Singapore Airlines has installed a new interactive video system - Krisworld - for passengers in all three classes on two of its 747-400s, in the first phase of implementing what SIA claims will be the world's most advanced inflight entertainment system when it is fully developed by the end of next year. The product is being developed by SIA and Matsushita Avionics System Co. and is being introduced in phases because much of the technology is still in development.
MarkAir discontinues all jet service in Alaska and Reno-Oakland flights today, concentrating on Denver, which accounts for 90% of its bookings. It will eliminate Dallas-Atlanta operations May 17 and begin Dallas-Las Vegas service the next day.
Delta is unifying its cargo divisions, now part of the Marketing Division and Airport Customer Services Division, by appointing Walter Doll, VP-fleet management and reliability, to the new position of VP-cargo to lead worldwide cargo sales and service, effective May 1. Delta wants to identify opportunities for revenue enhancement, and Chairman Ronald Allen said cargo "is one of those opportunities. We intend to grow that business aggressively and make it a strategic part of Delta's future." Doll will report to Robert Coggin, senior VP-marketing.
AirTran Airways named Michael Toffoli VP. Aloha promoted Paulette Toledo to regional sales manager-Northern California. DHL Express promoted Michael Comstock to senior VP-customer and systems integration. Emery Worldwide named Gary Kowalski VP-strategic planning and quality. Northwest named Tony Randgaard manager-Sales Action Center.
China is about to publish comprehensive guidelines for foreign investment, dividing industries into three categories, U.S. foreign service officers report.Civil aircraft and infrastructure, such as airports, will fall into the "open sectors" category, which will allow for the easiest investment.
-- Granted orally an exemption to Air Caraibes Exploitation to perform charter combination service between the French West Indies - Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Barthelemy and St. Martin - and the U.S. co-terminal points Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Galileo International has signed seven more airlines to participation agreements, making them bookable through both the Galileo and Apollo computer reservations systems.
Talks last week between U.S. and Czech officials produced only an agreement to meet again, and they didn't even set a date. The key issue was third- country code sharing, which U.S. carriers want but the Czechs will not permit until their carrier, CSA, finds a partner.
U.S. and Russian officials failed to reach agreement in two days of aviation talks in Washington, adjourning until the fall. The U.S. seeks new opportunities for U.S. carriers, including increased overflight rights, more destinations in the Russian Far East and authority for sales activity inside Russia by non-designated carriers. Russia maintains that the U.S. is not using all of its current opportunities and was unwilling to grant new ones.
TWA President Jeffrey Erickson exhorted employees last week to stand by their agreement to waive wage snapback provisions, the move that persuaded creditors to forego millions in lease payments and enable the carrier to operate through the winter. Four unions accepted the waiver and two, the Air Line Pilots Association and the Machinists, have reaffirmed the deal, Erickson said. But if any of the unions wobble, TWA's restructuring would fall apart in "an invitation to join Eastern and Pan Am in aviation history."
Alitalia has placed an order for 15 Fokker 70s to be operated by Alitalia subsidiary Avianova on intra-European routes from Rome. The aircraft will be configured to accommodate 66 passengers in two classes of service. Western European destinations with an average sector length of 500 miles have been earmarked by Alitalia for Fokker 70 service, including points in Germany, France and the U.K. The first two Fokker 70s will be delivered to the airline in October, followed by two more in November.
Worldspan plans to introduce its new Power Pricing product on May 3, the computer reservations system company said Friday. The system, which Worldspan said will be the travel industry's first product capable of displaying and rebooking lower-priced itinerary alternatives on airlines worldwide, will be made available to the CRS's U.S. travel agency subscribers at the time of introduction and will reach international subscribers later this year.
Delta Connection Comair is offering introductory fares to promote new service that begins May 1 from its Cincinnati base to Manchester, N.H., and Oklahoma City. Fares to both cities are $259 one way for tickets purchased April 20-May 15 for travel by May 31. Comair will offer two daily flights to Manchester and three to Oklahoma City.
Moody's Investors Service has assigned a range of investment grade ratings to Jet Equipment Trust notes and certificates used to purchase non-recourse loan certificates secured by aircraft leased to United. The agency gave an A1 rating to $305.8 million in Jet Equipment Trust 1995-A Class A senior notes; an A3 rating to $108.7 million in Class B mezzanine notes; Baa1 to $71 million in Class C subordinated notes, and Baa2 to $42.2 million in certificates.
DOT has granted renewal of Japan Airlines' Sendai-Honolulu authority and All Nippon Airways' authority to conduct scheduled combination services between Osaka and Guam.
Airbus Industrie bristled at FAA Administrator David Hinson's comment last week that the Boeing 777 is the first aircraft to receive simultaneous certification from FAA and Europe's Joint Airworthiness Authorities. Actually, the first one was its own A330, which completed the parlay in October 1993, the European manufacturing consortium observed.
Port of Spain, Trinidad-based regional carrier Air Caribbean has reached a code-sharing agreement with BWIA International Airways under which BWIA will sell transportation to the island of Tobago on Air Caribbean from New York, Miami and Toronto. In return, Air Caribbean will provide international access to passengers from Trinidad and Tobago via BWIA International.
United has ordered two 747-400s and four 757s worth $570 million from Boeing, to be delivered in April, May and June next year, as part of its five-year strategy to retire and replace older aircraft and improve its profitability. The 747s will replace aging aircraft on overseas routes, mainly in the Pacific, and the 757s will replace older aircraft in the U.S. To reduce maintenance costs, United plans to ground its 747-100s, DC-10-10s and early-model 737-200s in the next five years as announced last week (DAILY, April 13).
USAir intends to expand its new Business Select premium service beyond the 30 aircraft configured for the service, USAir Group Chairman and Chief Executive Seth Schofield told industry analysts this week. Schofield expects a meaningful financial improvement as a result. USAir followed Schofield's comments with an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday, elaborating on an earlier 10-K filing that said it would determine later this year whether to expand Business Select.
Anchorage-based MarkAir will cut off its links between Alaska and the lower 48 states as it returns four aircraft leased from GPA by May 10. The action results from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last week, and it will make MarkAir a smaller Denver operation. It will be left with six aircraft at Denver, and subsidiary MarkAir Express will continue Alaskan operations. A MarkAir representative said it still wants to move its operation to Denver, where the hub is "doing well for us.
Las Vegas startup Tri Star Airlines has struck a joint marketing agreement with Japan Airlines that should guarantee good loads for its three BAe 146-200s operating to Vegas and the Grand Canyon from Los Angeles and San Francisco. Las Vegas and the canyon are immensely popular with Japanese and tourists from other Pacific Rim countries. President Don Martin said the agreement falls a little short of code sharing but does provide for jointly marketing full inclusive-tour packages in Japan, offering a "seamless product for the jet-level passenger."
Workers at McDonnell Douglas's jetliner unit facing layoffs could get a reprieve if Saudi Arabian Airlines goes ahead with its long-awaited fleet order by the end of June, according to the company's top finance executive. "There's a lot of talk about something materializing before the end of the second quarter," Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer Herb Lanese told reporters Wednesday in a conference call on the company's first quarter financial results (DAILY, April 20).
The City of Chicago filed suit Monday night seeking a declaratory judgment stating that the compact signed Monday with Gary, Ind., creating the Chicago-Gary Regional Airport Authority is valid and lawful. The new authority, which came into being at midnight Saturday, will oversee Chicago's O'Hare, Midway and Meigs Field and Gary Regional Airport. The lawsuit, naming Illinois Gov.
