Jet Vacations International signed an agreement with Swissair to market travel packages to European tourist destinations, including Switzerland, France and Italy. The tour operator intends to go after more of the U.S. travel market to Europe, which it estimated at $6 billion annually.
Lufthansa Technik AG (LHT) and Shannon Aerospace Ltd. will jointly service Lauda Air's 737s under a contract signed last week. According the agreement, LHT will carry out light, C-check maintenance on the 737s at its Berlin Schonefeld facility. Shannon Aerospace, in which LHT has a 50% stake, will conduct the more extensive D-checks at its Shannon Airport base.
French Communist Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot said he favors "neither privatization nor status quo" for Air France, according to reports in Communist party daily L'Humanite. In its current state-owned structure, Air France is posting better results than in the past, the minister said.
Continental will move its headquarters to downtown Houston, consolidating locations in Southeast Houston and at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. The airline, which received tax incentives for the move, will relocate 3,000 workers, beginning next year.
Baltia Air Lines submitted documents to DOT in support of its long-delayed start of scheduled foreign combination service between New York and St. Petersburg, Russia, outlining cash-flow scenarios comparing 90-day pre- revenue expenses and a projected 12-month operating cash flow for 1997-98. The carrier detailed expenses it expects in preparing for five weekly frequencies and one weekly frequency; in the case of pre-operational plans for one frequency, preparation for increased frequencies would occur after revenue operations begin. (Docket OST-97-2763)
Emery Worldwide has launched direct air cargo service at San Jose, Los Angeles and Dallas with a 727 that operates on a daily roundtrip basis. The service provides the cities with an additional 45,000 pounds of cargo capacity for next-morning deliveries. The flight operates from San Jose to Los Angeles and continues to Dallas the same evening.
General Electric Co. said yesterday it has completed the acquisition of Greenwich Air Services through a combination of GE stock and cash valued at $530 million. GE also obtained the rights to complete the acquisition of UNC Inc., also an aircraft engine and aviation equipment services company. The Justice Department has approved the Greenwich acquisition of UNC, but the transaction is subject to approval by UNC shareholders. That vote is expected this month.
Niche carrier Spirit Airlines applied for an extraordinary-circumstances exemption to fly between Melbourne, Fla., and New York LaGuardia. Spirit wants to start flying two daily nonstops on the route by Nov. 15, an optimistic goal given DOT's pace on other slot-exemption requests filed in recent months, not yet acted on, for LaGuardia and Chicago O'Hare service.
The Association of Flight Attendants today will bring its CHAOS - Create Havoc Around Our System - campaign to ValuJet Airlines at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport. The informational picketing, calling for higher wages and better treatment for ValuJet flight attendants, will continue through Sept. 6. Contract negotiations, in progress for two years, are in federal mediation.
US Airways Express carrier Allegheny Airlines has named Keith Houk president and chief executive. Houk, 49, was US Airways' VP-special projects and president of Jetstream Airlines, now PSA.
GE Capital Services yesterday announced the appointment of Henry Hubschman as president of GE Capital Aviation Services, effective Oct. 1. Hubschman was VP and general counsel of GE Aircraft Engines. GE Capital Aviation Services' business encompasses more than 900 aircraft at 160 airlines in over 60 countries.
International Lease Finance Corp. ordered 65 aircraft from Airbus Industrie and 61 from Boeing, the manufacturers announced yesterday. The Airbus order comprises 50 A319, A320 and A321 single-aisle aircraft and 15 A330 widebodies. Deliveries will begin in 2000 and continue for five years. The Boeing order includes 31 737-600s, two 747-400s, seven 767-300ERs and five 767-400ERs. In addition, ILFC affirmed a commitment for the 777, ordering a mix of 10 777-200 IGWs with substitution rights for the 777-300.
Singapore Airlines has completed an agreement to sell and lease back a Boeing 747-400 to take advantage of the current favorable resale value of the jet. A special-purpose company, 747 Investors II L.P., was created for the SIA deal. It is owned by an investment fund managed by Farallon Capital Institutional Partners II. SIA will lease the aircraft for a nine- year, two-month term.
Aviation Industry Stock Performance August 1997 Closed Closed Symbol 08/28/93 07/30/93 Majors ALK 27.438 29.563 America West (Class B) AWA 12.063 13.813 AMR AMR 100.750 107.563 Continental (Class B) 1 CAI.B 36.625 37.250 Delta DAL 86.500 88.875
FAA yesterday ordered more frequent inspections of the midspar fuse pins on Boeing 757 aircraft powered by Pratt&Whitney and Rolls-Royce engines, saying recent reports show that an earlier airworthiness directive does not go far enough in preventing fatigue cracking that could lead to separation of the strut and engine from the wing.
Boeing has received an Organizational Designated Airworthiness Representative (ODAR) delegation from FAA to support type certification of its MD-17 transport, the civil version of the C-17 military airlifter. With an ODAR delegation, authorized Boeing employees can perform conformity inspections of parts and components on behalf of FAA. Monitoring and oversight will come from the FAA Manufacturing Inspection District Office in Lakewood, Calif.
AMR Airline Services said that, following award in February of a startup handling agreement with Canada 3000, it has received a second contract for service at Halifax, Nova Scotia. AMR serves the carrier at Montreal Dorval and Mirabel airports and Las Vegas.
The European Commission approved last week a proposal by Lufthansa CityLine of Kriftel, Germany, and Bombardier International BV, Amsterdam, to acquire jointly a 50% share in a CityLine subsidiary, European Business Jet Services. EBJS plans to sell flights supplied by independent owners and operators of business jets to third parties on a commission basis. Germany alone lists more than 60 business aircraft operators.
DOT issued a consent order assessing $25,000 in compromise civil penalties against US Airways for two advertising violations. One ad, in The Miami Herald on Sept. 10, 1996, offered a $49 one-way Miami-Tallahassee fare to which US Airways added a $2 fuel charge, selling seats for $51. The ad did not mention the fuel charge, and DOT does not permit airlines to state such charges separately from fares anyway.
Although Tokyo Narita often appears to be the linchpin in U.S.-Japan aviation relations, Gidwitz said Osaka's industrial prominence makes Kansai Airport a more desirable destination for many business people flying from the Midwest through Chicago O'Hare. Osaka is a "sister city" to Chicago.
TWA is the latest airline pressing workers to reduce foreign object damage from tools and trash left on the tarmac. In a message to employees, TWA said FOD has cost $7 million this year in engine repairs alone, not including the costs of canceling flights.
Pilots and flight engineers represented by the Teamsters Union at Southern Air Transport signed a tentative agreement, the first since the union organized those groups at the cargo carrier. A union spokesman said the contract represents a "big improvement over where they were. It's not up to where we want to get them someday, but considering where we took them from, it's a very good contract." Results of a ratification vote by members are expected by Sept. 19. Under the five-year contract, scheduled days off are increased to 11 a month.
