The Indian government has set up a committee of experts to determine why Indian Airlines, the state-owned domestic carrier, is incurring heavy losses, and to devise a turnaround strategy for it. IA has been losing money for the past five years, with accumulated losses of more than 7 billion Indian rupees (US$225 million). The nine-member committee, whose report is expected by April, will consider a plan for the airline's organizational and financial restructuring, civil aviation ministry officials said.
A fatal crash Monday involving Las Vegas Airlines, which has experienced three other fatal accidents since 1983, is being investigated as any other accident would be, an FAA spokesman said yesterday. "The current investigation is a routine National Transportation Safety Board investigation," the spokesman said. "If in the course of the investigation they feel it appropriate to look at the airline's operation as a possible contributor to the accident, we will do so." FAA is aware of issues raised by NTSB following a 1991 accident, the spokesman said.
Jetstream 41 - 1994 Orders Airline Country Date Orders Options Total Manx U.K. May 24 1 - 1 Manx (Ops for BMA) U.K. June 7 1 - 1 Impulse Transportation Group Australia July 5 10 - 10 Trans States U.S. Nov. 14 25 35 60 Seoul Air International S. Korea Dec. 8 1 - 1
Thai Airways International and Japan Airlines yesterday signed an agreement to expand their cooperative efforts and seek new routes for joint operations. The two airlines, which have operated jointly in the Nagoya- Bangkok market since 1985, said they intend to work together to develop their route networks. Beginning in November, JAL and Thai will add a fourth weekly Nagoya-Bangkok flight and a third weekly Fukuoka-Bangkok joint service. They also plan a joint operation between Osaka Kansai and Bangkok, with 14 flights per week.
AT&T Global Information Solutions and The Future Now have built a local area network (LAN) administration control center in Houston to support Continental's U.S. operations, the airline said. The center will provide Continental with about $35 million in cost avoidance during five years. Described by Continental as the first-ever commercial remote LAN Administration project, it will enable Continental to manage LANs proactively throughout the company, improve the productivity of LAN maintenance and service operations and reduce costs.
Sabre Travel Information Network (STIN) has formed a department to manage the development of distribution technology. "Our department will study technology from a business perspective and make it practical for Sabre travel agents to apply it to their everyday business, giving them a competitive edge," said Eric Garcia, who will head the department as VP- distribution technology. The new department has a staff of 70 with technical, marketing and business expertise.
FAA has ordered airlines to increase schedules for inspection of General Electric CF6-45/50/80A engines. Currently, FAA requires a one-time ultrasonic and eddy current inspection for cracks of the high-pressure compressor rotor spool. The agency said, however, that a review of inspection results "indicate that the crack occurrence rate is higher than initially projected." Saying an uncontained stage 3-9 spool failure could result in damage to the aircraft, it ordered repetitive inspections as outlined in a GE service bulletin.
VASP Brazilian Airlines has awarded Greenwich Air Services a contract for engine overhaul and maintenance services. The agreement, valued by Greenwich at $2 million, provides for engine overhaul service for the General Electric CF6-50C2 and Pratt&Whitney JT8D-17 engines, which power VASP's A300 and 737-200 Advanced aircraft.
Pilots at WestAir Commuter have corrected statements made by Mesa President Clark Stevens that they are paid above industry standards, saying that nearly half qualify for government assistance. WestAir, a unit of Mesa Air Group, is seeking productivity improvements and wage reductions to achieve annual cost savings of $1.5 million, and will meet this month with the pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, to discuss proposals (DAILY, Feb. 10). The United Express carrier and its pilots have been in contract negotiations since September 1993.
Great China Airlines, Taipei, will purchase an additional de Havilland Dash 8 Series 300 from Bombardier, the airline reported. The carrier operates 15 Dash 8 Aircraft. Bombardier said Great China had captured 10% of Taiwan's domestic air travel market.
Singapore Airlines and Swissair finished first and second for the third straight time in the biannual Zagat Airline Survey. SIA earned a score of 25.85 on Zagat's 30-point scale on four passenger-rated criteria - comfort, service, on-time performance and food. Swissair was second with 23.93 points, followed by Cathay Pacific at 23.39. Milwaukee-based Midwest Express, the highest-ranked U.S. carrier, was fourth with 23.38 points. The next highest U.S. carrier was Alaska Airlines, in 13th place.
Indonesian manufacturer IPTN has narrowed is "short list" of U.S. assembly sites for the 70-passenger N-250 to two - Mobile, Ala., and Macon, Ga. Company President B.J. Habibie said the original list, including Phoenix and Portland, Ore., totaled 26. A final decision is to be made in April. IPTN plans to retain a 40% stake in the new U.S. company, a $100 million joint venture with an unnamed partner to be called American Regional Aircraft Industry. Treading where few manufacturers dare, he said the N-250 would break even at 259 aircraft.
United Airlines, the one major carrier renowned for eating its young, is at it again. The carrier's low-fare shuttle operation in California, in combination with Southwest Airlines, is having a major impact on United Express WestAir, a Mesa Air Group carrier. WestAir is struggling to reduce costs to remain competitive in the face of more and more passengers driving to the low-fare carriers. Among previous United Express casualties impacted by United are Presidential, the original Air Wisconsin and the original WestAir, before its acquisition by Mesa.
Passenger volume at the seven U.K. airports managed by BAA plc increased 7.5% in January to 5.97 million. London Heathrow grew 8.2% to 3.8 million and London Gatwick rose 4.5% to 1.28 million. The number of air transport movements at the seven airports increased 4.2% to 70,628.
Regional Airline Association, which "strongly supports" a requirement that airlines and travel agents disclose the network name of the carrier providing service in code-sharing arrangements, has weighed in against a DOT proposal to require disclosure of the corporate name of the airline as well.
Aerovias de Honduras (Honduras Airways) has applied at DOT for an exemption to operate scheduled combination service between Honduras and the U.S. via Belize. The carrier received a six-month approval to fly to the U.S. from its government last month. It would provide service initially over the routings Miami-Tegucigalpa-San Pedro Sula-Miami; Houston-Roatan-San Pedro Sula-Houston; Miami-Tegucigalpa-Miami, and Miami-Roatan-San Pedro Sula- Miami, with a 727-200 for the Miami flights and a 737-200 for the Houston flights.
Southwest yesterday unveiled plans to boost its service in the West and Midwest by 31 flights a day between April 15 and mid-year through a combination of new service and increased operations in current markets. Nearly one-third of the expansion will occur in the Reno market with 10 more flights a day, including new service to Los Angeles and Boise. When the changes are in place, Southwest will operate 32 daily departures from Reno, becoming the largest carrier at the airport in terms of departures, said David Ridley, Southwest's VP-sales and marketing.
Delta has opposed a request by Thai Airways International for renewal of its authority, for at least one year, to operate between Bangkok and Los Angeles via Seoul. Delta said DOT should condition the authority by restricting to 218 the number of seats Thai can sell on its 747s, or by requiring it to keep 17% of the seats empty. The authority also should be limited to 179 days, Delta said.
Southern Air Transport asked DOT for authority to operate scheduled all- cargo flights to Arica, Antofagasta, and Santiago, Chile, from the U.S., via intermediate points and to beyond points, beginning as soon as possible with two weekly 747-200 freighter flights. (Docket 50128)
Jetstream Aircraft has won a 59% share of the worldwide market for aircraft in the 30-seat category after winning orders and commitments for 105 units in 1994, the manufacturer reported. The British Aerospace unit said it obtained orders or commitments for 102 Jetstream 41s and three Jetstream Advanced Turboprops, adding customers in Australasia, Asia and Africa. The company's backlog extends into 1997.
Horizon Air has appointed Bill Ayer to the position of senior VP-operations and Pat Zachwieja VP-marketing and planning. Both have been with Horizon for 13 years.
AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department executive committee members voted yesterday to fight what they termed the most "anti-worker political environment in years" by lobbying aggressively and developing a grass-roots campaign against reforms that could jeopardize safety such as ATC privatization or corporatization.Other TTD priorities include opposing increased foreign airline ownership of U.S. airlines.
DOT has prohibited carriers from code sharing with foreign airlines on flights that overfly countries U.S. airlines are not allowed to overfly. The State Department said Dec. 20 that FAA was prohibiting U.S. carriers from overflying Afghanistan because of civil conflicts. Many foreign carriers continue to overfly Afghanistan on routes between Asia and Europe, however, and DOT said it now believes the prohibition should be extended to the application of U.S. carriers' codes to such flights.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) has named Apollo Travel Services its exclusive computer reservations system partner. The two have signed a five-year alliance agreement. "Apollo will play a significant role in helping AAA integrate its 4,000 auto travel counselors with its network of some 3,600 travel agents to create a powerful revenue generating sales force," said Graeme Clark, VP-marketing&financial services for AAA Travel.
