The U.K. House of Commons Transport Committee announced Friday it will investigate the proposed American-British Airways alliance. The committee said it will accept public evidence from interested parties July 10, 15 and 17. Witnesses will include BA, American, Virgin Atlantic, Delta and U.S. DOT. The action comes as the U.K. Office of Fair Trading considers whether the alliance requires a full-scale inquiry by the British Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
GTE announced a collaboration with Telecom Italia to supply Alitalia's 767s with Airfone telecommunications equipment. Fifteen telephones will be located in first and business classes and wall-mounted phones in the rest of the aircraft.
Airlines Reporting Corp. is introducing a credit card chargeback policy for travel agents that will replace individual carrier procedural rules, effective Sept. 1. The policy is the first in which ARC-participating carriers agree to absolve travel agents from liability for credit card chargebacks, provided certain credit card acceptance procedures are followed. ARC has distributed a bulletin with the new policy to travel agents.
InVision Technologies said its FAA-certified CTX 5000 explosives detection system (EDS) has been installed and is being operated by Delta at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport. The EDS is being used to check for explosives and other contraband in baggage on international flights. "Through exhaustive testing, the FAA has determined that computed tomography is now the most effective method of detecting all classes of explosives," said Cathal Flynn, FAA associate administrator for civil aviation security.
Jeppesen signed a contract with Southwest to provide its JetPlan IV flight planning, wXstation weather system analysis and its Flight TraX aircraft situation display.
Continental said Friday it has reached agreement in principle with the City of Houston on a shift of some of the airline's operations to Houston Intercontinental's Terminal B, which would be expanded to accommodate growth. Subject to City Council approval, Continental will begin operating from Terminal B by June next year, and Delta and American will move to Terminal A from Terminal B. The arrangement will enable Continental to meet its plan for 500 daily departures at Intercontinental by 2002 (DAILY, June 12).
The House last week passed the fiscal 1997 DOT appropriations bill (H.R.3675), voting 247 to 159 to prohibit funding for a National Transportation Safety Board study of FAA's Age 60 rule for commercial pilots. The House rejected 193 to 212 an amendment sponsored by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) to transfer $1 million from the DOT inspector general's budget to FAA for aircraft inspection training. The vote on final passage of H.R.3675 was 403 to 2.
FAA and the aviation industry need to "get going with proper labeling so mechanics do not have to guess" whether materials presented as passenger aircraft cargo are hazardous, according to SabreTech President Steven Townes. SabreTech personnel, providing third-party maintenance services to ValuJet at Miami, had "no warnings to ignore" on many of the older oxygen generators loaded onto the ValuJet DC-9 that crashed May 11 in Florida, Townes told The DAILY in a telephone interview.
U.S. and Japanese negotiators failed to make progress on clearing up existing issues in two days of talks in Washington. The discussions ended without setting dates for future talks. "In view of Japan's apparent unwillingness to approve service authorized by the agreement, we must now consider our options as to how we should respond," said DOT Secretary Federico Pena.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Revenues and Expenses Fourth Quarter 1995 (In Dollars) Total Operating % Passenger Carrier Revenues Change Revenues America West 393,891,285 15.39 361,283,895 American 2,678,935,000 2.56 2,272,884,000
Airlines Reporting Corp. has issued another security alert for travel agencies, warning of a burglary ring following several thefts in the past two weeks. Ticket stock was taken in only one instance. Earlier this year, burglars broke into several agencies, making off with large amounts of ticket stock.
Travelocity, the Internet site created by Sabre Interactive and Worldview Systems Corp., has received more than 1.2 million "visits" since it opened three months ago, the companies said, making it one of the most frequented sites on the Internet. Features being added to the site include GeoEnabled maps that help travelers find shops, restaurants and entertainment spots with detailed street maps of the area surrounding the landmark. The mapping was added last week.
World Airways has reached agreement with its flight attendants union, the Teamsters Airline Division, on a new four-year contract after four years of negotiations. The contract gives flight attendants pay increases and the company work rule flexibility and lengthened duty time, World said. The agreement next goes to the flight attendant work force for ratification. President Chuck Pollard said part of the reason the talks took four years is that the company focused on the pilots' contract in the first two years.
When he is in Newark observing the launch of Continental's service to Toronto, DOT Secretary Federico Pena will tell the carrier it has also gained new service to Ecuador.
Moody's Investors Service said Friday it lowered its outlook on Sabreliner from stable to negative. The action, which Moody's said affects $89 million in notes, was taken "out of concern for potential loss of additional business at Sabreliner's SabreTech subsidiary after the ValuJet crash," Moody's said. "Although one generally should expect a company to lose customers and continue to operate, and only two customers have announced that they have stopped using SabreTech, the full extent of Sabreliner's loss of customers is yet to be determined.
NICA apparently has a short memory or a long fuse. The Nicaraguan carrier is one of the six airlines in the TACA Group that has signed a code-sharing agreement with American - the same American that asked DOT in March to deny NICA's U.S. operating authority, and to turn down Continental's request to code share with the TACA Group carriers. American was upset with the Nicaraguan government for failing to approve a second daily flight to Managua.
Delta will begin capitalizing on its hometown Olympics with a $20 million advertising campaign. Ten 30-second spots feature Delta employees and a British actor who starred in Chariots of Fire taking viewers on an around- the world "marathon." If the MD-11 in the commercials resembles one in an upcoming Tom Cruise film, that's because Delta loaned the mockup to the film production company.
Eliot Brenner officially took over last week as FAA assistant administrator for public affairs. Drucella Andersen, who had been acting assistant administrator since Sandra Allen left April 1, will return to her duties as deputy assistant administrator of public affairs. (DAILY, June 21).
Air Transport Association is not the only organization putting time and money into fighting FAA's proposed flight and duty time rules. The Air Line Pilots Association sent out 250 press kits, is contacting major newspapers' editorial boards to outline its position, is making pilot spokespeople available and hired a service to send messages to 10,000 editors by diskette, direct mail and Internet. By contrast, ATA hired scientists, economists and consultants as it prepared its comments.
Kenneth Hipp has been designated as the new chairman of the National Mediation Board, effective July 1, replacing Magdalena Jacobsen, who held the post for the past year. Prior to his stint in Hawaii as a partner and chairman of the labor section of Goodsill Anderson Quinn&Stifel, he worked for the National Labor Relations Board's Division of Enforcement Litigation in Washington, D.C.
Harris Corp. delivered the 23rd and final Voice Switching and Control System (VSCS) Friday, to the air route traffic control center in Jacksonville, Fla. It will become operational next February. Eleven ARTCCs are using the systems, and the remaining 10 will be fully operational early in 1997. VSCS provides communications air-to-ground and ground-to-ground.
Hawaiian Airlines will offer frequent flyer members double miles in July on its new service between Honolulu and Kapalua's West Maui Airport. Hawaiian is offering the flights under a code-sharing agreement with Mahalo Air, which will operate seven flights a day between Honolulu and Kapalua with 46-seat ATR 42 aircraft. Each segment will yield 1,000 frequent flyer miles.
Kevin Jenkins, president and chief executive of Canadian Airlines International, has resigned from the company, effective immediately. Chief Financial Officer Kevin Benson has replaced Jenkins. Jenkins said, "This is the most difficult career decision I have ever made. However, I believe that Canadian Airlines' best interest will be served by a change in leadership."
Boeing, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin will submit their cost proposals today in their competition to develop FAA's Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS). The program, valued at approximately $1.5 billion, is planned for deployment at 156 FAA Tracons, nine Metroplex Control Facilities and about 40 Defense Department facilities, with options for more. FAA is expected to award a contract in late September.
Reno Air will add a second daily nonstop flight between Denver and Reno/Tahoe Aug. 1 in response to strong passenger demand. It also will inaugurate service between Colorado Springs and Albuquerque for fares as low as $59 one way.
