Delta will beef up its Colorado service Dec. 1 when it makes schedule changes from its hubs (DAILY, Sept. 12). The carrier is adding a sixth daily roundtrip flight between Denver and Atlanta and will introduce nonstop seasonal flights from Vail to Atlanta. It will restore seasonal service to Gunnison/Crested Butte from Atlanta. Delta Connection carrier SkyWest is introducing Canadair Regional Jet service to Colorado Springs from Salt Lake City. The new Vail flights will operate Dec.
New guide on the top 50 vacation destinations in the world, Fielding Worldwide's Vacation Places Rated, ranks Ireland as the top international destination of 13,500 travelers surveyed, followed by the English countryside (including Scotland and Wales), British Columbia, Costa Rica, Australia, Bermuda, New Zealand, Switzerland, Israel and London. The book also contains suggestions on where not to go, as well as "insider" tips on airlines, travel agents, hotels, restaurants, rental cars, cruises and tours.
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Wendell Ford (D-Ky.) yesterday introduced FAA reform legislation supported by - and drafted with - the Clinton administration. The bill would leave FAA within DOT, mandate new personnel and procurement systems and authorize user fees for air traffic control, certification and licensing services (DAILY, Sept. 11). Rep. Bob Clement (D-Tenn.), who is highly critical of the proposal in the House bill (H.R.2276) to create an independent FAA, plans to introduce the McCain-Ford bill next week in the House.
Mesaba Holdings Inc., formerly AirTran Corp., has elected new directors and officers and intends to focus during the next few months on replacing Mesaba Aviation's fleet of 26 Metro IIIs with more cost-effective aircraft, renegotiating its collective bargaining agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association and negotiating an enhanced Northwest Airlink marketing agreement with Northwest. The company elected three Northwest executives to its board, effective Sept. 7, following the resignation of five directors on the same day.
DOT has reviewed and confirmed its order renewing, but limiting, South African Airways' authority in the U.S.-South Africa market to the present level of seven frequencies (DAILY, Sept. 12). SAA requested reconsideration of the order, saying it planned to increase its level of operations to the U.S. from seven to nine in the fall and had begun marketing the service and booking passengers.
All Nippon Airways announced yesterday it has formally signed a purchase contract with Boeing for 10 777-300 aircraft for delivery beginning in 1998. ANA's intent to purchase was announced at the Paris Air Show on June 14. The order is in addition to ANA's order for 18 777-200s. ANA said it will be the second-largest 777 operator and the largest outside the U.S.
Carnival Air Lines is seeking authority to operate scheduled combination service between Miami and Cancun. The carrier also wants authority to carry the cargo traffic of Chilean carrier Ladeco moving between South America and Miami under Ladeco's code on the Miami-Cancun flights. Carnival proposes twice-weekly scheduled service between Miami and Cancun, using Boeing 757-200ER aircraft dry-leased from Ladeco. (Docket OST-95- 555)
Iberia's passenger traffic gained 6.2% in July to 2.44 billion revenue passenger kilometers. The number of passengers boarded rose 3.8% to nearly 1.31 million, and cargo traffic was up 18.1% to 55.8 million freight ton kilometers. Through the first seven months, passenger traffic increased nearly 7.2% to 13.56 billion RPKs, and the number of passengers boarded was up 4.7% to 8.1 million. Cargo traffic jumped 20.7% to 378.1 million FTKs.
Cathay Pacific Airways plans to increase the capacity it offers in the Hong Kong-Seoul market, beginning in late October following bilateral talks between Korea and Hong Kong. Cathay, which operates three roundtrips a day using a mixture of 233-passenger Airbus A340s and 299-passenger Lockheed L- 1011s, said yesterday it will increase the size of the aircraft it operates in the market from the end of October, upgrading to a 320- passenger A330, a 398-passenger Boeing 747-400, and a 434-passenger 747- 300.
Reno Air's August load factor jumped 5.2 percentage points from a year ago to 75.2%. The 14-month-old carrier's traffic rose 42.8% to 239.6 million revenue passenger miles, and its capacity was up 33.1% to 318.9 million available seat miles. The number of passengers boarded increased 30.9% to 428,158. Reno operates 22 MD-80s and serves 16 cities in the West and Canada, as well as Chicago O'Hare.
National Transportation Safety Board Bar Association will hold its annual Aviation Safety Enforcement Law Seminar Oct. 26 at the Capitol Holiday Inn in Washington. Several NTSB board members and senior officials will address the meeting, which will be followed by a reception. FAA and industry officials also will speak on administrative law practices and significant cases decided by the board. For more information, call Mark McDermott at 202-331-1955.
The governments of Dubai and Australia have reached an agreement on air traffic rights that will allow Emirates, the international carrier of the United Arab Emirates, to operate flights between the two countries. The service startup date and the destinations to be served have not been determined, but Emirates wants to operate as many as three flights per week, possibly using Melbourne as its Australian base. When Emirates launches flights to Nairobi and Ho Chi Minh City on Oct.
DOT Secretary Federico Pena said yesterday he will travel to a number of Asian countries in November to press for liberalized aviation agreements. Announcing the trip in a speech to Airports Council International-North America's Fourth Regional Conference in Washington, Pena detailed other DOT bilateral, legislative and security efforts. He cited the administration's successful open skies initiatives with Canada and nine European countries, and its on-going efforts to gain more liberal agreements with the U.K., Japan and Latin American countries.
America West's August passenger traffic rose 11.8% from the same month a year ago on 8% more capacity, boosting the load factor 2.5 percentage points to 75.1%, an August record for the airline. The number of passengers enplaned increased 9.6%. "We more than filled the additional 8% capacity added since 1994 and continue to experience strong booking levels," said President Maurice Myers. Aug 95 Aug 94 8 Mths 95 8 Mths 94 RPMs 1,269,519,000 1,135,981,000 8,982,017,000 8,447,700,000
Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) has added inflight gambling to its staple of battles to wage in Washington this year, including continuing advocacy of child restraint seats and smoking bans on international flights.
U.S. and Thailand are moving closer to bilateral negotiations, according to a U.S. government official. The countries have had no bilateral since 1990, when Thailand renounced the old agreement.
FAA's Chicago Center experienced another major computer failure yesterday, causing air traffic controllers to operate on the DARC (direct access radar channel) backup system throughout the day. FAA said technicians conducting routine maintenance on the primary computer system were unable to reactivate it shortly after 3 a.m. local time, so they left operations on the backup system.
Tower Air's August scheduled passenger traffic rose 4.2% from the same month last year on 6.4% more capacity, resulting in a load factor decline of 1.8 percentage points to 85.3%. The number of passengers carried was up 1.2%. Tower's total block hours flown, including scheduled and charter operations, were up 21.6% to 5,282 hours. Aug 95 Aug 94 8 Mths 95 8 Mths 94 RPMs 498,000,000 478,000,000 2,398,000,000 1,920,000,000
United Express affiliate Air Wisconsin flew 50.1 million revenue passenger miles last month, a 70.4% rise from the same 1994 month. Capacity rose 59.4% and load factor was up 3.9 percentage points. Enplanements were up 5.4%. Aug 95 Aug 94 8 Mths 95 8 Mths 94 RPMs 50,139,866 29,433,431 314,510,422 219,274,040 ASMs 83,869,722 52,614,066 572,266,652 413,518,040 LoadFtr% 59.8 55.9 55.0 53.0
World Airways' August block hours flown rose about 56% from the same month last year to 3,703. Average daily utilization of aircraft was 10 hours, compared with 10.7 hours per day in August a year ago. Through the first eight months, World's block hours increased 32% to 24,983, and its average daily utilization rose to 10 hours from 8.6 hours last year.
Aer Lingus has made available its 1995-96 program of short-stay vacation packages - "Ireland Short Stay Escapes." Included in the price are transatlantic air fare on Aer Lingus, accommodations, luxury bus touring and most meals. The packages are designed for groups, including one free place (air and land) for every 20 paying participants. Prices start at $639.
BAA USA Holdings, the U.S. unit of the U.K.-based BAA plc, has signed a 10- year contract with the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA) to manage the Indianapolis airport system. BAA has managed retail operations at Pittsburgh for the past three years, but the Indianapolis contract is the first giving it management responsibility for all aspects of running an airport outside the U.K. In the U.K., BA manages seven airports, including London Heathrow and Gatwick.
Air Canada has been designated by Transport Canada to serve Poland, but actually launching the service will require renegotiation of the Canada- Poland bilateral. Air Canada wants to serve Warsaw over another European gateway.
Air France's flight attendants are scheduled to strike today to protest Chairman Christian Blanc's plans to change their job description. Yesterday, the airline said it planned to operate all of its long-haul service, but it may have to use wet-leased aircraft and crews to operate to some destinations, such as Miami and Newark. To what extent Air France brings in leased aircraft will depend on how many union flight attendants report for work. The airline declined to reveal where it plans to get the airplanes and crews.
