A World Wide Web site has been set up for the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security at http://www.aviationcommission.dot.gov. Its purpose is to provide information to the public about the Commission and its progress. Current information includes the Commission charter, initial report, press releases and other announcements. Links to related documents and sites found elsewhere on the Internet also are provided for each of the Commission's topics - safety, security and air traffic control.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Revenues and Expenses, First Quarter 1996 (In Dollars) Total Operating % Passenger Freight Carrier Revenues Change Revenues Revenues American Trans Air 207,135,028 19.70 110,453,571 --- Carnival 78,305,355 33.06 65,924,088 890,741 Hawaiian 94,061,857 24.57 79,810,593 3,570,475
Virgin Atlantic founder and Chief Executive Richard Branson yesterday criticized U.S. open skies policy as "incomplete" and called on the U.S. at least to lift "the protectionist restrictions on foreign ownership and control of U.S. airlines" and international carriers' ability to carry government traffic. Speaking yesterday to an audience of more than 400 people at the Wings Club in New York, Branson said, "All we have ever asked for is a fair opportunity to compete." He called the U.S. open skies proposal to the U.K.
Air Canada has appointed Rupert Duchesne VP-marketing, effective Oct. 1, to help manage its growth strategy. He will be responsible for product management, pricing and yield management, advertising and promotions, branding and product design and scheduling. Duchesne has been working for Mercer Management Consulting since August 1994, where he built a worldwide aviation practice, Air Canada said.
Chicago reaffirmed to Illinois officials late Tuesday that it intends to close Meigs Field and turn the property into a park once its lease with the Chicago Park District runs out Sept. 30 (DAILY, Aug. 21). Last week, Illinois Transportation Secretary Kirk Brown gave Chicago acting Aviation Commissioner Hugh Murphy until Tuesday to assure the state that the city would keep Meigs open. Ultimately, Brown threatened, if Chicago did not take such steps by 10 p.m. Sept.
Midwest Express reported record traffic in August, when revenue passenger miles rose 12.6% to 115.8 million from 102.8 million in August 1995. Available seat miles jumped 15.2% to 175.7 million from 152.6 million for a load factor decrease of 1.5 percentage points to 65.9%. Midwest Express carried 139,801 passengers. For the first eight months of the year, RPMs were up 4.8% to 830.7 million from 792.7 million, while ASMs increased 4.6% to 1.28 billion from 1.22 billion. The load factor was 65.1%, up from 65%.
Airbus Industrie began a demonstration tour of its A330 and A319 aircraft yesterday. First stop is Atlanta today for an inspection by Delta. Both aircraft will be at Washington Dulles tomorrow for USAir. The A319, with a 25-foot-long decal saying "Thank you, United," will be at O'Hare and San Francisco Monday and Tuesday. United last month ordered 24 A321s. The A330, of which TWA ordered 10, will be at Kansas City next Monday and Tuesday.
The Internal Revenue Service has shut down Atlanta-based Future Aviation Professionals of America, which maintains databases on crewmember qualifications and hirings, and conducts job fairs. President and Founder Louis Smith said FAPA has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and after a dispute over back taxes, he signed a consent order allowing IRS to take action. FAPA's employees have been laid off indefinitely, Smith is seeking companies interested in buying its assets, and AvJobs '96, scheduled Sept. 20-21, has been canceled.
Delta has named Mark Drusch VP-marketing development, responsible for all flight scheduling activity, marketing analysis, including domestic route development, alliance planning and code-share development and relations, pricing and revenue control. Drusch comes from Continental, where he was VP-international and regulatory affairs. He also worked at Continental as VP-strategic planning and VP-international marketing.
Northwest will increase Minneapolis/St. Paul-Tokyo nonstop 747 service to a daily schedule from four times a week, effective Dec. 1. The carrier will take immediate advantage of the new federal inspection service at Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport, which opens Nov. 15. John Dasburg, president and chief executive, said, "We'll be announcing more international service from our home state in the near future." Minnesota has been attempting to attract more international tourism to the state. Northwest said that according to studies by U.S.
An FAA baseline working group and the National Transportation Safety Board are working on security issues and "must be provided the time to complete their evaluations," according to James Coyne, president of the National Air Transportation Association. Coyne, referring to President Clinton's announcement earlier this week, said he is concerned about a recommendation for requesting criminal background checks for workers with access to secure areas.
Federal Express said yesterday that on Nov. 1 it will begin offering International Priority second-day delivery from the U.S. to more than a dozen major commercial centers in Europe by 10:30 a.m. The cities are Amsterdam, Antwerp, Basel, Brussels, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Eindhoven, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, London, Milan, Munich, Stuttgart and Zurich. FedEx said it will introduce International First Service to Europe early next year with an 8 a.m. delivery commitment, following last year's successful introduction of the service from Europe to the U.S.
Qantas and Japan Airlines have signed a code-sharing agreement between two points in Australia and Tokyo. The agreement, which the two carriers hope to start in April, covers the Brisbane-Tokyo and Cairns-Tokyo routes. JAL will fly daily nonstop 747 service to Brisbane, replacing its current Tokyo-Cairns-Brisbane service. Qantas also will fly 747s daily from Cairns, instead of a 767 from Brisbane through Sydney to Tokyo. Qantas said it was building on an already strong relationship with JAL, which wet- leased three Qantas 747s in 1991.
The German Land of Brandenburg intends to sell a stake in Berlin's Schonefeld Airport to private shareholders in an attempt to compensate losses incurred because of its involvement in the airport's holding company, Berlin Brandenburg Flughafen (BBF). The losses, related to the purchase of 115 hectares of land adjacent to the airport, are currently being investigated by a parliamentary committee.
Rosenbluth International said it will share with its clients its portion of the settlement in the class-action suit brought by agencies against airlines that capped commissions. Federal Judge James Rosenbaum granted preliminary approval last week to a $72 million settlement with four of the six capping airlines - Northwest, American, United and Delta.
America West will roll out a plan next month to try to eliminate passive segments booked by travel agents, which cost it $7 million-$8 million per year. The carrier will focus on high-volume offenders, or about 35% of its agency community, Bill Spilman, director of product distribution, told The DAILY at a travel distribution conference in Boston. America West will give agencies about two months to get used to the idea before it bills them for passives.
A significant number of pilot sickouts during American's recent contract negotiations with the Allied Pilots Association, coupled with much higher fuel costs, will result in lower-than-expected third quarter results, Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Crandall said yesterday. Speaking to the Society of Airline Analysts in New York, Crandall said three-month results due next month "will not be as strong as we would like," due to capacity shortfalls, canceled flights during the summer and 20% higher year-over-year fuel expenses.
Transport Canada and Winnipeg Airports Authority (WAA) have agreed on the transfer of Winnipeg Airport's operation and management to WAA from the federal government, effective Jan. 1. Winnipeg is one of the National Airports System airports designated in July 1994.
Vanguard Airlines said it plans several new services at its Kansas City base, including daily flights from Cincinnati with continuing service to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth and Salt Lake City, starting Oct. 1. On the same date, it will begin Cincinnati-Chicago Midway service for $59 one way. Introductory fares are good between Oct. 1 and Dec. 18. It will begin service Oct. 10 from Kansas City to Seattle with connecting service between Seattle and Wichita, Cincinnati and Des Moines. Vanguard will offer new daily flights Oct.
Rolim Amaro, president of TAM of Brazil and newly in control of LAPSA of Paraguay, plans to establish Asuncion as a regional hub connecting passengers from the U.S.
America West recorded a 10.2% gain in revenue passenger miles for August and a 10.7% gain in available seat miles, forcing the load factor down 0.4 points to 74.7%. It reported its July and August yields were "below expectations," even though its loads were on track. It anticipates earnings per share for the quarter ending Sept. 30 to fall below the $0.45 earned in the third quarter of 1995.
The House debated yesterday a revised version of the FAA authorization bill (H.R.3539) and is set to vote on the measure today. Among changes from the bill as reported by the House Transportation Committee (DAILY, June 7) are elimination of FAA's dual mandate to regulate and promote the aviation industry and incorporation of the committee-approved child pilot safety bill (H.R.3267) and the airline pilot record transfer bill (H.R.3536).
Requiring the airlines to conduct 100% domestic baggage match as ordered by President Clinton will create "enormous delays" and cost the industry $2.3 billion a year, the Air Transport Association said yesterday. ATA said it supports most of the Gore Commission proposals on ways to improve aviation safety and security, but the requirements for bag matching and fingerprinting will not improve security (DAILY, Sept. 19).
All Nippon Airways has started flights to and from India with a twice- weekly service from Mumbai to Osaka, airline officials said yesterday. The service, which is the first direct link between the two cities, is being offered in two classes, using a 204-seat Boeing 767-300 extended-range aircraft with 13 Club ANA business-class and 191 economy-class seats, they said.
