Raleigh/Durham was the fastest-growing airport in the first six months of 1994 in terms of visitors from overseas and Mexico.Its international passenger traffic was up 67%, but only to a total of 14,000 visitors. Cincinnati was second, up 61% to 37,000, and Detroit was third, up 28% to 137,000, according to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration. The largest decline was at St. Louis, down 53% to 9,351.
A group of investors led by former Pan Am Chairman Edward Acker has taken control of BWIA International Airways, completing the privatization of the formerly government-owned airline (DAILY, Jan. 13). The investors, comprising the Acker Group, American International Group, Loeb Partners Corp., Arcadian Partners chairman Gordon Cain, the Alliance Capital-managed Global Privatization Fund, and a number of CARICOM interests, bought a 51% stake in the 54-year-old airline from the government of Trinidad&Tobago for $20 million. U.S.
Air Canada unveiled yesterday a new executive management structure designed to strengthen the airline's focus on operations and customer service (DAILY, Feb. 22). Wanting to add depth to its management team, it named Terry Nord, a former executive with CAE Aviation and before that with Canadian Airlines International, to the post of senior VP-operations and chief technical officer. The airline said it also is looking for ways to better use the abilities and potential of new senior managers.
FedEx said it will increase capacity in July between the U.S. and Europe with two MD-11 freighters. FedEx now operates two daily DC-10 freighters from Paris and one from London. It said the larger MD-11s will represent a significant capacity upgrade, and the decision to add them was in direct response to continuing strong growth in express traffic.
TWA applied at DOT for authority to serve Johannesburg, South Africa, from New York Kennedy using three of the six frequencies held by USAfrica Airways, which ceased operations and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Feb. 8. World Airways also has applied for the authority.
Calling current flight data requirements "inadequate," the National Transportation Safety Board unveiled yesterday an expanded list of minimum parameter requirements for U.S. commercial aircraft flight data recorders. As proposed, most of the nation's fleet would have to meet the new minimums by Jan. 1, 1998. The board also proposed enhancements for FDRs on newly manufactured aircraft.
FAA said it has established a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) office with expanded staff to "provide policy and program guidance on FOIA requests." The action follows a recommendation stemming from last year's DOT/FAA review of wake turbulence involving the Boeing 757 (DAILY, June 13). DOT Secretary Federico Pena said at that time that FAA must respond to FOIA requests faster, to "reflect the administration's commitment to open government."
Unisys Corp. said it has received a $2.2 million contract from Malaysia Airlines to provide information management services for the carrier's freight shipment operations. Unisys said that when the new freight- handling process is completed, MAS will be the first Asia-Pacific carrier to offer the benefits of bar-code technology to its freight customers. The carrier, which ships about 300,000 tons of freight a year, experienced 35% growth in 1994.
Rep. James Oberstar (D-Wis.) has joined opponents of DOT's decision to include delays or cancellations due to mechanical problems in on-time performance reports. "This decision gives a wrong picture of airlines' performance, and is in fact a deterrent to safe practices," he wrote DOT Secretary Federico Pena. Noting that mechanical delays "are clearly under control of the carrier," Oberstar said it is "critically important to safety that such delays be honored until repairs are made." Sen.
Legislation to be introduced soon by Rep. Jim Lightfoot (R-Iowa) would establish an 11-member Federal Aviation Management Advisory Committee to advise an independent FAA (DAILY, Feb. 22). The proposal mirrors somewhat the 11-member board of directors the Clinton administration proposes for an air traffic control corporation, a concept Lightfoot opposes. The bill also will include relief for FAA from personnel and procurement regulations during a trial period.
City of Denver filed suit yesterday in U.S. District Court against Continental Airlines, alleging breach of contract over 1992 lease agreements at the new Denver Airport. The city seeks an order requiring Continental to pay for the use of at least 16 gates, Reuter reported. Continental said the city has defaulted on obligations to it, giving it grounds to terminate the lease, but it is willing to continue negotiating lease changes.
Hawaiian carrier IslandAir has named former Aloha Airlines' VP-Customer Service Neil Takekawa as president. Takekawa's appointment is effective immediately, and he will replace Lawrence Cabrinha, who will retire March 31 after 36 years with IslandAir and sister carrier Aloha. Cabrinha will work as a consultant until his retirement. IslandAir, a commuter carrier employing 204 workers, operates 700 weekly flights to eight commuter and resort airports throughout the state, with eight Dash 6 turboprops.
Military and general aviation representatives expressed reservations yesterday about some aspects of free-flight route flexibility, on which a white paper has been presented to FAA Administrator David Hinson by an industry task force. Participating in an Air Traffic Control Association symposium in Arlington, Va., military and general aviation officials endorsed free flight in principle but questioned cost and access. Airline representatives support quick implementation of the concept, but pilots, controllers and others want a slower approach.
First operational use of direct pilot-to-controller data link communications will be introduced June 22 in the Pacific region, according to the Inmarsat publication Aeronautical Satellite News. The transition from HF voice to satellite data link communication between controllers and pilots is a first step toward the Future Air Navigation System (FANS) for communications, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management.
SRS Steigenberger Reservation Service has become the first international hotel consortium to provide its travel agency customers with direct access to its Trust II reservations system using an Inside Availability connection to Galileo's RoomMaster hotel reservations system. The connection enables Galileo and Apollo users to view all SRS hotel properties' rates and information directly from the consortia's SRS Trust II system. The Inside Availability connection also returns an instant booking confirmation number at the time the room is requested.
Air South has begun a search for a new chief executive in a management shakeup in which the current CEO, Patrick O'Shea, is becoming vice chairman. It hopes to pick the executive by May 1 and will name an interim chief financial officer with an "extensive airline background" soon. Howard Putnam, former chief executive at Southwest, will be a special consultant to the chairman during the transition and the lead consultant in the CEO search.
The Inmarsat Council has provisionally allocated Inmarsat-3 satellite navigation transponders to DBP Telecom of Germany, France Telecom, Comsat of the U.S. and Canada's Teleglobe, bringing a civil global navigation satellite system a step closer. Inmarsat-3 satellites, which will be launched beginning late this year, will support the start of a system based on the U.S. military Global Positioning System and Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System.
NASA's Ames Research Center is offering as much as $14 million in grants for concept and technology studies to support the creation of a national Advanced Air Transportation Technologies (AATT) research program. Grant winners from industry and academia will help develop an AATT research plan and present it to a high-level steering committee and non-advocate review in June 1996, Ames said in Commerce Business Daily. If the program proceeds, winners also will support tradeoff studies and evaluations.
Air South began service this week linking Atlanta and Myrtle Beach, S.C., with a stop in Columbia, S.C., using 122-passenger 737s. The daily flights also provide through-plane service from Myrtle Beach to Tallahassee and Tampa/St. Petersburg. Fares between Atlanta and Myrtle Beach are $39 one way with a 14-day advance purchase, or $69 on all other flights. Myrtle Beach is the eighth city on the startup carrier's network.
Airborne Express has introduced service to American Samoa, offering transit time of one to four days, depending on the pickup date. Airborne said that it is the only carrier to deliver express document shipments the same day they arrive on the islands and that, with prior arrangement, it will deliver on Saturday.
France's move to suspend privatization of state-controlled companies pending the May presidential election will not affect Air France.The flag carrier is on the privatization list, but it is far from ready to go to market.
Air Canada yesterday posted 1994 net earnings of C$129 million (US$92.1 million) - the airline's first net profit after four years of losses totaling C$1.07 billion - and Chairman Hollis Harris all but promised more of the same for 1995. Air Canada also reported a 1994 operating profit of C$244 million (US$174.3 million), the largest in company history. In 1993, Air Canada had an operating profit of C$1 million and a net loss of C$246 million.
Aviation Distributors and Manufacturers Association said its 1995 membership directory is available for $100. ADMA's address is 1900 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pa., 19103. ADMA also said it has launched a program to inform 6,000 high school students this year of career options in the aviation industry.
