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.
Airbus and Fokker Aircraft Operating Costs Fourth Quarter 1994 Dollars Per Block Hours A320-100/200 America West Northwest United Average Crew Cost $261 $487 $600 $463 Fuel&Oil 460 439 451 446 Rentals 753 392 652 526
American is challenging DOT's tentative selection of United for scheduled combination service in the Los Angeles-Guadalajara market. American said its own proposal promises earlier service startup and greater capacity than United's. United proposed three daily roundtrip flights using 737-300s, beginning Aug. 31 (DAILY, June 28), while American said it can start a single weekly roundtrip Aug. 1, increasing to three weekly flights Aug. 31.
British Airways' systemwide June passenger traffic rose 8.9% from the same month a year ago on 6% more capacity, pushing the airline's load factor up 2.1 percentage points to 77.8%. The number of passengers carried increased 4.9% to 2.9 million. The airline's intercontinental passenger traffic, which accounted for roughly 80% of BA's systemwide total of 5.3 billion revenue passenger miles, rose 10.3% on 7.4% more capacity, boosting the long-haul load factor two points to 78.5%.
Sabreliner Corp. said it has acquired DynCorp's airline and cargo aircraft maintenance and modification facilities, DynAir Tech of Arizona, DynAir Tech of Florida, DynAir Tech of Texas, DynAir Telecommunications and DynAir Avionics Division, for $12.5 million plus payments contingent on future performance. The subsidiaries have combined annual sales of about $60 million, bringing Sabreliner's annual sales to about $200 million.
Canadian Airlines International plans to lay off as many as 394 employees, close its Montreal pilot base, restructure its Northern Canada and Labrador operations and drop its one remaining flight from Montreal Mirabel in the initial steps of a new strategic plan unveiled Tuesday by the airline's management. These and other measures are to be implemented by the end of October, when its winter schedule takes effect, and they are expected to improve operating results by C$15 million annually, according to Canadian Chief Executive Kevin Jenkins.
Boeing said it delivered 60 aircraft during the quarter ended June 30 - 26 737s, 13 757s, eight 747s, eight 767s and five 777s. Deliveries during the first six months totaled 119 aircraft, with 55 737s, 27 757s, 16 747s, 16 767s and five 777s. The company projects 235 deliveries for the full year.
Lufthansa will drop its three weekly Frankfurt-Sydney flights this fall and replace the service with connections operated by marketing partners Lauda Air, Thai Airways International and United, the German carrier said. Lufthansa said it is suspending its Boeing 767 service to Australia with the implementation of its winter 1995-96 schedule on "economic grounds." Once the change is made, Sydney-bound Lufthansa passengers will connect on Lauda at Vienna, Thai Airways at Bangkok and United at Los Angeles and San Francisco.
South African Airways is having trouble finding a new long-range widebody transport that can handle Johannesburg's 6,000-foot altitude, according to sources.The Airbus A340 does not have enough payload without more powerful engines, and the Boeing 777 would need a "thrust bump" even with 90,000-pounds-thrust engines. This leaves the Douglas MD-11 as a strong competitor, the sources say.
Pilots at United Express carrier WestAir have conducted informational picketing at airports in Sacramento and Fresno to protest what the pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, call "deplorable working conditions." The pilots have been negotiating a contract with the company for nearly two years. Parent Mesa Air Group has replaced WestAir aircraft and crews with other Mesa division carriers, forcing WestAir pilots to relocate and accept reduced pay, ALPA said.
Australia's Civil Aviation Authority today will be replaced by two new boards - the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and the Airservices Australia. CASA, a government agency, will be responsible for aviation safety and compliance, aircraft registration, licensing, safety promotion and regulatory oversight of Airservices. Airservices, a government corporation, will be responsible for air traffic services, air navigation facilities, aeronautical information, firefighting, search and rescue, and environmental functions, such as aircraft noise monitoring.
Austrian carrier EuroSky Airlines has launched daily scheduled service from Vienna to Wroclaw, Poland, and Kosice, Slovakia. The airline said the new destinations represent a major step toward its goal of providing service to Central European destinations that complements Austrian Airlines flights. EuroSky also recently launched twice-daily service between Vienna and Trieste, Italy. EuroSky operates Fairchild Metroliners.
American flew 377.3 million revenue passenger miles on Friday, June 30, surpassing its previous one-day record of 372 million RPMs set on Aug. 1, 1992, the airline said. Its load factor for the day was 83%. "The record traffic is an indication that the peak summer travel season is off to an exceptionally good start," said Michael Gunn, senior VP-marketing. Northwest said it achieved a load factor of 85% on Saturday, July 1, and that its load factor for the week ended Saturday was 80.1%. Delta set a passenger boarding record on Friday at its Cincinnati hub.
The Jetstream 61, a derivative of the ATP certificated in 1988 featuring uprated engines and increased payload/range, has received its U.K. type certificate.
Three BAe 146-200s USAir is leasing to Frontier are from the batch of 146s USAir acquired when it bought PSA. The airplanes have been sitting in the desert for four years.
Japan Airlines recorded 458 bird strike incidents in fiscal 1995, but none of them "resulted in any significant consequences" to a JAL flight. The birds, and sometimes bats, did not fare as well.
USAir will complete its previously announced 5% schedule reduction this fall by cutting 72 more daily jet flights, the airline confirmed Friday. The Wall Street Journal quoted Robert Fornaro, senior VP-planning, as saying these reductions represent the last major revisions the carrier expects this year. USAir will cut flights from Lansing, Mich.; Portland, Ore., Pittsburgh and Kansas City.
The House Appropriations Committee last week approved the fiscal 1996 DOT appropriations bill, providing $8.343 billion for FAA. The panel approved no changes in the aviation portion of the bill approved last month by the transportation subcommittee. Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) had been expected to offer an amendment to reallocate $100 million in transit operating assistance to AIP, bringing the House AIP recommendation to $1.7 billion. DeLay did not offer the amendment, but he suggested he might offer a measure on the House floor dealing with transit funding.
- In Federal Register dated June 23...Issued an airworthiness directive on certain Airbus A320 aircraft requiring inspections of the gap of seat track joints at Frame 64...Issued an AD on certain McDonnell Douglas DC-9/MD-80 series aircraft requiring inspection for chafing on the Firex pipe assembly of the No.
The U.S. and India are scheduled to conduct aviation negotiations this month. India wants to operate to Chicago via London with rights between London and Chicago. The U.S. will press India to accept United's proposed round-the-world service that would touch down in that country - authority the U.S. maintains is included in the U.S.-India bilateral. The U.S. will hold informal talks with Mexico July 20 on charter application procedures and cargo issues.
Express One requested a DOT waiver from regulations to enable it to conduct revenue flights as part of any proving runs FAA may require as part of the carrier's continuing effort to resume service.
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Fourth Quarter 1994 DC-10-10 American Continental United Number of Aircraft Operated 20 3 31 Total Fleet Operations Departures 40 5 81 Block Hours 178 28 270
Magdalena Jacobsen, a member of the National Mediation Board since December 1993, has been designated chairwoman of the three-member board, effective July 1. She succeeds Ernest DuBester, chairman since November 1993, who will remain a board member. The third member is Kenneth Hipp. When she came to the NMB, Jacobsen was a commissioner of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which mediates labor negotiations in all industries except airlines and railroads, the NMB's jurisdiction.
The steady decline in the U.S. aerospace trade surplus is accelerating, the latest Commerce Department data compiled by the Aerospace Industries Association show. First quarter 1995 figures, reported last week, reveal that the surplus fell by $515 million in the three months since 1994 ended, a 9% decline that left the industry's total trade surplus at $5 billion. The surplus fell last year for the second year in a row, the first time the surplus fell in consecutive years since 1965.
