Lufthansa will end its three-times-weekly service between Frankfurt and Kathmandu next May. The German airline, the only European carrier still operating direct scheduled services from Europe to Nepal, said it lost 7 million Deutschmarks on the route last year, up from DM4 million in 1994.
Air France's $158 million first half profit will help the carrier through the current fiscal year, but quiet, more substantive changes in its balance sheet will aid it long-term. The airline reduced net debt 33% in six months, to $2.54 billion as of Sept. 30 from $3.78 billion on March 31.
American placed a firm order yesterday for 103 aircraft of four Boeing twinjet types and placed "purchase rights" on 527 more, in a deal that commits the airline to Boeing through 2018 and may change the way commercial aircraft are marketed and purchased. Experts valued the innovative purchase agreement at $4.7-$5 billion, or as much as 25% off the list price of $6.3 billion. The contract is contingent on ratification by American's 9,150 pilots of an agreement approved 10-8 this week by the Allied Pilots Association board.
Major U.S. airlines are attempting to quash competition by painting small carriers as unsafe because of their low-cost structure, and the government is letting them get away with it, according to Tower Air Chairman, President and Chief Executive Morris Nachtomi. Since the ValuJet accident in May, major airlines have undertaken "a concerted campaign to cast small carriers as unsafe," Nachtomi told Aviation Week Group editors.
American's fleet replacement plan, worth at least $800 million in firm orders alone to GE Aircraft Engines and the GE-Snecma CFM International joint venture, also sets the stage for yet another contest to power a Boeing 777 fleet. Engines for most of the 103 firm-order aircraft are determined - the 75 737s are CFM-powered, and GE won the order to power four 767s with CF6s. Rolls-Royce, which holds the worldwide 757 market share lead, will supply RB211-535s for American's 12 firm and as many as 38 potential 757s.
Panamanian carrier DHL Aero Expreso filed for an emergency exemption to route its Panama-U.S. flights through Costa Rica as an air traffic control strike proceeds in Panama. The carrier started flying between Panama and Miami on Nov. 7, and the strike, which began Nov. 28, disrupted nighttime operations "essential for its overnight services," DHL Aero said. Asking for a 90-day exemption, the carrier said that "it now appears the strike may continue for an indefinite period" but probably will be settled within 90 days.
Atlantic Southeast is again on the hunt for a regional jet - of the 50- passenger variety. The Atlanta-based Delta Connection carrier is not happy with the reliability of its eight BAe 146 quadjets, and is looking at both the Embraer EMB-145 and the Canadair Regional Jet. The carrier is a large fleet operator of the Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia, which could be a factor in the outcome.
American Eagle's closing its Nashville hub earlier this year continued to show in the regional system's latest traffic figures - revenue passenger miles dropped 6.3% in October to 213.4 million as capacity declined 8.5% to 368.9 million available seat miles. The load factor, as a result, rose 1.3 percentage points to 57.8%. American Eagle this year has retired 54 aircraft and closed 26 stations nationwide. The carrier said that excluding 1995 operating results at Nashville, system traffic was up 6% on a 3.2% capacity increase.
Ayres Corporation, the Albany, Ga., manufacturer of the Turbo Thrush Ag aircraft, last week unveiled plans to build a new cargo/utility aircraft after receiving a letter of intent from Federal Express Corp. to purchase 50 of the aircraft with options for 200 more. The 69-foot Loadmaster LM200 aircraft, designed in consultation with Federal Express, will be capable of carrying four eight-foot-by-eight-foot cargo containers and a 7,500-pound payload for use in Part 135 operations. Certification and delivery are expected in late 1999.
Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration has announced the names of nine companies that will receive licenses to conduct commercial helicopter operations. A CAA spokesman said three of the nine companies already own helicopters and will be able to begin flying as soon as they pass security checks and complete flight tests. Any company that does not begin flight operations within one year will have its license revoked.
Portland-Seattle regained its role as the nation's top regional airline market in 1995, replacing Seattle-Spokane, which had replaced it a year earlier, according to a report by AvSTAT Associates of Washington, D.C., for DAILY affiliate Business&Commercial Aviation. Both are highly competitive markets with Horizon Air and United Express Mesa dividing 584,871 Portland-Seattle passengers last year on 45 weekday roundtrips. Horizon carried 532,944 Seattle-Spokane passengers in 1995, in competition with senior partner Alaska Air and Southwest Airlines...
Mark Gerchick, DOT deputy assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, will be the keynote speaker for the Airports Council International-North America 8th annual International Air Service Seminar, to be held Dec. 5 at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington. Aviation analyst Bob Booth, Continental's Tom Anderson and Varig's Carlos Muzzio will discuss the Latin America/Caribbean market. For more information, call the ACI-NA conference department at 202-293-8500.
BE Aerospace has registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell four million shares of common stock. The $58 million in net proceeds raised by the Wellington, Florida-based aircraft interiors company will be used to pay long-term debt.
No, Comair did not close the Kingston, Jamaica, airport for 24 hours. The Associated Press reported last week that "a DC-8 belonging to Cincinnati- based Delta Connection Comair blocked the runway, its nosewheel sunk in mud..." Turns out that the plane could not be moved until its cargo was unloaded, which took nearly 24 hours. Only problem is, Comair does not operate DC-8s. It does operate some Learjets in charter service under the name of Comair Jet Express, which has confused some folks regarding the new low-fare Delta Express. Oh well, a name is...a name.
Taiwan's state-run Aerospace Industry Development Corp. (AIDC) has been invited to work with Europe's Aero International Regional Group (AIR) in a US$900 million project to develop a new generation of twin-engine, 70- seat passenger jets. The joint venture was proposed by a high-profile AIR delegation at the end of a fact-finding visit to Taipei. During the visit, the delegation met with ROC officials in charge of aerospace affairs and toured AIDC, Taiwan's only aircraft manufacturer.
FAA said this week it will consider waivers needed to grant limited third- class airman medical certificates. FAA regulations prohibit insulin- treated diabetics from qualifying for medical certificates. The regulations will remain in place, but under a policy published in yesterday's Federal Register, FAA will allow waivers if the individuals are at a low risk for hypoglycemia.
Worldwide Airline Customer Relations Association will hold its 51st conference next October in Vienna, Austria, hosted by Austrian Airlines. For details, contact Johann Kurzbauer at 71-110-5510 or Pamela Cole at 516- 562-9303.
JetTrain Corp. which shut down last week, continues to hold meetings to "ascertain what the direction of the company should be." Meetings in New York continue as the carrier pursues investment options. A company spokesman said there is no self-imposed deadline for any type of deal. The carrier is conserving cash by furloughing 150 employees (DAILY, Nov. 15).
DHL Airways the U.S. division of DHL Worldwide Express, has received ISO 9002 international quality registration for its U.S. airline and hub at Cincinnati Airport.
Regional-airline load factors rose nearly 1.6 percentage points to 51.8% during October, according to a sampling of 14 carriers. Nine of the carriers posted load factors of greater than 50% while two others were above 49% and two fell below 45%. United Express Air Wisconsin, which posted what is believed to be an industry high of 67.1% in August, led the sampling with a 52.2% load factor, up from 51.9% in October 1995. The four AMR Eagle carriers - Executive, Flagship, Simmons and Wings West - were second at 57.9%, up from 56.5% a year ago.
Cologne, Germany-based Lufthansa CityLine and a unit of Canadian manufacturer Bombardier announced this week formation of an executive corporate charter service for Europe.
AlliedSignal Aerospace is freezing or lowering the hourly rates of its 1997 maintenance service plan for TFE731 engines. The company said overall fleet reliability and durability improvements in the past year prompted the move.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States completed yesterday a $190 million loan guarantee for Uzbekistan Airways to acquire two 767-300ERs, the first time an export credit agency financed aircraft in a former Soviet republic. "We have a number of offers outstanding," said John Lentz, senior loan officer, "but none of them have come to fruition." Ex-Im Bank approved the guarantee of a 12-year loan by Chase Manhattan Bank. The airline will operate the aircraft from Tashkent to New York, Frankfurt, Tokyo and other Asian points.
International Civil Aviation Organization has offered to mediate a dispute between the U.S. and Cuba on overflight rights. Although U.S. commercial aircraft are currently permitted to overfly Cuba, Cuban-registered aircraft are not granted overflight in return. Like most countries in the Western Hemisphere except the U.S., Canada generates tourist traffic to Cuba, and Cuban aircraft are flying considerably out of their way to link the two countries. ICAO said its president, Assad Kotaite, could be the mediator and suggested fall 1997 as the goal for an agreement.
