U.S. customers placed all but nine of the 107 jet transport orders logged during the first quarter by Boeing and Douglas, according to Aerospace Industries Association. Generally, well over half the orders come from abroad. AIA says the first quarter results match the pace in 1995, when U.S. manufacturers received 421 net orders.
FAA is promoting several persons in its Office of Research and Acquisitions because of the departure of Robert Valone, deputy associate administrator. Valone will be succeeded by his director, Dennis DeGaetano. Gib Devey will move from deputy director to director. Ed Seymour goes from acting director of air traffic systems development to permanent director, and Peter Challan will move from acting deputy status to permanent deputy.
Boeing 747 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Fourth Quarter 1995 B747-100 Northwest TWA Number of Aircraft Operated 23 8 Total Fleet Operations Departures 36 9 Block Hours 270 65 Flight Hours 254 60
Code-Sharing Regional Carrier Schedules Announced or Implemented - April 1996 Domestic City-Pairs Carriers Added Dropped New Shared ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Alaska Airlines Horizon Air Boise, Idaho- Jackson Hole, Wyo. Seattle-Boze- man, Mont.
The House Transportation aviation subcommittee approved by voice vote yesterday legislation (H.R.3539) to reauthorize FAA programs for three years, but it put off at least until full committee consideration most contentious issues that had been expected to arise. The subcommittee also approved legislation (H.R.3536) requiring airlines to request and receive certain records before allowing an individual to begin service as a pilot, and a bill (H.R.3267) to prevent children from piloting aircraft in pursuit of records.
New Orders: PSA Airlines has bumped its order for Do 328s to 25 from 20 through the exercise of five of 20 options. Twenty of the 30-passenger, high-speed turboprops already are in operation with the wholly owned USAir subsidiary (formerly Jetstream International). Press reports from Brazil say that Continental Express will acquire 150 Emb-145 regional jets in a deal valued at $1.5 billion. The reports may be exaggerated, however, and would equate to a $10 million selling price per unit. The number is believed to be closer to 50 plus options.
Flagship Airlines, operating as American Eagle, must continue to operate at Tuscaloosa, Ala., until July 3 or until replacement service begins, DOT said. Flagship has been repeatedly held in at Tuscaloosa. (Docket OST-95-371)
Kimberly-Clark said yesterday it has completed a secondary offering of its final stake in Midwest Express Holdings Inc., the parent of Midwest Express Airlines and Astral Aviation Inc. As a result of the transaction, Kimberly-Clark will report a second quarter gain of $19.8 million on the sale of its 1.29 million shares of Midwest Express common stock.
In the show cause order tentatively awarding American and Canadian Airlines International antitrust immunity, DOT found that their proposed alliance would fortify competition, increasing consumer options in thousands of cross-border markets. Issued late Tuesday, the order exempted all-cargo and third-country services from the immunity and limited it temporarily on New York-Toronto services (DAILY, May 30).
Cabin crew unions of the International Transport Workers Federation will establish a task group to promote awareness of cabin air quality issues and lobby public interest groups, manufacturers, operators and governments to accept international air quality standards. Formation of the group follows a federation health and safety meeting in Dublin, which received a technical review of health hazards associated with poor air quality.
Northwest is not shopping around for a European alliance partner other than KLM but will do so if the Dutch carrier continues to push for control of Northwest, said President and Chief Executive John Dasburg. Speaking to reporters in Minneapolis yesterday, Dasburg said the relationship with KLM, which he described as "schizophrenic," still is a major strategic asset for Northwest. He said he hears, however, that KLM is talking to other airlines, and if control is what it wants, KLM will have to get it elsewhere.
Atlantic Southeast and Comair posted operating profit margins of better than 19% in the March quarter. Although down from recent highs - ASA hit 32.5% in the June quarter of 1994 - they are among the highest in the regional airline industry. SkyWest, the third publicly traded Delta Connection carrier, reported a negative 6.3% margin in the March quarter, due to nearly $4.6 million in fleet restructuring and transition costs related to early termination of Fairchild Metro leases and conversion to an all-Brasilia turboprop fleet.
Asia's largest aircraft maintenance hangar, a $70 million project, was opened last week in Peking by Ameco, a joint venture between Air China and Lufthansa. The 306-meter-wide enclosure can hold up to six widebody jets simultaneously. The facility will enable Ameco to improve the quality and timing of maintenance services, said General Manager Klaus Stahlschmidt. Ameco, established in 1989, is 60% Chinese-owned and employs 2,700 people.
St. George, Utah-based SkyWest Inc. posted a net loss of $2.15 million, or 21 cents per share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 1996, compared with a slight net profit - $54,000, or one cent per share - for the fourth quarter of fiscal 1995. The loss contributed to a decline in fiscal year net earnings to $4.37 million, or 42 cents per share, from $13.70 million, or $1.23 per share, in the prior period.
Mesa Air Group, which operates as United Express at the Denver hub, said its costs at the new Denver International Airport have increased $500,000 per month, compared with its costs at Denver Stapleton, now closed. The company said in its quarterly 10-Q filing that it is working to reduce costs at DIA by eliminating scheduled banks in favor of a continuous hub. That has resulted in better aircraft utilization, improved baggage and on-time performance and a reduction of 20 full-time job equivalents.
A class action lawsuit was filed yesterday charging ValuJet with making "materially false and misleading statements" about the safety of its operations. It was filed by Berger&Montague of Philadelphia and Appel Chitwood&Harley of Atlanta in U.S. District Court in Georgia on behalf of three shareholders. The law firms said the suit represents purchasers of the carrier's common stock between June 9, 1995, and May 13, 1996. The defendants are ValuJet, Chairman Robert Priddy, Chief Executive Lewis Jordan and President Maurice Gallagher.
Boeing 767 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Fourth Quarter 1996 B767-200 American Delta TWA Number of Aircraft Operated 30 15 11 Total Fleet Operations Departures 53 52 25 Block Hours 326 136 147
DOT issued a show cause order tentatively reselecting USAir Express carrier CCAIR to operate subsidized essential air service at Staunton, Va., for two years, beginning June 1. (Docket 49184)
TechniFlite of America, Inc., the Denver, Colo. flight training company, is hoping to "revolutionize" the way airline and corporate operators are trained with its Mobil Training Facilities (MTF) - a semi- tractor-trailer equipped with a full-motion, six-axis flight simulator and a classroom that will drive to a customer's home base.
Mesaba Holdings logged a net income of $7 million, or 60 cents per share, for the fiscal year ended March 31, compared with $2.6 million, or 29 cents per share, in the previous period. Revenues totaled $170.5 million, up from $145.9 million in the prior period. Mesaba said that its fiscal year results do not include a one-time, non-cash gain of $49.3 million from the spinoff of Airtran Airways to company shareholders in September 1995, but that fiscal year results include figures for Mesaba's former jet subsidiary through August 1995.
DOT has issued an order permitting American Eagle carrier Flagship Airlines to suspend its subsidy-free service at Muskegon, Mich., July 29. (DAILY, May 17). (Dockets OST-96-1289, OST-96-1290&EAS-668)
Alaska Airlines said it made "aviation technology history" on May 28 by operating the "first revenue passenger flight by a major carrier from takeoff to landing" using the Global Positioning System. The carrier flew from Seattle to Juneau using equipment that enables it to receive signals from GPS satellites. The equipment is being installed on Alaska's 747-400 fleet.
