Shanghair-based China Eastern, China's third-largest airline, reported a 10% revenue increase to $797 million (converted at 8.30 yuan per U.S. dollar) for the 12 months through March 31. After-tax profit was $71.2 million, down 7% from $76.4 million earned in fiscal 1995. The result surprised analysts because the airline projected a profit of $66.3 million less than two months earlier, two months after the year ended.
Eastwind Airlines board voted unanimously to appoint Herman Gillis, who started at the airline as chief pilot before being promoted to VP-flight operations, as its new president. Gillis participated in the Trenton-based company's certification and led it through its first FAA Regional Airline Safety Inspection Program in January.
British Airways will have to wait at least two months for a French court ruling on its complaint against Air Algerie's operations at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. BA is backed by other foreign airlines operating at the Roissy facility, and the U.K. government claims the presence of the Algerian carrier is a threat to the security of British passengers because of the persistence of Muslim fundamentalist terrorism in Algeria.
FAA yesterday revoked the repair station certificate of D&C Airparts Corp., Hialeah, Fla. In an emergency order, the agency said the company maintained aircraft power supply and emergency power supply equipment without FAA authorization.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Mongolia awarded Raytheon an $11.7 million contract to provide an air traffic control system and aeronautical communications system for the country. The ATC center, to be located at the Ulan Bator Airport, will be linked to 22 regional facilities by satellite communications. The system is scheduled to be operational in 1998. Raytheon also will train operations and maintenance personnel. The project is being funded by a loan from the Asian Development Bank.
FAA will launch a rulemaking soon on installing fire suppression equipment and smoke detectors in cargo compartments, a federal official said yesterday following renewed National Transportation Safety Board criticism on regulating hazardous materials aboard aircraft.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said this week the supplemental appropriations bill (H.R.1469, S.672) should allow FAA to spend additional funds on "various" commercially available explosives detection systems, not just a single type of system as proposed by the House. The House bill provides $40 million for advanced security equipment, and the committee report (House Report 105-83) says the funds are needed to prevent disruption of the production lines of the one FAA- certificated system - InVision's CTX 5000 (DAILY, March 28).
Illustration: Graph: Mesa Air Group Mesa Air Group suffered single-digit operating profit margins in its second fiscal quarter ended March 31. Profit margins for the two recent quarters were in the minus column. Mesa posed a 3.6% operating margin for the March quarter after hitting a 13.8% margin in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 1996 - the fiscal 4th quarter. The December quarter produced an operating margin of 3.8%.
The governments of Brazil and Canada held consultations in Geneva April 30 on the Brazilian government's claim, filed March 10 with the World Trade Organization (WTO), that Canada was subsidizing its aircraft manufacturing industry in violation of the WTO Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Agreement. Canada's Bombardier, with its CRJ, and Brazil's Embraer, with its EMB-145, are in the middle of a fierce battle to gain regional jet market share.
Continental Express has taken delivery of its seventh EMB-145, Embraer said. It currently operates the aircraft type from its main hub in Cleveland to Greensboro, Saint Louis, Minneapolis, Newark, Hartford and Milwaukee. The EMB-145 orderbook stands at 65 firm orders and 194 options. European launch customer Regional Airlines of France will take delivery of its first aircraft May 15.
Teamsters union, stepping up industry organizing efforts, today will seek representation of one of the largest groups of unrepresented airline employees - Continental and Continental Express's 5,000 mechanics.The union has its eye on an even larger group, 6,000 Delta mechanics, and is drumming up support on that property. It recently gained 500 flight attendant members at Reno Air and 22 at Eastwind, and it will count ballots for Eastwind's dispatchers in June.
John Crichton, chairman of Nav Canada and president of the Air Transport Association of Canada, will discuss foreign overflight fees and Canada's transition to a private air traffic control system on this week's Aviation News Today, to be broadcast Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 from 12 :30 a.m. to 1 a.m. and 1:30 to 2 p.m.
Atlantic Southeast posted last month a 2.3% increase in revenue passenger miles to 77.5 million as capacity rose 0.5% to 150.9 million available seat miles. As a result, the passenger load factor gained 0.9 percentage points to 51.4% from 50.5%. April 1997 April 1996 4 Mths 1997 4 Mths 1996 RPMs 77,543,431 75,810,981 281,342,001 277,211,450 ASMs 150,908,436 150,150,586 584,083,380 581,866,296
The regional aircraft manufacturing industry will earn profits consistently in the long term only if its players are willing to consolidate assets, according to Saab AB President and Chief Executive Bengt Halse.
Mountain Air Express (MAX), moving with parent Western Pacific June 29 into the Denver market, could be entering a higher competitive league at DIA. At least two of the markets planned for MAX are Denver-Albuquerque and Denver-Salt Lake City. Both markets are currently heavily populated by jets. In the Albuquerque market, United operates nine weekday roundtrip flights and Frontier two. In the Salt Lake City market, United flies seven roundtrips, Delta six and Frontier three - heavy competition for a 30-seat turboprop.
Era Aviation, an Alaska Airlines code sharer, will begin 18-passenger Twin Otter service in June between Anchorage, Alaska and Seward on the Kenai Peninsula. The new route is the second addition for the Anchorage- based carrier this year. Era also is adding service to Whitehorse in the Yukon later this month. Era said it will take advantage of a soon-to-be installed global positioning system instrument approach at Seward.
Midwest Express regional subsidiary Skyway Airlines will begin service June 15 between Milwaukee and Marquette, Mich., operating six nonstop flights each weekday and reduced service on weekends. The regional, which operates 19-passenger Beech 1900D aircraft, will be the only carrier providing nonstop flights to the Upper Peninsula point from Milwaukee.
Travel Industry Association (TIA) said its 1997 Discover America International Pow Wow scheduled May 31-June 4 in Nashville will include 11 news conferences by travel firms describing new developments in international travel and tourism. Conferences scheduled include Northwest President John Dasburg, June 2 at 9:30 a.m.; Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau, 11 a.m.; TIA/Office of Tourism Industries forecast for U.S. inbound travel, 2:30 p.m.; U.S.
United's Association of Flight Attendants is taking three weeks off from accelerated contract talks to study a "comprehensive company proposal." The AFA has complained for months that United had offered no substantive proposal. AFA said both parties are satisfied with recent progress, and talks will resume in Honolulu early next month.
Lufthansa is on course to complete its privatization program by June or July, assuming timely approval of legislation providing for it by the German parliament. One result of privatization will be issuance of all future equity stock in the form of registered shares to ensure compliance with bilateral aviation agreements, Klaus Schlede, deputy chairman and chief financial officer, said in Frankfurt. Speaking at a news conference on 1996 financial results (DAILY, May 8), Chairman Jurgen Weber said:
Saab AB President and Chief Executive Bengt Halse this week stressed the importance for a manufacturer to add value to an aircraft transaction in order to close the deal. He said Saab closed a sale of Saab 2000s to SAS - which he character-ized as a hard-nosed negotiator - only when the manufacturer agreed to take some responsibility for maintenance. SAS, which ordered four aircraft with options for two, is using them as replacements on some formerly F28 and DC-9 routes. Halse was speaking this week at the AIAA Global Air&Space '97 conference.
TWA disputes Continental's claim that its new Newark-Lisbon service is the first daily, year-round nonstop in the New York area. TWA has been operating service to Lisbon since May 4, 1946.
The balanced budget agreement hammered out last week by the White House and congressional leaders assumes $8 billion-$10 billion more in transportation budget authority over five years than the President's budget, but aviation may get little, if any, increased funding. At an Appropriations transportation subcommittee hearing yesterday on infrastructure financing, Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) said his committee's budget resolution will provide for "a rather substantial increase" over the President's budget.
National Transportation Safety Board issued data and group investigation summaries yesterday for the continuing inquiry on Comair Flight 3272, an Embraer Brasilia that crashed near Detroit Jan. 9 on a flight from Cincinnati (DAILY, Jan. 10). The cockpit voice recorder transcript suggests only about 20 seconds elapsed between the crew's first mention of trouble and the tape's end, the likely moment of impact. Engine and other sounds suggest noticeable problems about 10 seconds earlier.
