American Trans Air opened a new maintenance facility at Chicago Midway Airport last week. The facility is ATA's second largest base after its Indianapolis shop. The carrier, which is leasing the facility from the city of Chicago, is offering 23 destinations with 129 weekly departures from Midway.
FAA, in the wake of the May 11 ValuJet DC-9 accident, said last week it plans to "launch a nationwide public education campaign designed to inform the American public as to passenger safety onboard commercial aircraft." The agency said that "focus groups are necessary to determine consumer attitudes toward and knowledge regarding aircraft passenger safety." The agency plans to hire a contractor to put together two focus groups.
SAS flew 1.67 billion revenue passenger kilometers in May, a 3% decrease from May 1995, and the load factor for the month was down 3 percentage points to 65.6%. The airline flew 36.93 million freight ton kilometers for the month, a decrease of 3%.
The new five-year aviation agreement signed recently by China, Taiwan and Hong Kong breaks the longstanding monopoly held by China Airlines and Cathay Pacific in the Taiwan-Hong Kong market by allowing EVA Airways of Taiwan and Dragonair, which is 64% owned by mainland Chinese interests, to provide passenger service as well. CAL will be able to operate 105 roundtrip passenger flights and six cargo flights a week, while Cathay Pacific will get 100 passenger flights and six cargo flights.
Aeromexico will launch nonstop jet service four times a week between Phoenix and Hermosillo, Mexico, on June 24. The introductory one-way fare in the market is $73. Aerolitoral, Aeromexico's regional airline, serves the market with several flights per day.
Air Freight Association fears an onslaught of new rules as a result of the ValuJet crash. "In addition to the obvious targets of older aircraft and a review of hazardous materials rules, any proposed rules which are wrapped in the cloak of safety will be difficult to fight," AFA says. Both the "regulatory and political climate work against any attempt to argue against new regulations which are crafted in terms of increases safety."
In a move intended to reduce bureaucracy, United has revamped its financial planning process. The changes stretch planning for capital spending to three years from one and separate capital spending from operational spending. They are designed to make managers more accountable and put in place spending limits to help the carrier regain its investment grade credit rating.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic November 1995 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) American 1,148 5.89 2,146 2,463,669 Atlantic 273 10.15 4,147 1,133,558
National Air Transportation Association expressed alarm over FAA's focus on expedited rulemaking in its Challenge 2000 initiative, especially the agency's use of the commuter safety rule as an example of what to expect. NATA called the commuter rule a "politically motivated public relations effort....If this is what the FAA plans for the future, we should be alarmed."
British Airways is firming up plans to shift its corporate database operations to India, taking advantage of available computer software skills and low overall costs, officials of the airline said Friday. BA will be the second European carrier to make the move, following Swissair in 1995. "India's software development levels are second only to those in the United States and can be achieved at a cost nearly 15 times lower," a BA official said.
Arinc said it will provide communications, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) avionics integrations for selected older aircraft, including the 747 and DC-10. The design approach for its in- house program, which comprises a FANS-compliant suite of avionics, will make it possible to adapt it for Airbus Industrie aircraft also, Arinc said. Arinc intends to obtain separate supplemental type certificates for satellite communications, electronic flight instrument system, inertial navigation system and other optional avionics upgrades.
Senate has confirmed President Clinton's renomination of James Hall to serve another two-year term as chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Air Canada and Lufthansa launched the first phase of their previously announced marketing alliance Saturday with nonstop joint-service flights from Calgary and Vancouver to Frankfurt. Air Canada will operate a 767-300 on the Calgary-Frankfurt route and Lufthansa will fly a 747 on Vancouver- Frankfurt. The carriers began offering benefits in each other's frequent flyer programs this month.
Varig will begin service June 26 from Orlando to Miami with connecting flights to Rio, Sao Paulo and points in northeastern Brazil. The 767 flight will operate five times per week through Aug. 5. Varig plans to boost Amazon service from Miami from one to two flights per week with more service to Manaus, via Belem.
Correction: An American-British Airways alliance would give BA access to eight or nine hubs in the U.S. because of its links with USAir and America West, according to Cyril Murphy, United VP-international affairs. By contrast, airlines in other alliances have access only to two or three hubs in the U.S. A story in The DAILY June 14 erroneously referred to lesser carrier access to European hubs.
Fine Airlines filed an emergency application at DOT to reinstate its authority to provide scheduled all-cargo service from Miami to Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador, and to integrate the authority with its rights to serve Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. It also asked DOT to reconfirm its allocation of two weekly roundtrip frequencies to Ecuador.
New Aircraft Orders and Options March 1996 Last 12 Months Firm Orders Options Orders Options Carrier # Type # Type Engines Del Dates # Type # Type China Southn* 3 777-200 - GE90 Nov97-Feb98 1 Cessna208B - Japan Air Sys 6 MD-90-30 1 MD-90-30 V2525 97-98 - -
Smithsonian Institution Secretary Michael Heyman yesterday appointed Donald Engen director of the National Air and Space Museum, effective July 1 (DAILY, June 12).
Northern Airlines, a Syracuse, N.Y., company that hopes to start F28 service in several months, issued a statement criticizing the proposal of the Big Seven airlines - a proposal largely endorsed by the Regional Airline Association - to replace the 10% ticket tax with a series of taxes and fees Northern said "would raise costs on short-haul flights and penalize passenger for choosing low-fare carriers" (DAILY, May 24). Northern VP-Marketing Timothy Sieber called the proposal "anti-consumer."
Regional Airline Association this week provided further details of its campaign to raise the consciousness of passengers and travel industry professionals about the comfort, convenience and safety of regional airlines.
United is confident that the American-British Airways deal will quickly lead to open skies between the U.S. and the U.K., but it worries about the impact the proposed accord could have on competition. "We have no problem with the theory of alliances, but you have got to look at each alliance on its own merits," Cyril Murphy, United's VP-international affairs, told The DAILY in an interview yesterday. Murphy said the size of the proposed alliance is not the problem but rather the nature of the market place. He said the U.S.-U.K.
Flight Safety Foundation has moved to 601 Madison St., Suite 300, Alexandria, Va. 22314. The new telephone is 703-739-6700 and the new fax number is 703-739-6708.
Travel agencies can check more fares without booking an itinerary on Sabre with the computer reservations system's new WorldFare pricing feature, FastFare. Agents can obtain multiple fare quotes for an entire trip, not just one market, by entering city-pairs. The CRS responds with all fares that apply. Entries can be customized as to preferred carrier or specific dates. FastFare is available at no additional cost as part of the base Sabre package.
Midwest Express Connection Skyway Airlines flew 6.4 million revenue passenger miles last month, a 6.4% increase from just over 6 million in the same month in 1995. Skyway is operated by Astral Aviation, Inc. - a wholly owned subsidiary of Midwest Express Airlines, which is itself held by Midwest Express Holdings.
American said yesterday it has issued a notice to redeem its 5 1/4% subordinated debentures due 1998. The debentures will be redeemed in full at par on July 1, American said. The carrier has about 2.95 million in debentures outstanding. The redemption will be handled by Citibank. They are listed on the New Stock Exchange under the symbol AMR98.
