As the U.S.-U.K. negotiations enter a critical stage this week, the U.K. transport chief stressed the need for the countries to face difficult issues. In a speech marking the inauguration of United's new Chicago- London service, Transport Secretary George Young said he was "a firm believer in liberalization," but added that "true liberalization...goes further than a simple removal of current restrictions on routes and capacity." Addressing the longer-term shape of a liberalized U.S.-U.K. agreement, "we will want to ensure that U.K.
Fleet shopping is intensifying with Northwest Airlink Mesaba calling for route analyses from all regional aircraft manufacturers in the 30-seat- plus class. The carrier says it wants to phase out its 26 19-seat Metro IIIs in favor of a "more cost-effective, customer-friendly aircraft." In addition, the five-year leases on its 25 de Havilland Dash 8s begin expiring next year, and it speaks of "fleet renewal." The competition looks to be an intense one, with de Havilland seeking to defend its turf against the Dornier 328/328EC, Saab 340/2000, ATR and Jetstream.
USAir is offering coach prices for first-class seats to passengers flying from Charleston, S.C., to the West. The "A4Coach" fares are for flights to Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle and San Francisco. Passengers who purchase unrestricted coach-class tickets can upgrade to the first-class cabin, subject to availability.
British Aerospace unit Avro International Aerospace this week launched a North American tour of the RJ85 jet. The tour, which began Sept. 11 in Washington, D.C., will end in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Sept. 27.
DOT ruled Wednesday that the City of Los Angeles must file a letter of credit covering a disputed amount in a complaint filed by the Air Transport Association over rates and charges at Los Angeles Airport (DAILY, Aug. 29). The security amount, based on the new fee of $2.06 per thousand pounds landed weight, was calculated by the airlines to total $5,883,309. DOT did not agree with the City's estimate of $1.6 million.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) plans to launch service to Macau and Cairns, and increase service to Auckland, Christchurch, Johannesburg, Sydney and a number of destinations in Southeast Asia with the implementation of its northern winter schedule Oct. 29. Service to Cairns will be operated twice a week with Airbus A310s. One weekly outbound flight to Cairns, and one weekly inbound flight to Singapore will stop in Darwin. Nonstop Macau service will start Dec. 1 with twice-weekly A310 flights.
The six airlines being sued by travel agents alleging collusion in capping domestic commissions have filed a joint motion with the court for an interlocutory appeal. The airlines are appealing a determination by Federal Judge James Rosenbaum that there is sufficient evidence of possible collusion to proceed with a jury trial. At a news briefing yesterday on a wide range of issues, Paul Ruden, senior VP-legal and industry affairs for the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), said the motion indicates none of the airlines is thinking of settling at this time.
An unidentified caller phoned in a bomb threat Wednesday to the Indianapolis center, but FAA management officials outside the facility decided not to evacuate it or tell employees of the threat, Tom Demske, VP of the Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS) local at the center, said yesterday. Demske said the caller phoned the threat to an unlisted number at the guard house at 4:10 p.m. and again at 5:22 p.m., saying a bomb would detonate in one hour and 30 minutes.
Delta Connection carrier Comair's August traffic rose 23.9% on 14.5% more capacity, boosting the airline's load factor 4.2 percentage points to 55.4%. The number of passengers boarded increased 17.5%. Through the first eight months of 1995, Comair's traffic increased 26.8% on 22.2% more capacity. August 1995 August 1994 8 Mths 1995 8 Mths 1994 RPMs 110,608,000 89,268,000 764,611,000 603,184,000 ASMs 199,515,000 174,207,000 1,492,104,000 1,220,929,000
Loral Air Traffic Control yesterday was awarded a $10 million FAA contract to begin production and installation of new hardware and software to replace aging display channel computers at five air route traffic control centers (ARTCCs). Under the Display Channel Complex Rehost (DCCR) program, Loral will provide new mainframe computer hardware and software to replace IBM 9020E display channel complex computers that have been in operation since the early 1970s.
The European Union's competition authority approved a proposed regional aircraft joint venture between British Aerospace and the French/Italian partnership Avions de Transport Regional (ATR) - but for only five years. The European Commission said the international consortium would not seriously reduce or eliminate competition.
Minneapolis-based Mesaba Aviation, a Northwest Airlink affiliate, has named industry veteran Darrell Richardson as VP and chief operating officer for the carrier. Richardson, who had been senior VP-operations for Express Airlines I and had held many other positions at regional airlines, will assume the operating duties formerly held by John Fredericksen, who was named VP-finance, administration and general counsel for Mesaba Airlines and Mesaba's parent company, Mesaba Holdings, Inc.
DOT has extended Air Midwest's obligation to continue operating essential air service at Topeka, Kan., 30 days through Oct. 15, or until a carrier that can provide the EAS begins the service, whichever occurs first. The carrier, operating as USAir Express, originally told DOT it intended to halt its Beech 1900 service at Topeka on July 11, but it was required to continue the service until Sept. 15 (DAILY, Aug. 11). DOT said it has not yet received any service proposals, however.
The U.S. scheduled airline industry flew 1.9% more revenue passenger miles last month than in August a year ago, according to the Air Transport Association (ATA). The industry's capacity rose 0.7%, while its passenger enplanements declined 1.3%. The load factor gained 0.9 percentage points, to 73.6%. U.S. airlines' domestic traffic rose 1.1% on 0.1% more capacity, and their international traffic increased 3.7% on 2.4% more capacity.
Delta is expanding its schedule from Atlanta to Dallas/Fort Worth and Washington National Dec. 1 to increase convenience for business travelers throughout the day. It is adding eight flights a day to DFW for a total of 18, and eight return flights for a total of 17. Departures from Atlanta to Washington will leave at 25 minutes past the hour and all flights from Washington at 55 minutes after the hour. It is offering 13 flights throughout the day.
United has applied for renewal of its authority to operate scheduled combination services between Atlanta, Houston and Tampa and points in the Cayman Islands, under a code-share pact with Cayman Airways. (Docket 49851&OST-95-556)
Kansas City-based jet startup Vanguard Airlines has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering (IPO) of two million shares of common stock. Assuming an offering price of $6 per share, the company expects to net $10.86 million for use as working capital, including reduction of indebtedness, reduction of accounts payable and expenditures related to the maintenance and fleet expansion.
No costs too small to cut: Alaska Airlines expects to save $250,000 over the next five years under a contract signed with Seattle Office Systems for maintenance of its 110 photocopy machines. Thirty-seven machines are being replaced and the rest rebuilt. Accountants figured the airline makes 38,500 copies a day at an average cost of 2.5 cents each.
McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and MD-80 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day First Quarter 1995 DC-9-30 Continental Northwest Number of Aircraft Operated 31 79 Total Fleet Operations Departures 188 402 Block Hours 259 653
Arinc said it received a contract to install the first air-to-ground data link system in China. The contract, with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, is part of a nationwide air transportation infrastructure modernization, Arinc said. The system will permit data- link-equipped aircraft to communicate with air traffic control centers and airline operations offices.
China Airlines realized a gross profit of more than NT$861.5 million (US$31.3 million) on the sale of part of its holding in domestic Taiwan carrier Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) to Taiwan Aerospace Corp. and Fubon Insurance. CAL said it plans to use the money to acquire aircraft and for other investments. With an 18.95% stake in FAT, CAL sold 4.95% to TAC and 4% to Fubon Insurance, retaining 10% of the smaller airline.
Boeing 757 and 767 Systemwide Aircaft Utilization Per Day First Quarter 1995 B757-200 America West American Number of Aircraft Operated 13 82 Total Fleet Operations Departures 57 262 Block Hours 171 832
The chairman and founder of Evergreen Corp., the parent of EVA Airways, has resigned as chairman of the airline unit in a move described by the company as a demonstration of "strong confidence" in the hand-picked team of executives that heads the six-year-old carrier. Y.F. Chang will step aside at EVA on Oct. 1 but will continue to oversee all of the Evergreen Group, concentrating more on the parent company's worldwide operations and services. Effective Oct.
Twenty-five Fiesta Americana and Fiesta Inn Hotels and Resorts in Mexico will offer American Airlines AAdvantage benefits, effective Oct. 1. Members will earn 500 miles for each qualifying stay at Fiesta Americana hotels, luxury properties at Mexican beaches and in major cities, and 250 miles per stay at Fiesta Inn, designed for frequent business travelers. AAdvantage will offer double miles Oct. 1 through Dec. 20.
