Negotiating late into the night in Delhi, U.S. and Indian officials hammered out a new agreement Friday, according to a U.S. industry official. The accord comes after earlier contentious rounds of negotiations broke off without an agreement, jeopardizing planned service by U.S. carriers and sparking formal complaints against the government of India from Northwest, United, Delta and Tower. The latter two carriers dropped their complaints last week. The new agreement will enable United to begin Delhi flights this month as part of its round-the-world service.
Iberia's expectation of receiving a 130 billion peseta (about US$1.04 billion) government rescue package tilted closer toward fulfillment Friday as the European Commission pushed off until this week a decision on the action. "We're no longer talking about state aid," said an EC official. The commission no longer believes the carrier is floundering near extinction. Instead, the EC now believes the airline can attract private and public investment, according to an industry source.
The 1995 Atlantic hurricane season, which wreaked havoc with tourism in the Caribbean and caused substantial damage in Florida and Mexico, was the second most active in 125 years, according to the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center. There were 19 tropical storms during the year, 11 of them classified as hurricanes, and they caused an estimated $5.2 billion in damage in the U.S. alone. Five of the hurricanes were classified as Category 3, with winds of 111 miles per hour or greater.
Interactive Flight Technologies has completed installation of a digital video-on-demand inflight entertainment system on an Alitalia MD-11. The aircraft will be used on flights between Rome and Chicago and Los Angeles. After a 90-day test, Alitalia may commit to install systems on seven more aircraft. Las Vegas-based IFT has opened corporate offices in New York City.
The American Bar Association will conduct its 1996 Forum on Air&Space Law, titled "Charting the Next Course," on Jan. 25 in Washington. Featured speakers will be Anne Bingaman of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division and Rep. William Lipinski (D-Ill), the new ranking member of the House Aviation subcommittee.
Boeing, in the second month of its Machinists strike, began wing and fuselage assembly Friday for the first of its three next-generation 737 models. The 55-foot-long left front wing spar for the 737-700, manufactured at the Boeing Fabrication Division, Auburn, Wash., was loaded into assembly position at the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group plant in Renton, Wash. The first parts for the fuselage were loaded for assembly at the company's plant in Wichita, Kan. The first 737-700 is scheduled for delivery in October 1997, to launch customer Southwest.
Many Air France ground workers joined other transportation employees Friday on Paris Orly Airport runways in strikes against French austerity measures, according to news reports from Paris. Strikes by other industries are planned later this month. The strikers blocked two runways at Orly for more than 90 minutes and damaged them by setting fires.
Honduras's four international airports were closed for a few hours Friday when air traffic controllers went on a short strike to demand 100% pay raises, according to an Associated Press report from Tegucigalpa. The government responded by agreeing to negotiate, and the strike was halted. The report said controllers average US$500 a month. Continental and American serve Honduras. The airports affected are in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba and the island of Roatan.
Granted orally an exemption to SAETA to co-terminalize operations at Los Angeles with those at Miami...Granted orally an exemption to American to integrate its authority to serve London on Routes 4887 and 602 with its rights to serve Zurich on Route 137.
Boeing delivered 11 airliners during November, the second month of the walkout by its roughly 32,500 machinists. This is three fewer than in October, but the company still is four airplanes ahead of its pace during the last strike, six years ago, when it managed to ship only 21 aircraft in October and November.
The recent slowdown in cargo traffic growth dipped below zero in October. Total air cargo was down 1% last month from October 1994, the first decrease since November 1992, according to the Air Transport Association. Both freight and express package traffic fell off.
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.
