Virgin Atlantic Airways said last week it is "naturally unhappy" that British Airways and its airline partners will have "the lion's share" of the planned new Terminal 5 at London Heathrow. BA and airport operator BAA plc last week reached agreement calling for BA and partners to occupy T5 (DAILY, April 25). "We are in discussions with BAA and hope that this will not be an ongoing competitive disadvantage," Virgin added.
Orally approved a two-year exemption for Delta to serve routes between Los Angeles and Leon, Mexico; Houston and Mexico City; Miami and Merida, Mexico, and between Dallas/Fort Worth and Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo via code share with Aeromexico; plus Acapulco, Cancun, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Puerto Vallarta via Mexico City from existing U.S.-Mexico City gateways, and Aguascalientes and Leon in conjunction with existing Los Angeles-Puerto Vallarta service.
Great Lakes Aviation received orders from DOT to continue offering essential air service to Mattoon, Ill., through May 21, or until a replacement carrier is named. Great Lakes has filed an application to provide subsidy-eligible service from Mattoon to Chicago O'Hare, and the agency has not completed negotiations with the airline over a subsidy rate. (Docket OST-96-1955)
MCC Financial Corp. completed the delivery of a Saab 340A, the second this year, on lease to Air New Zealand. The aircraft will be operated by Air Nelson Ltd. MCC Chairman Bill Buckland said his company intends "to aggressively expand its portfolio of 30- to 40-seat regional aircraft both internationally and in the U.S. market."
Air France has announced a fare of $299 one way, based on roundtrip purchase, from New York Kennedy or Newark to Paris and 41 other European cities, including Berlin, Frankfurt and Nice. Other cities in Europe with fare sales include $324 one way to Milan and $349 to Prague. Tickets must be purchased by May 2 and travel completed by June 17.
The National Transportation Safety Board, concerned about four reported uncommanded disconnects of the roll system on de Havilland Dash 8 aircraft, has asked FAA to make mandatory a manufacturer's service bulletin correction of the problem. In a letter to FAA acting Administrator Barry Valentine, NTSB Chairman Jim Hall described a Feb. 21 incident in which a Piedmont Airlines Dash 8 flight on approach to Pittsburgh Airport experienced an uncommanded disconnect of the roll system just before touchdown.
U.S. Major and National Carriers Landing Fees Fourth Quarter 1996 Average Amount Systemwide Spent Per Landing Alaska $ 5,376,000 $ 145.75 America West 8,809,098 166.21 American 60,195,000 307.37 Continental 29,543,000 261.67 Delta 62,364,000 259.28
The Air Line Pilots Association has objected to US Airways management's description of efforts to put a competitive cost structure in place as having made no progress. "As far as the pilots are concerned, ALPA has had a plan on the table since November 1996 to develop a competitive response to the incursions of low-fare carriers, such as Southwest. This proposal includes pilot pay rates at Southwest levels," according to a statement from US Airways' ALPA unit. The union also said pilot and management negotiators have been making progress in talks.
Regional-airline load factors rose 0.3% on average during March, according to a sampling of 14 of the nation's largest regional carriers. The average for the group was 53.4% compared with 53.1% during the same month a year ago. Nine regionals' load factors declined. United Express Air Wisconsin, the perennial load-factor leader of the group, saw its March load factor jump 14.5 percentage points to slightly over 67%. The carrier is operating a fleet of 15 BAe 146s.
British Aerospace Asset Management-Jets lists 97 BAe 146 jet aircraft out on lease to 24 companies, with another two undergoing customization in the U.K. and a third "the subject of several offers to interested parties," according to a statement from BAe-AMJ's public relations firm. One of the lessees, US Airways, has subleased all of its aircraft - five to Debonair, one to Flightline and one to Cityjet.
European regional airlines carried 13% more passengers in 1996 than they did the year before, Euro-pean Regions Airline Association reported. The growth figure is "more than double" that for the intra-European operations of the continental's major carriers, the association said. Also during the year, the average sector distance flown for ERA members rose to 443 kilometers - 275 miles - from 432km - 268 miles - and average passenger load factor fell 0.3 percentage points to 54.4% from 54.7%.
Aviation Learning Systems (AvLS), supplier of PC-based aviation training devices, has opened a marketing and demonstration center in Chantilly, Va., near Washington Dulles Airport. The center maintains a demonstration unit of the company's Pro Series model, which gives pilots frequent opportunities to practice instrument flight rule operations on advanced systems. The device, at a nearly zero operating and maintenance cost, includes an independent console from which the instructor can fail aircraft, electrical systems and powerplants.
Northwest Airlines regional subsidiary Express Airlines I flew 40.5 million revenue passenger miles last month, a 10.6% increase from March 1996, as capacity dropped 0.6% to nearly 69 million available seat miles. As a result, the passenger load factor increased six percentage points to 58.8% from 52.8%. Enplanements increased 7.8% to 161,915. March 97 March 96 3 Mths 97 3 Mths 96 RPMs 40,547,000 36,671,000 108,678,000 97,879,000
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said it received notice that the National Weather Service, following pressure from the user community, will continue to provide services critical to aviation safety. The Commerce Department, parent agency, announced it will reprogram funds to maintain the number of meteorologists at the Aviation Weather Center, National Hurricane Center and Storm Prediction Center.
The DAILY reported April 11 that the new turbofan version of the Fairchild Dornier Do 328 would produce 12.6% more seat miles and 13.1% more seat miles per pound of fuel, on average, than the existing Do328 turboprop version, but at the expense of a 40.7% higher fuel burn. Fairchild Dornier points out, however, that during one day's operation over 14 duty hours, the fuel-burn difference is 4,690 pounds or 700 gallons of jet fuel, or $595 at 85 cents per gallon.
Embraer is expected to make a major product announcement at the Paris Air Show in June. The Brazilian manu-facturer has been discussing two potential new aircraft - a shortened, 35- to 37-passenger version of the EMB-145 regional jet, the EMB-135, and an all-new, 70-passenger EMB-170. The smaller aircraft likely will get the first nod because of the much shorter development time and the fact that it would share the same production line with the 145. In addition, it could come to market at about the same time as the 32-seat Fairchild Dornier Do 328JET.
The government of the Congo has asked Aviation Capital Partners (ACP) to help privatize and develop Brazzaville-based Lina Congo, ACP reported. ACP, created six months ago by former BWIA International President Edward Wegel, is also restructuring HelenAir Caribbean (DAILY, April 18). In a statement, ACP said it would develop a privatization/business plan for Lina Congo, "which will move progressively from providing for intra-regional service, to inter-regional, and, finally, long-haul services for both the Congo and its neighboring countries.
U.S.-French talks ended cordially yesterday in Washington, but the two sides remain far apart in their efforts to construct a new bilateral agreement.The chairman of the French delegation and his deputy told reporters his team proposed phasing liberalization over nine years, at which time the treaty still would fall short of open skies. U.S.-France service would be fully liberalized, but the French are not ready to hand over the beyond rights that are part of the standard open skies agreement.
Vivid Technologies said it received repeat orders for 10 of its automated explosives detection systems from Service Technique des Bases Ariennes (STBA), France's aviation authority. The systems will be used at Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports in Paris and regional airports in Nice and Lyon, as well as in the French departments abroad at Saint-Denis de la Reunion (Madagascar) and Cayenne in Guiana. Vivid said its systems have been selected for use at 23 airports in 12 countries, including London Heathrow and Gatwick.
American has pledged to raise at least $1 million for the National Park Foundation through frequent flyer miles. Under the Miles for Trails program, American will give 500 AAdvantage miles to anyone who donates $50 and 10 million for every dollar over $50. If donations do not meet $1 million, American will make up the difference.
Southwest Airlines' first quarter net earnings soared 54.2% to $50.9 million yesterday, compared with $33 million in the first quarter of 1996, as a healthy economy and strong travel demand, including by business travelers, offset higher fuel costs. "The demand for air travel is very strong, and we don't see any sign of it weakening," said Chief Financial Officer Gary Kelly. Revenues bolted 14.8% to $887.1 million, while operating vel," as more last-minute travelers chose Southwest than previously. The airline's expansion in the eastern U.S.
DOT has had "an increasing number of visits from the smaller carriers" complaining of predatory practices by the majors, Deputy Assistant Secretary Patrick Murphy told the American Bar Association's third annual spring meeting yesterday in Washington. Murphy, who on Wednesday said he expected niche-carrier competition to be an important issue this spring (DAILY, April 24), told the ABA conference that investment analysts increasingly refer to the "ValuJet Phenomenon" when talking about the difficulties faced by new carriers.
FAA presented yesterday the final phase of a three-part inflight icing program it began in 1994 to increase flight safety during icing conditions. The plan, based on recommendations from more than 300 experts, calls for improving inflight icing detection and forecasting, flight information and training and certification regulations and procedures, according to Guy Gardner, associate administrator for regulation and certification. The plan outlines 13 major tasks, including standardizing icing terminology used by pilots, controllers and dispatchers.
DHL has begun operation of its new Miami Express Logistics Center to support operations to Latin America for its customers. DHL also has begun operating a new facility at Chicago O'Hare that includes a bonded international gateway.
