A hearing on an Independent Pilots Association injunction request against UPS was conducted yesterday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, but no resolution had been reached at DAILY press time. IPA filed suit Aug. 24, alleging that UPS threatened to bar four pilots from their pre-Teamster-strike duties as flight instructors. Following the strike, UPS management told three pilots they would not be welcomed back to their previous jobs because they had been seen on the picket line, according to an IPA statement.
DOT approved until Oct. 29, 1998, Air Canada's request to wet-lease a 767- 300 to Air New Zealand for ANZ's Vancouver-Honolulu service. The twice- weekly roundtrips, scheduled to begin Oct. 29, will be conducted in conjunction with ANZ's Honolulu-Auckland flights, for which the carrier operates its own aircraft. Air Canada noted in its application that the recently signed U.S.-New Zealand open skies agreement "expressly authorizes the operation of wet-lease services."
Aviation Distributors said the Bank of New York has agreed to retain its $15 million credit facility despite the resignation of the company auditor, Arthur Anderson. Some covenants of the agreement between the company and the bank are in default as a result of the resignation and the withdrawal of reports related to the company's financial statements for certain periods, Aviation Distributors President Osamah Bakhit said, but the bank agreed to a 90-day waiver of the covenants to give the company time to obtain audited financial statements.
New Pan Am, which started flying a year ago this month, is in discussions with banks regarding a securities offering of up to $115 million prior to its merger with Carnival. The new preferred stock would pay Carnival's and Pan Am's debt and fund the new airline, according to a securities filing.
FAA has issued its final application procedures for participation in the airport privatization pilot program, which allows the transfer to the private sector of as many as five airports. As proposed in April, FAA will not accept applications before Dec. 1, but the agency has adopted suggestions for a two-stage process rather than the original plan to require airport sponsors and proposed private operators to present completed agreements (DAILY, April 22).
Boeing announced the start of major manufacturing of the 757-300, with assembly of the 63-foot wing spar, which will be clamped in place in an automated manufacturing tool so assembly can begin. The 757 application is the first use of the automated tool, the company said.
American and British Airways asked for an extension of the deadline for filing alliance documents - originally set for yesterday - and on the Sept. 15 deadline for petitions of reconsideration of the order. DOT Friday asked for additional documents from American-BA when it set the procedural schedule for consideration of the alliance and outlined its plans for an oral hearing (DAILY, Sept. 8).
Carriers competing for new Chilean service touted the advantages of their hubs in filings this week. Continental said it offers the only new nonstop service between the countries, United said its proposal is the only one to challenge American in its Miami hub, and Delta outlined the benefits of new gateway service from its Atlanta base with connections from Cincinnati.
Airline executives meeting with State Department officials yesterday expressed concern over the implications of the proposed United Nations treaty that would impose emission caps on industrialized nations (DAILY, Sept. 10). The treaty and other environmental issues will be the focus of a U.N. conference in Kyoto, Japan, in December. Industry officials met with Stuart Eizenstat, under secretary for economic affairs, and Timothy Wirth, under secretary for global affairs. The meeting was requested by airline officials.
Delta said yesterday it plans to build a $28.7 million operations center at its Atlanta headquarters that will be able to accommodate 10 aircraft simulators and simulator support and training areas, with space for future development. The carrier has two other operations centers in Atlanta that can handle 20 simulators and support facilities. The third center, expected to be completed in a year, will be used for 737-800 and 767-400 simulators.
FAA has chosen five airport sponsors to receive about $7 million in fiscal 1997 airport grants issued under a demonstration of innovative use of small amounts of Airport Improvement Program funds to leverage larger amounts for development. The pilot program, established by Congress last year, allows FAA to finance 10 projects under the program through fiscal 1998.
Tower Air reported a gain of 6.5% in total block hours flown in August, to 4,821, mainly because of increases in scheduled service. Block hours for the first eight months of 1997 decreased 6% to 29,489, compared with 31,375 for the same period in 1996. For the eight-month period, the scheduled- passenger load factor rose 4.3 percentage points to 77.5%. Revenue passenger miles decreased 7.4% to 2.3 billion and available seat miles fell 12.5% to 3 billion.
America West reported record-breaking August traffic but a slight decrease in load factor. Traffic jumped 7.6% over August 1996, but capacity was up 8.2% and the load factor fell 0.5 percentage points to 74.3%. The carrier launched a sale, cutting fares as much as 35% through Sept. 17 for travel from Sept. 22 through Feb. 12, 1998. One-way fares based on a roundtrip purchase include Las Vegas-Los Angeles, $53; Salt Lake City-Las Vegas, $56 ; Phoenix-San Jose, $82; New York-Chicago, $119; Boston-San Diego, $185, and New York-San Francisco, $191.
UAE national carrier Emirates will add two flights per week on its Dubai- Mumbai route and introduce first-class service on six of its seven weekly flights to and from New Delhi, both effective Oct. 26, airline officials said Wednesday. The additional Airbus flights to Mumbai will increase the carrier's India winter schedule to 20 weekly flights, with 15% more seating capacity and 11% more cargo capacity on the route.
Used Jet Aircraft Deliveries June 1997 Carrier # Type Engines Previous Operator Aer Lingus 1 A330-300 CF6-80E1A2 Airbus Industrie Aeromexico 1 MD-83 JT8D-219 Alaska Airlines Air Niagara 1 F28-1000 Spey555-15N Horizon Air Air One 1 737-400 CFM56-3C1 Lufthansa
Canadian Airlines has signed a code-share agreement with Mandarin Airlines of Taiwan that will take effect Oct. 26. The pact includes expansion of operations between Vancouver and Taipei this winter. During off-peak periods in the winter, both carriers had reduced the service below daily frequency. "By working together and coordinating our schedules, we can jointly maintain daily service from Vancouver to Taipei, as well as service on six days of the week in the other direction," said Canadian's VP- Capacity Planning Don Casey.
The State of Hawaii is waiving airline landing fees at its airports for two years, effective Sept. 1, in an attempt to encourage tourism. Airlines currently pay the state about $40 million a year in landing fees. Reserving the right to reinstate fees if needed, Gov.
Western Pacific reported a 52% jump in revenue passenger miles for August 1997 compared with August last year, while capacity increased 38.3% and the load factor rose 6.3 percentage points. The airline said the data indicate consumer response to its move to Denver, a code-share schedule with Frontier, and marketing initiatives. Aug 97 Aug 96 8 Mths 97 8 Months 1996 RPMs 241,036,000 157,623,200 1,326,127,000 994,221,400 ASMs 362,687,000 262,194,500 1,328,127,000 1,709,487,400
Lufthansa Cargo cites fuel cost cuts as a factor in its first-half return to profitability (DAILY, Sept. 9). New airspace flexibility over Asia has shortened its Frankfurt-Seoul service by 706 miles, saving 32 tons of fuel per roundtrip. The carrier reduced specific fuel consumption of its 747- 200Fs by 3%, retired some DC-8s and adopted faster landing and takeoff procedures.
Nav Canada said the Transport Ministry has confirmed that its proposed user fees are consistent with the Civil Air Navigation Services Commercialization Act and it plans to introduce new user charges for en route and terminal air navigation services in March 1. Nav Canada also will increase existing charges, including overflight fees, said Kenneth Copeland, president. "The user fee schedule that was submitted to the minister, and which has now been confirmed, incorporates many of the suggestions from users" during consultations over the past seven months, he said.
United, answering FedEx's request at DOT for an exemption to operate scheduled all-cargo service between the U.S. and Ho Chi Minh City, questioned whether an exemption was necessary as FedEx holds a dormant certificate for U.S.-Vietnam service. United, which asked for renewal of its U.S.-Vietnam authority in 1991, asked the department not to act on FedEx's request "unless it is also prepared at the same time to grant other deferred applications for Vietnam authority."
China Airlines' revenues for the first half of 1997 reached US$990 million, 13.26 % more than in the first half last year. Pre-tax earnings were more than four times higher, growing to US$61 million. The company predicted that full-year revenues will exceed US$2.04 billion and pre-tax earnings will reach US$114 million. A CAL spokesman cited downsizing of the work force and strong growth in cargo operations as factors in first-half profitability growth. The cargo load factor topped 87.7%, up from 82.8% during the first half of 1996.
TWA has launched a "fly now, fly later" sale for weekend travel during September, "fly now," and between Nov. 1 and Dec. 17, "fly later." The sale covers domestic and international destinations, including Honolulu, London, Paris, Madrid and Milan. Tickets must be purchased no later than Sept. 12 and are non-refundable. "Fly now" roundtrip fares from St. Louis are $158 to Orlando or New York, $298 to London or Paris and $188 to Los Angeles. Roundtrip "fly later" fares from St. Louis are $498 to Honolulu and $438 to Paris or Milan.
