Preliminary findings of Economic Strategy Institute study of Asian aviation, to be published in January, confirm that the market is constrained, particularly in Japan, and that "beyond services are much preferred to code-sharing flights," said Don Hilty, ESI senior fellow.
American Trans Air's traffic increased 17.7% to 594.5 million revenue passenger miles in November over the same month last year on 9.7% more capacity. Its load factor increased 4.6 percentage points to 67.6%. For the first 11 months of the year, the carrier's traffic gained 25.5% on 21% more capacity.
Qantas is cosponsoring - and will be the official international and domestic carrier for - the International Media Center, a new facility for accredited foreign correspondents in Sydney. The airline will supply first- and business-class tableware for meals at the center.
Avio-Diepen management agreed this week to acquire the company from parent Fokker and operate as an independent entity. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. Avio-Diepen, a distributor of spare parts to airlines and maintenance centers, sees the transaction as a strategic move to better position itself in the worldwide market.
Representatives of a number of general aviation groups, aircraft manufacturers and small and low-cost airlines met yesterday in Washington to form an alliance for developing alternatives to the user fees in the Senate FAA reform bill (S.1239). Alliance members agree that FAA should continue to be funded through the current system of excise taxes and general fund contributions, perhaps in concert with other financing options, sources said.
FAA's proposed pilot flight and duty time rule drew sharp criticism yesterday from the Air Transport Association. President Carol Hallett said an initial reading of the proposal "only underscores the industry's long- held position. This rule is unnecessary and tries to regulate pilot union economic demands by turning them into alleged safety issues that simply are not supported by scientific data and research."
Taiwan's Committee for Aviation and Space Industry Development and the China External Trade Development Council will head a Taiwan delegation participating in the 1996 Singapore Air Show. At least eight companies plan to exhibit aerospace products, from onboard personal information systems to a prototype of the S-30 aircraft. Asian Aerospace '96 is scheduled in February.
Citing community opposition, DOT reversed an earlier decision and is maintaining full essential air service at established subsidy rates to four Alaskan communities. Under the decision, the four - Cordova, Petersburg, Wrangell and Yakutat - would escape the program-wide EAS reductions announced last month. Alaska Airlines will continue to receive about $1.4 million annually to operate seven round trips per week between each of the communities and its designated hub, either Anchorage, Juneau or Ketchikan, using Boeing 737 or similar aircraft.
The latest financial restructuring of Hawaiian Airlines is designed to create potentially closer ties between Hawaiian and American Airlines, according to a filing by Hawaiian with the Securities and Exchange Commission made available yesterday. The document reveals that Airline Investors Partnership (AIP), the group that is injecting $20 million in capital into Hawaiian, is being put together by Smith Management Co., a firm that has announced its intention to invest in another financially ailing airline, USAfrica.
Saab 340s have completed five million revenue flights worldwide, becoming the first regional airliner in the world to pass that milestone, Saab Aircraft of America said. The five millionth flight for the 30- to 37-seat turboprop was completed at the end of last month. The worldwide fleet totals 369 aircraft flown by 33 operators on five continents. The 340 firm orderbook stands at 419. The current version of the aircraft, in production, is the Saab 340BPlus, which followed the 340A and B versions.
Coastal Jet withdrew its application for a certificate to operate interstate, foreign and charter passenger service. Based in New Roads, La., Coastal had proposed to provide plane load charter service within the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean and Central and South America, using a leased Boeing 727-200 (DAILY, Dec. 1). (Docket OST-95-886)
Machinists union workers at Boeing voted Wednesday by an overwhelming margin to accept the four-year contract negotiated by their leadership, ending their 69-day strike. The union said 21,383 of 32,500 eligible employees cast ballots, approving the contract 18,604 to 2,779. The agreement limits the amount of subcontracting Boeing can use, increases wages, and avoids cuts in health insurance the company proposed earlier (DAILY, Dec. 13).
Bombardier Aviation Services said it has been approved by FAA as a Designated Alteration Station, qualified to engineer and approve supplemental type certificates on airframe and avionics modifications. The DAS authority will reside at the company's Denver facility, which will provide engineering services to the Bombardier network.
The General Accounting Office has dismissed a protest filed by Digicomp Research Corp., which said it should have been allowed to compete in FAA's Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) procurement despite missing the agency's deadlines for taking part. GAO rejected the protest because it was "untimely," filed more than 10 working days after a Feb. 22 Commerce Business Daily notice stating that competitors would have to certify by March 3 that they met qualification criteria. Digicomp filed its protest on July 25.
Most of the approximately 900 workers to be employed by the new regional aircraft joint venture Aero International (Regional) will be employed in France, with the remainder spread among the U.K., Italy, Asia and the U.S., venture Chief Executive Henri Puel said this week. The new company, responsible for marketing, sales and support of a range of ATR consortium and British Aerospace regional jets and turboprops in the 20- to 120-seat range, hopes eventually to take Daimler-Benz Aerospace on as a partner (DAILY Dec. 13). It begins operations Jan. 1.
European Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock said yesterday he has reached an agreement in principle with Spain that would provide Iberia with an 87 billion peseta (US$707 million) bailout package and a willingness by the European Commission to approve an additional 20 billion pesetas (US$163 million) in aid in 1997 if Iberia meets financial targets this year and next. EC officials said Iberia has agreed as a condition of the deal to sell most of its interest in Latin American airlines to its parent company, state-owned Teneo, and to two U.S.
Delta is offering tickets discounted by as much as 50% from Atlanta to 61 destinations for the next two weeks. Customers must purchase tickets by Monday. The fares are good for travel on Dec. 24-25 and from Dec. 28 through Jan. 1. A Saturday night stay is not required.
Northwest Airlink Mesaba Airlines flew 28.4 million revenue passenger miles last month, a 17.7% increase from the same 1994 month. Capacity grew more slowly, 13.6% to 60.7 million available seat miles from 53.4 million in the prior period, allowing load factor to rise 1.6 percentage points to 46.8%. Passenger boardings, like RPMs, increased 17.7% - to 130,199 from 110,657 in November 1994.
ITT Corp. awarded Emery Worldwide a four-year contract to provide services to all its North American divisions. Emery has worked with ITT more than a decade.
Air Line Pilots Association, which watched its influence wither under successive Republican administrations as airlines merged and downsized, bounced back as the big winner yesterday when DOT and FAA supported the union's positions on safety, flying time and Age 60. "Pilots are enormously pleased," ALPA President Randolph Babbitt told a press conference yesterday in Washington after DOT Secretary Federico Pena and FAA Administrator David Hinson issued or proposed new rules that reflect ALPA positions.
Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) might not make a decision in the TPI International Airways case until March, according to Administrative Judge Allan Elmore. A decision had been expected this month, leading to some speculation that an additional investigation may be under way concerning the carrier's allegations of sabotage on its Lockheed Electra fleet while TPI was based at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. TPI lost its Air Force Logair contract and was shut down by the FAA. It is seeking $20 million in damages from the Air Force.
