Midway Airlines Friday obtained two-year authority to provide combination service between Raleigh/Durham, N.C., and Bermuda. Midway plans to begin one daily roundtrip flight on or about June 1, 1996, using Airbus A320 aircraft (DAILY, Nov. 3). Midway requested the right to use other aircraft appropriate and consistent with market conditions. The carrier also operates Fokker 100s. (Docket OST-95-779&OST-95-780)
Carga Aerea Venezolana Caraven has applied for renewal of its authority to operate non-scheduled all-cargo service between Venezuela and the co- terminal points Miami, New York, Houston and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Operating as Caraven Airlines, the carrier also seeks continued authority to operate all-cargo charters to the U.S. The airline has been operating U.S. non-scheduled and charter cargo services since 1993 using wet-lease services of U.S. carriers, including Southern Air Transport, American International Airways and Millon Air.
British Airways, which has carried its country's athletic teams to most international events for 40 years, will not be transporting the U.K. team to the Olympics in Atlanta next summer. BA says Delta needs "exposure in the U.K. marketplace" and thus bid low.
U.S. and the Czech Republic reached a new bilateral agreement Friday that will phase in an open skies regime by 1999, according to an industry official. Under terms of the pact, reached after four days of negotiations in Prague, the Czech Republic agreed to permit third-country code-share service by 1997. With this agreement, 11 European countries have now committed to an open skies relationship with the U.S.
Travel agents are backing away from predictions of their demise as a result of domestic commission caps and changing roles in the new wave of distribution technologies, which some feared would cut the agent out of the reservations process. Sales data have contradicted those concerns, according to Nancy Gravatt, VP-public relations and consumer marketing for the American Society of Travel Agents. In a speech prepared for the Airports Council International's international air service seminar last week, Gravatt said travel agents are actually busier than ever.
Lufthansa Airport and Ground Services GmbH, a unit of the German airline, is negotiating to acquire 26% of Hudson General Corp.'s American Aviation Services business for $23.8 million, with an option to buy up to 49% of the company.
American's Cargo Div. flew 92.6% of export shipments as booked from London Heathrow and Gatwick airports during November, and it attained document availability for imports within 95 minutes of arrival 94.9% of the time, American reported. The airline said the performance report is a first for a U.S.-based carrier, and it plans to issue performance data at all of its stations by the end of 1996.
Hawaiian Airlines had reached agreements in principle Friday with four labor unions that represent five of its employee groups and was working out the final details, a source close to the negotiations said. Hawaiian declined to comment on the status of the talks by presstime Friday, the deadline for tentative union concession agreements needed to secure a $20 million bridge loan and possible further investments, and it still needs to make them final by its next board meeting, at the end of January.
Kaman Corp. named Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Kaman to resume the title of president and appointed Robert Garneau executive VP of the corporation, C. William Kaman II executive VP, Ronald Galla senior VP and chief information officer, Michael Morneau controller and Robert Saunders senior VP-finance.
With U.S.-U.K. talks at a standstill, U.S. officials are stepping up charges of U.K. intransigence. "We've noted Sir Colin Marshall's recent call for 'a bigger, bolder, braver approach' to U.S.-U.K. aviation relationships, and we would certainly welcome evidence of that approach at the negotiating table," DOT Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs Mark Gerchick said last week in a London speech.
Delta, Swissair and Austrian Airlines asked DOT to renew their authority to operate Washington-Geneva-Vienna code-share service. Under their code- share arrangement, Swissair and Delta provide the Washington-Geneva service via code-share/blocked-space arrangements with Austrian, which provides the aircraft, an Airbus A310. The same aircraft provides Washington-Vienna service via Geneva.
Comair's November traffic rose 23% to 108.1 million revenue passenger miles on 10% more capacity, compared with November 1994. The Delta Connection carrier transported 21.3% more passengers during the month, for a total of 349,472. The load factor improved 11.9 points to 56.4%. RPMs for the first 11 months were up 23.8% to 1.1 billion. Nov 95 Nov 94 11 Mths 95 11 Months 1994 RPMs 108,121,000 87,899,000 1,086,243,000 877,185,000
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) Friday introduced a bill to allow the transfer of a pilot's relevant employment and training records to prospective employers. The bill offers complete immunity from lawsuits related to transferred information for both the employer transferring records and the prospective employers.
International Lease Finance Corp. sold $150 million of four-year, 5.75% senior, unsecured, non-callable notes maturing Dec. 15, 1999. The notes are underwritten by Merrill Lynch; BA Securities; Donaldson, Lufkin&Jenrett; Prudential Securities and First Union Brokerage Services.
Operating regional airliners in the 10- to 19-seat category will be more expensive but not much safer under the "single level of safety" rule FAA plans to issue Thursday, Regional Airline Association officials said Friday. The rule, requiring the small aircraft to operate under the same procedures as large turbofan jetliners, will increase regional airlines' equipment and crew training costs and require them for the first time to have full-time dispatchers, even for very short-haul flights.
America West asked DOT for renewal of its exemption to operate scheduled combination service between Phoenix, Ariz., and San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. The carrier currently operates 17 weekly nonstop flights on the route, using Boeing 737-300 aircraft. (Docket 49804&OST-95-736)
McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and MD-80 Systemwide Aircraft Utlization Per Day Second Quarter 1995 DC-9-30 Continental Northwest TWA Number of Aircraft Operated 31 84 34 Total Fleet Operations Departures 177 425 185 Block Hours 250 686 290
