Sen. Wendell Ford (D-Ky.) introduced legislation (S.1037) last week providing that the requirement that U.S. government travel be on U.S. carriers excludes travel on any aircraft that is not owned or leased and operated by a U.S. person. The bill would overturn a Dec. 29, 1994, ruling by the U.S. Comptroller General that code sharing does not violate the Fly America Act - a U.S. carrier can submit a bid for government travel to the General Services Administration for an international route, even if the actual travel will be on a foreign airline.
Lucas Aerospace Cargo Systems, Jamestown, N.D., will continue producing 747 and 767 cargo handling systems, 737 leading edge rib assemblies and 747 cart lifts through 2001 under an extension of its current contracts with Boeing. It will continue to deliver the cargo systems and leading edge rib assemblies to Boeing on a just-in-time basis. Lucas Aerospace said the value of the extension "could exceed $150 million," and Managing Director Frank Turner said it "demonstrates our commitment to Boeing as an extremely important customer."
Western Data Systems, Calabasas, Calif., has signed a $9 million multi-year contract to provide McDonnell Douglas with Enterprise Resource Planning software products. WDS also will develop product enhancements and support implementation at McDonnell Douglas Aerospace in St. Louis. Products include Compass-CONTRACT, an integrated manufacturing, procurement and cost-management system, and a new engineering workbench, CompassBOM, which graphically depicts and manages bill of materials construction.
Martinair Holland will begin all-cargo service once a week Aug. 6 to Atlanta Hartsfield Airport from Amsterdam. The Sunday MD-11 flight, the first to the airport, will also serve Mexico City and Los Angeles. Martinair's VP-Americas Lucien Schroder said Atlanta's strategic air cargo location and distribution system will enable the carrier to "expand our service to the entire U.S." Martinair plans to increase service in November. Hartsfield experienced 20% growth in international cargo volume during the first five months of this year.
Deadline for submission to British Airways' Tourism for Tomorrow Awards - to recognize tourism projects sensitive to natural and cultural environments - is 12 days away. BA said it has received entries for projects ranging from a tropical ecology village in the Philippines to rejuvenation of the U.K. canal system. Kuoni, a tour operator in Kenya, has entered an anti-animal-harassment project in the Masai Mara Reserve that not only ensures protection of rhinos but also supports visitor education programs.
Three U.S. charity organizations have amassed enough SkyMiles in one month to qualify for "eight round-trips to the moon and back," Delta said. The carrier said last month its SkyMiles members could donate their miles in increments of 5,000 to any of the charities - CARE, Make-A-Wish Foundation and United Way of America. Delta made an initial donation of 100,000 miles to each charity and is matching one mile for every five donated.
Delta and Austrian Airlines hosted a media splash in Vienna to celebrate their first year of code sharing. The companies said that the alliance has been a success, carrying about 110,000 passengers in the New York Kennedy- Vienna market during the year. Austrian says it cut its losses on the route 75% and is negotiating with Delta for code sharing to Eastern Europe.
TWA has received the approval it needs from holders of its 8% notes to amend the Pledge and Security Agreement securing the notes. The amendment is a condition to implementing the prepackaged plan of reorganization TWA filed with the bankruptcy court in St. Louis on June 30.
Noting new opportunities for U.S.-Peru service provided by the new aviation pact between the two countries, DOT is reactivating and expanding the scope of the Miami-Lima Service Proceeding and renaming it the U.S.-Lima Combination Service Proceeding. The department will consider in this proceeding only the 15 additional weekly frequencies available immediately under the amended agreement - eight frequencies for Miami/Fort Lauderdale service and seven for services at other U.S. gateways.
Island Air, sister company to Aloha Airlines, has put a second 37-seat de Havilland Dash 8 into service in the Honolulu-Kapalua/West Maui and Honolulu-Lanai markets. It now has a fleet of two Dash 8s and eight 18- passenger Dash 6 Twin Otters.
USAir and America West announced yesterday they will offer reduced fall fares for tickets purchased by July 24 for travel between Sept. 5 and Oct. 31. USAir said it is offering between $20 and $100 off the roundtrip excursion fare in 200 transcontinental markets. A Saturday stay is required. America West said the fares are good throughout its system. The biggest saving is in the Chicago-Los Cabos market, which will be $172 less during off-peak hours than the previous excursion fare. Both carriers offer additional savings for night flights.
Worldwide scheduled passenger traffic will increase more than 6% this year, 7% in 1996 and 7% in 1997, according an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) forecast issued yesterday. Traffic growth will vary by region, with Asia/Pacific carriers logging the highest rates. Asia/Pacific traffic rose 12% last year and is expected to increase 9.5% this year, and 9% in 1996 and 1997. North American carrier traffic growth will be 5.5% this year, 5.5% next year and 5.7% in 1997.
Air South is offering a "Fly 3 Get 1 Free" and "Fly 4 Get 1 More" promotion until Aug. 6 to attract families on summer vacations. Three people flying together will be able to add a fourth for free, and four flying together will be able to get two additional free tickets.
The U.S. government has a duty to assist U.S. airlines in competition with foreign airlines and must gain a better understanding of how foreign and domestic airline markets work, Air Transportation Association President Carol Hallett said yesterday. In a speech to the International Aviation Club, Hallett said the government must end the "deplorable" practice of using the availability of foreign operating rights to generate support among U.S. carriers on domestic political issues.
American Airlines was chosen the airline with the best "Cellars in the Sky" by Business Traveler International for the fourth time in six years. A panel of 24 judges tasted wines from 29 airlines.
Declaring that Continental is not the same airline it was a year ago, Chief Executive Gordon Bethune yesterday reported second quarter net earnings of $102 million, the highest quarterly profit in the carrier's 61-year history. Earnings per share reached $3.02, more than double the Wall Street consensus for the quarter and 60% higher than the Street's estimate for the full year, and the operating profit was $109.8 million. For the six months ended June 30, Continental posted net earnings of $71.8 million, or $2.31 per share, and an operating profit of $137.3 million.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) asked a Treasury Department official yesterday at a Finance Committee hearing whether the Clinton administration would support a phase-in of the commercial jet fuel tax if the administration cannot back either a repeal or continued full exemption for airlines. Cynthia Beerbower, Treasury's deputy assistant secretary for tax policy, responded that the panel should not unravel the transportation fuel taxes deal struck in 1993.
Concentra Corp. has entered the sales force automation market with the release of Selling Point, a software product that supports three components of face-to-face sales calls - customer needs assessment, product configuration and proposal generation.
Delta has formed a Corporate Planning department to develop strategy and coordinate the development of operating and capital plans and business plans for each fiscal year. VP-Corporate Planning Julius Gwin, formerly VP-finance, will head the department, which includes the Strategic Planning group, headed by Hiram Cox, director-strategic planning, and a newly formed Annual Planning and Process Design group, headed by Beth Johnston, general manager-annual planning and process design. The latter group includes the Methods unit, formerly part of the Personnel Division.
Saying it does not oppose the service, Federal Express asked DOT to defer action on EVA Airways application for Taipei-Washington authority until the government of Taiwan allows FedEx to construct and operate its planned cargo handling facility and flight operations center at Chiang Kai Shek Airport. EVA seeks extrabilateral authority to operate three times weekly on the route via Los Angeles, starting Dec. 12, and use 747-400 aircraft. Washington area authorities are boosting EVA's bid.
Air Canada's systemwide passenger traffic increased 15% last month over June a year ago on 12.2% more capacity, pushing its load factor up 1.6 percentage points to 67.4%. The airline's domestic traffic rose 9.2% and its international traffic, which accounts for more than half of its systemwide total, grew 19.2%. Through the first six months of this year, Air Canada's systemwide traffic increased 10.1% on 14.2% more capacity, reducing the load factor 2.2 points to 60.6%. June 95 June 94 6 Mths 95 6 Mths 94
National Transportation Safety Board says it is pleased FAA agrees that Boeing 737 aircraft operated under 14 CFR 121 or 125 should be equipped with flight data recorders with expanded parameters, but it is disappointed that its recommended compliance date of Dec. 31 will not be met. The recommendation came from NTSB's investigation of the USAir Flight 427 crash near Pittsburgh Sept. 8. NTSB said FDRs should record lateral acceleration, flight control inputs for pitch, roll and yaw, and primary flight control surface positions for pitch, roll and yaw.
Citing the recent U.S.-U.K. deal allowing U.S. airlines to offer services between any point in the U.S. and any point in the U.K. except London Heathrow and Gatwick, Northwest has applied for authority to operate to a host of U.K. cities. The carrier said it plans to begin the services by Sept. 15, operating all of them via Amsterdam under code-sharing arrangements with KLM and Air U.K. With KLM operating Amsterdam-U.K. segments, Northwest would serve Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff and Southampton. Expanded code sharing with Air U.K.
Teamsters union lost an election to represent cockpit crew at Polar Air Cargo, Long Beach, Calif. The National Mediation Board yesterday counted 30 votes for the union out of 108 eligible voters. The Air Line Pilots Association received four write-in votes.
