National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall urged DOT Secretary Rodney Slater to push through the board's proposal for installing fire- suppression systems in passenger airline cargo holds. In a letter dated May 12, Hall said that as the new secretary, Slater is "uniquely positioned" to take action. "At Sunday's Memorial Service for the ValuJet families, I was repeatedly asked why this basic safety system has not yet even been ordered, much less installed, on our nation's airliners," Hall wrote.
DOT is considering a rulemaking to deal with predatory pricing issues and is working to publish city-pair fares patterned after its monthly consumer reports, Assistant Secretary Charles Hunnicutt said yesterday. He spoke at a Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee hearing on barriers to entry, where the General Accounting Office issued a report showing that barriers remain a problem, particularly in the Midwest and Eastern U.S.
LOT Airlines, aiming to attract more Polish passengers, is cutting fares on several European routes by as much as 30% between May 31 and Aug. 31. Reduced summer fares were introduced last year, but LOT wanted to improve the offer. The 1996 program provides for a partial refund in case of cancellation and allows changes on the return reservation for a 30% surcharge.
Opposing the renewal of authority for Korean Airlines (KAL) cargo service linking Seoul to Los Angeles, Anchorage and Portland, World Airways is urging DOT not to overlook World's beyond-Seoul problems in the rush to open skies. KAL responded Friday that World "ignores the facts" that eight U.S. carriers and only two from Korea serve "one of the most open aviation markets in the Asia/Pacific for U.S. carriers." Talks focusing on open skies begin in Seoul May 20 (DAILY, May 12).
The Air Line Pilots Association unit at Delta, which signed a contract little more than a year ago providing an estimated $460 million in savings to the carrier over four years, wants some of that money back in light of the company's improved financial circumstances (DAILY, May 3). Union leaders directed Master Executive Council President Dennis Dolan to seek a meeting with Chairman Ron Allen to discuss pay raises and work rule changes, and Dolan did so early yesterday.
Singapore Airlines is allowing passengers to accumulate frequent flyer credit on two programs simultaneously. SIA passengers flying across the Pacific who are members of its Priority Passenger Service Club can tally miles or kilometers on SIA's program and either Delta's SkyMiles or American's AAdvantage program as well.
Canadian carrier WestJet Airlines filed for a foreign air carrier permit to conduct scheduled combination service between the U.S. and Canada. Initial scheduled service would link Edmonton and Calgary to Las Vegas, and the carrier plans to offer charter service as well. WestJet, which will use 737s either from its existing fleet or from new orders, operates scheduled service to seven cities in western Canada in addition to charters.
Air-India signed its first strategic international agreement Sunday, with Air France. The carriers will code share on Air France's four weekly flights to New Delhi and three to Mumbai. Air France will gain access to Indian Airlines service beyond the gateways, and Air-India will move its French operations to Air France's hub at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
European Union Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock and Italian Transport Minister Claudio Burlando, who failed to agree last week on a planned capital injection for Alitalia, will meet again before monthend. Burlando insists the 3.3 trillion lire (US$1.95 billion) is a "market investment plan," while the Commission argues the rescue plan will be considered state aid unless it is amended. The Commission is expected to make a decision on the case before the end of June.
One day before Senate hearings on barriers to entry, Delta answered ValuJet complaints that Delta was mounting a systematic campaign to match its fares and dump capacity on its routes. ValuJet wants an exemption to gain slots at high-density-controlled New York LaGuardia. ValuJet's application has "manifest deficiencies" and contains "gratuitous and erroneous characterizations of Delta's competitive practices both in the New York- Atlanta city-pair and throughout its route system," Delta said.
Continental Airlines' board member George Parker will be among industry representatives joining Commerce Secretary William Daley May 15-20 on a trade mission to Latin America. Parker, a professor at Stanford University and the director of its MBA program, will accompany Daley to Argentina and Chile.
South African Express (SAX), the South African Airways (SAA) regional partner, will expand domestic route offerings with the aircraft it receives from yesterday's order for six 50-seat Canadair 200B ER Regional Jets. The contract with Bombardier is valued at C$179 million (US$130 million), and deliveries will begin in August and continue through May 1998. SAX will deploy the aircraft on long, thin nonstops within South Africa, including Johannesburg-Walvis Bay (882 miles) and Capetown-Walvis Bay (794 miles). Both routes are beyond the airline's turboprop range.
Travel Business Roundtable will hold its spring meeting tomorrow at Loews L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, Washington, D.C. The luncheon keynote speaker will be Eli Segal, president of the Welfare to Work Partnership, a non-partisan group trying to help American businesses move people from public assistance to jobs in the private sector.
Passenger volume on routes from Germany to Eastern Europe, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States increased 5.4% to 1.74 million in 1996, said Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Verkehrsflughafen (ADV), the German airports association. More growth is expected this year, as the airlines' summer schedules list 852 weekly flights to 46 Central and Eastern European destinations, up 5.5% compared with last year's schedules. In 1996, Russia was the most popular destination, with 10.7% growth to 532,742 passengers.
IATA urged DOT Secretary Rodney Slater last week to give "personal attention" to new overflight fees that are about to be imposed for foreign aircraft transiting U.S. airspace. In a letter to Slater, IATA Director- General Pierre Jeanniot cited an "absence of meaningful consultations with the affected users." IATA and other parties asked FAA to delay the fees at an oral hearing earlier this month (DAILY, May 2), and Canadian government officials did the same at a meeting with the U.S. on Friday (DAILY, May 12).
Cyprus Airways pilots suspended their work-to-rule action at the end of last week after the Cypriot government threatened to refuse its guarantee for a $30 million loan sought by the airline. Last Monday, a pilot angered Finance Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou when he refused to work an extra 10 minutes and landed his aircraft on the wrong side of the island - in Paphos - some 150 kilometers short of the final destination, Nicosia. Cyprus Airways had to move the 153 passengers, who originated in Zurich, by bus and ferry.
Revised* Airport and Airway Trust Fund - Income Statement October 1, 1996 - October 31, 1996 Year-to-Date RECEIPTS (Revenues) Revenues: Excise Taxes (Transferred from General Fund): Liquid Fuel other than Gas $ 5,420,000.00 Transportation by Air, Seats, Berths, etc. 226,006,000.00 Use of International Travel Facilities 20,326,000.00 Transportation of Property and Cargo 27,090,000.00
Russia will repay part of its debt to Slovakia in September with the delivery of three Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft to the new Slovakian flag carrier. Slovak Airlines is expected to start operations at the end of 1997 with Tu-154, Tu-334 and Ilyushin Il-86, Il-96 and Il-114 aircraft.
TWA will eliminate 268 jobs at its Kansas City maintenance base, as the airline's backlog of heavy maintenance there has subsided. "Last year we terminated our contract with the military in Kansas City because we needed those mechanics to handle a priority backlog on our aircraft," said TWA spokesman Donn Walker.
U.S. Major Carriers Atlantic Share of Service Fourth Quarter 1997 Total Revenue Departures American 5,854 Continental 1,532 Delta 7,166 Northwest 1,542 TWA 2,159 United 3,786 USAir 1,144 Total 23,183 Average Number of Seats Per Departure American 196
Northwest flew two DC-10 roundtrips Saturday between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Grand Forks, N.D., providing free transportation to flood relief volunteers who spent the day helping the United Way and The Salvation Army with cleanup operations. The flights were staffed by volunteer flight crews.
The European Commission will unveil its "statement of objections" to the proposed merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas "around the end of May," a spokesman for European Union Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert said yesterday in Brussels. This timetable represents about two weeks' slippage in letting the U.S. companies know whether and how their proposal faces problems - last month in Washington, Van Miert said the commission would advise them by mid-May (DAILY, April 21).
Airport and Airway Trust Fund-Balance Sheet As of October 31, 1996 ASSETS Undisbursed Balances: Available for Investment $ 1,446.88 TOTAL UNDISBURSED BALANCE (Cash in Account) Receivables: Interest Receivables $ 159,079,140.57 TOTAL RECEIVABLES Investments: U.S. Treasury Certificates of Indebtedness 6-7/8% matures 06/30/96 $ 7,570,870,000.00
Air Canada is launching nonstop service between Montreal and San Francisco June 28, using its newly delivered A319s. "This is part of Air Canada's initiative to develop more services out of Montreal," said Senior Executive VP Jean-Jacques Bourgeault. The San Francisco service is Air Canada's 38th new route since U.S.-Canada open skies was signed in 1995. Air Canada also will add service from Montreal to Halifax and Frankfurt this summer.
