- In Federal Register of June 30...Issued special conditions on the SIAI Marchetti S211A airplane...Superseded an AD on Boeing 747SP aircraft concerning inspection for cracks in the web of the wing front spar over engine Nos. 2 and 3. - In FR of July 5...Issued an AD on certain Agusta A109 helicopters requiring a modification of the tail boom vertical fin.
Three days of talks between the U.S. and Japan ended in Washington Friday without an agreement. The U.S. is evaluating a Japanese request for more talks in Tokyo. The two sides are working against a July 14 deadline - the end of the comment and reply period on the show cause order on the sanctions against Japanese carriers proposed by DOT this week (DAILY, June 20).
NASA has contracted with Rannoch Corp. to develop a risk analysis model to evaluate the connection between changes in aircraft separation standards and levels of safety. The model will be able to determine accident risks in various scenarios, including parallel and in-trail approaches of various size aircraft.
The only engine on a ValuJet DC-9 suspected of reaching 3,000 cycles since overhaul by THY of Turkey was scheduled to be removed for disassembly during the weekend, Anthony Broderick, FAA's top enforcement official, said Friday. The 3,000-cycle limit was one of three recommendations issued Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board (DAILY, July 7) during its investigation of the uncontained failure June 8 of a JT8D engine on a ValuJet DC-9 during a takeoff from Atlanta.
British Airways' "strategic intention" is to be the driving force behind the most successful of the many multi-carrier international alliances that eventually will emerge, according to Chairman Colin Marshall. He predicted recently that there will be "around 10, maybe less" of the multinational, global air transport combines sooner or later.
Ernie DuBester has been nominated by President Clinton to another three- year term, through July 1, 1998, on the National Mediation Board. DuBester was chairman from December 1993 until last week, when Maggie Jacobsen succeeded him.
An overflight fee proposed by Transport Canada is being protested by U.S. carriers. Air Transport Association President Carol Hallett said it "appears that one segment of the airline industry - non-Canadian airlines - is being singled out to pay an arbitrary fee in advance of a comprehensive revamping of the system of Canadian charges for air navigation services."
The House Appropriations Committee is looking for FAA eventually to take over some funding responsibility for continuing the Loran-C program and has asked the agency to draft a plan for such funding. In the committee report approved late last month, the panel directed FAA to provide a plan within 120 days of the DOT appropriation bill's enactment for future funding, upgrading and support for Loran in cooperation with other elements of DOT.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines is planning to acquire five BAe 146-200s to increase flights in existing markets from Atlanta, and to add service to new points. The agreement with Jet Acceptance Corp. includes an option for another 15 aircraft. Four airplanes will be put into service Dec. 1 and the fifth Feb. 1. ASA will configure the aircraft for 88 seats - five abreast - to provide "business-class comfort." The transaction is subject to approval by ASA's board, and a definitive lease agreement has not been be signed.
British Airways Chairman Colin Marshall has doubts about whether the timetable for the newly begun second phase of U.S.-U.K. bilateral talks is realistic. "I have to say that hopes for a successful conclusion within three months seem optimistic," Marshall said this week in a speech to the Aviation Club of Great Britain, and he predicted that DOT Secretary Federico Pena will remain "under prompted congressional pressure to beat up the British over Heathrow, or else rescind the bilateral." Marshall said U.S.-U.K.
The first set of Avro RJ wings to be made by British Aerospace Aerostructures in Prestwick have been delivered to Avro's factory at Woodford near Manchester. It is less than 12 months since the project transferred from the previous suppliers, Textron Aerostructures of Nashville, Tenn., and, according to Avro, the changeover has brought "improved momentum of production." The transfer to Prestwick was part of a cost reduction exercise and has also helped to secure a small number of jobs at both sites.
Mesa Air Group has named Ben Harrison to the newly created position of VP-planning and pricing. Harrison, 46, who is responsible for strategic market planning of Mesa's six airline divisions, has 23 years of airline experience with Braniff, AMR and Metro. Mesa also appointed George Lippemeier, 54, president of Desert Sun Airlines, the company's recently formed, Phoenix-based jet division that operates Fokker 70 regional jets on behalf of America West to Des Moines and Spokane from Phoenix.
Collins Commercial Avionics announced yesterday that its forward-looking windshear weather radar has received supplemental type certification from FAA after completing requirements aboard a 737-300 equipped with Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) displays. The Collins WXR-700X warns of windshear up to 90 seconds ahead of the flight path with both visual and aural alerts, the company said.
Galileo International has appointed James Lubinski to the newly created position of senior VP-Denver product development. He will join the computer reservations system company on July 17. Lubinski most recently was senior VP/division head of systems and operations of Boatmen's Trust Co., a subsidiary of Boatmen's BancShares.
The City and County of Denver and Continental Airlines have filed with DOT seeking dismissal of TWA's rates and charges complaint about costs at Denver Airport. TWA asked DOT to order Denver to refund money it paid when Denver "unlawfully" raised prices from $61.98 per square foot to $71.03 after a lease agreement between Denver, United and Continental. The agreement released Continental from its original 20-gate lease obligation, requiring other airlines to pay $10 million per year in rent that would have been paid by Continental (DAILY, June 23).
Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Large Regionals June 1994 - May 1995 Total Total Cost Gallons (Dollars) 1994 June Domestic 1,043,288,592 539,881,778 International 373,109,240 218,808,219 System Total 1,416,397,832 758,689,997
Future Aviation Professionals of America is counting on Atlanta-based UPS to be the anchor company that attracts others to its AVJOBS '95 job fair Oct. 13-14 at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta. The job fair is a global aviation meetingplace for recruiters, trainers and managers, FAPA said, and will attract thousands of attendees, ranging from experienced aviation professionals to students. Exhibitors will include flight training companies, human resource software vendors and immigration and language consultants.
FAA, in its 100-day writing of Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 95-5 - the so-called Commuter Safety Rule -may have done the regional airline industry a favor by defining in no uncertain terms the difference between cost and benefit. The rule, broadly viewed as a political plum for DOT Secretary Federico Pea, would threaten the economic viability of the 19- passenger turboprop and thus the Essential Air Service program and small- community air service. Yet, the agency can point to no accidents that would have been prevented had the rule been in place.
Frontier Airlines is taking three former USAir BAe 146 quadjets out of California to free up 737s used in its Dakota and Montana markets for expansion elsewhere. What the Denver-based new entrant has not said is that the 146 would also enable its entry into the lucrative Aspen market. Although United controls the Denver-Aspen market through Air Wisconsin and Mesa, the resort is open to BAe 146 competition from afar, such as Business Express is contemplating under Delta and Northwest code-shares from Dallas/Fort Worth and Minneapolis/St. Paul...
FAA said yesterday it is developing the architecture to integrate the new technologies that will underpin the future worldwide airspace system and will present its timetable at an agency-hosted conference in early December in Denver.
U.S. Trade and Development Agency granted $125,000 to support a study on installing flight inspection systems to validate and calibrate navigational aids in Russia. Parker Gull will conduct the study.
AMR Eagle carriers Flagship, Simmons and Wings West continue to become geographically indistinguishable as they continue to swap markets across the Midwest and East. Simmons in June turned over a number of Nashville markets to Flagship (see chart on Page RA2).
...Aspen and other Colorado markets also are the focus of two new proposed regional airlines that apparently want to replicate the Aspen Airways and Rocky Mountain Airways of the past. Peak Airlines, backed by Aspen business interests, would bring the Convair 580 back to the market, while Maverick Airways, being launched by former Rocky Mountain and Continental Express pilots, would liberate some former Rocky Mountain/Continental Express de Havilland Dash 7s from storage in Amarillo. Maverick is seeking code-sharing and investment support for its efforts.
USAir's traffic declined 2.6% last month on 5% less capacity, pushing the airline's load factor up 1.7 percentage points to 68.1%, its highest June load factor since 1987.
