Airbus Industrie's A330 has won extended range twin-engine operations (ETOPS) authority from the European Joint Aviation Authorities for all three engine types that power it. The approvals are for 180 minutes for the General Electric CF6-80E1s, 120 minutes for the Pratt&Whitney PW4164 and PW4168 engines and 90 minutes for the Rolls-Royce Trent 700. JAA approval for 180 minutes follows experience totaling more than 20,000 engine hours on airline routes.
For the second month in a row, Northwest and United led the majors in on- time arrivals in December, posting rates of 84.7% and 83.8%, respectively. Delta finished third for the month at 80.9%. Southwest slid from third in November to seventh in December at 74.7%, according to DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report. Overall, the on-time arrival record for the nation's 10 largest airlines was 79.3%, down from 80.8% in November but better than the 78.6% of December 1993. For the year, the airlines were on time 81.5% of the time, down slightly from 81.6% in 1993.
Spending On Major FAA Programs Fiscal Year 1992-1996 (In thousands of dollars) FAA Operations Est. Direct program: 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996* Operation of traf control sys 1,981,880 2,092,647 2,147,724 2,200,319 2,228,634
Air South, Columbia, S.C., is searching for additional financing, such as an initial public offering, to increase its loan guarantees from South Carolina by $2 million. The state will boost its loan backing if Air South makes a "best-faith effort" to secure additional funding from the private sector, the carrier said. Air South was financed initially by $1 million in private placements and $10 million in state-guaranteed loans. It took delivery of its fifth 737 last month and announced plans to inaugurate service to Myrtle Beach.
Norway's Civil Aviation Administration accepted delivery yesterday of a de Havilland Dash 8 Series 100 aircraft for use in airways calibration at airports throughout the country, Bombardier Regional Aircraft Div. said. The aircraft will be fitted out with electronic calibration equipment developed by the Norwegian CAA and Normarc A/S, and A/S Fred Olsens Flyselskap will operate and maintain it.
Air traffic increased a surprising 9% in January year-over-year, but industry officials are unsure how much of the advance reflects bad weather conditions in much of the nation at the start of 1994.If traffic continues to increase and prompts airlines to increase capacity, officials are worried about FAA's ability to keep up with demand this summer and fall.
U.S. Majors Systemwide Share of Service Third Quarter 1994 Total Revenue Departures America West 46,960 American 223,941 Continental 143,788 Delta 245,952 Northwest 141,341 Southwest 152,047
After gaining an agreement with Ukraine, the U.S. is pushing ahead with efforts to draw up new aviation pacts with other former Soviet states and Eastern bloc countries. Noting that the key annexes in the U.S.-Russia agreement will expire in May, DOT hopes to open talks with Russia in March, said Paul Gretch, director of DOT's Office of International Aviation. The department has conducted preliminary talks with Poland.
The value of U.S. airline company stocks was $21.84 billion on the last day of trading in January, an increase of 4.1% over December's $20.99 billion but down more than 20% from January a year ago, when the stocks were valued at $27.69 billion. The value of the eight major combination carrier stocks was $15.1 billion. Trading in the stock of the ninth carrier, TWA, was halted late in 1994 by the American Stock Exchange because of the airline's pending financial restructuring. (See chart and graphs on Pages 197-198.)
United reported a record January load factor, 66%, as its traffic for the month increased 11.4% over that of January 1993. Capacity was up 6.5%. The previous January record, set last year, was 63.1%.
AirTran named John Horn president of AirTran Airways. Gulfstream International named Peter Clements to head its Department of Safety. Qantas appointed Bernard Shirley group general manager-public affairs.
DOT and FAA retained, with one modification, language in its airports rates and charges policy to allow peak pricing at airports despite objections raised by airline and general aviation user groups (DAILY, Feb. 1). The agencies said that the concept stated in the policy is adopted from the Dec. 22, 1988, order and opinion on the Massachusetts Port Authority landing fee increase and represents no change in existing department policy.
American seeks renewal of its authority to serve Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey. The service is part of Segment 3 of its certificate for Route 602, issued in the American-TWA Route Transfer in 1991, which includes flights between points in the U.S., excluding St. Louis, New York and Newark, and Barcelona, Casablanca, Austria, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The Istanbul/Ankara authority currently is unused. (Docket 50097)
Board of Philippine Airlines has elected Lucio Tan chairman and chief executive. Tan, who owns 50.1% of PR Holdings, the consortium that acquired a 67% stake in the airline when it was privatized nearly three years ago, replaces Carlos Dominguez. Jose Antonio Garcia remains president and chief operating officer.
Air New Zealand plans to ban smoking March 1 on its flights to and from the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. It operates 23 weekly departures from Los Angeles, including daily nonstops to Auckland and Sydney.
- In Federal Register dated Jan. 30...Adopted an airworthiness directive on Airbus A300, A300-600, A310, A330 and A340 series airplanes requiring inspection of the sliding side windows in the cockpit for possible overheating of the defogging system, and deactivation of the system or replacement of the window, if necessary...Adopted an AD on certain Boeing 757 series airplanes requiring replacement of the bolts, nuts and washers that attach the support bracket of the No. 4 and No. 5 transmissions to the wing flap structure...
British Airways' systemwide passenger traffic rose 6.6% last month from January a year ago to 6.78 billion revenue passenger kilometers on 2.3% more capacity, pushing the load factor up 2.7 percentage points to 68.1%. The number of passengers carried increased 6.7% to 2.2 million. BA's U.K./Europe traffic rose 10.2% on 1.2% more capacity, and its intercontinental traffic increased 5.8% on 2.6% more capacity.
Moody's Investors Service Friday placed under review for possible downgrade its provisional ratings on Continental's $1 billion Rule 415 shelf registration because of concerns about continuing operational difficulties with Continental Lite and uncertainties about reversing operating losses and achieving sustained profitability. S&P took similar action the previous week. The ratings under review are provisional ratings on Continental's $1 billion shelf registrations of (P)B1 senior secured, (P)B2 senior unsecured, and (P)Caa subordinated.
Granted orally an exemption to Brazilian carrier VASP for authority to conduct combination services between a point or points in Brazil and U.S. co-terminal points Los Angeles and San Francisco and beyond to Seoul, Korea.
A new low-fare carrier planning to jump into some East Coast short-haul markets was acquired Thursday by UM Holdings Ltd., providing the required startup financing. Eastwind Airlines, originally Eastwind Capital Partners, hopes to begin operations in May from Mercer County Airport near Trenton, N.J. Inauguration has been a long time in coming - the carrier received tentative DOT approval to begin scheduled operations more than a year ago, contingent on financing (DAILY, Nov. 19).
Air L.A. has finalized its acquisition of St. Paul-based Capitol Air in a $1.5 million stock transaction and is looking for other potential acquisition or merger candidates (DAILY, Jan. 19). "The acquisition of Capitol Air was ideally suited for Air L.A. as part of our strategic growth plan through acquisitions and mergers," said Wayne Schoenfeld, Air L.A.'s chief executive. He said Air L.A. will "continue to seek other airline candidates" for its expansion plans, which will help reduce operating costs and increase profitability.
Latin American and Caribbean carriers lost more than $2.5 billion on revenue of $7 billion in the 1991-93 period, while the five U.S. airlines operating into the region reported operating profits there of $231 million on revenues of $8 billion, according to a study by Aviation Management Services.The study maintains that American already has recovered the $400 million it paid for Eastern's Latin American routes in 1989.
AAR Allen Aircraft named James Bacon VP-airline programs. AAR Allen Airmotive appointed Michael Hughes general manager-AAR Pacific Pte. and John O'Loughlin general manager-AAR Aviation Services (U.K.). Airport Systems International appointed Michael Warner VP-business development. Intertrade appointed Perry Rebhuhn senior accounts executive and Bruce Gross senior accounts manager. FlightSafety International named Rudy Canto director-airline operations.
Recent deferrals and cancellations of aircraft orders by Air France, Continental, USAir and All Nippon led Boeing last week to cut production to 16.5 aircraft per month by December and eliminate 7,000 jobs during the year (DAILY, Feb. 2). By the end of 1995, 737 and 767 production rates will fall, and the 747 rate will rise in 1996. Some 6,500 commercial aircraft workers in Washington state will lose their jobs, as will 500 in Wichita, Kan., and 800 in Philadelphia. Total layoffs will be offset by about 800 new jobs resulting from Boeing's work in the U.S.
American's moves to reduce flying by leasing gates and marketing frequent flyer programs jointly - as with Midway at Raleigh/Durham and Reno Air at San Jose - is not helping contract negotiations with its Allied Pilots Association unit. APA believes the deals are attempts to "outsource" flying and direct assaults on the scope clause, which basically ensures that revenue from flying will come from service in which American pilots are at the controls.
