Philadelphia posted the greatest growth in the number of departures of U.S. travelers to international destinations in 1994, according to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration. A total of 165,556 U.S. citizens made trips abroad from the city, up 257% from 1993. Overall, U.S. citizen departures to overseas destinations in 1994 grew 6% to more than 18 million, with New York Kennedy Airport providing the greatest number, more than 4.3 million.
A draft advisory on undocumented parts issued last week by FAA calls for certificate holders to establish and rely on an "incoming receiving inspection system" for all parts and materials "received and presently in inventories." FAA said this inspection system should "separate documented from undocumented or questionable parts in a manner that eliminates the probability of unacceptable parts being installed on products." The system "should be documented in a procedures manual accepted by the FAA," the agency said.
Duff&Phelps Credit Rating Co. (DCR) Friday assigned an AA- rating to International Lease Finance Corp.'s $100 million 6.25% senior note offering. The rating reflects ILFC's status as a major international aircraft operating lessor, its strong record of profitability, widely diversified aircraft portfolio and experienced management team, DCR said. The financial strength and support of ILFC's parent company, American International Group, also was cited by DCR as an important component of the rating.
Denver International Airport, with its triple parallel runway configuration, has an air traffic delay rate of about 0.4%, according to FAA's latest report card on the new $4.3 billion airport. The report, issued last week by FAA, said that in the first six months of operations - Feb. 28-Aug. 28 - the new airport logged 241,200 takeoffs and landings with only 1,030 delays. The old Stapleton Airport had a 2.4% delay rate for the same period in 1994. Compared with other airports, Denver fared twice as well as Minneapolis-St.
Alaska Airlines and partner Horizon Air will expand electronic ticketing to customers Oct. 11 by offering it from Seattle to San Francisco, San Jose and Portland. The carriers will be offering ticketless travel in seven markets on that day, and expect a systemwide rollout later this fall.
A combination of USAir with either United or American would give the surviving carrier the dominant position at the country's four slot- controlled airports, assuming the merged entity was not forced to sell off any slots. As of summer 1995, United had 864 domestic slots at the four airports, followed by American with 804 and USAir with 448, according to Avitas. USAir has more domestic slots at New York LaGuardia than United and American combined, and nearly twice as many at Washington National than the other two combined.
DOT has approved Fine Airlines' request to extend for the fourth time the statutory deadline for action on its complaint against the government of Ecuador and Aeroservicios Ecuatorianos (AECA). The department has agreed to defer action on the complaint until Nov. 7, 1995.
Boeing said it delivered 51 jetliners in the quarter ended Sept. 30. The deliveries comprised 25 737s, four 747s, 12 757s, eight 767s and two 777s. For the first nine months, deliveries totaled 170 - 80 737s, 20 747s, 39 757s, 24 767s and seven 777s. One non-commercial 767 was delivered in the third quarter. It was the second of four that will be modified with the Advance Warning And Control System (AWACS) for the government of Japan.
- Granted orally an exemption to DHL Airways to operate scheduled all- cargo services between Cincinnati and New York, on the one hand, and the co-terminal points London and Brussels, on the other, with local traffic rights between London and Brussels...Granted orally an exemption to Philippine Airlines renewing its authority to serve Saipan as an additional point on service authorized by Route 2 of its foreign air carrier permit...Granted orally an exemption to Finnair renewing its exemption to conduct scheduled combination service between Helsinki, Finland, and San Fr
American's systemwide passenger rose 2.7% last month on 1.4% more available seat miles, pushing the airline's load factor up 0.9 percentage points to 64.6%. The number of passengers boarded declined 4.8%, however. The carrier's domestic traffic declined 1.6% on 2.5% less capacity, while international traffic jumped 12.2% on 11.8% more capacity. "September was a relatively strong traffic month for American, even with the impact of hurricanes on our Caribbean operation," said Michael Gunn, senior VP- marketing.
Machinists union members at Boeing, on strike as of midnight Thursday, have a considerably weaker hand than they did six years ago when the union last walked out, suggesting the labor dispute will last days rather than months, financial analysts and company executives said Friday. Low production volume diminishes the pain inflicted on the company by the job action. The lack of real opposition to the heart of the Boeing proposal rejected Oct.
British Airways, arguing for construction of Terminal 5 (T5) at London Heathrow, recently presented to a public inquiry an exchange of letters between BA Chairman Colin Marshall and Boeing Chairman Frank Shrontz in which Shrontz confirmed that developing new, larger variants of the 747 for service entry in 2000 are high priorities for the manufacturer. The combination of larger airplanes and T5 would increase Heathrow's capacity to 80 million passengers a year from 50 million without the need for a third runway, BA said.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic First Quarter 1995 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) American 3,352 8.03 2,025 6,788,852 Atlantic 670 4.53 4,155 2,783,061
DOT Secretary Federico Pe a and FAA Administrator David Hinson were in Dallas-Fort Worth Friday for the commission of a $5 million Terminal Doppler Weather Radar. They then traveled to Denver for the commissioning Saturday of a Voice Switching and Control System. The VSCS has now been commissioned at Seattle, Salt Lake City, and Denver, with the next at Atlanta at monthend.
The International Civil Aviation Organization Assembly has directed the ICAO Council to intensify efforts to develop the organization's strategic action plan to improve effectiveness, transparency and accountability.
Korean Air will reduce the frequency of its Seoul-Los Angeles service to three times a week from the current four with the implementation of its winter schedule on Oct. 29. At the same time, KAL is dropping its Seoul- Honolulu-Los Angeles flight but will continue to operate 10 flights a week between Seoul and Honolulu. KAL's four-times-weekly San Francisco-Seoul service will be changed to a fixed departure time. The flight currently departs at different times on different days.
Lufthansa Chairman J rgen Weber, responding to reports that United could scrap its alliance deal with the German carrier if it acquires British Airways partner USAir, said Friday, "Our relationship with United is so deeply routed and continues to bring both sides such great advantages that there is no wish to change it." A Lufthansa spokesman confirmed that Weber talked with United Chairman Gerald Greenwald last week and that Greenwald assured him the United-Lufthansa alliance is secure.
After numerous delays, JetTrain, formerly AirTrain, is training pilots in preparation to launch one-class DC-9 service in northeastern U.S. markets shortly after gaining FAA certification, said a company spokesman. The Aliquippa, Pa.-based carrier changed its name to avoid confusion with AirTran and because "the new name more clearly identifies what we're doing," JetTrain President James Davis told The DAILY.
House Transportation aviation subcommittee is looking at moving FAA reform legislation around the end of October or the beginning of November. The panel on Oct. 11 will hear views on the legislation from DOT/FAA, the Defense Department, airlines, business aviation, aircraft manufacturers, airports and flight attendants.
KLM Cargo has appointed Sjaak Hofstra, previously regional sales director Benelux, U.K. and Ireland, its new operations and marketing director, Cargo Service Center Holdings at Schiphol. He will be responsible for the operations of the more than 50 Cargo Service Centers operating around the world, and for the coordination of marketing activities. Also, Monique Gerrits has been named to succeed Hofstra as regional director sales for Benelux, U.K. and Ireland.
DOT has approved Aero California's application to operate scheduled combination service between Hermosillo, Mexico, and Tucson, Ariz. The carrier said it plans to begin service on the route on Nov. 1, using DC-9 aircraft (DAILY, Oct. 4). (Docket OST-95-696)
Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) has expressed an interest in re-examining international aviation policy issues following the next round of U.S.-U.K. talks this month.
Mercury Air Group's board declared its regular quarterly dividend on common stock of one cent per share. The dividend is to be paid on Nov. 1 to shareholders of record on Oct. 18. This is the fourth consecutive regular cash dividend declared by Mercury, which is a provider of petroleum products, cargo and aviation services to international and domestic commercial airlines, general aviation and U.S. government aircraft.
Delta's Air Line Pilots Association unit, in mediated collective bargaining contract talks with the company, says it removed an offer for a 5% pay cut from its counterproposal Thursday in light of recent developments and management's stance on key issues, but it remains committed to reaching a timely agreement. The union received some marketing details on Delta's proposed plan to expand in the 100-seat market and expects to get more financial data this week.
