Delta Connection Comair will introduce jet service from Cincinnati to Outagamie County, Wis., Airport Sept. 11 when it upgrades aircraft from 30- passenger turboprops with Canadair Regional Jets. The carrier operates four daily flights to Outagamie County, and the early morning and late evening flight will be operated with the RJ.
The unofficial committee representing holders of TWA's 8% notes yesterday reiterated its support of a pre-packaged swing through Chapter 11 as "the most efficient and effective" way for the airline to accomplish its financial restructuring. "The 8% Note Committee believes that the restructuring, which is to be accomplished through the prepackaged Chapter 11 plan, is fair and reasonable and the best alternative available to the 8% noteholders," the committee said in a statement issued yesterday.
Nigerian company Aeronautical Industrial Engineering and Project Management (AIEP) has placed an order for 13 used Dornier 228s, Daimler- Benz Aerospace announced in Paris this week. With the delivery of the 13 aircraft to AIEP, the Do 228 fleet in Nigeria will total 35. DASA also last year won from Nigeria three firm orders and nine options for the new Dornier 328.
European regional aircraft manufacturers not included in the new AIR joint venture - CASA of Spain, Daimler Benz Aerospace (DASA) and Saab Aircraft of Sweden - may be allowed to join AIR in whole or in part, or may not. There is some speculation that they may elect to form their own joint venture in competition with the British, French and Italians. DASA certainly covets a spot in the new partnership and would like very much to be designated the lead on any new 100-passenger jet project, which seems to generate the most excitement among the members.
America West's dispatch/flight control employees rejected a bid by the Transport Workers Union for representation. Of 41 eligible voters, the National Mediation Board counted only 18 in favor of the TWU. America West President Maurice Myers said, "We're obviously pleased with the result. America West is committed to building a high-performance corporate culture in which employees are valued and compensated competitively." The carrier noted that employees have rejected four union attempts to organize in the last six months.
Qantas yesterday filed a legal challenge to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department's proposed restrictions on its carriage of fifth-freedom traffic through Hong Kong to Bangkok and Singapore. The restrictions are scheduled to go into effect July 1. Qantas filed an application to the Hong Kong Supreme Court for a judicial review of the decision. The Hong Kong government decided in April to restrict Qantas's fifth-freedom traffic to Singapore and Bangkok to 50% of the total number of passengers on each flight.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association President Edward Stimpson will be the guest speaker at the National Aircraft Resale Association's fifth annual membership meeting Sept. 24 at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Las Vegas. NARA has 21 brokers and dealers as regular members, and 25 associate members.
...Puel had no immediate staff and no senior VP when the joint venture was announced June 10; only three of six board members - two from each partner - had been appointed. He was handed a list of 22 things he could not do, but nothing to tell him what he could do. "I have to prepare the organization and the strategy as soon as I have the authority to do so." The man most responsible for pushing through the joint venture was Jetstream Aircraft Managing Director Allan MacDonald, but he is stepping down July 1 to head BAe activities in South Africa.
KLM and Northwest plan to inaugurate daily nonstop service from Washington Dulles to Amsterdam on Oct. 29. The joint service will be flown with a Northwest DC-10. Arrival in Amsterdam will be timed to provide convenient connections to such KLM destinations as Berlin, Moscow and Delhi. KLM and Northwest currently operate three times a week between Washington and Amsterdam, but the flights do not connect to a KLM flight bank at Schiphol.
American is shutting down its Nashville-London flights, service it fought hard to win in 1993 and which the city of Nashville offered to bankroll. American will end the service Oct. 1 after losing "several millions" of dollars to operate the flights, which drew mostly Nashville-originating passengers and produced low-yielding, coach/discount travel, a carrier spokesman said. Given its cost structure, American needs stronger business- and first-class traffic to make a profit, he said.
Mesa Airlines' second Fokker 70, on display at the Paris Air Show this week, suffered its first "fender bender" when ground-handling crews pushed the right aileron of a Dornier 328 into its rudder. The F70 was immediately towed to a hangar where the composite rudder was replaced.
Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic April, 4 Months 1995 Revenue Ton-Miles (000) April April % 1995 1994 Change Domestic Freight 670,596 659,014 1.8 Mail 146,211 135,361 8.0 Total 816,807 794,375 2.8 International
Japan Airlines' systemwide passenger traffic increased 4.4% in March, the most recent month for which figures are available, to 5.59 billion revenue passenger miles. The number of passengers enplaned rose 15.7% to 2.58 million. The airline's cargo traffic increased 11.5% to 308.1 million revenue cargo ton kilometers. Through the first three months of 1995, JAL's passenger traffic was up 6.8% to 15.93 billion RPMs. The number of passengers boarded increased 13.8% to 6.92 million, and the airline's cargo traffic rose 12.7% to 858.8 million CTKs.
British Aerospace's Asset Management Organization and AlliedSignal Engines this week announced an initiative designed to reduce ALF-502 maintenance costs on the BAe 146 23% - to under $40 per operating hour over the next five years. Current selling standard for maintenance cost per flight hour is $52. Both companies will contribute funding for hardware improvements, AMO said.
Aero Insurance Inc. and Cooper Aircraft Insurance, both Dallas-based aviation insurance agencies, have merged their operations. The companies' specialization in the domestic aviation market features coverage and service for individual and corporate aircraft owners (including jets and helicopters), fixed-base operators, airports, repair shops, commercial fleets and manufacturer's product liability. The companies expect to consolidate their operations in the Aero headquarters within the next few weeks.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund Balance Sheet As of April 30, 1995 ASSETS Undisbursed Balances: Available for Investment $ 652.22 TOTAL UNDISBURSED BALANCE (Cash in Account) Receivables: Interest Receivables $ 217,295,967.36 TOTAL RECEIVABLES Investments: U.S. Treasury Certificates of Indebtedness
Turkish flag carrier Turk Hava Yollari (THY) has placed an order for two additional Avro RJ100s - to be delivered at the end of the month - bringing THY's Avro RJ fleet to 10 aircraft. The deal was valued at $50 million. The aircraft will be configured in a 99-seat, five-abreast layout The order brings the total orders for Avro RJs to 61 aircraft, 34 of which have been delivered.
ADA Group d/b/a American Dream Airlines is proposing to begin scheduled passenger service from Boston to Tokyo, with direct service to Osaka via New York and to Hong Kong via Tokyo. The carrier also intends to offer coast-to-coast service from Boston and New York to San Diego and Seattle. The company was founded by President Larry Gates in 1994 as Orient Express Airlines. American Dream intends to apply soon for an FAA operating certificate that would allow it to begin service in March 1997. The company plans to operate A340s, A310s and A300s and employ about 200.
Avro International said it has conducted trials to demonstrate the ability of its RJ100 aircraft to fly into London City Airport and other steep approach, short-runway facilities. It expects to win clearance by the British Civil Aviation Authority to operate into London City later this year. It also announced improvements, which will apply to all aircraft in the Avro RJ range, including solid state cockpit voice and flight data recorders.
Delta Connection carrier Comair's May traffic rose 22.9% from the same month last year on 18.9% more capacity, pushing the airline's load factor up 1.7 percentage points to 52.8%. The number of passengers boarded increased 14.1%. Through the first five months of the calendar year, Comair's traffic increased 27.6% on 25.6% more capacity, and its load factor increased 0.8 points to 48.8%.
Price Waterhouse, at a summit in London yesterday on the convergence of the entertainment, media and communications industries, predicted that video servers on aircraft will be in commercial, non-test usage by yearend and that within five years, the Internet - a new marketing tool for airlines - will no longer give information away.
Delta plans to operate daily flights to Vail from Dec. 16 to March 31 for the winter ski season from Atlanta. The flights will be the first scheduled nonstop service between the cities. Delta will operate the flights with 182-passenger 757s. It will continue offering service to Gunnison/Crested Butte, Colo. Delta also operates five daily nonstops to Denver.
Bombardier's board of directors has given the long-anticipated go- ahead for the de Havilland Dash 8 Series 400 program, the 70-passenger, high-speed twin turboprop that has been on the drawing board for at least five years (DAILY, June 13). Bombardier and de Havilland officials this week at the Paris Air Show detailed plans to develop the high-speed commuter carrier that will build upon the Downsview, Ontario's, product line of the 50-passenger Dash 8 Series 300 and the 37-passenger Series 100 and 200 aircraft.
A wildcat pilot sickout grounded hundreds of Alitalia flights and stranded thousands of travelers Wednesday and Thursday as labor unrest continued to dog European airlines at the outset of the busy summer travel season. Italian Transport Minister Giovanni Caravale ordered the pilots to halt their job actions and return to work, and said he has asked that medical tests be carried out on the pilots. The government's action, however, came too late to salvage much of Alitalia's Thursday flight schedule. As of 6 p.m.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich's (R-Ga.) co-sponsorship of the commercial jet fuel tax repeal bill (H.R.752), made official last week, is unusual. House speakers rarely sponsor or co-sponsor bills, and Gingrich has attached his name to only three other measures this year. He has sponsored a bill to relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and co-sponsored resolutions renaming certain rooms in the Capitol and condemning the Oklahoma City bombing.
