American's tour division has signed what it called a "landmark partnership" with the City of Philadelphia to provide year-long, multi-cultural tours of the city. Fly AAway Vacations is selling a "Philadelphia Share the Heritage" tour aimed at African-Americans. The package includes dining options, jazz and blues clubs and an optional African-American historical walking tour.
DMR Consulting Group of Montreal has acquired Sydney-based Qadrant International Pty. Ltd, which offers systems integration services to the airline industry. The Canadian information company, which held 51% of Qadrant previously, purchased the remaining 49% from Qantas Airlines. "DMR already has outstanding knowledge in verticals such as telecommunications and finance, and has now set its sights on the transportation industry," said DMR Chief Executive Michael Poehner.
FAA set up Vice President Gore to announce at the mid-January safety conference that the agency will sponsor, to the tune of $250 million, a free flight project in Alaska and Hawaii. Announcement of the project took the airlines - whose cooperation is vital - completely by surprise.
Merger of the Canadian Air Line Pilots Association with the Air Line Pilots Association became official Feb. 1. As a result, ALPA represents 46,000 pilots at 48 airlines.
Japan Airlines has ordered BE Aerospace's fully interactive individual passenger entertainment systems for installation in all three classes of service on its next three 747-400s. The order for Multi-Media Digital Distribution Systems and associated seating, valued at $30 million, provides interactive video, audio and game channels and a video-on-demand system that enables each user to start, stop, forward and rewind programming. The system supports 25 full-length digital video programs and 24 broadcast channels of programming.
Employee placement service AEPS Inc. recently added China Airlines, Malaysian Airlines and Flight Safety International to the more than 500 aviation organizations that search for potential new employees via the company's World Wide Web site. The database is available free at www.aeps.com/aeps/aepshm.html. Members can update information online, and AEPS posts new aviation job listings daily.
U.S. aviation negotiators face a busy schedule of bilaterals this month. Open-skies talks with Malaysia are to take place, though no firm date is set. Taiwan negotiators will be in Washington Feb. 26-27. Talks with the U.K., originally scheduled this week, have been moved back to Feb. 18-20 to accommodate a hospital stay by British negotiator Tony Baker for minor surgery.
Amelia Earhart: A Biography by Doris Rich. Paper-bound issue of the 1989 hard cover edition. Smithsonian Institution Press; $14.95. To order, call 800-782-4612.
Croatia Airlines ordered six Airbus A319s and took options on six more aircraft in the single-aisle family. Deliveries will begin early next year, but the carrier plans to begin operations with a leased A320 this year, citing strong development of the Croatian economy and tourism.
Export-Import Bank authorized $640 million in the first quarter of fiscal 1997 to support aircraft sales to India, Korea, China and Uzbekistan. The amount doubles the $317 million approved in the same period in fiscal 1996. Three of this year's four deals are asset-based finance leases in which the security is based on the aircraft.
Maersk Air is adding an extra flight on Sundays this month on its London Gatwick-Billund, Denmark, route. The airline plans further capacity increases during the month by providing three flights daily except Saturdays, when it will operate two. The airline also operates 12 weekly flights that connect onward to Kristiansand and Southern Norway. All flights are operated with 737s.
Delta will expand its electronic ticketing option to include every point in the continental U.S. and Alaska for flights beginning tomorrow. Advance seat selection is available through electronic ticketing.
Aerospatiale and Renault are forming a 50-50 venture, Societe de Motorisations Aeronautiques, to develop and sell a new generation of 180- to 300-hp light aircraft piston engines using a diesel cycle to burn jet fuel, promising lower fuel consumption and less frequent overhauls. Renault Sport, until now devoting most of its expertise to Formula One auto-racing engines, will design, develop, build and certify the new engines. Aerospatiale general aviation subsidiary Socata will use them in its latest aircraft designs.
Flight Visions said its FV-2000 head-up display is the "first-ever HUD to be certified as a primary flight display." Certified for use in instrument and visual conditions, the HUD "can be used as the sole reference for flight information," according to Flight Visions. The company said it had to prove to FAA that the system is suitable for unusual attitude recovery and that pilots can transition easily from head-down to head-up displays. The unit also passed established high intensity radiated field and lightning requirements.
Pilots at United Express carrier Atlantic Coast Airlines voted in favor of a new three-year contract agreement, the first negotiated under interest- based bargaining procedures that are designed to speed the negotiating process. ACA and the Air Line Pilots Association negotiated for 10 months. According to ALPA, the agreement provides for better cooperation between pilots and management on safety issues, increased compensation and improved work rules.
KLM is disputing Sabena Chief Executive Paul Reutlinger's claim that the Sabena/Delta/Swissair team is the first alliance to fly smoke-free across the Atlantic (DAILY, Jan. 24). KLM and Northwest, as well as KLM partners Martinair and Transavia, all banned smoking on Atlantic flights Oct. 29, 1995, KLM said.
The Allied Pilots Association has not apprised the Association of Professional Flight Attendants at American of the status of its negotiations with the company or whether it plans to strike Feb. 15, nor has it asked for support in informational picketing, according to Denise Hedges, APFA president. She also said, "This is their fight." APFA is preparing for the possibility of a strike, however.
National Air Transportation Association is urging members to endorse an FAA proposal to allow use of single-engine aircraft for carrying passengers. NATA says their support is "essential" - "The pilot unions are opposed to the rule...making it imperative that members support" the proposal.
European Commission is holding a closed-door hearing on the American- British Airways alliance today and tomorrow. The hearing, part of the EC's investigation of competition issues raised by the alliance, includes presentations by opponents and supporters, including the airlines themselves.
Travel Industry Association has named the next three sites for Discover USA, its expanding program of trade shows intended to promote international travel to the U.S. The event will be held in Houston Oct. 13-16, 1997, Fort Lauderdale, Oct. 5-8, 1998, and Los Angeles Sept. 27-30, 1999. Discover USA has been in limited testing for two years to promote travel from South America. Now, it will be expanded to attract tour producers from Latin America and Europe.
Russian government representatives are scheduled to visit Airbus Industrie executives this week in Paris to discuss yet another approach to a superjumbo jetliner - a passenger version of the Antonov 124 cargo aircraft. The Russian delegation, to include Aviastar Managing Director Viktor Mikhailov, also will raise the possibility of equipping Antonov aircraft with non-Russian engines.
Raytheon's Equipment Division will build the Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) under a contract valued at up to $44.5 million, FAA said. ITWS, which FAA calls the "21st century weather prediction system," will generate predictions of microbursts, gust fronts, storm cell movements, runway winds and other phenomena up to 10 minutes in advance, giving air traffic personnel and pilots more and better information on weather hazards in airspace within 60 miles of an airport.
