Light Helicopter Turbine Engine Co., a partnership between AlliedSignal and Allison Engine, has signed a contract with a Bangalore, India, firm to provide CTS800 commercial turboshaft engines for a new advanced light helicopter being developed by the Indian company, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). The U.S. firms project a market for more than 300 helicopters, which would result in more than $150 million in engine sales. The first helicopter is expected to be flying by yearend, with deliveries beginning early in 1998.
DOT has extended the period for comment on its code-sharing study from Jan. 20 to Feb. 3. American, citing the complexity and importance of the study, had requested an extension to March 6. (Docket 49844)
Aeromexico is seeking authority to operate scheduled combination service between Guadalajara, Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on the one hand, and Bakersfield, Calif., on the other. The carrier said it plans to provide daily service via connections in Los Angeles or Tijuana. The service will be provided by Air L.A., under a code-share agreement. Air L.A. will carry the Aeromexico code on its Bakersfield-Los Angeles flights, which will connect to Aeromexico flights between Los Angeles and Guadalajara, Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta. (Docket 50022)
Shuttle by United will expand its frequencies in eight West Coast city-pairs Feb. 8, the day it begins San Francisco-Phoenix flights. The short-haul service has gone from 184 daily departures in October to 342 today, an 86% increase. The Shuttle will operate 32 daily departures from San Francisco to Seattle, 20 to Las Vegas and six to Phoenix; 28 from Los Angeles to Oakland, 24 to Las Vegas, 20 to Phoenix and 12 to Sacramento; and 22 between Oakland and Burbank. Every route will offer two-for-one fares.
Aeromexpress is seeking authority to operate scheduled all-cargo service between Mexico City amd Atlanta. The carrier plans to fly twice-weekly Boeing 727 service on the route. (Docket 50021)
U.S. Major and National Carriers Interest Expenses Third Quarter 1994 % Of Total Operating Systemwide Expenses America West $ 14,287,358 4.40 American 113,598,000 3.32 Continental 48,284,000 3.97 Delta 69,237,000 2.28
Mesa Air Group's selection of Des Moines and Spokane for its initial Fokker 70 jet operations from Phoenix under the America West flag did not come as a surprise to some analysts. They say Mesa - operating as a new Desert Sun Airlines division - will focus on markets that could not earlier support Boeing 737 service by America West and other markets in the Midwest and Northwest. One analyst cited Eugene and Medford, Ore; Pasco, Wash.; Monterey, Calif.; and Peoria and Moline, Ill., as possible cities for the F70 service. Mesa has two F70s on order plus six options.
Prospective startup Nashville Air Inc. raised $2.5 million through a private equity placement to complete its first level of funding and finance pre-operating expenses. The company has signed a letter of intent with an ORIX subsidiary to lease three 150-passenger A320s, with an option for a fourth. The first aircraft is to be delivered in March and the second and third in April.
Used Regional Aircraft Transactions November 1994 Carrier No. Type Aces 1 AA ATR-42-300 AF&T 1 Fokker 50 Ages A/C Int 1 DHC-7-102 Air Caribbean 1 YS-11A-500 Air Cgo Car 1 Shorts 330 Air Charters 1 Metro III Al Tasmania 1 Metro III
Brit Air, Morlaix, France, has doubled its firm orders for the Canadair Regional Jet to six from three. Deliveries will begin in June 1995 and will be completed in late 1996.
Airbus Industrie is scheduled to deliver its 500th A320 today to United at a ceremony in Toulouse. The consortium says the A320 is the first European aircraft to reach the 500-unit production level. Boeing, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 747's first revenue flight tomorrow, says it has delivered $125 billion worth of the four-engine widebody, nearly $102 billion to foreign airlines.
Qantas will drop daily connecting flights to Manchester from London and three weekly Frankfurt-Paris connections with the implementation of its summer schedule in late March. Managing Director James Strong said the flights were being suspended because of continuing losses, and that the move reflects state-controlled Qantas's determination to operate commercially. Qantas will continue to serve Paris twice daily from London through its alliances with British Airways.
Clarification: Continental has begun eliminating about one-third of its Continental Lite capacity and will make more cuts if they are economically sensible, a Continental spokesman said in response to a Jan. 19 DAILY article that said executives are standing behind the product.
AirTran Corp. has named a former Northwest executive, John Horn, president of its Orlando-based subsidiary, AirTran Airways. Horn was president and chief operating officer of NWA Inc. and Northwest from August 1986 until October 1989. AirTran, which operates 737s between the Northeast and Florida, plans to take delivery of its fourth 737 soon and recently announced new service from Cincinnati to Orlando, beginning Feb. 22. In addition, the carrier said this week it will add low-fare service to Omaha from Orlando, effective March 1.
Colombian airline Tampa is seeking authority to operate all-cargo flights between Colombia and New York, and co-terminalize this service with its existing Miami flights. Tampa also wants renewal of its authority to serve Caracas, Venezuela, as an intermediate point on its New York and Miami flights. The carrier currently operates cargo service between Medellin and Bogota, Colombia, on the one hand, and Miami, on the other. It also flies cargo service between Colombia and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and co-terminalizes that service with its Miami authority.
Fast Air is seeking authority to operate scheduled cargo service between Santiago, Chile, and Los Angeles. It plans to operate the service with DC-8-71s and enter a reciprocal long-term wet-lease with LanChile under which the two carriers, which are commonly owned and controlled, will substitute one another's aircraft and crews on the route. Fast Air is authorized to operate cargo service between Santiago and the co-terminal points New York and Miami, via specified intermediate points. (Docket 50006)
Boeing said yesterday it will offer a selling and purchasing program for investors who owned fewer than 100 shares as of Dec. 22, 1994. Shareholders will be able to sell all, but not less than all, of their shares, or buy enough more to reach 100 shares, to cut servicing costs.
Intrastate regional Alabama Express Airways plans to begin scheduled service in September among eight Alabama cities. The carrier expects to operate five Jetstream 31 aircraft acquired from British Aerospace unit JSX Capital Corp. Four daily flights each are planned over four routes - Mobile-Birmingham-Mobile, Montgomery-Tuscaloosa-Birmingham-Montgomery, Montgomery-Birmingham-Huntsville-Muscle Shoals-Montgomery, and Montgomery- Mobile-Gulf Shores-Dothan-Montgomery. Backing the venture is Aviation Systems and Manufacturing Inc. (ASM) of Tuskegee and local banks.
Business Express will suspend its service between Boston and Montreal Mirabel Airport Jan. 21, the company said, citing lower-than-expected passenger traffic.
The 264 fatalities from U.S. scheduled commercial airline accidents in 1994 climbed to a five-year high and were the highest since 1988, when there were 306 deaths, the National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday. There were 25 air carrier fatalities in 1993, the board said. Charter airlines experienced their fifth consecutive year without a fatality. Fatal accident rates rose for large scheduled carriers, general aviation and air taxis but declined for commuter aircraft.
British Airways has filed an application to appeal a federal judge's ruling that three antitrust claims against BA made by Virgin Atlantic in an eight-claim lawsuit should be heard in court (DAILY, Jan. 4). The other five claims in the $325 million 1993 lawsuit were dismissed by Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, with whom BA's application to appeal was filed. The appeals process could take most of this year. As part of the motion for leave to appeal, BA asked Cedarbaum to put the discovery process on hold until the decision.
The Regional Airline Association is forging a multifaceted effort to promote the commuter safety record and counter incorrect perceptions of the industry that have arisen from recent commuter accidents. RAA, which launched the effort with a brochure on the heels of the DOT-sponsored two- day Aviation Safety Conference (DAILY, Jan. 11), also plans a multimedia initiative to inform news organizations, government officials and the public. The group hopes to finish the project in the next couple of months, RAA President Walt Coleman told The DAILY yesterday.
American launched a fare sale yesterday for flights between all U.S. points that it and its Eagle carriers serve and Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara and Leon. Most tariffs are 25%-30% lower than the current lowest Monday-through-Thursday fare. The same discounts will apply from selected cities to Acapulco, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. Tickets must be purchased by Jan. 27 and used by May 23.
