Aviation Daily

Atlantic Coast named Michael Davis senior VP-customer service. Davis formerly was VP-customer service at Business Express and has had extensive major airline experience with USAir.

The Justice Department said yesterday it will examine the proposed travel agent commission cap settlement reached this week between TWA and the American Society of Travel Agents (DAILY, May 11) because of concerns about a provision that ties future TWA commissions to nationwide sales of TWA tickets. "An agreement between all travel agents and an airline to increase that airline's sales at the expense of other carriers raises serious competitive concerns," said Anne Bingaman, assistant attorney general in charge of the Antitrust Division.

Federal Express is seeking authority to expand its scheduled all-cargo service between the U.S. and Canada by adding a traffic stop in Great Falls, Mont., to its Memphis-Calgary/Edmonton route, operated with 727- 200s. (Docket 50339)

Continental Express will begin service between Newark and Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport this summer. The airline plans to begin four-times daily service using 46-passenger ATR 42 aircraft June 25 when New Haven opens its new air terminal.

U.S. Major and National Carriers Labor Expenses, Fourth Quarter 1994 % Of Total Operating Systemwide Expenses America West $ 76,268,559 24.32 American 1,437,601,000 38.73 Continental 281,582,000 22.82 Delta 962,871,000 32.70 Federal Express 299,655,000 13.35

Collins says it is advancing toward a goal of delivering to FAA in December 1999 a TCAS IV (traffic alert and collision avoidance system) prototype that will give pilots advisories on horizontal as well as vertical maneuvers. A limited installation program is scheduled to begin in December, 2000. TCAS IV will take advantage of differential Global Positioning System technology to determine exact aircraft positions. For passive surveillance, it will incorporate automatic dependent surveillance in addition to existing Mode C and Mode S capabilities.

An FAA/industry plan to take advantage of unused airport capacity by permitting aircraft to hold up to 15 minutes at their destination, in use at six airports, is working so well that it will be expanded to at least 25 airports, Donald Eddy, FAA assistant program manager of operations for the air traffic control system command center, said yesterday. The program departs from the policy of holding aircraft on the ground, waiting for departure, until a slot opens at the destination. What is called the "managed arrival reservoir program" began Jan.

United's Machinists unit has asked its members to contact Illinois legislators and register opposition to a measure that would limit expansion at Chicago O'Hare Airport and support a new facility at Peotone, Ill. The legislature is slated to take up the issue during the next two weeks.

SAS and Lufthansa yesterday signed a comprehensive strategic alliance agreement to link their route networks, launch a joint venture operation in the Scandinavia-Germany market, cooperate in marketing and sales, and eventually merge their frequent flyer programs (DAILY, May 10). The airlines are basing their cooperation on "long-term commercial and operational relationships" but do not intend to take equity stakes in each other - not surprising, given opposition to such transactions expressed previously by the heads of both. The alliance will take effect Jan.

Regional airlines within the European Community pay 18% of their total operating costs in various forms of user charges - double those of many major airlines, according to the European Regional Airline Association (ERA). Further, European regionals do not have direct control over 50% of their operating costs. Airport costs alone, including landing, terminal navigation, passenger, security and parking fees, increased an average of 8% over the past five years. ERA charges that these "external costs" could jeopardize vital air service to peripheral regions.

As the third set U.S.-U.K. talks got under way in London yesterday, political pressure once again began to build for and against a proposed "mini-deal," or interim agreement, between the two countries. A letter from Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Wendell Ford (D-Ky.) Wednesday recommending rejection of the mini-deal (DAILY, May 11) was followed yesterday by a letter from 15 senators to President Clinton urging acceptance of the incremental agreement.

DHL Airways and Polar Air Cargo are contending for the single open designation for scheduled all-cargo services beyond the U.K. with local fifth-freedom traffic rights. The U.S.-U.K. Air Services Agreement permits three U.S. carriers to operate the service. Federal Express, United Parcel Service and Evergreen International are designated, but Evergreen is not using the rights. DOT initiated a U.K. Fifth-Freedom All-Cargo Proceeding to select a replacement and received applications from Atlas Air Cargo, Polar and DHL. Atlas has dropped out.

Federal Express said average daily volume increased 16% in April compared with the same month last year, to 47.3 million. International air freight rose to 43.6 million pounds from 43.1 million.

European Regional Airlines Association (ERA) members last year paid more than $1.3 billion in Eurocontrol user charges in 1994, the association reported. Of that sum, just over $1 billion was in airport charges and $305.9 million in en route air traffic control fees. It was the equivalent of $867 per flight, or $31 per individual passenger. The question begs, could Europe be the model for fees charged by a privatized U.S. ATC system?

DOT is requiring CCAIR, operating as USAir Express, to maintain essential air service at Danville, Va. through May 29, or until a carrier of capable of providing reliable replacement service begins flying, whichever is first. CCAIR filed a notice in June last year of its intention to suspend service at Danville by Aug. 30, 1994, but DOT has extended CCAIR's service obligation a number of times, while it sought proposals from carriers interested in providing replacement service. CCAIR is providing three roundtrips between Danville and Charlotte, N.C.

FAA said it has commissioned a new air traffic control tower at Pensacola Regional Airport. The tower was constructed by the city and is leased to the agency. The opening is "another step in the modernization of the Pensacola Regional Airport," said Michael Wheeler, acting manager of the tower, which has an integrated communications switching system and D-Brite radar. This display provides controllers in the tower cab with a video depiction of the radar screen that controllers in the terminal radar approach control use to track aircraft.

Mesa Air Group is essentially replacing its labor-troubled WestAir unit in the Pacific Northwest with assets and crews from its Columbus, Ohio, Mountain West/America West hub. United Express WestAir - its pilot contract currently in federal mediation - found it uneconomical to serve its Seattle and Portland spokes with its Jetstream 31s, so Mountain West will move in five Beech 1900Ds to operate under contract to United. Two additional 1900Ds will expand service in four Los Angeles markets, also under contract with United (DAILY, May 5, 1995).

DOT has issued a show cause order on the application of Merlin Express, Inc., to conduct commuter operations. A subsidiary of Fairchild Aircraft, Inc., Merlin Express since it was organized in 1983 has provided cargo feeder service to United Parcel Service using a fleet of Fairchild Expediter aircraft, the cargo version of the Metro III. Currently, it also provides cargo feeder service to other small parcel express companies, including FedEx and DHL, using a fleet of 32 aircraft. Merlin provides these services both within the U.S.

Air Canada is mulling the consolidation of most administrative functions of its now wholly owned regional subsidiaries. The carrier recently completed the acquisition of Air BC - the last affiliate not already completely owned - and is spinning off Northwest Territorial Air to employees and an Inuit investor group. Other owned regionals are Air Nova in the Maritimes, Air Alliance in Quebec and Air Ontario. Areas of consolidation being considered include training, maintenance, accounting, purchasing and scheduling.

Delta Connection affiliate Comair logged 92.3 million revenue passenger miles in April, a 24.5% increase from April 1994. Capacity grew more slowly - 23% to 183.9 million available seat miles from 149.6 million. Passenger enplanements rose 13.6% to 301,696 from 265,603, and the load factor increased 0.6 percentage points to 50.2% from 49.6%.

Summary of National Carriers Systemwide Expense Indicators, Fourth Quarter 1994, (000) Labor Fuel/Oil Rentals Alaska 75,582 (1) 35,035 (1) 41,132 (1) Aloha 16,496 (4) 5,975 (10) 9,463 (5) American Trans Air 22,543 (3) 26,578 (2) 13,883 (2) Carnival 6,371 (11) 6,947 (8) 6,711 (7) Hawaiian 22,730 (2) 13,515 (4) 6,471 (8)

Bay Air Cargo is seeking authority to operate charter all-cargo service between Brazil and the U.S. The new Brazil cargo carrier proposes to begin service using a 707-321-C, leased from Florida West, and expects service to include three weekly roundtrip charters between Sao Paulo/Rio de Janeiro and Miami. (Docket 50338)

Bloomington, Minn.-based Great Lakes Aviation, a United Express affiliate, flew 17.5 million revenue passenger miles last month, up 7.4% from the same month one year ago. Capacity increased 11.4% to 41.3 million from 37.1 million, as load factor fell 1.6 percentage points to 42.4% from 44%. Enplanements rose 10% to 56,682 from 51,508. For the year to date, traffic increased 7.2% to 67.7 million; capacity gained 12.4% to 162.9 million; passenger boardings rose 8.6% to 215,534, and the load factor dipped two points to 41.6%.

Northwest has asked DOT for the rights to begin scheduled combination between Boston and Delhi/Bombay, India, and to continue services to two Mexican and two Japanese destinations. The carrier is proposing daily DC- 10-30 roundtrips on both services to India, to be operated via Amsterdam. It also has applied for renewal of its authority to operate combination services between Detroit and Cozumel, Mexico, and between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Acapulco, Mexico.