BFGoodrich Aerospace Lighting Systems was selected by Continental to retrofit 75 MD-80 aircraft with aft anti-collision/position lights. The light assemblies are a direct replacement for the original equipment, the firm said.
Most business travelers do not mind code-sharing flights, according to the latest IATA Corporate Air Travel Survey of frequent long-haul business flyers. One in five Europeans and one in six North Americans were angry when they realized they were on a code-sharing flight, the survey said.
Kansas City-based Vanguard Airlines plans to begin twice-daily Boeing 737 service between Chicago Midway and Minneapolis/St. Paul on Aug. 1, offering fares of $59 and $89 each way. The new flights also will feature one-stop service between Chicago and Des Moines via M/SP for $118 peak and $88 off- peak. Vanguard, which began service last year and models itself after Southwest, serves Salt Lake City, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, Wichita, Kansas City, Des Moines and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Frontier Airlines' June load factor rose one percentage point from May, to 45.5%. The carrier flew 24.1 million revenue passenger miles, down from 24.3 million in May, but its capacity also declined, to less than 53.1 million available seat miles from 54.6 million. Frontier boarded 43,540 passengers in June, down from 44,036. Year-over-year comparisons are not available because the Denver-based carrier began flying in July 1994. Frontier currently flies to 10 cities from its Denver hub with a fleet of five 108-seat Boeing 737s.
The U.S. is exploring resumption of long-stalled bilateral aviation talks with France, according to a senior administration official. DOT Secretary Federico Pea made a point of meeting with top French transport officials - the session lasted two hours - while he was in Europe last month, the official said.
Delta will not ask DOT for authority to operate nonstop service between its Salt Lake City hub and London because it believes it would lose $5 million a year on the route after startup losses of more than $15 million. The Atlanta-based carrier applied unsuccessfully for the route two years ago, but market conditions have changed: There are now 40 more flights per week to London from other U.S.
Kiwi's negative cash flow, $40 million in losses since its inception, and negative working capital "raise substantial doubt" about its ability to continue as a going concern, according to the airline's independent auditors as quoted in a Kiwi filing last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Kiwi is continuing to negotiate with lessors, senior lenders and select trade creditors to restructure its debt and defer payments, to improve its cash flow.
British Airways Chairman Colin Marshall hinted last week that BA will bring more airlines into its web of international alliances, but he offered no specifics. He told shareholders he expects the carrier's global strategy "to be developed with airlines located in areas of the world where our market presence and reach is not as strong as it needs to be." The North Pacific is cited frequently as a region where BA could use a partner.
Air service between Taiwan and Macau is expected to begin Dec. 8 with at least six flights per day on routes between Taipei, Kaohsiung and Macau, an official of Taiwan's Civil Aviation Administration said. EVA Airways, Makung Airlines and Mandarin Airlines have applied for authority to operate on the new routes, but Taiwan has not selected a carrier or carriers to serve them. EVA, which already has invested more than US$10 million in equipment for the new Macau Airport, said it will spend US$50 million more on service equipment if it receives Taiwan-Macau authority.
Airline Suppliers Association appointed Marty Barrett, Pratt&Whitney; Fred Gaunt, Pacific Air Industries; Karen Borgnes, Pacific Aero Tech; Robert Powell, Flightspares, and Mike Molli, SAS Technitrade, to the board. Association of the Bar of New York appointed Shephard Melzer, Rogers and Wells, chairman of the Aeronautics Committee.
AirTran Corp. declared a cash dividend of three cents per share for the June quarter, payable Aug. 8 to shareholders of record as of July 25. On June 23, there were about 8.66 million shares of common stock outstanding. The company has paid a quarterly dividend since 1987. AirTran Corp. is the parent company of Mesaba Aviation, which operates as Northwest Airlink, and AirTran Airways, an Orlando-based jet carrier that began scheduled service in October.
Alaska Airlines plans to launch daily nonstop service between Phoenix and Puerto Vallarta on Oct. 5, pending DOT approval, the airline said. The carrier intends to use 140-seat MD-80s. Also on Oct. 5, Alaska will increase its Phoenix-Los Cabos service to one flight daily. It serves the market four times a week in the summer season.
A delegation of transportation officials from Romania, led by Transportation Minister Aurel Novac, was scheduled to begin a 10-day business visit to the U.S. yesterday. Including senior officials from the nation's civil aviation authority and Tarom as well as highway and railroad executives, the group is slated to meet today in Washington with DOT Deputy Secretary Mortimer Downey and about 50 U.S. business leaders.
- In Federal Register dated July 7...Superseded an airworthiness directive on certain British Aerospace BAC-111 aircraft concerning structural modifications...Issued an AD on all British Aerospace BAC-111 aircraft requiring inspections for corrosion of the center torque shaft of the wing spoilers...Issued an AD on certain McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 aircraft requiring inspections for cracking of the upper caps in the front spar of the left and right wing...Issued an AD on Mitsubishi YS-11 aircraft requiring a corrosion prevention program.
Boeing will take a one-time charge of $600 million against its second quarter pre-tax earnings to cover the cost of the special retirement- incentive program it recently offered to employees at least 55 years old. The company had expected the charge to be $350 million to $400 million, but more employees than expected - 9,500 of 14,000 eligible - took advantage of the program. The size of the charge may leave Boeing, which had first quarter earnings of $181 million, with a second quarter loss.
Federal Express urged DOT Friday to impose on Aug. 1 its proposed sanctions on sixth-freedom cargo carried by Japanese airlines to the U.S. unless the government of Japan approves FedEx's pending request for beyond-Japan service. In a legal filing, the carrier said it "profoundly hopes that the impasse involving its beyond-Japan service will be satisfactorily resolved in the near future, and that the [proposed] countermeasures...will not need to be imposed" against Japan Airlines and Nippon Cargo Airlines.
Pratt&Whitney has completed assembly and is ready to begin testing its 90,000-pounds-thrust PW4090, which is to enter service in early 1997. This sets the stage for "yet another growth step," the PW4098 with 98,000 pounds thrust, the company says. The higher-thrust powerplant will require a supercharger and a fan design before the engine can enter service on the stretch 777-300 in 1998.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic November 1994 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) American 1,084 26.33 2,071 2,245,509 Atlantic 248 26.77 4,138 1,026,976
HeavyLift Cargo Airlines intends to operate a one-way cargo charter flight between Los Angeles and the Cape Canaveral, Florida, Space Shuttle space launch facility on or about July 31. Using a Shorts SH5 "Belfast" aircraft, HeavyLift will transport a containerized satellite and associated items. No U.S. civil aircraft can accommodate the load, the U.K. charter cargo carrier noted in an application to DOT. (Docket OST-95- 294)
AirTran/Mesaba stockholders will meet Aug. 18 in a special meeting to approve the spinoff to stockholders of AirTran Airways, the low-cost jet subsidiary on the East Coast that created major scope-clause problems for the pilots of senior partner Northwest. There is much speculation as to how the mission of Mesaba may change once the spinoff is complete and Northwest takes an increased stake in the company, including the operation of Northwest's considerable fleet of refurbished DC-9s. If that is the case, Northwest has yet to notify Mesaba.
Eastwind Airlines, which has twice received extra time to start up service (DAILY, June 7), has asked DOT for permission to accept reservations and payment July 16 for service beginning Aug. 16. The carrier said it has "completed all of the major pre-conditions to its receipt of effective certification, with the exception of the FAA Part 121 certification," which it said it expects to complete before Aug. 16.
The combined traffic of the U.S. regional airline industry increased 2.9% in the first quarter of 1995 to 2.66 billion revenue passenger miles, but traffic failed to keep pace with the industry's 8.1% increase capacity, resulting in a load factor decline of 2.3 percentage points to 45.6%, according to statistics issued by the Regional Airline Association (RAA). The number of departures completed increased 2.8% to 1.11 million, but the number of passengers carried declined 4.9% to 11.98 million.
Frontier Airlines has appointed Jeff Potter VP-marketing. Potter has been regional director of commercial marketing-Pacific and Asia for McDonnell Douglas, and he served earlier in marketing management positions with Northwest, Continental, Pacific Southwest and the original Frontier.
