DOT Secretary Federico Pena will outline the reorganization of the consumer affairs department at a press conference today. DOT apprised carriers of the coming changes last month. Pena also will announce a major review of airline advertising from the holiday period.
Mountain West Airlines d/b/a America West Express, a division of Mesa Air Group, will launch daily nonstop service Feb. 28 between Fresno and America West's Phoenix hub, offering three daily roundtrips. An introductory, fully refundable fare of $89 each way will be offered for travel through March 15. After that, the 21-day advance purchase roundtrip fare will be $178.
The first FAA reform bill of the 104th Congress, H.R.589, is a resubmission by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) of the independent FAA legislation he offered last year. Oberstar also reintroduced the commuter airline safety bill (H.R.590) he proposed during the lame-duck session of the 103rd Congress.
The U.S. and Japan may be edging toward new bilateral negotiations in March, according to an industry official. There were indications last week that Japanese officials, including the minister of transport, are anxious to begin talks and have discussed this informally with the U.S.
- In Federal Register dated Jan. 17...Proposed an airworthiness directive on Fokker F28-100 aircraft to require inspection for proper clearance between the engine fuel supply line and the hydraulic line in certain areas.
U.S. National Carriers Traffic December, 12 Months 1994 (000) December December % 1994 1993 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 697,000 541,000 28.8 Available Seat Miles (000) 1,108,000 869,000 27.5 Load Factor (%) 62.9 62.3
McDonnell Douglas is tying up subcontractor costs in its prospective MD-95 program and trying to build "firm interest" in the airplane, according to Herbert Lanese, chief financial officer. Negotiations with Dalfort Aviation on final assembly are continuing. "We are talking with at least four interested parties who would be the drivers in launching the airplane," he said.
ValuJet is reducing prices from Washington Dulles to Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach, Fla., by $20, effective Jan. 26, leaving fares that range from $69 to $139 one way. The lowest fare, with a 21-day advance purchase for travel during off-peak times, matches some of USAir's discounted tariffs from Washington National to the same cities, which are limited to travel through Feb. 15 (DAILY, Jan. 13). ValuJet began serving Florida from Dulles this month.
Lufthansa will begin operating trial non-smoking flights on several North Atlantic routes Feb. 1. All of Lufthansa's services to Canada - Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver - will become non-smoking during the two-month test period, as will one of three daily New York Kennedy departures and its new twice-weekly San Francisco departure beginning March 30. The German carrier said it is testing smoke-free flights because of increasing passenger requests. Lufthansa risks little in eliminating smoking.
A deal between American and Midway Airlines, expected to involve replacement by Midway of service eliminated by American at Raleigh/Durham, N.C., may be announced this week. American spokesman Al Becker said the carrier has been discussing possibilities with the Chicago-based carrier that "may well come to fruition" this week.
The second wave of U.S. carrier applications for the next phase of available frequencies to Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal inundated DOT Thursday, following a massive response to immediate service opportunities a week earlier. The U.S.-Canada framework agreement, signed Dec. 22, provides for a two-year phase-in for new service in Montreal and Vancouver and a three-year transition for new Toronto frequencies. DOT mirrored this design with a two-tiered application process for immediate and future frequency openings.
McLean, Va.-based Leisure Air filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Thursday but has no plans at this time to cut back on its schedule. The carrier, which has operated for two years, partly blames the FAA for its weakened financial condition. The agency forced the carrier to shut down for five days around Thanksgiving while it conducted an audit on missing paper work for one airplane. FAA later pronounced the carrier 100% compliant, a Leisure Air spokesman said. Leisure Air operates a fleet of seven A320s.
AAR named Lee Haines manager-public relations and advertising. Associated Air Freight named Randolph Bruckner corporate controller. Innotech Aviation appointed Kirk Rowe executive assistant to Stephen Plummer, executive VP and chief operating officer-Execaire Aviation Group. Midcoast named Robert Shaw VP and general manager-Little Rock maintenance center. Systems Research Laboratories appointed Ronald Jones VP-marketing.
Abacus Distribution System, the Asia/Pacific region computer reservations system based in Singapore, has promoted four of its senior managers to director. They are Chai Cheng Huan, who goes from senior manager-corporate planning and research to director-product marketing and corporate planning; Patrick Lai, from senior manager-market development and vendor marketing to director-sales and distribution; Ellen Low, from senior manager-finance and legal to director-finance and legal, and Ooi-Wong Wai Kin, from senior manager-network engineering to director-network.
Air Europe has leased a 767-300ER from International Lease Finance Corp. for six years, with an option for a seventh year. The aircraft, equipped with PW4060 engines, will be delivered this month. The new airplane will be the second 767 ILFC has leased to the Italian airline. The first was converted from an operating to a finance lease by Air Europe in December.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association questions FAA's estimate that general aviation flight hours are down 23% since 1991. Reduced flying boosts the accident rate per 100,000 hours flown, but Bruce Landsberg, director of AOPA's Air Safety Foundation, says "the reality is, accidents and fatal accidents are down."
Lufthansa Technik (LTAG) estimates that about 300 747s will need mandated strut modification during the next three years. LTAG, aggressively pushing its ability to do the work, recommends that it be done in conjunction with a D-check. Its objective is to get the modified aircraft back into service faster than anyone else.
The airline industry is opposing an amendment to be offered by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) that would exempt actions to further aviation safety or security from the requirements of the unfunded mandates reform bill (H.R.5). Oberstar plans to offer the measure this week during continued consideration of H.R.5, which has been under House debate since Thursday. The bill currently exempts statutes and regulations for a limited number of purposes, such as national security, emergency assistance and enforcement of constitutional rights. Rep.
Rolls-Royce Aero Engine Services has received overhaul contracts valued at more than $230 million from Air 2000, AirTours, American Trans Air and China Eastern. Monarch and Cyprus Air signed long-term contracts last summer.
Wicat said it will provide computer-based training hardware and peripherals to Japan Airlines for 777 maintenance training. It is to supply 14 workstations to the JAL Maintenance Training Center in Tokyo to deliver maintenance courseware from Boeing. Wicat installed 152 similar stations at Boeing's new training center to deliver Microsoft Windows-based 777 courseware.
Swissair has selected Wicat to supply a complete computer-based training delivery system and support system. A new suite of 16 high-performance, PC-based workstations plus spares will be provided for a new classroom at the Swissair Flight Training Center. A total of 56 new and current student authoring workstations will be connected to a new Novell file server. Wicat also will convert Swissair's Piper Cheyenne and A320 Emergency Equipment Operations Training courses to be delivered in a Novell environment, Wicat said.
Cathay Pacific's 1994 revenues fell 2.1% short of what the carrier forecast a year earlier. Among the bright spots for the year was Cathay's joint venture with Vietnam Airlines, which turned a profit.
Lufthansa Technik has been awarded a technical support contract for a fifth Sun Express 737. The Hamburg-based company will perform all maintenance from C-check upward on the 737-400. The contract also covers engineering, engines, components and material support.
