International Lease Finance Corp., adding new aircraft (DAILY, Sept. 3), also plans to sell 30 to 35 jet transports a year from its current portfolio of about 380. Last year, the leasing firm sold 37 used jets for $946 million.
A government official yesterday confirmed an informal meeting Tuesday between Assistant Secretary of State Alan Larson and Jiro Hanyu, Transport Ministry deputy director general for Japan (DAILY, Sept. 3) but played down its significance. The two officials concluded their discussions yesterday, the government official said. "It's an overstatement to say that they were trying to break a deadlock or avoid an impasse," the official said.
Christian Blanc, chairman of the state-owned Groupe Air France, openly displayed his conflict with the French government yesterday in an interview broadcast by France Inter radio. Blanc, whose predecessor, Bernard Attali, was driven from Air France by pressure from its unions, did not say whether he will ask for the renewal of his appointment when the board meets Sept.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic March 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) American Trans Air 561 (12.81) 1,569 880,642 Carnival 226 (1.70) 1,224 276,995
FedEx launched "the first around-the-world cargo flight" and said it will significantly reduce transit times from Europe to the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Asia. Originating in Indianapolis, the flight will serve Europe through the FedEx hub in Paris before continuing to Dubai, Mumbai, Bangkok and Subic Bay returning to the U.S. via Anchorage.
In a four-week survey at more than 200 public-access Internet kiosks, CIC Research and ATCOM/INFO found that more than half of respondents who cited American, Delta or United as their preferred airline were willing to buy products or services online and were "technically savvy" in using communications tools. Nearly 25% of them make 10 or more business trips per year, and the group is weighted heavily toward top jobs, airline airport clubs and gold and platinum credit cards.
The National Civil Aviation Review Commission (NCARC), approving last week its preliminary report on aviation funding subject to final editing, called for a change in the budget treatment for FAA, reorganization of air traffic control, a new system of user funding and more money for airport development. Commission staff members are putting the finishing touches on the preliminary report, and the panel plans to give it to DOT next week for review and comment, sources said.
Dragonair will resume service to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from Hong Kong, effective Sept. 16. Several carriers suspended service last month because of violence in the Cambodian capital.
Northwest told DOT it opposes American/China Airlines and FedEx applications to serve Vietnam while "numerous other applications...including one filed by Northwest in 1989, remain pending." DOT deferred the earlier requests - Northwest wanted to combine Vietnam and U.S.-Japan service on a single flight - in the absence of a Vietnam bilateral. Northwest filed an update to its Vietnam service proposal Feb. 4, 1994, the day after President Clinton lifted the trade embargo against Vietnam.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic March 1997 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) Alaska 87 17.51 1,100 95,548 Latin 87 17.51 1,100 95,548 American 1,326 6.94 2,146 2,846,314
AirTran Airways, destined for merger with ValuJet, filed for an extraordinary-circumstances exemption from slot controls at Washington National Airport for service to Knoxville, Tenn. The carrier already has on file a request for slots at New York LaGuardia for service to Knoxville, Akron/Canton, Bloomington and Moline. Like slot exemptions filed by other niche carriers this year, none has been acted on by DOT although there are expectations the department is receptive to granting them under an expanded policy to promote competition.
DAC International and Universal Avionics Systems said they reached an agreement with TNT to retrofit its fleet of BAe 146 aircraft with UNS-1K GPS-based flight management systems. The system, which fits into the Arinc 599 control display opening, has a 12-channel GPS receiver that enables "seamless" flying in all phases, including approaches and, with growth, differential GPS landings.
Passenger volume between New York and St. Petersburg, Russia, more than doubled between 1994 and 1995, Baltia Air Lines told DOT in its continuing effort to launch combination service in the market. Baltia submitted supplemental documents outlining New York-St. Petersburg passenger traffic and U.S.-Russia cargo service and export-import activity, and it withdrew its request for confidential treatment of the information. (Docket OST-97- 2763)
United said it has invested in a new cargo consolidation center at the Douglas/Charlotte Airport, establishing a dedicated trucking service between southeastern and mid-Atlantic states and Europe, Latin America and Asia through the carrier's Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago gateways. United said the center will begin operations in November, providing shorter connection times and more efficient cargo processing.
Vanguard is giving away roundtrip tickets to find out what type of passengers use the airline and why. The Kansas City carrier's VP of marketing and planning, Russell White, said the giveaway is aimed at finding out what features are preferred by business travelers from small to medium-size companies. During each nonstop flight, the cabin crew will hold a drawing for a future free roundtrip by collecting business cards. The winner will receive a gift certificate valid for travel from Sept. 5 through Dec. 15.
Air Canada today will add six Scandinavian cities to its network under its code-sharing agreement with SAS, beginning Sept. 11, offering as many as 68 daily flights from eight Canadian cities to Stockholm and Gothenburg in Sweden, Copenhagen and Billund in Denmark, and Oslo and Stavanger in Norway, via London, Frankfurt and Newark. Seats go on sale today.
Japan Airlines is amending its operations manual to stiffen its stance on what it believes is increasing passenger violence in flight. JAL's manual gives new authority to airline staff, including the ability to hold and tie down a passengers who is harmful or violent toward other passengers and crew. The carrier will empower captains and airport office managers to reject boarding of drunken passengers and permit landings to force violent passengers to deplane.
Northwest and Garuda Indonesia applied jointly to DOT for initial two-year exemption authority to code share on flights between the U.S. and Indonesia, which they plan to begin in October. The carriers signed an alliance, the first between a Jakarta-based carrier and a U.S. airline, earlier this year (DAILY, April 23). The U.S.-Indonesia bilateral neither prohibits nor specifically authorizes code sharing.
TWA expanded its fall schedule yesterday to include year-round nonstop service between St. Louis and Paris. Service had been seasonal. The carrier also will boost flights from St. Louis to Cincinnati, Louisville and New Orleans to six daily nonstop roundtrips each, and increase nonstops from St. Louis to Orlando and Knoxville to eight and four, respectively.
US Airways' Air Line Pilots Association unit will picket the carrier's RIDC Park facility in Coraopolis, Pa., today at 7:30 a.m. The union picketed yesterday at Boston Logan Airport as part of its ongoing action against US Airways over contract negotiations.
United asked DOT for two-year blanket authority, on an expedited basis, to expand its code-share operations with Air New Zealand under the terms of the U.S.-New Zealand open skies pact. United would display ANZ's code on any United flight within the U.S. in conjunction with ANZ code-share services between New Zealand and the U.S., nonstop or via intermediate points, and between Los Angeles and Vancouver. ANZ applied separately for an exemption as well as authority to code share with United on ANZ flights to points in the South Pacific (DAILY, Aug. 27).
Millon Airlines, still campaigning for recertification as a fit carrier, told DOT it is moving from Miami to Melbourne, Fla., to take advantage of lower costs and signify a clean break with the past. New facilities available at "very low cost" will reduce operating expenses, and taking Millon "out of the Miami environment" will yield "immediate improvement of the overall operations and reduce costs," the carrier told DOT.
