American will establish 500 jobs for maintenance personnel in Tulsa as part of an Oklahoma state program that provides incentives for companies to create high-quality jobs. A decision to keep 16 727s it planned to retire, plus the need to maintain its maturing fleet of 650 aircraft, led the carrier to recall 400 furloughed mechanics last month, and it thinks an early-out provision in its Transport Workers Union contract will require it to hire yet another 450 over the next two years. American stresses that its fleet is not growing.
Tower Air has withdrawn its complaint against the government of India, saying it has received slots at Bombay, enabling it to operate two weekly flights. Tower had filed the complaint last month asserting that India was prohibiting it from operating a second weekly flight to Bombay (DAILY, Nov. 9). (Docket OST-95-803)
Continental Micronesia has asked for a five-year renewal of its Route 171 certificate authority to provide scheduled combination service between Guam and Tokyo. The carrier currently operates daily nonstop service on the route, supplemented by 10 weekly one-stop roundtrips via Saipan. All service is operated with DC-10 aircraft. (Docket 48238&OST-95-869)
Compagnie Nationale Air France, parent of the French flag carrier and Air Inter, posted a pre-tax profit of 176 million francs (US$36.08 million, at current exchange rates of about 4.8 francs per U.S. dollar) for the first six months of its 1995-96 fiscal year, compared with a loss of 857 million francs (US$175.7 million) a year ago. Chairman Christian Blanc nevertheless expects a loss of 1.7 billion-1.8 billion francs for the full year, partly because of the weak U.S. dollar. Results also will suffer from current labor unrest.
Delta Shuttle will begin offering $49 Saturday-only fares Dec. 2 on its New York-Boston and New York-Washington National shuttle flights. The prices are good through Jan. 27. Currently, the lowest shuttle fare is $77.
Air Canada launched yesterday a sales promotion offering reduced fares to more than 100 worldwide destinations. Under the promotion, the carrier is offering five "affordable fares," ranging from $199 to $999, on more than 38,000 flights to destinations across Canada, the U.S., the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The sale tickets can be acquired through Friday for travel between Jan. 15 and March 3 to most destinations. The sale ends Feb. 18, however, for flights to Antigua, Barbados, Nassau, St. Lucia, Florida, Honolulu, New Delhi and Tel Aviv.
Federal Express will receive special treatment from Taiwan authorities to facilitate its plan to develop an air cargo transshipment center at Chiang Kai-shek Airport, according to an official of the island's Ministry of Transportation as quoted by Taiwan's Central News Agency. According to the report, the ministry will coordinate with government aviation, customs, road and postal and telecommunications authorities to assist FedEx in negotiations over technical issues.
Delta is seeking renewal of its authority to operate scheduled combination service between the terminal points Atlanta and Manchester, England. The carrier operates seven roundtrips per week on the route, using L-1011 or other suitable aircraft depending on market conditions. (Docket OST-95- 866)
Continental has completed private placement of $225 million of 8.5% convertible trust originated preferred securities of a special purpose finance trust that are convertible into Class B common stock at an initial price of $48.36 per share. Proceeds will be used to redeem or repurchase $165 million in convertible secured debentures before Aug. 1, when they would have been convertible into Class B common stock at $26 per share. Continental also will prepay a $42 million note issued to Air Canada.
FAA said yesterday it has given a conditional rating to Colombia's civil aviation authority "after finding areas which do not meet international safety standards." FAA said it is "negotiating actively" with Colombian officials to "implement corrective measures. During these negotiations, limited operations by this country's air carriers to the U.S. are permitted under heightened FAA operations inspections and surveillance."
Rolls-Royce Aero Engine Services and Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. (HAECO) announced the formation yesterday of an aircraft engine overhaul company, to be based in Hong Kong. The 50-50 venture company will be known as Hong Kong Aero Engine Services (HAESL). HAECO will transfer its existing engine overhaul business at Kai Tak Airport to HAESL facilities at Tseung-Kwan-O.
Reno Air has applied for an operating certificate authorizing it to fly between any point in the U.S. and any point in Canada. Requesting an effective period of five years, Reno acknowledged that the certificate will be subject to the two- and three-year phase-in periods for service to Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Grant of the authority to Reno "will maximize the use of U.S. rights under the new U.S.-Canada Air Transport Agreement and enhance Reno Air's operating flexibility," the carrier said.
Kiwi International Air Lines is offering free travel in 1996 to passengers who fly between Dec. 1 and Dec. 17. Passengers will receive a form on the flight to fill out, attach to their boarding pass and receipt and mail in to Kiwi. The carrier will mail flight certificates to eligible passengers.
National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday the safety of commuter air carriers in Alaska could be improved by a better low-altitude instrument flight rules system that would reduce the number of fatal accidents caused by VFR flight into instrument conditions. Commuter pilot fatigue also is a "detriment to safety," the board said at a public meeting in Washington, where it gave the results of investigations into accidents, surveys of commercial pilots and operators, and public forums it convened in Alaska.
U.S. Major Carriers Pacific Share of Service Second Quarter 1995 Total Revenue Departures American 521 Delta 1,059 Northwest 5,741 United 5,574 Total 12,895 Average Number of Seats Per Departure American 244 Delta 253
The airport community should "publicly rebuke and isolate" Los Angeles Airport so airports in general "do not all get punished for the sins of Mayor [Richard] Riordan and his associates in Southern California," Air Transport Association President Carol Hallett said yesterday.
Lufthansa Group's revenues rose nearly 5% for the first nine months of 1995. Lufthansa said profits were higher than for the same 1994 period despite high currency exchange losses. "If currency rates had not spoiled our business performance, the higher output we achieved would have been reflected in a super result," Jurgen Weber, chairman of Lufthansa's executive board, said after announcing the results on Nov. 27. Turnover at the Lufthansa Group increased 4.7% to 14.2 billion Deutschmarks (US$10.2 billion, at current exchange rates of about DM1.4 per U.S.
USAir's plans to join forces with another airline, ranging from simple cooperation all the way up to an all-out merger, may be on the back burner for now but are not likely to stay there. Speaking yesterday to reporters following USAir Group Inc.'s annual stockholders meeting, Chairman Seth Schofield said the carrier has no bids before it and no scheduled talks with any suitor. He added, however, that he fully expects discussions on various options - not necessarily with American or United - as USAir positions itself for the long term.
Gulfstream International has taken delivery of two new Shorts 360 turbojets. One of the 36-seat airplanes will replace the 19-seat Beech 1990 on flights from Miami to Orlando and Key West today, and the other will operate to Tampa and Nassau in December. Gulfstream, a United code- sharing partner, will add three more Shorts 360s by mid summer.
Canadian Airlines International, stepping up competition for high-yield traffic, will introduce state-of-the-art business centers at its domestic airport locations in January. The new Empress Lounge Business Centers will offer individual workstations with personal computers, laser printers, fax machines, photocopiers and telecommunications lines for computers. At Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver, it will launch a pilot project offering Canadian Shuttle gateside business centers, beginning in December.
Northwest and United Parcel Service are seeking authority to operate new U.S.-Philippines all-cargo service. Northwest has applied to operate cargo flights between Anchorage and Manila, via Tokyo, and from Singapore to Manila, and beyond to Anchorage, via Tokyo. The carrier proposes operating a 747 all-cargo freighter on the service. Similarly, UPS wants to fly nonstop service between Anchorage and Manila, via intermediate points Seoul, Korea, and Taipei, Taiwan, and beyond points Singapore; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Taipei and Seoul.
Carnival Air Lines introduced a FunPass frequent flyer program based on points for routes rather than miles flown. Passengers can earn free air tickets for six transcontinental or 10 short-haul roundtrips. Other premiums are upgrades, half-price companion coupons, phone cards, restaurant discounts, hotel rooms and Carnival Cruise Line discounts.
Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-Ore.), chairman of the Appropriations Committee and its transportation subcommittee, is expected to announce as early as this week that he will retire from the Senate at the end of the current Congress. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is the probable successor as chairman of the full committee. Hatfield has served in the Senate since 1967 and is seventh in seniority.
Bankers Trust subsidiary BT Securities Corp. has hired Vivian Lee as VP and senior equity analyst covering transportation. Lee has been an airline analyst for NatWest Securities, and, prior to that, at Smith Barney.
