Virgin Atlantic Airways plans to impose a smoking ban on all of its worldwide flights, except to Tokyo, beginning May 1. The airline made the decision following what it described as an overwhelming number of customer requests. Virgin said the London-Tokyo route is excluded for the "foreseeable future" because of strong demand for smoking seats in that market. Virgin currently flies from London to New York, Newark, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Orlando, Miami, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Athens.
FAA is warning operators and pilots of most of the airlines' transport aircraft of the "potential for significant delays" in detecting windshear when the flaps of the aircraft are in transition. The emergency airworthiness directive grew out of the crash of a USAir DC-9-30 last July 2 at Charlotte. FAA said the aircraft encountered severe windshear during a missed approach. The agency determined that a design feature in the computer of the windshear system, produced by Honeywell, delays detection of windshear when the flaps are in transition.
The Saab-Scania Group will split into two units, Saab AB - which will include the military and civil aircraft divisions - and Scania AB, effective May 16 at the Annual General Meeting, Saab announced this week. In addition to Saab Aircraft and Saab Military Aircraft, Saab AB will include Saab Dynamics, Saab Training System, and Saab Combitech. Bengt Halse, currently president of Ericsson Microwave Systems, was appointed president of Saab AB and will take up his position April 1.
Travel agents around the country are expected to protest at airports and refuse to sell airline tickets today to protest caps on commissions. The American Society of Travel Agents is not advocating the protests and says the actions of the individual agencies could be counterproductive. ASTA members met with Sens. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) and Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), who wrote Anne Bingaman, assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division, asking for a review of the airlines' actions.
...Pilot furloughs anticipated at big Continental could have further implications on operations at Continental Express, in addition to the carrier's giving up Beech 1900 delivery positions to Mesa Air Group. The seniority lists of both pilot groups are essentially merged, meaning that furloughed Continental pilots could bid for Express flying jobs, bumping Express pilots who are lower on the list. The launch of Beech 1900 operations at several of the company's hubs, particularly Cleveland and Newark, would increase rather than deplete pilot jobs at the regional.
The concept of free flight ran into turbulence at a symposium conducted Wednesday by the Air Traffic Control Association in Crystal City, Va. In the first airing of the concept since an RTCA-led task force endorsed free flight in a white paper for FAA Administrator David Hinson, the symposium brought out views the white paper apparently did not present.
A meeting scheduled next week between the Defense Department and FAA may cause a delay in the award of the $500,000 Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) contract from this spring until the fall, The DAILY was told. At the meeting, DOD is expected to describe the terms of differential signals from WAAS, and what FAA can and cannot do with the signals. The complexity of the DOD solution will determine the complexity of specification changes in the WAAS program and the time needed by bidders to respond, a source said.
British Airways head of marketing Mike Batt, known for his brief 1988 jump to Virgin Atlantic Airways, is leaving BA again, this time for Alamo Rent A Car.
Canadian Airlines International parent PWA Corp. yesterday posted a 1994 net loss of C$37.8 million (US$27 million) and an operating profit of C$70.9 million (US$50.6 million). While the result is a substantial improvement over 1993's net loss of nearly C$292 million, PWA had projected a 1994 loss of about C$12 million but changed its projections. Yesterday, PWA said the final net loss was larger than projected in early 1994 because of higher non-cash foreign exchange losses on foreign denominated debt and higher interest expense.
Pratt&Whitney PW4084 engine in Boeing 777 ETOPS testing was damaged in an oil-change accident, but a new engine is already on the test aircraft and the test schedule should not be affected, P&W and Boeing officials said yesterday. The damaged engine was to have been pulled this week for overhaul.
New Aircraft Orders And Options December 1994 Last 12 Months Firm Orders Options Del. Orders Options Carrier # Type # Type Engines Dates # Type # Type Air Berlin 1 737-400 - CFM56-3 Apr 96 - - Air Berlin 6 737-800 - CFM56-7 98-00 - -
An airline affiliated with a company that operates various resort and restaurant properties in Florida today will launch Cessna Caravan float- plane service from Tampa/St. Petersburg to Fort Myers/Naples, Key Largo, Marathon and Key West. Tampa service will originate from Peter O. Knight field on Davis Island, south of the city. Keys Air, affiliated with Key Largo Resorts and Casinos, has one of the nine-passenger-seat Cessna Caravans, but intends to acquire another, now under construction, within a couple of months and a third by the end of the year.
TACA has asked DOT for authority to operate to points beyond the U.S. on its service between El Salvador and the U.S. In its filing, the carrier maintained that there is "ample justification" for the U.S to grant its request. Under the current aviation relationship, "U.S. carriers have long enjoyed a one-way 'open skies' arrangement," the carrier said. However, while U.S. airlines have "unlimited access to El Salvador," TACA's rights in the U.S. "are tightly restricted." TACA also said its request is "fully consistent" with the objectives of the new U.S.
DOT has approved Uzbekistan Airways' application to operate scheduled combination service between Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and New York, via Manchester, England; Riga, Latvia, and Amsterdam. The carrier plans to operate one weekly frequency using Airbus A310-300 aircraft beginning March 30. With prior approval from DOT, the airline also will be permitted to operate charter service to the U.S. Service between Uzbekistan and the U.S. still is governed by the U.S.-Soviet bilateral signed in 1990. (Docket 49639)
Mesa Air Group will purchase 25 Dash 8-200s and secure options for 25, making the multi-affiliated regional the North American launch customer for the 37-passenger aircraft, the carrier announced yesterday. A definitive agreement confirming the purchase is expected to be reached within the next month, with deliveries to begin in February 1996 and continue at a rate of about two per month. No purchase price was disclosed, but the -200 sells for approximately $10 million per unit.
Both SAS and Alitalia are faced with labor actions in early March. Alitalia's pilots have threatened a 24-hour strike March 6-7 to protest the airline's restructuring plan, which calls for the elimination of 1,600 of 20,000 jobs. At SAS, Danish ground staff have scheduled a strike for March 2. The action would affect 1,700 employees. Union-management talks broke down this week. Meanwhile, Air France flight attendants are scheduled to end their three-day strike today.
The first Jetstream 41 full-flight simulator has begun operations at Reflectone's Training Center in Sterling, Va. The simulator has been qualified by FAA for training as a Level C full-flight simulator, allowing the training pilots to the same standard as jet airliners, with no need for a flight check on an aircraft in most cases, a Jetstream Aircraft statement said.
El Al posted 1994 earnings of $14 million on revenues of $950 million. In 1993, El Al made $8 million. The Israeli carrier recently emerged from receivership after 13 years, and the government is preparing to float its stock soon.
The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said yesterday he is beginning to favor reform that keeps FAA functions within government rather than setting up a government or private corporation to operate the air traffic control system. Rep. Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), who said earlier he was open to a variety of options, said in an aviation subcommittee hearing yesterday that he is leaning toward loosening personnel and procurement regulatory burdens instead. Rep.
DOT has renewed Thai Airways' authority to serve Seoul, Korea, as an intermediate point on its service to Los Angeles. Under the order, the carrier is permitted to continue operation of its four weekly roundtrips on the route using Boeing 747s. The application spurred opposition from Delta, which cited seat restrictions imposed by the government of Thailand on foreign-carrier service to that country. Delta urged DOT to impose similar restrictions on Thai's operations to the U.S.
Ozires Silva, a founder and twice the president of Brazilian manufacturer Embraer, resigned Wednesday, as expected. He has long said that once he succeeded in taking the company private, he would return to his own consulting service. The new board of directors Wednesday named six new company officers: - Juarez de Siqueira Britto Wanderley, former senior VP-production, replaces Silva as president;
USAir Group has reached an agreement to sell 11 737-300s to GE Capital for an undisclosed sum. Deliveries to GE Capital will begin next month continue into November. "The sale of these aircraft is part of our plan to cut the cost of doing business at USAir by a minimum of $1 billion annually," said USAir Chairman Seth Schofield.
American wants to expand its blocked-space and code-share agreement with Qantas to include cargo service between Melbourne and two U.S. points, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Qantas already has been authorized to operate blocked-space/code-sharing service, displaying American's designator code on cargo and mail operations, between Sydney and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu. (Docket 50143)
New Jet Aircraft Deliveries December 1994 Last 12 Months Carrier # Type Engines Delivery Air Austral 1 737-300 CFM56-3C1 - Air Canada 1 Canadair RJ CF34-3A1 3
Mesaba parent AirTran Corp named Carl Pohlad, AirTran's largest shareholder, a member of the board of directors, filling a vacancy created by the departure of Philip Swenson who resigned for health reasons.
