American's Latin American traffic increased 15.3% in January on 9.4% more capacity, boosting its load factor for the region 3.6 points to 69.6%. The carrier's Atlantic traffic rose 9% on 7.7% more capacity, and its Pacific traffic was up 8.6% on 1.3% more capacity. Overall, its load factor rose 4.1 percentage points for the month, to 63.1% (DAILY, Feb. 10). Following are American's systemwide passenger traffic results for January. January 1995 January 1994 Rev. Passenger Miles 8,132,153,000 7,398,897,000
Hsu Li-teh, Taiwan's vice premier and chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, said the government has decided to privatize services at the island's airports. The first operation slated for privatization is the Taiwan Airport Service Co. A date for privatization has not yet been set, however. Hsu said a second ramp service company will be permitted to open, while most other airport services, including security, maintenance and airport hotel and restaurant management, also will be opened to private investment.
A New Zealand whale-watching project received the 1994 British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award. Whale Watch, based in Kaikoura on New Zealand's South Island, was formed by a group of local Maori people who now own and operate a small fleet of four whale-watching vessels. A refurbished railway station has become the operation's headquarters, and profits go directly to the education and training of adults and young people.
Delta has found a way to make operations more efficient, reduce costs and recall furloughed pilots. Laid-off pilots with engineering degrees can apply for a new position at the carrier - developing optimum flight paths at certain airports.
U.S. Major Carriers Share of Atlantic Service Third Quarter 1994 Total Revenue Departures American 6,473 Continental 1,589 Delta 10,470 Northwest 1,802 TWA 3,399 United 4,845 USAir 552
FAA negotiators apparently have persuaded Defense Department officials that it is not necessary to encrypt the signals of the wide area augmentation system (DAILY, Jan. 30).Instead, offsetting the correction signal frequency 1 MHz from the Global Positioning System frequency is under study. Problems include additional cost and the possibility that the correction signal could interfere with the GPS signal.
SAS will launch five new nonstop routes from its Stockholm hub this spring and summer, and, as previously announced, will end its Chicago-Copenhagen joint service with Austrian Airlines and resume its own operations in the market. Several of the new routes will be introduced when the summer timetable goes into effect March 26, while others begin in April, May and June. SAS will fly nonstop on Saturdays from Stockholm to Prague, Budapest, Barcelona and Rome.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association member companies experienced a better year in 1994 than in the past decade in terms of business jet deliveries, and several entered 1995 with a record backlog of orders, according to Chairman David Burner and President Edward Stimpson. Speaking after a GAMA board meeting Friday in Washington, they credited the General Aviation Revitalization Act, signed into law last August, with a pivotal role in turning 1994 into a "transition year."
Alaska Air Group Chairman and Chief Executive Raymond Vecci resigned from the company last week at the request of the board over differences in "management style." A carrier spokesman said the resignation had nothing to do with disagreements over the direction of the company, which has been "ably set by Ray." Executive VP John Kelly has been named chairman, president and chief executive of Alaska Air Group and Alaska Airlines, and chairman of Horizon Air Industries. Kelly will continue as chief operating officer of Alaska until he is replaced.
New DOT/FAA airport rates and charges rules - along with a host of other recent and upcoming rulemakings - would be held in abeyance under the most recent version of regulatory moratorium legislation, which would be retroactive to last November, according to DOT General Counsel Stephen Kaplan. For aviation interests, the only exemption is action needed to address an imminent safety threat.
Air Canada seeks Canadian government approval to launch new service to Chicago from Ottawa and Halifax, and to nearly double its Toronto-New York LaGuardia offering, building the service into an hourly shuttle. Under plans that would take effect once Canada and the U.S. reach an open skies agreement, Air Canada would operate Ottawa-Chicago three times a day and Halifax-Chicago twice daily, starting within 30 days of Canadian government approval.
Worldspan Chief Executive Officer Cal Rader, the computer reservations system company's first and only chief executive, said Friday he will retire this year. Rader's official retirement date is anticipated for mid-year to allow enough time for the company to name a replacement and implement a successful transition. A search committee comprising representatives from the Worldspan board will make the final selection. Rader will be available as a consultant as long as his services are required.
Air L.A. no longer will be permitted to trade on the NASDAQ Small Cap Market because its stockholders' equity has fallen below minimum listing requirements, the airline said Friday. The carrier will be listed instead on the Electronic Bulletin Board. The delisting came days after Air L.A. finalized its acquisition of St. Paul-based Capitol Air and began service between St. Paul and Chicago Midway (DAILY, Feb. 6).
- In Federal Register dated Feb. 3...Superseded an airworthiness directive on Beech 1900 series aircraft concerning inspection of engine trusses for cracks...Superseded an AD on Pratt&Whitney JT8D series engines concerning inspections of a fuel nozzle and support assembly. - In FR dated Feb. 7...Issued special conditions on General Electric GE90 engines...Proposed an AD on Boeing 747 aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce engines to require modifying the nacelle strut and wing structure...
Luck rubs off. Last week, British Airways reported higher-than-expected pre-tax earnings for the quarter that ended Dec. 31. In the days before, a group of 18 BA engineers, who have been playing the same lottery number each month for the past 10 years, hit the jackpot. They won 683,000, or nearly 38,000 for each.
Air Express International promoted Luca Coppola to director-import sales, North America, and Kent Ryding to director-international sales, and appointed Daniel Schexnayder national account manager. AEI\Votainer named Cynthia Davis district manager of its Charleston, S.C., station. Cirrus Design named Christopher Maddy director-communications. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University appointed Christopher Brown director-industrial relations.
Belgium and Austria are lining up behind Switzerland as the U.S. moves toward open skies negotiations with its nine European target nations, according to an industry official. Swiss talks begin this week; Belgium and Austria are not yet scheduled.
DOT has awarded two weekly frequencies to Fine Airlines and one to Millon Air for all-cargo operations between the U.S. and Ecuador. Operating between Miami and co-terminal points Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador, Fine also received permission to integrate this service with its existing Caribbean and Central and South American operations. Millon had asked for two frequencies (DAILY, Sept. 18, 1994), but received only the right to bring its all-cargo operations between the U.S. and Ecuador to three weekly flights. (Dockets 49593, 49598 and 9855)
Industrial Acoustics Co., New York, has installed a sound-absorbing aircraft noise run-up pen at London Heathrow Airport for British Airways. The facility is intended to reduce the noise effects on offices and residences at the edge of BA's maintenance base when 767, 757, 737, 747-400 and 777 aircraft engines are tested. Reinforced load-absorbing concrete panel sections are incorporated into the rear blast walls to meet blast resistance requirements. For nighttime operations, the facility is equipped with high-level floodlights and under-wing lighting. In U.S.
Since deregulation, 162 cities and towns in the U.S. have lost all scheduled air service, according to a study by Morten Beyer&Associates. Half of them also lost bus and train service during the same time frame, the study says, concluding that public policy "abandoned" these communities.
All Nippon Airways expects to break even for the year ending March 31 on revenues of 794 billion yen (US$8 billion), and plans to boost its international capacity 27% in the year beginning April 1, ANA said Friday in releasing its business plan for fiscal 1995-96. Most of the new plan's capacity increases will be realized at Osaka Kansai, from which the airline is planning new services to Honolulu, Bangkok, Shanghai, Beijing and Kuala Lumpur, subject to government approval.
Surinam Airways has asked DOT for renewal of its authority to operate scheduled service between points in Surinam and co-terminal points New York/Newark and Miami via the following intermediate points: Georgetown, Guyana; Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; Curacao, Netherlands Antilles; Aruba; Barbados, and Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The carrier currently has a code-share or blocked-space agreement with ALM Antillean Airlines for service between Miami and Paramaribo, Surinam.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) will resume service to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on March 26 after an eight-year absence from the market, SIA said Friday. At the same time, SIA subsidiary SilkAir will discontinue its operations to Kaohsiung. SIA plans to operate five flights a week using Airbus A310s. The new service will complement SIA's 22 weekly flights to Taipei. Passenger volume on flights between Singapore and Kaohsiung has grown significantly over the past four years as a result of a maturing tourist market, SIA said.
Air Methods and Unimed Air de Sao Paulo, of Brazil, have formed a 50- 50 joint venture to create an integrated air medical transportation and delivery system for the South American continent. The venture will focus initially on Brazil and be operated directly by Unimed Sao Paulo under an exclusive franchise agreement concluded recently by the parties. Unimed's Brazilian air medical fleet will include helicopters as well as fixed-wing aircraft.
