ValuJet is likely to reveal March 19 the last new city in its summer schedule, followed March 21 by beefed-up Olympic schedules. Although some of its newly started services will be adjusted or terminated in the fall, the carrier is beginning to play "connect the dots" with its markets - linking points like Philadelphia and Tampa without going through a focus city, such as Atlanta.
Eastwind Airlines will inaugurate service between Richmond, Va., and Providence, R.I., April 16. The carrier currently operates from its Trenton, N.J., base to six destinations. Its service to West Palm Beach and Jacksonville, Fla., will be temporarily suspended on April 16, however. A spokeswoman said those flights are seasonal and will resume in the fall. Eastwind operates 737-200s.
United is proposing to set aside 1.1 million shares of additional common stock as part of a program it claims will create more incentives for top officers to boost the value of the company's stock. The set-aside is part of a new compensation policy under which the carrier's top two officers, Chairman Gerald Greenwald and President John Edwardson, each will be required to hold stock worth five times their annual salaries, a United spokesman said.
Carnival Air Lines plans to launch daily nonstop scheduled service between San Juan and Orlando June 28, offering $119 one-way fares. It will not require advance purchase, a Saturday night stay or a roundtrip purchase. Carnival will operate 173-seat 727s in the market.
European Union transport ministers, reacting to the death of German tourists last month in the crash of a chartered 757 off the coast of the Dominican Republic, are considering barring some foreign aircraft from their airspace much as FAA does now in the U.S. Matthias Wissmann, German transport minister, said after a ministers' meeting in Brussels that his plan for a "black list" of countries and a European safety certificate for airlines was met with support.
France, which renounced its aviation agreement with the U.S. in 1992 and has said as recently as this week that it is none the worse off for it, is asking for an additional 500 flights to the U.S. this summer and expressing interest in opening up talks about the U.S.-French aviation relationship, according to a senior U.S. official.The U.S. has signaled France that it will not approve the 500 flights.
Latin American airline officials struggled this week with a response to American's efforts to partner with carriers in the region. Some Latin American chief executives attending the 4th Annual International Airline CEO Conference in Chile on Monday indicated they are open to possible partnerships with U.S. megacarriers, mainly because the region's airlines cannot reach alliances among themselves. However, Ernesto Rocha, the head of the region's airline association, AITAL, said efforts by American are potentially devastating to Latin carriers.
Despite renewed objections from DOT, the House passed by voice vote yesterday a bill (H.R.2276) that would make FAA an independent entity and establish a board to oversee it. The bill also would require FAA to implement new personnel and procurement management systems, but the agency already is developing those systems as required by the fiscal 1996 DOT appropriations act. H.R.2276 would restore the guarantee of FAA employees' collective bargaining rights, as does the latest fiscal 1996 continuing resolution (DAILY, March 7).
Master Executive Council of Delta's Air Line Pilots Association has been studying the tentative contract reached with Delta for a full seven days today, which is required before a vote, and will meet with negotiators to clear up questions. An MEC vote is likely to take place Friday, an ALPA spokeswoman said, which would be followed by road shows for a couple of weeks before the pilots vote on the contract.
World Airways flew 3,193 block hours last month, a 40% increase from the 2,275 block hours flown in February 1995. This year's statistics are slightly higher because of the extra leap-year day in February. The carrier used its aircraft an average 9.8 hours per day, down from 10.1 hours per day in February 1995.
DOT has issued a consent order assessing Western Pacific Airlines compromise civil penalties of $25,000 for several violations of accounting and reporting rules. The department said that despite advance notice, the carrier was delinquent in filing third quarter 1995 Origin and Destination Survey and was tardy last year with Form 251 reports on denied boarding data.
First it was United's 777 growing pains (DAILY, March 8), now this. A 777 showed up a day late for demonstration flights at the FIDAE Air Show in Chile because a loading bridge operator tore a passenger door off its hinges when Boeing stopped in Bogota, Columbia, to show off the aircraft. When it arrived late in Chile with a borrowed, mismatched door, Boeing explained that the 777 door is designed to break away, to prevent damage to the fuselage.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Commerce Committee aviation subcommittee, will hold a hearing on U.S. aviation relations with the U.K., Germany and Japan at 10 a.m. tomorrow in Room 253, Russell Building.
Delta carried more passengers from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport in February than in any month since it began service in 1941. Last April, it launched a "Cincinnati Instead" promotion to attract passengers who normally travel through more congested hubs, such as Chicago O'Hare. Delta boarded 488,470 passengers in February at the airport, up 43% from last February.
Egyptair has selected PW4000 engines to power three 777-200s, Pratt&Whitney said yesterday. The carrier will buy six installed and two spare engines valued at $100 million. All deliveries will be in 1997.
Florida continues to be the U.S. destination of choice for spring travelers, the Travel Industry Association said. According to a TIA survey conducted in late January, 39% of those polled picked Florida, 32% California and 17% Hawaii. Washington, D.C., slid four points this year, losing its usual spot in the top 10. TIA attributed the decline in interest to the recent government shutdown of national parks at the time of the survey. Rounding out the top 10 were Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, New York, Tennessee and Washington state.
GTE Airfone said yesterday it will outfit Cathay Pacific Airways with inflight telephone equipment. The company will install its digital GenStar system on 53 of the carrier's aircraft, and Aircom will provide satellite phone service. Installations are under way and most of the airplanes will be equipped with phones by the end of the year, GTE said. GTE already has equipped two China Southern 777s with the system. The company has a contract, announced in January, to install the phone system on four of the carrier's 777s.
BFGoodrich Aerospace Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Group (MRO) has realigned into four divisions. They are Transport Repair and Maintenance, Component Repair and Overhaul, MRO-Asia Pacific and MRO-Europe.
TWA has begun limited testing of electronic ticketing through Worldspan and says it will introduce ticketless travel to its customers later this year. "In cooperation with our airport support services, staff, computer systems experts and Worldspan, we are starting limited testing in the St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbus and Indianapolis markets," said VP-Domestic Sales Jan Wood. Thirty TWA employees who travel on business will make trial flight reservations through the system before it is opened to the public in mid-April.
Air Canada will launch nonstop service from Toronto to Kansas City Aug. 5, providing the only nonstop flights in the market, according to the airline. The service is the 32nd new route started by the airline since the U.S. and Canada liberalized their air services agreement, Air Canada said. The airline operates 1,100 flights per week to 31 destinations in the U.S. The flights will be operated with 50-passenger CL-65 jets.
Citing Nicaragua's refusal to approve its application for a second daily Miami-Managua flight, American is urging DOT to deny NICA Airline authority to operate to the U.S. Specifically, American asked DOT to deny NICA's bid for renewal of its exemption to operate combination service between Managua and Miami and its request to co-terminalize New York with that service. In addition, American urged denial of Continental's bid to place NICA's designator code on its flights.
Consolidators International reported 1996 sales of $8.7 million, up from $7.2 million the previous year. President Julian Keeling said tonnage grew to 3.09 million kilograms from 2.5 million. Shipments increased 17% to 9,446 from 8,088 for the two-year-old company. Keeling predicted revenues in 1996 will rise "at least 50%" with more gains in tonnage and shipments.
American Eagle set new traffic records in February when it flew 201 million revenue passenger miles, a 31.7% increase from February 1995. The load factor was up 4.5 points to 55.3% on 20.9% more capacity - 364 million available seat miles. Eagle attributed the increases partly to having an extra day in February this year. The Miami and San Juan operations also offset traffic severely affected by winter storms in the Northeast and the continued downsizing of Nashville, said President Dan Garton.
