GE Aircraft Engines put GE90 and Aircraft Engines home pages online this week. The GE90 home page, on the World Wide Web, features information about the engine's development program, including why GE decided to design a new engine rather than a derivative, and technical data and press releases. GE also provides a link to the Boeing 777 home page for a complete look at the engine and its application. The GE Aircraft Engines home page comprises an overview of the company, including its history, annual report and recent developments.
Illinois DOT officials say putting off construction of a proposed south Chicago suburban airport at Peotone, Ill., will add "hundreds of millions of dollars" to the facility's cost each year.State Transportation Secretary Kirk Brown unveiled yesterday an adjusted cost estimate of about $2.3 billion, up from the original estimate of $1.9 billion in 1991.The new cost accounts not only for inflation, but also for upgrades in the airport plan for items such as a people-mover and automated baggage system.
A bomb threat at the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control shut down operations Monday evening for over an hour and a half at New York's LaGuardia and Kennedy and Newark airports, delaying 329 flights. At 4:25 p.m., the TRACON received a telephone call threatening an explosion at 6 p.m., and it was evacuated by 5:25 p.m. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said a skeleton crew, including 15 controller volunteers, remained until between 5:50 and 5:55 p.m. to hand off traffic to other control centers.
Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism has awarded NYT Custom Publishing a contract to publish the Massachusetts Getaway Guide, the state's leading tourist publication, in 1996 and 1997. NYT, which produced the 1995 guide, also publishes USAir's inflight magazine and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Magazine, which were chosen as the best inflight magazine for 1995, and best custom-published magazine, respectively, by Folio Magazine.
Heads Up Technologies announced this week the development of a new digital checklist system with the ability to cross check and announce the status of many aircraft systems. An update of the Carrollton, Texas-based company's earlier CMS400, the CMS400C is capable of cross-checking as many as 12 aircraft systems and activities.
U.S. Customs Service Commissioner George Weise yesterday shed some light on new inspection procedures that may be used in the U.S. following a trial run at Miami Airport (DAILY, Aug. 29). The changes being considered in coordination with other federal inspection services are ways to enable Customs to receive more information more quickly to target passengers considered high-risk for terrorism or drug trafficking, and allow low-risk passengers to speed through Customs. A 1994 study concluded that 99% of the passengers arriving at Miami Airport complied with U.S. laws.
Growth in passenger traffic slowed in July for the 25 member carriers of the Association of European Airlines. The Brussels-based group said passenger volume rose a little more than 5%. In contrast, traffic grew an average 8% for the first six months of 1995. Despite the slowdown, AEA said its airlines have "extremely high" load factors on many routes.
A NASA test pilot landed an MD-11 Tuesday at the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., using only engine power for control, the first such landing for a passenger jet. Piloted by former astronaut Gordon Fullerton, the aircraft made its first landing at 11:38 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. It then took off again and made a second landing at 12:18 p.m., "proving that the [propulsion-controlled aircraft] concept is feasible for a commercial transport," NASA said yesterday.
India, China and South Korea signed a memorandum of understanding Sunday night in Shanghai to form a consortium to manufacture the Third World's first 100-seat passenger aircraft, India's civil aviation ministry officials said Monday. South Korea, represented by Korea Commercial Aircraft Development Center, a consortium led by Samsung Aerospace Industries and established expressly for this project, will hold 40% of the project's equity.
International Aviation Women's Association will hold its seventh annual conference in Paris Oct. 19-21. This year's theme is the European Union and its effect on the aviation industry. Discussions will include liberalizing ground-handling in Europe, European political issues, effects of the EU on aviation manufacturers and the International Court of Aviation and Space Arbitration. For program information, call Lisa Savitt, 215-751-2063, or Mary Reilley, 415-986-4200.
Ecuador has completed the privatization of Ecuatoriana with the sale of a 50.1% stake in the airline to VASP/Ecuador, a consortium comprising Brazilian carrier VASP and Ecuadorian investor Juan Eljuri Anton. The VASP/Ecuador bid was valued at US$32.9 million. The government will receive about US$10.5 million in cash, and the buyers will provide an aggregate US$64.2 million in resources to the airline over five years.
Comair, a Delta Connection carrier, intends to upgrade its service from Cincinnati to Dayton, Ohio; South Bend and Evansville, Ind., and Columbia, Ill., by adding a daily roundtrip to the schedule with Canadair Regional Jets, on Oct. 1. The carrier also will add a second daily roundtrip between Cincinnati and Knoxville, a new flight to Greensboro, N.C., and Roanoke, Va., and two new flights to Chicago Midway.
KLM and Indian domestic carrier Jet Airways yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding to form a "far-reaching" commercial partnership, KLM said. Jet Airways, established three years ago, and KLM are reviewing their respective schedules to identify as many connections as possible on their flights to and from India. KLM operates seven 747 roundtrips a week from Amsterdam to India - four to Delhi, three to Bombay and one to Calcutta through Delhi.
The reorganization of senior management at Air France has resulted in formation of an 18-member Management Committee to speed up the carrier's restructuring and prepare it for full liberalization of the European air transport market in 1997. The shakeup, in which longtime Air France executive Rodolphe Frantz left the airline unexpectedly and subsidiary Air Inter got a new president (DAILY, Aug.
KLM Cargo plans to inaugurate weekly air freight service between Amsterdam and Madras, India, connecting to existing service from the U.S. The new service is slated to begin Sept. 9 and will be operated with an Atlas Air 747 freighter capable of carrying 100 tons. The service will operate via Dubai on both legs, and will supplement the cargo capacity KLM Cargo already offers on KLM's seven weekly 747 roundtrips to Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi.
Air Malta and Balkan Bulgarian Airlines (BBA) have signed an agreement under which they will cooperate on BBA's planned scheduled service between Malta and New York. BBA recently applied at DOT for authority to operate its current Sofia-New York/Detroit service via Malta, with fifth-freedom rights between Malta and the U.S. (DAILY, Aug. 25). The Air Malta-Balkan agreement becomes effective in November, when Balkan hopes to begin its once-weekly scheduled Malta-New York service.
Lone Star Airlines is offering a fare sale that cannot be ignored - the seats are free.To promote its new service to Hermosillo, Mexico, from Dallas/Fort Worth, which begins Sept. 5, the regional carrier is offering free seats on its daily flights for 10 days.There is no catch, Lone Star says - all 30 seats on its Dornier 328 are free. Passengers pay only taxes and airport fees.
Qantas is gearing up for a worldwide celebration of the 75th anniversary of its Nov. 16, 1920, founding as Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Services. On Nov. 16, 1995, the airline will host dinner parties for customers and staff in cities around the world, with the main dinner scheduled in the Great Hall at Parliament House in the Australian capital of Canberra, where a replica of its first airplane, an Avro 504, will be the centerpiece.
USAir and AT&T Universal Card Services are offering college students fare savings on trips to domestic and limited international points. Students enrolled in AT&T's college card program can save up to 46% on roundtrip flights to more than 200 destinations. For transatlantic flying, students can save up to $150 on travel to Paris and Frankfurt. The Travel U program gives students three coupons good for six months, with future coupons available at six-month intervals.
Sabre Travel Information Network has concluded a distribution agreement with Weissmann Travel Reports, which operates a destination information subscription service used by travel agents. Weissmann Travel Reports will be a fee-based subscription product offered as part of the Sabre Concierge for Windows electronic library product. According to Eric Speck, Sabre's VP-product marketing, Sabre is the first computer reservations system to make Weissmann Travel Reports available as a graphical product integrated directly into its product line.
Aer Lingus is far along in negotiations to sell its Copthorne Hotel chain to Singapore-based CDL.The Irish carrier confirmed yesterday that the talks are at a "pretty sensitive" stage but said the deal is not yet firm.
Airlines operating to India from international points have refused to pay sales tax owed on aviation jet fuel to oil suppliers, senior oil company officials said yesterday in Bombay. While the total amount of arrears is not known, officials said the amount has accumulated since April 1, when the state-level administrations of Delhi and Maharashtra, locations of New Delhi and Bombay airports, respectively, imposed a 7% sales tax on jet fuel.
Air Canada affiliate Air Nova is offering discounted weekend getaway fares for travel from Newark to Nova Scotia. The fares are reduced by as much as 85% off full fare for passengers traveling north on Saturday and returning Monday or Tuesday. They require a one-day advance purchase, and travel must be completed by Dec. 12. Other restrictions may apply. Air Nova offers three daily nonstop jet flights between Newark and Atlantic Canada. Fares also are available on Air Canada flights from New York LaGuardia.
Sir Geoffrey Roberts, former Air New Zealand chairman and chief executive, died during the weekend. "His career spanned an era from flying boats to high-technology jets, and he was a driving force behind the effort to expand the range of international air service agreements between New Zealand and other countries that paved the way for the development of Tasman Empire Airways Ltd. and Air New Zealand," said James McCrea, ANZ managing director. Roberts served a term as president of the International Air Transport Association.
Southwest Airlines has taken delivery of its first new-production 737-300 equipped with a head-up guidance system (HGS) made by Flight Dynamics and installed by Boeing. Southwest committed to purchase 236 of the systems a year ago, which will enable its crews to perform Cat IIIa landings in visibility as low as 700 feet runway visual range. Takeoff minimums are as low as 300 feet RVR.
