ValuJet denies an assertion by the Association of Flight Attendants that it made money on its employees' parking. AFA President Patricia Friend told The DAILY the union has discovered that ValuJet made a $75,000 profit last year by leasing airport parking space and then charging employees to park in it. A ValuJet spokesman said, however, that "there is no way she could ever determine from any of our financial information" that a profit was made, and that the airline's controller said there is no way it made money on parking. "That is simply not the case."
Delta has introduced a SkyMiles program in which investors can earn miles when using the Charles Schwab&Co. financial services firm. SkyMiles members who open a qualifying account can earn 3,000 miles if their deposits reach $30,000 within one year. Miles can accrue on new deposits or on assets transferred from other brokerage or bank accounts. Every net new deposit or transfer of $10,000 will earn 1,000 miles, and 250 miles will be aded each calendar quarter for accounts that maintain a minimum balance of $30,000.
U.S. carriers continue to lose capacity share on the North Atlantic this year, according to Global Aviation Associates. European and Canadian carriers increased capacity this year, and some of them, including Air France, Aer Lingus and Virgin Atlantic, "expanded capacity significantly."
Servicios Aereos de Tribasa, S.A., a Mexican air taxi operator of executive aircraft, applied for an exemption and a foreign air carrier permit authorizing it to operate charter passenger service between points in Mexico and points in the U.S. Tribasa estimated that it will operate fewer than 75 roundtrips annually, launching service with a Gulfstream G-IV. Its average load will be three or four passengers, and it thinks almost all of its traffic will originate in Mexico. (Docket OST-96-1634)
Delta and American are discounting travel for the Labor Day weekend, sweetening their offers by dropping or reducing purchase restrictions. Delta is charging $96 or $156 per roundtrip to 150 domestic cities, with the lower price applying to stage lengths up to 1,000 miles. Travel must begin and end on Saturday, Aug. 31 or Sunday, Sept. 1. The fares do not require an advance purchase and do not include Delta Connection flights. American's fares are mileage-based, ranging from $79 roundtrip for flights up to 250 miles to $299 for flights over 2,000 miles.
InVision Technologies said yesterday it shipped two of its CTX 5000 explosives detection systems, ordered by Northwest Airlines, to the Philippines for use at Ninoy Aquino Airport in Manila to scan U.S.-bound baggage, starting in September. The shipment is the "latest in a series of FAA-sponsored demonstrations of certified EDS equipment with U.S. carries," the company said. Similar demonstrations of the CTX 5000 are under way in San Francisco and Atlanta. Airports in the U.K., Belgium, Israel and Japan are using the system.
FAA said yesterday that it has rated Kuwait Category 2, or conditional, under international aviation safety standards. The agency said that Poland and Aruba, previously rated conditional, have improved their safety oversight performance to acceptable. A Category 2 rating means that FAA inspectors have found areas in which a nation's civil aviation authority does not comply with safety standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Korean Air will inaugurate flights from Seoul to Newark Aug. 20 and to Boston Aug. 21, operating to Newark on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and to Boston on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Boston service will include a stop at New York Kennedy, and both flights will stop at Anchorage to refuel. The services will be operated with 747-400s. With the new service, KAL will operate from 14 gateways, including New York, Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu and Anchorage.
Northwest is urging DOT to "finalize promptly" its show cause order allocating it seven third-country code-share frequencies in the U.S.-Poland market. The carrier asked for speedy action so it could "begin requisite advance sales and marketing activities for these valuable new services, scheduled to commence Nov. 1, 1996," as provided for in the new U.S.-Poland memorandum of consultations signed March 22. DOT last month tentatively designated Northwest and United to operate third-country code-share service between the U.S.
GETS Marketing Company has added Air Moldova International, Emerald Airways and Zimbabwe Express to its list of participating carriers. GETS is a fully functional global distribution system that provides information to travel-related companies.
Sun Pacific International has been assessed $4,000 for operating unauthorized charter flights between the U.S. and Mexico. In a consent order issued last week, DOT said that even though the Arizona-based carrier did not receive its authority to operate foreign charter passenger service until March 8, it operated a one-way charter flight March 2 between Detroit and Cancun, Mexico, on behalf of Viscount Air Service; and a roundtrip charter flight March 3 between Indianapolis and Chihuahua and Loreto, Mexico, on behalf of American Trans Air.
Gerald Baliles, former Virginia governor and chairman of the National Airline Commission, will be the keynote speaker at an aviation/economic development conference and trade show to be held Sept. 29-Oct. 2 in Prague, Czech Republic. The conference, focused on project financing for regional development through airport/aviation commerce in Central/Eastern Europe, Russia and the Newly Independent States, is sponsored by the American Association of Airport Executives, the U.S. Department of Commerce, FAA, the Czech Airports Authority and others.
America West has extended its current fare sale to Aug. 15 and the travel completion date to Feb. 13. The carrier said the response to the sale has been "tremendous, and we'd like to see even more people be able to take advantage of these great deals." The fares are $50, $100 and $150 one way, depending on the market, based on roundtrip travel.
Canadian Air Cargo has signed new cargo-handling agreements with three U.S. airlines and moved into larger facilities in Honolulu. It has begun handling cargo in Honolulu for Continental and Air Micronesia and will handle cargo there for American beginning Oct. 1. Canadian will maintain its current arrangements to handle cargo for Qantas and EVA Airways. The company said it will soon be able to handle three times as much cargo at Honolulu.
Air 21 has taken delivery of its fifth Fokker 28 under a conditional sale and lease agreement with Helasco Aircraft. Mark Morro, chairman, president and chief executive, said the airplane will enable Air 21 to expand to new markets in the West and build its relationship with Reno Air, whose flights it feeds at Reno/Tahoe Airport. Air 21 plans to increase its fleet to eight by the end of the year and to 15 by the end of 1997. It trades on the Nasdaq Electronic Bulletin Board under the symbol FLYE.
In a comment on the United/SAS application for antitrust immunity, filed late last week, American continued its offensive against United's attempt to overturn DOT's approval of antitrust immunity for the American/Canadian Airlines International alliance. American said it does not oppose the SAS/United application but accused United again of having a double standard on international alliances.
The Commerce Department's International Trade Administration, conducting a Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 assessment of its data collection program, is seeking comments on the need to continue the inflight survey. The ITA's new Tourism Industries Office collects data for the survey, which is the only source for estimating international travel and U.S. passenger fare exports and imports. The office also generates visitation estimates, traveler profiles, an economic impact assessment of international travel on state economies, and other reports.
Bombardier Aerospace said it will roll out the first new Global Express business jet on Aug. 26, in time for celebration at the Farnborough Air Show, and will fly it for the first time next month. Ground vibration tests began Aug. 5 and will continue through midmonth. Bombardier said it placed a $27 million contract with CAE Electronics to design and build a full-flight simulator and a fixed-base simulator, which will be installed in December at Bombardier's training center in Montreal to support training of operators by early 1998.
After three days of negotiations with U.S. officials, Venezuela won a 30- day grace period, until Sept. 9, to improve the safety oversight of its carriers while the airlines continue to serve the U.S. The agreement, attained Sunday, followed disruption of air service between the two nations (DAILY, Aug. 9). American and United resumed flights to Venezuela late Friday after receiving assurances that their operations would not be delayed.
United is the first carrier to participate in Sabre Travel Information Network's (STIN) premium, pre-reserved seat product that enables travel agents to book seats for Mileage Plus Premier passengers. United Sabre also announced that the carrier has chosen its Claim It inventory and reservations management product, which provides immediate seat confirmation. United estimates it will save money with the product because it minimizes telephone calls to reservations centers.
Moody's Investor's Service raised its rating of International Lease Finance Corp. credit to A1 from A2 to reflect ILFC's increased financial flexibility following its accelerated pace of aircraft sales. Supporting factors were the quality of ILFC's aircraft portfolio and an improved outlook for industry fundamentals. ILFC's profitability is strengthening after being under pressure from industry overcapacity, Moody's said, and its portfolio has tripled since American International Group bought it in 1990.
World Airline Entertainment Association will hold its 17th annual conference and exhibition Sept. 17-20 at the Washington State Convention&Trade Center in Seattle. One of the featured speakers is Tim Fehr, Boeing VP of commercial avionics systems, who will discuss the inflight entertainment system of the 777. To obtain fax-on-demand forms and information on registration, call 212-709-7333.
