Three Caribbean-based airlines have chosen the mainframe hosting and related services of computer reservations system Worldspan Travel Information Services. Cardinal Airlines crossed over to the Worldspan mainframe in October, Caribair will do so in December and Dolphin Express follows in the first quarter of 1996.
Infini Travel Information has implemented its Direct Sell product at Swissair and Austrian Airlines. Direct Sell enables instantaneous communications with the host system each time a flight is booked. The two airlines also plan to implement the advance seat reservation with seat map display function by the end of January.
Business Express has already sold 50% of the seats on its new seasonal Minneapolis/St. Paul-Aspen service, scheduled to begin Dec. 15 and run through March 31. The Portsmouth, N.H.-based Delta Connection/Northwest Airlink carrier will operate two roundtrips daily to the ski resort, using its 70-passenger Avro 70 quadjet. The carrier disputed reports that the service had been canceled with the arrival of new Chairman and Chief Executive Bob Martens, the former AMR Eagle president, who will be on the BizEx property next week to meet employees for the first time.
Thomson Training&Simulation said its Orbit Flight Training subsidiary will be the sole external suppler of Boeing 777 simulator time for British Airways pilots. Thomson said BA has agreed to place with Orbit all its 777 simulator training it does not provide using its own equipment. The Orbit simulator, the sixth 777 unit Thomson has built, is scheduled to enter service early next year at East Midlands Airport in Derby. It will be the first 777 simulator provided by an independent training center in Europe, Orbit said.
U.S. and Japan wrapped up their second round of cargo talks in Washington yesterday. The discussions were amicable, said a DOT spokesman. The two sides agreed to meet again in late January, but no firm dates were set. The goal is an agreement by March.
New Jet Aircraft Deliveries September 1995 Last 12 Months Carrier # Type Engines Delivery Air Nippon 1 737-500 CFM56-3C1 2 Alitalia 2 A321-100 CFM56-5B2 3 All Nippon 1 A320-200 CFM56-5A1 4 American Trans Air 1 757-200 RB211-535E4 1
Coastal Jet has applied for a certificate to operate interstate, foreign and charter passenger service. Based in New Roads, La., Coastal proposes plane load charter service within the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean and Central and South America. The carrier is targeting the tourist industry, planning to enter into contractual agreements for one-year periods. Secondary markets include sports entities, casinos and the U.S. government, said Coastal, adding that it plans to begin operations with one leased 727- 200. (Docket OST-95-886)
Bombardier Aerospace Group-North America selected AlliedSignal Aerospace to provide the integrated electrical power system for the de Havilland Dash 8 Series 400 regional aircraft. The contract calls for AlliedSignal to supply AC and DC generators and controls, AC and DC distribution equipment and fixed frequency inverters, and other equipment. AlliedSignal Aerospace Canada's facility in Toronto will produce the electrical distribution panels and be responsible for program management and systems integration.
DOT has ordered MarkAir Express to continue scheduled service at Atka and Umnak Island (Nikolski), Alaska, through Dec. 26 or until further department action, whichever occurs first. The carrier informed the department in August of its intent to suspend the essential air service (DAILY, Aug. 4). However, DOT prohibited the carrier from terminating the service for 30 days beyond its 90-day notice period or through Nov. 25 and requested proposals for replacement service.
FAA is denying support for an ILS at Fayetteville, Ark., Drake Field, citing development of the new Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. Drake Field, meanwhile, offers 36 regional airline departures each business day - 17 to Dallas Fort Worth, seven each to St. Louis and Memphis and five to Kansas City - with no precision approach. The city wants a glide slope installed with the current localizer because "our commuter airline schedules are regularly impacted negatively by not having an approach aid that provides low minimums," according to Mayor Fred Hanna...
Canadian Airlines International said yesterday its October traffic increased 7.4% over that of the same month in 1994, from 1.15 million revenue passenger miles to 1.23 million. Capacity increased faster, however - by 10.4%, to 1.86 million available seat miles - so the load factor fell 1.8 percentage points to 66.1%. Don Casey, VP of capacity planning, noted that October was "the fifth month in a row with significantly improved year-over-year traffic."
...Administrator David Hinson, entering the fray, told the Northwest Arkansas Times that expansion of the airport is constrained by approach and terrain limitations, arguing that the "addition of an ILS still would not increase substantially airport safety." At the same time, Hinson noted that opponents of the new airport claim "that some sort of political fix is on. Nothing could be further from the truth." He told the newspaper the controversial new airport had bipartisan support and that "the FAA's involvement in the development...has been done by the book."
Fast-growing Gulfstream International Airlines has become the latest regional airline to sign on with the ReArm revenue management service, ReArm reported. ReArm is a subsidiary of College Park, Md.-based BehavHeuristics, Inc. Miami Springs, Fla.-based Gulfstream operates 180 daily departures to 22 airports with a fleet of 21 aircraft. It announced the acquisition of two Shorts 360 aircraft this week (DAILY, Nov. 29). The first customer for the ReArm service was Plattsburgh, N.Y.-based USAir Express affiliate CommutAir.
Worldwide Airline Customer Relations Association will hold its 50th annual conference Oct. 1-4, 1996, in Minneapolis. Northwest will host the meeting. For more information, call Ardette Matasovsky at Northwest, 612- 726-6075.
The DAILY reported Nov. 3 that Mesaba parent AirTran Corp.'s attempt to start a low-fare jet carrier, AirTran Airways, on the East Coast was an "abortive attempt." The terminology was used to describe AirTran Corp.'s relations with partner Northwest and its pilots, who claimed the new jet carrier violated the union contract scope clause. Air TranCorp.
Regional airline load factors continued to edge higher in October as traffic growth stayed ahead of capacity increases. A sampling of 14 airlines produced an average load factor of 49.3%. The sampling ranged from a low of 43.1% for Business Express to a high of 59.8% for Horizon Air. Six of the 14 carriers had load factors above 50%, which generally is regarded as healthy within the industry.
Avions de Transport Regional (ATR) and Thai Airways International have signed an agreement too install an Asian ATR training center on Thai's premises in Bangkok. The center, due to open in September next year, will be equipped with a level D Full Flight Simulator (6 axes) made by Thomson Training&Simulation. The simulator, which can be used for training on ATR 42-300, -400 and -500 and ATR 72-200 and -210 aircraft, is identical to a simulator that will be installed at ATR's Toulouse, France, training center.
Delta and its Air Line Pilots Association leaders appear to have made a breakthrough in negotiations on the company's proposal to increase flying with 100-seat aircraft. Only a few days ago, the union said significant differences remained, specifically on pay rates. But Delta's negotiators said yesterday they made good progress this week and an agreement is likely. Larger differences appear to persist on job security and scope provisions.
Members of the Canadian Auto Workers union have ratified a new collective agreement with Canadian Airlines International that will reduce the airline's costs without laying off employees or cutting back wages. When fully implemented, the 38-month pact will reduce costs by more than C$17 million a year, Canadian said. "The CAW ratification means Canadian Airlines is more than half way toward our overall goal for productivity improvements," said Kevin Grayson, senior VP-human resources and corporate development at Canadian.
Hamilton Standard-Nauka, the joint-venture company formed by Hamilton Standard of the U.S. and NPO Nauka of Russia, held open house yesterday at its new facility in Moscow, where it has begun production of environmental control units for civil transport aircraft. It will ship the first units by the end of the year to Tupolev for use on the 214-passenger Tu-204 and the 102-passenger Tu-334. The facility employs about 35 people and plans to add more workers as the market develops during the next several years.
Northwest has promoted Phil Haan to senior VP-international responsible for Pacific and Atlantic marketing and country establishments. He also will be in charge of international pricing and yield management. Haan has led the Northwest/KLM alliance joint venture operating committee and the Pacific revenue team. Tim Griffin, senior VP-market planning and systems, will assume responsibility for domestic pricing, yield management and area marketing.
New Aircraft Orders And Options September 1995 Last 12 Months Firm Orders Options Orders Options Carrier # Type # Type Engines Del. Dates # Type # Type PW4084 All Nippon 10 777-300 - (1x4074) - 0 0 Asiana1 1 767-300ER - CF6-80C2 Oct 95 0 0
British Airways is offering a "winter fling" to London starting at $579. The price includes roundtrip airfare and three nights' hotel accommodation. The Taste of London package runs from Jan. 1 through March 31. The price is based on departure from Washington Dulles, and additional prices are offered from all of BA's 19 U.S. gateways and USAir's code-share cities. Six-night packages range from $669 to $1,359.
