Aviation Daily

Staff
Tower Air's scheduled traffic increased 6.5%, to 461 million revenue passenger miles, from the same month in 1994. Block hours rose 41.8%, from 3,590 to 5,092, mainly from military and commercial charters and increased scheduled flying in international markets. Scheduled available seat miles were up 13.8% for the month to 595 million, so the scheduled service load factor was 77.5%, down from 82.8%. The company cited a decline in passenger traffic between New York and San Francisco, San Juan, Los Angeles and Delhi.

Staff
Allied Pilots Association at American, which often complains of inappropriate challenges to captains' authority, has this advice for members following an incident in which the captain asked police to detain a passenger found smoking in the lavatory upon landing.Police were not present when the airplane landed, and when they arrived they said they had no jurisdiction over the federal crime. APA says, "When you need a cop, call a cop, which in the case of our pilots means the FBI."

Staff
Southwest last week began operating new nonstop service to Baltimore/Washington, Kansas City and New Orleans from Nashville. Passengers on the inaugural flight were the winners of crab races - a promotional stunt celebrating Baltimore's reputation for good crabs - and received tickets to a Baltimore Orioles game and the National Aquarium, as well as a night in the Omni Hotel. Southwest offers two daily flights to Kansas City and New Orleans and four a day to Baltimore.

Staff
Canadian Regional has signed a $1.5 million deal with USAir Leasing and Services to perform scheduled heavy maintenance on three USAir BAe 146 aircraft and paint them. The work will be done at Canadian Regional's facility in Calgary during the next three months, an airline spokesman said.

Staff
Air South is offering $22 segment fares between any cities it serves in observance of its startup two years ago, on Aug. 22, 1993. The fares are good for 22 days, from Aug. 22 through Sept. 12. Air South also will reinstate its two-for-one fares beginning Aug. 15, good for travel until Sept. 30.

Staff
DOT is prohibiting Flagship Airlines, operating as American Eagle, from suspending service at Tuscaloosa, Ala., for 30 days beyond the expiration of the carrier's 90-day notice period, or until another carrier begins service to the community. Flagship told DOT it intends to drop the unsubsidized service as of Sept. 5. However, the carrier's plans spurred opposition from the community, which noted that it would be left without any service (DAILY, July 21).

Staff
The 10 "core" directors of Nav Canada, the newly formed non-share-capital corporation negotiating with Transport Canada to buy and operate the Canadian civil air navigation system, met for the first time Friday in Ottawa. Some 6,400 employees will be involved in the transfer.

Staff
Standard&Poor's has affirmed its single B- preliminary rating on Continental's $1 billion Rule 415 shelf registration and has removed the carrier from CreditWatch, which it imposed Jan. 26. The ratings agency said the decision is based on Continental's progress in improving operating performance and easing its financial obligations in the near term.

Staff
Airbus Training Center in Toulouse will open restaurant facilities next year capable of serving 800 meals a day that suit the "cultural requirements and tastes" of airline personnel from all over the world.

Staff
China Eastern Airlines, faced with the preference of many Chinese business customers for Japanese service, has hired seven Japanese flight attendants on a trial basis for its Shanghai-Tokyo and Shanghai-Osaka routes. Chinese carriers are losing business as Chinese customers flock to the Japanese competition. If Japanese flight attendants reverse the trend, more will be hired.

Staff
British Airways achieved its highest-ever passenger load factor in July, 80.8%, and its fifth consecutive month of record load factors. The carrier's revenue passenger miles increased 8.2% during the month, compared with July 1994, on 6% more capacity. Traffic was up 9.5% on long-haul and 3% on short-haul routes. BA said its cargo ton miles fell 0.5%, reflecting continued payload restrictions out of Southeast Asia. July 1995 July 1994 Revenue Passenger Miles 5,706,000 5,273,000

Staff
AlliedSignal Aerospace named Robert Choulet senior VP-business strategy and James Robinson president-AlliedSignal Engines. Avatar Alliance, L.P. named Michael Moore VP-marketing, sales and service, Rawleigh Tremain VP-Atlanta operations and Frederic Smith VP-human resources, at its Atlanta operations center. Aviall Dallas Engine Services appointed Stephen Ratcliffe general manager-CFM International Aero Engines' V2500 engine product lines.

Staff
Boeing named Dinesh Keshkar, formerly its director of sales for the Indian subcontinent, as president of Boeing India, based in Bombay. "It is clear that with the rapid growth of the Indian carriers, additional support by Boeing would assist India's goals of a safe and profitable aviation industry," said Ron Woodard, Boeing Commercial president. He said Boeing recently expanded fleet support, assisted with aviation industry and infrastructure development, and provided airline support programs for maintenance and flight crew training in India.

Staff
Complying with DOT regulations, Continental notified the department that it is not operating two of the 14 U.S.-Germany frequencies allocated to it for the summer 1995 season, due to maintenance requirements of its DC-10-30 aircraft. The carrier relinquished the frequencies for this season but expects to be able to get and operate 14 frequencies next summer. (OST-95- 365)

Staff
ValuJet Airline's traffic leaped 175% in July over the July 1994 level, to 268.7 million revenue passenger miles, on 129% more capacity. The carrier's load factor was much improved for the month, to 78.4% from 65.3%. ValuJet has expanded steadily during the past year, and Chairman Robert Priddy said summer vacation travel and everyday low fares drove the traffic increase. ValuJet began service in July to Kansas City, Newport News/Norfolk, Va., and Jackson, Miss. July 95 July 94 7 Mths 95 7 Mths 94

Staff
Austrian Airlines, Swissair and Lufthansa suspended service to Zagreb, Croatia, late last week as the political situation in Croatia worsened. Swissair and Lufthansa diverted their Zagreb flights to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, from which the passengers are traveling by bus to Zagreb, a three-hour trip. Austrian already serves Ljubljana but has not added capacity to the service, a carrier spokesman said.

FAA

Staff
- In Federal Register dated July 28...Issued an airworthiness directive on Bombardier Cl-600-2B19 aircraft (Regional Jet Series 100) prohibiting use of Mach trim and adding speed restrictions if the autopilot is disengaged or inoperative...Issued special conditions on Allison 250-C40 turboshaft engines. - In FR dated July 31...Issued an AD on Jetstream 3101 and 3201 aircraft requiring inspection of the main passenger/crew door locking mechanism...Superseded an AD on British Aerospace BAC-111 aircraft concerning structural inspections.

Staff
On-time data in DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report are likely to include mechanical delays until the end of the year, no matter how current rulemaking comes out.With the comment period ending Friday, DOT's proposal to exclude mechanical delays has drawn sharply divided responses, clouding the rule's future. But even if the rule change goes forward, DOT will need three to six months to retool the system to support the change, DOT officials say.

Staff
Virgin Atlantic Airways has signed up to participate in Worldspan Airline Source, the highest level of automated distribution services offered by the Worldspan computer reservations system. When Virgin completes the upgrade later this year, availability requests made by Worldspan travel agents will be routed instantly to the carrier's database with no additional keystrokes. Flight information will be gathered within two seconds, and agents will receive immediate electronic acknowledgment when a flight is booked.

Staff
American's systemwide traffic increased 2.9% in July from July 1994, the carrier's 13th consecutive month of year-over-year traffic growth. Although domestic traffic was down 1.5% on 1.7% less capacity, international traffic jumped 12.8% on 11.1% more capacity. American's domestic load factor was up marginally to 68.4%, and the international load factor rose 1.1 points to 75.8%. July 1995 July 1994 7 Months 1995 7 Months 1994 RPMs 9,740,760,000 9,465,232,000 60,196,387,000 57,183,859,000

Staff
TWA's July traffic fell 2% to 2.6 billion revenue passenger miles, mainly because its international RPMs were down 5.6%. International capacity declined 12%, leading to a systemwide capacity drop of 5.9% from the same month in 1994. TWA's load factor improved to 71.8% from 69% as it transported 1.9% more passengers. July 1995 July 1994 7 Months 1995 7 Months 1994 RPMs 2,574,500,000 2,626,800,000 14,184,500,000 14,151,900,000

Staff
An inflight passenger aircraft entertainment system that includes gambling has been approved by FAA, according to the developer, Interactive Flight Technologies (IFT). Steve Fieldman, VP-business development, said the company has received a supplemental type certificate for its In-Flight Entertainment Network product. The system features video-on-demand from a selection of more than 30 digitized feature films and other programming.

Staff
The fall looks like a busy season for bilateral negotiations. In addition to India, the U.S. will meet with Japan and go to London for the last talks with the U.K. agreed to in the June mini-deal. The two sides meet this week in Washington. Negotiations are scheduled tentatively for September with the Philippines, said Paul Gretch, director of DOT's Office of International Aviation. Also, the U.S. will meet early in the fall with Germany and still is talking with Hong Kong about possible official negotiations.

Staff
DOT issued a final order Friday approving the transfer of Evergreen's U.S.-China all-cargo authority to Federal Express. The department granted Evergreen an interim exemption, for up to six months, to continue to conduct all-cargo operations in the U.S.-China market until FedEx obtains the necessary approvals from the Chinese government and is ready to begin service.

Staff
The Senate Appropriations Committee Friday withdrew from the DOT appropriations bill measures that would have allowed for a $2 increase in passenger facility charges and extended the coverage of the Railway Labor Act to airlines and flight crews outside the U.S. (DAILY, Aug. 4). Committee Chairman Mark Hatfield (R-Ore.) said that since the transportation subcommittee markup Wednesday, the debate on PFCs "has been particularly charged.