The General Electric GE90-powered Boeing 777 being used to certify the aircraft/engine combination for extended-range twin-engine operations returned to flight testing last week. WA077, the ETOPS test aircraft, flew twice on Aug. 3, for two hours and 13 minutes the first time and four hours and 34 minutes the second. WA076, the certification aircraft, resumed certification flying on July 20 after a grounding of nearly two months.
Alaska Airlines boarded more than one million passengers in July, the first time in its 62-year history it has flown that many people in a single month. Its Fairbanks station also set a company single-month record, boarding 27,000 passengers.
United employees and a non-profit organization, Radial Reminiscence, are restoring a DC-6 at its Oakland maintenance facility to the livery used by United in the 1940s and 1950s. The airplane will be flown to airshows in the U.S. to educate the public on aviation history. United donated space in the facility and provided the original interior and exterior design plans, said George Midwin, a United mechanic and founder of Radial Reminiscence.
Taiwan and Hong Kong have reached an understanding on a new aviation agreement that will permit two carriers from each side to fly between Taipei and Hong Kong. Dragonair will become the second Hong Kong-based carrier to serve Taiwan, initially operating 14 flights per week between Hong Kong and Kaohsiung. EVA Airways and TransAvia Airways are competing to become the second Taiwan carrier in the market. Taiwan and Hong Kong are expected to sign the agreement by the end of the month. It is to take effect Oct. 30.
Despite the strong - in many cases record - second quarter earnings posted by U.S. carriers over the past few weeks, it is unlikely that the airlines will regain investment-grade status in the near future, Standard&Poor's said yesterday with the publication of the first volume of its annual five- volume Global Sector Review. Southwest, with its A- rating, is the only U.S. airline considered investment grade. "While U.S.
FAA, sensitive to criticism from Congress, the press and some elements of industry, yesterday announced creation of a task force an agency official said will "thoroughly review the issue of unapproved aircraft parts." The task force, with industry and law enforcement representatives, follows an initiative by the agency last month to create an industry-operated authorization program for brokers and distributors of aircraft parts.
Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE), formed by a former Boeing executive and Singapore Airlines, said yesterday it has purchased three 767-300ER aircraft powered by General Electric engines in a deal valued at $294 million, demonstrating its ability to "compete aggressively in the international aircraft leasing business." The aircraft are being wet- leased in cooperation with Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services to Alitalia, which is trying to reduce the cost of its operations. The first aircraft was delivered Aug.
DOT's proposal to reinstitute the exclusion of mechanical delay information from on-time data in the department's Air Travel Consumer Report has sparked dissent in the industry, dividing carriers, employees and consumer groups. Last September, DOT issued a rule to include mechanical delay data in the on-time marks. Later, however, it issued a proposed rule reversing the earlier one, citing safety and some airline concerns.
DOT has renewed for one year South African Airways' authority to operate scheduled and charter services to the U.S., but it added a condition limiting the carrier to six scheduled roundtrip frequencies per week, noting that there is no bilateral agreement between the U.S. and South Africa despite recent negotiations. "While we remain hopeful that outstanding issues can be resolved in upcoming discussions, a number of key issues for the United States were not resolved in [the] most recent negotiations, and there is consequently still no agreement," DOT said.
Lufthansa completed a strategic alliance agreement with private Indian carrier Modiluft covering marketing, technical support and flight operations. The agreement, signed last week in Frankfurt by airline chiefs Jurgen Weber of Lufthansa and S.K. Modi of Modiluft, puts Modiluft on a par with other Lufthansa partners, such as United, Thai Airways, South African Airways and SAS, a spokesman for the Indian carrier said.
U.S. Major and National Carriers Maintenance Expenses First Quarter 1995 % Of Total Operating Systemwide Expenses America West $ 28,083,822 8.69 American 341,507,000 9.96 Continental 128,587,000 11.02
America West's July passenger load factor slipped 0.6 percentage points from the same month a year ago as traffic increased 6.9% but failed to keep pace with a 7.8% rise in capacity. For seven months, traffic rose 5.5% on 7.8% more capacity, depressing the load factor 1.5 points to 69%. "Our traffic continues to be strong," said President Maurice Myers. "Our monthly passenger load factor [74.3%] once again was one of the highest in the industry. Advance bookings are encouraging, and we expect very strong loads to continue for the remainder of the summer."
The European Commission tentatively approved the Lufthansa/SAS alliance but attached conditions - including a capacity freeze, a slot redistribution mechanism and the termination of other airline pacts - intended to prevent the carriers from monopolizing the Germany-Scandinavia market.
Senate Commerce Committee leaders have been working to complete an FAA reform bill this week and have been aiming to bring a bill to the committee tomorrow for consideration.It was unclear late yesterday what elements would be included in the bill beyond personnel and procurement reform.
Westinghouse said the hangar that housed its airship construction and service facilities at Weeksville, N.C., has been destroyed by fire. William Adams, chairman, said the company has set up a customer support hotline at its Baltimore headquarters and is looking at alternative facilities. "We are also developing a plan to rapidly restore full parts and technical support to our airship operators."
U.S. helicopter industry shipped 87 commercial helicopters in the second quarter, up slightly from 84 during the same quarter a year ago, according to Aerospace Industries Association. For the first half, 170 commercial helicopters were shipped, compared with 161 a year earlier. The value of civil helicopter sales increased from $62 million in last year's first half to $110 million this year.
Northwest's July systemwide passenger traffic rose 9.1% on 4.4% more capacity, boosting the load factor 3.3 percentage points to 76.8%. "Our passenger loads in July continued to run well ahead of 1994 levels," said John Dasburg, chief executive. Domestic traffic rose 9.1% on 2.4% more capacity, lifting the load factor 4.6 points to 74%, and international traffic rose 9% on 7.5% more available seat miles, pushing the load factor up 1.1 points to 81%. July 95 July 94 7 Mths 95 7 Mths 94
National Aircraft Resale Association, Alexandria, Va., will sponsor a tax seminar for its members Aug. 28 at the Northbrook Hilton in Chicago. Nel Sanders, National Business Aircraft Association senior manager-state and tax issues, will explain how state tax laws relate to aircraft sales. Keith Swirsky, a partner with Galland, Kharasch, Morse&Garfinkle, will speak on how brokers and dealers can minimize their tax exposure.
The Senate version of the DOT appropriations bill orders FAA to raise $10 million in fiscal 1996 through increased user fees, primarily in the areas of standards, regulation and certification, and security. In its report (Senate Report 104-126) on the bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee said it believes there are numerous areas for new or expanded user fees, and FAA should impose them in those areas "to at least cover the full cost of its activities." The committee's recommendation for FAA operations is $50 million below the House-passed level.
Business Travel Contractors Corporation (BTCC) has crafted an airfare purchasing program for businesses that spend less than $3 million annually on domestic tickets. The program, called BTCC II, is designed to simplify the mileage-based net fare system BTCC developed for corporations, which recently received antitrust clearance by the Justice Department, by menu- pricing its standard package. The standard package includes a domestic airfare program, fee-based consulting and training, an international airfare program, domestic hotel program and car rental program.
Allied Pilots Association at American, which often complains of inappropriate challenges to captains' authority, has this advice for members following an incident in which the captain asked police to detain a passenger found smoking in the lavatory upon landing.Police were not present when the airplane landed, and when they arrived they said they had no jurisdiction over the federal crime. APA says, "When you need a cop, call a cop, which in the case of our pilots means the FBI."
Seven U.S. carriers are applying for 265 third/fourth-freedom combination service frequencies in the U.S.-Germany market for the 1995-96 winter season, within two of the 267 available under the current bilateral aviation agreement. There is even less pressure on fifth-freedom applications - the carriers want 120, and 127 are available - so DOT should have an easy time making allocations late this summer or early in the fall. The winter season runs from Nov. 1, 1995, through March 31, 1996. Applications were filed last Friday, with answers due Aug. 11 and replies Aug.
Northwest will begin seasonal service to Cancun from Minneapolis Dec. 23 on Saturdays with A320s. It also will serve Palm Springs, Calif., for the first time, with seasonal weekend flights beginning Dec. 16 from Minneapolis.
Kiwi International Air Lines and Air South say they are "very close" to completing a marketing agreement that is intended to boost traffic between Kiwi's northern destinations and points on Air South's short-haul southern routes, connecting at Atlanta and Tampa. The carriers expect to start offering joint fares and ticketing by early September. The agreement does not involve cash transactions or ownership changes (DAILY, Aug. 3).
