..Regionals now provide nonstop service in markets that were unimaginable 10 years ago, said AvSTAT President Doug Abbey, such as Atlanta-Nashville, Cleveland-Chicago, Dallas-Tulsa, Miami-Orlando and Cincinnati-Philadelphia. However, he said there is still some question whether former hubs can support regional service after they lose major connecting service to their largest O&D markets, as was the case with Greensboro, Nashville and San Jose.
Two FAA inspectors described yesterday to the National Transportation Safety Board the heavy work loads generated by ValuJet's rapid growth and the carrier's attitude toward FAA oversight, including a belief that it had the right to carry hazardous materials belonging to the company. The board is conducting in Miami a public hearing into the fatal crash of a ValuJet DC-9 May 11. Robert Bruce, FAA's principal operations inspector at ValuJet, and David Harper, principal maintenance inspector, both said they noticed problems developing at the carrier.
Now that the Allied Pilots Association board has narrowly recommended a contract that American described as its final offer, APA leadership will conduct road shows to prepare the rank and file to vote on the pact, a process to be completed next month.
The privatization of Lufthansa, involving sale by the German government of its remaining 35.7% stake in the carrier, will go forward on the basis of a "last in, first out" compromise assuring Germany that its national carrier will remain in German hands. Apart from national pride, Germany was concerned about living up to the roughly 200 bilateral aviation agreements between itself and other countries, but the European Commission insisted that there be no discrimination against investors from other countries in the European Union.
Performance for the Embraer EMB-145 regional jet has been improved from pre-certification-flight-test projections issued in June 1994. Certification of the 50-passenger aircraft is anticipated by the end of November. Brazil's civil aviation authority - Centro Tecnico Aerospacial (CTA) - has formally accepted Embraer certification data following 14 months of certification ground and flight testing. Final certification was awaiting final FAA approval of official documents concerning certification of U.S.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators of a Quincy, Ill., fatal collision involving a Great Lakes Aviation Beech 1900 and a King Air have found no evidence of pre-accident engine or propeller problems and no obvious weather problems at the time of the accident. Investigators also are looking into reports that the initial impact did not kill everyone on board.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic October, 10 Months 1996 (000) October October % 1996 1995 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 766,000 683,000 12.2 Available Seat Miles 1,196,000 1,120,000 6.8 Load Factor (%) 64.0 61.0 America West
McDonnell Douglas's MD 600N, an eight-place, large-cabin version of the MD 520N, is on schedule to receive FAA-type certification early next month, the company said. Light Helicopter Division VP Erv Hunter said the project has met or exceeded its goals for hover, range and speed performance. The 600N, another no-tail-rotor (NOTAR) design, is fitted with a new Allison C- 47 engine that generates 800 shaft horsepower and has a full-authority digital engine control system. The company said it expects to deliver more than 30 600Ns by the end of 1997.
TWA said yesterday it will not implement its previously announced domestic cargo fuel surcharge, which would have been effective Dec. 1. Instead, the airline will impose an international surcharge of $0.06 per kilo on all air freight shipments as of Dec. 1. For shipments originating outside the U.S., the surcharge will be assessed in local currency.
Burlington Air Express Chile, a new division of Burlington, has acquired the assets of its longtime network partner, O.I.S.S.A., a leading export forwarder in Chile. Burlington, which will employ all of the forwarder's workers, said the move reflects its "aggressive growth in all Latin American markets."
Cape Air and senior code-sharing partner Delta have dropped fares for travelers to Cape Cod and Nantucket, Cape Air announced. Cape Air and Delta connect at Boston Logan and the new joint fares for the Cape apply to Cape Air flights serving Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis. Sample fares include Nantucket-New York, $269; Nantucket-Denver, $662; Nantucket- Daytona Beach, $426; Hyannis-Los Angeles, $638, and Hyannis-Houston, $762. Cape Air offers 10 nonstop Nantucket-Boston flights per day in the winter and six nonstop Hyannis-Boston flights.
Phil Trenary, founder and chairman of Fort Worth-based Lone Star Airlines, resigned unexpectedly Wednesday as negotiations were under way for Aspen-based air service company Peak International Inc. to take control of Lone Star. Peak has an agreement with Lone Star and American for Lone Star to serve the Denver-Aspen and Dallas/Fort Worth-Aspen markets under an American code share. That service was begun Thursday by Lone Star, doing business as Aspen Mountain Air.
U.S.-Canadian open skies could yield a new entrant if authorities approve Hawaiian Airlines' application for a certificate to operate in the market. In accordance with the bilateral, Hawaiian applied for service between any points in the two countries except for Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, where restrictions on U.S. access are being ended in phases. (Docket OST- 96-1977)
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic Second Quarter 1996 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) American Trans Air 1,372 18.79 1,535 2,104,898 Carnival 518 20.67 1,161 600,886
Continental, Delta, United, American and Northwest are filing with their respective alliance partners for third-country code-share authority to India. Northwest has been trying to serve India from Amsterdam with partner KLM since it received DOT authority in 1994, but India did not permit the service, Northwest said in its filing. A recent DOT invitation to file for the India code shares prompted the current round of applications, and as many as four U.S. carriers can be designated (DAILY, Nov. 5).
America West reported record October traffic of 1.3 billion revenue passenger miles, up 17.7% over the same period in 1995. Capacity rose 13.2% to 1.9 billion available seat miles, producing a record October load factor of 70%.
The National Transportation Safety Board yesterday recovered the cockpit voice recorder from a Great Lakes Aviation Beech 1900, which collided with a Beech King Air Tuesday after landing at Baldwin Municipal Airport in Quincy, Ill., leaving no survivors. Ten Great Lakes passengers and two crew were killed, as were the two occupants of the general aviation aircraft. Great Lakes operated the flight as a United Express carrier. NTSB member George Black is heading the investigation for the board.
The White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security heard testimony yesterday from family members of victims of 10 airline disasters ranging in time from the August 1983 shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight 007 to the destruction of TWA Flight 800 in July. The commission met later in closed session to receive briefings from tbe CIA and the FBI.
Air France yesterday settled domestic political squabbles and ordered 10 increased gross weight 777-200s and five A340-300Es, in the process restructuring the remaining Boeing aircraft it had on order. The carrier also saw pre-tax profits triple for the first half of its fiscal year, as net profits reached $158 million. The Boeing order includes 10 777 options, and the five A340s ordered follow five A340s ordered in June. The first 777 will be delivered in 1998 and will be powered by General Electric's GE90-90B engines. GE valued the engine order at $300 million.
Jet USA has chosen CMG Communications, New York, as the advertising agency to handle a $6 million account that will help launch the new airline. CMG currently is the agency of record for Virgin Atlantic Airways, and its managing director, Michael Glavin, said it can "make Jet USA the American equivalent of Virgin Atlantic.
National Air Transportation Association officials met yesterday with Illinois legislators in a last-minute push for support to reopen Chicago's Meigs Field. Teamed with representatives of other general aviation interests, NATA Vice President Andrew Cebula campaigned for legislation allowing the state to take over and run the lakefront airport, which the City of Chicago wants to convert into a park. "In conjunction with advice from [Gov. Jim Edgar], we have been targeting some key house members and senators," Cebula said.
Third-party maintenance centers handle many types of hazardous materials, and ValuJet maintenance contractor SabreTech should have known what to do with the oxygen canisters it removed from three MD-80s and later loaded on the ValuJet DC-9 that crashed May 11 in the Everglades, a ValuJet official said yesterday in Miami.
Delta Air Lines applied for new Brazilian combination routes that become available April 1 next year. Delta proposed daily Cincinnati-Atlanta-Sao Paulo-Rio de Janeiro service, with a second daily flight from New York to Sao Paulo. The New York flight would connect in Sao Paulo with the flight from Cincinnati and Atlanta, providing a connection for New York-Rio. Both routes would use 767-300ERs in three-class configuration. Delta said it is the largest U.S.
The Independent Pilots Association (IPA), which represents pilots at United Parcel Service, said the mid-air collision in India last week further demonstrates the urgent need for cargo aircraft to be equipped with traffic alert and collision avoidance systems (TCAS). The IPA already has a petition pending at FAA calling for the installation of TCAS II on up to 800 all-cargo aircraft.
Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and New Zealand are actively considering open skies agreements with the U.S., and a top DOT official who visited the region last month reported "broad support" for the concept, particularly among newer, more aggressive Asian carriers.
