Senate voted 61-38 yesterday to approve the conference report (House Report 104-124) on the supplemental appropriations/rescissions bill (H.R.1158). The action clears the bill for President Clinton, who plans to veto it. Neither the Senate vote nor the 235-189 vote in the House is sufficient to override a veto. The legislation would cut $2.094 billion in unused Airport Improvement Program contract authority, but the reduction would have no effect on the actual level of airport grants.
Facing a tight schedule and difficult issues, Sabena's management and unions are meeting to develop a business plan austere enough to return the carrier to profitability as Swissair takes 49.5% ownership of it. Major sacrifices will be required of the work force to meet Sabena's objectives, and the deadline for signing the Swissair-Sabena investment deal is July 31.
Jetstream Aircraft, which produces three commuter turboprop models, has established a Commuter Air Safety Perceptions Group to battle the negative publicity attached to turboprops.
The European Commission economic outlook for the European Union forecasts growth of 3% per year in 1995 and 1996 following last year's "surprisingly strong" growth of 2.75%, according to Yves-Thibault de Silguy, EC commissioner for economic, monetary and financial affairs. He described the forecast growth as healthy and stable, but he noted that prospects would have been more favorable were it not for recent "currency upheavals" within the EU and the weakness of the U.S. dollar.
Air L.A. ceased all California operations Thursday and is expected to move its headquarters to St. Paul, Minn. The Fairchild Metro operator and code-sharing partner of Aeromexico, recently acquired St. Paul-based Capitol Air, which operates between downtown St. Paul and Chicago Midway. Air L.A.'s only other remaining route is between Phoenix and Hermosillo, Mexico. The company said passenger loads were "insufficient to justify" continued Los Angeles service, which included San Diego, Tijuana, Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton and Ontario.
Emirates recently took delivery of an A310-300, the 16th Airbus to enter the carrier's fleet and the last of the European-made airplanes to be delivered to the airline before the arrival of its first Boeing 777 in 1996. The A310 received is the last of three that Emirates leased when demand for capacity exceeded its original estimate. The aircraft is configured to accommodate 10 passengers in first class, 32 in business and 131 in economy. Emirates' Airbus fleet now comprises 10 A310-300s and six A300-600Rs.
A revenue management service designed specifically for regional carriers can help them generate up to 2% more revenue, the service's developer claims. The service, dubbed ReArm (regional airline revenue maximizer), will allow regionals to "achieve the significant revenue benefits of automated revenue management without making the major capital investment required for an in-house system," according to Kenneth Stephens, president and chief executive officer of BehavHeuristics, which developed the system.
Financially strapped Continental will resume mediated contract negotiations with its increasingly disenchanted pilots union Tuesday as both sides try to find some middle ground. A representative of the Independent Association of Continental Pilots (IACP) said "the longer this goes on, the more difficult it is to control the pilots," who have been without a contract since 1983. Continental cannot afford a strike, and the pilots have been rumbling for some time about work stoppages, and they picketed the main hubs this month.
Swissair has named Werner Rohrer, formerly general manager-Madrid, general manager-marketing for North America. In his new post, Rohrer oversees a staff responsible for Swissair's passenger marketing, pricing, product development and management, sales promotion, public relations, market communication and planning activities. He reports to Jean-Pierre Allemann, Swissair's general manager for the region.
Senate adopted by voice vote yesterday a measure expressing the "sense of the Senate" that the essential air service program receive a sufficient level of funding to continue to provide air service to small rural communities that qualify for assistance. The resolution, adopted as an amendment to the budget resolution (S.Con.Res.13), has no legal effect, although it does put the Senate on record as supporting EAS. In fact, the budget resolution still technically assumes that EAS will be terminated as part of a package of cuts within transportation.
KLM will be forced to cancel 20 intra-European flights and one intercontinental service if pilots strike Tuesday, as threatened, but the airline believes it will be able to accommodate on alternative KLM flights more than 5,000 of the 7,000 passengers booked to depart during the six- hour strike period (DAILY, May 24). KLM has prepared a rescheduled flight plan in anticipation of the strike, expected May 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time.
Admission to Buckingham Palace is part of a three-night "Treasures of London" tour package British Airways is offering from the U.S. The air- inclusive tour is priced from $749 to $1,089 per person based on double occupancy. The four-day/three-night package, offered for travel between July 1 and Sept.
Host Marriott has been selected to be the master concessionaire/operator of food and beverage service and hotels at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The long-term contract, which takes effect July 1, covers more than 30 food and beverage outlets and two hotels located within the terminal complex. Schiphol will be Host Marriott's first European operation but its fifth international location, after Auckland, Christchurch, Melbourne and Vancouver.
This week's Senate Governmental Affairs oversight subcommittee hearing on unapproved and suspect parts brought to the surface again long-standing aviation industry concerns about whether FAA is taking the proliferation of such parts too lightly. These concerns exist despite acknowledgment by industry officials that bogus parts are not much of a safety problem, and that most of them never get past quality assurance programs of airlines and repair stations.
Airlines Reporting Corp. reported that travel agent sales from April 1994 to April 1995 increased 3% over the previous year, to $20.5 billion. Domestic sales rose 4% to $13.7 billion, and international sales were flat at $5.1 billion. Travel agents' domestic commissions processed by ARC were up 1% during the period to $1.3 billion, and international commissions also grew 1% to $789 million. Domestic commissions for April, when most airline domestic commission caps were in place, fell 4% while international commissions rose 4%.
American yesterday added nine daily roundtrips to its U.S.-Canada schedule, eight of them from its Chicago O'Hare hub and one from Dallas/Fort Worth. From Chicago, American now offers three flights a day to Ottawa, three to Winnipeg and two to Calgary. From Dallas/Fort Worth, the airline is offering a daily flight to Montreal. American will begin code sharing with Canadian Airlines International July 31 in the four new markets and on three other routes. Code sharing in five other markets will begin June 19.
Air Canada has had no problems transitioning crews to the new Canadair Regional Jet, as reported on this page May 19. The company to date has trained 90 pilots to fly the first several units to be delivered of its 24 RJs on order - being operated exclusively in transborder markets to the U.S. - with only one training failure, The DAILY was told. Unfortunately, the one failure was to become Air Canada's first female captain and the company had planned a media blitz to mark the occasion. Meanwhile, the pilot continues to fly as a second officer on a 747.
FAA said it will rule by July 9 on an application from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to collect $663 million in passenger facility charges for planning, design and construction of rail projects at New York Kennedy and LaGuardia and Newark airports. The application also seeks to withdraw certain previously approved roadway projects. The largest single project is construction, with $325 million in PFCs, of the remainder of the on-airport portion of the automated guideway transit (AGT) system at Kennedy.
Seaborne Aviation has applied for a certificate to operate scheduled, interstate combination service between Ketchikan and Waterfall, Alaska. The carrier proposes using its current fleet of three de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft on floats.
Edward Bolen, legislative director and general counsel for Sen. Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kan.), was elected senior VP-general counsel of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. GAMA President Edward Stimpson said Bolen was a "key player" in passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act and on other aviation legislation.
Tower Air's board declared a dividend of four cents per share for the second quarter of 1995. Stockholders of record June 8 will be entitled to receive the dividend, which is payable June 15.
National Mediation Board, back to a full complement with the recent swearing-in of Kenneth Hipp, is expected to rule shortly on the AMR Eagle single-transportation-system case. The NMB is expected to find that the four wholly owned Eagle carriers - Executive, Flagship, Simmons and Wings West, which are represented by three pilot unions - constitute a single system, based on common control as well as integrated operations, management, marketing, labor relations and other criteria used in previous findings.
Cincinnati- and Orlando-based Comair reported a fiscal year profit of $29.3 million, or $1.45 per share, compared with $28.5 million, or $1.33 per share, for the prior period. Total revenues reached $360.7 million, compared with $296.6 million in the prior year. For the fourth quarter ended March 31, net profit dropped to just over $5 million, or 26 cents per share, from just above $6 million, or 28 cents per share, in the comparable quarter one year ago. Revenues totaled $92.8 million for the quarter.
Mesaba Aviation and AirTran Airways parent AirTran Corp. earned a net income of $2.6 million, or 29 cents per share, for its fiscal year ended March 31, sharply lower than the $3.7 million, or 40 cents per share, it reported in fiscal 1994. Operating revenues totaled $145.9 million, up from $129.6 million in the prior year. For the quarter ended March 31, the company lost money - $281,000, or three cents per share - compared with a $603,000 profit, or six cents per share, for the comparable quarter a year earlier.
Travelers to London Heathrow from Chicago face "a significantly higher level of price and an inferior level of service options" compared with their counterparts who use other U.S. gateways, according to a study prepared for United by Campbell Aviation Group, Inc., Alexandria, Va. United would gain a Chicago-Heathrow route and compete with American and British Airways under the proposed U.S.-U.K. aviation "mini-deal," which most of its competitors oppose.
