Boeing's Machinists union members will vote today on a four-year contract proposal that, if ratified, could put 32,000 striking employees back to work tomorrow with the highest pay in aerospace. The proposal appears to offer the employees much of what they asked for regarding job security and health care benefits, and its pay raises will bring the average wage to $23 an hour, the highest in the industry, the union said.
USAir will hold two more of its Fearful Flyers programs next month - at Southwest Florida Airport in Fort Myers Jan. 10 and at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport beginning Jan. 11. The five-week course for people who are afraid to fly covers psychological factors and the mechanics of flying. The course costs $325, and USAir said it has a 95% success rate. The fee pays for course materials, instructor fees and fuel for the graduation flight.
It probably will be a lot lonelier at the top next year at British Airways. The airline is expected to unveil a streamlined management structure, possibly as early as today, in which fewer top officers will report directly to CEO-designate Robert Ayling when he takes the helm Jan. 1. As many as 25 BA officers currently report to CEO Colin Marshall.
United has committed $1.8 million, the largest corporate contribution to date, to establish a new Denver aquarium. The $75 million project to build Colorado's Ocean Journey is scheduled to open in 1998. United also will support educational programs that focus on inner-city youth in Denver and in other cities.
Clarification: Two 777 aircraft that Boeing used for testing and plans to deliver to United in February and March - sooner than scheduled - have always been destined for United. An item in The DAILY Dec. 11 erroneously stated Boeing was using the aircraft to compensate United for delayed deliveries.
AAR Corp. said yesterday that net income for its second quarter, which ended Nov. 30, jumped 78.6% to $3.7 million from $2.1 million in the same period last year. Net sales rose 22% to $121.3 million from $99.4 million. For the first half of the fiscal year, net income jumped 71.8% to $6.9 million from $4.03 million while net sales increased 17.4% to $230.9 million from $196.6 million.
Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems said yesterday it has acquired the Distributed Applications Products and Services (DAPS) business of Covia Technologies, a division of Galileo International. The DAPS unit will bring to Siemens Nixdorf's Transportation Division "expanded knowledge of the information technology needs of airlines and airports," said Gaylord Milbrandt, VP of the Transportation Division.
National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday that the probable cause of a near-collision of an American MD-11 with a Lone Star SA-227 while trying to land Feb. 27 at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport was an "overloaded" local controller and the failure of his supervisor to "recognize that the controller had reached or exceeded his maximum threshold of workload capability and to take appropriate action." The three-engine jetliner passed over the turboprop regional aircraft, which was on the runway and holding, with a clearance of 35 feet, the safety board said.
TWA has filed a lawsuit against former owner Carl Icahn to block him from selling discounted airline tickets to the public. In exchange for a $190 million loan, the carrier agreed to sell discounted tickets to Icahn with the understanding that he would resell the tickets in blocks to corporations but not to the general public, a TWA spokesman said. "It's a matter of who he can sell the tickets to. We believe he has been selling the tickets to travel agents for the public, something which he cannot do," the spokesman said.
Frontier Airlines' November traffic jumped 114.1% to 48.8 million revenue passenger miles, compared with November 1994, its fifth month of service. Available seat miles were up 66.2% to 79.8 million, resulting in a load factor of 61.1%, up from 47.4%. The Denver-based airline carried 71,658 passengers, 65.6% more than in November 1994.
Virgin Atlantic Airways is planning a major expansion that would make it one of the four largest long-haul carriers in the world by 1998, according to media reports. The reports first surfaced in an interview by Richard Branson carried in The London Times over the weekend. According to a Bloomberg Business News report, Virgin plans to buy or lease $5 billion worth of new jets over the next three years, increasing its fleet of 15 aircraft to 40.
Delta will offer Hawaii residents special Mahalo fares on flights originating in Honolulu, Oahu or Kahului to about 250 cities. Passengers must be Hawaiian residents, start travel Dec. 16-25 and return between Dec. 26 and Jan. 7.
USAir honored more than 100 customers during its first Diamond Dinner, an event it plans to repeat annually to highlight its Special Market Sales program. USAir launched the program in 1990 to improve its business relationship with the African-American community and may expand it to target other market segments.
Federal Express, whose pilots are engaging in self-help measures over a contract dispute, has hired 548 pilots in the past 12 months. The airline hired 61 in November, the Future Aviation Professionals of America reports. One of the main complaints of FedEx's Air Line Pilots Association members is that they have to fly too much overtime because of a pilot shortage.
In the aftermath of the new U.S.-India agreement, Northwest and United have dropped their complaints against the government of India. (Dockets OST-95- 828&OST-95-830)
Strikes by French air traffic controllers scheduled for Friday and Saturday will not impact Air France's long-haul flights but will disrupt the its service in Europe, a spokesman for Air France said yesterday. All intercontinental flights still are scheduled, but the carrier has canceled 15 to 20 flights per day in other markets. The cancellations affect mostly markets in which the airline operates more than one flight per day, a spokesman said. Because of the strike, some flights may leave earlier or later than scheduled, he said.
Mexicana has applied for authority to operate scheduled combination service between Guadalajara, Mexico, and Denver. The carrier said it plans to begin a single weekly roundtrip flight Dec. 21, using Boeing 727 aircraft seating 156 passengers. Asking for an exemption of at least one year, Mexicana apologized to the department for giving short notice but said it had only a few days ago received notice from the Mexican government that it was authorized for the route. (Docket OST-95-917)
Midwest Express Airlines reported a 7.9% increase in revenue passenger miles in November over November 1994 on 4.9% less capacity. The carrier flew 84.2 million RPMs, up from 78 million, while available seat miles fell from 144.8 million to 137.7 million. The load factor was 61.2%, up from 53.9%. Midwest Express boarded 104,844 passengers during the month, up from 97,184. For the first 11 months, RPMs were up 19.6% to 1.1 billion and ASMs rose 14% to 1.6 billion, for a load factor of 64.4%, up from 61.4%.
Airlines Reporting Corp.'s board has endorsed committee recommendations to revise ticket security rules, and ARC is preparing guidance materials for travel agents, to be distributed early next year. The revisions are designed to protect agencies from financial loss from ticket theft. The directors also agreed that fees in 1996 will not be changed for dishonored drafts, non-reporting instances and unreported sales.
Japan and Myanmar agreed last week to inaugurate air services between the two countries, providing Myanmar accepts international hijacking prevention measures. Under the agreement, an airline from each country may operate three weekly services between Japan and Yangon, Myanmar, using aircraft with 250-300 seats. Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Japan Air System all are interested in serving Myanmar. Japan's Ministry of Transport is expected to select one of the three soon, and the winner may begin operations as early as April.
Qantas Airways has developed and will launch tomorrow a new system to transfer passengers from domestic to international flights at Sydney Airport. The carrier hopes the service, which cost $15 million to develop, will give it a leg up on international competitors who also fly to Sydney. The service allows Qantas to use airside buses to move passengers between lounges in its international and domestic terminals, and a new passenger clearance process will make it easier for Qantas passengers to move through Customs.
Delta Connection Atlantic Southeast Airlines experienced a 3.5% traffic decrease for November, to 63.4 million revenue passenger miles, on flat capacity. Its load factor declined to 45.9% from 47.5%. Traffic also is down 3% for the first 11 months of the year. Nov 95 Nov 94 11 Mths 95 11 Mths 94 RPMs 63,384,549 65,682,034 698,909,961 720,225,795 ASMs 138,202,023 138,210,615 1,547,624,796 1,523,628,141 LoadFtr% 45.9 47.5 45.2 47.3
Delta is cutting fares from its Cincinnati hub to 42 destinations for travel from Dec. 23 through Dec. 25 and Dec. 27 through Jan. 1. Fares are reduced by as much as 50% off the 21-day advance purchase fare.
