More than 100 investors in a Polaris Aircraft limited partnership filed suit yesterday against Kidder, Peabody&Co., charging fraud, breach of contract and conspiracy, according to the law firm of Archibald M. Mull III. Both Polaris, the general partner, and Kidder, Peabody were owned mainly by General Electric, which also is a target of the suit, according to the law firm. A GE spokesman said the company is "confident that the offerings at issue were made in compliance with applicable law, and it will defend this case as it has others - vigorously."
Pan Am - The New Airline is holding an open house this month in Miami to hire pilots and flight attendants. The carrier, which expects to begin operations this summer, said it will train flight crews in May. Martin Shugrue, chief executive, said Pan Am will start service with three A300-B4 aircraft and plans to take on two more in the fourth quarter and three more early in 1997. The carrier's open house for pilots will be held through Saturday while the flight attendants' is set for April 22-27. Pan Am is operating a job hotline at 305-873-5471.
United said yesterday it has installed satellite telephone equipment on 68 long-haul aircraft, some of the aircraft it operates in transoceanic markets. Satellite phone service is activated when an aircraft is more than 200 miles from the North American coastline. Over the U.S., the phones use GTE's digital ground-based system, which is available on aircraft operating in North America. The satellite service, which also enables users of computers with internal modems to send faxes, is available on newer United aircraft, including 747-400s, 767-300s and 777s.
RPS Inc., a ground and air small-package carrier, has signed an agreement with Daylight Air for airlift of a "substantial percentage" of RPS's second-day air business that normally goes to commercial carriers. Daylight, a new freight carrier based in Ypsilanti, Mich., will serve nine RPS hubs - Chicago, Columbus, Fort Worth, Harrisburg, Los Angeles, Portland, Queens, Sacramento and Toledo. Ron Joseph, RPS VP- transportation, safety and maintenance, said Daylight "is the perfect complement to the company's existing group of airlift suppliers."
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority are urging DOT to renew Saudi Arabian Airlines' authority to operate scheduled combination and all -cargo service between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
Continental's traffic rose 4.2% last month, compared with March 1995, on a 5.2% decline in capacity. The passenger load factor was up 6.5 percentage points to 72.2%. March 96 March 95 3 Mths 96 3 Mths 95 RPMs 3,685,393,000 3,538,028,000 9,755,682,000 9,564,377,000 ASMs 5,105,669,000 5,384,432,000 14,563,662,000 16,008,273,000 LoadFtr% 72.2 65.7 67.0 59.8
ValuJet has cut spring fares from any of the 31 cities it serves. Reservations must be made by April 14 for travel April 16 through June 5. Fridays, Sundays and the May 23-27 Memorial Day weekend are blacked out. One-way fares from Atlanta range from $29 to $79.
Federal Express has asked DOT to amend its U.S. -Russia all -cargo exemption, authorizing it to serve additional intermediate points in Europe. FedEx received authority to operate New York - and Memphis -Moscow, via Paris and Frankfurt (DAILY, Feb. 20). To increase flexibility, the carrier has asked that it be allowed to operate the service "via a point or points in Europe contained in [its] existing certificate authority." If specific named intermediate points are necessary, the carrier asked that Nuremberg and Munich be added to its authority.
Michael Sears, 48, was named president of Douglas Aircraft Co., succeeding Robert Hood, 63, who will be president emeritus and retire later this year. Sears has been VP-general manager of McDonnell Douglas Corp.'s largest tactical military aircraft program, the F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter. Explaining Sears' move to the company's commercial transport operation, McDonnell Douglas Chairman and Chief Executive Harry Stonecipher said, "I need a winner running Douglas.
Arlene Feldman, FAA eastern regional administrator, has been elected to a three -year term on the board of governors of The Wings Club of New York. Aviation -Related Bills Introduced In Congress, January - March 1996
Cathay Pacific Airways has signed mutual assistance agreements with South African Airways and Emirates Airlines under which it and its individual partners will share resources, people and expertise if one of them experiences an emergency away from its home base.Cathay, which believes the arrangement is unique among major airlines, is trying to line up a similar agreement with Singapore Airlines and plans more of them with the hometown airlines at the foreign destinations it serves.
American International Freight set a record of 1.03 million pounds of cargo carried in a single night on March 17, according to Stephen Murray, VP and general manager. AIF began operations in May 1993 with an average of 237,000 pounds nightly. It serves 46 destinations in the U.S. and also offers overnight service daily between Los Angeles and Honolulu, continuing to Pago Pago, American Samoa and Melbourne weekly. AIF recently expanded capacity by adding two L -1011s purchased in 1995.
An early Easter holiday and strong travel across the Atlantic and Pacific helped United turn in a healthy traffic performance last month. President and Chief Operating Officer John Edwardson noted that United had an 83.4% load factor across the Atlantic, "a rare achievement at this time of the year." The carrier flew 7.4% more revenue passenger miles last month, compared with March 1994, on a 3.9% increase in capacity. The load factor for the month was up 2.4 percentage points to 72.9%, and the number of passengers increased 6.5%.
IATA, in cooperation with FIATA, the worldwide freight forwarding association, said universal air cargo bar -coding has moved forward with its IATA Cargo Services Conference Resolution 606, and the "next step is to get it implemented." IATA's registered supplier, Century Systems, has a complete package for producing and processing bar -coded labels, IATA said.
Mountain West Airlines, a Mesa Air Group subsidiary, has reached a tentative agreement on a first contract with its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association. Details will not be made public until the pilots' Master Executive Council reviews the deal.
Southwest's traffic increased 17% last month compared with March 1995 on 11% more capacity. The load factor gained 3.5 percentage points to 68.4%, and the number of passengers enplaned jumped 15%. For the first quarter of 1996, Southwest's traffic was up 12.1% on a 13.1% increase in traffic. Load factor for the period was down 0.6 percentage points to 60.5%.
Boeing said it delivered 40 jet transports in the first quarter - 15 737s, three 747s, seven 757s, seven 767s and eight 777s. The company said first quarter deliveries were affected by its Machinists union strike, but it still projects delivery of a total of 215 aircraft in 1996.
Northwest's Machinists union is up in arms about stock incentives - the equivalent of 500,000 shares - to be given to President and Chief Executive John Dasburg over the next eight years. Dasburg will receive the cash equivalent of 100,000 shares in 1996 and 50,000 shares for each year thereafter until 2004. The Machinists said Northwest should realize that IAM members "fully expect not only a complete snapback of wages and benefits on Oct.
Continental's early application for U.S.-Toronto frequencies in 1997, the third and final year of phasing in open-skies rights for U.S. carriers at the airport, has drawn opposition from expected competitors - Northwest, Delta, United and Midway. Immediately on the heels of DOT's decision on the second-year U.S.-Toronto proceeding, Continental applied for authority to begin twice-daily service between Newark and Toronto on Feb. 24, 1997 (DAILY, March 14).
First quarter 1996 airline earnings should be nothing short of spectacular when they are made public in the next few weeks, but some on Wall Street worry about emerging signs of an early end to the industry's streak of 14 straight quarters of increased profits. Last week, Continental Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gordon Bethune told employees that financial results for the quarter will be "far in excess" of the company's expectations, and most airline analysts predict a healthy profit for the carrier in the traditionally weak first quarter.
When the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention awards the Association of Flight Attendants' Employee Assistance Program the "Innovative Support of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention in the Workplace and in the Community" award April 13, it will recognize the AFA program for supporting drug and alcohol abuse prevention, not testing, as stated in The DAILY April 5.
Air Transport Association said it released 10 new or revised publications on engineering, maintenance and materiel. New publications and products include a Visual Inspection Personnel Training and Qualification Guide (Specification 107), Guidelines for Minimization of Foreign Object Damage at Air Carrier Airports and the electronic version of the Data Model Template (Spec 2100). Seven titles have been revised: Manufacturers Technical Data -Rev.
U.S. Major Carriers Jet Fleet Analysis As of February 1996 Type Avg Aircraft # Operated Age(Yrs) America West 737-100 1 27.0 737-200A 19 16.1 737-300 40 9.0 757-200 14 9.7 A320-200 19 6.1 Total Fleet 93 10.1 American 727-200 6 27.8
TWA's traffic increased 13.9% last month, compared with March 1995, on 6.6% more capacity. The load factor for the month was 70.4%, an increase of 4.5 percentage points, and the number of passengers rose 14.4%. March 96 March 95 3 Mths 96 3 Mths 95 RPMs 2,294,700,000 2,014,500,000 5,882,500,000 5,390,700,000 ASMs 3,261,700,000 3,060,600,000 9,251,300,000 8,722,700,000 LoadFtr% 70.4 65.8 63.6 61.8
USAir is urging DOT to "rule immediately" on applications of itself and American for authority to operate between Boston and Paris. "This hard-won economic gain is a perishable commodity and we need to act quickly to take maximum advantage," said USAir Chairman and Chief Executive Stephen Wolf. "Of equal importance to the need for a quick start of operations is the need to begin sales at the earliest possible date," added USAir, noting that "now is the peak sales period for the summer traffic season." Pointing out that the Boston-Paris service comes in exchange for U.S.
