House is expected to vote this week, probably Wednesday, on taking the transportation trust funds off-budget.The vote will be preceded on Tuesday by a news conference at which supporters - including key members of Congress, business and labor leaders - will describe their reasons for supporting the measure.
Air Pacific named Richard Yamashita airport/cargo sales manager. Federal Express named Laurie Tucker senior VP-Logistics Electronic Commerce and Catalog Division. Polar Air Cargo named Peter Hansen VP-Asia.
U.S. Air Force canceled the VC-X VIP transport aircraft procurement plan in order to replace it with a streamlined, lease-to-buy arrangement for four VC-X aircraft with a contract award this summer, the service said Friday. Program managers are working on a new, simplified solicitation aimed at quick, commercial-style acquisition and acceptance of the aircraft, which will meet all FAA safety requirements, including cockpit data/voice recorders.
National Aviation Safety Data Analysis Center has been moved from temporary quarters at DOT to FAA headquarters, where it houses "one of the world's most extensive collections" of aviation safety information, with 14 different data bases. The center is open to the public, and FAA is working on Internet access to much of the information.
Stronger research and development partnerships hold the key to maintaining the U.S. technological edge in the post-Cold War era, according to a report from the Washington-based Council on Competitiveness. "Government, industry and academia must find new ways of working in concert to develop and carry out the nation's research agenda," the council said in "Endless Frontier, Limited Resources: U.S.
Granted orally to Compania de Aviacion Faucett an exemption to wet lease aircraft to APA International Airlines to conduct scheduled combination services between Santo Domingo/Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and Miami; Santo Domingo/Puerto Plata and San Juan, P.R., and Santo Domingo/Puerto Plata and New York, during the April 15-June 9 period...Granted orally to DHL Airways renewal of an exemption to conduct scheduled all-cargo services between Cincinnati and Houston, on the one hand, and the terminal point Mexico City, on the other...Granted orally a renewal to Air N
ACCESS-U.S.-Japan's membership surpassed 1,000 this week, more than doubling its size in the past two weeks, the organization reported. "The coalition is growing quickly because it is a response to real needs," said Chairman Gerald Baliles, who has spoken in nine U.S. cites in the past six weeks. "The need is clear and the benefits are obvious," he said. "At every stop, in every conversation, people tell me their community needs better travel options to Japan, and they need them as soon as possible."
CIT Group reported record net income of $59.8 million for the first quarter, up 13% from $52.8 million during the same quarter last year. Financing and leasing assets totaled $17 billion, up $124.7 million. Net finance income rose 19% to $195.4 million. CIT reported the purchase of an MD-82 on March 28 from Finova Capital Corp.
American Trans Air reported an increase in its March traffic, up 6.1% from March 1995 to 951.4 million revenue passenger miles. Capacity increased 5.7% to 1.2 billion available seat miles, for a load factor of 77%. For the first quarter, the carrier logged 2.5 billion RPMs, a 12.3% increase over the same period last year. ASMs were up 7.8% to 3.4 billion, and the load factor increased three percentage points to 72.6%.
Delta will introduce nonstop service June 1 from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport to Montreal and Oklahoma City. It also plans to increase the frequency of roundtrips between Cincinnati and two destinations - Portland, Ore., to three per day, and Grand Rapids, to four. The service to Montreal and Grand Rapids complements that of regional affiliate Comair. Cincinnati is Delta's second-largest hub, and the carrier has increased service 29% since it opened a $375 million facility there in 1994.
Carnival Air Lines plans to launch nonstop service June 28 between Bradley Airport, in Connecticut, and Orlando with continuing service to San Juan. Flights will operate daily except for Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Carnival will offer one-way fares of $98 to Orlando and $149 to San Juan, with a free Orlando stopover. The carrier will operate a 173-seat 727 in the markets in an all-coach configuration.
Removing investment restrictions, promoting competition, applying new technology and harmonizing regulations and procedures are the key factors in improving cooperation between U.S. and Latin America, DOT Secretary Federico Pena said last week in Santiago, Chile. Speaking at the Latin American Transport Summit, Pena offered a five-part strategy for achieving a more unified "Transportation Network of the Americas" by the beginning of the 21st century. "First, we must tear down the barriers to international investment in our national transport sectors," he said.
Dollar Rent A Car is offering travel agents a 15% commission for any rental that begins on a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday through June 30. Dollar will give agents in Florida 15% commissions on leisure rentals of five days or more.
Miami-based Gulfstream International Airlines operated 9.5 million revenue passenger miles last month, an 89.6% increase from nearly 5 million RPMs in the same 1995 month. Capacity rose 97.2% to 17.6 million available seat miles from 8.9 million as load factor dropped 2.2 percentage points to 53.7% from 55.9%.
Kiwi International Air Lines has reduced one-way, no-advance-purchase fares from Atlanta to $39 to Florida, $49 to Chicago and $79 to New York. It also has reduced fares to $88 between Chicago, Tampa and Orlando. Tickets must be purchased by April 14 for travel by June 15 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Saturdays. Flights on peak travel days cost $10 more. Kiwi does not require a Saturday night stay.
Tourism Works for America Council is asking travel and tourism industry members to wear red on May 8, National Tourist Appreciation Day. The event is part of National Tourism Week, May 5-11, which has been celebrated in the U.S. since 1984 to recognize tourism's cultural, social and economic impact. The council said city and state officials have planned activities across the nation to celebrate the event.
Southwest ended its Friends Fly Free companion ticket program this week after a five-year run. Travel on tickets already sold will continue through Sept. 5. A spokeswoman said Southwest believed originally that the program had a "shelf life" of only a few months but kept extending it because of its popularity. Asked whether it will be brought back, she said "never say never" but added: "I think we would like to come out with something more fresh."
SAS will make more of its European flights smoke-free by June 1 but still will allow smoking on transoceanic flights and on service to Southern and Eastern Europe. The carrier will ban smoking on flights to Britain, the Benelux countries, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Flights to Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey will not be affected by the change, nor will intercontinental flights. SAS banned smoking on flights in Norway and Sweden in 1988 and added Denmark a year later.
USAir announced June 1 as the launch date for its Philadelphia-Rome service after DOT's decision, issued Wednesday, making final its tentative approval of USAir over stiff objections from competing carriers Northwest and Delta. Northwest was granted backup authority for service to Rome from Detroit (DAILY, April 11). USAir plans to operate six days per week between Rome and Philadelphia using Boeing 767-200ER aircraft, with same-plane service to and from Los Angeles.
The European Regional Airlines Association (ERA) wants the European Community to keep in check the increasing costs associated with initiatives to harmonize aviation regulations within Europe. A high-level ERA delegation met with EC Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock earlier this month to lay out that and other concerns.
Sixth annual Airline Quality Rating, which ranks the top nine major airlines for overall performance, will be issued Monday in Washington, D.C. The rating is conducted by researchers at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute, and the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University. Assessments are based on 19 criteria, including financial status, on-time performance, fleet age and customer complaints. American Airlines ranked first in four of the five years ratings have been issued.
The Air Force's Air Mobility Command awarded contracts to three carriers to carry personnel and cargo over short distances. Airpark Sales and Service was awarded a $95,578 seven-month contract with two option years to move passengers from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., OLF Webster Field, Md., or St. Mary's County Airport, Md., to various locations within a 250- mile radius. Southern Air Transport received a $458,735, six-month contract to move cargo from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, to various locations in Alaska.
Comsat, the U.S. signatory to the Inmarsat international maritime communications satellite organization, has torpedoed Inmarsat's plan to establish a system of Hughes-built navigation satellites, apparently because of a U.S. policy to back the Global Positioning System as a stand- alone space segment for ICAO's Future Air Navigation System. Comsat has a 23% vote at Inmarsat, and a two-thirds majority is required to pass a business initiative such as the proposed ISNS (International Satellite Navigation System), which had won the support of most Inmarsat member nations.
ValuJet Airlines is slowing its 1996 growth plans and may defer more aircraft deliveries and leases in the future in order to manage its growth better, the carrier told the Securities and Exchange Commission. The current rein on capacity is only a "slight and temporary reduction," the carrier says, but was done in part because of FAA scrutiny on its safety- related programs.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund Income Statement October 1, 1995 - January 31, 1996 RECEIPTS (Revenues) Current Month Revenues: Excise Taxes (Transferred from General Fund): Liquid Fuel other than Gas $ 14,607,000.00 Transportation by Air, Seats, Berths, etc. 439,326,000.00 Use of International Travel Facilities 24,596,000.00
