United Airlines and Raytheon E-Systems will be members of a team that will develop a Boeing 747 to carry a Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The Universities Space Research Association heads the team effort under a 10-year, $434.2 million NASA contract to design, assemble, test and operate the eight-foot-diameter telescope. When SOFIA begins flying in 2001, it will be the world's largest flying astronomical observatory, according to the contractors, who will work in cooperation with Ames Research Center.
United has just the idea for last-minute Christmas shoppers with at least $1,000 to spend - buy someone the chance to be a pilot for a day. United and UAL Services offer flight simulation programs to anyone 18 or older at the Denver Flight Center. A Boeing 747-400 gold package costs $1,550 and the Boeing 737 bronze package costs $950. Pilots and other professionals have priority on scheduling simulator time.
BE Aerospace posted a record $108 million in sales for its third fiscal quarter, up $50 million. Operating earnings were a record $12 million and net profits were $4.1 million, up $22 million and $14 million, respectively, from the prior-year period.
Swissair Group revised its corporate structure last week, creating a holding company for the four operating divisions of the company. The moves were announced at the press conference in Zurich when the airline said it intends to buy future aircraft jointly with Sabena and Austrian (DAILY, Dec. 20). Nearly all of them will have no effect on Swissair, which continues to operate under the same name.
Delta will open a reservations center in May at Northern Kentucky University, the third center employing college students. The carrier intends to hire as many as 200 students to handle routine calls. Its center at Weber State University handles about 3,000 calls a day.
NASA, Williams International and Teledyne Continental Motors will work to develop low-cost engines that NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin says will point the way toward production of as many as 20,000 general aviation aircraft per year early in the 21st century. Under cooperative agreements signed last week, Williams and Teledyne will split with NASA the cost of developing a new turbofan and a new supercharged diesel engine, respectively, over the next four years. The companies were selected in September to negotiate for the cooperative agreements.
United's three-class configuration on its 747-400s across the Pacific, with 36 seats in first class, 123 in business class and 142 in economy, makes it the only 747-400 operator to offer more premium than economy seats on average, according to Carlson Worldwide seating data. The closest match is Japan Airlines' 19-136-218 configuration. Singapore Airlines offers 24-59- 316 and Cathay Pacific 18-67-313, with some 747s having 73 business-class seats. British Airways operates with 18-66-326 seating.
FAA yesterday awarded contracts valued at $2.5 million each to Raytheon Service Co. and Lockheed Martin C2 Integration Systems to plan, design and provide engineering and management services to integrate and install advanced technology security equipment at as many as 77 U.S. airports. FAA said it is procuring hundreds of sophisticated explosives detection devices and other equipment, including bulk explosives detection systems for examining checked baggage and trace explosives detection equipment for scanning electrical equipment and carry-on luggage. On Oct.
Management at Brussels Airport and the national aviation authority, Regie des Voies Aeriennes, are scrambling to improve airport security following this month's hoax by two local journalists who made their way effortlessly into the cockpit of a Sabena 737. Testifying last week before a parliamentary committee, Belgian Transport Minister Michel Daerden admitted "errors" in checking the fake security badges worn by the impostors, who disguised themselves as airline employees to test security at the airport.
Air Line Pilots Association issued an appropriately sober holiday message to travelers at the end of a year fraught with passenger assaults against crews. ALPA advises that anyone who is short-tempered after waiting in long lines for crowded airplanes "better not try to take it out on the airline crew or your fellow passengers." One person who did was sentenced to four years in prison and 200 hours of community service, and was ordered to pay USAir $611 in fuel costs, the union noted.
Carnival Corp. and Airtours plc have signed a letter of intent to buy Costa Crociere, an Italian cruise operator, for an estimated $300 million. Costa, based in Genoa, is Europe's largest cruise operator.
Scheduled traffic worldwide rose 6% in 1996 compared with 1995, the International Civil Aviation Organization reported yesterday. International scheduled traffic was up by 8%, according to preliminary ICAO estimates. Measured in passenger-kilometers instead of tonne-kilometers, total traffic was up 7% and international traffic rose 9%. Freight growth was 5% and 6%, respectively, in terms of tonne-kilometers. ICAO said the airlines carried nearly 1.35 billion passengers and about 22 million tonnes of freight in 1996.
Hungary's privatization authority will unveil plans for a further partial sell-off of state-controlled airline Malev by April 30. The divestiture is to be carried out in parallel with a capital increase, said the authority. The Hungarian state is planning to keep a share of 50% plus one vote, down from its current 63.9% stake. Alitalia holds 30%, Italian foreign investment agency Societa Italiana per le Imprese Miste all Estero 5% and regional Hungarian authorities 0.6%.
DOT approved Continental's bid to start Cleveland-London Gatwick service, granting the carrier a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the route. Cleveland thus gets one of the "switchable gateways" permitted under the current U.S.-U.K. bilateral. Continental also asked for authority to serve London Heathrow, primarily to stake out a position assuming that the current limit of two U.S. carriers there will be lifted as a condition of the proposed American-British Airways alliance.
South American presidents attending a Mercosur free-trade summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, signed an aviation agreement to open new routes. DAILY affiliate Aviation-Latin America&Caribbean reports that the "accord on sub-regional air services" calls for establishment of routes between points that cannot be served under current bilateral agreements among the six signatory nations - Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.
British Airways' acquisition of Air Liberte is being delayed by difficulties in negotiations between the U.K. carrier and the creditors of the bankrupt French airline, according to French pilot union sources. The French commercial court that gave BA and its French partner, Banque Rivaud, until mid-December to reach an agreement with Air Liberte's creditors has extended the deadline until Jan. 8.
National Transportation Safety Board sent investigators yesterday to the scene of a fatal crash of an Airborne Express DC-8 freighter that went down while on a maintenance check flight. The crash, about 6 p.m., Sunday near the Virginia-West Virginia state line, killed the three flightcrew and three mechanics aboard. NTSB said the aircraft was at 8,000 feet altitude when it disappeared from the Indianapolis radar screen. The flightcrew had reported a problem, the board said.
Used Jet Aircraft Deliveries September 1996 Carrier # Type Engines Previous Operator 9 Lives Holding 1 737-200 JT8D-9 Sierra Pacific Aerolease 1 DC-8-73CF CFM56-2C3 LH Cargo Air Lsg Air Charter 1 A320-200 CFM56-5A1 Vietnam Airlines Air Jamaica 1 A310-300 PW4152 Airbus Industrie Air One 1 737-300 CFM56-3C1 Transavia
Facing unaccustomed competition from prospective low-fare airlines, Japan Airlines and Japan Air System are developing plans for early establishment of subsidiaries. JAL's unit, not yet named, is to be formed by February and launch service in 1998. With initial capital of 400 million yen (about $3.5 million) before starting service, it will lease two or three 737s from JAL and expand to 10-15 aircraft within a few years. It will link hub cities like Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka and Naha with terminal cities like Yamagata and Miyazaki.
AeroRepublica Airlines, which plans to begin serving the U.S. next year, has become an Airlines Reporting Corp. participant, effective with sales on Dec. 30. The Bogota carrier serves Columbia and Latin American cities through sales efforts in Mexico and Peru, ARC said. Its sales in the U.S. will be aided by Americana de Aviacion and Aerolineas Internacionales.
Alaska Airlines and AT&T are offering passengers free five-minute inflight phone calls during Alaska flights on Christmas Day. Incoming as well as outgoing calls are eligible.
UAL Corp. said 2.999 million depositary shares, representing 47.9% of the outstanding issue of 12.25% UAL Corp. Series B preferred stock, were tendered in an offer for an exchange of newly established 13.25% trust originated preferred securities. The shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange Dec. 31 under the symbol UAL Pr T. At that time, there will be 3,266,977 outstanding shares not owned by UAL.
American and Avianca signed a code-share agreement for flights between the U.S. and Columbia starting early next year. American will place its code on Avianca flights from Miami, Los Angeles, New York and Newark to five Columbian gateways - Bogota, Cali, Barranquilla, Medellin and Cartagena - and on selected beyond flights. Avianca's AV code will be on selected flights from Bogota, Cali and Barranquilla to Miami and beyond to Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
SITA says the first Electronic Travel Authority may be operational worldwide by July. ETA will replace the paper visa, providing immediate electronic authorization for business or tourist passengers entering nations that require a visa. The system already is operational in Australia. Airlines confirm the ETA electronically during check-in.
Delta is receiving better marks from its domestic business travelers in its monthly customer satisfaction polls. The carrier improved in November in all 10 categories for business travelers, including seat comfort, employee politeness, check-in and reservations. Delta surveys 1,200 customers, half domestic and half international, each month.
