The House Appropriations transportation subcommittee approved yesterday a fiscal 1997 DOT appropriations bill that includes $8.155 billion for FAA, $61.3 million below the fiscal 1996 level but $52.3 million above the President's request. The panel recommended $4.9 billion for FAA operations, an increase of $254.3 million over 1996 and $18.3 million below the request. Included in the operations account is $15.3 million to fund FAA's controller pay incentive program.
Charles Pollard, president and chief executive of World Airways, responding to European travel press reports that his carrier intends to exit charter programs this summer, said yesterday World "has made no decision to curtail summer 1996 scheduled charter programs, for which it currently has over 60,000 bookings." The reports in Europe followed World's announcement this week that Philippine Airlines has expanded its wet-lease deal. World said this summer's Europe charter bookings are below expectations.
Taiwan's EVA Airways said it will purchase a 29.74% stake in domestic carrier Taiwan Airlines at a cost of US$5.6 million. EVA holds controlling positions in two other domestic carriers, Great China and Makung.
Australian carrier Qantas will restart services to India after a gap of nearly six years, Qantas sources said this week. The airline discontinued the flights in October 1990 as part of a corporate restructuring plan, they noted. Beginning July 3, Qantas will fly twice-weekly on the Mumbai- Australia route via Singapore, using Boeing 767 aircraft. The flights will depart from Sydney to arrive in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) on Mondays and Thursdays.
Airbus Industrie will host an airline focus group during the Farnborough Air Show in September to help it decide whether to launch the A340-600 program and offer 27% more capacity and 4% more range. The A340-600 would carry 375 passengers as far as 7,000 nautical miles, compared with the high-gross-weight A340-300's 295 passengers and 7,300 nautical miles.
Air Wisconsin, operating as United Express, recorded a load factor of 55.5% in May, a 0.9 percentage point decline from May 1995, as traffic rose 5.3% to 42.9 million revenue passenger miles but capacity jumped 7% to 77.4 million available seat miles. Passenger boardings increased 15% to 136,670. (More regional aviation news follows Page 406 of the hard copy of this issue.) May 96 May 95 5 Mths 96 5 Mths 95 RPMs 42,923,403 40,783,879 200,383,365 172,907,634
New Regional Aircraft Orders And Options Firm Orders Options Carrier No. Type No. Type Engines Air Stord 2 Do 328 - - PW119B Cimber Air 3 AA ATR 42-500 - - PW127B Continental Exp. 8 AA ATR 42-500 12 AA ATR42-500 PW127E Mesaba 30 Saab 340 Plus 10 Saab 340B Plus CT7-98
Alex Brown&Co. is expected to make a recommendation by mid-summer concerning the disposition of USAir Express Chautauqua Airlines. The investment banking firm was retained early in the year by Guarantee Reassurance Corp. (GRC) of Jacksonville, Florida, owner of the Indianapolis-based regional. GRC was established in 1993 to "rehabilitate" Guarantee Security Life Insurance Co., the carrier's previous owner, which was in financial distress. Options are to take Chautauqua public, sell it to another airline or acquire another publicly held airline.
FAA has issued a final rule banning the use of booster seats and vest-type child restraint systems on all U.S. airlines. The agency said that tests by its Civil Aeromedical Institute in Oklahoma City showed that the restraints did not provide adequate protection for infants and toddlers during takeoffs, landings and while the aircraft is moving on the ground. Instead, FAA is recommending that all children use approved restraint systems appropriate to their weight and size.
FAA has raised its initial 10,000-foot altitude restriction to 20,000 feet under an emergency airworthiness directive issued May 24 on the 30- passenger Dornier 328 (DAILY, May 31). The altitude restriction was originally issued because foreign object damage was causing a new light- weight windscreen to crack or shatter during flight. The AD gave operators 45 days to replace the windscreens, which offered a 6.5-pound weight savings, with the original heavier windscreens. In the interim, flightcrews were restricted to 10,000 feet.
USAir's scheduled traffic rose 1.3% in May to 3.33 billion revenue passenger miles from last May's 3.28 billion. Available seat miles fell 5.2% to 4.76 billion from 5.02 billion, driving up the load factor 4.4 percentge points to 69.8%. Total traffic, including charters, was up 0.9%, and ASMs fell 5.4%. The load factor for scheduled service only was up 4.4 points to 69.8%. May 96 May 95 5 Mths 96 5 Mths 95 RPMs 3,325,215,000 3,283,157,000 15,336,283,000 15,768,785,000
Japan Airlines is seeking authority to resume flights to New Delhi, India, after a four-year absence. JAL asked the Ministry of Transport to approve its plan to operate two weekly flights - one from Tokyo Narita Airport beginning Oct. 3 and one from Osaka Kansai Airport Oct. 6. Both will be operated with MD-11s in a two-class configuration. JAL said its plan follows recent increased Japanese investment in India. Before the service suspension, the carrier operated one weekly DC-10 flight via Hong Kong.
Dubai-based Emirates Airlines began operating two additional flights to Mumbai (formerly Bombay) June 1, raising to 17 its total weekly frequencies to India, airline officials said. Emirates offers seven flights every week to and from New Delhi. The airline also will introduce first-class service on the sector in response to passenger demand, and it will operate all flights with Airbus aircraft, they added. The Dubai-Mumbai route, one of Emirates' oldest, started when the airline was launched in October 1985, officials said.
Mountain Air Express (MAX), being formed by the principals of Western Pacific Airlines, expects to begin regional airline service in November from WestPac's Colorado Springs hub with four 30-passenger-plus turboprops. Although it will be formed as an independent company, like its progenitor, MAX will be a low-fare airline, initially feeding WestPac from Aspen, Gunnison, Steamboat Springs, Telluride and Vail. Prime competitive target is Mesa unit United Express, which has held a monopoly in many markets since Continental Express pulled out of Denver.
FAA's impending changes in flight and duty time rules for airline pilots are expected to increase the U.S. business of SBS International, particularly in the regional airline sector, according to Mark Hornby, president of the company. SBS, which describes itself as the "world's largest provider of crew management systems to the airline industry," now does about 80% of its business with foreign carriers. One of its new U.S. customers is the Air Line Pilots Association, Hornby told The DAILY in an interview.
FAA Administrator David Hinson boosted the U.S. edge in the integration of information technology in a speech to the American Bar Association's Forum on Air&Space yesterday. "There is no better example than the new generation of cockpit with its digital flight management system," he said. "The Boeing 777, with its 187 computers and 7.5 million lines of software code, stands at the beginning of what is certain to be a long line of evolutionary development as system integration becomes more and more complex," he said.
Unisys Corp. announced creation of the Women in Freight Association, formed to address concerns of female professionals in transportation and freight management. The initial meeting was convened by Gail Jones, Unisys VP- freight management. Its next meeting will be held Oct. 20 in Dubai at the International Air Cargo Association. Interested parties should contact M. Drozd at Unisys, 215-986-2052.
Hawaiian Airlines and Mahalo Air have signed an agreement to code share on Mahalo's flights between Honolulu and West Maui Airport, beginning July 1. Mahalo operates seven daily flights in the market with 46-seat ATR 42s. The two carriers linked up on service to Molokai last month. Hawaiian is offering frequent flyer members double miles on July 1-3 to promote the service.
The House Transportation Committee approved yesterday the FAA reauthorization bill (H.R.3539) adopting amendments that in effect strike measures to renew the aviation excise taxes through 1999 and restore the airline industry's exemption from the 4.3 cents-per-gallon transportation fuels tax. The committee also approved the pilot records transfer bill (H.R.3536) and the child pilot safety bill (H.R.3267).
United Express affiliate Atlantic Coast Airlines made 67.1 million seat miles available for sale last month, a 12.3% increase from 59.7 million in May 1995. Traffic increased 7.8% to 33.1 million revenue passenger miles from 30.7 million in the 1995 period, depressing the load factor two percentage points to 49.3% from 51.3%. Passenger boardings were up 9% to 135,209 from 124,059.
RAA board of directors voted Thursday to support a modified version of the interim user-fee proposal of the seven largest U.S. airlines, which would substantially reduce the fees paid by regional carriers, compared with the 10% ticket tax. The RAA proposal calls for $1 per seat for regionals ($2 for large jets), $4.50 per passenger and 0.5 cents per passenger per nonstop O&D mile.
TWA's May traffic increased 15.2% to 2.31 billion revenue passenger miles from 2 billion. Available seat miles were up 11.1% to 3.42 billion from 3.08 billion in May, and the load factor improved to 67.4% from 65%. For the first five months, RPMs rose 10.4% to 10.297 billion RPMs and ASMs 6.9% to 15.845 billion. May 96 May 95 5 Mths 96 5 Mths 95 RPMs 2,305,900,000 2,001,500,000 10,297,500,000 9,329,000,000 ASMs 3,420,200,000 3,077,300,000 15,845,200,000 14,819,500,000
Charlotte, N.C.-based CCAIR last month set an all-time monthly record for traffic, logging 14.3 million revenue passenger miles, a 16.5% increase from May 1995. The previous record was two years ago, when traffic was stimulated by low fares initiated by Continental Lite, CCAIR said.
China Airlines reports that sales rose 4.97% in April from the same month last year to NT$3.97 billion (US$144.4 million). The company's sales for the first four months of the year grew 6.3% from year-earlier levels to NT$15.2 billion (US$552.7 million).
