Foreign travelers to the U.S., evaluating airports in the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration's April-June 1994 inflight survey, ranked airport access most important among seven rating categories.On a five-point scale, airport access scored 3.8, and the lowest rating, 2.9, went to concession prices. Overall, 10.1% of respondents rated airports excellent, 42.7% good, 35.4% average, 9.1% fair and 2.7% poor.
FAA's plan to begin enforcing its regulations on unapproved aircraft replacement parts, published yesterday in a Federal Register notice, won immediate support from the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (DAILY, Feb. 27). Sarah MacLeod, executive director of ARSA, said the group plans to explain the new policy at its annual meeting, scheduled March 25-27 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Arlington, Va. MacLeod said that while the new policy still faces some regulatory concerns, "it is definitely something that had to be done.
Testimony on icing dominated yesterday's start of the National Transportation Safety Board's public hearing, planned to last four days, into the crash of an American Eagle ATR-72 turboprop Oct. 31 near Roselawn, Ind., in which all 68 aboard were killed. Icing is suspected as a cause of the accident, and the cockpit voice recorder tape, released yesterday by the board, showed that the pilots were aware of the problem. It also showed that the crew was surprised and unable to control the aircraft when it flipped over and plunged 9,000 feet to the ground in 31 seconds.
General Services Administration is seeking companies to provide support services for Global Positioning System augmentation efforts by FAA and possibly other federal agencies. GSA values the work at $570 million over seven years. In a request for proposals issued Feb. 17, GSA invited companies to submit a technical and cost proposal. "This solicitation is designed to serve GSA's FAA client but may also serve other federal client agencies that require the development and implementation of automated systems that augment the GPS," GSA said.
Fokker Aircraft yesterday unveiled a new restructuring, its fourth in three years, that would cut employment by more than 20%, close one production plant and rework supplier contracts in a bid to reverse years of losses and climb back into the black in 1996. The Dutch company's management board unanimously adopted eight measures designed to cut either its size or its costs, including job cuts of 1,750 from a work force of 8,500. Fokker, which was building as many as 85 aircraft per year, believes it must be profitable at a rate of 50 a year.
A new MD-90 in Delta livery was on display last week at Sungshan Airport in Taipei. Airport officials said the aircraft conducted the first MD-90 demonstration flight outside the U.S. Great China Airlines of Taiwan has ordered the aircraft.
Southwest is offering one-way fares of $29 from Baltimore/Washington Airport to Louisville, Ky., through May 23, and $39 to Chicago, St. Louis and Birmingham. The fares are limited and require a seven-day advance purchase, but they do not require an overnight or weekend stay. The full unrestricted one-way fares are $69 to Louisville, $99 to Chicago, $109 to St. Louis and $104 to Birmingham.
New entrant Nations Air is offering travel agents 50% commissions for bookings through March 6 of its flights between Boston and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The carrier will pay 11% commissions after March 6. It said it is offering the unprecedented rates to establish a positive working relationship with travel professionals, and to make itself known to every travel professional in the country. The Miami-based airline also is offering free flights to travel agents until March 13.
U.S. investors led by Edward Acker hold 25.5% of newly privatized BWIA International Airways; citizens of Trinidad&Tobago and other Caribbean investors hold 25.5%; and the government of Trinidad&Tobago and BWIA's employees hold a combined 49%. The government also holds a so-called "golden share," giving it control over the airline's major decisions (DAILY, Feb. 24).
Delta has hired commercial real estate company Koll to manage its two remaining self-maintained facilities, at Atlanta and New York Kennedy airports. The contract triples Koll's facilities management services business with the carrier. Koll will be responsible for a 3 million- square-foot technical operations center at Atlanta and a 1.5-million- square-foot international and domestic passenger terminal and cargo facility at Kennedy. Koll has hired a former Delta executive, John Connolly, as a Corporate&Facilities Division VP to lead the expansion.
DOT Secretary Federico Pena announced at Washington National Airport yesterday 17 new routes to Canada benefiting a dozen carriers and U.S. communities. The route awards were opened up by the new bilateral agreement in Ottawa (DAILY, Feb. 27), and key beneficiaries were fledgling carriers like ValuJet and Reno, which will gain unprecedented access to the Canadian market. Also gaining were Delta and USAir, which won the prized Toronto frequencies.
House Transportation aviation subcommittee yesterday approved legislation (H.R.1036) that would allow DOT to give airlines exemptions from the high-density airport slot rules at Washington National under the same criteria set out by Congress last year for the other three high- density airports.
New Denver Airport will open to commercial passenger traffic today after four delays in the opening date and $4.2 billion in spending. Cargo operations into the airport began yesterday.
House passed legislation (H.R.450) Friday, 276-228, to halt most federal rulemaking through 1995, but it adopted by unanimous consent an amendment sponsored by Rep. Norman Mineta (D-Calif.) to exempt actions taken in connection with aviation safety. H.R.450 would impose a moratorium retroactive to Nov. 20. Aviation rulemakings not related to safety still would be covered by the moratorium. Mineta warned House colleagues Thursday that the legislation would halt some efforts on aviation safety and even would slow down emergency rulemaking actions.
TWA said Friday it intended to file an amended S-4 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing changes in its proposed financial restructuring (DAILY, Feb. 1). At the same time, the carrier said the group of 10% noteholder which whom it struck a deal late in January that seemed to clear a major hurdle for the restructuring has recently proposed "certain changes" in the agreement. TWA had not responded Friday to the revised proposal.
The U.S. on Friday officially signed an open skies agreement with Canada, the U.S.'s largest aviation partner, capping negotiations begun in 1979. The first round of the last serious push for open skies came in April 1991, and talks labored through 11 more rounds before collapsing in December 1992. With the accord in hand, DOT officials today will award new Canadian routes to U.S. carriers affecting 11 cities. Cargo opportunities for both sides are available immediately, and charters will be free of restrictions in one year.
American Eagle carriers accounted for more than half of the 1,063 flight attendants hired by turboprop operators between January 1994 and January 1995. Simmons hired 298, Wings West 148 and Executive 95. Partner American did not hire any flight attendants during the period and is not expected to in the near future, says the Future Aviation Professionals of America.
Federal Express reported Friday agreements with Evergreen International Airlines to buy Evergreen's all-cargo route authority to serve China, and to lease two Evergreen 747s for use in the market. If the route transfer is approved by DOT, FedEx will become the sole U.S.-based express carrier with aviation rights to China, FedEx said. The authority covers scheduled service to China, including Beijing and Shanghai. "China is a pivotal market to our long-term expansion plans in Asia," said Frederick Smith, chief executive of FedEx.
Granted orally an exemption to Jet Air International Charters to engage in non-scheduled all-cargo services between terminal point Caracas, Venezuela, and co-terminal points Miami, New York and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Royal Brunei Airlines' 1994 passenger traffic rose 27% to 2.03 billion revenue passenger kilometers. The number of passengers increased 23% to 769,409. In December, Royal Brunei's passenger traffic was up 12% to 207.3 million RPKs, and its passenger volume rose 12% to 86,176.
Cathay Pacific says its average daily utilization of the A330 will be nine hours, a big improvement over the five to six hours a day it operates the L-1011s that the A330s will replace. The Hong Kong-based carrier is looking at 15 to 15.5 hours a day utilization of its A340s, which will alternate between ultra-long-haul routes and intra-Asian flying.
The General Accounting Office expressed reservations last week about FAA's ability to oversee the safety of air traffic control services under the administration's proposal to establish a government ATC corporation. In testimony before the House Transportation aviation subcommittee, Kenneth Mead, GAO director-transportation issues, also said the proposed U.S. Air Traffic Services Corporation (USATS) can be financially viable if all the administration's budget, cost and revenue assumptions are realized.
For the first time, El Al and Royal Jordanian Airlines have developed vacation packages combining stays in their respective countries. The program includes roundtrip coach airfare on El Al and Royal Jordanian, six nights' hotel accommodations - three in Amman and three in Jerusalem - and transfers between the two cities. Passengers fly to either Israel or Jordan, and then return from the other destination. The package is available through Nov. 3 at prices ranging from $999 to $1,537 per person, based on double occupancy, with departures from New York or Chicago.
