Daimler-Benz has approved plans of its subsidiary, Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA), to proceed with a restructuring centered on eliminating 8,800 jobs by the end of 1998. The cutback follows a $1.1 billion loss in the first half of this year and the continuing weakness of the dollar - DASA's big problem is its sales are in dollars but it must pay most of its costs in Deutschmarks.
The Caribbean Commonwealth of Dominica this week became the 19th Caribbean destination to receive service by American Eagle, which launched a schedule of four weekly round-trips between San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the island nation. Eagle VP-Marketing Joel Chusid said, "We recognize that there is enormous interest in Dominica as an eco-tourism destination." Dominica lies southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Chusid pointed out that tourists formerly reached the nation by flying
Laker Airways has asked DOT to waive certain economic regulations connected with its certificate application for scheduled and charter combination service. The waiver would enable it to start selling seats to tour operators for charter flights directly after the issuance of the certificate show cause order. If approved, the carrier plans to start operating service between New Orleans and Fort Lauderdale Dec. 15, using Boeing 727-200 aircraft, and transatlantic charter passenger service with three DC-10-30s (DAILY, Oct. 30).
BFGoodrich Aerospace Avionics Systems promoted Shelly Buckley sales representative to original equipment manufacturers for the business and general aviation markets.
Excalibur Airways, a U.K. holiday charter airline, may be acquired by Edinburgh-based Globespan, according to reports from London. Excalibur said its joint owners - 3i Group, Air Malta and Excalibur's directors - have reached an agreement for an undisclosed amount. Excalibur operates five 180-seat A320 aircraft and carried 700,000 passengers last year and through the summer. It is planning to lease two DC-10s next spring, and Globespan, a long-haul tour operator, said it has decided the DC-10 fits in with its expansion plans.
Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels&Resorts is providing information and pictures of its 29 hotels and resorts in Asia, China and Canada on the Internet. The World Wide Web site is http://www.Shangri-La.com. To encourage Web users to access its pages, Shangri-La is giving away a trip for two on Cathay Pacific to a hotel in Hong Kong and Bangkok in a drawing among consumers who fill out an interactive questionnaire. Contest deadline is Dec. 31.
American Society of Travel Agents' non-profit subsidiary, the ASTA Disaster Recovery Fund, has collected nearly $8,000 to aid the Caribbean in recovering from recent hurricanes. The fund helps to rebuild travel and tourism in areas hit by natural disasters through donations to relief organizations.
DOT Administrative Law Judge Burton Kolko found last week that certain 1995-96 costs contained in disputed Los Angeles Airport landing fees are unreasonable and ordered a roughly $7.2 million refund to tenant airlines. The charges within the $2.06-per-thousand-pounds landing fee that Kolko found unreasonable were used for fire and police services, airport debt service and accounting errors.
Coincidence? Saab Aircraft says it ain't so, but it is interesting that Bob Martens, former president of AMR Eagle, has taken over as chairman of Business Express, where the Swedish manufacturer has a huge investment in Model 340 aircraft, the same aircraft Martens oversaw at Eagle. He follows Bryan Bedford as CEO. Bedford, a reputed financial 'Mr. Fix-It,' is credited with turning around 340-operator Phoenix Airline Services, dba Express
Ramp, Operations and Provisioning Association (ROPA) members at Southwest have voted by a margin of three-to-one in favor of a new collective bargaining agreement. The five-year contract covers 3,400 fleet service workers at the carrier. Jim Wimberly, Southwest VP of ground operations, said the contract, which became amendable about 11 months ago, is mutually beneficial to the airline and union.
Sabreliner named Stephen Townes president of subsidiary DynAir Tech; appointed Patrick Kasate program manager and Kenneth Smillie deputy program manager for the C-20 contractor logistics support program. Kendall Aschenbrenner was promoted to project scheduler for the same program.
President Clinton is expected to settle the issue of Global Positioning System signal accuracy this week. The National Security Council and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy are co-chairing an interagency working group, which includes Defense Department and DOT representatives, to develop a presidential directive. The House aviation subcommittee has scheduled a hearing on the issue Thursday, at which DOT- DOD differences could flare up.
American Airlines Cargo traffic totaled 179.9 million ton miles in October, down 3.3% from October 1994. Freight ton miles were down 3.8% to 145.4 million and mail ton miles fell 1% to 34.5 million. Dallas Sherman, VP- marketing and customer support, said lingering effects of hurricanes in the Caribbean and Mexican Gulf affected traffic, as did a soft domestic economy. International traffic remains strong, he said.
KLM Cargo appointed Sjaak Hofstra operations and marketing director- Cargo Service Holdings and Monique Gerrits regional sales director-Benelux, U.K. and Ireland.
Granted orally an exemption to Heavylift-VolgaDnepr to operate two one-way emergency cabotage cargo charter flights between Wilmington, Ohio, and Seattle, using Russian-registered Antonov 124 aircraft Nov. 15-30.
Holiday Inn's Internet site now features a board game called Travel Buff, designed to test users' knowledge of world travel, with heavy emphasis on information about Holiday Inns and their locations. Travel Buff has 1,600 questions that are updated every four months. The game can be found at http://www.holiday-inn.com.
Travel and Tourism Research Association is calling for papers and posters in support of its annual conference, to be held June 16-19 in Las Vegas. The event's theme will be "It's Showtime for Tourism: New Products, Markets and Technologies." For more information, call TTRA at 303-940- 6557.
Kiwi International Air Lines, as of Sept. 30, had reduced its net loss by $16 million over the like 1994 period to a net loss of $864,486. In a 10-Q filing at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the carrier said although it is current in payments to Pegasus Aircraft Partners and two airport authorities, it owes $1.9 million in taxes to the IRS, $165,000 in interest and $535,000 in penalties.
BE Aerospace said its Seating Products Division has been awarded $33 million in new business from Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines and United. JAL signed a letter of intent to buy business-class seats for 44 of its 747 and MD-11 aircraft, with deliveries beginning in May. Singapore Airlines ordered business- and tourist-class seats for 17 Airbus A340 aircraft, with deliveries to begin this month. United signed a letter of intent for first-class seats on 20 747s.
European Commission approval of the Lufthansa-SAS marketing alliance hinges on safeguards against anticompetitiveness, and no less a figure than Karel Van Miert, commissioner with responsibility for competition, predicts a green light. The key, as in Swissair-Sabena earlier, will be opening up access to the applicants' home markets and making sure their alliances with other carriers, combined with the new one, will not squash competition.
Granted orally an exemption to TAP Air Portugal renewing its authority to carry individual waybilled cargo on passenger charter flights between Boston and Ponta Delgada, Azores.
One financial analyst believes the Machinists strike against Boeing will be good for airlines. Since aircraft on order will not be delivered on schedule, "capacity will be tight and earnings high," says Gruntal's Steve Lewins. The strike will not hurt Boeing much, either, since it was producing below capacity anyway, Lewins says. The strike will pull the Boeing production trough expected next year into 1995, he says. (See story on Page 306 of the hard copy of this issue.)
