AmeriJet International has launched scheduled cargo service to Guyana, the company's 17th Caribbean location and its first in South America. AmeriJet is serving Georgetown via intermediate points throughout the Caribbean with two flights a week, using 727-100s and -200s. Its route system also includes five U.S. cities and three locations in Mexico. AmeriJet said it will open a cargo facility at Piarco Airport, Trinidad, on July 12. The building will include a warehouse with offices and refrigerated storage space.
Continental's systemwide passenger traffic declined 1.6% last month on 6.8% less capacity, producing a load factor increase of 3.8 percentage points to 70.9%. Through the first six months of this year, Continental's traffic increased 1.4% on 0.6% less capacity, causing its load factor to rise 1.3 points to 63.6%. The airline cut capacity in an overall down-gauging of its fleet, eliminating its Airbus A300s and curtailing early-morning and late-night flights that carried lower-than-average loads.
FAA said yesterday it is developing the architecture to integrate the new technologies that will underpin the future worldwide airspace system and will present its timetable at an agency-hosted conference in early December in Denver.
Delta will offer new afternoon snacks in first class on flights in North America, beginning tomorrow. Delta currently rotates four menus, and the new service will offer eight - four spring-summer and four fall-winter. Meals include San Francisco chicken breast plate, Florida turkey sandwich, Texas fajita salad and Rocky Mountain turkey chili.
Loran-C is "a technology whose time has come and gone," according to George Donohue, FAA associate administrator for research and acquisition.Aviation and maritime users bought Loran equipment on the strength of a U.S. promise to support Loran until 2015, but Donohue said that "while there needs to be a transition time, all technology has a natural life to it."
Ailing Fokker announced a restructuring program that includes several management changes including the appointment of H.R. Grond as VP-Fokker PropJetLine with overall responsibility for the F50 and F60 programs. He was project manager of Fokker 60 Utility. He succeeds J. Zaaijer, who was named VP-sales for the corporate and government market. D. Koen, who was VP-defense systems and aircraft participation, was named VP-Fokker Aerostructures, a new unit created to design, build and sell aircraft parts. The current VP-business planning, J.M.M.
Western Pacific Airlines will offer introductory fares valid Aug. 1 to Aug. 14 on its new service between Colorado Springs and Wichita, San Diego, Indianapolis and Houston. One-way fares will be $49 to Wichita and $69 to the other three cities. The walkup fare is $109 to Wichita, $129 to San Diego and Houston, and $139 to Indianapolis. The low fares require a 21- day advance purchase and apply only during off-peak hours. Western Pacific uses a ticketless system.
U.S. Trade and Development Agency granted $125,000 to support a study on installing flight inspection systems to validate and calibrate navigational aids in Russia. Parker Gull will conduct the study.
Frontier Airlines is taking three former USAir BAe 146 quadjets out of California to free up 737s used in its Dakota and Montana markets for expansion elsewhere. What the Denver-based new entrant has not said is that the 146 would also enable its entry into the lucrative Aspen market. Although United controls the Denver-Aspen market through Air Wisconsin and Mesa, the resort is open to BAe 146 competition from afar, such as Business Express is contemplating under Delta and Northwest code-shares from Dallas/Fort Worth and Minneapolis/St. Paul...
AMR Eagle carriers Flagship, Simmons and Wings West continue to become geographically indistinguishable as they continue to swap markets across the Midwest and East. Simmons in June turned over a number of Nashville markets to Flagship (see chart on Page RA2).
Appleton, Wis.-based Air Wisconsin flew 45.4 million revenue passenger miles last month, a 63.3% increase from the same 1994 month. Capacity also increased a lot - 53.4% to 73.9 million available seat miles from 48.2 million, pushing the load factor up 3.8 percentage points to 61.5%. Enplanements rose 3.6% to 142,750 from 137,780. Air Wisconsin, which operates 14 BAe 146 jets as United Express at United's Chicago and Denver hubs, said its June load factor was a new monthly record.
House Appropriations Committee declined to adopt most of DOT's restructuring proposal as part of its FY96 appropriations bill, but it did accept one portion of the plan as it relates to FAA. The panel recommended $5.77 million for operations of the office of commercial space transportation within FAA.
Airbus and Fokker Aircraft Operating Costs Systemwide Utilization Per Day Fourth Quarter 1994 A320-100/200 America West Northwest Number of Aircraft Operated 17 50 Total Fleet Operations Departures 88 202 Block Hours 201 536 Flight Hours 177 458
America West plans to hold a frequent flyer mileage auction for "dream" vacations. FlightFund members can bid on eight travel packages for two, all of them available between Sept. 15 and March 1996 and including air fare and ground transfers. While the auction gives members the opportunity to win a dream vacation, it also gives America West the chance to clear away thousands of frequent flyer miles. Vacations include a Super Bowl weekend Jan.
United will begin a new daily transcontinental service Oct. 4 when it links Baltimore/Washington and San Francisco with A320 aircraft. The carrier operates six flights a week from Washington Dulles to San Francisco.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) said it is "enthusiastically endorsing" new FAA reform legislation from House aviation subcommittee Chairman John Duncan (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Jim Lightfoot (R-Iowa) (DAILY, June 30). AOPA President Phil Boyer said the bill retains most of the key elements of the FAA Reform Act previously introduced by Lightfoot, including FAA independence from DOT and relief from government procurement and personnel procedures.
KLM and Garuda Indonesia have begun joint cargo service between Amsterdam and Jakarta with a 747 leased from Atlas Air. The once-weekly flight leaves Amsterdam every Tuesday with intermediate stops in Bombay and Kuala Lumpur.
The City of Kansas City, Mo., and the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Congress ("Kansas City Parties") are boosting Custom Air Transport's bid for a certificate to start up all-cargo operations.
U.S. and Japan began talks yesterday in Washington in an attempt to avert U.S.-threatened sanctions against Japanese cargo carriers. While the U.S. is hoping for an early resolution, three days have been set aside for the talks, said a State Department spokeswoman. Heading the talks for Japan are Masahide Ochi, special adviser to Japan Transport Ministry, and Naoki Hirano, vice minister of transportation, while Deputy Secretary Mortimer Downey and Assistant Secretary of State for Economic&Business Affairs Daniel Tarullo are representing the U.S.
American has applied for seven weekly U.S.-Peru combination frequencies to inaugurate daily Dallas/Fort Worth-Lima flights. If approved, the carrier plans to begin the service Oct. 1 using 757ER aircraft. The allocation would come from the 10.5 new frequencies made available by the recent U.S.- Peru aviation pact (DAILY, May 8). Applying for the service, American is challenging Continental's earlier bid for U.S.-Peru frequencies to operate Newark-Lima service via Bogota, Colombia (DAILY, June 28).
The House DOT appropriations bill for fiscal 1996 cuts $124.66 million from the Clinton administration's research, engineering and development budget to accommodate the development and near-term acquisition of equipment to enhance safety and capacity. While pushing increases in certain programs, the Appropriations Committee in its report on the bill also urges FAA and the Clinton administration "to pursue aggressively exemption from the existing procurement and personnel laws and strongly work for an independent FAA, rather than a government corporation" (DAILY, July 5).
The European Commission proposed yesterday a voluntary, short-term action plan intended to relieve air traffic delays and congestion that traditionally plague European air travel during the busy summer season. The EC, prompted by Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock, proposed initiatives on four fronts, entailing cooperation between Eurocontrol and European Union member states.
Sunbird Airways is asking DOT for additional time to start up low-fare scheduled flights from Orlando to East Coast markets. It said it has experienced management changes and delays in aircraft acquisition since July 1994, when it was found fit to operate scheduled service, but it is continuing to make progress toward a startup and believes it can complete the necessary steps to make its certificate effective within 180 days.
Lufthansa crossed the "profit threshold" in April and expects its pre-tax profits for the first half of this year to exceed 1994's first-half earnings despite the negative impact of the strong German currency on its results, Chairman Jurgen Weber said yesterday.
