FAA, which is conducting safety assessments of more than 60 foreign civil aviation authorities whose carriers operate into the U.S., will accept International Civil Aviation Organization assessments in place of its own, according to Anthony Broderick, associate administer for regulation and certification. ICAO is developing a voluntary Safety Oversight Improvement Program as part of an attempt to ensure that all CAAs oversee the safety of their carriers in compliance with the Chicago Convention and ICAO annexes.
Fledgling Airbus Finance Co. (AFC) has appointed John McQuaid, formerly of R.J. Reynolds, GPA Group and Pembroke Capital, to the post of chief executive. McQuaid will be responsible for the development of AFC toward its objective of achieving a stand-alone investment grade credit rating in support of the long-term aircraft financing commitments of Airbus Industrie. AFCA was formed in December and is owned by the four Airbus partners.
TWA's May systemwide passenger traffic rose 0.4% from the same month last year on 2.3% less capacity, pushing its load factor up 1.8 percentage points to 65.2%. The number of passengers boarded during the month increased 0.4%. TWA's domestic traffic was up 1.4% on 0.8% more capacity, and its international traffic fell 2% on 10.3% less capacity. Through the first five months, TWA's systemwide traffic rose 1.1% on 1.6% less capacity. May 95 May 94 5 Mths 95 5 Mths 94
Controllers in the Northwestern portion of the U.S. say an erroneous traffic alert and collision avoidance system command nearly resulted in a midair collision Sunday involving a United 737 and a Viscount Air Services 737, both on approach. After both aircraft received a TCAS warning, the United airplane began to climb from 10,000 feet to 12,000 feet while the Viscount plane started to descend to 10,000 feet. The aircraft came within 200 feet of each other before controllers instructed the Viscount flight to return to 11,000 feet.
Midwest Express Airlines has made a policy change to give travel agents more flexibility in confirming seat assignments. Agents can now confirm seats through their own computer reservations system up to 180 days in advance of travel, instead of the former 30 days.
Air Canada will take delivery of its first Airbus A340 at the Paris Air Show. The carrier plans to put the airplane into revenue service this month, including flights in its bread-and-butter Toronto-Montreal market.
FAA has reached cooperative agreements with U.S. carriers to operate airport demonstrations of certified explosives detection systems at domestic and non-U.S. international airports. United will be the first to initiate trials, which will begin this fall at San Francisco Airport. Trials by other airlines will follow at additional sites.
Top 25 Domestic City-Pair Markets O&D Passengers Third Quarter 1994 1994 1993 Average Market Market Passengers Top Carrier Rank Rank City-Pair Per Day (% Share) 1 3 Chicago - New York 8,860 United (40.2) 2 2 Hononlulu - Kahului 7,885 Aloha (54.5)
Top 25 Domestic City-Pair Markets Over 750 Miles O&D Passengers Third 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 7,726 2 5 New York - Orlando 947 6,139
United Chairman Gerald Greenwald, after speaking at ceremonies for the first commercial flight of the Boeing 777 Tuesday at Washington Dulles, left to talk for nearly an hour with picketing United flight attendants, who were protesting a new domicile in Hong Kong. Greenwald, when asked why he will not agree to give half the flying to U.S.-based workers and half to foreigners, said he would sign that deal on the spot if the Association of Flight Attendants agreed. The crux of the issue is language barriers, he said. If a safety problem arose, U.S.
KLM and its pilots union, the VNV, came close to settling their contract dispute, but the talks collapsed yesterday after the union rejected a mediator-proposed compromise. The stage is now set for the pilots to stage a six-hour strike Thursday that will ground 53 KLM flights scheduled to depart Amsterdam Schiphol between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time (DAILY, June 6).
Westinghouse said the Airports Authority of India has begun operation of the first of four ASR-9 air traffic control radar systems, including the first operational Mode S secondary surveillance radar outside the U.S. Westinghouse also is providing airspace management automation systems for the interface between controllers and the radars. The first radar is operating in Trivandrum, and the others will be installed in Hyderabad, Guwahati and Ahmedabad.
AvAero said improvements to its 737-100/200 Stage 3 hush kits yield higher maximum takeoff gross weights (MTOGW) without turbine nozzle modifications. The company said it now offers FAA-approved configurations for aircraft with JT8D-15 engines with MTOGW of 124,500 pounds, JT8D-9 engines at 121,500 pounds and JT8D-7 engines at 114,500 pounds. Some configurations also offer landing flaps at both the 30- and 40-degree positions, it said.
Delta will terminate its nonstop Frankfurt-Prague service Nov. 2 and introduce one-stop service from New York Kennedy to Prague via Amsterdam. At the same time, its flights to St. Petersburg that now operate via Prague will stop at Warsaw instead. Delta also plans to discontinue its nonstop flights to Frankfurt from Dallas/Fort Worth on Nov. 30, and one 767-200 now used at Frankfurt will be returned for domestic service. The changes terminate 14 weekly flights at the Frankfurt hub, leaving Delta with 103 flights a week.
The world's scheduled airlines managed a combined operating profit of $8 billion in 1994, according to a preliminary estimate issued yesterday by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The profit marks the second consecutive year the world's airlines have made money on their operations after three straight years of losses. The industry had a 1993 operating profit of $2.5 billion.
General Electric Aircraft Engines said yesterday that tests uncovered an "imbalance" in the GE90 engine that will require a "minor modification" to the aluminum fan platform. The modification will temporarily halt flight testing of GE90-powered Boeing 777s, but a GE spokeswoman said the company is "still working toward" the scheduled September delivery of the first GE90-powered 777 to British Airways.
Yunnan Airlines has selected Weber Aircraft to supply tourist-class seats for three Boeing 767s. Deliveries will begin in January. Yunnan will configure the aircraft with 245 seats, seven abreast.
Average weekly wage of all U.S. jobs supported by aerospace manufacturing was about 51% higher than economy-wide wages in 1993, according to Maureen Steinbruner, president of the Center for National Policy. Air transportation-supported wages were about the same, "even after a period of significant wage decreases within the industry in recent years," she said.
Southwest's May traffic rose 9% from a year ago, but its capacity jumped 16%, leaving the airline with a load factor decline of 4.1 percentage points. The number of passengers carried increased 6.4%, and the average length of haul rose 2.4% to 516 miles. Through the first five months of this year, Southwest's traffic increased 5.7% on 13.6% more capacity, resulting in a load factor drop of 4.8 points. The number of passengers boarded rose 3.9% and the average length of haul 1.8%. May 1995 May 1994 5 Months 1995 5 Months 1994
United's decision to open a few foreign domiciles for its flight attendants has "set a nasty tone for our upcoming contract negotiations by ignoring the flight attendants as a valuable employee group and throwing away our job security to new hires in foreign countries," United's Association of Flight Attendants Master Executive Council President Kevin Lum said yesterday at an AFA rally at Washington Dulles. The AFA contract becomes amendable March 1.
Moody's Investors Service yesterday assigned a senior rating of Baa2 to United's proposed $225 million special facility revenue bonds series 1995A, to be issued by the Indianapolis Airport Authority to finance the expansion of United's Indianapolis overhaul and maintenance facility. Payment on the bonds is unconditionally guaranteed by United. With the proposed expansion, the Indianapolis facility will be used as the primary heavy maintenance facility for about two-thirds of United's fleet. Aircraft to be serviced at the facility are the Boeing 737, 757 and 767.
Northwest is building an advanced maintenance base, or "focused hangar," for its Airbus A320 aircraft in Duluth, Minn. McClier, a Chicago-based consulting, engineering and construction firm, was selected for the work. The focused hangar layout "brings maintenance tools right to the airplane" and "allows maintenance to be conducted on or very near the aircraft, increasing productivity and reducing turnaround time," the company said. The hangar also will be able to accommodate other narrowbody aircraft when construction is completed next spring, McClier said.
Air South increased its capacity nearly 25% in May despite adding only one aircraft to its fleet, but its traffic growth did not keep pace and its load factor fell 4.5 percentage points from April to 46.2%. Year-over-year comparisons are not available because Air South has been flying only since September. Air South's May traffic rose 14% from April, to 33.5 million revenue passenger miles, and its capacity grew 24.9% to 72.5 million available seat miles. Passenger boardings increased 16.1% in May to 97,311.
Qantas plans to add a third weekly Boeing 747 flight between Seoul and Brisbane in November, bringing to four the number of weekly flights it operates between Australia and Korea. Qantas also flies nonstop between Sydney and Seoul once a week. Ian Mitchell, Qantas regional general manager Queensland, said he is confident the third weekly Brisbane-Seoul flight will help the market continue to grow and increase Korean interest in Queensland as a leisure and business destination.
