateral. Northwest filed an update to its Vietnam service proposal Feb. 4, 1994, the day after President Clinton lifted the trade embargo against Vietnam.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic March 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) Alaska 87 17.51 1,100 95,548 Latin 87 17.51 1,100 95,548 American 1,326 6.94 2,146 2,846,314
AirTran Airways, destined for merger with ValuJet, filed for an extraordinary-circumstances exemption from slot controls at Washington National Airport for service to Knoxville, Tenn. The carrier already has on file a request for slots at New York LaGuardia for service to Knoxville, Akron/Canton, Bloomington and Moline. Like slot exemptions filed by other niche carriers this year, none has been acted on by DOT although there are expectations the department is receptive to granting them under an expanded policy to promote competition.
DAC International and Universal Avionics Systems said they reached an agreement with TNT to retrofit its fleet of BAe 146 aircraft with UNS-1K GPS-based flight management systems. The system, which fits into the Arinc 599 control display opening, has a 12-channel GPS receiver that enables "seamless" flying in all phases, including approaches and, with growth, differential GPS landings.
Passenger volume between New York and St. Petersburg, Russia, more than doubled between 1994 and 1995, Baltia Air Lines told DOT in its continuing effort to launch combination service in the market. Baltia submitted supplemental documents outlining New York-St. Petersburg passenger traffic and U.S.-Russia cargo service and export-import activity, and it withdrew its request for confidential treatment of the information. (Docket OST-97- 2763)
United said it has invested in a new cargo consolidation center at the Douglas/Charlotte Airport, establishing a dedicated trucking service between southeastern and mid-Atlantic states and Europe, Latin America and Asia through the carrier's Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago gateways. United said the center will begin operations in November, providing shorter connection times and more efficient cargo processing.
