FAA granted yesterday extended-range, twin-engine operations approval to 777 transports powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines, Boeing announced. The approval enables the twin-engine aircraft to fly up to 180 minutes from primary and alternate airports. Boeing said the latter part of the 1,000- flight validation program consisted to 90 flights totaling about 400 hours operated in conjunction with Cathay Pacific ground and flight personnel.
USAir's bid for Heathrow services has gained solid support from government and industry leaders in its hub areas. Proposing service to London from both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh hubs, the carrier has picked up backing from the Pennsylvania's congressional delegation, two Senators and governor. Boosting the service, Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell called the routes "essential building blocks both for competition in the U.S.-UK market and for Philadelphia's future." Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy also supports the service.
DOT has issued a show cause order tentatively granting Golden West Airlines a certificate to operate commuter service. Golden West plans one roundtrip each weekday between French Valley, Calif., and Ontario, Calif. using one five-seat Cessna C-201L aircraft. Depending on the demand, the carrier said it may expand the services at a later date. Between 1979 and 1990, Norman Mclnnis, the carrier's president, was president of Royale Airlines, general manager of Precision Airlines, president of Britt Airways and president and CEO of L'Express.
AAR Corp. said yesterday it has signed a multi-year contract with American Eagle to refinish its S340 and ATR 42/72 aircraft exteriors - up to 100 aircraft. Work is scheduled to begin this month and continue over the next 24 to 36 months.
Fearing competition from American Eagle, Continental Express and the Delta Connection carriers, all of which now or soon likely will operate regional jets, United is pressing its pilots on the issue. The carrier's new scope clause in its pilot contract "constrains" United Express carriers from operating jets of any size. The one exception is Air Wisconsin, which is grand-fathered to operate up to 15 BAe 146s.
Lufthansa yesterday devalued its stock in order to make the airline and the stock more attractive to foreign investors, and to ensure that following total privatization, the majority of investors are Germans. The carrier will reduce the face value of all shares from 50 Deutschmarks to DM5. All preferred shares are being converted to ordinary shares, a move that will improve the airline's stock structure and enable the German government to proceed with plans to sell its remaining stake - DM1.7 billion in shares of the airline.
Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Large Regionals September 1995 - August 1996 Total Total Cost Gallons (Dollars) 1995 September Domestic 1,036,896,325 578,050,320 International 392,835,106 235,852,438 System Total 1,429,731,431 813,902,758 October Domestic 1,079,673,756 608,345,453
USAir received approval yesterday from the Massachusetts Port Authority board for a two-year, $35 million project at Boston Logan Airport that will significantly expand its passenger services space and enable it to use its 16 gates more effectively. The Terminal B expansion plan entails pushing out the walls and completely renovating the interior by May 1998.
Wilcox Electric plans to take several days to decide whether to appeal FAA's denial of its protest of the agency's sole-source Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) contract award to Hughes Aircraft Company. Wilcox held the contract originally, but FAA canceled it. Director of Business Development Wayne Dolhman told DAILY affiliate ATC Market Report, "We haven't decided yet, either internally or in conjunction with Thomson- CSF [Wilcox's parent company ], what if any action we might take with regard to an appeal."
Travel Industry Association will issue its 1997 forecast and 1996 estimates for business and pleasure travel Oct. 17 during its National Outlook Forum in Alexandria, Va. The statistics will be presented by Suzanne Cook, senior VP-research, who will also speak on new research on consumers' use of technology to book travel.
United's traffic increased 2.9% in September to 9.854 billion revenue passenger miles on strong domestic demand and increases in the Pacific and Latin America. Transatlantic traffic fell off 11.8% on 13.4% less capacity. Available seat miles overall rose 2% to 13.736 billion, and the load factor inched up to 71.7%. "Our passenger load factor for domestic markets was 68.9%, which was two points better than we achieved last year and about four points ahead of the industry average," said President and Chief Operating Officer John Edwardson.
American pilot salaries for the Canadair Regional Jet would start at $129.02 per flight hour for a two-year captain, according to an estimate being circulated among Allied Pilots Association members. The first officer would receive $47.74 per hour. The rates would increase to $139.48 and $94.85 for 12-year captains and F/Os. The rates are based on Green Book scales and may not be totally realistic, the author said. SkyWest RJ captains receive less than $70 per hour and Air Canada RJ captains, when that operation started, received about $58 U.S. and the F/Os $35.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund - Income Statement October 1, 1995 - July 31, 1996 Current Month RECEIPTS (Revenues) Revenues: Excise Taxes (Transferred from General Fund): Liquid Fuel other than Gas $ (270,422,000.00) Transportation by Air, Seats, Berths, etc. 271,041,000.00 Use of International Travel Facilities 15,606,000.00 Transportation of Property and Cargo 9,089,000.00
European business travelers have not caught on as quickly to electronic ticketing and do not like the idea as much as U.S. travelers, concludes a new survey by Air Travel Card. The company found that only 28% of business travelers in three key European countries - England, France and Germany - use electronic ticketing.
Midwest Express reported its third month of double-digit growth in traffic and capacity in September. Revenue passenger miles rose 15.3% to 101 million from 87.6 million while available seat miles increased 22.5% to 170.5 million from 139.1 million. The load factor fell 3.7 percentage points to 59.3%. For the first nine months of the year, the carrier flew 5.8% more RPMs for a total of 931.7 million. ASMs increased 6.5% to 1.447 billion, pushing the load factor down 0.4 points to 64.4%.
USAir apparently will not enter the regional-jet fray out of deference to its pilots, The DAILY is told. The carrier is preoccupied with mounting an assault on low-cost airlines like Delta Express and ValuJet that are invading its East Coast markets, and needs to win that battle with its pilots. Sources say the carrier will not use its independent Express carriers to provide even complementary service, much less operate regional jets. That philosophy could provide a spark for the high-speed turboprops - the 50-passenger Saab 2000 and 30-seat Dornier 328.
Western Pacific Airlines flew 85.7% more revenue passenger miles in September than in the same month last year, but capacity increased even more, 94.8%. RPMs totaled 117.9 million and available seat miles 224.6 million, and the load factor fell from 55.1% to 52.5%. Noting the faster growth of capacity, Tom DeNardin, VP-sales and marketing, said, "We judged our September performance to be consistent with last year's experience. We will be making some service adjustments to improve our performance in the fourth quarter."
Business Express's reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code appears likely to be settled by the end of the month. Sources close to the situation believe that USAir Express Commutair may end up with a large chunk of the assets, which includes 37 Saab 340s, but say that the question of BizEx's slots at New York LaGuardia and Kennedy and Washington National still needs to be ironed out. Several other carriers are vying for the slots and according to one source, "It is a matter of who comes up with the money first."
Vanguard will introduce Nov. 1 nonstop service from Minneapolis/St.Paul to Phoenix and its home base Kansas City. Introductory fares to Kansas City start at $39 one way and to Phoenix at $69. The fares are good from Nov. 1 until Dec. 18, with Nov. 22-Dec. 3 blacked out. Reservations must be made by Oct. 31.
Ansett Australia intends to become the first airline to offer electronic ticketing in Australia. Basing its plan on technology from United and Air Canada, Ansett expects first availability Jan. 1 to passengers who book directly with it.
Richard Branson, founder and chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, yesterday continued his war of words against the proposed alliance between British Airways and American, calling it a "fraud" and a "blatantly anti- competitive merger." With no official U.S. government forum to air comments related to the proposed alliance, chief executives like Branson and other top officials have taken to public forums to push viewpoints.
Delta's September traffic rose 10%, exclusively on the wings of its domestic expansion. Domestic revenue passenger miles were up 15.7%, while international RPMs fell 3.6%. Domestic available seat miles increased 7.3%, while international ASMs declined 6.5%. Delta Executive VP-Marketing Robert Coggin said the airline's unit costs will be slightly higher than expected, rising above 8.7 cents per ASM. He cited higher jet fuel prices, greater spending on technology development and other revenue-related expenses as reasons for the increase.
FAA denied Wilcox Electric's protest against its Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) contract award to Hughes Aircraft Co. yesterday, citing a special master's conclusion that the agency did not have to compete the award and that its market analysis was sufficient. Wilcox protested the contract May 28 after FAA canceled Wilcox's original contract to develop WAAS and retained Hughes, a Wilcox subcontractor, on a sole- source basis as the new prime.
Canadian Regional Airlines has begun three daily nonstop flights from Vancouver to Portland, Ore., using 37-passenger Dash 8 turboprops. Delta, Horizon Air and AirBC also serve the route.
Japan Air System will configure 777s it will receive shortly for three classes of service for the Japanese domestic market. Currently, JAS, the third-largest carrier in Japan, operates aircraft with a single class layout. JAS will receive the first of seven 777 late this year and will put it into service domestically in April. JAS has not determined how many seats will be in each class of service. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines operate only two-class service on domestic routes they fly with 747s and 777s.
