Trimble Navigation said yesterday it will acquire Terra Corp., an Albuquerque, N.M.-based avionics company that supplies the general aviation market. The acquisition is valued at $2.7 million and will be made via an exchange of Trimble common stock for the assets of Terra. Trimble said the purchase will enable it to fulfill a range of avionics needs, from sport aviation to air transport.
Airport Group International, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Air South, Kiwi International, TWA and ValuJet will shuffle concourse and gate locations at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport. The move, to occur by May 1, responds to several factors, such as passenger growth and work being done under a $200 million airport improvement program, the airport said. The relocation will enable each airline to grow without spreading its operations over more than one concourse. ASA will move from Concourse D to E.
Delta, insourcing selected work to increase revenues rather than outsourcing to cut costs, set a monthly insourcing revenue record of $4.8 million in February, more than $1 million more than in January, due mainly to 727 heavy maintenance for another airline, support for Air Jamaica A310s, engine leasing, ground-handling and deicing.Delta, which netted only $3.3 million in insourcing revenue in fiscal 1994, expects $40 million in fiscal 1996.
GoldenWare Travel Technologies, Nashua, N.H., has developed the Electronic Travel Desk, a floppy-disk electronic periodical containing airline flight timetables and hotel and car rental company listings. Companies can advertise on the disk.
Value Rent-A-Car reported February revenues of $18.6 million, a monthly record and $4 million more than last February. Dan McNamara, executive VP and chief operating officer, said, "The market recovery in Florida was a factor as well as the right mix of aggressive marketing programs and the fact that we had the fleet to back up our projections."
Banner Aerospace shareholders yesterday approved acquisition of Harco Inc. from Fairchild Corp., which makes precision aerospace fasteners. Following approval, Banner acquired Harco by issuing 4.4 million of its shares for all outstanding shares of Harco.
Hotel Roundup: Sholodge Inc., owner and operator of 80 Shoney's Inns and three Sumner Suites, posted record 1995 results, with hotel operating revenues up 21% to $44.1 million. Net income increased to $17 million from $7.8 million...Marriott Hotels, Resorts and Suites is offering a Visa Gold card to members of the Marriott Honored Guest Awards program.
Reno Air's traffic in February jumped 60% to 212.4 million revenue passenger miles from 132.6 million a year earlier. Load factor was up 10.9 percentage points to 68.2%. Capacity increased 34.4% to 311.2 million available seat miles from 231.6 million.
Lufthansa will offer "Lufthansa InfoFlyWay," a new product that enables personal computer users to book reservations using CD-ROM or online services, beginning in April. The CD-ROM format will be introduced first, and access to the carrier's schedule via online services will be available later. Using the system, customers can book a flight on Lufthansa or 700 airlines around the world, check flight times, make hotel reservations or rent a car. Members of Lufthansa's Miles and More frequent flyer program can use the system to check their accounts.
American has created an operations planning business development unit to offer operations control and consulting services to other companies. "We have many years of experience providing solutions to clients in the aviation community," Scott Nason, VP-operations planning and performance, said.
The Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP), a cooperative program of the Treasury Department, General Accounting Office, Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management, has drafted legislation on ways the government can cut the cost of permanent change of station travel, taken by workers whose jobs require relocation. Donald Charney, director of finance for the U.S.
A one-week vacation in Switzerland will be awarded to 23 contestants March 25 in a sweepstakes sponsored by Swissair, Switzerland Tourism, Best Western Swiss Hotels and E! Entertainment Television. The winners will be announced on E! during the live Academy Awards pre-show. Winners will fly from the U.S. to Zurich on Swissair and will design their own trip by choosing from among 77 Best Western hotels and resorts, including four new properties in alpine ski areas Zermatt, Saas-Fee and Lenzerheide. Winners have one year to take the trip.
The two largest U.S. airport associations yesterday called on Congress to increase the ceiling on passenger facility charge levels and change Airport Improvement Program formulas to "fully fund" airports' AIP entitlements rather than cut entitlements to preserve discretionary funds. In testimony to the House Transportation aviation subcommittee, the Airports Council International-North America and the American Association of Airport Executives also proposed priority funding for general aviation, reliever and non-primary commercial service airports.
Maryland's state Senate Finance Committee has given the thumbs-down sign to a bill (Senate Bill 292) that would have required travel agencies to register annually and disclose their professional affiliations, training and balance sheets. Previously, a House committee also unfavorably reported out similar proposed legislation (House Bill 58).
The Kamloops Indian Tribe in British Columbia, Canada, plans to build a tourist and housing development, called Shuswap Landing, that will include a wild West-style town with a 200-room lodge and motels, an airstrip, train station and tramway to the top of Mount Paul. The project is made possible by a partnership with private developers, and local and international investors. Groundbreaking is scheduled this summer, and construction of a golf course, driving range, clubhouse and other buildings will start later this year.
World Airways applied for authority to operate combination service between Newark and Dakar, Senegal, and beyond to Johannesburg, South Africa. The carrier also asked that Senegal be added as an authorized point under its scheduled combination certificate. World plans to begin three-times-weekly Newark-Dakar service June 23, using 343-seat MD-11 aircraft, and it intends to increase the service to four weekly flight as soon as possible.
FAA yesterday made final a rule it said "comprehensively revises and upgrades pilot medical standards and certification procedures." The new rule, which affects some 654,000 pilots, revises the two-year validity period for a third-class airman medical certificate. Now, certificates for pilots under age 40 will be valid for three years. Heart replacement, permanent cardiac pacemakers and cardiac valve replacement will be disqualifying heart conditions for all classes of airman medical certificates.
The Minneapolis/St. Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission yesterday approved a measure calling for expansion of the Twin Cities' airport rather than construction of a new facility in Dakota County. MAC's recommendation goes next to the Minnesota legislature, although it is unclear whether the body will be able to act on it before its session ends early in April. MAC's action brings to an end the seven-year, dual-track airport planning effort, mandated by the legislature in 1989 and requiring both MAC and the Metropolitan Council to study whether to expand or build.
The cost of travel in 1995 kept pace with inflation, the Travel Industry Association said, with the travel price index rising 2.9% and the consumer price index rising 2.8%. The overall cost of transportation rose 1.9% in 1995 over 1994. Lodging costs shot up the most at 4.1%, followed by entertainment, up 3.7%, and airline fares, up 2.3%.
Urging DOT to institute immediately the U.S.-Toronto Third Year Service Proceeding, Continental has put in its bid for two daily U.S.-Toronto frequencies. The carrier would use the frequencies to begin service between Newark and Toronto on Feb. 24, 1997. Expediting the proceeding - and awarding a certificate to Continental - "are in the public interest and will maximize the public benefits resulting from awards of third-year Toronto authority available for U.S. carriers under the [U.S.-Canada] Agreement," said Continental.
Air Transport Association has filed a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with DOT and FAA in search of evidence that regulators ignored "important factors" when they prepared proposed new flight and duty time regulations for commercial pilots. ATA President Carol Hallett said yesterday that despite accident investigation records, pilot reports and "all available scientific research that clearly indicates that fatigue does not present an operational safety issue among major U.S.
GRA Aviation Specialists, an aviation consulting firm, has started business in Herndon, Va. Fred Klein, a former Avitas executive, is president of the company, which will provide aircraft appraisals, marketplace analysis, asset management and aircraft lease and loan analysis services. Other former Avitas employees who now work for the new company are Bob Zuskin, director of research, and Richard Barlow, director of valuations.
Continental, riding the trend, outsources about 65% of its fleet maintenance, according to CEO Gordon Bethune. Since 1993, the carrier has shut down three of its four maintenance bases. The only one left is at Houston Hobby.
Gemini Air Cargo said two of six ex-Lufthansa DC-10-30s it acquired from Potomac Financial Group have been converted into freighters and are under contract with Swissair and British Airways. The modifications are being done by Aeronavali, and Gemini said it will place a third DC-10-30F this month. The remaining aircraft are available with ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) or limited charter contracts. The company said it decided to enter the market after determining there was a need for freighter aircraft.
Delta is offering fares as low as $149 roundtrip for Atlanta area residents who want to be away during the Olympic Games. Travel must originate from Atlanta July 15 through Aug. 2, and return flights must be completed within 30 days of departure. The fares are good from Atlanta to more than 110 cities. The $149 fare applies to cities Delta serves in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina. The highest fare, $379, applies to points in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
