FlightSafety International won a one-year contract from FAA to conduct initial and recurrent training of EMB-120 (Brasilia) pilots. FlightSafety will provide Level C simulator and inflight training at its Houston facilities.
Allied Pilots Association at American has taken a look at the impact of new entrant airlines on the domestic system from a completely different perspective than that of DOT's just-released study, but it reached the same conclusion in at least one area - the major airlines are not threatened by the new carriers. DOT found that consumers saved $6 billion last year through the new entrants' lower fares, which generated an extra 47 million passengers who would not normally have flown. But APA said consumer benefits usually are short-lived.
TWA has hired Lisbeth Mack as staff VP-advertising and consumer marketing, a new position. Mack comes from British West Indies Airways, where she was VP-sales/North America, and she formerly worked for Kiwi as VP-sales and marketing. Marie Spadoni, director of advertising, will head the creative services department, when it is formed.
Top 25 Domestic City-Pair Markets Under 750 Miles 0&D Passengers The Year 1995 Short 1995 Average Haul Markets Non-Stop Passengers Rank Rank City-Pair Mileage Per Day 1 1 Chicago - New York 723 8,069 2 2 Honolulu - Kahului 100 7,679
American's tour operator, Fly AAway Vacations, is displaying information on American's World Wide Web site. The site, which provides destination data, on May 1 will start showing special bonuses and discount vacation programs that American called a good source of last-minute travel specials. Web users also can enlarge photos of hotels for closer inspection of the rooms. The Fly AAway web site address is http://www.amrcorp.com.
Top officials of Controllers United and the Teamsters will meet today with FAA leadership to follow up on a Feb. 22 White House meeting on hiring more former PATCO members.FAA plans to hire about 500 controllers in the next fiscal year, and Controllers United says it is "looking to get a majority" of that number. A White House aide also is expected to attend.
Federal Express Chairman Frederick Smith said yesterday in Paris the company plans to expand its main European hub at Charles de Gaulle Airport. FedEx could invest up to $200 million in upgrading the facility if market expectations are met, creating an additional 3,000 jobs over the next 10 years, the carrier said. Aeroports de Paris expertise was a "key factor in determining our choice," said Marie-Pierre Rogers, VP-southern European region.
Messier-Bugatti turned a profit in 1995 for the first time in several years, posting pretax income of $4 million compared with a loss of $2.8 million in 1994. Sales totaled $293 million, up from $290 million. The company said it achieved the rebound "despite sluggish aerospace markets worldwide and an unfavorable franc/U.S. dollar exchange rate." It employed 1,250 people at yearend. Its wheels and brakes profit center accounted for 40% of total sales, followed by repairs and services, 27%; hydraulic systems, 17%, and braking systems, 16%.
Canada and Korea have reached a new air services agreement that will allow carriers from the two countries to operate more flights. Air Canada and Korean Air each will be able to increase summer passenger service to five flights per week. Both currently operate three passenger flights per week on a Seoul-Vancouver-Toronto route. Korean also operates a cargo flight from Seoul to Toronto and Vancouver once a week. The carriers also will be able to boost their flying during the winter months.
More than half of North American companies responding to the Survey&Analysis of Business Travel Policies&Costs do not limit the number of employees who travel together. The survey, published by Runzheimer International, found that about one-third, faring accidents, have policies on the number of senior managers traveling together.
Air South is offering sale fares of $69 one way Tuesday through Thursday and $89 Friday through Monday between any points it serves. Tickets are non-refundable, good for travel through June 15 and must be purchased by May 3.
ValuJet Airlines has changed its fleet plans and will buy four MD-80s in addition to the two it intends to put in service in the first quarter of 1997 (DAILY, Feb. 14). Also, ValuJet will not accept one of the nine DC-9- 30s it agreed to purchase in February because the aircraft "failed to meet ValuJet's standards for acceptable condition and records." That airplane, scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of this year, had been operated by Air Aruba.
Frontier Airlines said it has signed a letter of intent to lease two 737- 200s from GE Capital Aviation Services. The two aircraft are scheduled to joint Frontier's five leased 737-200s and two 737-300s early in June. The two 737-300s also are leased from GECAS. President Sam Addoms said Frontier will use the additional aircraft to "further expand our Denver hub with new, low-fare flights to major destinations to be announced shortly." Frontier also said it sold about $3 million of newly issued common stock to a group of institutional investors.
USAir Group Inc. suffered a first quarter loss of $54.57 million but managed an operating profit of $10.79 million, improving on a first quarter 1995 net loss of $117.47 million after dividend set-asides and an operating loss of $42 million. The net loss for the start of 1996 translated to 86 cents per share, compared with $1.91 per share last year. While USAir Group turned an operating profit, its airline subsidiary, USAir Inc., had an operating loss of $8.91 million and a net loss of $54.93 million.
Radisson Hotels Worldwide plans to expand its locations in the Asia/Pacific region to 75 in 2000. The company announced plans this week to open six new hotels this year, for a total of 22, in Bali, Ujung Pandang, Bukit Indah City, Kuala Lumpur and Delhi. Peter Blyth, president of Radisson Hotels Worldwide Development, speaking this week at the annual convention of the Pacific Asia Travel Association in Bangkok, said, "We view the Asia/Pacific region of the world as the single biggest growth opportunity of our generation for the travel and tourism industry."
Federal Express has filed a complaint against the government of Taiwan seeking redress for that country's refusal to allow the carrier to exercise its right to handle its own inbound and outbound air express and air freight shipments at Chiang Kai Shek Airport (CKS) at Taipei. The carrier maintains that the U.S.-Taiwan Air Transportation Agreement, signed in 1980, gives it the right to self-handle.
Air traffic control equipment failures at Pittsburgh Airport cost USAir $2 million on March 27 and $500,000 on April 4, according to Robert Oaks, senior VP-operations. Oaks, in an April 5 letter to Arlene Feldman, Eastern Region administrator, said that after the March 27 breakdown at the Pittsburgh tower, FAA staff met with USAir to provide an "overview of the circumstances which led to this extremely expensive event and of the action plan to evaluate and fix the radar problems....
Air Jamaica has applied for renewal of its authority to operate scheduled combination service between Kingston and Montego Bay, Jamaica, on the one hand, and Fort Lauderdale, on the other. The carrier operates Boeing 727- 200 service on the route. (Docket OST-96-1286)
Boeing said it expects to increase its work force by 8,200 this year, to about 113,350, in order to keep up with sharply rising jetliner production rates. Most of the new jobs, 6,700, will be in Washington state. It will add 1,900 jobs in Wichita, Kan., and 400 elsewhere in the company, but it plans to cut 700 jobs at its helicopter unit in suburban Philadelphia and 100 at its Missiles&Space Div. in Huntsville, Ala.
Frank Hoak, chairman of the American Society of Travel Agents 66th World Travel Congress, to be held Oct. 6-12 in Bangkok, predicts Thailand's tourism will increase 20% in the year following the event. "Economically in the short term, we estimate that our presence will have a financial impact of $10 million on Bangkok during the six days of the World Travel Congress," Hoak said.
Onur Air of Turkey took delivery of its first Airbus A321 yesterday. The Istanbul-based charter carrier will receive two more A321s within two months. The first two aircraft are under lease from International Lease Finance Corp., and the third was purchased from Airbus Industrie.
Travel Industry Association's USA Marketing Council has developed a short- and long-term marketing plan for the interim USA National Tourism Organization, which will operate until a permanent organization is put in place within two years. The interim body will establish a public/private effort to promote travel to the U.S. One of its top priorities is to work with the Travel and Tourism Government Affairs Council to develop legislation to secure funding for the permanent NTO.
Singapore Airlines said it has signed a letter of intent to sell Northwest a 747-200 passenger aircraft and a 747-200 freighter. The freighter is currently leased to Korean Air. SIA also said it has concluded agreements to sell three 747-200 passenger aircraft to two unidentified U.S. carriers and a 737-300 freighter to an unidentified European carrier.
A tough first quarter pushed up ValuJet's costs and clipped profits for the fast-growing, no-frills carrier. While earnings increased year-over-year, they did not keep pace with revenue, which shot up 81.7% to $110 million from $60.75 million in first quarter 1995. Expenses skyrocketed further, by 100.3% to $92.47 million. Costs were pulled up by increases of 118% for jet fuel and 90.9% for maintenance. ValuJet paid 69 cents for a gallon of jet fuel during the quarter, compared with 59 cents in the first quarter last year and an average of 60 cents for all of 1995.
Delta yesterday announced five leaders of a "core team" to implement its low-cost or 100-seat initiative now that its pilots have approved a new contract. Also yesterday, Delta's Air Line Pilots Association Master Executive Council elected chairman Bill Brown to serve as its interim representative to the board. Brown will sit in on the board meeting today (DAILY, April 24). Skip Barnette, managing director-Low Cost Initiative, said the core team will comprise three subteams to focus on operations, selling, and planning and product.
