Virgin Atlantic has unveiled "MegaSaver" roundtrip transatlantic fares for as little as #178 ($285) to New York, Washington and Boston, #278 ($445) to Miami and #298 ($477) to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Virgin also is extending its MegaSaver offer to South Africa from London, with fares starting at #448 ($717).
Hawaiian Airlines has joined the growing list of carriers providing telemedicine backup for its flight attendants. Hawaiian is introducing MedLink on all transpacific flights. In the event of a medical crisis, MedLink, part of MedAire in Phoenix, provides a telephone link between flight personnel and an experienced emergency physician, who helps determine whether the situation warrants diverting the flight. MedLink makes all ground arrangements for transporting the passenger to a hospital, said MedAire Chief Executive Joan Garrett.
The annual cost to subsidize essential air service from the western Kansas area to Denver jumped 108.3%, from $1.2 million in 1994 for seven points (six in Kansas, one in eastern Colorado) to Stapleton, to $2.5 million in 1997 for five Kansas points to Denver International. The DAILY reported an incorrect percentage change (DAILY, Sept. 15).
Lawrence Crawford, founder and former chief executive of Avitas, has formed Crawford Aviation Associates, a consulting firm based in Reston, Va. The company's mission is to provide "a narrow band of highly focused, quality services below industry prices," including image and marketing assistance, asset appraisals and management, and airline safety audits, Crawford said.
Congressional sponsors of Business Travel Contractors Corp.'s Oct. 3 Competition Summit in Washington include Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.), chairman of the Commerce Committee. McCain said he continues to support deregulation, "but there remain limits on an open and competitive aviation market." The purpose of the summit, BTCC said, is to examine proposals designed to reduce barriers to entry and expansion into new markets.
Fine Air said it reached a consent agreement with FAA that will enable it to resume operations within about three weeks. The carrier suspended operations Sept. 4 following an FAA inspection and after one of its DC-8 cargo aircraft experienced a fatal crash on takeoff Aug. 7 at Miami Airport.
Air London International Plc, the U.K.-based corporate air charter broker, has opened a subsidiary office, Air Partner, in Florida. It also has subsidiary offices in France and Germany. Air Partner, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air London, has appointed Greg McClasky, formerly senior director at Renaissance Cruises, president of the U.S. company. Air London Chairman Tony Mack said, "We have been looking at entering the U.S.
The French government is considering recruiting Marc Rochet, head of British Airways subsidiaries, as the next chairman of Air France, according to French business daily Les Echos (DAILY, Sept. 12). Rochet declined comment. Rochet's selection would break with the French tradition of appointing high-ranking state officials or managers closely linked to political parties to head the carrier.
Federal Express reported net income for the Aug. 31 quarter more than doubled to $143.3 million while revenues were up 22% to $3.3 billion. Operating income rose to $264.2 million form $129.9 million.
Deutsche BA, the German subsidiary of British Airways, will terminate its twice-daily services between Berlin Tegel Airport and London Gatwick on Oct. 7. The route, launched in January 1996, underperformed, explained Deutsche BA. The airline indicated that the extra capacity will be used on the German domestic market and to improve services to Munich Franz Josef Strauss Airport.
Airport and civic officials from five key cities wrote to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright yesterday to express their support for a bilateral with Japan that falls short of open skies. The leaders forwarded to Albright a "platform" describing what a liberalized agreement should contain. Atlanta Mayor William Campbell; Dallas/Fort Worth Executive Director Jeffrey Fegan; Port of Portland, Ore., Aviation Director John Brockley; St.
Two American foes attacked the carrier on separate fronts, with Delta calling for an oral evidentiary hearing on the proposed American-TACA code share and United seeking an outright denial, plus documentation on how it may be related to the recently proposed American-LanChile agreement.
AAR Aircraft and Engine Group, Wood Dale, Ill., signed an agreement to buy the British Airways' 14 Boeing 747-136s as they are retired from service, AAR said yesterday. Deliveries will take place between 1998-2000. Under the pact, AAR also will buy spare engines associated with the aircraft and will enter into a consignment agreement to sell all the airlines' airframe spares inventory used to support the fleet. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
German and French transport ministers, meeting last week in Bonn, said their respective countries are against the liberalization of slot trading at European airports. German Transport Minister Matthias Wissmann and French counterpart Jean-Claude Gayssot agreed that current European Union slot allocation rules should be maintained, according to a statement issued by the German transport ministry. France and Germany are "in favor of the maintenance of coordinating the allocation of takeoff and landing slots at crowded airports," the statement said.
DOT has granted Baltia's request to delay until Feb. 7, 1998, startup of scheduled combination service between New York and St. Petersburg, Russia. The order also grants Baltia's request for confidential treatment of certain documents. The department granted the extension "in view of the progress the company had made toward becoming operational."
Southwest has appointed Gatwick-based Aviareps Ltd. its general sales agent in the U.K. The company will sell and distribute Freedom USA Passes in the U.K. and progressively through selected countries in Europe and the Far East. The passes, developed for visitors to the U.S. who want to plan and pay for their intra-U.S. flights before leaving home, fall under three types. Eastern and Central U.S. passes cost #63 (US$100.17), Western U.S., #49 ($77.91), and any journey that crosses the boundary, #83 ($131.92).
Boeing said yesterday that parts and labor shortages will force it to delay until next month its September deliveries of seven 737s, one 757 and four 747s to 10 customers. It is "too early to tell" whether only September deliveries will be affected, Boeing said. The situation could last at least six weeks, but it could go longer, it said.
Finnair and Air France plan to cooperate on the Helsinki-Paris route on a code-share basis beginning Oct. 26. The service is offered three times daily. The cooperation also calls for Finnair to use Terminal 2 at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, improving connections for the carrier's passengers. Finnair has marketing agreements with 16 other airlines.
Some 56% of 951 people questioned by French polling agency Ipsos are in favor of the privatizing Air France, according to a study published last week by French weekly magazine Le Point. A total of 22% opposed privatization and 22% had no opinion. The poll was conducted Sept. 5-6, simultaneously with the resignation of Air France Chairman Christian Blanc. He stepped down after the new French government confirmed its opposition to privatization.
U.S.-Romania talks open as scheduled today in Washington, requested by Romania and focusing on code sharing and liberalization. Talks with Japan resume Sept. 22-25 in Tokyo. Other dates include open skies talks with France Oct. 15-17 in Paris, Chile Oct. 27-28 in Washington, Italy on unspecified dates this fall in Washington and now Peru in Lima, also this fall. Liberalization talks with Russia are set for Nov. 12-14 in Moscow and with Brazil in Washington this fall.
Increasing numbers of open skies agreements among partners throughout Asia are a likely course of growth, Mark Gerchick, DOT deputy assistant secretary, told the Asia Open Skies Conference in Singapore yesterday. "Over the last several months, we understand that there have been discussions between or among several of our U.S. open-skies partners here regarding the potential negotiation of their own open-skies bilateral agreements," he said.
Northwest is taking steps to discourage travel agents from writing back-to-back tickets. The practice enables passengers to circumvent rules for low-fare tickets that require a Saturday night stay. Northwest already has told a small number of agents they will be invoiced for writing back- to-back tickets, which cost the airline hundreds of thousands of dollars. A traveler buys two low-fare, roundtrip tickets for different dates, then uses them in sequence to give the appearance of having complied with the weekend stay requirement.
