Delta and Hughes Flight Training in the U.K. have agreed to trade simulators. Delta will ship its 737-300 simulator to Hughes in exchange for an MD-11 device, the airline's second. Bob Rossi, Delta's aircraft and flight equipment marketing representative, said the airline is "becoming increasingly innovative, both in meeting our flight and simulator equipment requirements and in disposition of equipment that is not used to its profitable capacity."
TravelNet Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., appointed Randall Malin president and chief executive. Malin is a former executive VP and vice chairman of the board of USAir, and former VP-sales and advertising at American. He has been working most recently as an independent consultant to the Business Travel Contractors Corp. and other clients. TravelNet advises clients on managing and reducing corporate travel expenses.
British Airways has ordered traffic alert and collision avoidance systems (TCAS) and Mode S datalink transponders from Honeywell for its European fleet of 120 aircraft. The decision stems, in part, from proposed government rules in Europe and Asia for mandatory TCAS in transport aircraft seating 30 or more. Honeywell said the contract also applies to BA affiliates, which will have an opportunity to order for their aircraft.
Midwest Express's deferral of plans to acquire a 30-passenger-class aircraft for its Skyway Airlines subsidiary pares down the number of regional carriers poised to make equipment decisions in the near future. Mesaba Holdings this week confirmed it will select either the Dornier 328 or the Saab 340 (related story below) and Continental Express has said it will settle on a regional jet shortly.
DOT is proposing to collect aircraft capacity data from foreign airlines and cut the confidentiality period for all airlines' international nonstop segment and on-flight market data from the current three years to as little as six months. In a Feb. 15 Federal Register notice, the department also proposes to rescind the requirement that large U.S. airlines specify passenger revenues, passenger enplanements, passengers transported, and seating capacity by cabin configuration. This action would reduce the reporting burden on U.S.
Qantas regional subsidiary Airlink will begin service to Paraburdoo in Western Australia March 31, Qantas announced. Airlink will offer two daily flights on weekdays and one each on Saturday and Sunday from Perth, with connections to Tom Price. Airlink General Manager Barry Mayo said the airline offers 124 flights per week within Western Australia, serving Paraburdoo, Broome, Kalgoorlie, Karratha and Port Hedland from Perth.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic, January 1996 (000) January January % 1996 1995 Change America West Revenue Passenger Miles 1,041,130 884,291 17.7 Available Seat Miles 1,624,523 1,571,121 3.4 Load Factor (%) 64.1 56.3 American Revenue Passenge 7,982,946 8,129,093 -1.8
Great Lakes Aviation flew 19.5 million revenue passenger miles in January, a 20.3% increase from the same month one year ago. Capacity rose 22.1% to 49.1 million available seat miles, causing the load factor to dip 0.6 percentage points to 39.7% from 40.3%. January 1996 January 1995 Rev. Passenger Miles 19,477,000 16,193,000 Available Seat Miles 49,051,000 40,185,000 Load Factor (%) 39.7 40.3
After a three-week acceptance test, Iceland officials took delivery of an advanced digital integrated voice and data communications system for the new North Atlantic Oceanic Air Traffic Control Center in Reykjavik. The new system was built by Intelect Inc. at its Richardson, Texas, facilities.
American Trans Air and Delta announced a program to install ATN Systems Inc. (ATNSI) communications products on Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. The program will include development of data communication applications and installation of satellite and VHF subnetworks for operation over the Aeronautical Telecommunication Network. Work on customizing avionics will support an ATNSI operational evaluation, scheduled for August 1998, to demonstrate air traffic management airspace-use-related benefits defined in a cooperative agreement between ATNSI and FAA.
Olin Aerospace has launched EmPower, an at-the-seat power source from which passengers can operate and recharge laptop computers for the duration of a flight. EmPower provides a low DC output voltage through a single interface cable connected to a stock in the seat arm.
Delta Connection affiliate Comair last month recorded sharp improvements in both traffic - up 34.3% to 100.3 million revenue passenger miles - and passenger boardings - up 29.5% to 324,778. Capacity gained 14.8% to 198.8 million, allowing the load factor to rise 7.3 percentage points to 50.4%. January 1996 January 1995 Rev. Passenger Miles 100,276,000 74,671,000 Available Seat Miles 198,783,000 173,149,000
DOT has instituted a show-cause proceeding to allocate eight available weekly, fifth-freedom, all-cargo frequencies to Hong Kong. DOT originally solicited applications for the service in October and received them from FedEx, Northwest, Polar Air Cargo, UPS, World Airways, Air Micronesia and Evergreen. The case will be limited to those carriers. The procedural deadlines are Feb. 21 for direct exhibits, March 6 for rebuttal exhibits and March 20 for briefs to the DOT decisionmaker.
Hughes Avicom International said its APAX 150 inflight entertainment (IFE) system is available for 777 aircraft, beginning in mid-1997. The interactive system features distributed in-seat movies, audio entertainment, video games and shopping. Hughes said it is in operation with several airlines.
DOT issued a handful of interim notices this week for U.S.-U.K. service, approving applications by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Delta/Virgin. BA received one-year approval for scheduled flights between London and Phoenix, serving Phoenix and San Diego as co-terminal points. BA's authority to operate on the London-Los Angeles-Auckland route was renewed for two years. Virgin was granted a one-year exemption to operate scheduled service between London Heathrow and Washington Dulles, and between Manchester and Orlando.
Fairmont Hotels and Loews Hotels are offering guests who pay for their rooms with a Visa card a free first-class upgrade certificate on American for travel in the U.S. and Canada. The four-company promotion lasts until July 15. AAdvantage members also will receive 500 miles per stay, to a total of 1,000 miles.
Business Express will again cut back its routes and fleet March 3, dropping seven Beech 1900s and one RJ70. On the same day, it will permanently close its stations at Detroit, Presque Isle and Stewart/Newburgh as well as Canadian points Halifax, Moncton and St. John. The company's recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing permitted it to shed aircraft much faster than planned earlier, resulting in a 33% reduction in overall capacity. During the high summer season, the fleet will consist of 37 Saab 340s and nine or 10 Beech 1900s, which will be gone Nov. 1.
Gay and lesbian employees at United have formed a group, United at United, to seek domestic partner benefits, including health, travel, family leave and pension benefits. The group also wants United to offer diversity/sensitivity training and AIDS awareness/education, and craft an official policy on HIV-infected employees. United at United said the airline recently made significant policy changes benefiting the public.
Delta is offering companion fares from Tucson to Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell and Missoula, Mont. A roundtrip seven-day advance purchase fare, connecting sunny Tucson with various skiing locations in Montana, is $475, 50% less than the usual fare.
Four member carriers of the American Eagle group neared the one million level in monthly boardings during January. In releasing traffic statistics for the first time, that carrier reported that its four subsidiaries - Executive, Flagship, Simmons and Wings West - boarded 956,928 passengers in January, a 35.5% increase year over year. Available seat miles were up 24.7% to 376.1 million and revenue passenger miles rose 36.4% to 196.3 million for an overall system load factor of 52.2%.
Delta Connection affiliate Atlantic Southeast recorded a 15% increase in revenue passenger miles during January to 60.5 million from 52.6 million in January 1995. Capacity rose 4.4% to 139.8 million available seat miles from 133.9 million. The load factor gained four points to 43.3%, as passenger boardings increased 20.3% to 253,842. ASA President John Beiser said, "We are pleased with our January traffic despite the extreme severe weather conditions that forced us to significantly reduce our operation on numerous occasions throughout the month."
Network Connection said it will introduce SkyLAN, an inflight digital video-on-demand Internet access and office software application that enables passengers to access the Internet and do office work while flying on passenger aircraft. SkyLAN, an extension of the company's AirView inflight entertainment system, will offer an accounting and spreadsheet program, a word processing program, a legal writing program, a graphics program and a proposal program.
Air Wisconsin made 81.4 million seat miles available in January, a 38.4% increase from the same 1995 month. Traffic rose less than half as fast - 19% to 36.3 million revenue passenger miles from 30.5 million. The load factor dropped 7.2 percentage points to 44.6%, and enplanements also declined - 6.7% to 135,638. Geoff Crowley, president of the BAe 146 operator, said, "The combination of bad weather in the Midwest, East and heavy snow in Aspen in the early part of January negatively affected our traffic."
AirTran Airways' January traffic was 436% higher than January 1995 on 182% more capacity. Revenue passenger miles totaled 54.4 million, up from 10.2 million, and available seat miles 102.1 million, up from 36.2 million. The load factor increased 25.2 percentage points to 53.3%.
DASH 8 PROGRAM STATUS, JAN. 1, 1996 Delivered Backlog Total Series 100 294 0 294 Series 200 2 33 35 Series 300 113 5 118 Program Total 409 38 447 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Total -100 -100
