ALPA President Randolph Babbitt told members a number of carriers whose aircraft are operated by union pilots have agreed not to carry UPS traffic. ALPA leadership urged members to press management for such an agreement last week. The union simultaneously argued against any action to escalate the strike, agreeing with UPS's Teamsters and Independent Pilots Association that this might provide a pretext for Taft-Hartley intervention by President Clinton.
Boeing's commercial aircraft business is experiencing a "near-term decline in productivity" as a result of its rapid production rate buildup, the company told SEC. The faster pace resulted in a substantial increase in employment, material and fabrication demand, and "overtime in engineering and production areas continues at high levels." The buildup will continue - Boeing is producing about 30 aircraft a month now and plans 43 a month next spring.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey is taking a hard look at the Wide Area Augmentation System program and its cost and schedule problems. Garvey has given George Donohue, who is in charge of acquisition programs and has been nominated to be her deputy, nearly three pages of questions on the justification for WAAS. One related question from Garvey: why FAA would certify the Global Positioning System for oceanic use when "interference has been experienced precluding the use of GPS."
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service said it will order 45 MD 600N helicopters from Boeing valued at $70.7 million, including spares and support. The helicopters will replace OH-6As on Border Patrol sectors.
United has selected Noise Cancellation Technologies Inc. to improve the on its long-haul flights, integrating active noise cancellation technology into the passenger control units in First and Connoisseur classes on 747- 400s, 767-300s and 777s. Each seat will have an active-ready headset. Installation begins this fall and all aircraft will be equipped by early 1999.
Air France is struggling to restore the image of the domestic shuttle services launched last October by Air France Europe, its regional unit. The flights have drawn widespread criticism from passengers who endured massive delays and cancellations over the past months. Air France acknowledges May and June have been "dramatic" for a number of reasons, including pilot shortages as a consequence of strikes, bad weather and computer problems.
Baltia Air Lines, which seeks a six-month exemption from DOT to delay further the launch of its long-planned service between New York and St. Petersburg, Russia, challenged Delta's bid for at least temporary allocation of the U.S.-Russia frequencies reserved for it (DAILY, Aug. 12). Baltia said it is "in a position to actually commence service within six months," and granting Delta's proposal would "jeopardize Baltia service." It said its goal to develop the U.S.-Russia market remains unwavering after seven years of effort, and "by contrast, Delta ceased service to St.
UPS filed suit yesterday against the Independent Pilots Association on the same day the union warned the company and its customers they could face "back-to-back strikes" if UPS-pilot differences are not resolved. Speaking at a news conference in Washington, IPA President Bob Miller called on UPS customers to urge management to settle with the pilots, echoing UPS's appeal to consumers to call the White House in support of its own position.
Mesaba Airlines, a Northwest Airlink feeder, experienced a 43% rise in revenues to $185.7 million from $129.6 million in 1994, and is expected to top $200 million this year. Net income during the three years has soared 227%, while unit costs rose 3.8% to 19.2 cents per ASM from 18.5 cents.
Jim Wilding, general manager and chief executive of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, will discuss the newly opened terminal at Washington National and the construction history of the building, as well as the challenges facing airports nationwide, in an interview on this week's Aviation News Today to air Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and at 1:30 p.m.
Hughes Information Technology Systems reported the early integration and verification of software and equipment for the China United Airlines (CUA) air traffic control system at Guangzhou, Zhengzhou and Chengdu. Hughes trained CUA controllers and technical personnel on its Guardian system, and they in turn will train other Chinese personnel. Transferring technology from Hughes, CUA will establish four more sites - Beijing, Shenyang, Changchun and Fuzhou, which are scheduled to be completed this September.
Mesa Air Group received something of a give-back from United July 29, when the senior partner awarded its WestAir unit five new intra-California United Express markets, effective Oct. 1. The move came after United took eight United Express Los Angeles routes away from WestAir and awarded them to new Express partner SkyWest, prompting a threat of legal action from Mesa over breach of contract. Even with the new routes - Sacramento to Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, Fresno-Burbank and Monterey-Orange County - Mesa has not ruled out legal action.
A Texas company and a Canadian firm have introduced "Skywalker," a "state-of-the-art commuter passenger boarding bridge." Designed and manufactured by Access Air, a division of Inox-Tech., Inc. of Montreal, the bridge will be marketed worldwide by Skywalk Technologies of Arlington, Texas.
Polar Air Cargo reported gains in tonnage, traffic and load factor during the first half of 1997, setting up what Chief Executive Ned Wallace predicted will be a "banner year and a better-than-expected position for planned expansion next year. The company, which serves more than 100 cities with a 747 fleet and road feeder operations, said tonnage was 80.6% higher in the first six months of this year than in the same period in 1996, and traffic increased 61.4%, from 586.2 million freight ton kilometers to 946.2 million.
Saying it has new evidence that SabreTech "deliberately and deceptively" mislabeled and illegally shipped oxygen generators, ValuJet asked the National Transportation Safety Board yesterday to delay its final report on last year's Flight 592 crash until the new information can be explored. NTSB plans to release its final report Tuesday, and the agency said yesterday that date is still valid.
Delta Connection Comair registered a 14.3% increase in passenger enplanements to 471,677 in July, while revenue passenger miles improved at a faster rate than available seat miles - 18.1% versus 10.3% - setting a record for the month. "Much of the increase in passengers continues to be due to an increase in leisure passengers traveling at discounted fares," the Cincinnati-based carrier said. July 1997 July 1996 7 Mths 1997 7 Mths 1996 RPMs 159,368.000 134,944,000 618,362,000 527,237,000
Northwest will hold its third "DreamPerks Auction," at which bidders use WorldPerks miles as currency to bid on "once-in-a-lifetime 'experience' lots." The event is scheduled Sept. 21 at the Ordway Music Theatre, St. Paul, and bidders may purchase WorldPerks miles for use in the auction for five cents per mile. The carrier will auction more than 30 lots, featuring sports, entertainment and travel themes, including a shopping trip to the Mall of America and a six-day tour of Japan. Cash and mileage proceeds will benefit area charities.
Airbus Industrie's A330-200 flew for the first time Wednesday. The GE- powered, 253-seat, longer-range A330 was airborne for four hours, 10 minutes, and a second development aircraft, powered by Pratt&Whitney engines, is scheduled to fly in December. The first aircraft will be refitted with Rolls-Royce engines and will fly next March.
PATS Inc., Columbia, Md., won a contract to install long-range fuel tanks in the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ), in development as a 737 derivative. PATS said yesterday the 10-year contract, combined with a previous contract to develop, certify and manufacture the tanks, will be worth more than $200 million. Boeing planned originally to install tanks itself at its Renton, Wash. facility. Instead, the jets will be flown to Georgetown, Del., where PATS will install and test the tanks. They will return to Boeing for installation of interior furnishings and systems.
DOT's Office of the Inspector General and FAA will review the agency's progress on implementing recommendations from the government task force formed last year after the ValuJet DC-9 crash in the Everglades. Recommendations from the group, led by Linda Daschle when she was FAA deputy administrator, include creation of a national certification team to help field offices process audits and air carrier certifications, and an increase in the number of safety inspectors in key areas (DAILY, Sept. 19).
Pan Am Corp. yesterday reported a net loss of $17.1 million on revenues of $29.5 million for the second quarter and a deficit of $31.6 million for the first half. President and Chief Executive Martin Shugrue said the load factor for the quarter, 59%, was "encouraging" despite capacity increases and a soft market. The load factor has continued to rise in the third quarter, he said. Comparisons with the 1996 quarter are meaningless since Pan Am did not start service until September last year.
Vanguard Airlines lost $7.2 million in the second quarter, far worse than the $1.9 million it lost a year ago, and the airline vows to remake its image and its aircraft to attract more business travelers. Revenue rose slightly to $21.7 million from $20.7 million, but operating cost per available seat mile jumped 9% to 8.4 cents from 7.7 cents, while revenue per ASM fell to 6.5 cents from 7.1 cents. Yield grew to 10 cents from 9.4 cents but was down to 9.5 cents for the first half of 1997, compared with 9.8 cents in the same 1996 period.
Sabre Group will equip China Southern Airlines' systems operations center, being built at the carrier's headquarters in Guangzhou, with client/server systems for flight operations management, flight planning, load planning, crew management and aircraft movement monitoring. American Airlines will provide consulting services on operating procedures and a training plan. System development has begun, implementation will be phased and the final system cutover is scheduled for mid-1999.
Air Canada's July traffic increased 11.6% on 10.6% higher capacity, which nudged the load factor up 0.7 percentage points to 73.9%. Domestic traffic gained 3.3% on 0.6% less capacity and the load factor rose 2.8 points to 72.9%. International traffic was up 15.9% on 16.7% more capacity, reducing the load factor to 74.4%. In the January-July period, Air Canada's traffic rise, 9.9%, outpaced the capacity increase, 6.8%.
