High-level personnel continue to leave FAA, adding to industry concern that the agency's reputation for expertise is in danger of being eclipsed.Among the most recent departures are Technical Center Director Harvey Safeer, Deputy Director Lou Bona and Herbert McLure, assistant administrator for human resource management.
TWA Friday extended until April 21 its debt-for-equity offers to holders of $925 million in TWA notes. The company also said its general solicitation efforts would remain suspended pending Securities and Exchange Commission review of the airline's amended S-4 registration statement. TWA expects to have the post-effective amendment to its registration statement declared effective before the extended expiration date of its current exchange offers, but said it reserves the right to extend the current exchange offers further.
Florida House of Representatives has passed a resolution requiring a review of the impact of airlines' travel agent commission cap on travel to and within Florida. The American Society of Travel Agents said the resolution results from a grass-roots effort by ASTA members in the state.
A two-week meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization's Com/Ops Committee, which ended Friday in Montreal, produced, as expected, the recommendation that member nations be able to use whichever precise navigation system best fits their needs - Instrument Landing System (ILS), Microwave Landing System (MLS) or Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) - after GNSS is validated for Category 1 operations.
An analysis of Los Angeles Airport funding issued last week by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury concludes that the Los Angeles Department of Airports owes the City of Los Angeles $157.7 million for unreimbursed advances of money and lost investment revenue dating back to 1928. Of the $157.7 million, $5.4 million is the actual total of advances and $152.3 million is the amount the city general fund would have earned on those funds.
Air Canada will announce plans today to add four daily nonstops May 1 to its Toronto-New York LaGuardia schedule. The increase will give the carrier 12 flights a day between Toronto and New York LaGuardia and six a day between Toronto and Newark, operated with a mix of DC-9s and A320s.
Delta's systemwide passenger traffic increased 0.6% last month on 1% more capacity, costing the airline's load factor 0.2 percentage points. The number of passengers boarded was up 0.5% from last year. Domestic traffic rose 1.4% on 2.9% more capacity, and international traffic declined 1.7% on 4.9% less capacity. Through the first three months of this year, Delta's systemwide traffic grew 1.8% on 0.5% more capacity.
Eva Airways has purchased a 21% stake in Taiwanese domestic carrier Makung Airlines, according to a report from Taipei (DAILY, March 31). Terms of the deal were not revealed. Last month, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported that Eva had offered to pay as much as US$19 million for 50% of Makung's outstanding shares. Makung, which operates seven domestic routes, has been losing money since it was founded seven years ago.
Unionized employees at Air France and Air Inter, which is 75% owned by the Air France Group, formed five working groups to try to resolve issues surrounding the planned integration of Air Inter into Air France's European operation. The groups are to report back to Air France management by the end of June. One of the groups was given a mandate to look at ways to speed up integration.
USAir reported a slight increase in revenue passenger miles in March, up 3.9% from March 1994, on 3.9% more capacity, leaving the load factor virtually unchanged at 65.3%. Boardings rose slightly to 5,221,526.
Age 60 rule for Part 121 airline pilots may tumble as a result of the proposed Commuter Safety Rule that would essentially merge Parts 121 and 135 for aircraft of more than 10 seats. There is no age limit for Part 135 pilots. In its proposal, the FAA said it will impose one age limit on all Part 121 pilots. FAA is considering whether, "in the interest of safety," the Age 60 rule should be maintained or revised to allow pilots to continue to fly in Part 121 operations past age 60. The new limit would apply to Part 135 "commuter" pilots as well.
Swissair Subsidiary Crossair has selected Interstate Electronics Corporation and Airport Systems International (ASII) to conduct a Differential Global Positioning System evaluation program. ASII said the program could lead to Crossair's equipping its entire fleet with GPS navigation and landing systems and Local Area Differential GPS Ground Station. The program "could be the basis for one of the first GPS-based IFR [instrument flight rules] approach systems in Europe, ASII said." The first phase will use two of Crossair's Saab 2000 aircraft to test GPS equipment.
AMR Services has named Samuel Seyoum, a longtime executive with Ethiopian Airways, its manager-U.S.&Canada for Ghana Airways. AMR Services is the authorized general sales agent for Ghana Airways in the U.S. and Canada.
A coalition of labor unions and associations has criticized a Transport Canada decision to eliminate on-site fire fighting services at some smaller airports, urging the agency to rescind the plans, which went into effect April 1. The agency said that as of that date it no longer will continue to provide those services at airports with a Category 4 or below fire protection rating.
McDonnell Douglas publicly avowed its faith in its MD-95 jetliner program yesterday, following the prospective aircraft's loss to Boeing's next- generation 737 last month, which left the MD-95 without serious customers in sight. Douglas executives have backed away from earlier forecasts of a launch in the first half of 1995, however, and they now believe a launch could come in the second half.
...Furloughs will affect up to 250 pilots in 1995 and 50 in 1996, according to the new tentative union agreement. But the agreement also provides "preferential hiring" of those furloughed pilots by USAir's wholly owned regional affiliates - Allegheny Commuter, Jetstream International and Piedmont (formerly Henson) Airlines. Unlike the seniority lists of Continental, the lists of USAir and USAir Express pilots have not been merged. At Continental, it is believed furloughed pilots have the ability to bump Continental Express pilots.
British Airways Maintenance Cardiff, a wholly owned subsidiary of the U.K. airline, plans to open its third Boeing 747 aircraft maintenance bay at the Wales facility in September. The opening will bring the Cardiff maintenance base to full operational status and add 300 jobs to its payroll, boosting total employment to 800. The company recently began recruiting mechanics and technicians with apprenticeships or experience in engineering. By 1997, more than 1,000 people are expected to work at the site. The facility at Cardiff Wales Airport opened in April 1993.
Southwest is offering its Company Club members double credit when they fly to Oakland, enabling them to earn a free ticket after four roundtrips. The promotion, which lasts until June 30, does not apply to flights connecting at Oakland. The carrier is offering a $49 one-way fare to Kansas City from Salt Lake City on two daily flights. The fare requires a seven-day advance purchase.
Fort Worth-based Lone Star Airlines has completed a private placement of $1.55 million in new equity with U.S. and Mexican investors. Promotora de Vuelos Internacionales, a consortium of Mexican businesses and government agencies that maintain a 49% interest in the airline, and U.S. investors LSA Investment Partners LP, a partnership organized by IEG Venture Partners of Chicago, are the investors. The carrier said it will use the financing to continue expanding in Mexico.
Nine regional-airline stocks inched up nearly 7% during March with the average price per share closing out the month at $8.37, up from $7.83 at the February close. Even though the average price was up, five of the nine carriers saw declines and only four advanced. Leading the advancers was Northwest Airlink AirTran/Mesaba, which announced it was spinning off its low-fare jet operation to stockholders, up $1.50 to $8.13 per share.
Swissair hopes to resume service to Shanghai by the end of this year and add frequencies to its existing Beijing service. The carrier celebrates 20 years in the China market this month. In 1975, DC-8 service from Zurich to what was then Peking and Shanghai took 32 hours. It was operated via Geneva, Athens and Bombay.
The U.S. is considering some type of communications with Japan in the near future in an attempt to resolve the current aviation standoff between the two countries, according to an administration official.Late last month, Japan said it would refuse any new services to U.S. carriers, even service authorized under the current bilateral, until it gained talks with the U.S.
LorAir is seeking authority to operate interstate and overseas charter passenger service. Initially, the prospective carrier plans to lease a 737-200 aircraft from 9 Lives Holdings Co. to transport professional and amateur sports teams. (Docket 50261)
United Express affiliate Atlantic Coast Airlines flew slightly more than 28 million revenue passenger miles in March, a 9.4% decline from the same 1994 month when it logged nearly 31 million. Capacity decreased more than twice as much - 22.5% to 61.4 million available seat miles from 79.3 million. Consequently, load factor took a 6.7-percentage-point leap upward to 45.7% from 39%.
