FAA reports "modest" response to buyouts it offered Dec. 20, with little more than 100 applicants from the 480 employees in eligible positions. Closing dates for acceptances vary from later this month to March 31. Air Traffic offered two rounds of buyouts, and the second window opens today.
FlightSafety International said it has received contracts from FAA to train pilots on its MD-88 and 737-300 simulators. Both of the initial and recurrent training contracts include line-oriented flight training and crew resource management procedures, with EFIS orientation when necessary.
Granted orally an exemption to Lineas Aereas Privadas Argentinas to conduct charter combination services between Buenos Aires and Miami via Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic (without local traffic rights in the Miami-Puerto Plata market)...Granted orally an exemption to Amerijet International to operate scheduled cargo service between Toledo, Ohio, and Guadalajara, Mexico, independently and in combination with Toledo-Mexico City authority granted Jan.
LTU International Airways took delivery of the first of six A330s with which it will replace L-1011s. The German charter carrier will receive three more A330s this year and two in 1996. Powered by Pratt&Whitney engines, they will seat 390 in a single-class layout.
Canadian Airlines International will increase its service to Paris and "refocus" its operations to London with its summer 1995 schedule. It is adding a seventh weekly 767-300 flight in the Toronto-Paris market and is coordinating its daily service with Vietnam Airlines' flights to Ho Chi Minh City. The upcoming summer season will be the first in which Canadian will have the authority to operate from both Eastern and Western Canada to London.
Canadian Airlines International parent company PWA Corp. expects to post a net loss of C$25 million-C$30 million when it reports its 1994 financial results next month. While a net loss in that range would be an improvement over 1993, when the airline lost C$291.8 million, it still would fall short of the company's prediction a year ago that it would lose less than C$12 million in 1994 and could expect to earn as much as C$75 million in 1995 (DAILY, March 1). On Friday, PWA forecast a "modest" profit for 1995 but did not elaborate.
Alaska Airlines appointed Robert Reeder staff VP-information and communications services. Northwest's Air Line Pilots Association Master Executive Council nominated Duane Woerth to a second term on the airline's board. Qantas named Colin Hughes group general manager-national operations.
CFM International said its CFM56-5B engine has won French certification on Airbus Industrie's A321 aircraft and will enter service this month with Swissair. CFMI said the engine will be the first commercial powerplant with a double annular, low NOx (oxides of nitrogen) combustor to enter service. On a typical Swissair flight cycle, the new engine will reduce NOx emissions 45% below those of the CFM56-5B with a single annular combustor, the company said.
Jazz Air has withdrawn its application for certification to operate scheduled service. Company officials said a potential investor, who had agreed to fund all of its certification, startup and initial operating costs, was "unable to provide the funding as quickly as anticipated." Organized in April 1994, Jazz Air intended to provide BAe 146 service in markets that were abandoned, underserved or not served by other "pure jet" operations, and to offer low-fare niche service (DAILY, May 18).
DOT Secretary Federico Pena will outline the reorganization of the consumer affairs department at a press conference today. DOT apprised carriers of the coming changes last month. Pena also will announce a major review of airline advertising from the holiday period.
Mountain West Airlines d/b/a America West Express, a division of Mesa Air Group, will launch daily nonstop service Feb. 28 between Fresno and America West's Phoenix hub, offering three daily roundtrips. An introductory, fully refundable fare of $89 each way will be offered for travel through March 15. After that, the 21-day advance purchase roundtrip fare will be $178.
The first FAA reform bill of the 104th Congress, H.R.589, is a resubmission by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) of the independent FAA legislation he offered last year. Oberstar also reintroduced the commuter airline safety bill (H.R.590) he proposed during the lame-duck session of the 103rd Congress.
The U.S. and Japan may be edging toward new bilateral negotiations in March, according to an industry official. There were indications last week that Japanese officials, including the minister of transport, are anxious to begin talks and have discussed this informally with the U.S.
- In Federal Register dated Jan. 17...Proposed an airworthiness directive on Fokker F28-100 aircraft to require inspection for proper clearance between the engine fuel supply line and the hydraulic line in certain areas.
U.S. National Carriers Traffic December, 12 Months 1994 (000) December December % 1994 1993 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 697,000 541,000 28.8 Available Seat Miles (000) 1,108,000 869,000 27.5 Load Factor (%) 62.9 62.3
McDonnell Douglas is tying up subcontractor costs in its prospective MD-95 program and trying to build "firm interest" in the airplane, according to Herbert Lanese, chief financial officer. Negotiations with Dalfort Aviation on final assembly are continuing. "We are talking with at least four interested parties who would be the drivers in launching the airplane," he said.
ValuJet is reducing prices from Washington Dulles to Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach, Fla., by $20, effective Jan. 26, leaving fares that range from $69 to $139 one way. The lowest fare, with a 21-day advance purchase for travel during off-peak times, matches some of USAir's discounted tariffs from Washington National to the same cities, which are limited to travel through Feb. 15 (DAILY, Jan. 13). ValuJet began serving Florida from Dulles this month.
Lufthansa will begin operating trial non-smoking flights on several North Atlantic routes Feb. 1. All of Lufthansa's services to Canada - Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver - will become non-smoking during the two-month test period, as will one of three daily New York Kennedy departures and its new twice-weekly San Francisco departure beginning March 30. The German carrier said it is testing smoke-free flights because of increasing passenger requests. Lufthansa risks little in eliminating smoking.
A deal between American and Midway Airlines, expected to involve replacement by Midway of service eliminated by American at Raleigh/Durham, N.C., may be announced this week. American spokesman Al Becker said the carrier has been discussing possibilities with the Chicago-based carrier that "may well come to fruition" this week.
The second wave of U.S. carrier applications for the next phase of available frequencies to Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal inundated DOT Thursday, following a massive response to immediate service opportunities a week earlier. The U.S.-Canada framework agreement, signed Dec. 22, provides for a two-year phase-in for new service in Montreal and Vancouver and a three-year transition for new Toronto frequencies. DOT mirrored this design with a two-tiered application process for immediate and future frequency openings.
McLean, Va.-based Leisure Air filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Thursday but has no plans at this time to cut back on its schedule. The carrier, which has operated for two years, partly blames the FAA for its weakened financial condition. The agency forced the carrier to shut down for five days around Thanksgiving while it conducted an audit on missing paper work for one airplane. FAA later pronounced the carrier 100% compliant, a Leisure Air spokesman said. Leisure Air operates a fleet of seven A320s.
AAR named Lee Haines manager-public relations and advertising. Associated Air Freight named Randolph Bruckner corporate controller. Innotech Aviation appointed Kirk Rowe executive assistant to Stephen Plummer, executive VP and chief operating officer-Execaire Aviation Group. Midcoast named Robert Shaw VP and general manager-Little Rock maintenance center. Systems Research Laboratories appointed Ronald Jones VP-marketing.
Abacus Distribution System, the Asia/Pacific region computer reservations system based in Singapore, has promoted four of its senior managers to director. They are Chai Cheng Huan, who goes from senior manager-corporate planning and research to director-product marketing and corporate planning; Patrick Lai, from senior manager-market development and vendor marketing to director-sales and distribution; Ellen Low, from senior manager-finance and legal to director-finance and legal, and Ooi-Wong Wai Kin, from senior manager-network engineering to director-network.
