Aroostook Aviation is seeking certification to provide scheduled air service as a commuter carrier with Cessna 402s at four communities in Maine. Organized in 1990 and based in Frenchville, Maine, Aroostook is currently registered as an air taxi operator at Frenchville's Northern Aroostook Regional Airport, where it also provides flight instruction.
Shanghai Airlines has replaced its manual reservations processing with a reservations network based on Stratus Continuous Processing Systems from U.S.-based Stratus Computer. The Stratus system enables the airline's sales offices and independent travel agents to book, sell and ticket flight reservations electronically. The network is based on client/server distributed computing, instead of the mainframe computers that operate traditional centralized reservations systems.
A Frequent Flyer February editorial asks readers, "Are You Scared Yet? They rumble, whine and bump. They don't deserve to fly...They're the airborne equivalent of shuttle buses. And, they are multiplying like cockroaches...." The subject, of course, is regional turboprops that "a record number of travelers must now fly..." Editor Laurie Berger talks of "strapping your bodies into flying Tonka toys" and concludes: "It's now an undeniable reality: Commuter Airlines are not as safe as major carriers." The editorial solicits faxed comments on the issue.
CBS Television's "48 Hours" this week visited SkyWest Airlines for a reportedly "positive" segment on the carrier by correspondent Erin Moriarty. Brasilia Capt. Charlie Wanlass is the subject and will be shown going through simulator training and flying the line. It also will include an interview with Executive VP Ron Reber. The Delta Connection carrier, which officially opened its new Concourse E at Salt Lake City Tuesday, was selected by "48 Hours because it trains in a simulator, although it is not required to do so. The segment will air in February.
British Aerospace and Avions de Transport Regional (ATR) partners Aerospatiale of France and Alenia of Italy agreed Thursday to the creation of a European regional aircraft joint venture. The deal includes BAe jet manufacturing unit Avro Aerospace as well as its turboprop unit Jetstream Aircraft.
Avro International Aerospace, the regional jet division of British Aerospace, said it foresees growth in the regional jet market in coming years, "led by European airlines as they position themselves for the increase in demand on regional routes that will occur with full liberalization in 1997." The company said the Americas and the Pacific Rim will "remain prime areas of opportunity." Following is a 1994 summary of the company's RJ Avroliner program: RJ Avroliner Program Summary as of Dec. 31, 1994
If it is not done carefully, the current movement to place commuters under Part 121 regulations could have a negative financial impact on the industry, Regional Airline Association President Walter Coleman warned this week. Speaking before the Transportation Research Board session Jan.
Delta Connection Comair has seen a 26% decline in yield per passenger revenue mile over the past eight quarters with introduction of the 50- passenger Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) and concomitant longer-haul flying. Unit costs per available seat mile also declined during the period, by 18.5%. The carrier's yield topped out at 48.4 cents in the fourth fiscal quarter of 1993, ended March 31, 1993, dipping to 32.5 cents per RPM in the December quarter just ended. Average over the two-year period, however, was 39.5 cents per RPM.
Cincinnati- and Orlando-based Comair earned $6.8 million, or 34 cents per share, in the third quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared with $8.1 million, or 38 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier, a per-share decline of 10.5%. The carrier, a Delta Connection affiliate, attributed the decrease to "lighter-than-anticipated passenger boardings. If current passenger traffic trends continue, passenger boardings will be less than earlier anticipated, which may negatively impact fourth quarter earnings."
Indonesian manufacturer IPTN has added two localities as candidate- sites for its U.S. manufacturing facility for the 70-passenger N-250 high- speed turboprop - Macon, Ga., and a facility near the Grumman factory on Long Island, N.Y. Other locations are the Goodyear site near Phoenix, Portland, Ore., and Mobile, Ala. The final decision, expected by the end of February, will be based not only on physical facilities, but also on local financial incentives. Former President Jimmy Carter is said to be involved with the addition of Macon.
Chautauqua Airlines has withdrawn its application for Cleveland-Montreal route designation. In the first round of bidding for frequencies opened up by the recently signed U.S.-Canada Framework Agreement, Chautauqua had asked to fly two daily frequencies between Indianapolis and Cleveland, on the one hand, and Montreal on the other, using 30 passenger Saab 340s (DAILY, Jan. 17). Subsequently, Continental also requested rights to serve Cleveland-Montreal with 737-300s.
Southwest yesterday reported record net earnings of $179.3 million for 1994, $1.22 per share, despite a year-over-year decline in fourth quarter earnings. The carrier made $20.3 million, or 14 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, down nearly 47% from $38.4 million, or 26 cents per share, in the 1993 quarter.
USAir Express carrier Chautauqua Airlines will inaugurate service between Buffalo and Newark March 5 with Saab 340 aircraft. Chautauqua will offer four flights a day on weekdays, bringing USAir and USAir Express daily departures at Newark to 49.
Air South elected two shareholders to its eight-member board of directors this week. Elected were Susie Van Huss, a University of South Carolina management professor, and Harold Stowe, executive VP of Myrtle Beach consortium CSI. Van Huss and Stowe replace one director who was not re- elected and another who retired, an Air South spokeswoman said. Air South also announced it is inaugurating service to Myrtle Beach from Atlanta and Columbia Feb. 21. The flights, with 122-passenger 737-200s, originate in Atlanta and stop in Columbia.
Almost three months after announcing the initiative, the U.S. yesterday presented its official proposal for open skies aviation relations to nine European countries. No time frame was set for negotiations, but the U.S. is looking to conclude the agreements by early spring, a DOT spokesman said. When DOT Secretary Federico Pena announced the initiative Nov. 1, DOT officials hoped to conclude the agreements by the end of 1994 (DAILY, Nov. 2). Headway was slowed by U.S. carrier opposition to code-share language in the model pact.
Delta logged a reduced net loss and an operating profit in its December 1994 quarter in what Chairman Ronald Allen described as "the first material impact of Leadership 7.5 restructuring efforts." The airline's net loss was $18 million, an improvement on the $141 million lost in the 1993 quarter, and its $18 million operating profit turned around a $180 million operating loss during the last three months of 1993. For calendar 1994, Delta reported a net loss of $159 million, compared with $226 million lost in 1993.
U.S. Major Carriers Operating Revenues and Expenses Third Quarter 1994 Operating Net Revenues Expenses (000) (000) Third Quarter 1994 America West $ 358,942 $ 324,995 American 3,890,464 3,419,478
U.S. and Canada officials will resume bilateral negotiations next week in Ottawa after concluding the latest round of talks yesterday in Washington. Progress has been made in eliminating some areas of disagreement, an industry official said, but other areas that will be difficult to resolve were identified. Charter operations was one area of disagreement, with Canada requesting country-of-origin rules and the U.S. advocating more liberal regulations.
Defense Department has elevated its point of contact with civilian officials involved in the Global Positioning System from its command, control, communications and intelligence office to its acquisition authorities. DOT and FAA contact with DOD on civil uses of GPS now is with Paul Kaminsky, deputy under secretary of defense for acquisitions. The contact had been Emmett Page, assistant secretary of defense for C3I.
DOT is assigning three unused weekly Brazil frequencies to American but dismissing the carrier's request for reallocation of four more frequencies from Tower and United. With the three new frequencies, American will offer service between Dallas/Fort Worth and Sao Paulo. American now has 31 of the 61 frequencies allotted to U.S. carriers under the U.S.-Brazil aviation agreement, while United has 28 and Tower two. In the same ruling, DOT rejected American's request for four currently dormant frequencies, two each from Tower and United.
Mesaba Aviation parent AirTran Corp. announced the Jan. 20 declaration of a three cents per share cash divided to be paid holders of common stock as of Feb. 3.
Alaska Airlines has asked for renewal of its authority to operate scheduled combination service between Anchorage, on the one hand, and Petropavolovsk and Kamchatski, Russia, on the other. Gaining authority for the service initially Feb. 2, 1994, Alaska has been awaiting now-completed airport improvements in Russia to begin service. The carrier intends to begin May 1995 two weekly roundtrips on the route, using MD-80 aircraft. (Docket 49365)
Carl Schellenberg, FAA Western-Pacific regional administrator, has been named to head the FAA Office of System Capacity. He will work with industry to structure an FAA capacity agenda.
Senate Commerce Committee this week named members of the aviation subcommittee, completing the organization of aviation-related panels in Congress. Republican members are Sens. John McCain (Ariz.), chairman, and Larry Pressler (S.D.), Ted Stevens (Alaska), Slade Gorton (Wash.), Conrad Burns (Mont.), Trent Lott (Miss.), Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas) and John Ashcroft (Mo.). Democrats are Sens. Wendell Ford (Ky.), ranking member, and James Exon (Neb.), Daniel Inouye (Hawaii), Richard Bryan (Nev.), Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.), John Breaux (La.) and Byron Dorgan (N.D.).
A lack of investor interest forced the Bulgarian Privatization Agency to suspend the planned privatization of Balkan Bulgarian Airlines, according to reports from Sofia. The agency called off the privatization almost two years to the day after it gave preliminary approval to the effort and more than a year after it had hoped to complete the process (DAILY, Dec. 23, 1993).
