U.S. aviation negotiators made some headway yesterday in ongoing all-cargo talks with Japan and bilateral discussions with South Africa. The talks with South Africa may be extended beyond tomorrow as the two sides sort through the many issues involved in hammering out an agreement, said a DOT official. "We're making progress," the official said, but added that a number of hurdles need to be cleared, including third-country code sharing. In Tokyo, there has been "some positive movement" in the U.S.-Japan all- cargo talks, said another U.S. official.
E-Systems has received a $13 million initial contract to provide flight controls for Raytheon Premier 1 light business jets and Hawker 800XP mid- size business jets. The total sales potential is more than $200 million.
AirTran Airways has reduced spring fares by as much as 30% in selected markets from Orlando. Tickets must be purchased by April 22 and are good for travel April 24 through June 12. From Orlando, AirTran is offering fares of $49 one way to Nashville, Norfolk and Richmond; $69 to Dallas/Fort Worth, and $79 to Hartford, Rochester and San Antonio. No advance purchase or Saturday night stay is required. AirTran operates a fleet of 10 737s.
A Delaware bankruptcy court has granted TWA a hearing but not a temporary restraining order that would have prevented former TWA Chairman Carl Icahn or his companies from declaring TWA in default of their loan agreement. Icahn has threatened to declare default, but has not taken that action yet, a TWA spokesman said. TWA, as part of a $200 million loan from Icahn in 1992, agreed to pay a portion of the loan by giving Icahn discounted TWA tickets to sell. TWA has a suit pending in a St. Louis court against Icahn and his company, Global Distribution Systems.
U.S. National Carriers Traffic February, 2 Months 1996 February February % 1996 1995 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 657,000 542,000 21.2 Available Seat Miles (000) 1,111,000 977,000 13.7 Load Factor (%) 59.1 55.5
A U.S. appeals court, handing U.S. and foreign airlines a financial bonanza, ruled yesterday that carriers are not required to pay the detention costs of foreign passengers who seek asylum upon reaching the U.S. The ruling also gives individual airlines the right to seek recovery of detention costs incurred in the past. The suit was brought by the Air Transport Association against the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
FAA Administrator David Hinson said he considered the decision on whether to close Chicago Meigs Field one to be played out in the region, not in Washington. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announced plans to close Meigs and convert the land to a park, an effort that is being fought strongly by the general aviation community. Asked about the Meigs situation last week, Hinson said, "While the FAA is always sad to lose airports from the national airspace system, we recognize that those are local decisions."
The U.S. and France agreed in Paris yesterday to drop mutual sanctions regarding air traffic rights and to resume talks at a later date, with a view to securing a new aviation accord. Under the agreement, Air France can schedule 500 extra flights between Paris and four U.S. cities - Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Washington - this summer. Also, France dropped threats to cut by 170,000 seats the summer capacity of six U.S. carriers - TWA, Tower, American, Delta, Continental and United. In return, the U.S.
USAir has cut advance-purchase excursion fares from Charlotte, N.C., to five cities - Boston, Hartford, New York, Philadelphia and Washington - by about 45%. The roundtrip fare to Washington Dulles is $178, Philadelphia $198, Washington National $218, and Boston, Hartford and New York LaGuardia $238. Tickets must be purchased 21 days in advance. The New York fare goes into effect May 1.
American has applied for renewal of its exemption to operate scheduled combination service between the co-terminal points Miami and San Juan, P.R., on the one hand, and Porlamar, Venezuela, on the other. The carrier operates twice-daily service on the route, using 150-seat 727-223s. (Docket OST-96-1177)
Denro Inc. said it will supply its digital model 400D voice communications system to the Ferihegy air traffic control center in Budapest as a subcontractor for Siemens. Denro said it recently supplied its rapid deployment voice switch and its digital voice recorder system to FAA for the new Los Angeles tower. Denro also announced a sales representation pact under which Plessey Electronic Systems will represent the sale of Denro voice and data communications switching systems in Australia and New Zealand.
American has awarded 100,000 AAdvantage miles to 15 winners of its ``What I Did for Miles'' contest, co-sponsored by Citibank. One winner said he charged a three-hour telephone call to his AAdvantage card so he could listen to a broadcast of his son's out-of-town football game. Another rented scuba diving equipment with his card and proposed to his girlfriend on the ocean floor.
Southwest has launched The Children's Wing program, under which it gives air tickets to families with children fighting cancer. The carrier will donate 25 roundtrip tickets to a pediatric cancer treatment center in each of the 48 cities it serves, giving the facility the latitude to choose the recipients.
The Canadian government expects to close by July 1 a $1 billion deal for the sale of its air navigation system to Nav Canada, an Ottawa-based not- for-profit corporation. Glen McDougall, a Transport Canada spokesman, said a binding agreement is expected to be signed by early April. Nav Canada, comprising domestic airlines, air traffic controllers and corporate jet owners, said it plans a bond issue to finance up to $2 billion in debt to meet the price and cover operating capital.
Continental Express President David Siegel announced yesterday orders and options for 20 ATR-42-500 aircraft valued at $260 million. Eight aircraft are to be delivered this year, beginning in May.
The U.S. and Poland initialed amendments to their air services agreement last Friday, expanding route rights and clearing the way for limited code sharing between Polish and U.S. carriers, such as the proposed code-share arrangement between LOT and American.
Abacus Distribution Systems is on the verge of launching its computer reservations system in Cambodia. The CRS is working out details with Royal Air Cambodge to install the system in the second half of the year.
DOT made final its tentative decision granting a certificate to Piedmont Aviation Service to operate domestic and charter service after the carrier decided to use the trade name Pace Airlines, rather than Premier Airlines.
Taiwan's transport ministry is set to sign an agreement with United Parcel Service that will permit UPS to set up a transshipment center in the country, according to Taiwan's minister of transportation and communications, Mao Chih-kuo, as quoted by Taipei's Economic Daily News. Under the terms of the agreement, which is expected to be signed within the next two weeks, UPS's investment in the project eventually will reach US$400 million, including the cost of the center and acquisition of new aircraft to serve the Taiwan facility, the report said.
Membership of ACCESS U.S.-Japan passed the 500 mark last Friday and now includes members from each of the 50 states. The breadth of the coalition's membership "demonstrates the importance of U.S.-Japan air service to businesses and communities all over the U.S.," said Chairman Gerald Baliles. A growing number of Americans want aviation at the top of the agenda when President Clinton visits Japan next month, he added.
Lone Star Airlines will launch the only nonstop service to Knoxville, Tenn., from Dallas/Fort Worth on May 1, filling the void created in December when Delta dropped the service. Lone Star, which will operate two daily roundtrips with Dornier 328s, said its flights will average only 25 minutes longer than Delta's did, and passengers will save two hours, compared with current one-stop flights by other carriers. Philip Trenary, chief executive and chairman, said, ``In our industry, it is rare to have an opportunity to enter a market with a proven track record.''
While FAA's fiscal 1997 user fee proposal is $150 million, an FAA task group on user fees identified $345.1 million a year in possible certification, regulation and licensing fees. The bulk of the fees would come from $250 million in aircraft registration fees, according to the user group's report, which was introduced into the March 25 Congressional Record by Rep. Jim Lightfoot (R-Iowa).
AEI has signed an exclusive agreement with Dialog Freight International, a Moscow-based multimodal company, that will increase its coverage of Russia and 12 countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States. DFI has close business connections with Central Dialog, a Russian-American joint stock company that comprises several business enterprises, including the Dialog Banking Group.
Emirates has opened a site on the World Wide Web at http://ekgroup.com/ offering background information on the carrier. It plans to add other data, including schedules, later.
