The fear that an alliance between British Airways and American would leave Air France without a partner in the important transatlantic market has spurred new talks between the French and the U.S., as well as between Air France and several U.S. airlines. After months of foot-dragging over strained U.S.-French aviation relations, the U.S. and French governments agreed to meet July 2-3 in Washington to jump-start formal negotiations. Air France has long said it has been in talks with multiple U.S. airlines over possible alliances but always declined to elaborate.
Granted orally to Korean Air Lines an exemption to operate scheduled combination service between Korea and Saipan and to integrate this authority with KAL's currently effective permit and exemption authorities...Granted orally to World Airways an exemption to operate scheduled combination service between New York and Dakar, Senegal, and beyond to Johannesburg with local traffic rights between Dakar and Johannesburg...Granted orally to United authority to conduct scheduled combination service between points in the U.S.
Three aviation industry groups took aim last week at a recent Newsweek article and subsequent comments by DOT Inspector General Mary Schiavo about aviation safety. "We ask that you make clear to the American people that the DOT Inspector General does not speak for the administration on aviation safety policy," American Association of Airport Executives President Charles Barclay, Regional Airline Association President Walter Coleman and Airports Council International-North America President David Plavin said in a May 31 letter to President Clinton.
Cleanliness over on-timeliness? Northwest Airlines, a decent on-time performer that says it is the proper size and making money on all its routes, will focus on keeping its aircraft clean. "If you're not safe and you're not clean, customers don't care if you're on time," says President and CEO John Dasburg.
Japan Air Lines selected Pratt&Whitney PW4090 engines to power the five 777-300s it has on order from Boeing. Value of the engine order was estimated at $140 million. The aircraft will enter service beginning in 1998. JAL also has ordered 10 777-200s powered by PW4077 engines. JAL's first two 777s went into domestic service on April 26.
DOT seeks industry views on the benefits of adding a second civil signal to Global Positioning System satellites. The goal is improved navigation accuracy and reliability by using the civil signals together to compensate for atmospheric effects and interference, which will increase through the turn of the century as the 11-year cycle of solar activity peaks. Currently, dual-frequency capabilities require use of the military frequency, which is subject to Defense Department use and control.
"By virtually any measure, the Port Authority's performance at New York Kennedy and LaGuardia airports has been poor," according to a preliminary report by Rothschild Inc. on behalf of the city of New York. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani retained Rothschild in January to evaluate the operating efficiency of the authority. Among its findings, Rothschild said operations and maintenance costs at LaGuardia and Kennedy airports are $149 million higher than those at other major cities, even after allowing for the inherently higher costs of operating in New York.
Jet USA Airlines Inc., which recently filed an initial public offering to finance the launch of transcontinental jet service between secondary airports, probably will have to pick another name if it gets off the ground. The company warned in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that cargo carrier USA Jet Airlines Inc. plans to object to the use of so similar a name.
National Transportation Safety Board urgently recommended Friday that FAA require airlines to evaluate their practices on handling hazardous materials and, if necessary, revise them. The board also urgently recommended that FAA permanently prohibit transport of chemical oxygen generators if the chemicals have not been depleted, and that oxidizers and oxidizing materials be banned from cargo compartments that do not have fire or smoke detectors. The board's recommendations stem from the May 11 crash of a ValuJet DC-9, which killed all aboard.
Delta said it is removing restrictions it introduced last summer on the purchase of full coach, first-class and business-class tickets for travel to and from Atlanta and 11 perimeter cities during the 1996 Olympic Games period. Effective immediately, the carrier has dropped the requirement to buy tickets within 21 days after making reservations, and it has made fares fully refundable once again.
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani Friday said a new government entity, the New York Airport Authority, should buy Kennedy and LaGuardia airports from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to "free the airports from the Port Authority's excessive cost structure and as part of the deal to settle the dispute over back rent due the city." The proposal followed last week's release of a report by Rothschild Inc., conducted on behalf of the mayor, evaluating the port authority's overall operating efficiency. (See story on Page 370.)
Hawaiian Airlines Inc. filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue 12 million shares of common stock. A portion of the issue will be sold through a subscription rights offering related to an earlier equity investment by Airline Investors Partnership, L.P. (AIP). The company said it will distribute 8.15 million rights for shares of stock to shareholders excluding AIP. One million of the rights will go to employees and 600,000 to existing options holders.
Three industry analysts in a panel discussion predicting the future of startup airlines are skeptical about Western Pacific's ability to compete with United. "It's history," says the most bearish of them, Goldman Sachs's Glenn Engel.
Korean Air has become Airbus Industrie's first airline customer of the A330-200, ordering two aircraft for delivery in August and September 1998. Earlier, the carrier ordered seven A330-300s, with deliveries beginning in mid-1977. It holds options on 10 more aircraft of either version. Pratt&Whitney is supplying the engines.
SITA has established two VHF air communications datalink stations in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The remote ground stations, accessible by any of the more than 70 airlines using SITA's service, can be used for both airline and ATC applications, including Future Air Navigation System 1.
Since Canadian Airlines International is getting U.S. antitrust immunity in its alliance with American, archrival Air Canada wants immunity with a U.S. partner too, to remain competitive. Air Canada declines to identify the U.S. airline. United says it is the other half of the combine and expects to file for immunity soon.
The boards of Lucas Industries and Varity Corp. voted Friday to merge the two companies into a "highly competitive, global automotive parts, diesel and aerospace company." The merged company, to be called LucasVarity, would have had combined 1995 revenues of about $6.7 billion. Varity's strength is in anti-lock brake systems and traditional braking systems in the North American market, while Lucas is strong in Europe.
Taipei-based stock analysts who specialize in transportation issues, many of whom originally criticized China Airlines' recently announced purchases of Boeing 747-400 and 737-800 aircraft, now appear to support the deals. Typical is Ellen Lin, an airline analyst at Grand Cathay Securities Corp. "Overall, CAL has developed a good plan and the timing is right, as it is generally expected that there will be a major breakthrough in 1997 that will permit direct travel between mainland China and Taiwan," Lin said.
FAA said Friday its GPS program office is "confident" that the agency's dispute resolution process will reaffirm the decision to take away the $475 million Wide Area Augmentation System contract from Wilcox and award instead a $50 million bridge contract to Hughes, which had been a subcontractor on the project. Wilcox challenged the award of the contract last week (DAILY, May 29).
Morten Beyer Associates predicts a "famine of used aircraft" soon. MBA points to Fed Ex Aviation Services statistics showing that between Jan. 15 and April 15, the number of used aircraft for sale or lease fell 24%, to 360 from 473. Only 15 of 37 DC-9s, 35 of 56 737s and 34 of 57 727s remained listed. All eight A320s available in January found homes.
FAA is reported to have reviewed personnel records in an attempt to find out which of its inspectors testified anonymously at a Senate hearing in April, and a union official said a recent FAA stand-down has made inspectors more fearful of management than ever. The controversy was triggered last week by Sen. Bill Cohen (R-Maine), chairman of the Governmental Affairs subcommittee on oversight of government management, which conducted the hearing.
- In Federal Register dated May 28...Issued corrections on an airworthiness directive issued on May 7 for several types of commuter aircraft, including Beech, Cessna, de Havilland, Dornier, Embraer, Fairchild and Jetstream...Issued an AD on Robinson R44 helicopters requiring an adjustment to the lower-RPM warning unit threshold...Superseded an AD on Robinson R22 helicopters concerning a low-rotor RPM warning unit.
