Airbus Training Center in Toulouse will open restaurant facilities next year capable of serving 800 meals a day that suit the "cultural requirements and tastes" of airline personnel from all over the world.
China Eastern Airlines, faced with the preference of many Chinese business customers for Japanese service, has hired seven Japanese flight attendants on a trial basis for its Shanghai-Tokyo and Shanghai-Osaka routes. Chinese carriers are losing business as Chinese customers flock to the Japanese competition. If Japanese flight attendants reverse the trend, more will be hired.
Non-federal sector of the travel/tourism/recreation industry has little awareness of how the government helps it, according to a Tourism Policy Council working group survey of customer needs. Only 17 of 59 government agencies listed in the survey were recognized by two-thirds of the respondents. The most frequently used programs were those of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration, cited by 75%, and the National Park Service, 65%.
Complying with DOT regulations, Continental notified the department that it is not operating two of the 14 U.S.-Germany frequencies allocated to it for the summer 1995 season, due to maintenance requirements of its DC-10-30 aircraft. The carrier relinquished the frequencies for this season but expects to be able to get and operate 14 frequencies next summer. (OST-95- 365)
Southwest has established preferred partnerships with Alamo, Budget and Hertz to give its frequent flyer program members credits toward free tickets with every car rental. Currently, Southwest Company Club award tickets are given only for air travel - one every eight roundtrips or 16 one-way flights in a 12-month period. Cars must be rented within 24 hours of taking a flight.
Air Travel Card has a home page on the Internet, the Air Travel Card Control Tower, that offers product information and a forum with news on corporate travel trends. Some airlines' home pages are hyper-linked to the Control Tower. Corporations can file electronically for an Air Travel Card account and apply for insurance products. The World Wide Web site is http://air-travel-card.com/atc/home.htm.
Virgin Atlantic Airways has signed up to participate in Worldspan Airline Source, the highest level of automated distribution services offered by the Worldspan computer reservations system. When Virgin completes the upgrade later this year, availability requests made by Worldspan travel agents will be routed instantly to the carrier's database with no additional keystrokes. Flight information will be gathered within two seconds, and agents will receive immediate electronic acknowledgment when a flight is booked.
Air Inter has added travel outside France to its France Pass program, which has offered unlimited travel within the country during a one-month period. With a France-Europe Pass, travelers may enhance travel inside France with flights to two European destinations outside the country, choosing from among London, Dublin, Madrid and nine other cities. The France-Europe Pass costs $459.
Reno Air plans to launch daily nonstops Oct. 3 between Albuquerque and Los Angeles, with continuing direct service to San Jose, and Oct. 5 between Palm Springs and San Jose, with continuing direct service to Seattle. The carrier will operate four daily Los Angeles-Albuquerque flights for $77 each way, and the single daily flight between Palm Springs and San Jose will cost $69. The carrier will offer companion fares in both markets.
Machinists Union says job security is the key issue in contract negotiations with Boeing. "Thousands of jobs are being wiped out as Boeing announces big new orders, and as productivity and profits go up," lead negotiator Bob Gregory said as talks opened Friday in Wichita. The current contract expires Oct. 3.
DOT issued a final order Friday approving the transfer of Evergreen's U.S.-China all-cargo authority to Federal Express. The department granted Evergreen an interim exemption, for up to six months, to continue to conduct all-cargo operations in the U.S.-China market until FedEx obtains the necessary approvals from the Chinese government and is ready to begin service.
American's Admirals Clubs at more than 30 locations in North America have been equipped with AST Pentium-based multimedia personal computers, Canon printers and Kensington peripherals.
Granted orally an exemption to Aeromexpress to operate scheduled all-cargo service between Mexico City and Dayton, Ohio...Granted orally an exemption to Transportes Aereos de Cabo Verde, operating as TACV, renewing its authority to operate scheduled combination service between Ilha do Sol, Cape Verde, and Boston, Mass., at a frequency of one flight per week, using aircraft wet-leased from a duly authorized and properly supervised carrier...Granted orally an exemption to Gulf Air renewing through Feb.
U.S. and foreign airlines have opened the end-of-summer fare sale season, offering deep discounts on travel to and from Europe and, in the case of Northwest/KLM, the Middle East and Africa. Carriers announced discounts Friday averaging about 30% off, with sale and travel dates that differ but are likely to be made uniform. Generally, tickets must be bought within the next week or two for travel between mid-September and mid-December.
Simmons Airlines, an American Eagle carrier, is asking DOT for six international slots at Chicago O'Hare Airport to launch service between Chicago and London, Ontario. The carrier said it plans three daily roundtrips on the route, beginning Oct. 1, using Saab 340B aircraft. Requesting an exemption to the High Density Rule at the slot-controlled airport, Simmons said its service would provide the first and only scheduled nonstop flights on the route and would help implement the liberalized aviation agreement between the U.S. and Canada.
ValuJet Airline's traffic leaped 175% in July over the July 1994 level, to 268.7 million revenue passenger miles, on 129% more capacity. The carrier's load factor was much improved for the month, to 78.4% from 65.3%. ValuJet has expanded steadily during the past year, and Chairman Robert Priddy said summer vacation travel and everyday low fares drove the traffic increase. ValuJet began service in July to Kansas City, Newport News/Norfolk, Va., and Jackson, Miss. July 95 July 94 7 Mths 95 7 Mths 94
- In Federal Register dated July 28...Issued an airworthiness directive on Bombardier Cl-600-2B19 aircraft (Regional Jet Series 100) prohibiting use of Mach trim and adding speed restrictions if the autopilot is disengaged or inoperative...Issued special conditions on Allison 250-C40 turboshaft engines. - In FR dated July 31...Issued an AD on Jetstream 3101 and 3201 aircraft requiring inspection of the main passenger/crew door locking mechanism...Superseded an AD on British Aerospace BAC-111 aircraft concerning structural inspections.
Canadian Regional has signed a $1.5 million deal with USAir Leasing and Services to perform scheduled heavy maintenance on three USAir BAe 146 aircraft and paint them. The work will be done at Canadian Regional's facility in Calgary during the next three months, an airline spokesman said.
USAir reported its fourth consecutive monthly load factor increase in July, to 67.7%, while capacity and traffic declined. Available seat miles fell 7.8% as a result of the carrier's rightsizing program, and revenue passenger miles were down 6.4%. USAir's stage lengths continue to increase - the average passenger journey was up 6.7% to 695.7 miles. July 1995 July 1994 7 Months 1995 7 Months 1994 RPMs 3,349,176,000 3,578,650,000 22,414,316,000 22,004,825,000
Air Canada named Ronald Waters general manager-passenger sales, U.S., Caribbean and Latin America. Aeromexpress appointed Gerardo Rivero president, effective immediately. Japan Air Lines appointed Yukio Ohtani managing director and senior VP-the Americas, replacing Mitsuo Ando, who has returned to Tokyo as president and chief executive, DHL Japan.
Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic May, 5 Months 1995 Revenue Ton-Miles (000) May May % 1995 1994 Change Domestic Freight 690,209 663,350 4.0 Mail 139,971 132,247 5.8 Total 830,180 795,597 4.3 International
Air South is offering $22 segment fares between any cities it serves in observance of its startup two years ago, on Aug. 22, 1993. The fares are good for 22 days, from Aug. 22 through Sept. 12. Air South also will reinstate its two-for-one fares beginning Aug. 15, good for travel until Sept. 30.
At the request of India, U.S. and Indian officials will hold aviation negotiations Sept. 5-7 in Washington. India is expected to press for additional service to Chicago from Amsterdam or London in exchange for United's proposed service to Delhi, part of the carrier's proposed Round- the-World service. The U.S. asserts that the current U.S.-India bilateral already provides for the Delhi authority.
An inflight passenger aircraft entertainment system that includes gambling has been approved by FAA, according to the developer, Interactive Flight Technologies (IFT). Steve Fieldman, VP-business development, said the company has received a supplemental type certificate for its In-Flight Entertainment Network product. The system features video-on-demand from a selection of more than 30 digitized feature films and other programming.
