Fairchild has reached agreement with Daimler-Benz to buy Dornier in a move that will enable Fairchild to bolster its product line and Daimler- Benz to shave off another piece of its money-losing interests in the aerospace business. Fairchild Chairman Carl Albert told reporters this week the company hopes to close the agreement in June.
Indonesian manufacturer IPTN is now offering two versions of its new twin turboprop regional aircraft. In addition to its 64-passenger N250, which it will market primarily to domestic customers, it will offer a 70- passenger N270 in North America. Ironically, however, the N270 will have a 31-inch pitch while the N250, which the company said it is marketing in Asia where people are generally of shorter stature, will have a 32-inch seat pitch. U.S. certification is expected in early 1998, although there is still no airworthiness bilateral between the two countries...
AMR Eagle's decision on a new regional aircraft in the 50- to 70- passenger range is not expected until the end of the year, according to sources close to the sales effort. It is believed, however, that the decision between a high-speed turboprop and a regional jet may be driven as much by the Allied Pilots Association (APA) as by capacity and performance. APA already has proposed flying a 70-passenger jet as the entry-level flying job, which the company rejects. Choice of a regional jet by Eagle could become a strike issue, an industry source said.
Clinton administration may be willing to moderate its support for a user-funded FAA. In light of overwhelming opposition to the measure, Assistant DOT Secretary for Governmental Affairs Steve Palmer said this week there may be room for compromise, although the administration will not back off completely. DOT supports the Senate McCain-Ford bill that would impose the user charges but contains few specifics.
DOT's Enforcement Office and Mesa Airlines have reached a settlement of the Office's charges that Mesa was delinquent in filing origin-and- destination and revenue data with the department in late 1995. Under the settlement, Mesa was assessed $25,000 in compromise of potential civil penalties, half of which will be forgiven if the regional complies with an order calling for it to cease and desist from future violations of the filing requirements.
Pampas Air is the South American launch customer for the Canadair Regional Jet, placing an order for four of the 50-passenger airplanes. The airline, based in Cordoba, Argentina, plans to serve a number of domestic locations with the new aircraft, beginning in July, including Mendoza, Salta, Neuquen and Jujuy. Canadair said the order is valued at approximately $80 million.
Vietnam Airlines will purchase 10 A320s from Airbus Industrie, the European aircraft manufacturer said. Aircraft deliveries are scheduled to begin in June and continue until early 1997. Vietnam will use the jets for flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to destinations throughout Asia. The aircraft will be powered by CFM International CFM56-5B4 engines and outfitted in a two-class configuration with 12 seats in the forward cabin and 138 seats in economy.
Prompted by the continued focus on the possible role of oxygen generators in the ValuJet Flight 592 crash, DOT yesterday issued a temporary ban on the transportation of the generators as cargo on passenger service. Effective from 6 a.m. today until Jan. 1, 1997, the prohibition applies to all foreign and domestic passenger-carrying aircraft entering, leaving or operating in the U.S. "The ban is a prudent step to ensure public safety while we review whether oxygen generators, carried as cargo, might pose an unacceptable safety risk to passenger airlines," said D.K.
Manassas, Va.-based Colgan Air signed a contract to purchase up to two used Saab 340B regional turboprops. Colgan, which ordered one Saab 340B and placed an option for a second, will take delivery of the first 30- passenger airliner May 29. The aircraft, which will enter revenue service June 10, will be based at Hyannis, Mass., serving the Hyannis/Nantucket-New York LaGuardia market this summer. Colgan will operate the aircraft from Charlottesville, Va., to LaGuardia beginning in September.
America West yesterday named Richard Goodmanson, an industry outsider, as its president and chief operating officer and revealed plans to set up a holding company - America West Holdings Corp. - for the airline. The new corporate structure, to be in place July 1, will give the company added flexibility in dealing with business units not directly related to the running of the airline, America West said.
Air France Group Chairman Christian Blanc's plan to save Air France Europe from bankruptcy - and prepare the entire group to be privatized by 1998 - includes the launch of shuttle services in October from Paris to Marseilles, Nice and Toulouse comparable to the Shuttle by United service operated in California by United. The three routes account for 25% of Air France Europe's traffic and 31% of its sales, and company officials hope the shuttle initiative will generate extra revenue of 240 million French francs.
Delta is one of the first of two advertisers on The Weather Channel's World Wide Web site, found at http://www.weather.com. The channel says its site receives 200,000 hits each week. Delta's advertising banner connects the Weather Channel site to its own site, SkyLinks. Web users who visit Delta's site will have access to key weather information.
...Snecma/Pratt&Whitney partnership appears to be leading the chase to power the new AI(R) regional jet. The duo is offering the SPW14 turbofan, rated in the 12,000- to 16,000-pound range, for which many of the components are already available from the French and Canadian joint-venture partners. Also in the running, however, is Allison's AE3012, GE's CF34 and an offering from Rolls-Royce/BMW. The SPW14 is expected to available when the first regional jets in the 60- to 90-passenger range begin rolling off production lines in the early 2000s.
Eastwind Airlines' new flights to Atlanta that begin June 6 will be operated twice a day - one from Boston and one from Providence, R.I., through its Trenton, N.J., base with a stop in Greensboro on one and Richmond on the other. Eastwind does not compete with low-fare airlines like ValuJet in any of the markets except the route to Boston. A carrier spokesman said one-way fares from Atlanta to Boston will range from $119 to $179, to Greensboro $49 to $109, Providence $119 to $179, Richmond $59 to $119, and Trenton $69 to $129.
The Association of Flight Attendants, the only union at United that is not part of the carrier's employee ownership structure, has set up an alliance with flight attendant unions of United's international partners, Lufthansa and Thai Airways.Representatives of the three unions met last week in Bangkok to exchange information and coordinate strategy.
Gulfstream International of Miami will not be the U.S. launch customer for the N270, as originally planned. President Tom Cooper would not elaborate when queried on the decision; however, The DAILY is told that officials of IPTN's U.S. affiliate, American Regional Aircraft Industry (AMRAI), did not believe that rapidly expanding Gulfstream had sufficient prestige or national visibility to be the launch customer for the aircraft. Executive vice chairman of AMRAI is Brian Rowe, former chairman of GE Aircraft Engines.
DOT has made final its tentative order terminating the subsidy for essential air service at Anniston, Ala. and permitting Gulfstream International Airlines to suspend its service there as of June 1. The Chairman of the Anniston Metropolitan Airport Board of Commissioners had objected to the service termination, contending that recent low traffic figures did not accurately reflect local demand for scheduled service.
IPTN moved closer to completing its twin-turboprop N250 as Hispano- Suiza delivered the first shipment of nacelle parts for the aircraft. The shipment is intended for the first prototype aircraft, which was scheduled to undergo a series of test flights this month. Hispano-Suiza, a subsidiary of French firm Snecma, was chosen to supply the nacelle components in June 1995. The current order covers parts for seven aircraft and options for another 14 - a total of 42 nacelles.
Vanguard Airlines is offering summer fares as low as $19 one way between Salt Lake City and Denver; Kansas City and Dallas/Fort Worth; Wichita and Des Moines, and Chicago and Des Moines. Bob McAdoo, president and chief executive, said, "The big airlines come along and say they are slashing their fares by 40%, even 50%. Not so fast. These so-called bargain fares are still too expensive for many travelers, and they come with lots of strings attached." Vanguard's fares do not require a Saturday night stay or roundtrip purchase.
Seven U.S. airlines are proposing that Congress adopt user fees for airlines on a temporary basis while permanent changes in FAA financing are evaluated. The fees would take the place of the 10% passenger ticket tax, which lapsed Dec. 31 along with the waybill, non-commercial jet fuel and international departure taxes. The tax on aviation gasoline did not expire. Taxes other than the passenger ticket tax would be reinstated under the proposal, which is supported by American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, TWA, USAir and United, sources said.
Qantas has named a top Australian aviation negotiator to its international relations department. John Kerr, formerly assistant secretary of the International Relations Branch in the Aviation Policy Division of the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Development, will be Qantas's general manager of international relations. He will report to David Hawes, recently promoted to group general manager in charge of the company's government and international relations branch.
Nations Air has discontinued its service between Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in favor of new scheduled flights to Gulfport, Miss., from cities in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. It is studying high- density cities and will announce its new Gulfport schedule shortly, the carrier said. The Smyrna, Ga.-based carrier said the Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh routes were "marginally profitable.
