Mesa Air Group will purchase 25 Dash 8-200s and secure options for 25, making the multi-affiliated regional the North American launch customer for the 37-passenger aircraft, the carrier announced yesterday. A definitive agreement confirming the purchase is expected to be reached within the next month, with deliveries to begin in February 1996 and continue at a rate of about two per month. No purchase price was disclosed, but the -200 sells for approximately $10 million per unit.
Both SAS and Alitalia are faced with labor actions in early March. Alitalia's pilots have threatened a 24-hour strike March 6-7 to protest the airline's restructuring plan, which calls for the elimination of 1,600 of 20,000 jobs. At SAS, Danish ground staff have scheduled a strike for March 2. The action would affect 1,700 employees. Union-management talks broke down this week. Meanwhile, Air France flight attendants are scheduled to end their three-day strike today.
The first Jetstream 41 full-flight simulator has begun operations at Reflectone's Training Center in Sterling, Va. The simulator has been qualified by FAA for training as a Level C full-flight simulator, allowing the training pilots to the same standard as jet airliners, with no need for a flight check on an aircraft in most cases, a Jetstream Aircraft statement said.
El Al posted 1994 earnings of $14 million on revenues of $950 million. In 1993, El Al made $8 million. The Israeli carrier recently emerged from receivership after 13 years, and the government is preparing to float its stock soon.
The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said yesterday he is beginning to favor reform that keeps FAA functions within government rather than setting up a government or private corporation to operate the air traffic control system. Rep. Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), who said earlier he was open to a variety of options, said in an aviation subcommittee hearing yesterday that he is leaning toward loosening personnel and procurement regulatory burdens instead. Rep.
DOT has renewed Thai Airways' authority to serve Seoul, Korea, as an intermediate point on its service to Los Angeles. Under the order, the carrier is permitted to continue operation of its four weekly roundtrips on the route using Boeing 747s. The application spurred opposition from Delta, which cited seat restrictions imposed by the government of Thailand on foreign-carrier service to that country. Delta urged DOT to impose similar restrictions on Thai's operations to the U.S.
Ozires Silva, a founder and twice the president of Brazilian manufacturer Embraer, resigned Wednesday, as expected. He has long said that once he succeeded in taking the company private, he would return to his own consulting service. The new board of directors Wednesday named six new company officers: - Juarez de Siqueira Britto Wanderley, former senior VP-production, replaces Silva as president;
USAir Group has reached an agreement to sell 11 737-300s to GE Capital for an undisclosed sum. Deliveries to GE Capital will begin next month continue into November. "The sale of these aircraft is part of our plan to cut the cost of doing business at USAir by a minimum of $1 billion annually," said USAir Chairman Seth Schofield.
American wants to expand its blocked-space and code-share agreement with Qantas to include cargo service between Melbourne and two U.S. points, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Qantas already has been authorized to operate blocked-space/code-sharing service, displaying American's designator code on cargo and mail operations, between Sydney and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu. (Docket 50143)
New Jet Aircraft Deliveries December 1994 Last 12 Months Carrier # Type Engines Delivery Air Austral 1 737-300 CFM56-3C1 - Air Canada 1 Canadair RJ CF34-3A1 3
Mesaba parent AirTran Corp named Carl Pohlad, AirTran's largest shareholder, a member of the board of directors, filling a vacancy created by the departure of Philip Swenson who resigned for health reasons.
Raleigh/Durham was the fastest-growing airport in the first six months of 1994 in terms of visitors from overseas and Mexico.Its international passenger traffic was up 67%, but only to a total of 14,000 visitors. Cincinnati was second, up 61% to 37,000, and Detroit was third, up 28% to 137,000, according to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration. The largest decline was at St. Louis, down 53% to 9,351.
A group of investors led by former Pan Am Chairman Edward Acker has taken control of BWIA International Airways, completing the privatization of the formerly government-owned airline (DAILY, Jan. 13). The investors, comprising the Acker Group, American International Group, Loeb Partners Corp., Arcadian Partners chairman Gordon Cain, the Alliance Capital-managed Global Privatization Fund, and a number of CARICOM interests, bought a 51% stake in the 54-year-old airline from the government of Trinidad&Tobago for $20 million. U.S.
Air Canada unveiled yesterday a new executive management structure designed to strengthen the airline's focus on operations and customer service (DAILY, Feb. 22). Wanting to add depth to its management team, it named Terry Nord, a former executive with CAE Aviation and before that with Canadian Airlines International, to the post of senior VP-operations and chief technical officer. The airline said it also is looking for ways to better use the abilities and potential of new senior managers.
FedEx said it will increase capacity in July between the U.S. and Europe with two MD-11 freighters. FedEx now operates two daily DC-10 freighters from Paris and one from London. It said the larger MD-11s will represent a significant capacity upgrade, and the decision to add them was in direct response to continuing strong growth in express traffic.
TWA applied at DOT for authority to serve Johannesburg, South Africa, from New York Kennedy using three of the six frequencies held by USAfrica Airways, which ceased operations and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Feb. 8. World Airways also has applied for the authority.
Calling current flight data requirements "inadequate," the National Transportation Safety Board unveiled yesterday an expanded list of minimum parameter requirements for U.S. commercial aircraft flight data recorders. As proposed, most of the nation's fleet would have to meet the new minimums by Jan. 1, 1998. The board also proposed enhancements for FDRs on newly manufactured aircraft.
FAA said it has established a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) office with expanded staff to "provide policy and program guidance on FOIA requests." The action follows a recommendation stemming from last year's DOT/FAA review of wake turbulence involving the Boeing 757 (DAILY, June 13). DOT Secretary Federico Pena said at that time that FAA must respond to FOIA requests faster, to "reflect the administration's commitment to open government."
Unisys Corp. said it has received a $2.2 million contract from Malaysia Airlines to provide information management services for the carrier's freight shipment operations. Unisys said that when the new freight- handling process is completed, MAS will be the first Asia-Pacific carrier to offer the benefits of bar-code technology to its freight customers. The carrier, which ships about 300,000 tons of freight a year, experienced 35% growth in 1994.
Rep. James Oberstar (D-Wis.) has joined opponents of DOT's decision to include delays or cancellations due to mechanical problems in on-time performance reports. "This decision gives a wrong picture of airlines' performance, and is in fact a deterrent to safe practices," he wrote DOT Secretary Federico Pena. Noting that mechanical delays "are clearly under control of the carrier," Oberstar said it is "critically important to safety that such delays be honored until repairs are made." Sen.
Legislation to be introduced soon by Rep. Jim Lightfoot (R-Iowa) would establish an 11-member Federal Aviation Management Advisory Committee to advise an independent FAA (DAILY, Feb. 22). The proposal mirrors somewhat the 11-member board of directors the Clinton administration proposes for an air traffic control corporation, a concept Lightfoot opposes. The bill also will include relief for FAA from personnel and procurement regulations during a trial period.
City of Denver filed suit yesterday in U.S. District Court against Continental Airlines, alleging breach of contract over 1992 lease agreements at the new Denver Airport. The city seeks an order requiring Continental to pay for the use of at least 16 gates, Reuter reported. Continental said the city has defaulted on obligations to it, giving it grounds to terminate the lease, but it is willing to continue negotiating lease changes.
Hawaiian carrier IslandAir has named former Aloha Airlines' VP-Customer Service Neil Takekawa as president. Takekawa's appointment is effective immediately, and he will replace Lawrence Cabrinha, who will retire March 31 after 36 years with IslandAir and sister carrier Aloha. Cabrinha will work as a consultant until his retirement. IslandAir, a commuter carrier employing 204 workers, operates 700 weekly flights to eight commuter and resort airports throughout the state, with eight Dash 6 turboprops.
