The fall looks like a busy season for bilateral negotiations. In addition to India, the U.S. will meet with Japan and go to London for the last talks with the U.K. agreed to in the June mini-deal. The two sides meet this week in Washington. Negotiations are scheduled tentatively for September with the Philippines, said Paul Gretch, director of DOT's Office of International Aviation. Also, the U.S. will meet early in the fall with Germany and still is talking with Hong Kong about possible official negotiations.
On-time data in DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report are likely to include mechanical delays until the end of the year, no matter how current rulemaking comes out.With the comment period ending Friday, DOT's proposal to exclude mechanical delays has drawn sharply divided responses, clouding the rule's future. But even if the rule change goes forward, DOT will need three to six months to retool the system to support the change, DOT officials say.
American's systemwide traffic increased 2.9% in July from July 1994, the carrier's 13th consecutive month of year-over-year traffic growth. Although domestic traffic was down 1.5% on 1.7% less capacity, international traffic jumped 12.8% on 11.1% more capacity. American's domestic load factor was up marginally to 68.4%, and the international load factor rose 1.1 points to 75.8%. July 1995 July 1994 7 Months 1995 7 Months 1994 RPMs 9,740,760,000 9,465,232,000 60,196,387,000 57,183,859,000
The 10 "core" directors of Nav Canada, the newly formed non-share-capital corporation negotiating with Transport Canada to buy and operate the Canadian civil air navigation system, met for the first time Friday in Ottawa. Some 6,400 employees will be involved in the transfer.
Standard&Poor's has affirmed its single B- preliminary rating on Continental's $1 billion Rule 415 shelf registration and has removed the carrier from CreditWatch, which it imposed Jan. 26. The ratings agency said the decision is based on Continental's progress in improving operating performance and easing its financial obligations in the near term.
British Airways and USAir said last week they will begin offering code-share service to 10 new USAir cities in the U.S. on Sept. 12. The service will be offered at Pensacola and Key West, Fla.; South Bend and Fort Wayne, Ind.; Huntsville, Ala.; Ashville, N.C.; Savannah, Ga.; Hilton Head, S.C.; Manchester N.H., and Kalamazoo, Mich. The added cities bring the number of code-share points to 63. For service to London, passengers from Pensacola, Savannah, Huntsville, Ashville and Hilton Head will connect through Charlotte, while Key West passengers will travel via Miami.
TWA's July traffic fell 2% to 2.6 billion revenue passenger miles, mainly because its international RPMs were down 5.6%. International capacity declined 12%, leading to a systemwide capacity drop of 5.9% from the same month in 1994. TWA's load factor improved to 71.8% from 69% as it transported 1.9% more passengers. July 1995 July 1994 7 Months 1995 7 Months 1994 RPMs 2,574,500,000 2,626,800,000 14,184,500,000 14,151,900,000
The Defense Department, which poured billions of dollars into developing the Global Positioning System and putting it in operation, no longer has sole control of the network of satellites, and civilian-military GPS disputes will be settled by the President, a Wilcox Electric official said Friday.
Boeing named Dinesh Keshkar, formerly its director of sales for the Indian subcontinent, as president of Boeing India, based in Bombay. "It is clear that with the rapid growth of the Indian carriers, additional support by Boeing would assist India's goals of a safe and profitable aviation industry," said Ron Woodard, Boeing Commercial president. He said Boeing recently expanded fleet support, assisted with aviation industry and infrastructure development, and provided airline support programs for maintenance and flight crew training in India.
Austrian Airlines, Swissair and Lufthansa suspended service to Zagreb, Croatia, late last week as the political situation in Croatia worsened. Swissair and Lufthansa diverted their Zagreb flights to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, from which the passengers are traveling by bus to Zagreb, a three-hour trip. Austrian already serves Ljubljana but has not added capacity to the service, a carrier spokesman said.
Delta posted a 5.1% traffic decline in July, compared with July 1994, when it set traffic records because of lower fares. Available seat miles fell 0.4% to 11.309 billion, and the load factor dropped 3.4 percentage points. July 1995 July 1994 7 Months 1995 7 Months 1994 RPMs 7,799,795,000 8,217,877,000 49,389,629,000 49,748,572,000 ASMs 11,308,673,000 11,351,747,000 75,820,675,000 75,535,647,000 LF (%) 68.9 72.3 65.1 65.8
British Airways achieved its highest-ever passenger load factor in July, 80.8%, and its fifth consecutive month of record load factors. The carrier's revenue passenger miles increased 8.2% during the month, compared with July 1994, on 6% more capacity. Traffic was up 9.5% on long-haul and 3% on short-haul routes. BA said its cargo ton miles fell 0.5%, reflecting continued payload restrictions out of Southeast Asia. July 1995 July 1994 Revenue Passenger Miles 5,706,000 5,273,000
The Senate Appropriations Committee Friday withdrew from the DOT appropriations bill measures that would have allowed for a $2 increase in passenger facility charges and extended the coverage of the Railway Labor Act to airlines and flight crews outside the U.S. (DAILY, Aug. 4). Committee Chairman Mark Hatfield (R-Ore.) said that since the transportation subcommittee markup Wednesday, the debate on PFCs "has been particularly charged.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis has confirmed TWA's prepackaged reorganization plan, paving the way for the carrier's emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by mid-August. TWA said the plan, filed June 30 with the support of its creditors and labor leaders, should reduce outstanding debt by $500 million and interest expenses by about $50 million.
AlliedSignal Aerospace named Robert Choulet senior VP-business strategy and James Robinson president-AlliedSignal Engines. Avatar Alliance, L.P. named Michael Moore VP-marketing, sales and service, Rawleigh Tremain VP-Atlanta operations and Frederic Smith VP-human resources, at its Atlanta operations center. Aviall Dallas Engine Services appointed Stephen Ratcliffe general manager-CFM International Aero Engines' V2500 engine product lines.
DOT is prohibiting Flagship Airlines, operating as American Eagle, from suspending service at Tuscaloosa, Ala., for 30 days beyond the expiration of the carrier's 90-day notice period, or until another carrier begins service to the community. Flagship told DOT it intends to drop the unsubsidized service as of Sept. 5. However, the carrier's plans spurred opposition from the community, which noted that it would be left without any service (DAILY, July 21).
Air Express International has created a new operating region in the southwestern U.S. in response to "dramatic expansion" of its business there. The region, based in Dallas, includes Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, El Paso, Laredo, Tulsa, Oklahoma City and New Orleans. The operation will be headed by Philip Walsh. Giorgio Laccona, VP-operations, said business has expanded with the acquisition of Radix Group, and "trans-border shipping activity with Mexico has picked up dramatically following the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement."
Top 25 Domestic City-Pair Markets Over 750 Miles O&D Passengers Fourth Quarter 1994 Long Total Average Haul Markets Non-Stop Passengers Rank Rank City-Pair Mileage Per Day 1 3 Los Angeles - New York 2,467 7,052 2 7 Miami - New York 1,097 5,476
A "predictable and sufficient flow of funds will be needed to meet aviation's needs" regardless of whether Congress establishes an air traffic control corporation or an independent FAA, the General Accounting Office's director of transportation issues, Kenneth Mead, said Wednesday as the Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee examined FAA reforms, including air traffic control modernization and the administration's proposed ATC corporation.
Aruba's Ministry of Transportation and Communications was scheduled to break ground yesterday for a new Westinghouse air traffic control system, including an extended range primary surveillance radar, a Mode S secondary radar and an automation system for approach control and tower operations. Westinghouse also is supplying a separate automation training system and spares. Operation of the system is to begin next February.
Mesa Air Group reported net income of $3.6 million, or 11 cents per share, in its third fiscal quarter, ended June 30, slightly less than half the $7.2 million, or 20 cents per share, for the comparable period one year earlier. Operating revenues totaled $117.9 million, compared with $101.8 million in the prior period. Yield - revenue per revenue passenger mile - dropped to 38.1 cents for the quarter from 39.7 cents. Revenue per available seat mile fell to 20.4 cents from 21.5 cents. Unit costs, meanwhile, rose to 19.2 cents per ASM from 18.8 cents.
MarkAir Express told DOT it intends to suspend service to Atka and Umnak Island (Nikolski), Alaska. The carrier has provided essential air service at Umnak Island using Beech 1900s for the past two years with an annual subsidy of $55,461. Noting that the EAS subsidy is nearing conclusion, DOT already has solicited bids for EAS at the location (DAILY, July 14). (Docket 43755&OST-95-363) (More regional aviation news follows Page 194 of the hard copy of this issue.)
E-Systems has completed flight tests at NASA's Ames Research Center showing that the Global Positioning System, augmented with Kinematic Carrier Phase Tracking technology, meets Category 3b autoland requirements. The company said the tests demonstrate a "promising solution to replace the existing instrument landing system."
ALPA suit filed this week to prevent Delta from transferring "operations of large jet aircraft" (BAe 146s) to Atlantic Southeast is only the tip of the iceberg in the deteriorating relations between pilot unions and their regional-pilot members. At AMR Eagle, flight crews have barred American pilots from the jump seat because of a new scope clause negotiated by the Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents American pilots. The clause limits any aircraft operated by regional affiliates to 70 passengers and 75,000 pounds.
