The Justice Department late Friday cleared a Pennsylvania venture's proposal to negotiate domestic air fares on behalf of its corporate customers that are mileage-based and net of travel agent override commissions and other marketing costs (DAILY, Jan. 17). In a "business review letter" that Business Travel Contractors Corp.
Reflectone received a FedEx contract to upgrade 727 and DC-10 flight simulators. Both will be equipped with new instructor stations, and the 727 simulator will get a Harris Night Hawk computer system. Reflectone President Richard Snyder said, "Many aircraft operators are saving money by upgrading existing simulators, rather than ordering new ones." He said a number of Reflectone's subsystems can be used on existing or new simulators.
APCOA named Raul Regalado president-airport properties, West. BFGoodrich Aerospace Avionics Systems named Suzanne Finney aftermarket sales representative for the western region of the U.S. Diamond Aircraft appointed new sales representatives in U.S.: Matt Amundson, Huntsville, Ala.; John DeLawyer, Austin, Texas; Jonathan Guenthner, Walnut Creek, Calif.; Scott Laughery, Indianapolis, Ind.; Shawn McGeough, East Brunswick, N.J., and Debbie Crawford, Kirkwood, Mo.
SAS has been named the official carrier of World Championships in Athletics scheduled Aug. 4-13 in Gothenburg, Sweden. All athletes and their trainers, guests and officials will fly SAS to and from Gothenburg. SAS will add 30,000 extra seats to and from Gothenburg during the event, most of them to and from Copenhagen and Stockholm. The carrier also will operate extra flights from Frankfurt, London and Zurich. MarketPlace
Fine Airlines said it will begin daily cargo service today between Miami and Puerto Rico. It will fly a stretch DC-8 leaving Miami about midnight and arriving back in Miami at about 7:30 a.m. Fine serves the Caribbean and Central and South America with 15 DC-8s.
Canadian Airlines International and its Machinists union have suspended negotiations. A senior Canadian executive told employees Friday the two sides have made no progress since June 30 toward putting a financial value on proposed contract changes. Negotiations with other union groups are proceeding or have reached a point where they cannot go forward until other groups catch up.
U.S. and Germany conducted three days of productive talks in Berlin last week, with the two sides exchanging ideas about open skies. "We are very pleased," said Patrick Murphy, acting DOT assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs. "We still have a lot of work to do," he said, but added that the U.S. was hoping to beat the 1997 deadline the two countries set for an open-skies agreement.
Gulf Air has requested renewal of its authority to operate combination service between Boston, Washington, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco, on the one hand, and Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar, on the other. The service is flown via Cyprus. Gulf Air operates service under a code- sharing arrangement with American by which the U.S. carrier displays the Gulf Air code on its flights between the five U.S. points in conjunction with Gulf Air's nonstop and direct Airbus A340 flights between New York and the points in the Mideast. (Docket 50319)
Jouve Data Management said FedEx has adopted its software and production services for distributing airframe technical manuals in digital form for the MD-11, A300-600, A310 and DC-10 fleets. A total of 105 CD-ROM work stations in 83 locations are planned. "We are now in the process of installing our hardware and software at stations throughout the FedEx system, including Asia," Jouve said.
Triangle Imaging Group, which specializes in the non-destructive inspection of aging commercial and military aircraft, said it has signed a letter of intent to enter into a 20-year lease agreement with the Israel Export Development Co. to establish an aircraft parts manufacturing facility in the free export processing zone at Tel Shoquet, near Beer Sheva, in Israel's Negev Desert. Under the proposed agreement, Israel Export Development Co. will provide Triangle with a facility for manufacturing commercial and military aircraft parts for international markets.
American is seeking renewal of its service between Miami and Mexico City and between co-terminal points New York and Miami and co-terminal points Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Docket OST-95-296&OST-95-297)
FAA Administrator David Hinson and Anthony Broderick, associate administrator for regulation and certification, listed five agency rulemakings that are on a "fast track." Proceedings and their deadlines are: - Air carrier training programs, final rule, October 1995. Requires all commercial operations of aircraft with 10 seats to meet the highest requirements for crew training, testing and qualification. Requires training in cockpit resource management to enhance crew coordination and performance.
Fibertek said it successfully demonstrated its helicopter laser radar for obstacle avoidance at field trials in South Korea. The eye-safe system demonstrated detection of wires at ranges of 350 meters to more than 650 meters under various conditions. Fibertek said its system is a candidate for the European Obstacle Warning System now being solicited by Eurocopter for the NH90 helicopter.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic November 1994 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) Alaska 757 27.93 834 631,455 Aloha 402 (1.19) 136 54,487
National Aviation Associations Coalition, representing 30 aviation groups, will issue a consensus statement today expressing strong support for the "basic concepts" of FAA reform efforts in both the House and the Senate. The coalition reached consensus on FAA funding, personnel and procurement reform at a meeting last week. Two aviation organizations back the FAA reform bill soon to be introduced by Reps. John Duncan (R-Tenn.) and Jim Lightfoot (R-Iowa).
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.
