U.S. aviation officials could have come away from their recent Far East tour with two open skies aviation agreements but held out for more, Singapore Airlines Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Cheong Choong Kong told the National Aviation Press Club of Australia this week. It was "no secret" that open skies bilaterals with Singapore and Malaysia were attainable "right away" during the trip (DAILY, Nov. 21), he said. "Unfortunately, it was all or nothing with them; they insisted on a critical mass of willing countries before they would proceed.
Brazilian civil aviation authority, following the TAM Fokker 100 accident at Sao Paulo's downtown Congonhas Airport Nov. 1, has told the regional that its flight crews no longer may stand outside the cockpit and greet boarding passengers because it may detract from pre-flight duties. The Fokker 100 crashed on takeoff when a thrust reverser apparently deployed, killing all aboard and two on the ground. TAM is a successful, growing regional carrier with a strong bent toward passenger relations, including a red carpet at every gate or loading ramp.
Lewis Jordan, ValuJet chairman, and Guy Gardner, FAA's new associate administrator for regulation and certification, will speak at McGraw-Hill Aviation Week Group's First Global Aviation Safety and Security Summit, to be held Tuesday at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington. For information, call 212-512-3225.
Lufthansa Group's airfreight subsidiary, Lufthansa Cargo AG, will raise rates sharply on cargo transport from Germany to its destinations in India, beginning Jan. 1. The increase will vary between 15% and 70%, depending on a consignment's weight and final destination. The company flies to Bangalore, Mumbai (Bombay), Calcutta, Delhi, Hyderabad, Madras and Trivandrum. LTAG said its average yields on India routes have decreased steadily in recent years and cargo service to the subcontinent has been "uneconomical for some time."
Pratt&Whitney, whose strategy from the outset in developing the PW6000 Mid-Thrust Family Engine (MTFE) series has been to look for exclusivity on airframes for the series, hopes its offer of Chinese industry participation will help seal the MTFE's place on the Asia Express 100 program. P&W this week signed an agreement with Aviation Industries of China (AVIC), which heads the AE100 program, for "significant production in China" (DAILY, Dec. 5). Pratt early this year signaled that "major" tie-ups with Asian manufacturers were possible.
United Express affiliate Atlantic Coast Airlines has reached an agreement in principle with Aero International (Regional) (AI(R) to order 12 new 29- passenger Jetstream 41 aircraft in a transaction valued at approximately $84 million, the two companies announced. Subject to final agreement, deliveries will begin in January and be completed in mid-1999.
Eight regional airline stocks rose in value an average of $1.32 during November (Air L.A. has been dropped from the index because it stopped trading on the Nasdaq exchange late in the month). Total market value of the eight stocks finished the month at $2.36 billion, up $148 million. With Air L.A. included at the end of October, the total market value was $2.22 billion. Leading during November, was Delta Connection Comair, up nearly 24% from $20.13 per share at the end of October to $24.88.
Responding to a Delta request that Air Europa's Madrid-Miami exemption authority be limited to 179 days, Air Europa said such a restriction would ignore improving bilateral prospects between the U.S. and Spain. The carrier, which operates as Air Espana on the route, already flies its Madrid-New York service under such a limitation. Restricting the Miami route as well "would represent a needless escalation," Air Europa said. Delta asked DOT to limit the exemption to 179 days as an additional "pressure point" to secure improved access for U.S. carriers to Spain.
Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), ranking member on the House Transportation Committee, will discuss legislative issues on Aviation News Today, to be aired on Washington's NewsChannel 8 Sunday 12:30-1:00 a.m. and 1:30-2:00 p.m.
Any efforts to raise more money for FAA should be linked with "a sure-fire plan for ensuring it is well spent," Vice President Gore said yesterday. In opening remarks to the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, which he chairs, Gore said FAA needs adequate and predictable funding but argued that money has not been the principal problem with FAA's air traffic control modernization efforts. "Billions of dollars have been spend with little to show for it," he said.
Tom Metzler, former president and chief executive officer of AMR Services, has been named president and chief operating officer of Interactive Flight Technologies, which produces digital inflight entertainment systems, including casino-style gaming and video on demand.
BFGoodrich President David Burner was elected chief executive officer. John Ong is relinquishing that title but will stay on as chairman until he retires June 1. Ong decided not to remain a director after he retires.
Harris Corp. said last week it has acquired Digital Radio Technology to expand its presence in the air traffic control communication systems market. DRT produces ground-based VHF digital communications transmitters and receivers, and its multi-mode radios are used in the Global Navigation Satellite System. It will become part of Harris's RF Communications Div., Rochester, N.Y.
Pratt&Whitney said yesterday it is continuing product planning and early development work on the PW6000 for a next-generation 100-passenger transport "as airframe companies around the world finalize their plans for this new type of airplane." Pratt, which has structured the program so an engine can be certified within 36 months of an official launch, said it is holding "detailed discussions" with Aviation Industries of China on participating in AVIC's program.
United Chairman and Chief Executive Gerald Greenwald said yesterday all indications are that 1997 will be "even better than 1996." In remarks to the Society of Airline Analysts in New York, he said the current marketplace has "one of the best domestic capacity environments the industry has seen in years," and he noted that 1997 will be better because United's domestic unit revenue growth "will surpass that of the industry." Greenwald said United's top three objectives for next year are improving the company's pre-tax margin ranking, boosting on-time performance and inc
Southwest has reached an agreement with the City of Dallas that will enable it to double the size of its corporate headquarters at Love Field without increasing the rent it pays to the city. Southwest said it plans to buy an abandoned bakery next to its existing headquarters on the airport's south side, for $1.9 million, and deed the site to the city in exchange for the rental agreement.
America Online and Toronto-based WHERE Magazines International plan to offer travel information on 40 cities and 11 countries to AOL subscribers. WHERE magazines will provide information on 19 cities in the U.S., 10 in Canada and 11 in Europe, such as the favorite local pubs, where to shop, hotels and restaurants.
Top 25 Domestic City-Pair Markets Over 750 Miles O&D Passengers Second Quarter 1996 Long Total Average Haul Mkts Non-Stop Passenger Rank Rank City-Pair Mileage Per Day 1 3 Los Angeles - New York 2,467 7,644 2 6 New York - Orlando 947 6,263
FAA is asking colleges, universities or teams of institutions to submit proposals by Feb. 15 for designation as a Center for Excellence for Airworthiness Assurance. The center will conduct research and development on maintenance, inspection and repair; crashworthiness; propulsion and fuel systems safety technologies; landing gear systems performance and safety, and advanced materials. It will be funded under a 50-50 cost share cooperative agreement, to be awarded in three-year increments up to a maximum of 10 years.
A U.S. District Court judge issued a temporary restraining order yesterday against the Independent Federation of Flight Attendants, barring its executive board from conducting disciplinary hearings against its president, Sherry Cooper. IFFA represents flight attendants at TWA, and the union has signed an affiliation agreement, yet to be ratified, with the Association of Flight Attendants (see story on Page 374 of the hard copy of this issue).
The civil aviation section of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) has kicked off a campaign to defend job security, with British Airways among its likely first targets. At a recent meeting in London, delegates detailed ways in which the international aviation industry continues to shed jobs and cut working conditions.
Merger of Aerospatiale and Dassault is on track and will be announced "around Jan. 1," the manufacturers and French government sources confirmed. Negotiators still are haggling about the value of both groups, which will define their respective weight in the new entity. Dassault reportedly wants 25% of the new group, while Aerospatiale is willing to let it have 20%.
Users of the National Airspace System (NAS) zeroed in on delays as their chief complaint Tuesday during an Air Traffic Control Association symposium in Washington. USAir's director of operations and planning, James Frazier, said the FAA-user relationship is improving but added that system reliability remains a serious problem and is a major source of costly slowdowns. He cited a surveillance radar outage that occurred 14 times during a 17-day period, costing USAir $2 million.
Tupolev Design Bureau of Russia has flown the last remaining Tu-144 supersonic transport, outfitted with support from U.S. aerospace firms as a flying testbed for future SST development, for the first time in six years. In the first flight, conducted for 43 minutes near Moscow last Friday, the Tu-144LL reached an altitude of 6,600 feet and a top speed of 280 miles per hour. Thirty-five instrumented test flights are planned to gather data on supersonic flight dynamics for NASA's High Speed Research program.
EVA Airways this week launched a site on the World Wide Web, including a feature that enables users to create a customized holiday package. The home page, with options in Mandarin and English, includes graphics of Taiwanese culture and architecture. K.T. Chiu, deputy senior VP, said the Internet site will be used initially for reservations, but "after our users are comfortable with the system, we plan to use it to accept payments and issue tickets."
