GE Engine Services said yesterday it was awarded a five-year contract valued at more than $60 million by the Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Co. on behalf of Gulf Air. GE Engine Services will maintain CFM56 engines that power 14 Airbus A320 and six A340-300 aircraft in Gulf Air's fleet. The work will be performed at GE facilities in Wales under a program that provides support at a flat rate per flying hour. GE says this enables customers to forecast expenses and manage costs better.
Computer reservations system fees have risen 211% in the past five years and are one of the main drivers of distribution costs, Delta Executive VP- Marketing Bob Coggin told business executives in Atlanta. Just as it did by introducing caps on travel agent commissions, Delta is exploring ways to reduce CRS fees through new technology, such as the Internet, and wants to offer electronic ticketing on all domestic flights by yearend. Distribution costs for the industry totaled $12.6 billion last year, or 18.6% of total costs, he said.
Another low-cost startup with ties to the U.S. plans to establish itself in Europe. Debonair intends to start flying from London Luton Airport next week with five BAe 146s. The airline will be run by Franco Mancassola, a principal of defunct Discovery Airways, launched in Hawaii in 1988. Jonathan Ornstein, another U.S. airline veteran, recently launched Virgin Atlantic's low-cost operation on the Continent.
Amadeus Global Travel Distribution has launched new fare displays that expand the number of columns in the first screen to include data on penalties, taxes, travel dates and days. Amadeus said the change to its Central System is one of the most significant enhancements it has made since the system became operational in January 1992. Separately, the company said it has been named the preferred CRS of SRG International, a global travel management company headquartered in France.
A ValuJet spokesman confirmed yesterday that the carrier has had talks with several airlines and intends to reduce the number of outside contractors that carry out its heavy maintenance. ValuJet now has four third-party sources of heavy maintenance work, compared with six before the May 11 crash of one of its DC-9s in the Florida Everglades, which killed all 110 aboard. The spokesman confirmed that there have been "initial discussions" with Air Canada, Northwest and American.
DHL Worldwide Express said its new domestic air express service for middleweight packages - the Jumbo Box - "combines convenient packaging, simplified pricing, an easy shipping document kit and door-to-door service." The service was introduced internationally last year. DHL said many small and medium-size companies without freight departments are now operating internationally for the first time.
As American and British Airways moved to unveil plans for their new, much-awaited transatlantic alliance this morning in New York, industry players began positioning themselves yesterday for the pact, which could provide pitfalls for some and opportunities for others. TWA, one carrier that stands to gain from the deal, applied formally yesterday to DOT for authority to fly between New York and London Heathrow. Currently, American and United are the only U.S. carriers allowed to fly to Heathrow, and TWA hopes the American-BA deal will open up access. Other U.S.
The Japan Civil Aviation Bureau's decision to offer two slots a day at Narita Airport beginning July 1 is a "very welcome concession by the JCAB to business aircraft," FAA Administrator David Hinson said yesterday in Washington. "We in the U.S. appreciate their willingness to do this," Hinson said (DAILY, June 7). He reported that FAA and JCAB are continuing a dialogue they began three years ago to "increase and improve" access, not only at Narita but at other Japanese airports.
Siemens Nixdorf said it has created a Transportation Technologies unit that will offer consulting services and information technology products for airport, airline and rail industries. Siemens Nixdorf said it has worked with companies such as Delta, KLM, United, Lufthansa and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, and Chicago O'Hare and Amsterdam Schiphol airports. It provides services in network designs, systems implementation, systems integration and business process re-engineering.
American's Hospitality awards, a new frequent flyer program feature, enables customers to redeem AAdvantage miles for hotel stays and car rentals. For 10,000 miles, customers get one night at a Fiesta Inn Mexico or Red Lion Hotel. Other hotels require more miles. A two-day weekday or three-day weekend rental from Alamo costs 12,000 miles, and from Avis, Hertz or National, 16,000 miles.
Taiwan's outgoing minister of transportation and communications, Liu Chao-shiuan, said June 8 that mainland China has at last approved the terms of a five-year reciprocal air rights pact agreed to by Taiwan and Hong Kong. Liu said Beijing authorities gave their nod following seven rounds of negotiations conducted over two years. The original agreement, which expired Oct. 29, 1995, was extended seven times because of Beijing's failure to approve the new pact.
Both China Airlines and EVA Airways were inundated by applications from job seekers when they recently announced openings for flight attendants. China Airlines, which wants to fill 250 positions this year, received nearly 5,000 applications, while more than 2,200 applications were submitted for the fewer than 100 slots to be filled by EVA. An official at EVA said most applicants are attracted by the comparatively high pay and the opportunity to travel.
Canadian Airlines International has launched fare cuts this summer for travel from Toronto to Montreal and Ottawa. The fares, which start at $98 roundtrip, are available for travel June 29 through Sept. 2.
Air Canada, facing stiffer competition from rivals in Canada, will increase travel agent commission for domestic flights while capping commissions for travel agents in the U.S., Lamar Durrett, recently installed as chief executive, said yesterday at an airline investment conference in Canada. Domestic commissions will grow to 9% from the current 8.25% as of Sept. 1. The cap on U.S. travel agents will be C$60 (US$50) for a roundtrip ticket or C$30 (US$25) one way, the same limits imposed last year on U.S. travel agents by most major U.S. airlines.
Moody's Investors Service upgraded the senior unsecured rating of Loral Corp. to A3 from Baa2 to reflect that Lockheed Martin has "unconditionally" guaranteed payment of Loral's existing debt obligations.
Boeing said yesterday its 777-300 program has reached the 25% production definition milestone - one-quarter of the information needed to build parts and tools for assembly have been completed and released to manufacturers for fabrication or procurement, said Jeff Peace, program manager. The stretched aircraft will be able to hold 20% more passengers than the initial version and will serve as a replacement for early model 747s, he said.
Reno Air's revenue passenger miles rose 65% in May to 256 million on 43% more capacity. Available seat miles totaled 394.5 million, driving up the load factor 8.7 percentage points to a record 65%. President Robert Reding said the load factor marks the ninth consecutive month of significant year-over-year increases.
The Association of Flight Attendants will meet with United this week in hopes of talking the company out of its plan to open flight attendant bases in Tokyo and Frankfurt, or at least delaying the move. But the union is not optimistic about the outcome. AFA's contract requires United to meet with the union before setting an opening date. United said Friday it intends to open the Frankfurt base Oct. 1 and the Tokyo base Dec. 1, bringing the number of foreign bases to seven, including Paris, London, Santiago, Taipei and Hong Kong.
A320-1/200 A310-300 America West Northwest United Average Delta ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of Aircraft 18 50 29 97 1 Operated TOTAL FLEET OPERATIONS Departures 93 197 103 394 2 Block Hours 211 531 307 1,049 14
Indian carrier Modiluft has denied Lufthansa's charges that it defaulted on lease rental payments for three aircraft, which led the German carrier to sever its ties with the privately owned domestic airline last week. Pointing out that the management contract between the two airlines was valid until December 1996, a Modiluft spokesman said Friday that the blame for "any mess" in managing the airline would have to be laid at Lufthansa's door since the German airline's representatives had overall management control.
Airlines' individual cost per available seat mile for 1995, as listed in a story on Northwest's costs June 5 in The DAILY, came from DOT Form 41 data that were adjusted to Northwest's average stage length. When using cost per ASM data that are not adjusted, the results are Delta 8.85 cents, United 8.87, Northwest 9.12, American 9.43 and USAir 11.50.
Judicial authorities in Taiwan have issued indictments against 16 people accused of involvement in a bribery scheme to influence bidding for the Chiang Kai-shek Airport expansion project. Among those indicted are three officials of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration and four officials of the government-run China Engineering Consultants Inc. All those indicted are to be charged with corruption.
America West began service between Anchorage and Seattle last week with continuing service to Phoenix and Las Vegas. Anchorage is part of the carrier's strategic plan to increase available seat miles 29% and total departures 17% by the end of 1997. The plan includes adding at least eight new destinations. The carrier is operating two daily flights to Anchorage from Seattle with fares as low as $99 one way. America West began service recently to San Antonio from Phoenix and Las Vegas.
DOT has made final its show cause order selecting American International Airways and Polar Air Cargo for primary authority to operate new all-cargo services between the U.S. and Brazil. Southern Air Transport and Tower Air received backup authority. AIA received the 6.5 weekly frequencies available immediately, to operate scheduled service between Miami, the intermediate point Bogota, Colombia, and co-terminal points Manaus, Sao Paulo, Recife and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (DAILY, March 20).
