British Midland is offering to double commissions to U.S. travel agents who sell its Discover Europe Airpass promotion. Agents will receive a 20% commission on tickets booked between Jan. 6 and March 23 for travel completed by March 24. They also will be awarded one free roundtrip ticket for every 20 flights sold and a one-way ticket for every 10 flight segments sold. The one-way ticket is an addition to a promotion first offered to agents last year. Discover Europe Airpass is for short-haul flights within the U.K. and between the U.K.
Airborne Express's joint venture with European partner Van Ommeren Intexo Logistics Services, which became effective yesterday, will enable the U.S. company to consolidate its International Air Express, Air Freight Forwarding, Ocean Services, Brokerage and Logistics services by using exiting warehousing operations in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Intexo currently has a partnership with Airborne subsidiary Advanced Logistics Services through which it runs logistics programs with consumer goods companies.
Private Italian regional airline Air One, putting increased competitive pressure on Alitalia, purchased slots from another private airline at Milan Linate and Rome Ciampino airports. Air One, launched in November 1995, is taking over Noman's Milan-Palermo, Rome-Olbia and Rome- Milan slots. The transaction will bring Air One's market share on the lucrative Milan-Rome route to 30%, versus Alitalia's 70%. Air One, which plans to expand its 737 fleet soon, carried 700,000 passengers in 1996 and had a 25% share between Milan and Rome.
TDG Aerospace said yesterday that Delta has ordered its overwing heater systems for 120 MD-80s. The heaters are an alternative means of complying with an FAA requirement for tactile inspections for clear ice on upper wing surface, TDG said. Clear ice has been known to build up and be ingested during takeoff into the engines, mounted on the aft fuselage. TDG said Delta chose its system over one from AlliedSignal after an eight-month evaluation, and American and Alaska also are TDG customers
American Airlines attorneys are filing their own motion for summary judgment in DOT's enforcement case against Preference MAAnager, the add-on program that gives display preference to American and American Eagle flights on the Sabre CRS. American will urge the judge handling the case to dismiss the complaint; DOT attorneys filed earlier this week to suspend further deliberations and move straight to determining the civil penalty (DAILY, Jan. 2).
Marc Rochet, chairman of British Airways' French subsidiary TAT, has succeeded Lofti Belhassine as chairman of the insolvent French airline Air Liberte, which is being taken over by BA. A French commercial court is expected to confirm the deal Jan. 8, but Rochet's appointment signals BA's effective victory over competitors that showed interest after Air Liberte went into receivership last September. Richard Branson's Virgin Express gave up in December, and other prospective buyers failed to muster enough financial backing.
Acting FAA Administrator Linda Daschle is expected to sign today a rule restricting fights of tour operators in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Sources said the rule will be enacted as DOT Secretary Federico Pena proposed, even though attorneys at FAA and DOT said they did not recommend it. On Tuesday, FAA and the Interior Department announced restrictions on air tour flights over Grand Canyon National Park (DAILY, Jan. 2).
FAA yesterday issued an emergency airworthiness directive requiring operators of 737 aircraft to adopt procedures it said will enable flightcrews to maintain control in an uncommanded yaw or roll. The agency said the probability of either event is "remote" and termed the AD a precautionary measure, but it requires new procedures to be in place within 30 days to address a jammed or restricted flight control. FAA said "no anomalies" have been detected following its Nov.
The Pritzker organization and Israel Aircraft Industries are expected to receive approval in the first quarter for their joint venture company to manufacture, market and support a line of business jet aircraft. The new entity, Galaxy Aerospace Corp., will be a U.S. company based initially in Princeton, N.J., as are the current executive offices of Astra Jet Corp., IAI's business jet marketing subsidiary. With final approval, Astra Jet's operations will be absorbed into Galaxy. The new company will be led by Brian Barents as president and chief executive.
Era Aviation, Anchorage, said it would lower fares on all its airline routes in response to the yearend expiration of the federal transportation excise tax.
Kiwi International Air Lines said yesterday it will resume scheduled passenger operations Jan. 20 with service to Newark, Chicago, Atlanta and West Palm Beach. The airline has received the first installment of a $5 million investment from Edwards/Wasatch International, with which it is negotiating for an additional $15 million-$20 million of secondary financing that would enable it to purchase new aircraft from major manufacturers.
Aeroflot renewed its contract with Lufthansa Technik for A310-300 fleet maintenance. The new agreement, which runs until 2002, provides help for the Russian carrier in setting up a maintenance center at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport.
Three Gorges Airport in Yichang, which will serve the world's largest dam project with regular air flights, opened officially with an initial roundtrip by South China Airlines to and from Beijing's Capital International Airport. The new airport "will give a strong push to the construction of the Three Gorges [dam] project and the development of the local economy," Lu Youmei, president of China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Corp, said before boarding the return flight to Yichang.
Bulgaria is seeking foreign investment to finance a $150 million rebuilding project at Sofia Airport, beginning in May or June with a new passenger terminal capable of handling 3.5 million passengers per year and a 60,000-tonne freight terminal. In 1995, the Bulgarian government tore up a $100 million agreement with a French construction company, Campenon Bernard SGE, because of a disagreement on financial terms. The new investor solicitation is based on a modernization study by British consultants, Gibb Business Consulting and Hallcrow.
Jonathan Ornstein, former president of Continental Express and executive VP of Mesa Air Group, has acquired approximately 4.78% of the outstanding shares of Charlotte-based USAir Express CCAIR. He now serves as chief executive officer of Virgin Express in Brussels. The investment is part of a 6.6% stake - 510,200 common shares - acquired in CCAIR since late August by limited partnership Barlow Partners. According to a Securities&Exchange Commission filing, the stake is worth approximately $956,625, based on the closing price of CCAIR stock on Dec.
The National Transportation Safety Board is considering whether to reconvene its hearing into the ValuJet DC-9 crash last May 11, a board spokesman said yesterday. New information that came to light on SabreTech, a ValuJet maintenance contractor, prompted NTSB member John Goglia, who chaired the hearing in November in Miami, to ask the board to look into reconvening the hearing for a day or so, perhaps in Washington, the spokesman said. "Some additional information came to Goglia's attention after the hearing in Florida," the spokesman said.
Airline Industry Stocks Trends Closed Closed Exchange 12/31/96 11/29/96 Majors Alaska Air Group NYSE $ 21.000 $ 24.120 AMR NYSE 88.120 91.250 America West (Class B) NYSE 15.870 14.620 Continental (Class B) (*) NYSE 28.250 28.370 Delta NYSE 70.870 75.250
General Accounting Office intends to investigate the procurement practices FAA used to award the Weather and Radar Processor (WARP) contract to Harris Corp. GAO told DAILY affiliate ATC Market Report it is responding to allegations - from a source it did not disclose - that the WARP procurement was "wired." Harris was the only bidder. The WARP probe will be part of a broader investigation of FAA procurement practices to be attached as an appendix to GAO's annual budget statement to the appropriations committees.
LADS Corporation Ltd., Adelaide, Australia, will take delivery of a Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8 Series 200B in June and use the aircraft as an airborne platform for a "revolutionary hydrographic survey of shallow coastal waters," according to the manufacturer. The aircraft will be outfitted with Laser Airborne Depth Sounder (LADS) specialized shallow- water survey equipment and will be available for service entry in mid-1998.
ValuJet on Tuesday was continuing to operate Florida charter service that FAA approved through Jan. 6, with no word from the agency on whether it will approve scheduled service. ValuJet spokesman Greg Kenyon said the carrier is working daily with FAA, but he declined to comment on why the approval has not come.
National Air Transportation Association (NATA) and the Helicopter Association International (HAI) expressed opposition to restrictions on air tour overflights at Grand Canyon National Park announced Tuesday by FAA and the Department of the Interior. In addition, a coalition of eight air tour companies that operate tours over the Grand Canyon will ask the courts to block the new rules.
FAA chose Comsat Mobile Communications to provide satellite communications services for the Wide Area Augmentation System, which is expected to begin operations in December 1998. The contract, worth as much as $100 million if all options are exercised, provides for satellite and uplink services to the National Satellite Test Bed (NSTB) as well as WAAS. It also includes two uplinks for the Functional Verification System, a "mini-WAAS" of five stations used for testing purposes, and four uplinks for the operational WAAS.
Fresno-based Air 21 has ceased all scheduled service through Jan. 15 and was expected to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy Dec. 31. The carrier said it still is negotiating with financial entities regarding its future, and that due to the "incompleteness and the uncertainty of these complex discussions," it had to cease operations. A carrier spokesman said potential buyer Pacific Southwest Airlines walked away from the table Monday (DAILY, Dec. 20).
DOT announced this week a permanent ban on carrying chemical oxygen generators as cargo aboard passenger airplanes. A temporary ban issued May 23 limited the canisters to compartments in freighter aircraft that have crew access during flight. The final rule from the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) and from FAA also applies to foreign air carriers that operate in the U.S. and to any person who offers the oxygen generators as cargo.
Status of Airline Labor Contracts, As of January 2, 1997 Flight Mechanics/ Clerical/ Airlines Pilots Engineers Attendts Dispatchers Related Persnl Agts ABX IBT(7/31/95) -- -- -- -- -- In mediation Alaska ALPA12/1/97 -- AFA3/14/99 TWU2/9/02 IAM9/1/97 IAM /20/99 Aloha ALPA(11/30/96 -- AFA8/31/98 TWU12/31/97 IAM10/31/97 IAM10/31/97 In negotiation
