A Boeing 777 carrying DOT Secretary Federico Pea and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation transport ministers yesterday from Washington to Denver "experienced a slight fluctuation in cabin pressure," said FAA. The incident occurred 20 miles south of Pittsburgh at 9:30 a.m. EDT. Operating at 35,000 feet, the captain descended the aircraft as a precautionary measure, determined there was no structural damage and the engines were running normally, and continued on to Denver at 10,000 feet.
African startup carrier Alliance, a three-way joint venture with South African Airways (SAA) and the governments and national airlines of Tanzania and Uganda, will launch flight operations in July. The carrier's initial schedule will include service to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Entebbe, Uganda; Bombay, Dubai, Johannesburg and London. The airline will fly a Boeing 747SP bearing an African design, including a lion on the tail and a sunset vignette across the fuselage. Alliance will be accessible to travel agents via the Galileo computer reservations system.
Members of American's Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) have ratified an agreement reached with the company in April that resolves all issues pertaining to the November 1993 strike. The pact does not cover major financial issues now in arbitration (DAILY, April 27). American Chairman Robert Crandall said Monday, "Those big-ticket items are in the hands of the arbitrators, whose decision we expect this fall." The two groups agreed there would be no reprisals against flight attendants who participated in the strike or crossed picket lines.
American has applied for authority to operate scheduled combination service between Honolulu and British Columbia, Canada, under its code-share arrangement with Canadian Airlines International. American plans to display its designator code on CAI's Honolulu-Vancouver service, beginning Sept. 15. CAI currently operates daily DC-10-30 service on the route. DOT approved in May the American and CAI code-share arrangement for one year, beginning June 1 (DAILY, May 19). (Docket 50392)
Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (R-Kan.) reaffirmed his support of the commercial jet fuel tax repeal yesterday in a talk to St. Louis area business leaders, sources said.In remarks to the same group, White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta said the Clinton administration recognizes the financial burden of the fuel tax on the industry and is looking at the issue, but someone would have to pay for lost revenues if the airlines were exempted.
Singapore Airlines has signed an agreement with Wicat to provide the airline with safety and emergency training courseware and systems for the Singapore Airlines Training Center. The agreement includes aircraft- specific courses for the Airbus A310 and A340, and the Boeing 747-200/- 300/-400 and 737.
The Vatican has selected TWA to provide air transportation for Pope John Paul II while the pontiff visits the U.S. this fall. The pope will fly on a specially configured 767-300 during the domestic portions of his trip. TWA also will provide his return transportation to Rome.
United has chosen COMSAT Aeronautical Services and GTE Airfone to provide communications services aboard its aircraft, including Boeing 777s, on transoceanic flights. COMSAT will provide satellite communication capabilities for 70 United airplanes, including 18 of United's 34 777s planned for delivery. Facsimile capability will be available this summer. GTE's Airfone will be integrated with the interactive video systems on the aircraft, which are installed at every seat on United's 777.
Four Asia/Pacific carriers have committed themselves to $3.1 billion in orders for the stretched version of the Boeing 777, enough to launch the 777-300 program into development and production, Boeing Commercial Airplane Group President Ron Woodard said yesterday at the Paris Air Show (DAILY, June 14). All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, Korean Air Lines and Thai Airways International have ordered a total of 31 of the airplanes, 20 of them new orders and 11 confirmations or conversions of earlier 777 orders.
McDonnell Douglas has amended its revolving credit agreement, increasing the funds available by $500 million to $1.75 billion and extending the facility's term to June 2000. "We are very pleased with the continued strong support and response of our banks," said Herbert Lanese, the company's chief financial officer. The co-arrangers of the transaction were Chase Securities and J.P. Morgan Securities.
United, at loggerheads with its flight attendants over foreign domicile openings, hired far more flight attendants, 2,434, than any other U.S. carrier from May 1994 through May 1995. Continental hired 905 and Southwest 825, according to the Future Aviation Professionals of America. National carriers American Trans Air and ValuJet hired 617 and 612, respectively.
McDonnell Douglas says it has used the results of a worldwide passenger survey to select a futuristic design for the interior of its proposed, next-generation MD-95. Fischer Advanced Composite Components, Reid, Austria, will manufacture the interior of the 100-passenger twinjet. The survey process included focus groups composed of executives from Midwest Express, Aviaco and TWA, and flight attendants from Delta, American and Continental, who critiqued several interior mockups.
EVA Airways will ban smoking on all flights, effective July 1, and predicted a profit for calendar year 1995. The airline also will prohibit the sale of duty-free cigarettes on all flights. Since launching its first passenger flights in 1991, EVA has steadily reduced the number of smoking section seats available on its international service. EVA's non-smoking policy extends to all EVA offices worldwide. The Evergreen Group, EVA's parent company, has maintained a non-smoking policy in its offices for years, EVA said.
El Al has taken delivery of its third 747-400. The airline plans to begin using the new aircraft for its new, weekly nonstop flight from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv, beginning June 24. The 747-400s also will be used for El Al's two weekly nonstops between Newark and Tel Aviv and nonstop New York-Tel Aviv flights.
Lauda Air has signed a license agreement with PROS Strategic Solutions for a customized version of PROS Passenger Revenue Management Optimization system. The mission of the system is to support a flight controller's decision-making abilities when setting inventory levels for future flight departures.
The U.S.-Canada open skies agreement will have the same effect on the transborder market as deregulation on the U.S. - explosive growth followed by market contraction - according to Cyril Murphy, United's VP- international affairs.
The Finnair Group's fiscal 1994-95 pre-tax earnings more than tripled from the previous year to 419 million Finnish markka (US$97.2 million) on revenues of FM6.67 billion (US$1.55 billion). In the previous year, the group had pre-tax earnings of FM120 million on revenues of FM5.96 billion. "We have now made up for the recession years," proclaimed Finnair Chief Executive Antti Potila. "Financial performance improved more than expected and rose to a satisfactory level," he said.
Delta SkyMiles members can earn 1,000 miles by ordering a $35 Olympic brick by Sept. 15. The commemorative stones will pave the walkways and plazas of Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta for the 1996 Olympic Games.
As U.S. officials press to resolve the country's aviation dispute with Japan, Federal Express has postponed opening its Subic Bay transshipment facility. Officials from the two countries concluded three days of negotiations in Washington Tuesday without reaching an agreement. The talks were carried out at the "vice ministerial level," according to a DOT official, although Japan's Transport Minister Shizuka Kamei and DOT Secretary Federico Pea held informal talks before the Tuesday night negotiations.
U.S. Major Carriers Share of Latin Service Fourth Quarter 1994 Total Revenue Departures America West 235 American 21,923 Continental 7,133 Delta 3,493 United 5,341 USAir 1,638 Total 39,763 Average Number of
AMR Corp. Chairman Robert Crandall, speaking to a Merrill Lynch Transportation Conference this week in New York, said the near-term outlook for the airline group is "as good as it has been for a very long time." His comments came as American's stock, as well as those of other majors, hit highs for the year. He said 1995 is "shaping up to be a year of progress on many fronts," as evidenced by strong first quarter results, and AMR remains "guardedly optimistic" about the third quarter.
British Asia Airways (BAA), the wholly owned subsidiary of British Airways, will increase the number of weekly roundtrip flights on its London-Hong Kong-Taipei route to three, starting tomorrow.
Las Vegas-based Scenic Airlines has installed the first of 39 digital voice passenger briefing and tour guide systems developed by Heads Up Technologies. The PBS650 system can transmit information in 15 languages and store 27 hours of recorded information.
Northwest has won the 1994 Ashington-Pickett Crystal Pyramid Award of Merit for best overall service among U.S. airlines. The newsletter's readers found Northwest to be efficient, employees courteous and menus imaginative.
Under an agreement signed between U.S.-based helicopter maker Sikorsky, Taiwan's military-run Aero-Industry Development Center and Taiwan Aerospace Co., Ltd., will form a joint venture to produce parts and components for the nose section of the new S-92 transport helicopter, currently being developed by Sikorsky. The agreement, signed in Paris, calls for Sikorsky to transfer to the Taiwanese companies technology for manufacturing parts and components in the aircraft's nose section, including state-of-the-art electronics systems.
