United began yesterday an attempt to block a proposed San Francisco city ordinance that would ban city employees from flying on United unless they had no other option. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors proposed the ordinance, claiming the carrier backed away from an agreement to comply with a new domestic partner benefits ordinance in exchange for a two-year lease on a ground equipment repair facility and flight kitchen.
America West applied for a certificate to operate between any points in the U.S. and Canada as authorized by the open transborder agreement. Currently, the airline's only Canadian point is Vancouver, with two daily nonstops from the Phoenix hub and five connections a week through Las Vegas. America West declined to identify which Canadian markets it expects to serve, and a spokeswoman said it likely will detail its plans for Canada when it announces expansion goals in late summer or early fall.
Northwest, acting to protect its interests in the event of a break-up of its partnership with KLM, said yesterday it will stop selling tickets jointly in the Netherlands as of Aug. 1. The move is the strongest signal to date that the two sides are negotiating not just to repair their relationship, but to determine how each airline can safeguard its franchise.
United launched a new round of summer fare sales by reducing prices for a limited time by as much as 45% off the 21-day advance purchase price. Tickets must be paid for by July 11 for domestic travel between July 14 and Nov. 19. For international trips, flights must be completed by Dec. 12. United said the fares are available throughout the U.S. and Canada and in some Pacific markets, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Bangkok. Shuttle by United is excluded from the sale.
FAA approved a boron epoxy patch for fuselage repairs on L-1011 aircraft, Textron Systems said. The patch, a boron/epoxy composite doubler, can be applied without penetrating the skin and can be formed into complex shapes to repair odd-size components such as doors and wing joints, said Mike Favaloro of Textron, director of composite products. Most repairs can be completed overnight, with a significant reduction in labor hours and turnaround time. The process resulted from work to extend the service life of aging aircraft.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Revenues and Expenses Fourth Quarter 1996 Total Operating % Passenger Freight Carrier Revenues Change Revenues Revenues Alaska 23,699,000 18.68 22,789,000 222,000 Latin 23,699,000 18.68 22,789,000 222,000
The Environmental Protection Agency may be mounting another attack on aviation gasoline as a major polluter, according to the National Air Carrier Association. NACA VP Andrew Cebula said a June 20 Federal Register notice in which EPA listed avgas as the sole source of lead pollution in the environment threatens burdensome new regulations against fuel providers and aviation users. EPA has authority to require vapor recovery equipment on fuel storage tanks and fueling trucks, he said.
FAA issued an amendment to current orders concerning detection of leakage in the main rudder power control units of Boeing 737 aircraft, all aimed at preventing uncommanded movements of the rudder. The two previous airworthiness directives require tests of the PCU to detect excessive internal leakage of hydraulic fluid, stalling or reversal, and to verify proper operation of the PCU. The amendment adds a requirement for PCU leak tests, replacement of the PCU and replacement of the vernier control rod bolts with newly designed bolts.
DOT orally approved code-share authority to United/Varig and American/TAM for numerous operations between the U.S. and Brazil, but it dismissed without prejudice both alliances' request for broad authority to code share between unnamed points on their respective authorized routes. DOT said it was department policy to grant code shares only for services "actually proposed" by the carriers, citing decisions in United/Lufthansa and Delta/Aeromexico cases.
Chris Tebo, director of the Airport Defense Fund Communications Center, and Todd Hauptli, senior VP-federal affairs of the American Association of Airport Executives, will present a roundup of current airport- and aviation-related legislative issues on Aviation News Today, to air Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 from 12:30 a.m.-1 a.m. and from 1:30 p.m.-2 p.m.
Air Jamaica, fresh from signing a code share with Delta, intends to tie a significant amount of its future growth to the Atlanta-based carrier. Air Jamaica, which serves 10 U.S. gateways, intends to add service to Delta's hubs and seek out Delta partners in an attempt to extend its global reach and bring more tourists to the island. The agreement with Delta "really gives us access to a lot of the world," said Air Jamaica Chairman and Chief Executive Gordon "Butch" Stewart.
San Francisco's Metropolitan Transportation Commission won $750 million in federal funds for the Bay Area Rapid Transit rail extension to San Francisco International Airport. The balance of the $1.167 billion project cost will come from Metropolitan Transportation Commission bridge tolls, $10 million; San Manteo County sales tax, $99 million; State of California, $108 million, and San Francisco International, not more than $200 million.
Reno Air, celebrating five years of growth this week, aims in 1997 to expand 10%, catching its breath from the 20%-30% annual growth rates achieved as a vigorous startup. President and Chief Executive Robert Reding credited the carrier's success to "selecting a great group of people to deliver an excellent product our customers seem to prefer" and a willingness to fix mistakes quickly.
Association of Flight Attendants lined up a few attention-getters for this week's Taste of Chicago celebration to let people attending the food fest know the flight attendants are extremely unhappy with the hometown airline. The AFA hired a small airplane to fly over the event today trailing a "The Friendly Skies Turn Stormy" banner. A band playing at the event will wear AFA CHAOS campaign T-shirts, referring to the union's a plan to hold intermittent "strikes" or engage in random work actions.
A management consulting group in Saitama near Tokyo has formed an international charter carrier, tentatively named Japan Pacific Airlines (JPA). The airline would be Japan's fifth startup since its aviation industry deregulation started last year. JPA, which includes former Pan Am staff, has a plan to hire non-Japanese pilots and lease Boeing 767-300ERs configured for 280 seats in one service class. The company plans to file an application for a business license in late August and begin charter service between Tokyo and Guam beginning in the summer of 1998.
FAA ordered an emergency suspension of the air carrier certificate of Tar Heel Aviation, Richlands, N.C., citing failure by Tar Heel to employ a qualified chief pilot under Parts 119 and 135. Tar Heel conducts on-demand cargo and passenger operations.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Revenues and Expenses Fourth Quarter 1996 (In Dollars) Total Operating % Carrier Revenues Change Alaska 271,646,000 5.18 America West 432,569,579 9.82 American 2,538,828,000 (5.23)
FAA, which suspended the air carrier certificate of AvAtlantic in March, said yesterday it plans to revoke the certificate because the carrier failed to live up to the terms of a consent order. Imposing the suspension, FAA alleged improper training of flight attendants, improperly performed maintenance and numerous other findings (DAILY, March 10). A week later, the charter carrier said it was resuming operations with two of its seven leased 727s (DAILY, March 18) and signed a consent order assessing a $136,000 penalty.
A debate on user charges versus excise taxes to pay for air traffic services will be held July 15 during the International Aviation Club's monthly luncheon. Elliott Seiden, VP-law and government affairs for Northwest, and Rod Chandler of Downey Chandler Inc. will be the speakers. Lunch begins at 12:30 p.m. at The University Club, 1135 16th St., Washington, D.C. Reservations must be made by mail by noon July 11 to Charles Simpson, Zuckert, Scoutt&Rasenberger, 888 17th St., Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20006.
A neutral arbitrator on the TWA/Air Line Pilots Association System Board of Adjustment has ruled that TWA implemented improperly a new bid award process that affects pilots' flying time following a court dispute over pilot pay. The arbitrator's ruling was a clarification of an April 21 opinion and award by the board in which the definition of "monthly flying time" was disputed.
DOT orally approved Mexico-based Aero California's exemption to operate scheduled combination service for one year over Loreto-Albuquerque, Mazatlan-Phoenix, Puerto Vallarta-Dallas/Fort Worth, Puerto Vallarta- Phoenix, and San Jose del Cabo-San Francisco. Still pending is an American/Aero California code share that would cover numerous routes, including the ones approved on the exemption. Alaska, United, Mexicana and Continental, filing in response, raised code-share issues that will be addressed separately. (Docket OST-97-2481)
Varig posted a 8.4% gain in May traffic and passengers carried rose 4.9% to 771,087. The airline's domestic load factor stood at 56.5% and international was 65.8%. For the January-May period, Varig's traffic grew 9.3%.
TWA has added a Trans World Access interactive reservations capability to its World Wide Web site. Customers can search for fares, book trips, pay for tickets and obtain weather forecasts and maps. TWA said the site has "up-to-the-minute" flight data, including gate information and estimated or actual departure and arrival times. Anyone who uses the site to reserve a ticket and travels by Oct. 31 will receive 1,000 frequent flight bonus miles. The carrier will add rental car and hotel reservations to the site in the next few months.
The planned merger of Western Pacific and Frontier Airlines, announced Monday and still subject to government and shareholder approval, would make the surviving entity one of the largest low-fare carriers in the U.S. (DAILY, July 1). A Westpac spokeswoman said neither carrier expects to lay off any line functions and in fact may need more employees. But 100 to 150 administrative and management positions may overlap, and the carriers will have to wait and see, she said.
