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.
Mesa Air Group will take its 79-passenger Fokker 70 out of the Phoenix-Spokane market April 8 and begin operating it between Phoenix and Fresno, the company has confirmed. The Spokane route, initiated last June, has been less than vibrant while its three weekday 30-passenger Brasilia roundrips to Fresno are often fully booked. Both routes are operated as America West Express. The shift also may dampen Fresno-based, low-fare upstart Air 21's appetite to put its F28s in the Phoenix market. Mesa's other F70 operates between Phoenix and Des Moines.
British Airways will launch 737 service from London Gatwick to Kiev three times a week as of June 3. BA said traffic from Gatwick to the former Soviet bloc has been growing steadily - it started flying recently from Gatwick to Baku, Bucharest, Moscow and Sofia.
System One Amadeus has introduced two new productivity tools for travel agents - Speed Mode and Wizards. The company said Speed Mode, combined with Instant Entry, is the first true product consolidation milestone reached since System One and Amadeus combined operations last April. More announcements will be made this year, the company said, and technology teams are working to achieve complete consolidation by 1997. Speed Mode has been integrated into MAXSys APS on PRISM, upgraded version 3.2.
Australian Connection Airlines, a Sydney, Australia-based startup, has applied to Australia's International Air Services Commission for the right to carry passengers and freight nonstop from Sydney and Melbourne to either Madras or Bombay in India and then onward to Athens, Greece. ACA said it plans to operate a 747, building up service to three times per week. It said no Australian airlines are serving the markets it seeks, while Air India flies to Perth and Olympic Airways operates to Sydney and Melbourne via Bangkok.
Ages Group, Boca Raton, Fla., said it was contracted by British Airways to aid in the sale of surplus inventory that included rotables and expendable material used on BA's fleet of Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed, Airbus and ATP aircraft. Ages staffed an office within BA's Tradeline operation at London Heathrow for the job.
Code-Sharing Regional Carrier Schedules Announced or Implemented - December 1995/January 1996 Domestic City-Pairs ----------------------------------------------------- Carriers Added Dropped New Shared From Major --------------------------------------------------------------------- America West Airlines Mesa Phoenix-Gun- nison, Colo.
The Office of Management and Budget has encouraged FAA to explore user fee financing to recover increased facilities and equipment and operations costs of the Oceanic Automation System. Separately, the Clinton administration - at the request of DOT - is proposing $150 million in new user fees for fiscal 1997 to offset a planned $224 million increase in the FAA operations budget (DAILY, Feb. 22).
ARINC said it will open an office March 1 in Beijing to support its current contracts, VHF data link and Harbin Airport modernization, and to pursue other market opportunities.
Air Transport Association has appointed David Kennedy director of federal affairs. Kennedy most recently was director-legislative affairs for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, where he had worked since 1988. For AOPA, Kennedy served as lead representative on appropriations issues.
Northwest plans to process refunds of the expired federal ticket tax collected from its customers in 1995 for travel in 1996. The airline estimates 1 million tickets purchased in 1995 are eligible for a refund of the 10% ticket tax or the $6 international departure tax, totaling about $35 million so far. Rolf Andresen, controller and VP-finance, said, "Until recently, the status of these taxes was unclear because of the budget debate and because the IRS had not articulated its position.
SkyWest Airlines has implemented a new graphical crew scheduling system, Maestro, system manufacturer SBS International reported. SkyWest began training on the system last month, SBS said. Maestro "creates, monitors and maintains daily airline crew schedules, including trip rerouting and assignment," SBS said. The system "performs accurate trip and crew legality checks in real time as individual flights are posted, and enhances crew utilization by offering a wide range of alternatives for recovery whenever abnormal conditions arise," the company said.
