A windshear training aid (WTA) for operators of commuter, air taxi, corporate and other smaller aircraft is available from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Technical Information Service. The WTA, consisting of package of training materials, was developed by Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) after FAA asked the foundation to look at the adaptability to smaller aircraft operations of a WTA developed for air carrier flight crews and implemented in 1987.
Lone Star Airlines will begin nonstop service to Hermosillo, Mexico, from Dallas/Fort Worth Sept. 5, 1995. The regional said it will operate one roundtrip each weekday, using 30-seat Dornier 328 aircraft. Separately, the carrier said it will introduce service to Roswell and Ruidoso, New Mexico, from Dallas/Fort Worth on the same date. The regional currently serves 13 cities in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Mexico.
Raytheon Aircraft delivered the first of four Beech 1900Cs to Dubai-based Falcon Express Cargo Airlines. Falcon Express ordered four and placed options on two additional aircraft to fly express packages. United Beechcraft-Wichita modified the aircraft. It fitted aluminum liners to the ceiling and sidewalls and installed seven 54-inch by 57-inch web nets to divide the cabin area into cargo compartments. In addition, United Beechcraft installed a removable jumpseat to accommodate additional crew or personnel.
Low-fare competition will heat up in Nashville this fall, when Continental enters the market with prices as low as Southwest's. Continental will inaugurate service Sept. 7 with daily departures to Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Boston, Newark and Phoenix. The one-way fare to Chicago and Cleveland will be $59, Houston $69, Boston and Newark $139 and Phoenix $149. Ticket prices, based on roundtrip purchase, are valid through Dec. 15. Reservations must be made 14 days in advance. Continental and Southwest will compete in four markets.
FedEx yesterday announced a Sept. 4 launch of AsiaOne, which it called the first intra-Asia overnight delivery network. AsiaOne will connect 11 major commercial and financial centers from FedEx's new Subic Bay hub in the Philippines. The recent resolution of the U.S.-Japan aviation dispute opened up beyond-Japan rights for FedEx, enabling it to go forward with its Subic Bay plans, and the company said the AsiaOne service will integrate Asia fully into the rest of the FedEx system.
Frontier Airlines promoted Jim Wyche to the newly created position of executive VP-operations from VP-flight operations. The Denver carrier also named Lowell Miller director of station operations, Terry White manager of the Denver station, Ed Quisenberry city manager for Phoenix, Joe Slawinski city manager for Chicago Midway and Bob Knotts city manager for Las Vegas.
The Allied Pilots Association, in a coming representation election, will not vie to represent its member pilots with AMR Eagle carriers Executive and Flagship. The National Mediation Board this week ruled that the four Eagle carriers, also including Simmons (ALPA) and Wings West (RAPA), constitute a single transportation system for bargaining purposes. That means there will be an election for a single union.
Financing battle appears to be under way within the Aspen/Snowmass ski resort community between two proposed airlines - Hap Pareti's Jet Aspen and Peak Airlines, backed by the Aspen Skiing Co. (Skico). Snowmass Sun reports Skico officials were said to be "putting out the word in the investment community to not get behind Jet Aspen." Pareti is seeking $5.4 million, but could start with $4 million. Meanwhile, the Sun reported that IRS has refiled a tax lien seeking to collect $997,540 in income and FICA withholding taxes from Pareti's former Presidential Airways.
The Senate late last week confirmed Robert Francis and John Goglia as members of the National Transportation Safety Board. Francis, whose term ends Dec. 31, 1999, is a 17-year FAA employee and most recently the agency's senior representative in Western Europe and North Africa. Although formally confirmed only last week, Francis has served on the NTSB for more than six months as a congressional recess appointee. Goglia, whose term expires Dec.
U.S. Major Carriers Operating and Net Profit First Quarter 1995 Operating Net Profit/Loss Profit/Loss (000) (000) First Quarter 1995 America West $ 24,895 $ 5,210 American 251,202 56,506 Continental (4,271) (30,156) Delta 36,516 (11,226)
Air South has won designation as "preferred carrier" for travel on state business from the State of Florida. The contract, effective Aug. 1, 1995, through July 31, 1996, will apply to employees traveling on state business between Atlanta, Jacksonville, Raleigh/Durham, Tallahassee and Tampa. The airline said it offered the state "highly competitive prices" and frequent service patterns in the designated markets. Operating seven 737-200s, Air South serves Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Flush with a recent firm order from BWIA for five EMB-145 regional jets, Embraer of Brazil today formally will roll out the 50-passenger-seat, $14.5 million aircraft at the company's plant in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil. In a statement issued two days before the rollout, the manufacturer boasted that the aircraft "offers acquisition and operating costs equivalent to those of smaller turboprops." The company claims it has won 161 orders, options and letters of intent to purchase the aircraft from 21 airlines in 10 countries.
U.S. airline passenger traffic grew 0.8% in July from July 1994 to 48.4 billion revenue passenger miles, while the number of passengers carried fell 3% to 44,497,000.
A dispute over services and payment will go before a court following counter lawsuits by Northwest and Dalfort Aviation Services of Dallas. Northwest alleges Dalfort was performing "commission work" on the engines of several DC-9s formerly owned by Eastern Airlines to bring them up to Northwest specifications, but the aircraft were returned late, forcing cancellation of some flights. It alleges about $2 million in damages. "They did not live up to the terms of the contract," a Northwest spokesman said.
Allan Smolinski, former director of marketing at Jetstream Aircraft, Monday became VP- marketing support at Saab Aircraft of America. In his new position, Smolinski will oversee technical marketing efforts, such as technical sales presentations, aircraft performance analysis, airline route studies and competitive and market analysis. While with Jetstream, he directed marketing activities within the Western Hemisphere. Before joining Jetstream, he was a regional aircraft pilot in command and instructor pilot with Pilgrim Airlines.
Mexicana said that despite an 18% drop in domestic traffic in Mexico due to the country's economic crisis, the airline was able to post a net operating profit - 151 million new pesos, or US$24.6 million - during the first six months of 1995. The airline said an increase in market share by 2.6 percentage points, to 30.1%, minimized the decline in overall traffic. Mexicana's share of traffic between the Mexico and U.S. reached 22.5%, one percentage point higher than that of the first half of 1994. The load factor on international flights was 64% during the period.
United Express affiliate Great Lakes Aviation suffered a net loss of $542,000, or seven cents per share, for its second quarter ended June 30. For the comparable period in 1994, the carrier logged a net profit of a little more than $1.3 million, or 17 cents per share. Revenues reached $20.3 million, up 11.7% from the $18.1 million recorded in the June 1994 quarter. Operating income totaled $932,000, a 70.9% drop from $3.2 million in the second quarter of 1994.
Nashville Air has applied at DOT for authority to begin service as a scheduled passenger carrier, initially serving New York, Detroit, Atlanta and Orlando from Nashville. Financing remains a question mark, however. The would-be carrier will need $20 million in startup capital but has raised only $2.5 million to date through a private placement offering. Nashville Air wants to begin service before yearend with 737-300s configured for business and economy seating.
U.S. Nationals Carriers Operating and Net Profit First Quarter 1995 Operating Net Profit/Loss Profit/Loss (000) (000) First Quarter 1995 Alaska $ (14,201) $ (12,963) Aloha (1,292) (846) American Trans Air 10,619 5,404 Carnival 3,283 2,346
Former investigator John Deans of DOT's Office of Inspector General says his inquiry into Denver Airport revealed the diversion of airport revenue for non-airport purposes. Deans says he was fired in June as a result of his disclosures to the IG's office containing "political information that might have been embarrassing to [then mayor] Federico Pena and Denver Mayor Wellington Webb" (DAILY, Aug. 17). The DOT IG said yesterday it had no comment on the matter.
FAA plans to revise the requirements for operational and structural difficulty reports to "clarify and standardize" the type of information submitted. For the first time, reports can be submitted electronically to "encourage reporting that will give the FAA information on a near-real-time basis," the agency said. It said this will allow it to identify trends that may affect aviation safety.
Hawaiian Airlines traffic increased to 343 million revenue passenger miles in July from 293 million in July 1994. Capacity also rose to 434.9 million available seat miles from 388.7 million. Hawaiian carried fewer passengers during the month - 442,505, down from 444,579. July 95 July 94 7 Mths 95 7 Mths 94 RPMs 343,221,226 293,043,810 1,984,964,841 1,655,469,362 ASMs 434,932,096 388,672,071 2,581,745,176 2,267,776,363
American Automobile Association said it supports adding mechanical delay data to FAA's airline on-time reporting system. James Kolstad, VP-public and government relations, told DOT many of AAA's 73 million members are frequent flyers. "We believe that any data that makes the report more accurate, including flights delayed or canceled for mechanical problems, should be included in order to provide air passengers with the most accurate and reliable information."
Reflectone reported operating income of $1.4 million for the quarter ended June 30 compared with $6,000 during the same quarter last year. Net income was $739,000, up from a net loss of $343,000. Revenues jumped 51% to $21.9 million from $14.5 million. The company said it has received more than $106 million in new contract awards since the beginning of 1995, and its backlog rose to $113 million from $44 million at the end of last year.
The U.S. lodging industry accounted for $68.9 billion of the $400 billion in sales generated by travel and tourism in 1994, according to the American Hotel&Motel Association's Lodging Industry Profile. The $400 billion total excludes $12.5 billion in international visitor spending on U.S. air carriers. Traveler spending in 1994 equates to $45.7 million per hour, or $12,680 per second. The lodging profile says sales at U.S. hotels and motels were up from $61.7 billion in 1993, and the average occupancy rate rose 1.6 points to 65.2% in 1994.
