Burlington Air Express improved overnight service in Texas and New England, offering what it called "significant expansions to existing capacities." The company said it also is improving daily arrival and departure times in the two markets.
Embraer has selected the Allison AE3007 turbofan to power the proposed EMB- 135 37-seat regional jet. It is the same engine that powers the 50-seat EMB-145 but would be derated. The Brazilian manufacturer has yet to launch the aircraft officially, although it said at the Paris Air Show in June the launch likely would come in August. There is speculation the announcement will be made at the European Regions Airline Association meeting in early October at Baveno, Italy. The 135 would be a 145 with fuselage plugs removed fore and aft of the wing.
Scandinavian Airlines System's SAS Commuter confirmed Wednesday it has placed orders for 15 de Havilland Dash 8Q-400 aircraft plus 18 options (DAILY, Aug. 22). The aircraft will be delivered between July 1999 and December 2000. Value of the order was placed at $350 million. Initially, the aircraft will be configured for 72 passengers and will serve the carrier's European destinations from Copenhagen. Later aircraft will seat 76 passengers and operate in the domestic and international Swedish networks from Stockholm, joining at least six Saab 2000 47-seaters.
The French government is changing tactics in an attempt to break the deadlock over corporatizing Airbus Industrie, French industry sources said yesterday. Daily newspaper Le Monde reported Wednesday that the Socialist government in Paris has given up its right-wing predecessor's plan to merge privately controlled Dassault Aviation and Aerospatiale, France's government-owned member of the four-nation Airbus consortium, prior to modifying the statutes of Airbus and consolidating the civilian and defense activities of Airbus's members.
London City Airport passenger traffic jumped 91% in July, compared with the same month of 1996, partly due to British Airways strikes that drained traffic from London Heathrow Airport to the city's other airports. But the main factor is steadily growing business passenger traffic, according to Richard Gooding, managing director.
Urumqui, China-based China Xinjiang Airlines took delivery of the first of five ATR 72-210s it has on order, with the remaining aircraft to be delivered over the next year, the consortium Aero International (Regional) said. The carrier will use the aircraft in Xinjiang province to provide service between Urumqui and tourist areas.
Don Phillips of The Washington Post and David Field of USA Today will discuss aviation issues in a "reporters' roundtable" on Aviation News Today, to air Sunday on Washington NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Aer Lingus said it received a high volume of telephone calls after launching its toll-free reservations number, 1-888-IRISH AIR. The airline has a new number, 516-577-5700, for travel agents and consumers calling its North American headquarters.
Aero International (Regional) has given financially troubled Mahalo Air "more support than any other airline - more than most other manufacturers would provide," according to Jean-Michel Leonard, president of AI(R) Marketing of Herndon, Va. The Hawaiian regional is under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors, including AI(R), which sought to prepossess its seven ATR 42s in late July, prompting the Chapter 11 filing (DAILY, Aug. 15). Mahalo had complained about reliability of the aircraft, which Leonard said is identical to that at other carriers.
In revised figures, Mesaba Airlines posted a 51.5% increase in revenue passenger miles for July to 62.1 million from nearly 41 million in July 1996. The Northwest Airlink affiliate said a software problem produced incorrect figures in results released earlier (DAILY, Aug. 22). The earlier, incorrect, results showed lower July 1997 RPMs and higher available seat miles, producing a less favorable load factor. Corrected figures follow: July 1997 July 1996 7 Mths 1997 7 Mths 1996
Continental Express will launch Cleveland-Toronto service, effective Nov. 1. DOT recently authorized the service because US Airways is discontinuing its Cleveland-Toronto flights next month. The Continental Express service, which will consist of three daily EMB-120 nonstops, still is subject to Canadian government approval.
DOT made final its order awarding a total of 35 new U.S.-Czech frequencies, available for three U.S. carriers, to third-country code-share partners United/Lufthansa, Northwest/KLM and Delta/Swissair-Crossair, starting Sept. 1. No objections were filed, but Delta said it was disappointed to receive only seven frequencies while United and Northwest received 14 apiece, the maximum allowed under the U.S.-Czech bilateral. After Oct. 31, 1999, there will be no limit on third-country code-share operations.
U.S. and Japanese negotiators held closed-door executive sessions yesterday, but informed sources said statements made in the initial plenary session Wednesday were not encouraging. Both sides drew lines in the sand with a great deal of distance between them. Jiro Hanyu, deputy director general in the Transport Ministry, said Japan would not accept open skies - "not now, not in five years, not in 10 years, not ever." But the U.S. continued to push for a transitional period that culminates in open skies, sources said.
London Area and Terminal Control Center air traffic controllers handled their millionth flight of the year Aug. 22, earlier than ever before, National Air Traffic Services said. The millionth movement, EasyJet Flight 094 from Aberdeen to Luton, followed a one-day record Aug. 1 at Gatwick airport, more than 800 aircraft, and a one-week record during June of 8,817 movements at Heathrow.
Cargo startup Arriva Air asked DOT for a face-to-face meeting in an effort to get final approval of its fitness certificate. DOT issued a show cause order this year granting tentative approval, but ownership and control issues involving Japan-based New Quick Co. stalled the application. Most of Arriva's startup capital originated from New Quick, but Arriva has filed numerous documents showing that it meets U.S. citizenship requirements.
Frontier took delivery of a new 737-300 aircraft leased from GE Capital Aviation Services. The 737-300 is the carrier's sixth, and it also operates seven 737-200s. Frontier expects to lease another new 737-300 in January from Boullioun Aviation Services.
Emirates applied with DOT for a two-year renewal of its exemption and authority for its code-share operations with United, carrying passengers on the London-Dubai segment of United's U.S.-London-Dubai service, and for continued authority to commingle traffic over the London-Dubai sector. The carrier stated that its fleet and scope of operations "have enlarged since its application last year" - it operates six A300-600R, 10 A310-300 and six 777-21H aircraft, and has three 777-21Hs on order with options for four more.
Lockheed Martin Federal Systems will provide 300,000 mobile data collection devices and in-office computer systems infrastructure at more than 32,000 U.S. Postal Service facilities under a $218 million contract. USPS will offer delivery confirmation for Express Mail, Priority Mail, parcels and certified and registered mail.
Independent Pilots Association said yesterday the National Mediation Board was taking sides by stating it would recess contract negotiations with UPS until early next year if IPA members, voting now, reject UPS's "final" offer.IPA President Robert Miller predicted the board's statement will have a "reverse effect on our pilot group... The pilots' position will harden." The NMB said it would recess talks unless there were prospects for "fine-tuning" and ratification (DAILY, Aug. 26).
Sabre Group and US Airways yesterday signed a letter of intent engaging Sabre to manage the airline's information technology - facilities, hardware, software and personnel. Sabre called the deal "a multi-billion dollar technology relationship," while US Airways said the agreement will enable it to make "a quantum leap" in positioning itself for the future. Sabre will support the carrier's internal reservations, airport check-in, aircraft and crew scheduling, yield management, electronic ticketing and other tasks. A final agreement is expected by yearend.
Lufthansa and the regional Belgian carrier, VLM, will take the first concrete step next month toward implementing their new marketing partnership. The accord, announced in June, calls for co-marketing and sales activities in Belgium and the creation of new code-share services. As a result, two code-share flights per weekend will enter service between Antwerp and Munich starting Sept. 2, with a short layover in Rotterdam in either direction. VLM, based in Antwerp, will use its Fokker 50s to operate the service.
Northeast Airlines, a Portland, Maine, startup regional, will begin service Sept. 8 to Hartford, Allentown, Baltimore and Cumberland, Md. The carrier currently operates Part 135 service between Portland and Hartford with an eight-passenger Piper Navajo. Jonathan Good, the airline's director of operations, told The DAILY that the carrier was awaiting approval of its operations specifications and conformity checks to receive its Part 121 certificate.
DOT granted Air 4000 a six-month extension to begin operations, noting that the company went through an ownership change recently and is working to launch service. Originally an outgrowth of charter carrier Myrtle Beach Express, which was supported by tour operator World Technology Systems (WTS), Air 4000 was acquired Aug. 13 by Han Airways and intends to do business under that name. Neither the former stockholders of Air 4000 nor the owners of WTS will have a further role in Air 4000. Key management personnel remain.
FAA has published revisions of the priority system it uses to decide which projects to fund as part of the Airport Capital Improvement Plan. The National Priority System changes follow public comments on the system last year and direction from Congress in last year's FAA authorization act. Applied to each proposed project, the priority system uses a formula that generates a national priority rating, a numeric value that takes into account project type and airport size. Most AIP discretionary fund allocations are based on these ratings.
