Delta and Continental asked DOT for authority to be the third U.S. carrier, after Northwest and United, to provide third-country code-share service between the U.S. and Egypt (DAILY, July 31). Delta would connect its existing transatlantic service to Zurich with six weekly A310 Zurich-Cairo roundtrips operated by alliance partner Swissair, beginning Oct. 26. Delta holds underlying authority for U.S.-Cairo service and said it is fully consistent with the U.S.-Switzerland open-skies bilateral and the U.S.- Egypt accord.
Air New Zealand will launch twice-weekly Auckland-Vancouver service via Honolulu on Oct. 26. ANZ will charter aircraft from partner Air Canada for the Honolulu-Vancouver leg.
Bell Helicopter Textron has negotiated a spare parts and support deal in Taiwan and the sale of two helicopters in India. Taiwan's Committee for Aviation and Space Industry Development is set to sign an agreement committing Bell to parts orders, training and technology transfer worth at least US$143.7 million. The deal is a condition attached to Taiwan's US$479 million order for 21 AH-1W Super Cobra military helicopters, an official of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic July, 7 Months 1997 (000) July July % 1997 1996 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 1,032,000 996,000 3.6 Available Seat Miles 1,449,000 1,433,000 1.1 Load Factor (%) 71.2 69.5
America West has engaged marketing management firm Achenbaum Bogda Associates as a consultant in the review of its advertising account. In late July, America West said it would conduct the review in conjunction with a re-examination of its overall marketing communications plan. Team One, America West's current advertising agency, has been invited to participate along with "other agencies yet to be identified." The carrier expects the review to be completed within 90 to 120 days.
British Airways has enlisted The Body Shop to produce inflight amenity kits for its Club World passengers. The pouch will contain a water facial spray, lip balm, hand and body lotion, a moisturizer, and hand and foot massage rollers. The kits are part of BA's new Well-Being program, designed to ease the rigors of long-haul flying.
Arrow Air went on the record against Millon Air's application to renew its Peru frequencies and receive three more in a market in which Arrow also wants to increase service. Millon remains grounded as it seeks recertification as a fit carrier, and Arrow reminded DOT the department barred Arrow from trying to renew frequencies or apply for new ones when its economic authority was temporarily suspended in 1995. DOT already has denied Millon's attempt to retain frequencies to Ecuador, citing its current lack of authority.
A company that offers same-day, satellite-based distribution of blueprints for architects and engineers said it has begun operations just in time to benefit from the UPS strike. The company, A/E/C Express, also aims to take hundreds of millions of dollars of business away from other next-day service companies, such as Federal Express. A/E/C Express, which launched service last week in 25 cities, said it expects to capture at least 30% of the estimated $500 million now spent annually for shipping more than 15 million blueprints via the next-day services.
Boeing Wichita has joined the major assemblies of the 737-600 fuselage. The aircraft, smallest of the new-generation 737 family, seats as many as 132 passengers. It will go into service with SAS in about a year.
ValuJet lowered fares last week for travel to and from three cities it plans to drop Sept. 2 - Louisville, Ky., Charlotte, N.C., and Columbus, Ohio. For its "Fare-Well Sale," the carrier offers "affordable fares to thank our loyal supporters throughout these regions before air fares return to previously high levels" after ValuJet suspends service, said Ponder Harrison, VP-sales and marketing. One-way fares are $39 from Atlanta to Louisville or Charlotte and $49 to Columbus.
Emirates ordered two more 777s powered by Rolls-Royce engines. The increased growth weight 777-200s are two of seven options taken by Emirates during an original order for seven aircraft, six of which are now operating. The seventh is scheduled to enter service next month.
Roy Norris has resigned as president of Raytheon Aircraft and Art Wegner, chairman and chief executive, has assumed the title of president. In an interoffice message, Wegner said Norris resigned to start a consulting company and "do something on his own." He praised Norris's contribution to the company. There was no announcement whether Wegner's presidency is permanent.
Wichita State University has received a research grant from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Foundation to study the practicality of a new high-lift device for general aviation. WSU's National Institute for Aviation Research will conduct computational aerodynamics and wind tunnel validation tests of the "Nahas Wing." The device could provide the benefits of airliner-type high-lift devices in a mechanically simple package for GA use, offering the potential for lower landing approach speeds.
India's corporate executives flying within the country in company-owned aircraft have been allotted a separate terminal at Mumbai's domestic airport. The terminal, first of its kind in India, will be operational in January, and officials of the state-owned Airport Authority of India (AAI) said it is unlikely that similar terminals will be developed soon in other metropolitan areas. "We are making an exception for Mumbai because it is India's commercial capital, where nearly all of its major private industrial houses are headquartered," a senior AAI official said.
DOT issued a consent order assessing compromise civil penalties of $60,000 against Challenge Air Cargo for failing to file statistical reports on time. Challenge must pay $10,000 within 15 days and make four additional payments of $5,000 over the next six months. The department will forgive the remaining $30,000 if the carrier meets its deadlines. Challenge said the reason for the delay was that the employee responsible for the reports became ill and died before he could train a successor.
Delta said yesterday it has received FAA approval to install cargo bay fire suppression and smoke detection systems on its 737s and ValuJet said it has completed FAA-required flight tests of a smoke detection system on its DC- 9s and that a fire suppression system will be tested in early September. FAA has ordered the systems installed on all airline aircraft by 2001. Delta submitted documents in June on its 727 fleet. Delta said it is the first airline to receive FAA certification of cargo bay smoke detection and fire suppression systems.
Federal Express won a court judgment this month that it is not required to violate a federal regulation. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit rejected a suit in which a FedEx captain accused the company of age discrimination because it prohibited him from continuing to fly beyond age 60. The court said the pilot essentially was seeking invalidation of the Age 60 rule, but this was not possible because FAA was not a party to the suit. Before the pilot filed the suit, FedEx offered him retirement or training for a flight engineer position.
Northwest Airlines Cargo said it is revising 747 freighter service between the U.S. and Asia to gain as many as two frequencies a week during the peak season. The new schedule, designed to keep Northwest's eight 747-200 freighters airborne on long hauls with fewer landings and takeoffs, is made possible by an increase in the mechanical reliability of the freighter aircraft, the carrier said.
TWA filed for confidential treatment of large amounts of data it and other carriers are submitting for DOT's rural air fare study and suggested that DOT make a blanket ruling covering all U.S. airlines. DOT ordered them to submit origin, destination, connecting point and fare data for all points in the U.S., except Hawaii and Alaska, for a study on service to smaller communities (DAILY, July 30).
United and Mexicana filed for an immediate award of code-share authority between Miami and Cancun pending a final decision by Mexico in the market. Though granting other authority to United and Mexicana in July, DOT deferred action on this and other city-pairs, either while it awaits carrier designation by Mexico or because in some markets the number of applicants exceeded the designation limits of the bilateral. Miami-Cancun is a double-designation city-pair. Only one U.S.
British Airways and American deny press reports that they would accept less than a full alliance partnership, complete with antitrust immunity and on a par with United/Lufthansa and others. The next major milestone that would affect alliance approval - or be affected by it - is in mid-October, when the IATA slot conference apportions next summer's transatlantic schedule.
KLM, broadening its reach within Europe, yesterday formed a partnership with Braathens SAFE with the aim of acquiring a 30% share of the Norwegian carrier. The agreement aligns 51-year-old Braathens, which has 51% market share in Norway, with the Northwest/KLM alliance. The two sides expect the agreement to become final in four to eight weeks. KLM will acquire the shares from Ludv. G. Braathen Rederi, a shipping company.
El Al set a record for the westbound flight from Tel Aviv to New York Kennedy, which it completed in nine hours 59 minutes. The route is scheduled for 11 hours 30 minutes. The previous record, 10 hours 19 minutes, was set in 1985.
As the UPS strike continued yesterday, management was confident it would win a contempt-of-court decision today on its claim that its pilots union violated a temporary restraining order issued last week. The Independent Pilots Association, which is respecting the Teamsters strike by not crossing picket lines, interpreted last week's ruling as a victory, saying it did not prohibit IPA from compiling and publishing as strikebreakers the names of pilots at carriers carrying UPS goods (DAILY, Aug. 18).
Boeing, under contract from NASA's Advanced Composite Technology program, has demonstrated that it will be possible within a decade to use an advanced stitching machine to stitch layers of carbon fiber fabrics to form what could be the wing skin of an aircraft. NASA seeks to reduce the weight of aircraft wing structures 25% and the cost of production 20% by using composite materials instead of aluminum. The machine can stitch carbon fabric more than an inch thick in structures up to 50 feet long and 9.5 feet wide.
