Air Europe has leased a 767-300ER from International Lease Finance Corp. for six years, with an option for a seventh year. The aircraft, equipped with PW4060 engines, will be delivered this month. The new airplane will be the second 767 ILFC has leased to the Italian airline. The first was converted from an operating to a finance lease by Air Europe in December.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association questions FAA's estimate that general aviation flight hours are down 23% since 1991. Reduced flying boosts the accident rate per 100,000 hours flown, but Bruce Landsberg, director of AOPA's Air Safety Foundation, says "the reality is, accidents and fatal accidents are down."
Lufthansa Technik (LTAG) estimates that about 300 747s will need mandated strut modification during the next three years. LTAG, aggressively pushing its ability to do the work, recommends that it be done in conjunction with a D-check. Its objective is to get the modified aircraft back into service faster than anyone else.
The airline industry is opposing an amendment to be offered by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) that would exempt actions to further aviation safety or security from the requirements of the unfunded mandates reform bill (H.R.5). Oberstar plans to offer the measure this week during continued consideration of H.R.5, which has been under House debate since Thursday. The bill currently exempts statutes and regulations for a limited number of purposes, such as national security, emergency assistance and enforcement of constitutional rights. Rep.
Rolls-Royce Aero Engine Services has received overhaul contracts valued at more than $230 million from Air 2000, AirTours, American Trans Air and China Eastern. Monarch and Cyprus Air signed long-term contracts last summer.
Wicat said it will provide computer-based training hardware and peripherals to Japan Airlines for 777 maintenance training. It is to supply 14 workstations to the JAL Maintenance Training Center in Tokyo to deliver maintenance courseware from Boeing. Wicat installed 152 similar stations at Boeing's new training center to deliver Microsoft Windows-based 777 courseware.
Swissair has selected Wicat to supply a complete computer-based training delivery system and support system. A new suite of 16 high-performance, PC-based workstations plus spares will be provided for a new classroom at the Swissair Flight Training Center. A total of 56 new and current student authoring workstations will be connected to a new Novell file server. Wicat also will convert Swissair's Piper Cheyenne and A320 Emergency Equipment Operations Training courses to be delivered in a Novell environment, Wicat said.
Cathay Pacific's 1994 revenues fell 2.1% short of what the carrier forecast a year earlier. Among the bright spots for the year was Cathay's joint venture with Vietnam Airlines, which turned a profit.
Lufthansa Technik has been awarded a technical support contract for a fifth Sun Express 737. The Hamburg-based company will perform all maintenance from C-check upward on the 737-400. The contract also covers engineering, engines, components and material support.
Light Helicopter Turbine Engine Co., a partnership between AlliedSignal and Allison Engine, has signed a contract with a Bangalore, India, firm to provide CTS800 commercial turboshaft engines for a new advanced light helicopter being developed by the Indian company, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). The U.S. firms project a market for more than 300 helicopters, which would result in more than $150 million in engine sales. The first helicopter is expected to be flying by yearend, with deliveries beginning early in 1998.
DOT has extended the period for comment on its code-sharing study from Jan. 20 to Feb. 3. American, citing the complexity and importance of the study, had requested an extension to March 6. (Docket 49844)
Aeromexico is seeking authority to operate scheduled combination service between Guadalajara, Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on the one hand, and Bakersfield, Calif., on the other. The carrier said it plans to provide daily service via connections in Los Angeles or Tijuana. The service will be provided by Air L.A., under a code-share agreement. Air L.A. will carry the Aeromexico code on its Bakersfield-Los Angeles flights, which will connect to Aeromexico flights between Los Angeles and Guadalajara, Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta. (Docket 50022)
Shuttle by United will expand its frequencies in eight West Coast city-pairs Feb. 8, the day it begins San Francisco-Phoenix flights. The short-haul service has gone from 184 daily departures in October to 342 today, an 86% increase. The Shuttle will operate 32 daily departures from San Francisco to Seattle, 20 to Las Vegas and six to Phoenix; 28 from Los Angeles to Oakland, 24 to Las Vegas, 20 to Phoenix and 12 to Sacramento; and 22 between Oakland and Burbank. Every route will offer two-for-one fares.
Aeromexpress is seeking authority to operate scheduled all-cargo service between Mexico City amd Atlanta. The carrier plans to fly twice-weekly Boeing 727 service on the route. (Docket 50021)
U.S. Major and National Carriers Interest Expenses Third Quarter 1994 % Of Total Operating Systemwide Expenses America West $ 14,287,358 4.40 American 113,598,000 3.32 Continental 48,284,000 3.97 Delta 69,237,000 2.28
Mesa Air Group's selection of Des Moines and Spokane for its initial Fokker 70 jet operations from Phoenix under the America West flag did not come as a surprise to some analysts. They say Mesa - operating as a new Desert Sun Airlines division - will focus on markets that could not earlier support Boeing 737 service by America West and other markets in the Midwest and Northwest. One analyst cited Eugene and Medford, Ore; Pasco, Wash.; Monterey, Calif.; and Peoria and Moline, Ill., as possible cities for the F70 service. Mesa has two F70s on order plus six options.
Prospective startup Nashville Air Inc. raised $2.5 million through a private equity placement to complete its first level of funding and finance pre-operating expenses. The company has signed a letter of intent with an ORIX subsidiary to lease three 150-passenger A320s, with an option for a fourth. The first aircraft is to be delivered in March and the second and third in April.
Used Regional Aircraft Transactions November 1994 Carrier No. Type Aces 1 AA ATR-42-300 AF&T 1 Fokker 50 Ages A/C Int 1 DHC-7-102 Air Caribbean 1 YS-11A-500 Air Cgo Car 1 Shorts 330 Air Charters 1 Metro III Al Tasmania 1 Metro III
Brit Air, Morlaix, France, has doubled its firm orders for the Canadair Regional Jet to six from three. Deliveries will begin in June 1995 and will be completed in late 1996.
Airbus Industrie is scheduled to deliver its 500th A320 today to United at a ceremony in Toulouse. The consortium says the A320 is the first European aircraft to reach the 500-unit production level. Boeing, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 747's first revenue flight tomorrow, says it has delivered $125 billion worth of the four-engine widebody, nearly $102 billion to foreign airlines.
Qantas will drop daily connecting flights to Manchester from London and three weekly Frankfurt-Paris connections with the implementation of its summer schedule in late March. Managing Director James Strong said the flights were being suspended because of continuing losses, and that the move reflects state-controlled Qantas's determination to operate commercially. Qantas will continue to serve Paris twice daily from London through its alliances with British Airways.
