UAW President Stephen Yokich and Secretary-Treasurer Roy Wyse said yesterday they support the proposed merger between Boeing and McDonnell Douglas. Yokich said the merger is a "good deal for U.S. aerospace workers and for the nation." Wyse, who heads the UAW Aerospace Department, said the UAW has "worked well with both Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in the course of our union's longstanding contractual relationships with these two aerospace leaders.
The Indian government has selected Indian Airlines as one of two designated airlines to operate direct flights to China under the bilateral agreement signed by the two countries this year, civil aviation officials said Friday. The other carrier has yet to be chosen, they added. State-owned IA is mainly a domestic carrier, and Beijing and Shanghai will be its 18th and 19th destinations outside India. IA will be able to operate two frequencies per week with any type of aircraft. It plans to use A300s and A320s.
Icelandair will launch service from Keflavik, Iceland, to Minneapolis-St. Paul with four weekly flights beginning in April 1998. The gateway, Icelandair's sixth in the U.S., is the first outside the East Coast and Florida.
United's employees in Japan have become the first outside North America to join the airline's new voluntary stock purchase plan. Employees can authorize monthly deductions to increase their holdings. United is studying the feasibility of bringing the stock purchase plan to other non- U.S. locations.
American has begun hiring flight attendants again, its first call for new cabin crew since early last year, and expects to hire 360 before yearend. More are expected to be hired in 1998 and 1999. Mike Gunn, senior VP- marketing, said, "While we are still formulating our plans for the next two years, we expect a need for additional flight attendants to accommodate growth and normal attrition." The company will begin interviewing current AMR employees this month and external applicants in July.
BFGoodrich Aircraft Evacuation Systems has picked Bangalore, India, as its first Southwest Asia site to inspect, repair and certify "aircraft inflatables" and other accessories, including life rafts, life vests, escape slides, slide rafts, survival kits, cargo nets, helicopter floats, seat belts and oxygen equipment. Work will not be limited to BFGoodrich products.
Transaero of Russia will buy Ilyushin Il-96Ms and Boeing 767s and 737s as part of its $2 billion, 12- to 15-year fleet upgrade that could amount to more than 30 new jets. The company's current fleet comprises three DC-10s, five 757-200s, five 737-200s and one Il-8. But as leases expire on the U.S. aircraft, Transaero plans to invest in the Il-96M long-range widebody, placing the second large order for it after Aeroflot's purchase of 10 Il- 96Ms and 10 Il-96Ts, as well as new 767s and 737s. Also under consideration is the Tupolev Tu-204.
Impatient shareholders may push their companies into transatlantic alliances unless Europe acts to speed up the mechanics of integration, according to Tony Edwards, chief executive of Dowty Aerospace and chairman and chief executive of Messier-Dowty. "It is just too slow, difficult and complex in Europe," Edwards told McGraw-Hill Aviation Week Group's Show News. "Shareholders may see quicker returns from alliances in the U.S. than from waiting for Europe to sort itself out."
The U.K. aerospace industry is leaner and fitter than ever and can compete with anyone, including the U.S. giants, said David Marshall, director general of the Society of British Aerospace Companies. "People get this consolidation business mixed up," Marshall commented. "The industry isn't smaller and weaker; beneath those big companies is a growing number of suppliers. We believe there are up to 5,000 companies in the U.K.
TWA gave 20,889 frequent flyer program members 1,000 bonus miles apiece during the first eight days of June as part of its on-time promotion, awarding miles to passengers on late flights. The promotion, which runs through June 30, has helped attract 34,262 new program members since TWA launched the on-time guarantee.
American, ALM Antillean and BWIA International withdrew their code-share application in a terse filing with DOT. The carriers did not tell DOT why they withdrew, and American did not answer a query from The DAILY. Though the proposal was minuscule in scope compared with other alliances, opponents said it would tighten American's grip in the Caribbean. (Docket OST-97-2159)
FAA said its land-and-hold-short directive, effective July 17, combines separate rules covering simultaneous operations, demonstration projects or operations performed under waivers during a period of more than 30 years. The agency's statement came in response to some pilots unions' claims that the new rule would reduce the margin of safety (DAILY, June 13). The clearance directs the landing pilot to hold short of an intersecting runway while another aircraft lands or departs from that runway.
Great Lakes Airlines resumed service yesterday to Dubuque, Iowa, from Chicago O'Hare with four daily nonstops using Beech 1900D aircraft. The carrier suspended service to Dubuque and other cities May 16.
After seven weeks of negotiations, British Airways and Aeroports de Paris (ADP) yesterday resolved their dispute over security at Charles de Gaulle Airport. BA will move its check-in facilities immediately to a temporary spot in Terminal 1. BA, which has 30 daily departures from CDG, refused to share facilities with Air Algerie out of security concerns. The Algerian carrier resumed service to Paris in April after terrorism on the airline in France forced it to withdraw service from the country.
Air Canada's May traffic increased 9.4% on 2.8% more capacity, propelling the load factor up 4.5 percentage points to 74%. International traffic jumped 12.9% on 4.6% more capacity, while domestic traffic gained 3.6% on 0.6% less capacity. In the first five months, Air Canada's traffic rose 8.8% and its load factor averaged 70.1%, up 2.8 points.
Kiwi International Air Lines has received a bid from investors for nearly all of its assets in a move designed to bring it out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The $16 million bid came from Kiwi International Holdings, a company formed by Charles Edwards, and is being presented to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Edwards-Wasatch Enterprises has provided Kiwi more than $10 million and was its only source of funds when the carrier resumed scheduled service in January after financial difficulties (DAILY, Jan. 3).
British Airways is offering several transatlantic holiday packages for London-bound travelers. Fares begin at $709 for roundtrip transatlantic airfare and three nights in a London hotel. Six-night packages range from $839 to $1,189 per person, and travel must occur between July 1 and Sept. 15.
Aircraft suspected of non-compliance with international safety standards will be subject to ramp inspections at European Union airports starting Jan. 1, 1999, at the latest, European Union transport ministers said yesterday in Luxembourg. The EU's intention is to give the force of law to the Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft program developed by Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities. The ministers agreed that SAFA checks will be carried out on non-EU aircraft only.
Cathay Pacific Airways has signed a 10-year agreement with Sabre and IBM under which the companies will develop and maintain a suite of information technology products, becoming Cathay's preferred IT suppliers. The Smartsourcing project enables Cathay to work with fewer suppliers.
The Clinton administration appears to be focusing on cargo rights issues in its relationship with Japan, judging from DOT Secretary Rodney Slater's speech yesterday to the International Aviation Club in Washington. Slater, who took no questions after his talk, implied the administration would not compromise on new service beyond Japan sought by Federal Express.
Airbus Industrie, which hoped to announce launch orders and an engine selection for its new A340 models at the Paris Air Show (DAILY, May 15), came up with half the package - the engine. The Rolls-Royce Trent 500 will be the initial engine on the A340-600 and A340-500, higher-capacity and extended-range versions of the current A340-300, the European consortium said at Le Bourget, and the announced commitment to the program will lead to "industrial launch in September after appropriate orders have been obtained." Service entry would be late 2001 or early 2002.
General Electric Aircraft Engines is in exploratory discussions with a prospective partner that would open the door to airframe maintenance and enable it to offer "one-stop shopping for airline customers," GEAE President Eugene Murphy said. The company, undergoing government review of its prospective acquisition of engine service companies Greenwich Air Services and UNC Inc., hopes maintenance and service will generate half its revenues by 2000.
The work of Airbus Industrie should not be limited to civil aircraft, the European consortium's partners agreed during the weekend at the Paris Air Show, but diversification into defense and space manufacturing will take a long time because it depends on government projects, said Manfred Bischoff, chairman of Germany's Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG (DASA). Aerospatiale, DASA and British Aerospace still are working on the organization of a future Airbus Plc, which would replace the current consortium.
Denver-based Frontier Airlines posted yesterday a $12.2 million net loss for the 1996 fiscal year ending March 31, more than double the carrier's $5.6 million loss in the previous year. Despite the loss, Frontier's revenues jumped 65.5% to $116.5 million, qualifying it as a "national" carrier, the threshold for which is $100 million in revenue, according to DOT.
Travel industry executives are blase about the role of smart-card technology in the electronic ticketing process or in automated boarding, according to a poll taken at the Travel Technology Association's (TTA) predictions dinner in San Diego. Most of the executives polled - 85% - said they were either neutral or unenthusiastic about smart cards. And 92% predicted that by 2000, travel volume transacted by a computer reservations system or global distribution system will drop from current levels.
