Air Inter Europe took delivery of its first A319, becoming the first operator of Airbus Industrie's complete line of twin-engine aircraft. Air Inter Europe currently operates 35 A320s, five A321s, four A330s and six A300s. The A319, along with eight more on order, will be operated on domestic and European routes. Two more will be delivered over the next three weeks and the remaining six at a rate of one a month beginning in October.
Sabreliner, parent of Miami-based SabreTech, which did contract maintenance for ValuJet, said it will review its procedures following the fatal crash of a ValuJet DC-9 on May 11 in the Florida Everglades. SabreTech has acknowledged mistakenly labeling as empty oxygen canisters that were placed on the DC-9. The National Transportation Safty Board is investigating whether the canisters caught fire and caused the crash.
One reason TWA's chief financial officer, Robert Peiser, and its senior VP-marketing, Mark Coleman, were pushed out of the company last week is their tough stance on labor relations, according to Don Jacobs, head of TWA pilots union unit. He says good relations with employees, which were central to the carrier's turnaround, have started to fray in recent weeks.
TWA is extending its one-day booking requirement to three days after reservation for agents booking a leisure fare. Jan Wood, VP of domestic sales, said agents have asked for more ticketing flexibility. "In order to support the travel agency community with an uncapped 10% commission structure, we need their help to reduce unnecessary costs. This new three- day booking rule gives them a tool to meet our mutual goals," Wood said.
Miami-based cargo carrier Arrow Air named Terence Fensome president and chief executive, replacing Jon Batchelor, who after two years as president will return to his previous job as senior VP-international sales and marketing. Batchelor is the son of George Batchelor, who founded the carrier. Fensome previously worked for Laker Airways and was president of Pelican Airways, a flight training school with 15 aircraft. In the early 1980s, Fensome worked at Arrow as assistant VP and helped the company bring the DC-10 into its fleet.
Sabre Travel Information Network is offering electronic ticketing capabilities to travel agents this week for booking on America West. Ron Cole, America West VP-sales, said the carrier "introduced Effortless Ticketing domestically in January of this year and have been pleased with the results, including the positive customer feedback we've received." America West joins United and Southwest in Sabre's electronic ticketing program.
American urged DOT to reject an application by Rio Air Express, operating as Skyjet Brasil, to provide fifth-freedom charter combination service between third countries and the U.S. "The unlimited fifth- freedom charter authority sought by Skyjet Brasil is outside the scope of the [U.S.-Brazil] bilateral agreement, and the application should be denied," said American. Skyjet has applied to operate daily subservice between Bogota, Colombia, and New York on behalf of Avianca, using DC-10-30 aircraft (DAILY, June 10). (Docket OST-95-921)
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Traffic Fourth Quarter 1995 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) America West 4,141 11.18 779 3,227,139 American 15,648 (8.97) 1,114 17,431,819
The United Nations' Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development may release its air transport study today in Paris. U.S. officials expect it to provide a strong endorsement of liberalization.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic December 1995 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) American 1,211 3.31 2,075 2,513,373 Atlantic 259 8.04 4,144 1,073,369
Japan Airlines has signed up Phoenix-based inflight shopping company SkyMall Inc. to provide catalogue shopping services. Starting in July, SkyMall will offer a Japanese version of its merchandise catalogue on the carrier's flights. JAL also will market SkyMall's services, placing the catalogues in convenience stores in Japan. SkyMall catalogues currently are carried on 18 airlines as well as Amtrak.
FAA's 34-point elaboration on its claim of ValuJet operating deficiencies, published as part of the consent order by which the carrier agreed to suspend operations (DAILY, June 19, 20), ranges from insufficient documentation to operating aircraft that were not airworthy. Sixteen of the listed incidents occurred since May 11, when ValuJet Flight 592 crashed in the Florida Everglades, killing all aboard. Fourteen occurred before the crash, one occurred on the day of the crash and the timing of the other three was not described. Two items on the list, Nos.
Granted orally to Lauda Air an exemption to conduct scheduled combination service between Vienna, on the one hand, and Miami and Los Angeles, on the other, via intermediate point Munich. The carrier also received an exemption to conduct charter combination service between a point or points in Austria and a point or points in the U.S., and other charters...Granted orally to Sky Freighters Ltd.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic December 1995 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) Alaska 877 7.33 828 725,786 American Trans Air 377 6.57 1,846 696,335
EVA Air will fly between Taiwan and Hong Kong 16 times a week, starting in early August. The carrier said it was able to add the new destination after finally securing landing rights in Hong Kong. Morning and evening flights are planned daily, and there will be three flights on two high- traffic days each week. EVA said it has started to develop tour packages that combine stops in Hong Kong and Macau and is establishing interline connections to extend its passenger service to major destinations in mainland China.
- In Federal Register dated June 17...Adopted an airworthiness directive on Cessna aircraft requiring inspection of engine oil filter adapter assemblies...Adopted an AD on certain Jetstream 3201 aircraft requiring inspection of the spigot housing plate for cracks and corrosion at the wing/fuselage forward attachment sliding joint.
U.S. airlines staged a financial comeback in 1995 but racked up only a collective 2.5% net profit margin and a 6.2% operating profit margin, according to the Air Transport Association's 1996 annual report. Even so, the last time the industry did as well was in 1988, when ATA carriers reported margins of 2.6% on net profit and 5.4% on operating profit.
An arm of the British government will study the proposed alliance between American and British Airways to determine whether it qualifies as a merger, how it will impact the public and if it needs further scrutiny. BA has been in contact with the Office of Fair Trading, according to wire reports. The office will examine how the linkup will affect aviation competition in Britain and determine if it needs to be investigated by the country's Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
French airlines fear that the TGV, the nation's fast-rail service, will use newly won fare-setting flexibility to cut ticket prices on routes on which it competes strongly with airlines while leaving them high where the train has a near-monopoly, such as Paris-Lille.
AirTran Airways has begun operating nonstop 737 flights between Piedmont Triad Airport in Greensboro, N.C., and Orlando. It is offering one daily flight with fares starting at $59 one way.
Air Courier Conference of America elected Philip Belyew, United TransNet, president. National Aeronautic Association selected Ginny Schweizer as recipient of the 1996 Katharine Wright Memorial Award. National Business Aircraft Association named William Wagner, Townsend Engineering, vice chairman; Tom Myers, Sears, Roebuck and Company, treasurer, and Lise Margin corporate secretary.
Airbus Industrie said it carried out the first nonstop flight from Western Europe to Indonesia by a large civil transport - an A340 that completed the 6,700-nautical-mile trip to Jakarta from Toulouse in 14 hours and 30 minutes.
Air Transport Association's Senior VP-Operations and Safety Roger Fleming will retire Oct. 1. Michael Rioux, ATA VP-engineering, maintenance and material, will take his position. Fleming joined ATA in 1966.
Neither the DOT Inspector General nor FAA commented Friday on press reports that the IG may have launched a criminal investigation of FAA's oversight of ValuJet.
ALM Antillean Airlines said a new management team is keeping the carrier flying on time. In August, the airline appointed Conrad Aleong, a former Air Canada executive and BWIA president, as its new manager. Since the carrier launched new services on Oct. 29, the Dutch Caribbean airline has recorded an average on-time performance of 81.3%, compared with 62% a year earlier. The record improved despite a 34% jump in flights from the previous year's levels.
