Lone Star, which recently initiated Dornier 328 service between Dallas/Fort Worth and Hermosillo, Mexico, is seeking a code-sharing agreement with American to help support the service. The route is heavily linked to Ford and the automotive industry.
Gary Adams, director of the Arizona Division of Aeronautics, was elected 1995-1996 president of the National Association of State Aviation Officials. He succeeds Gary Ness, director of the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic January 1995 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) Alaska 683 19.70 861 587,853 Aloha 398 (2.63) 136 54,244
AT&T has joined the LatinPass frequent flyer program, offering its True Rewards customers flying to Latin America the opportunity to earn airline miles with long distance calls made through its network.
Varig's August passenger traffic fell 4.9% from a year ago to 2.02 billion revenue passenger kilometers. The number of passengers declined 7.2% to 782,502, and cargo traffic fell 2.1% to 101.2 million freight tonne kilometers. Through the first eight months, passenger traffic increased 3.4% to 15.52 billion RPKs and passenger enplanements gained 5% to 6.26 million. Cargo traffic rose 17.1% to 881.3 million FTKs.
TriStar Airlines, the Las Vegas-based startup specializing in carrying Asian tourists from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, will begin Los Angeles-Aspen service Dec. 15 with BAe 146 equipment. The carrier will offer one nonstop flight on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, departing LAX at 9 a.m. and Aspen at 1:15 p.m. The carrier has scrubbed earlier plans to operate Dallas-Aspen service. Aspen service will be operated in conjunction with Aspen-based Peak International, which had contemplated launching its own airline.
Northwest's VP-corporate communications, Mark Abels, is leaving the airline to pursue other interests, seeking a position with a better chance of advancement to senior management. He joined Northwest in 1991.
Airline on-time flight performance statistics for selected U.S. cities are available online on the Bureau of Transportation Statistics' (BTS) Home Page, DOT said. The data are compiled by the Office of Airline Information, which was transferred recently to BTS. The report covers nonstop scheduled flights between points within the U.S. and its territories by the 10 largest U.S. carriers - Alaska, American, America West, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, TWA, USAir and United.
Air Canada is expanding its Rapidair shuttle service between Montreal and Toronto with the addition of extra early-morning flights and more Boeing 767 widebody capacity. The expansion comes in response to an increase in demand and the success of the 6:30 a.m. flight, launched Sept. 11. The new service will boost Air Canada's Montreal-Toronto flights to as many as 61 per day. The Montreal-Toronto corridor is the busiest air route in Canada. Effective Monday, Air Canada will offer flights from Montreal at 6:30 a.m. and 6:40 a.m.
Ava Robinson has been appointed special assistant to Thomas McSweeny, FAA director of aircraft certification service. Formerly manager of the Policy an Procedures Branch of FAA, Robinson succeeds Dan Salvano, who was recently named director of the Aircraft Certification Service, Rotorcraft Directorate, in FAA's Southwest Region.
All Nippon Airways has applied to Japan's Ministry of Transport for authority to operate two weekly Osaka Kansai-Rome roundtrips, starting Dec. 21. ANA is planning to use Boeing 747LRs configured for 360 seats and two classes of service. Rome would be ANA's second European destination from Osaka. ANA is scheduled to launch service between Osaka and London Oct. 31. Rome is the third most popular European destination for Japanese travelers, said ANA. Passenger traffic in the market has risen 10% a year over the past five years.
Vietnam Airlines has placed an order for two Fokker 70 jetliners in what Fokker described as a breakthrough transaction for the manufacturer. The order is the first step in a re-equipping program for the carrier's fleet of 12 Soviet-made Tupolev 134s. Both aircraft, in a 79-seat arrangement, will be delivered in the second quarter of 1996.
Brazilian manufacturer Embraer should diversify to counter the volatility of the regional aviation and military markets, according to founder and former Chief Executive Ozires Silva. In an exclusive interview to be published in DAILY affiliate Business&Commercial Aviation, Ozires suggested the recently privatized company look at space - "Why not? The company is at a good technological level." He also cited a booming deregulated telecommunications market, both civil and military aircraft refurbishment and management of the Amazon supervision project.
Officials at Denver Airport are considering whether to move some carriers temporarily from Concourse C to A to relieve congestion in the airport's passenger train system. The proposed move, effective until more train cars are delivered, would get people out of the trains and onto a passenger bridge to Concourse A. Non-signatory carriers Midwest Express, MarkAir and Sun Country Airlines are the best candidates for the move, Denver attorney Lee Mirable told The DAILY.
Northwest Airlink Mesaba Aviation will inaugurate Minneapolis/St. Paul-Winnipeg service Oct. 4, the carrier announced this week. The service, one roundtrip per day with 37-passenger Dash 8-100 aircraft, will be in addition to Northwest service between the two cities. The new route brings to 57 the number of airports served by Mesaba in 16 states and two Canadian provinces.
Czech aircraft manufacturer LET has named the U.S. subsidiary of AeroTec GmbH its "master distributor" in the Western Hemisphere for the 19- passenger L-410/420 regional turboprop. The aircraft - the backbone of Soviet Aeroflot's regional fleet for many years - is being billed as a replacement for the de Havilland Twin Otter, which is out of production. The price is $1.2 million-$2 million, compared with $4.1 million for the Dornier 228, which also carries 19 passengers and is non-pressurized.
The Canadair Regional Jets recently ordered by Austrian carrier Tyrolean Airways will be the first powered by General Electric Aircraft Engines' new CF34-3B1 engines, the latest in the CF34 line. Tyrolean has ordered four firm and four option RJs, with delivery to begin in December.
DOT has found Papillon Airways, operating as Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters or Papillon II, fit to conduct commuter operations and will permit transfer to the carrier of commuter authority held by Papillon Airways, operating as Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters or Papillon I. The company requested the authority transfer as part of its reorganization plan. Under the plan, Papillon I is scheduled by Oct. 2 to cease conducting all air transportation operations, change its name to Monarch Leasing, Inc., and continue in existence as lessor of Papillon II's helicopters.
In-Flight Phone Corp., which faced threats earlier this year by its three major airline customers to terminate their contracts because of system reliability problems, appointed George Roll to the newly created position of VP-reliability. Roll is the former VP-network quality for MCI, a partial owner of In-Flight Phone. He will be responsible for all facets of company quality and reliability programs.
Pratt&Whitney Canada is boosting warranty coverage for new production builds of seven turbofan and turboprop models, but only for engines flown in corporate/business operations. New-engine warranties now reach 2,500 hours from first operation, or up to five years after delivery to the first operator, for JT15D-5, JT15D- 5D, PT6A-21, PT6A-42, PT6A-60A, PT6A-64 and PT6A-67B engines. The warranty is not available for utility, agricultural, conversion, military, airline or trainer applications.
Rep. Bob Clement (D-Tenn.) introduced this week FAA reform legislation (H.R.2403) that was drafted by Senate Commerce aviation leaders and the Clinton administration. Clement, a member of the House Transportation aviation subcommittee, opposes the FAA reform bill (H.R.2276) sponsored by leadership of the subcommittee and others on the Transportation Committee (DAILY, Sept. 13). While the Senate bill was referred only to the Commerce Committee, Clement's bill was referred to Transportation, Small Business, Government Reform, National Security and Rules.
Raytheon Aircraft may put off its decision on a proposed 30-passenger- class regional jet due to its aggressive corporate-aircraft development program. President Art Wagner said this week the company has spent considerable time weighing the merits of a potential 30- to 50-passenger jet but has reached no decision. Raytheon has plans for multiple new products in the business-jet market and with the intense competition among regional-aircraft manufacturers, it may decide to stick with the 19-seat 1900D and let the other OEMs compete for the upper end.
At least two proposed low-fare startups could disrupt the high-yield regional-airline business in the Northeast. The paper airlines would operate Fokker F28/DC-9 type equipment from upstate New York - the backyard of former Empire Airlines, which is now part of USAir. A $59 fare, for example, between Albany and Boston, which used to support two daily USAir jet frequencies, would match up with an existing Business Express fare nearly three times that amount. Many routes in the region that once supported jets now receive only turboprop service.
Negotiations between Taiwan and Macau over establishing direct air links have ended without an expected agreement. The talks, conducted in Macau, terminated abruptly Sept. 26, with Taiwan's three-member delegation returning to Taipei a day ahead of schedule. Tsai Chin-yen, director- general of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration, said the talks had not "hit a snag" but refused to explain why the negotiations had been cut short.
