American Chairman Robert Crandall last week held talks with officials at Aerolineas Argentinas about cooperating with the carrier in an arrangement that an American official said could involve code sharing. The American chairman met with top airline officials in Buenos Aires last week and dined with Argentine President Carlos Menem and Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo during the tour of Latin America, according to DAILY affiliate Aviation-Latin America&Caribbean.
Sabena is expected to announce today the resignation of President and Chief Executive Pierre Godfroid and name a replacement.Godfroid is stepping down in hopes of helping end labor strife at the airline.He enraged workers last November when he abrogated the unions' collective bargaining agreements in an attempt to cut costs.
Fidelity Funds has increased its investment in America West to 10.24% from 8.95%, the carrier told the Securities and Exchange Commission. It bought 613,500 shares in the carrier from Jan. 30 to Feb. 15 at $19.50 to $19.92 per share.
Surinam Airways applied for renewal of its exemption authority to operate scheduled service between points in Surinam and the co-terminal points New York/Newark and Miami, via intermediate points Georgetown, Guyana; Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; Curaao, Netherlands Antilles; Aruba; Barbados, and Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The carrier currently operates service between Miami and Paramaribo, Surinam, under a code-share/blocked-space agreement with ALM Antillean Airlines.
S.J. Pillay will step down as chairman of Singapore Airlines at the end of this month and will leave the board to become high commissioner to the U.K., the carrier said yesterday. S. Dhanabalan, a former senior member of SIA's cabinet, will be appointed director and non-executive chairman as of March 1. Cheong Choong Kong continues in his role as managing director. Dhanabalan agreed to accept the job for one term only, SIA said. Pillay was named the carrier's first chairman in 1972.
Japan Aircraft Maintenance Corp. (JAMCO), Japan's largest maintenance company, expects to select by May a site in Washington state for a new U.S. plant, to be built by the end of 1997. JAMCO plans to transfer about one-third of its production of lavatory modules for civil transports from Niigata in Central Japan to the U.S. facility. Beginning in 1998, the company will assemble 30 to 40 module units per month in the plant, with about 100 local employees. The shift of production to the U.S. reflects the recent increase in the value of the yen.
ValuJet will receive $700,000 in incentives from the city of Mobile, the Mobile Airport Authority and the business community. The DAILY Feb. 23 attributed the money only to the airport. The airport funding portion comes from a cooperative marketing program offered to all airlines.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said yesterday it has appealed directly to Chicago's 50 elected neighborhood representatives asking them to help persuade Mayor Richard Daley not to close the city's lakefront Meigs Field. Bill Dunn, AOPA VP-regional affairs, emphasized the potential reaction of the neighborhoods if Meigs's 54,000 annual operations are diverted to Midway Airport. While Midway is surrounded by residential areas, Meigs's approach and departure paths are over Lake Michigan.
Northwest said yesterday it has changed its aircraft order agreement with Airbus Industrie by postponing delivery of 16 A330s in favor of acquiring 20 more A320s to complement the 50 in its fleet. Sources outside Northwest said the carrier may never take delivery of the A330s, and a company official said it can substitute other Airbus aircraft for them. Northwest is quietly buying up DC-10-30s and plans to hushkit 32 more 727-200s and DC-9-30s.
Tokyo Narita Airport ranked first among Japan's gateways for international trade in fiscal 1995, followed by the Yokohama and Tokyo seaports, according to Japan's Ministry of Finance. Narita handled cargo valued at 11.94 trillion yen ($114.8 billion) during the year, while Kansai Airport in Osaka handled Yen2.52 trillion's worth ($24.2 billion), up 23.5% and 14.5% from 1994, respectively. Noting that the amount of international air cargo has risen 25.4% per year in the past 15 years, the ministry predicted continued growth in the near future.
U.S. was preparing yesterday to ask the International Civil Aviation Organization to restrict commercial civil aviation activities with Cuba as a punitive response to the shooting down of two Cessna 337s Saturday by the Castro regime. The action was awaiting a response by the United Nations to a U.S. request condemning Cuba for violating the Chicago Convention, which prohibits attacks against civil aircraft except in self-defense.
Baltia Air Lines Inc. has filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a $9 million initial public offering. The carrier plans to offer 1.5 million common shares priced at $6 per share. The underwriter is Englewood, Colo.-based Patterson Travis. DOT issued final approval yesterday for the carrier's operating certificate.
Japan Airlines and Canadian Airlines International will inaugurate Boeing 747 joint service between Nagoya, Japan, and Vancouver on April 1. The carriers will operate four weekly flights on the route initially, reducing the rate to twice weekly during the 1996-97 winter season. JAL currently operates seven weekly flights between Tokyo and Vancouver.
Dutch industrial machinery manufacturer Stork NV emerged yesterday as a potential buyer of Fokker's electronics, military equipment and aircraft maintenance units, all healthy, but Fokker and the Dutch government still are trying to find a buyer for the entire company. Stork's chief executive officer, Johannes Hovors, a member of Fokker's supervisory board, confirmed Stork's interest and said the chances of a Fokker-wide deal have gotten worse during the past week.
Western Pacific Airlines broke ground yesterday for a new maintenance hangar at its base in Colorado Springs, Colo. Daniel-Barry Inc. is the general contractor for the 23,100-square foot structure, which is slated for completion this fall to house light maintenance and repairs. Currently, the carrier has to perform such repairs outdoors. Western Pacific said the City of Colorado Springs has promised to add five gates to the 12-gate airport by July 1. The carrier uses five of the 12 gates.
FAA's proposed policy on use of airport revenues provides seven specific examples of prohibited uses, generally turning on how relevant the uses are to the operation or development of the airport. Although FAA would judge transactions flexibly and on a case-by-case basis when entire airports are privatized (DAILY, Feb. 26), its proposed policy states that prohibited uses of airport revenue include, but are not limited to:
Resolutions and legislative priorities adopted recently for the coming year by the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department's executive committee range from FAA reform legislation to protecting the interests of U.S. aviation workers as globalization develops. TTD said it will pursue FAA reform legislation that helps fulfill air traffic control technology enhancements while ensuring that the collective bargaining rights of FAA employees are preserved, and that FAA is insulated from industry pressure and influence on its regulatory affairs.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Commerce Committee aviation subcommittee, is planning a hearing on U.S.-U.K. aviation relations March 5 and has asked DOT Secretary Federico Pena and DOT Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs Charles Hunnicutt to testify.
Air New Zealand Ltd. recorded an after-tax profit of NZ$135.1 million (US$91.28 million at NZ$1.48=US$1) for the six months ended Dec. 31, the first half of its 1995-96 financial year, a 3.8% fall from the NZ$140.5 million (US$94.93 million) it earned in the first half of 1994-95. The airline said the results were below expectation but satisfactory for a period in which the company expanded its international operations significantly. For the full year 1995-96, Air New Zealand said it probably will come close to the record profit it achieved last year.
Aero International (Regional) offered the concept of a Jetstream 41Lite in the Mesaba Holdings fleet replacement competition, which is expected to culminate very shortly with selection of either the Dornier 328 or Saab 340B. The idea was to scale down the 29-passenger aircraft to a 19-seater, with no flight attendant, which would be lighter in weight, fuel and price. AI(R) found it difficult to bring the $6.5 million price down to that of a $4 million Beech 1900D, however. In the end, Mesaba decided to go with a single type.
President Clinton yesterday ordered FAA to hire more former PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization) controllers, starting with at least 250 in the agency's fiscal 1997 budget, according to Bob Harris, director of Controllers United, which represents many of the former controllers. The President asked FAA to ensure that 50% of new hires come from PATCO's ranks, Harris said.
Troubled regional Business Express, which had hoped to terminate service to Presque Isle, Maine, on March 2, has agreed to continue operating at the point through the end of April as local and DOT officials assess how to address market needs. The carrier, however, plans to use 19- seat Beech 1900 aircraft rather than the 34-passenger Saab 340s it has been using, it said in a DOT filing. While the carrier was undergoing a voluntary restructuring, three of its creditors - Saab Aircraft, Fairbrook Leasing and Saab Aircraft Credit - on Jan.
