This week's Senate Governmental Affairs oversight subcommittee hearing on unapproved and suspect parts brought to the surface again long-standing aviation industry concerns about whether FAA is taking the proliferation of such parts too lightly. These concerns exist despite acknowledgment by industry officials that bogus parts are not much of a safety problem, and that most of them never get past quality assurance programs of airlines and repair stations.
Airlines Reporting Corp. reported that travel agent sales from April 1994 to April 1995 increased 3% over the previous year, to $20.5 billion. Domestic sales rose 4% to $13.7 billion, and international sales were flat at $5.1 billion. Travel agents' domestic commissions processed by ARC were up 1% during the period to $1.3 billion, and international commissions also grew 1% to $789 million. Domestic commissions for April, when most airline domestic commission caps were in place, fell 4% while international commissions rose 4%.
American yesterday added nine daily roundtrips to its U.S.-Canada schedule, eight of them from its Chicago O'Hare hub and one from Dallas/Fort Worth. From Chicago, American now offers three flights a day to Ottawa, three to Winnipeg and two to Calgary. From Dallas/Fort Worth, the airline is offering a daily flight to Montreal. American will begin code sharing with Canadian Airlines International July 31 in the four new markets and on three other routes. Code sharing in five other markets will begin June 19.
Air Canada has had no problems transitioning crews to the new Canadair Regional Jet, as reported on this page May 19. The company to date has trained 90 pilots to fly the first several units to be delivered of its 24 RJs on order - being operated exclusively in transborder markets to the U.S. - with only one training failure, The DAILY was told. Unfortunately, the one failure was to become Air Canada's first female captain and the company had planned a media blitz to mark the occasion. Meanwhile, the pilot continues to fly as a second officer on a 747.
FAA said it will rule by July 9 on an application from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to collect $663 million in passenger facility charges for planning, design and construction of rail projects at New York Kennedy and LaGuardia and Newark airports. The application also seeks to withdraw certain previously approved roadway projects. The largest single project is construction, with $325 million in PFCs, of the remainder of the on-airport portion of the automated guideway transit (AGT) system at Kennedy.
Seaborne Aviation has applied for a certificate to operate scheduled, interstate combination service between Ketchikan and Waterfall, Alaska. The carrier proposes using its current fleet of three de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft on floats.
Edward Bolen, legislative director and general counsel for Sen. Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kan.), was elected senior VP-general counsel of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. GAMA President Edward Stimpson said Bolen was a "key player" in passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act and on other aviation legislation.
Tower Air's board declared a dividend of four cents per share for the second quarter of 1995. Stockholders of record June 8 will be entitled to receive the dividend, which is payable June 15.
National Mediation Board, back to a full complement with the recent swearing-in of Kenneth Hipp, is expected to rule shortly on the AMR Eagle single-transportation-system case. The NMB is expected to find that the four wholly owned Eagle carriers - Executive, Flagship, Simmons and Wings West, which are represented by three pilot unions - constitute a single system, based on common control as well as integrated operations, management, marketing, labor relations and other criteria used in previous findings.
Cincinnati- and Orlando-based Comair reported a fiscal year profit of $29.3 million, or $1.45 per share, compared with $28.5 million, or $1.33 per share, for the prior period. Total revenues reached $360.7 million, compared with $296.6 million in the prior year. For the fourth quarter ended March 31, net profit dropped to just over $5 million, or 26 cents per share, from just above $6 million, or 28 cents per share, in the comparable quarter one year ago. Revenues totaled $92.8 million for the quarter.
Mesaba Aviation and AirTran Airways parent AirTran Corp. earned a net income of $2.6 million, or 29 cents per share, for its fiscal year ended March 31, sharply lower than the $3.7 million, or 40 cents per share, it reported in fiscal 1994. Operating revenues totaled $145.9 million, up from $129.6 million in the prior year. For the quarter ended March 31, the company lost money - $281,000, or three cents per share - compared with a $603,000 profit, or six cents per share, for the comparable quarter a year earlier.
Travelers to London Heathrow from Chicago face "a significantly higher level of price and an inferior level of service options" compared with their counterparts who use other U.S. gateways, according to a study prepared for United by Campbell Aviation Group, Inc., Alexandria, Va. United would gain a Chicago-Heathrow route and compete with American and British Airways under the proposed U.S.-U.K. aviation "mini-deal," which most of its competitors oppose.
Skyways, a Swedish regional carrier, has placed the first of two Fokker 50s in revenue service from Stockholm Arlanda Airport to Borlange and Visby in Gotland. The carrier, which is owned by Salenia AB and is based in Linkuping, Sweden, configures its 50s with 50 seats. The second Fokker 50 will be placed in service in August. Skyways hitherto had operated a fleet of Saab 340s on its domestic feeder network into Arlanda and Copenhagen. Traffic growth prompted the carrier to upgrade to larger equipment.
The board of Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 8.5 cents per share, which is equivalent to an annual rate of 34 cents per share. The dividend is payable June 15 to shareholders of record on June 1, ASA said.
Arrow Air, which expects to resume service within a few weeks, has appointed three new VPs and restructured its management to enhance flight and maintenance operations and reinforce customer service. Sales and Service Director Edward Lesko has been named to the newly created position of VP-sales and service, responsible for all marketing programs, customer service and airport services. Kenneth Wilson will be VP-maintenance and engineering and Lee Steele VP and director of operations.
An Arinc Inc. international consortium formed to carry out the modernization of Harbin Airport in Heilongjiang Province, China, received a $29.9 million contract from the Harbin Airport Expansion Command. The first phase of the project is scheduled for completion by February 1996, when the province is to host the Asian Winter Games. The consortium will acquire and integrate products from more than 30 U.S. companies, and the U.S. Export-Import Bank will support the project.
EVA Airways and TransAsia Airways announced separate plans to launch service between Taiwan and Surabaya, Indonesia. EVA will begin three- times-weekly flights between Kaohsiung and Surabaya on June 28. TransAsia, as its first regularly scheduled international service, will fly between Taipei and Surabaya in September.
Northwest and the Tomorrow Mall of America will sponsor a two-day concert July 3-4 to raise funds and collect food for Minnesota hunger relief organizations. The Jam Against Hunger includes appearances by the Beach Boys, Ringo Starr and REO Speedwagon, and a "drop-in" by the Flying Elvi - a skydiving team dressed as Elvis.
United Parcel Service, accelerating its schedule, plans to launch international next-flight-out service from the U.S. on May 30. The new, round-the-clock delivery option will get packages to major business centers in the Asia/Pacific region, Europe and Latin America within 24 hours. UPS said the success of its domestic same-day service, launched April 17 by subsidiary SonicAir, prompted it to launch the international version ahead of its original target of late 1995 (DAILY, April 12).
Two-thirds of small businesses in the U.S. expect their export volumes to increase this year and 80% see an increase over the next five years, according to the Federal Express Survey of Small Businesses, issued yesterday. FedEx attributed the optimism to federal government support for global trade and to the falling dollar, which makes U.S.-made goods cheaper overseas. In the survey, Intersearch Corp. interviewed 751 export managers of businesses with 100 or fewer employees.
Aerolineas Argentinas has opened a downtown office in Buenos Aires where passengers can check baggage and obtain boarding passes. The office, which is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., will alleviate airport congestion and reduce the time passengers spend at the airport prior to departure. Aerolineas offers nonstop and direct service to Buenos Aires from Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Montreal and Toronto.
DOT Inspector General Mary Schiavo said yesterday her office cannot work on investigations involving suspect or unapproved parts with Anthony Broderick, FAA associate administrator for regulation and certification, who she said is under investigation by the FBI because he tried to interfere with an investigation by her department. She made the charge during a hearing by a Senate oversight subcommittee into whether unapproved parts affect aviation safety.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to reduce from $61 to $53 its fee for agricultural quarantine and inspection of commercial aircraft arriving in the U.S. from departure points outside the country. The 13.1% reduction is "necessary to avoid collecting more revenue than needed to cover the costs of the services we provide," the Agriculture Department agency said in a notice in yesterday's Federal Register. The fee was set at $61 on Jan.
Apollo is enhancing its cancel/rebook functions and other processes in an effort to improve productivity and customer service, according to Apollo Travel Services, which markets the Apollo computer reservations system. Apollo has changed the way it processes single-entry cancel and rebook air segments to process the new air segment before canceling the old segment.
