AT&T said yesterday it has signed a $1.1 billion contract with Textron to upgrade, expand and manage Textron's global communications infrastructure, which serves the company's 25 divisions. AT&T solutions said that it will "engineer, design and implement a comprehensive networking platform encompassing all of the company's voice, data and video requirements worldwide, including local exchange services, wide area networking, virtual telecommunications network services, electronic mail and LAN transport management.
City Hotels of Brussels, which founded EuroBelgian Airlines as a low-cost, low-fare European carrier and then sold it to Virgin Atlantic, will start up a clone in the fall to offer low-fare service to North Africa and other points that do not compete with Virgin Express, the renamed EBA.
Air Transport Association said yesterday it will host a conference on hazardous materials for support and logistics personnel from all segments of the industry. "Hazmat Comat: A Conference for Airlines and Suppliers," will be held Nov. 13-14 at the Washington Hilton and Towers.
The airline industry told Congress yesterday that aggressive counter- terrorism measures should include new screening technologies tested in "real-world settings" and an "accelerated program to complete the software necessary to allow automated profiling." Testifying before the House aviation subcommittee, John Meenan, Air Transport Association VP-policy and planning, also called for a government and airline partnership "in identifying appropriate testing facilities and initiating testing." Meenan repeated ATA concerns about two Commission recommendations - a positive
DOT has tentatively found Denver-based Maverick Airways Corp. fit to operate interstate scheduled air service. Maverick was formed in August 1994 and still is in its "formative stage," DOT said. Maverick has proposed operating scheduled service initially between Denver and Grand Junction with three daily flights, and between Denver and Steamboat Springs with two daily flights with one 48-seat de Havilland Dash 7. It expects to acquire three more of the aircraft in the first year of operations to increase the initial frequencies and expand to other Colorado points.
The burgeoning group of new distribution system companies likely will escape computer reservations system rules proposed in August by DOT, at least for a while, according to American's general counsel. David Schwarte, speaking at Garrett Communications' annual travel distribution conference this week in Boston, said there is "a ton of new players," and after one or two become greatly successful, some in the industry likely will want to subject them to CRS rules.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Revenue and Expenses, First Quarter 1996, (In Dollars) Total Operating % Passenger Carrier Revenues Change Revenues Alaska 20,829,000 (2.27) 19,765,000 Latin 20,829,000 (2.27) 19,765,000 American 1,104,922,000 5.56 985,254,000 Atlantic 420,029,000 5.88 366,020,000
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.
