Newly established Air Travelers Association, a self-described "watchdog" of the airline industry, issued a "Report Card" yesterday that gave all U.S. airlines an "A" for safety except ValuJet, which received an "F." Most of the other "F" rankings went to Chinese, Latin American and African carriers. Canadian airlines received the top rankings, as did most Western European carriers except Air France, which got a "B," and Lauda Air and Martinair Holland, which got "Fs." Other carriers with "F"s include Aeroflot, Tarom and Indian Airlines.
EVA Air said it has signed a memorandum of intent with General Electric to construct jointly a major aircraft engine overhaul and maintenance facility in Taipei. The airline would hold the majority of shares in the venture. The new facility will expand EVA's capacity for third-party maintenance and overhaul services at a time when Taiwan wants to establish Chiang Kai-Shek Airport (CKS) as the primary air transit hub in the Asia/Pacific region.
Pratt&Whitney and SIA Engineering Co. (SIAEC), a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, have agreed to form a joint venture to overhaul jet engines in Singapore. P&W will own 51% of the company, which will service JT9D, PW4000 and CFM56 engines initially, with plans to add other models in the future. The SIA UNIT will supply the starting work force and management from its current overhaul shop, and P&W will provide the general manager and specialist support.
Delta has become the first U.S. airline member of the American Productivity&Quality Center's international benchmarking clearinghouse. "Delta is committed to maintaining the balance among three key factors - financial results, customer service and people - while maintaining our focus on quality," said Kathryn Gerrick, Delta general manager-corporate planning.
American and TACA Group airlines told DOT it should turn down requests by Continental and United to file late motions against their prospective code share, disputing at the same time "each and every allegation" the opponents made (DAILY, June 24).
The ground staff members of British Airways' Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) voted yesterday to strike over the issue of the airline's proposed sale of its catering operation. Of 9,508 members eligible to vote, 6,446 returned ballots, casting 4,250 votes for a strike and 2,485 against; 2,873 abstained. TGWU is the second union in a week to authorize strike action against BA, following last week's flight attendants vote.
Lufthansa and Belgian regional carrier VLM have agreed to launch a marketing partnership. Beginning today, VLM will offer code-share flights from its home base at Deurne Airport in Antwerp to Monchengladbach, near Dusseldorf, and to London City Airport. VLM joins Lufthansa's frequent flyer program, Miles&More, at the same time. This will be followed by code-share services to Rotterdam and Munich Sept. 1.
ValuJet is cutting family fares purchased by July 15 for travel through Sept. 30. Tickets must be purchased at least three days in advance. ValuJet said a family of four can travel one way from Chicago Midway to Orlando for $286, or between Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth for
Cathay Pacific is opening a cabin crew base in Vancouver for staff on the Vancouver-Hong Kong route. Salaries will be based on the Canadian market, Cathay said, and the Vancouver station will employ the crew. The airline expects the base to be operational in January.
The Air France Group had to cancel dozens of flights daily during the second half of June for lack of pilots. Seventeen flights of a total of 1,000 were scrapped last Friday, followed by 14 of 750 Saturday, 18 of 800 Sunday and 12 of 1000 yesterday. Unions attributed the problems to a work- to-rule action while the company said they resulted from last month's pilot strikes, when cockpit crew rejected hiring of young pilots at lower wages.
The U.S. has not weakened its resolve in aviation negotiations with Japan, the State Department assured Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-N.C.). Helms wrote Secretary of State Madeleine Albright May 19 about reports that Japan expected to add new service by taking slots from U.S. carriers at Tokyo Narita Airport, and that the U.S. might back off from its open skies objective in current aviation negotiations (DAILY, June 6). Barbara Larkin, assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, wrote Helms June 27 that the U.S.
The directors of Western Pacific and Frontier signed a merger deal yesterday by which Westpac will acquire the smaller carrier. The agreement, to have been detailed late yesterday in a news conference, provides 0.75 shares of Westpac stock for every Frontier share, resulting in 31% ownership by Frontier. George Leonard, Westpac chief financial officer, told The DAILY yesterday the merged carrier has not yet been named, but Westpac President and Chief Executive Bob Peiser will be the CEO.
The European Commission will approve a massive state aid package to bail out Italian flag carrier Alitalia around mid-July, an EU spokeswoman confirmed last week in Brussels. EU Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock rejected Italy's assertion that the capital injection is not a state aid and could have been provided by a private shareholder. As a consequence, the EU's "one-time, last-time" rule will apply to the Italian flag carrier's recapitalization plan, and the EC is expected to impose conditions.
Federal Express posted record fourth quarter profits and fiscal 1997 net income that jumped 17% to $361.2 million. Annual revenues rose 12% to $11.5 billion. For its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended March 31, FedEx logged record net income of $132.6 million, up 15% on strong domestic package volumes. Quarterly revenue increased 12% to $3.07 billion. International operating income for the year soared 73% to $141 million on international revenues of $3.2 billion. Domestic operating income grew 3% to $558 million.
Zantop International Airlines plans to sell its maintenance operation at the Middle-George Regional Airport, in Macon, Ga., to Whitehall Corp. of Dallas, the carrier said last week. The operation has annual revenues of $20 million, Whitehall said.
Japan Airlines is denying Kyodo news service reports that it is considering a joint Pacific operation with American. While the carriers collaborate on frequent flyer programs, a JAL spokeswoman said they share nothing further and "no active discussions" are under way.
Germany's regional state government of North Rhine Westphalia has narrowed its list of candidates for the partial privatization of Dusseldorf Airport to two international consortia, both led by German companies. One is headed by construction firm Hochtief, including Ireland's Aer Rianta, and the other the Harpen Group. North Rhine Westphalia and the city of Dusseldorf jointly own the airport and plan to sell half their shares to the private sector after the summer.
Challenge Air Cargo and FedEx/Arrow/FWIA disputed dormancy issues in respective filings on the Argentina all-cargo-frequency case, and the FedEx parties also contested numerous positions taken by Fine Air over FedEx's U.S.-Argentina operation.
Dragonair celebrates Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty today with complimentary champagne on all flights and a souvenir flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for each passenger. Airline officials and shareholders, including China National Aviation Corp., CITIC and Swire/Cathay Pacific, greeted passengers in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
DOT awarded combination frequencies to Russia as requested to Continental and Delta, using up the remaining allocation. Continental received seven weekly frequencies for Newark-Moscow service, which it will fly with DC-10s starting April 30, 1998. In a separate agreement, Aeroflot plans to buy, market and sell half the Continental seats, subject to government approval. Delta received 4.5 frequencies to be used via Austrian and Swissair code sharing, increasing its total into Russia to 23.5 frequencies.
US Airways pilots will picket today at Charlotte-Douglas and Pittsburgh airports to protest 145 furloughs expected by October, 64 of which begin today. The Air Line Pilots Association claims the pilots are being used "as pawns in ongoing negotiations." Management has said for months it would downsize the airline if new labor agreements were not reached. An ALPA spokesman said there is no economic justification for the furloughs, and the pilots are needed now to fill trips.
