Alaska Airlines will name its new ticketless travel system Instant Travel, or IT. Alaska originally intended to call the program Wings, but other companies own that name. Look for Alaska advertising with slogans like "Have you tried IT?"
United plans to pour capacity into Hawaii from the mainland and Japan at the request of Hawaiian officials, adding nearly 9,000 weekly seats by July. United said it will undertake a multi-million- dollar program to reconfigure 10 747s from a three-class configuration to two classes. The airplanes will have 42 first-class seats and 408 economy seats. Some of the 747s will replace 287-seat DC-10-10s and 298-seat DC-10-30s.
Proposed to revise the applicability of an AD on certain Fairchild SA226 and SA227 series aircraft requiring relocation of the essential bus current limiters to the battery bus.
Tower Air's scheduled passenger traffic rose 22.4% last month from September a year ago on 9% more capacity, boosting its load factor 7.9 percentage points to 73.2%. The number of passengers boarded rose 20%, and total block hours flown were up 17.6% to 3,709. Tower attributed the gains to its commercial and military charters, and to increased scheduled passenger service in international markets, including resumption of service to Sao Paulo and a new route between New York and Bombay.
AirTran Airways has reduced fares in selected city-pairs from Orlando, Fla., by about $20 for travel Nov. 1-Feb. 15. Tickets must be purchased by Oct. 29.
Proposed an AD on Pratt&Whitney JT9D-7R4 series engines requiring the replacement of third-, fourth- and fifth-stage, low-pressure turbine vane retention bolts and nuts, and the removal of the fifth-stage vane con- figuration for replacement of an electro-discharge machined slot with a cast slot.
Teleflex Inc. and GE Aircraft Engines have agreed to form a joint venture to repair commercial aircraft engine fan blades and compressor airfoils. Expected to start operations at the end of 1995, the new company, Airfoil Technologies International, will combine the relevant repair and engineering expertise of Sermatech, a Teleflex subsidiary, and GE to develop and implement performance-enhancing repairs for airline and turbine engine overhaul customers.
Issued an AD on certain Raytheon Hawker 1000 and BAe 125-1000A series aircraft requiring an inspection to detect damage to an electrical cable loom, and tying back the loom with a cable tie to the cable loom support bracket.
Granted orally an exemption to Air Micronesia's bid for authority to operate between Guam and Manila and beyond Manila to Taipei, Taiwan/Seoul, Korea/Singapore/Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia/Jakarta, Indonesia. The carrier stated that all flight operations under the authority will be conducted under direction, control and responsibility of Continental Micronesia.
Proposed an AD on AlliedSignal (formerly Textron Lycoming) LTS101 series turboshaft and LTP101 series turboprop engines requiring the identification and replacement of certain defective power turbine rotors.
Superseded an AD on certain de Havilland Dash 6 series aircraft, providing for modifications to terminate the current requirement for repetitive inspections for cracking of the tailplane outboard hinge assembly.
Granted orally an exemption to Nippon Cargo Airlines to operate scheduled all-cargo service between the terminal point Osaka, Japan, ant the co-terminal points Chicago and New York.
Southwest has slashed 21-day advance purchase fares to $19 in some markets on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The fares include Los Angeles- Oakland, normally $69 for the walk-up fare, and Chicago-Cleveland, normally $77. "These fares are so low, you just gotta go," said Dave Ridley, VP- marketing and sales. Tickets must be purchased by Nov. 7 for travel Nov. 10-April 5. The fares are not available from Orange County, Calif.
Adopted an AD on Lockheed L-1011-385 series aircraft requiring an inspection to detect evidence of sealant around the lug bushing flanges of certain actuator attach pin assemblies of the main landing gear, and replacement of the pin assembly if no sealant is present.
FAA and the Secret Service are investigating an incident Friday morning in which an aircraft carrying the governor of Ohio took off from Ohio State University Airport without air traffic clearance minutes after the Secret Service had closed the airport. According to information released by FAA Friday afternoon, a temporary flight restriction, effective 9:30 a.m., was put in place at Ohio State University, where President Clinton was speaking. Air traffic control still was permitting traffic to arrive and depart OSU Airport, but at 10 a.m.
ValuJet has yet to reveal its third and fourth focus cities, but Chairman Robert Priddy hinted Friday at a number of possibilities.He said the airline has done very well in the Orlando/Tampa area, the introduction of Boston service has been phenomenal, the geography of Raleigh/Durham is attractive, and Columbus, Ohio, has been very strong.
Granted orally an exemption to Aero California to engage in scheduled combination service between the co-terminal points Loreto and San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, and the terminal point Los Angeles; Culiacan, Mexico, and Los Angeles; Hermosillo, Mexico, and Los Angeles; La Paz, Mexico, and Los Angeles; Manzanillo, Mexico, and Los Angeles, and San Jose del Cabo and Phoenix.
After extensive testing in the South Pacific, FAA has begun operational trials of the Future Air Navigation System (FANS-1) oceanic data link at its Oakland, Calif., air route traffic control center. The oceanic data link uses for the first time two-way satellite communications to provide direct pilot-to-controller communications over oceans and other remote areas that are normally out of range of ground-based radar. Under the current system, controllers rely on position reports radioed periodically from pilots and relayed by ground-based systems.
Granted orally an exemption to LanChile to wet-lease equipment to Aerotransportes Mas de Carga for operation of Mas de Carga's scheduled, all-cargo services between the co-terminal points Mexico City and Cancun, Mexico, and the terminal point Miami and between Mexico City and Los Angeles.
Adopted an AD on British Aerospace BAe-146 and Avro 146-RJ series aircraft requiring inspections to detect damaged and missing surface protective finish, corrosion and cracking on the servo tab brackets and the trim tab drive brackets of the aileron.
