The Association of Flight Attendants today will bring its CHAOS - Create Havoc Around Our System - campaign to ValuJet Airlines at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport. The informational picketing, calling for higher wages and better treatment for ValuJet flight attendants, will continue through Sept. 6. Contract negotiations, in progress for two years, are in federal mediation.
US Airways Express carrier Allegheny Airlines has named Keith Houk president and chief executive. Houk, 49, was US Airways' VP-special projects and president of Jetstream Airlines, now PSA.
GE Capital Services yesterday announced the appointment of Henry Hubschman as president of GE Capital Aviation Services, effective Oct. 1. Hubschman was VP and general counsel of GE Aircraft Engines. GE Capital Aviation Services' business encompasses more than 900 aircraft at 160 airlines in over 60 countries.
International Lease Finance Corp. ordered 65 aircraft from Airbus Industrie and 61 from Boeing, the manufacturers announced yesterday. The Airbus order comprises 50 A319, A320 and A321 single-aisle aircraft and 15 A330 widebodies. Deliveries will begin in 2000 and continue for five years. The Boeing order includes 31 737-600s, two 747-400s, seven 767-300ERs and five 767-400ERs. In addition, ILFC affirmed a commitment for the 777, ordering a mix of 10 777-200 IGWs with substitution rights for the 777-300.
Singapore Airlines has completed an agreement to sell and lease back a Boeing 747-400 to take advantage of the current favorable resale value of the jet. A special-purpose company, 747 Investors II L.P., was created for the SIA deal. It is owned by an investment fund managed by Farallon Capital Institutional Partners II. SIA will lease the aircraft for a nine- year, two-month term.
Aviation Industry Stock Performance August 1997 Closed Closed Symbol 08/28/93 07/30/93 Majors ALK 27.438 29.563 America West (Class B) AWA 12.063 13.813 AMR AMR 100.750 107.563 Continental (Class B) 1 CAI.B 36.625 37.250 Delta DAL 86.500 88.875
FAA yesterday ordered more frequent inspections of the midspar fuse pins on Boeing 757 aircraft powered by Pratt&Whitney and Rolls-Royce engines, saying recent reports show that an earlier airworthiness directive does not go far enough in preventing fatigue cracking that could lead to separation of the strut and engine from the wing.
Boeing has received an Organizational Designated Airworthiness Representative (ODAR) delegation from FAA to support type certification of its MD-17 transport, the civil version of the C-17 military airlifter. With an ODAR delegation, authorized Boeing employees can perform conformity inspections of parts and components on behalf of FAA. Monitoring and oversight will come from the FAA Manufacturing Inspection District Office in Lakewood, Calif.
AMR Airline Services said that, following award in February of a startup handling agreement with Canada 3000, it has received a second contract for service at Halifax, Nova Scotia. AMR serves the carrier at Montreal Dorval and Mirabel airports and Las Vegas.
The European Commission approved last week a proposal by Lufthansa CityLine of Kriftel, Germany, and Bombardier International BV, Amsterdam, to acquire jointly a 50% share in a CityLine subsidiary, European Business Jet Services. EBJS plans to sell flights supplied by independent owners and operators of business jets to third parties on a commission basis. Germany alone lists more than 60 business aircraft operators.
DOT issued a consent order assessing $25,000 in compromise civil penalties against US Airways for two advertising violations. One ad, in The Miami Herald on Sept. 10, 1996, offered a $49 one-way Miami-Tallahassee fare to which US Airways added a $2 fuel charge, selling seats for $51. The ad did not mention the fuel charge, and DOT does not permit airlines to state such charges separately from fares anyway.
Although Tokyo Narita often appears to be the linchpin in U.S.-Japan aviation relations, Gidwitz said Osaka's industrial prominence makes Kansai Airport a more desirable destination for many business people flying from the Midwest through Chicago O'Hare. Osaka is a "sister city" to Chicago.
TWA is the latest airline pressing workers to reduce foreign object damage from tools and trash left on the tarmac. In a message to employees, TWA said FOD has cost $7 million this year in engine repairs alone, not including the costs of canceling flights.
Pilots and flight engineers represented by the Teamsters Union at Southern Air Transport signed a tentative agreement, the first since the union organized those groups at the cargo carrier. A union spokesman said the contract represents a "big improvement over where they were. It's not up to where we want to get them someday, but considering where we took them from, it's a very good contract." Results of a ratification vote by members are expected by Sept. 19. Under the five-year contract, scheduled days off are increased to 11 a month.
Attendance of commercial and civic observers at bilateral talks needlessly complicates the negotiators' task, United's Cyril Murphy told The DAILY last week. Chicago Aviation Commissioner Mary Rose Loney and the Midwest- Asia Aviation Coalition's Ronald Gidwitz observed U.S.-Japan talks with about 80 others - including United officials - and Loney said the practice gives negotiators and other government officials a much clearer picture of aviation and business community needs. Murphy noted that observers are not permitted in other venues, such as U.S.
The contract being voted on by Independent Pilots Association members is not UPS's "last offer," a company spokeswoman said Friday, even though that is how the union says UPS described it. The pilots believe the National Mediation Board is favoring UPS when it says it is likely to recess talks into 1998 - past the Christmas season - if the pilots vote down the current offer. Asked to comment, the board says it and parties to disputes sometimes have different perspectives on the board's duties.
Prodded by an order from Congress, DOT has agreed to review the merits of extending Loran-C navigation services beyond 2000. DOT and the Coast Guard, which operate the system, had been deaf to industry insistence that Loran-C will be needed despite the advent of the Global Positioning System. The 1996 Federal Radionavigation Plan calls for decommissioning Loran-C in 2000, surprising many industry groups, including users of the navigation system outside aviation.
Western Pacific, targeting the hearts and minds of Denver travelers, elicited feedback from travel agents by appealing to their stomachs. The airline provided a large pizza to each Denver agency in which at least five agents responded to a recent survey.
British Airways filed to expand its code share with America West. The U.K. carrier, which offers code-share service to Albuquerque, Burbank, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Oakland, Ontario, Orange Country, San Jose and Tucson via Phoenix, proposes combination service between points in the U.K. and Columbus, Ohio. BA seeks authority by Oct. 1 so it can launch service by Nov. 1. The Columbus code share was part of an earlier 45-city application, but DOT limited approval to the nine for which the carrier had firm plans.
The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), in a new policy statement to European Union members, says Europe's problem with increasing noise pollution from aircraft stems in part from the absence of a tax on aircraft fuels, and noise abatement measures should be funded by such a tax. In its "Memorandum to the Luxembourg Presidency and the EU Member States," the EEB says that, despite lower noise emissions per aircraft movement, overall noise pollution is rising because of steadily increasing flights.
KLM and Dutch partner Schreiner Aviation Group BV signed a letter of intent last week confirming Schreiner's takeover of KLM's 51% interest in KLM ERA Helicopters. The value of transaction remains confidential. Rowan Companies of the U.S. controls the remaining 49% of shares in KLM ERA, which Schreiner says it is prepared to buy as well. KLM said worldwide consolidation in the helicopter industry prompted the sale. The new company will operate under the name Northsea Helicopters BV.
FAA ordered that the 77 Airbus A300-600s and A310s in the U.S. registry be modified so the flight crew can disconnect the autopilot by applying direct force to the control column, regardless of its mode and the altitude of the airplane. FAA says the order is intended to prevent an out-of-trim condition which "could severely reduce controllability of the airplane."
