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.
Midwest Express intends to lease from Australian Aircraft Sales two DC-9-32s that were operated in the past by Garuda Indonesia. The U.S. carrier will use one of the aircraft for charter flights and the other to expand service between Milwaukee and Boston, Dallas and Philadelphia. It will take delivery of both aircraft this month at its Milwaukee base and will put them into service in April and May. The new aircraft bring its fleet to 21 aircraft, 19 of which are DC-9s.
United today begins its round-the-world service from Los Angeles, with stops in Hong Kong, New Delhi, London and New York and a return to Los Angeles. United said it is the first carrier to offer such a routing in more than 14 years. During inaugural ceremonies today, United will announce an educational pen-pal program designed as a cultural exchange among residents of cities on the route.
KLM plans to relocate its Canadian headquarters from Montreal to Toronto next spring to reduce its costs and give it a higher profile in Central and Western Canada, regions of the country where traffic is growing fastest. The airline said the move will not impact the frequency or quality of service between Montreal and Amsterdam - in fact, KLM may increase its five weekly flights between the two cities.
California is becoming increasingly popular as a winter vacation spot, ranking second above third-place Hawaii in a telephone survey conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America. Florida continues to be the destination of choice. Forty percent of survey respondents chose Florida, down five percentage points from last year, while 39% chose California, up nine points, and 19% picked Hawaii, down six points. Other states in the top 10 whose popularity increased marginally were Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Washington and Texas.
Delta Connection carriers are faced with a new equipment limitation under a domestic scope clause approved by the Delta ALPA unit - 70 passenger seats. The previous scope clause had no such limitation, which allowed Atlanta-based Atlantic Southeast to begin BAe 146 service Dec. 1. Up to 20 ASA 146s and Avro RJ85s are exempted under the clause, but Business Express, Comair and SkyWest will be limited to either the stretched Canadair Regional Jet or the RJ70, the only 70-passenger jets. BizEx already flies RJ70s; Comair and SkyWest operate 50-passenger CRJs.
DOT has issued a final order issuing Eagle Jet Charter Inc., operating as Eagle Jet, a certificate to engage in interstate scheduled combination service. The Las Vegas-based air taxi operator, currently holding authority to provide charter service using small airplanes, plans to convert its charter operations to scheduled, providing one daily scheduled round-trip between Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, using 44-passenger F27 aircraft (DAILY, Aug. 25). Eagle Jet also plans to introduce one daily scheduled round-trip between Las Vegas and Long Beach, Calif.
American Trans Air said yesterday it has signed a tentative four-year contract with the Teamsters, representing its pilots and flight engineers. The contract is subject to ratification by the employees, and the carrier said it expects a vote by the end of the year. American Trans Air operates a fleet of 46 757s, 727s and L-1011s.
A China Airlines 747, involved in its second ground incident in two days, virtually shut down Ninoy Aquino Airport in Manila on Tuesday when it swerved off the runway during a takeoff attempt and became bogged down in mud.
Following a two-week criminal trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, a jury found Domenick Leonardi guilty of conspiracy for failing to service and test aircraft emergency equipment properly, potentially endangering the lives of passengers, DOT Inspector General A. Mary Schiavo said. A former production coordinator at Tec-Air Services Inc., East Northport, N.Y., Leonardi faces a fine of up to $250,000 and up to five years in prison. He will be sentenced Feb. 23.
Surfing the Internet has become a favorite sideline for regional airline pilots who use their on-line computers to complain about all manner of things from their employers to the validity of certain flight-time experience. Individual regional carrier forums are found on the 'net's aviation forum under "commercial airlines." The Mesa Air Group forum is an especially busy one with pilots from its various airline units comparing notes, generally bashing the employer and even accusing forum members who support the employer as secretly part of management.
DOT is requesting proposals to replace MarkAir Express's essential air service to 12 water points in Kodiak Island, Alaska. Although the $82,728 annual rate for MarkAir Express is not set to expire on June 30, 1996, a series of events has made it necessary to replace the carrier providing the service. First, the carrier's sole float plane crashed Oct. 27, 1995, and it has since been determined that the aircraft is not salvageable. Then on Nov. 17, MarkAir Express entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and its parent, MarkAir, is being liquidated.
Unisys said its Cargo Users Group has adopted a common way to exchange information on cargo shipments - coordination vital for air carriers and freight forwarders to compete effectively with door-to-door, integrated carriers that "do not have to contend with the challenge posed by passing goods to other modes of transport to compete a shipment." The group said it is the first association of air freight carriers to adopt Cargo Multinational EDI Association (Cargo MEDIA) standards. Northwest and Qantas hailed the move.
FAA strongly hinted Thursday - in announcing its final "Commuter Rule" - that it will apply all or most Part 139 airport certification standards to all airports handling scheduled aircraft operations of 10 or more passenger seats. So far, Congress has failed to pass the legislation that would provide that authority, but Administrator David Hinson believes the new rule would be an impetus for it to do so. Additional costs for on-site crash/fire/rescue, additional signage and security could end such service at many small airports, some industry sources fear.
Lufthansa will install two new Avro RJ 85 flight simulators at its pilot training center at Berlin-Schoenefeld Airport. The simulators, which will cost 50 million Deutschmarks (US$34.5 million), will be in place by May 1996, increasing training capacity at the center by 50%. A joint venture between Lufthansa CityLine and British Aerospace, which will operate the simulators, plans to hire 10 technicians to operate and maintain them. Until now the center offered simulator training only for the A310 and the Canadair Regional Jet.
While essentially agreeing with the intent of National Transportation Safety Board recommendations for airlines to share pilot records, RAA President Walt Coleman warned Wednesday that such an exchange of information might lead to employers sanitizing those records. Coleman, testifying before the House Transportation aviation subcommittee (DAILY, Dec. 14), said a requirement to share pilot training records must not "produce the unwanted result of reducing the content of training records to only indications of pass or failure of a training event.
Miami-based United Airlines code-share carrier Gulfstream International flew 8.3 million revenue passenger miles in November, a 154.5% increase for the rapidly expanding airline. Capacity rose 124.4% to 15.5 million available seat miles, allowing load factor to rise 6.3 percentage points to 53.4% from 47.1%. Passenger boardings were up 134.1% to 42,420. For the year to date, RPMs have risen 105.7% to 59.9 million; ASMs have climbed 79.5% to 114.7 million; load factor is up 6.7 points to to 52.2%. Enplanements gained 75.8% to 220,883.
The absolute numbers are small by comparison, but little Gulfstream International is growing by leaps and bounds. The Miami-based regional, which operates in Florida and the Bahamas serving as a marketing partner with United, recorded a 134.1% increase in passenger boardings last month. Revenue passenger miles, which grew by no less than 154.5% since the prior November, have more than doubled since the first of the year (see related story below). And the carrier continued its expansionist ways Nov.
U.S. airline employees reportedly have been inundating the White House switchboard with complaints about the Clinton administration's stance that a proposed extension of the airline fuel tax exemption amounts to corporate welfare. Administration officials cited the exemption as one of a plethora of reasons for the veto of the budget reconciliation bill (H.R.2491).
Airbus and Fokker Aircraft Operating Costs Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Second Quarter 1995 A320-100/200 America West Northwest Number of Aircraft Operated 18 50 Total Fleet Operations Departures 91 201 Block Hours 205 544 Flight Hours 178 466
BFGoodrich said it has acquired several de-icing product lines and associated technology from Lucas Aerospace. The products, most of which are standard equipment on regional and business aircraft, include regulator/reliever valves, check valves, water separators, timers and air ejector and distributor valves. They will become part of the products and services of the BFGoodrich Aerospace Ice Protection Systems Division.
Galileo International has signed an agreement that will enable travel agents in China to book through its system. The pact, with the Management Information System of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), also enables travel agents who use Galileo to make and confirm bookings on China's international and domestic carriers. It covers 25 airlines and 10,000 computer terminals at 3,000 travel agencies in China.
Federal Express yesterday reported that operating income for the quarter ended Nov. 30, the second of its fiscal year, slipped to $170.9 million from $176.4 million a year earlier. Revenues increased 8% to $2.5 billion and net income was up 4% to $89.9 million. For the six months, operating income increased to $320.1 million from $319.4 million on revenues of $5 billion, up from $4.6 billion. Net income was $165.2 million, compared with $147.3 million.
