-- Superseded two ADs on Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed, Fokker and British Aerospace aircraft equipped with certain Honeywell windshear detection systems concerning delays in detecting windshear. -- Proposed an AD on British Aerospace HS 748 series aircraft concerning flight in freezing rain or drizzle. -- Proposed an AD on Jetstream 4101 aircraft concerning flights in freezing rain or drizzle. -- Proposed an AD on Jetstream ATP aircraft concerning flights in freezing rain or drizzle.
Subscribers to the Worldspan computer reservations system can sell electronic tickets on Northwest for travel beginning Feb. 1 in selected markets. Northwest is starting ticketless service between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Chicago and will expand it to its entire domestic system by yearend. A new feature on Worldspan for Northwest tickets is a validation that electronic ticket coupons have been "printed."
Following are summaries of financial results reported last Thursday by Delta and Southwest (DAILY, Jan. 26). The fourth quarter of 1995 was the second in Delta's 1995-96 fiscal year. Delta 4th Qtr 95 4th Qtr 94 12 Mths 95 12 Mths 94 OpRev $2,944,000,000 $2,919,000,000 $12,251,000,000 $12,062,000,000 OpExp 2,775,000,000 2,901,000,000 11,207,000,000 12,279,000,000 OpProf- 169,000,000 18,000,000 1,044,000,000 (217,000,000)
Airclaims of London estimates that airline hull and liability losses in 1995 totaled about $1.3 billion, down from $2.2 billion the year before. Airclaims says 18 Western-built jetliners were total losses in 1995, versus 22 in 1994. The average number of losses during the 1980s was 21 per year.
Apollo Travel Services has added 12 third-party products and services to its Apollo Partners program. They are from Aerotech Systems, Automation Inc., Double Eagle Software, Trondent Development Corp. and Videcom.
-- Issued an AD on Boeing 747-100/200 aircraft requiring inspection of the latch safety pins of the main deck side cargo door. -- Revised a proposed AD on certain Boeing 747 series aircraft concerning use of the autoland function.
Amelia Earhart - Case Closed? by Walter Roessler and Leo Gomez with Gail Green. Approaches the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, her navigator and her airplane from a purely technical viewpoint. Markowski International Publishers; $16.95 paper. To order, call 1-800-444-2524.
Unofficial talks between U.S. and German officials are "becoming concrete" and may lead in a week or two to the scheduling of an official round of aviation negotiations, U.S. government officials said. Sources also have reported that the U.S. and South Africa are making headway toward resumption of talks on a first-ever aviation agreement.
Reno Air envies ValuJet's pricing environment. Reno Air Chief Financial Officer Paul Tate noted recently that his carrier's breakeven load factor is 64.94%, but it would be only 52.59% if Reno Air could match ValuJet's yields.
Cessna Warbirds - A Detailed History of Cessna's Involvement in the Armed Forces by Walt Shiel. Using a blend of hard technical information about each aircraft and personal anecdotes by the pilots, this book documents the service of Cessna aircraft in the armed forces around the world. Jones Publishing; $29.95 paper. To order, call 715-445-5000 or fax 715-445-4053.
TWA plans to grow its capacity 5%-7% this year, mainly through better utilization of aircraft. The buildup means the airline will hire flight crew personnel for the first time since 1994. It estimates it may hire as many as 300 pilots and 780 flight attendants.
Delta's engine maintenance department is generating $1.1 million a month by leasing engines to other airlines. Ray Valeika, VP-technical operations, said the goal is $20 million per month in additional revenue by mid-1996. Delta is leasing 11 engines, and two others are available.
Worldspan Travel Information Services and Management Information Services/Civil Aviation Administration of China have signed a two-year agreement for enhanced distribution of airline services. Worldspan said 25 Chinese airlines' products and services will be distributed to travel agencies subscribing to the computer reservations system. Worldspan's Singapore-based partner, Abacus, signed a similar agreement in October.
Granted Pacific Island Aviation's request to suspend its air service to Rota, Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, effective Feb. 20, in view of Freedom Air's alternate service in the market.
Under its proposed code-share arrangement with Thai Airways, United plans this summer to link its U.S.-London services with Thai's nonstop London- Bangkok flights, as well as its services operated via Hong Kong, Zurich and other points. The carriers plan to code share on Thai's Bangkok-Los Angeles flights, as well as connecting service to San Francisco, Chicago and New York. They will code share on United's Taipei-San Francisco and Hong Kong-U.S. service along with certain United flight via European gateways to the U.S. (DAILY, Jan. 26).
Swissair was rated best airline for the second year in a row in a survey by Airtrack, an independent British firm. Crossair, Swissair's regional partner, placed second. Airtrack polled 2,200 frequent flyers from 10 European nations. About 20% of the respondents ranked Swissair No. 1.
National Mediation Board has deemed it necessary for a member of the board, Kenneth Hipp, to mediate contract negotiations between Delta and the Air Line Pilots Association. Talks resume today in Washington. Delta needs an agreement quickly to reduce costs in the 100-seat market, to compete against Southwest's new low-cost Florida service and ValuJet's continued expansion.
Boeing Commercial Airplane Group named eight companies the recipients of it President's Award for Excellence: CFM International, Ciba Composite, Micro Switch, PPG Industries, Precision Machine Works, Teijin Seiki, Vaupell Industrial Plastics and Vought Center of Northrup Grumman Commercial Aircraft Division.
Air Macau has applied with Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs for permission to establish a branch in Taiwan, a request the ministry cannot grant without an exemption from current law. An Air Macau official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the airline expects the ministry to approve the application, but a spokesman for the ministry said it may face opposition.
Aviall named Frank Leftwich executive VP-sales and marketing of Aviall Engine Services and president of Aviall Asia, Charles Kienzle senior VP- operations of engine services operations in the U.S. and Jeffrey Murphy senior VP-law and human resources, secretary and general counsel.
