Machinists Union says job security is the key issue in contract negotiations with Boeing. "Thousands of jobs are being wiped out as Boeing announces big new orders, and as productivity and profits go up," lead negotiator Bob Gregory said as talks opened Friday in Wichita. The current contract expires Oct. 3.
DOT issued a final order Friday approving the transfer of Evergreen's U.S.-China all-cargo authority to Federal Express. The department granted Evergreen an interim exemption, for up to six months, to continue to conduct all-cargo operations in the U.S.-China market until FedEx obtains the necessary approvals from the Chinese government and is ready to begin service.
American's Admirals Clubs at more than 30 locations in North America have been equipped with AST Pentium-based multimedia personal computers, Canon printers and Kensington peripherals.
Granted orally an exemption to Aeromexpress to operate scheduled all-cargo service between Mexico City and Dayton, Ohio...Granted orally an exemption to Transportes Aereos de Cabo Verde, operating as TACV, renewing its authority to operate scheduled combination service between Ilha do Sol, Cape Verde, and Boston, Mass., at a frequency of one flight per week, using aircraft wet-leased from a duly authorized and properly supervised carrier...Granted orally an exemption to Gulf Air renewing through Feb.
U.S. and foreign airlines have opened the end-of-summer fare sale season, offering deep discounts on travel to and from Europe and, in the case of Northwest/KLM, the Middle East and Africa. Carriers announced discounts Friday averaging about 30% off, with sale and travel dates that differ but are likely to be made uniform. Generally, tickets must be bought within the next week or two for travel between mid-September and mid-December.
Simmons Airlines, an American Eagle carrier, is asking DOT for six international slots at Chicago O'Hare Airport to launch service between Chicago and London, Ontario. The carrier said it plans three daily roundtrips on the route, beginning Oct. 1, using Saab 340B aircraft. Requesting an exemption to the High Density Rule at the slot-controlled airport, Simmons said its service would provide the first and only scheduled nonstop flights on the route and would help implement the liberalized aviation agreement between the U.S. and Canada.
ValuJet Airline's traffic leaped 175% in July over the July 1994 level, to 268.7 million revenue passenger miles, on 129% more capacity. The carrier's load factor was much improved for the month, to 78.4% from 65.3%. ValuJet has expanded steadily during the past year, and Chairman Robert Priddy said summer vacation travel and everyday low fares drove the traffic increase. ValuJet began service in July to Kansas City, Newport News/Norfolk, Va., and Jackson, Miss. July 95 July 94 7 Mths 95 7 Mths 94
- In Federal Register dated July 28...Issued an airworthiness directive on Bombardier Cl-600-2B19 aircraft (Regional Jet Series 100) prohibiting use of Mach trim and adding speed restrictions if the autopilot is disengaged or inoperative...Issued special conditions on Allison 250-C40 turboshaft engines. - In FR dated July 31...Issued an AD on Jetstream 3101 and 3201 aircraft requiring inspection of the main passenger/crew door locking mechanism...Superseded an AD on British Aerospace BAC-111 aircraft concerning structural inspections.
Canadian Regional has signed a $1.5 million deal with USAir Leasing and Services to perform scheduled heavy maintenance on three USAir BAe 146 aircraft and paint them. The work will be done at Canadian Regional's facility in Calgary during the next three months, an airline spokesman said.
USAir reported its fourth consecutive monthly load factor increase in July, to 67.7%, while capacity and traffic declined. Available seat miles fell 7.8% as a result of the carrier's rightsizing program, and revenue passenger miles were down 6.4%. USAir's stage lengths continue to increase - the average passenger journey was up 6.7% to 695.7 miles. July 1995 July 1994 7 Months 1995 7 Months 1994 RPMs 3,349,176,000 3,578,650,000 22,414,316,000 22,004,825,000
Air Canada named Ronald Waters general manager-passenger sales, U.S., Caribbean and Latin America. Aeromexpress appointed Gerardo Rivero president, effective immediately. Japan Air Lines appointed Yukio Ohtani managing director and senior VP-the Americas, replacing Mitsuo Ando, who has returned to Tokyo as president and chief executive, DHL Japan.
Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic May, 5 Months 1995 Revenue Ton-Miles (000) May May % 1995 1994 Change Domestic Freight 690,209 663,350 4.0 Mail 139,971 132,247 5.8 Total 830,180 795,597 4.3 International
Air South is offering $22 segment fares between any cities it serves in observance of its startup two years ago, on Aug. 22, 1993. The fares are good for 22 days, from Aug. 22 through Sept. 12. Air South also will reinstate its two-for-one fares beginning Aug. 15, good for travel until Sept. 30.
At the request of India, U.S. and Indian officials will hold aviation negotiations Sept. 5-7 in Washington. India is expected to press for additional service to Chicago from Amsterdam or London in exchange for United's proposed service to Delhi, part of the carrier's proposed Round- the-World service. The U.S. asserts that the current U.S.-India bilateral already provides for the Delhi authority.
An inflight passenger aircraft entertainment system that includes gambling has been approved by FAA, according to the developer, Interactive Flight Technologies (IFT). Steve Fieldman, VP-business development, said the company has received a supplemental type certificate for its In-Flight Entertainment Network product. The system features video-on-demand from a selection of more than 30 digitized feature films and other programming.
The fall looks like a busy season for bilateral negotiations. In addition to India, the U.S. will meet with Japan and go to London for the last talks with the U.K. agreed to in the June mini-deal. The two sides meet this week in Washington. Negotiations are scheduled tentatively for September with the Philippines, said Paul Gretch, director of DOT's Office of International Aviation. Also, the U.S. will meet early in the fall with Germany and still is talking with Hong Kong about possible official negotiations.
On-time data in DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report are likely to include mechanical delays until the end of the year, no matter how current rulemaking comes out.With the comment period ending Friday, DOT's proposal to exclude mechanical delays has drawn sharply divided responses, clouding the rule's future. But even if the rule change goes forward, DOT will need three to six months to retool the system to support the change, DOT officials say.
American's systemwide traffic increased 2.9% in July from July 1994, the carrier's 13th consecutive month of year-over-year traffic growth. Although domestic traffic was down 1.5% on 1.7% less capacity, international traffic jumped 12.8% on 11.1% more capacity. American's domestic load factor was up marginally to 68.4%, and the international load factor rose 1.1 points to 75.8%. July 1995 July 1994 7 Months 1995 7 Months 1994 RPMs 9,740,760,000 9,465,232,000 60,196,387,000 57,183,859,000
The 10 "core" directors of Nav Canada, the newly formed non-share-capital corporation negotiating with Transport Canada to buy and operate the Canadian civil air navigation system, met for the first time Friday in Ottawa. Some 6,400 employees will be involved in the transfer.
Standard&Poor's has affirmed its single B- preliminary rating on Continental's $1 billion Rule 415 shelf registration and has removed the carrier from CreditWatch, which it imposed Jan. 26. The ratings agency said the decision is based on Continental's progress in improving operating performance and easing its financial obligations in the near term.
British Airways and USAir said last week they will begin offering code-share service to 10 new USAir cities in the U.S. on Sept. 12. The service will be offered at Pensacola and Key West, Fla.; South Bend and Fort Wayne, Ind.; Huntsville, Ala.; Ashville, N.C.; Savannah, Ga.; Hilton Head, S.C.; Manchester N.H., and Kalamazoo, Mich. The added cities bring the number of code-share points to 63. For service to London, passengers from Pensacola, Savannah, Huntsville, Ashville and Hilton Head will connect through Charlotte, while Key West passengers will travel via Miami.
TWA's July traffic fell 2% to 2.6 billion revenue passenger miles, mainly because its international RPMs were down 5.6%. International capacity declined 12%, leading to a systemwide capacity drop of 5.9% from the same month in 1994. TWA's load factor improved to 71.8% from 69% as it transported 1.9% more passengers. July 1995 July 1994 7 Months 1995 7 Months 1994 RPMs 2,574,500,000 2,626,800,000 14,184,500,000 14,151,900,000
The Defense Department, which poured billions of dollars into developing the Global Positioning System and putting it in operation, no longer has sole control of the network of satellites, and civilian-military GPS disputes will be settled by the President, a Wilcox Electric official said Friday.
Boeing named Dinesh Keshkar, formerly its director of sales for the Indian subcontinent, as president of Boeing India, based in Bombay. "It is clear that with the rapid growth of the Indian carriers, additional support by Boeing would assist India's goals of a safe and profitable aviation industry," said Ron Woodard, Boeing Commercial president. He said Boeing recently expanded fleet support, assisted with aviation industry and infrastructure development, and provided airline support programs for maintenance and flight crew training in India.
Austrian Airlines, Swissair and Lufthansa suspended service to Zagreb, Croatia, late last week as the political situation in Croatia worsened. Swissair and Lufthansa diverted their Zagreb flights to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, from which the passengers are traveling by bus to Zagreb, a three-hour trip. Austrian already serves Ljubljana but has not added capacity to the service, a carrier spokesman said.
