Aviation Daily

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.

Continental's pilots rejected the company's latest contract offer of a 38% raise over five years, a signing bonus and work rule improvements. The Independent Association of Continental Pilots is holding out for 26% over three years. Continental pilots believe there still is a disparity between their pay and that of other airlines' pilots.

American Society of Travel Agents has issued its 1995/1996 Publications Catalog, offering books, videos and cassettes designed to improve travel agents' knowledge of the travel industry. "In light of recent industry happenings, these publications are essential to agents who wish to remain profitable," ASTA President Jeanne Epping said. ASTA offers destination guides, gift books and materials intended to help agents manage finances, train staff and develop marketing plans. Non-members can order the catalog by calling 1-800-ASTA-FAX and requesting document 089.

U.S. and Japanese officials met "recently" to explore a resumption of aviation talks, DOT Secretary Federico Pena said yesterday, but he refused to comment on the outcome.Industry officials said the meeting took place Tuesday and failed to produce a breakthrough.

Passenger traffic and aircraft movements rose 5% at the world's airports in February compared with the same period in 1994 and cargo increased 10% during the same period, according to the latest airport traffic report from Airports Council International in Geneva. Cumulative growth for the first two months of 1995 shows passenger traffic up 7%, cargo up 12% and aircraft movements up 5%. ACI collected February 1995 traffic data from 404 airports.

A DOT administrative law judge said yesterday that the landing fees at Los Angeles Airport are unreasonable in part, because rental charges for the land under the airfield and apron are not based on historical costs, and because some other charges, such as crash-fire-rescue and a police substation, include costs for non-airfield or off-airport services. The recommended decision of Administrative Law Judge John Mathias also concluded that the city improperly failed to adjust the landing fees to reflect actual and budgeted expenses in the 1993-1994 fiscal year.

El Al has improved its Matmid Frequent Traveler Club to offer more members more opportunities to earn bonus tickets, upgrades and other benefits. Matmid members earn benefits each time they fly El Al, and can use their bonus tickets and upgrades for travel any day of the week, any time of the year, on any El Al flight worldwide. There are no blackout periods and no limits on the number of seats allotted for bonus travel, according to the airline.

U.S. National Carriers Traffic April, 4 Months 1995 April April % 1995 1994 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 660,000 546,000 20.9 Available Seat Miles (000) 1,091,000 873,000 25.0 Load Factor (%) 60.5 62.5 Passengers 773,500 649,500 19.1

American has introduced "last chance" fares for the summer, discounted by an average of 35% off advance-purchase excursion fares, for domestic travel June 7-Oct. 15. Tickets must be purchased by June 2, and require 14-day advance purchase and a Saturday night stay. In the New York-Los Angeles market, the off-peak sale price is $388 roundtrip, compared with the current $763, and the lowest Chicago-San Francisco fare is $378 instead of $731.

Bill McFarlane, president of Aqua Software Products Inc. (ASPI) has proposed the development of a code of ethics to be used by independent travel industry hardware and software developers. At the recent Travel Weekly Conference '95 in Chicago, McFarlane said the code should be a "central effort" of the Independent Travel Technology Association (ITTA). He also called on ITTA to develop an arbitration procedure that would add "teeth" to a code.

The Justice Department has dropped its review of TWA's agreement with U.S. travel agents to return to the 10% commission rate on domestic tickets that raised anticompetitive concerns, now that TWA and the other parties have proposed to revise the settlement. Justice yesterday filed a brief in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, which is considering a lawsuit brought by the travel agents and the American Society of Travel Agents against six airlines for capping domestic commission.

Industry officials squared off over the viability of the proposed "mini- deal" between the U.S. and the U.K. in a hearing yesterday before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation aviation subcommittee.

U.S. National Carriers Advertising Expenses Third Quarter 1994 % Of Total Passenger Systemwide Revenues Alaska $ 4,439,000 2.15 Aloha 1,362,247 3.17 American Trans Air 2,166,949 3.17 Carnival 942,484 2.79

America West named Douglas Parker senior VP and chief financial officer. Parker was involved in the financial restructuring of Northwest and assisted in its initial public stock offering. Earlier, he held financial planning positions at American.

Competition authorities of the European Commission opened proceedings yesterday against Aircraft Services Lemwerder GmbH (ASL), the aircraft maintenance company the German state of Niedersachsen took over after Airbus Industrie shut it down, on charges that it received illegal financial benefits equal to about $48 million. Brussels said the aid appears to distort competition conditions in the European Union's aircraft maintenance market.

FAA said it believes security measures at the Manila Airport are adequate to protect the flying public against terrorists. The statement followed news reports from Manila that the Philippine government was tightening security to the point of body searches of all passengers to avoid an FAA threat to cancel landing rights in the U.S. because of lax security. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena wrote the Philippine government May 4 saying security at Manila must be improved within 90 days.

Carnival Air Lines is offering newlyweds free upgrades and priority boarding as part of its new Honeymoon in the Skies program. Couples must show a wedding invitation or marriage certificate at the ticket counter to receive their "Love Pass," which entitles them to complimentary cocktails, a congratulatory in-flight announcement, and a $25 certificate for future Carnival flights as a wedding gift. Travel must be within 60 days after the wedding.

The first of three Airbus A330s Dragonair plans to put into service this year arrived yesterday in Hong Kong. The new twinjets will replace L-1011s and, with the carrier's seven A320s, will make Dragonair the first airline in Asia to operate an all-Airbus fleet, the aircraft manufacturer said. Dragonair will operate the A330 initially on routes between Hong Kong and Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen, and later to other destinations in China and the region. Dragonair's A330s are configured for 331 passengers in two classes of service.

BWIA International Airways has been named the preferred Caribbean airline of the Greater Independent Association Of National Travel Services (GIANTS) travel agencies, the airline said yesterday. "BWIA now has direct access to a very select group of travel agents whose leisure sales are among the highest per capita in the U.S. and Canada," said Edward Wegel, president of BWIA.

Boeing said yesterday it plans to reduce employment by about 12,000 this year, 5,000 more than it estimated earlier and most of them in the Seattle area, due to "increasing competitive pressures." Boeing now employs about 113,900, down from about 117,300 at the beginning of the year. "We are pursuing aggressive efforts to reduce costs so that we can maintain and expand our leadership position in the market," said Chairman Frank Shrontz.

Ashtech has begun shipping its Altair AV-12 Global Positioning System receiver to dealers and distributors. The panel-mounted AV-12 features a fully integrated high-resolution color moving map display with common symbology. A split screen displays the moving map and navigation information simultaneously. The company said FAA approval has been granted for visual flight rules.