The National Civil Aviation Review Commission will try this week to settle one of the most controversial issues under its consideration - whether and under what conditions airports should be allowed to collect passenger facility charges at levels above the current $3 limit. One staff draft of the commission's preliminary report on financing suggests that the panel looks favorably on allowing an increase when airlines agree to one, but otherwise the question remains open.
Ho Pang-li, director of the Aviation Medical Center of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration, has resigned to protest CAA's decision to relax physical examination standards for pilots. Among changes opposed by Ho was the lowering of vision requirements and the elimination of a mandatory cardiogram. A CAA official said the new standards are in line with FAA's.
FAA's newly proposed airport security rule contains "important changes that will affect non-airline airport tenants," according to the National Air Transportation Association (DAILY, Aug. 4). Although access control provisions of the rule generally apply to airports served by scheduled airlines with aircraft seating more than 60 passengers, FAA intends to allow non-air-carrier tenants, such as aviation businesses serving general aviation, to have an agreement with an airport operator for security of their facilities.
International Airline Support Group said its net income for the fourth quarter ended May 31 was $881,000, compared with $313,000 for the same fiscal quarter a year earlier. Revenues rose 13% to $6.4 million from $5.7 million. For the year, net earnings were $1.7 million, down from $2.3 million, while revenues dropped to $20.1 million from $21.4 million. The company said its aircraft and engine sales are "opportunistic and may fluctuate significantly from year to year."
American and American Eagle are bringing back weekend "breakaaway" fares in selected markets. Fares range from $88 roundtrip to $298. The fares require a three-day advance purchase. In most markets, travel must begin on Saturday with the return flight on Monday or Tuesday. Travel on transcontinental routes must begin on Friday.
KLM said Friday it will receive $40 per share of Northwest common stock, or more than $1.17 billion. The share price was calculated from the weighted average of the closing price for Northwest stock on the NASDAQ Exchange during the Aug. 4-7 period, with $40 the negotiated maximum and $36.50 the minimum. KLM will sell its stake in four tranches over a three-year period, with payment for the first tranche on Oct. 1.
Representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) continue meetings this week with officials of the Federal Aviation Authority of Russia (FAAR) on funding for the international tender to modernize the air traffic control system in the Russian Far East. EBRD is willing to lend Russia the funds necessary for the modernization as long as the government provides a sovereign guarantee that the loan will be repaid. The meetings are designed to resolve issues related to the guarantee and secure a signature.
Regional carrier Air Virginia enjoys the predictability of British Aerospace's "Macro" spares program, which is similar to power-by-the-hour offered by engine firms. "We know to the penny what it will cost us to operate" a Jetstream 32, according to the airline's president, Keith Mottas.
American Society of Travel Agents board voted to co-sponsor a travel congress on the handicapped and step up the campaign against bogus travel agent IDs. ASTA conducts an annual symposium on travel for the disabled, and the board decided at a recent meeting in Bordeaux, France, to co- sponsor the Society for the Advancement of Travelers with Handicaps (SATH) World Congress on Travel Jan. 6-11 in Miami. And it passed a measure to work with the International Airlines Travel Agent Network (IATAN) to ensure that only legitimate travel agents receive IATAN ID cards.
FAA said Friday it plans to suspend the certificates of 29 Fine Air pilots for up to 90 days "based on evidence that the pilots exceeded the maximum limitations for DC-8 operations into two airports in South America." The company had no immediate reaction. A Fine Air DC-8 crashed last Thursday during takeoff from Miami Airport, killing all four people aboard, but FAA said it issued the proposed suspensions in June and July, and the three pilots killed in the crash were among the 29 to be suspended. "Obviously, this action is unrelated" to the accident, it said.
Airlines on Aug. 13 will begin collecting the $12 international departure and arrival taxes on tickets for travel beginning Oct. 1. The taxes will be the first collected under the new tax regime, signed into law Aug. 5 (DAILY, Aug. 6). New domestic passenger taxes will be imposed on tickets purchased on and after Oct. 1 for travel on or after Oct. 1. The different treatment for domestic and international taxes was established by a concurrent resolution (H.Con.Res.138) making technical corrections to the tax bill.
Vanguard Airlines' July traffic rose 0.3% over July 1996 to 73.5 million re venue passenger miles, while capacity grew 3% to 113 million available seat miles. The load factor dropped slightly more than two percentage points to 65.02%. For the first seven months of the year, RPMs jumped 23% to 503.5 million, ASMs rose 33% to 827.8 million and the load factor fell 4.95 points to 60.8%. Vanguard serves 12 cities and will expand to New York Kennedy Sept. 3.
Pratt&Whitney, commenting on carriers' complaints about shortages of parts for early models of its JT8D engine, says it has "put on extra vendors" and is "doing everything we can to meet demand." Several carriers have had to ground aircraft for lack of parts. P&W says it has "seen a big increase in demand for a handful of parts. We are working the problem very hard."
FAA implied to Congress a level of precision about the costs of the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) that "cannot be supported, particularly in light of the uncertainties existing early in the system's development cycle," the General Account Office said last week.
DOT approved an American code-share renewal for services with Canadian Airlines International that date back to the carriers' 1995 cooperative agreement. Planned for phase-in but still unused, Canadian's code will be placed on American flights between Los Angeles and Guadalajara that connect with Canadian flights between Los Angeles and Vancouver; on American Chicago-Manchester flights that link with Canadian's Toronto-Chicago; and on American's Chicago-Birmingham connected to Canadian's Toronto and Vancouver routes.
British Airways' regionals Deutsche BA and TAT lost a combined #68 million last year, but both made strides to improve their reach. DBA increased German domestic market share on trunk routes to 35% and TAT's international load factor leaped 16 percentage points.
Hughes Information Technology Systems said it has met a milestone on the Canadian automated air traffic system with the third in a series of five software releases. The latest software release provides air traffic control capabilities for en route, terminal and tower airspace for both radar and non-radar environments. The release also supports some air traffic control and operational and maintenance support positions in an area control center. The software has been integrated at the Vancouver area control center annex.
