Regional Airline Association said an FAA proposal to amend pilot flight time limitations and rest requirements and establish duty time limits has little or no scientific justification, and it called on the agency to terminate the rulemaking effort. The association also called into question the rulemaking process itself, saying it was not a proper vehicle for issues as contentious as pilot flight time changes.
Cruise lines continue to beef up budgets to attract more passengers, and the Cruise Lines International Association has approved a $30 million, three-year advertising campaign. The American Society of Travel Agents is developing a Cruise Summit action plan to focus attention on marketing cruises, and has committed to "improve overall cruise sales."
House Appropriations Committee approve fiscal 1997 DOT appropriations bill House Appropriations Committee approved yesterday the fiscal 1997 DOT appropriations bill, including $8.155 billion for FAA (DAILY, June 7). Among amendments adopted by the committee is the set-aside of $2.4 million for activities of the National Civil Aviation Review Commission, a "blue ribbon" panel proposed to conduct a comprehensive review of aviation safety, financing and acquisition.
Charles Hunnicut, DOT assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, will meet with British counterpart Tony Goldman in Paris Monday. Likely to discuss the proposed American-British Airways alliance, Hunnicutt will try to determine the willingness of the U.K. to open up its market.
Blue Dart Express Ltd. of India, which has a technical and operational affiliation with Federal Express of the U.S., launched Blue Dart Aviation and claimed a first - it is the country's first courier company to deploy an all-jet fleet on domestic routes. Blue Dart Aviation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Blue Dart Express Ltd., will operate two Boeing 737-200 aircraft purchased from state-owned domestic carrier Indian Airlines for 138 million rupees ($3.9 million) and converted into freighters at the U.S. facilities of Stambough Aviation.
The "hotel of the future" will be created with the aid of new- generation software solutions under a joint marketing agreement signed by EDS and Hotel Information Systems. EDS will supply integration and technology resources to the new generation Advanced Guest Link (AGL) software marketed by HIS. The software helps hotel chains improve rate and inventory management and tracks customer preference and property utilization. In the future, AGL could enable hotels to determine in advance guest preferences, in type of room or breakfast, for example.
Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor will argue the case for U.S. industry participation in building airport infrastructure, airport design and air traffic control on a trip to Korea, Indonesia and Thailand next week. Decisions are close on a number of contracts.
The New Zealand Tourism Board reports that most areas of the country have not been affected by Monday's eruption of Mount Ruapehu, and the official ski season will open Saturday as planned. "Except for Mount Ruapehu and immediately adjacent areas, most transportation services, sights and attractions in New Zealand are open and operating as normal," said Kathy Ward, regional VP-the Americas. Operations at Auckland Airport and four nearby regional airports were temporarily suspended as of yesterday, but flights within the South Island continue to operate as usual.
The Air Transport Association, commenting on FAA's proposed flight and duty time restrictions and rest requirements, said in a 230-plus page response that the agency is "just plain wrong" and does not understand the economics of the regulation. Pulling out all the stops on the issue by conducting its own cost/benefit analysis and reviewing FAA's, ATA hired the leading scientists specializing in sleep and fatigue research and a statistician to review FAA's methodology.
Pan Am Airways, supplementing its March certificate application, told DOT it has successfully completed two private offerings, both of which exceeded expectations. Each offering was expected to raise $6 million, but the first yielded $10.5 million and the second $8.1 million plus $500,000 in other assets, said the company. Pan Am has appointed as director of security Lloyd Anderson, who was an Eastern director and chief pilot and has consulted on airline, labor and aviation security issues since 1986. (Docket OST-96-1211)
Sundstrand Corp.'s board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.17 per share, payable Sept. 17 to holders of record at the close of business Sept. 3.
Vienna's summer outdoor film festival on Rathausplatz runs from July 6 until Sept. 1. The Vienna Tourist Board said thousands of people gather every year in front of the large screens for free shows that feature food from all over the world. Beethoven's nine symphonies and the music of Johann Strauss will be featured during concerts, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic.
Kiwi International Air Lines has come under criticism for increasing fares and opening a city ticket office in Atlanta Tuesday in the wake of the ValuJet shutdown. Kiwi says the office and fare increase were under way beforehand. Kiwi reported 17,000 bookings yesterday, compared with 11,000 on a normal Tuesday, but it expects business to taper off.
Industry officials expressed dismay at the forced retirement of FAA Associate Administrator for Regulation and Certification Anthony Broderick. After consulting with FAA Administrator David Hinson, Broderick announced Tuesday he would retire at the end of the month, citing a need for "major, visible changes" in the agency in the aftermath of the ValuJet crash (DAILY, June 18).
Fort Lauderdale officials are banking on Money Magazine's July issue, which published a poll picking it as the most livable big city in America, to boost tourism. The other top finishers are traditionally hot tourist destinations - Orlando, San Francisco, Tampa - and Fort Lauderdale notes it was ranked 56th only three years ago.
Marriott will build its first Courtyard hotel in Alaska near the Anchorage airport. The 154-room hotel, scheduled to open in spring 1997, will have an indoor swimming pool, whirlpool spa, gym and three meeting rooms.
DOT and FAA issued a final airport rates and charges policy yesterday that is revised largely as they proposed last year. The policy, DOT/FAA said, is "not significantly revised" from the supplemental proposed policy published in the Federal Register Sept. 8, although it differs in several important respects from the interim policy published Feb. 3, 1995.
Russian carriers Khabarovsk Aviation Group and Mavial Airlines are seeking authority to operate scheduled and charter services to the U.S. Both carriers hold Russian authority to operate domestic and international scheduled and charter services, including flights to and from the U.S. Both carriers' fleets include aircraft equipped to perform international service - Il-62Ms and Tu-154Ms at Khabarovsk and Tu-154Ms at Mavial.
Mexicana applied for an exemption to operate scheduled combination service between Huatulco, Mexico, and Los Angeles. The carrier proposes weekly roundtrip service beginning July 9, using Boeing 727 aircraft seating 156 passengers. (Docket OST-96-1464)
Continental's complete turnaround in operational performance and Northwest's consistently good on-time performance propelled both carriers to the top of an airline customer satisfaction poll. Frequent Flyer Magazine and J.D. Power and Associates, referring to both carriers' performance a year earlier as "less than stellar," announced that Continental was chosen by frequent travelers as the favorite carrier in long-haul markets (500 miles or more) and Northwest in short-haul.
Virgin Atlantic, which stands to lose plenty from an American-British Airways alliance, has unleashed a #10 million (US$15 million) print campaign to whip up opposition to the proposed union in the U.S. and the U.K. One advertisement , slated to run in The Economist, reproduces part of the now-famous pricing conversation between American Chairman Robert Crandall and defunct Braniff's Howard Putnam. The ad notes that a tape of the conversation was used as evidence in a prosecution by the Justice Department of Crandall for breach of antitrust laws.
American is offering passengers Moments of Serenity - an audio program designed to help travelers relax by teaching them techniques for reducing stress. The tape was produced by KRS Edstrom, a stress management consultant.
Lufthansa has applied for renewal of its authority to hold out United's designator code on Lufthansa flights between Frankfurt and Kiev, Ukraine, operated under the Lufthansa-United Alliance Expansion Agreement, which DOT approved and accorded antitrust immunity recently. In addition, the German carrier is seeking an expansion of its authority, to include code-share services from any point in Germany to Kiev.
