Singapore Airlines was rated tops in all 18 categories of an airline service survey of Korean business travelers conducted by The Economist magazine. The 50 largest Korean companies rated SIA ahead of 35 other airlines, including Korean Air and Asiana, SIA said. With a satisfaction rating of 75.8, SIA outdistanced Japan Airlines, 65.9, Asiana, 65.3, and Lufthansa, 62.5. KAL was rated sixth overall, with 57.2. United, rated 47.9, was lowest among the top 10 carriers in 15 categories, including taste of meals, inflight comfort and punctuality.
NASA, tasked by the Clinton administration to oversee improvements in aviation safety, plans to issue requests on research projects late this year and early next year, according to Mike Lewis, newly appointed NASA Aviation Safety Research Program manager. Proposal reviews will begin in February and "new starts" in April, Lewis told industry representatives yesterday in Washington.
New Zealand and the U.K. will liberalize air services under a new memorandum of understanding permitting an unlimited number of flights by flag carriers between the two countries. The expansion accommodates traffic growth that has made the U.K. New Zealand's third-largest source of tourists, trailing Australia and Japan and surpassing the U.S. The MOU permits new, limited beyond rights, eliminates a requirement to file freight tariffs and supports liberal approval of charter applications.
Qantas is celebrating 50 years of flying between the U.K. and Australia with the launch of three Discovery fares to Australia, starting at #749 roundtrip to Perth or Darwin. The tariff includes a stopover in Bangkok or Singapore in each direction. For #829 roundtrip, Qantas includes two free internal flights on selected routes in Australia, plus the stopovers. The special fares are on sale until Nov. 30 and valid for travel until March 31, 1998.
US Airways reduced ticket prices as much as 55% below normal roundtrip excursion fares in nearly 8,000 U.S. and Canadian markets and for travel to San Juan, Grand Cayman, Montego Bay and Cancun. The lowest U.S.-Canada fares are available for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Saturdays, and the lowest Caribbean fares are for travel, Mondays through Thursdays. Reservations must be made at least 14 days in advance of travel and tickets must be purchased by Aug. 21. Travel must be completed by Dec. 16 and include a Saturday night stay.
Indian Airlines has floated a global tender to sell three more-than-20- year-old Airbus A300 aircraft, IA officials said this week. "The sale is aimed at killing two birds with a single stone," said a senior IA official. First, selling the aircraft is in keeping with the recommendation of a government-appointed committee to enhance the airline's resources, including taking on commercial debt, refinancing assets and selling old aircraft. The measures could enrich the carrier by as much as 3.65 billion rupees (US$104.2 million) over the next two years.
Dragonair will build its new headquarters at Chek Lap Kok Airport, after signing an agreement with the airport authority. Dragonair and the China National Aviation Corp. jointly will develop two six-story office towers at the eastern point of the island airport. Each tower will be owned separately. Dragonair intends to spend HK$900 million (US$115 million) initially.
DOT issued an amended foreign air carrier permit to Condor Flugdienst GmbH to conduct scheduled and charter combination service from points beyond Germany via Germany and intermediate points to points in the U.S. and beyond, consistent with the U.S.-Germany open-skies aviation pact. The agreement took effect in May 1996, and Germany designated Condor for scheduled combination service between the U.S. and Germany in a diplomatic note last Oct. 2. The German carrier, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa, applied Nov. 26, 1996, to amend its permit.
Bombardier Aerospace said it expects its new Learjet 45 to receive FAA certification within the next several weeks. FAA pilots have been flying the aircraft regularly and European Joint Airworthiness Authority test pilots were in Wichita to conduct initial certification flights.
DOT has made final its proposal to require large U.S. airlines participating in code-share arrangements to report both the ticketing and the operating airline in their quarterly passenger origin-destination survey reports, effective Jan. 1, 1998. The rule, published in yesterday's Federal Register, also makes technical changes in O&D survey report formats. The notice of proposed rulemaking was issued in June 1996 (DAILY, June 24, 1996).
Hokkaido International Airlines, a new carrier launched by Japanese investors on Hokkaido island, has selected the nickname "Air Do." The name is pronounced like the last two letters of Hokkaido.
Signatory carriers at Orlando Airport have approved a fourth satellite airside terminal, a new control tower and initial work on a new south terminal complex. The expansion program, to cost an estimated $965 million, follows $240 million in near-term construction approved by the carriers earlier this year. That program involves a near-doubling of automobile parking, improvements in ground traffic circulation and construction of group check-in facilities. Work on the newly approved projects is to begin this fall and be completed early in the next century.
Spencer Dickerson, executive VP of the American Association of Airport Executives, was named executive director of the affiliated International Association of Airport Executives. Will James, AAAE's director- accreditation and training, was named IAAE managing director-Canadian affairs. Dickerson and James retain their current positions with AAAE.
Atlantic Aviation, whose revenues of $73 million in 1996 made it one of the largest fully integrated aviation service companies in the U.S., said yesterday it has signed a definitive deal to be purchased by Legg Mason Merchant Banking. Atlantic Chairman Ben Waide said the acquisition "will support our growth objectives and help us to capitalize on the expansion and consolidation that the aviation service industry is currently experiencing."
Nav Canada said yesterday it has submitted a revised proposal to the transport minister on user fees it plans for en route and terminal air navigation services and increases in overflight fees. Kenneth Copeland, Nav Canada president, said the revisions include a number of suggestions from users and other stakeholders. The revisions include several deferrals to Nov. 1, 1998, including an exemption from fees for aircraft weighing eight tons or less, an increase in the weight cut-off from 5.7 tons.
EG&G Astrophysics said its new FAA contract calls for 10 dual-view, automatic Z-Scan systems to be used for the first time in the U.S. as an in-line checked-baggage screening system at Category X airports (DAILY, Aug. 11). The systems will screen checked luggage and automatically alert operators of suspect threat objects, the company said. Delivery is scheduled from October through February.
Independent Pilots Association (IPA), which represents flightcrews at UPS, yesterday asked the pilots of UPS subcontractors to honor the Teamsters strike, now in its second week. UPS at the same time announced that for the second night in a row, it processed more than half a million air express packages Tuesday at its Louisville hub, and that the number of union workers reporting to work continues to increase.
State-owned domestic carrier Indian Airlines and nearly a dozen private airlines operating in the country have formed a lobbying group to press their demands with the federal civil aviation ministry, IA officials said. At its first meeting last week in New Delhi, the group resolved to raise a common voice over domestic aviation issues, particularly with regard to infrastructure and the pricing of fuel.
Continental's independent pilots union, pressing its case for wage parity with other carriers, points out that Continental's stock price increased 691% between January 1995 and March 1997, compared with 67% growth in the Standard&Poor's 500 average. Three other airlines also outperformed the market - US Airways, up 388%; United, up 190%, and Northwest, up 114%.
McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and MD-80 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day First Quarter 1997 DC-9-30 Continental Northwest TWA Number of Aircraft Operated 30 108 35 Total Fleet Operations Departures 158 519 170
Japanese computer reservations system Infini has become the first CRS to take Reed Travel Group's OAG Direct schedule-change service. The system could save the world's airlines $500 million-$1 billion per year if it were adopted globally, Reed said. Infini has almost 9,300 users in 6,300 agency locations.
Millon Air filed to renew its scheduled all-cargo frequencies between the U.S. and Peru, hoping to prevent an outcome similar to that of its Ecuador authority, which was withdrawn by DOT as the carrier works to regain certification as a fit carrier.
The Sabre Group has licensed its airline profitability model to Swissair. The model, used to evaluate the economics of flight schedules, enables an airline to generate all possible itineraries to determine profitability and forecast future traffic. "Our contract with Swissair reflects a trend toward airlines investing in proven technology to maximize equipment resources and increase their competitive advantage," said Steve Clampett, senior VP of Sabre Technology Solutions.
Louise Stoll, DOT assistant secretary for budget and programs and chief financial officer, resigned effective Sept. 30 to join Dames&Moore Group, a Los Angeles-based engineering firm. Stoll will work in the company's Bethesda, Md., office as senior VP-director of major transportation programs.
