Conferees on the disaster assistance supplemental funding bill (H.R.1469) reportedly have dropped the Senate bill's provision exempting general aviation and certain other operations from FAA's foreign aircraft overflight fees. The House Ways and Means Committee apparently believes that adopting such an exemption would convert the remaining fees into taxes, meaning that the measure would be unconstitutional because it originated in the Senate rather than the House.
Eastwind Airlines is adding Sunday nonstop service between Tampa and Greensboro, N.C., and Sunday one-stop service to Trenton from Tampa. Fares are $99 to Trenton and $89 to Greensboro.
Three resort cities in the West - Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego - have launched a three-year marketing partnership, effective July 1, to attract more international visitors. The so-called golden triangle was formed by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Phoenix and Valley of the Sun Convention&Visitors Bureau and the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau, mainly in response to new British Airways nonstop service from London to Phoenix with continuing service to San Diego.
Continental, which went beyond occasional thank-you pizza parties for employees by paying out more than $97 million in profit-sharing and on-time bonuses in 1996, is throwing pizza parties again. The next one is tomorrow, and Chairman Gordon Bethune, noting that the airline just won its second consecutive J.D. Power award for best long-haul service, said employees should be honored with an added bonus - "maybe double cheese."
United, US Airways and Air Canada have entered into a non-binding agreement in principle with computer reservations system Galileo International to sell the company their interests in Apollo Travel Services Partnership for $700 million. That includes $539 million for United alone, which owns 77% of the CRS. Galileo could pay up to $200 million more to the airlines in the sixth year after the sale if they assist the company in growing the business under a separate agreement.
Ansett Australia and Air New Zealand yesterday announced they will integrate sales, marketing and reservations in the U.S., Europe, Singapore and New Zealand as of July 1. The two carriers will move closer toward joint purchasing and will explore sharing assets, including aircraft and systems. "We've undertaken a worldwide drive to harness synergies between the two airlines to bolster customer service and to realize mutual cost benefits," said Ansett Executive Chairman Rod Eddington, who headed Cathay Pacific until last year (DAILY, Oct. 1, 1996).
US Airways yesterday said it is exercising its right to repurchase a portion of its preferred stock that has been owned by British Airways. US Airways will buy back all of the outstanding Series T-1 and T-2 preferred stock and part of BA's Series F stock. The transaction is valued at $126.2 million, a US Airways spokesman said. The move was made because the stock was "at a discount" to the current market, according to US Airways Chairman Stephen Wolf. US Airways will retire the shares and not offer them on the open market.
Great Lakes Aviation said yesterday it is just now receiving "in writing" from FAA "what the specific allegations against the company are" that caused it to halt all operations on Saturday. The company "voluntarily" suspended operations after being contacted by FAA (DAILY, May 20). Douglas Voss, chief executive, said, "Our first indication of the FAA's intention to take action against the company came through a press release issued by South Dakota Congressman John Thune. This press release, received at 6:36 p.m.
The current round of U.S.-Korea bilateral talks is scheduled to conclude today in Seoul.U.S. officials hope for progress toward adding Korea to the Asian open-skies zone, which now includes Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore.
Dollar Rent A Car is giving triple miles to Continental OnePass members through June 30 for a car rental of two days or longer. Dollar usually awards 500 miles per rental.
Delta is offering first class companion fares to Madrid, Manchester and Frankfurt this summer from selected U.S. gateways. Travel must be taken May 21 through Aug. 31, and tickets must be purchased seven days in advance. Examples of one-way fares from Atlanta, which include a companion ticket, are $4,386 to Frankfurt, $4,466 to Madrid and $5,258 to Manchester. The fares apply only to seats in first class on nonstops from New York Kennedy to Madrid and Manchester, Atlanta to Frankfurt, Madrid and Manchester and Cincinnati to Frankfurt.
The Massachusetts Port Authority plans to seek proposals this summer from five pre-qualified teams for development of a replacement for the existing Terminal A at Boston Logan Airport. Terminal A is underused because of inaccessible aircraft gates and a lack of convenient parking, and the facility is unable to accommodate newer large aircraft, Massport said.
Progress reports on three GAIN (Global Analysis and Information Network) prototypes will be presented next week in London at a conference hosted by the Royal Aeronautical Society. Christopher Hart, FAA assistant administrator for system safety, said the May 27-29 meeting is expected to give the GAIN initiative a "great deal of credibility" because the British have been world leaders for 20 years in the use of flight data recorder (FDR) information in preventing accidents. By contrast, U.S.
JFK International Air Terminal LLC (JFKIAT) last week assumed operation of New York Kennedy's Terminal Four - previously known as the International Arrivals Building - and the consortium will build and operate a new $1.2 billion terminal by November 2000 to replace it. JFKIAT is a joint venture of developer LCOR JFK and Schiphol USA, each of which has a 40% stake, and Lehman Brothers JFK, which holds 20%. Site preparation for the new 16-gate terminal will begin immediately, and construction is scheduled to begin this fall.
U.S. National Carriers Traffic, April, 4 Months 1997 U.S. National Carriers Traffic April, 4 Months 1997 April April % 1997 1996 Change American Trans Air Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 743,137 814,698 -8.8 Available Seat Miles (000) 1,041,200 1,185,359 -12.2 Load Factor (%) 71.4 68.7
Alitalia posted a 1996 loss of 1.2 trillion lire (US$719 million), greater than its 1995 loss due to a restructuring charge of 901 billion lire ($539 million). The airline expects to break even by the end of 1997, a spokeswoman said. Revenue rose 3.3% to 7.8 trillion lire ($4.67 billion), passenger volume increased 10.7% to 23.1 million, traffic rose 8.8% and capacity grew 9.7%. It is awaiting a European Commission decision on further state aid.
Revised* Airport and Airway Trust Fund - Income Statement October 1, 1996-December 31, 1996 December 1996 RECEIPTS (Revenues) Revenues: Excise Taxes (Transferred from General Fund): Liquid Fuel other than Gas $ 1,498,000.00 Transportation by Air, Seats, Berths, etc. 46,064,000.00 Use of International Travel Facilities (2,900,000.00) Transportation of Property and Cargo 14,834,000.00
The European Commission formally proposed, as expected, to extend the scope of its competition authority to airline agreements between European Union and non-EU carriers (DAILY, May 15). Under current rules, dating from 1987, the Commission has direct control over an alliance only when its dominant position is likely to affect competition on EU routes. Its review of intercontinental accords, such as British Airways/American Airlines, must be carried out jointly with national competition authorities.
A delegation from India's foreign and civil aviation ministries flew to Beijing during the weekend for talks with their Chinese counterparts on starting direct flights between the two countries. The Indian delegation includes the civil aviation secretary, M.K. Kaw, and the director general for civil aviation, H.S. Khola. In addition to direct flights, the week- long talks will consider fifth-freedom rights for non-Indian and non- Chinese carriers, and the future of service between India and Hong Kong after July 1, when control of Hong Kong passes from the U.K. to China.
Cargo carrier TransContinental filed to amend its certificate to permit scheduled cargo service to Jackson, Miss.; Memphis, Toledo and New Orleans, deleting a condition that limits its scheduled flights to services provided for it by American International Freight. TransCon told DOT it has a temporary reduction in working capital due to the acquisition of aircraft, hushkits and other equipment, mostly financed from cash reserves. It has acquired an additional line of credit of $1 million, was profitable last year and expects a profit this year.
The National Park Overflights Working Group announced Monday to recommend a rule to preserve "natural quiet" at national parks (DAILY, May 20) comprises four representatives of aviation interests, four of environmental and park interests, and a native American who is to be identified later.
China Southern will become an Airlines Reporting Corp. participant, effective with sales on June 2. The carrier intends to begin four-times- weekly nonstops to Los Angeles from Guangzhou soon, using Boeing 777s.
Pan Am Corp. posted a $14.6 million net loss in the first quarter on operating revenues of $21.7 million. Due to the late arrival of aircraft, Pan Am wet-leased several aircraft during the quarter. It operates four A300s and wet-leases three 727s. Pan Am said it is in talks to reduce the cost of its wet leases.
US Airways' pilots will hand out a plan for the future of the carrier to shareholders today at the company's annual meeting at the Philadelphia Convention Center. At the same time, the Air Line Pilots Association unit will picket the meeting.
