A new leasing company, called debis AirFinance, has been established to lease Fokker aircraft. With a 35% share, debis, a service division of Daimler-Benz, is the main shareholder in the Amsterdam-based venture, with Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) holding 10%. The German Commerzbank, Dresdner Bank and BLB Beteiligungs-gesellschaft Beta, a subsidiary of Bayerische Landesbank, have an interest of 15% each, with the remaining 10% held by the Dutch Rabo Merchant Bank.
British Midland will implement its CyberSeat system - a booking service with payment capability on the Internet - starting Dec. 11. The system was developed by Novus. The carrier said credit card transactions will be secure because information will go through the system in an encrypted format. Customers receive a booking reference from the computer at check- in or by mail, or collect tickets from a travel agent. Internet users can see a demonstration of CyberSeat over the World Wide Web at http://www.iflybritishmidland.com.
Southwest extended again the purchase deadline for its Gotta Go fares and increased the number of markets in which they are available. The fares, as low as $19 one way, now can be purchased until Dec. 31 for travel through April 5. About 31 markets have been added, all at the $19 fare.
Northwest is replacing electromechanical indicators on its 31 older 747- 100s and 747-200s with new-technology engine instrument display systems supplied by B&D Instruments and Avionics. Engine parameters now will be displayed on two liquid crystal display screens.
ValuJet says its suit against Delta and TWA, alleging antitrust violations in a dispute over slot agreements at New York LaGuardia, has drawn interest from the New York State Attorney General's office, not just DOT and the Justice Department.
American International Airways is under contract to the U.S. Postal Service to carry mail and provide ground-handling services for second-day mail to 31 cities during the holiday season. The carrier will operate from Blytheville, Ark., with 34 aircraft for 13 days, beginning Dec. 9. More than 600 temporary workers will assist with ground-handling, and 159 AIA employees will be dispatched to Blytheville. This is the third year AIA has provided the service.
Tri Star Airlines has urged DOT to deny Jet Aspen's request for permission to begin advertising and accept reservations for its proposed operations before receiving an operating certificate. Jet Aspen asked for the exemption to be able to operate the services in the upcoming winter ski season (DAILY, Nov. 28). It plans to begin offering Jan. 24 nonstop service to the ski communities of Aspen and Telluride, Colo., from Los Angeles, Dallas/Fort Worth, Phoenix and Houston.
Delta will stop using the term temporary employee as a personnel classification and instead will refer to those employees as associates. Employees with the word temp on their identification cards will be issued new cards.
Lufthansa has contracted with Pemco World Air Services to design and build a cargo handling system for 737-300 aircraft. Pemco World Air Services will design the equipment, and Pemco Engineers will manufacture it. The system will accommodate eight 88-by-125-inch pallets and one LD3 container.
An interagency review of the security implications of very precise Global Positioning System signals, and testing of techniques to prevent hostile use of more accurate signals, should be completed "within a fairly short period of time," a senior Defense Department official told the House Transportation aviation subcommittee yesterday.
Norwood, Mass.-based Altair Avionics won its supplemental type certificate last week for an affordable, retrofittable bolt-on engine monitoring system aimed at Pratt&Whitney Canada's PT6A turboprop engine, DAILY affiliate Aerospace Propulsion reported. The PT6A is a main-stay of the regional fleet, powering the Beech 1900D, among other aircraft.
Paradise Island Airlines Thursday returned to service one of six de Havilland Dash 7s voluntarily grounded Tuesday following an FAA inspection. The agency cited "deficiencies in aircraft maintenance and record keeping." Two of the aircraft have been used for casino charters out of Atlantic City, and the others operate under the USAir Express flag to Paradise Island, Bahamas, from Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. The carrier is reportedly shutting down the Atlantic City operation, were the maintenance discrepancies were found.
Aeromexico has signed a 10-year contract with Electronic Data Systems for technology management services. EDS will manage and operate the carrier's information systems, including reservations, tariffs, inventory control, airport check-in data, ticket printing and reports, and it will supervise Aeromexico personnel as they implement its new AZTECA 2000 reservation system.
SimuFlite Training International said its Canadair Challenger 601-3A/3R full-flight simulator has earned Level D initial qualification from FAA and Transport Canada. It said the Challenger 601 is "the first business jet simulator qualified as Level II under the International Qualification Test Guide standards." The simulator is SimuFlite's 15th FAA-approved business jet simulator and its first Level D qualification. The company has two more simulators scheduled for 1966.
Saeaga Airlines of Malaysia has purchased one Canadair Regional Jet and two de Havilland Dash 8s, Bombardier said. The RJ will become the first such aircraft in service in the Asia/Pacific region when it goes on line next year, the manufacturer said. Contract value was placed at about US$49 million. The Dash 8s comprise one 50-passenger series 300 and one 37-passenger series 200, Bombardier said. The RJ seats 50 passengers. The aircraft will be delivered before the end of this year.
A British Airways 737-200 experienced "violent roll oscillations" Oct. 22 that are now the object of a full-scale investigation, a U.K. Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) official said yesterday. It took the pilots "a few minutes to recover" the airplane during the incident, a British Airways spokesman said. The aircraft was taken out of service while the AAIB conducts its highest level of inquiry, an official said.
DOT again has extended the service obligation of Great Lakes Aviation at Fairmont and Mankato, Minn., and Brookings and Mitchell, S.D. Operating as United Express, Great Lakes early this year filed its 90-day notice of intent to suspend the service as of April 24, 1995. However, through a series of hold-in orders, the department has prevented the carrier from terminating the service, now through Dec. 22 or until replacement actually begins. Great Lakes was permitted to terminate on Nov.
A 39-member transition team has been named to oversee the travel and tourism strategy created by the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism. Under Secretary of Commerce Greg Farmer and Travel Industry Association National Chair Sandra Fulton will co-chair the team.
BWIA International Airways reported a net profit for the third quarter of $7.3 million, up from $1 million the year before. The carrier said it has achieved a net profit of $7.2 million since it was privatized in February, compared with a 1994 loss of $9.2 million. Its operating revenues for the third quarter were $63.1 million, up 9.2%, and operating expenses totaled $56.6 million, up 2.6%, for an operating profit of $6.5 million. BWIA said its new marketing alliances, improved operating performance and schedule reliability contributed to the improved performance.
The city of Cleveland, the Broward County Aviation Department and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority are urging DOT to approve Icelandair's bid for renewed and expanded U.S. authority. Although Icelandair has not yet used its rights to serve Cleveland, the city said it nonetheless "views the carrier's request for continued exemption authority as a very encouraging sign." Begun Sept.
Hawaiian and American have reached a tentative agreement to restructure Hawaiian's debt to American for aircraft leases that will give Hawaiian cost savings in the future under a long-term lease. For the deal to go through, Hawaiian must reach definitive agreements with its labor groups, other creditors and the private investor group that has a letter of intent to inject $20 million of equity capital into the airline. That letter of intent will expire Dec. 8 if the definitive agreements among the parties are not in place.
DOT has assessed a civil penalty of $5,000 against Euram Flight Centre for violations in fare advertising regulations. DOT's Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings said Euram on several occasions promoted fares from U.S. gateways to European points in advertisements without adequately accounting for applicable taxes or fees. The ads appeared in several publications, including The Washington Post. In a small-print section separate from the listed price, the advertisements pointed out that taxes, fees and/or restrictions apply, said the enforcement office.
