British Airways yesterday secured a 150-year lease on the bulk of the property comprising its London Heathrow maintenance base in return for an agreement to release its hold on a smaller parcel of airport land for development by Heathrow management company BAA plc. The deal restructures long-term leases held by the airline on 224 acres of BAA land. The new lease covers 185 acres of land at Hatton Cross, on the eastern side of the airport, comprising BA's west and east engineering maintenance bases.
FAA has made a "down-select" decision to negotiate only with a Wilcox-led team for the $500 million contract to develop the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), sources told The DAILY yesterday. Competing teams were notified Friday not to continue to spend effort and money pursuing the contract. Wilcox, teamed with TRW and Hughes Aircraft, was competing against teams of Rockwell, GTE Government Systems and Booz Allen&Hamilton; Loral Federal Systems, Loral Western Development Labs, Space Systems/Loral, E-Systems and Arinc; and Harris and Trimble Navigation.
Lufthansa has launched a new round of its "buy&fly" fares. The promotional fares can be booked until April 15 and are good only to certain destinations. This round offers roundtrips from Germany to Buenos Aires for 1,299 Deutschmarks, to Asmara for DM999, and to Porto for DM549. The promotion features roundtrips to London for DM399 or DM499, depending on which German airport is used. The fares carry a minimum stay requirement of seven days for intercontinental flights, or a Saturday night stay for European flights.
Delta and Virgin Atlantic began service yesterday to London Heathrow and Gatwick from seven U.S. cities, operated by Virgin under a code-sharing pact approved Feb. 2. The joint service gives Delta its first access to Heathrow. Delta and Singapore Airlines have begun daily code-sharing flights between New York and Singapore Changi Airport. The same-plane flights make a stop in Frankfurt or Amsterdam.
DOT is expected to reverse itself and drop inclusion of mechanical delays in on-time data in its monthly Air Travel Consumer Report.But the report, already about a month late, may be delayed further as airlines file new data, without the mechanical delays, for the first two months. Continental, which is basing employee bonuses on its on-time rate, has exchanged information with other airlines and predicts it will finish second in March, a big improvement for a carrier that has been at the bottom of the list for years.
Air Malta may add as many as eight new destinations this summer. The airline has completed plans to begin service to Birmingham, Budapest, Casablanca, Copenhagen, Larnaca and Thessaloniki, and is working on acquiring the authority to serve Beirut and Warsaw. The new routes will bring to 48 the number of destinations on Air Malta's schedule. Launch schedule:
Morten Beyer and Associates has published the third edition of "MBA's Future Aircraft Values 1995-2015." The aircraft valuation publication covers 69 types of jet transport aircraft and enables economic comparisons between similar aircraft types in areas such as cost per seat mile, maintenance costs, seating capacity and lease rates.
TWA reported a fourth quarter 1994 net loss of $245.2 million and a full- year loss of $435.8 million. The carrier had operating losses for the same periods of $216 million and $279.5 million, respectively. The losses were inflated by $175.1 million in non-recurring charges related to the value of certain international routes and other assets, a write-off of purchase deposits and capitalized interest related to further aircraft deliveries, severance payments, and a charge for payments due to employees represented by the Machinists under a 1992 labor agreement.
FAA reform legislation to be introduced today by Rep. Jim Lightfoot (R- Iowa) would establish pilot programs to exempt FAA through Oct. 1, 2002, from various laws governing federal acquisition practices and from the civil service rules of Title 5, U.S. Code, except for provisions on employee benefits. As expected, the bill would establish FAA as an independent agency and set up a Management Advisory Committee to advise the FAA administrator on various issues (DAILY, Feb. 23).
U.S. negotiators are set to face their most ambitious schedule, said Paul Gretch, director of DOT Office of Aviation. U.S. is expected to conduct no fewer than nine rounds of bilateral air talks between now and early June. This does not include potential talks with Japan, South Africa and Germany, and further rounds with the U.K. and Russia. The following is a tentaive schedule for spring talks: U.K.
USAir's board of directors is expected to vote tomorrow at a special meeting in Washington on the concessions agreement with the pilots union, reached March 25 and signed March 29, and on any other tentative agreements with unions that could be reached in time for the board meeting.
Air Aruba has requested renewal for two years of its authority to operate combination services between Aruba and the co-terminal points of Miami, New York and Baltimore. The carrier operates the service via Bonaire and Curaao. Air Aruba also has asked for permission to co-terminalize Aruba- Tampa service, set to begin April 12, with its operations to Baltimore. Earlier this year, DOT approved the carrier's application to serve both Tampa and Charlotte (DAILY, Jan. 26).
Air France's pilots unions have threatened a multi-day strike beginning tomorrow unless they are recognized and rewarded for their contributions to the airline's restructuring effort. Air France said it is aware of the situation, but declined comment. According to a union source cited by Reuter, at least one of the pilot unions wants a reward for the productivity improvements they achieved. The source said the strike could be held April 5-8.
Continental delayed filing its 1994 Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission until mid-April because of ongoing negotiations with its principal lenders and aircraft and engine manufacturers about delaying debt and lease payments and other considerations. In January, Continental said it would report a non-recurring charge of about $400 million for the fourth quarter of 1994 (DAILY, Jan. 27), mainly to retire certain aircraft early and close under-utilized airport and maintenance facilities.
Peruvian flag carrier Compania de Aviacion Faucett, S.A., is seeking authority to fly an additional scheduled weekly all-cargo flight between Lima and Miami. Currently operating a single weekly flight, the carrier cites the recent agreement between the U.S. and Peru increasing the number of available combination and all-cargo frequencies between the two countries. Faucett already has gained approval from Peru for the additional frequency.
United, in a makeover of its organizational structure, has thinned out middle management and made five key markets - North America, international, cargo, Shuttle by United and new business development - responsible for customer satisfaction and profitability. President John Edwardson's job has been redefined and he will become chief operating officer. James Guyette, executive VP, has turned down United's offer to stay on in that capacity and will retire.
Boeing 737 Domestic Aircraft Utilization Per Day Third Quarter 1994 B737-300 America West Continental Number of Aircraft Operated 32 56 Total Fleet Operations Departures 214 350 Block Hours 363 569 Flight Hours 303 452
Continental and the City and County of Denver announced yesterday an agreement settling their dispute on lease terms at Denver Airport. The proposed pact would release Continental from its original 20-gate obligation, instead requiring it to lease 10 gates, including 113,488 square feet of gate and operational space. After five years, Continental would be able to cut back to three gates without penalty. Denver would drop its lawsuit against the airline, filed in February, once the mayor signs the deal.
Airlines will be able to save up to $340 million a year through reduced ground delays and flight time using data link pilot-to-controller communications, George Donohue, FAA assistant administrator for research and acquisitions, said Friday. Donohue cited a study issued Friday by the agency.
Air Transport Association wants FAA to resolve issues in upgrading flight data recorders on older jet transports through the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee or "other joint expert government/industry groups, rather than through the immediate implementation" of rulemaking proposed by NTSB. FAA's comment deadline on the NTSB recommendations expired Friday.
FAA's top certification official left little doubt Friday that, barring a major glitch, the agency will grant ETOPS (extended-range twin-engine operations) certification to Boeing's 777 about two weeks after the first aircraft is delivered May 17 to United. The certification date is April 17. Anthony Broderick, associate administrator for regulation and certification, said in Washington, that he had just completed a "detailed briefing" on the 777 flight test program and that it is "almost eerie how well it is going."
CS First Boston analyst Paul Karos has initiated coverage of Lufthansa with a buy rating on the German airline. "We think the turnaround at Lufthansa is real and powerful," he said.
Delta yesterday began scheduled service with its new MD-90, delivered last week. It will use the aircraft initially between Dallas/Fort Worth and Reno, Nev.
