All Nippon Airways is ordering new Airbus and Boeing aircraft while cancelling others in an attempt to cope with delays in completing a new runway at Tokyo's Narita Airport. ANA said yesterday it will order 10 short-haul Airbus A321s, but will put off previous orders for five higher-margin Airbus A340 long-haul jetliners. The A340s would have started arriving in 1996, but now ANA won't revisit the issue until at least 2000.
Greenwich Air Services has signed a five-year contract - the largest single contract in its history - with Continental to provide the airline with engine overhaul and maintenance services. Greenwich said revenues from the engine maintenance terms of the agreement could exceed $125 million. Greenwich will service Continental's Pratt&Whitney JT8D-7 through -17 series engines that power 727s, 737s and DC-9s.
Members of the House National Security Committee received more than $1.4 million between January 1991 and October 1994 from companies that had contracts under the old Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program, according to an analysis released yesterday by an independent watchdog organization.
Airborne Freight Corp. d/b/a Airborne Express yesterday posted record net earnings for 1994 despite weaker-than-expected second-half results. The company recorded net earnings available to common shareholders, after preferred stock dividends, of $37.9 million, or $1.81 per share on a fully diluted basis, on total revenues of $1.97 billion. In 1993, Airborne had net earnings after dividends of just under $36.4 million on revenues of $1.72 billion. Revenues grew 14.6% year over year.
The Latin American airline industry is poised for "significant" profitability - subject to a number of "ifs," according to a new study by Aviation Management Services (AvMan). The study, called, "The Impact of the U.S. Carriers, Deregulation&the Free Market Economy on Latin American Aviation," says the Latin America/Caribbean region is "full of promise," but the realization of profits is "subject to certain consolidations, cross-border equity alliances and, possibly most importantly, a genuine emphasis on improving management processes and practices."
NASA plans to offer selected employees cash to leave the agency by March 31 in the second round of buyouts offered as the agency struggles to meet its White House target of a 16.5% staff reduction by the end of fiscal 1999. Administrator Daniel S. Goldin announced the new buyout yesterday in a brief address to employees over the agency's internal television network, but offered few details of just who will qualify.
Denver Mayor Wellington Webb said yesterday the new Denver Airport will open Feb. 28, meeting a deadline set by the city council last August. Airlines and other tenants will move Feb. 27 from Stapleton Airport. The airport will open with a $52.9 million baggage system developed as an alternative to an automated system beset with testing problems. United will use the automated system - with modifications - for outbound baggage.
El Al has acquired two 747-200 freighters from Singapore Airlines to expand its transatlantic cargo capabilities. The first aircraft began operating in January and the second will begin in March. El Al's 1995 cargo schedule from the U.S. to Tel Aviv consists of five weekly flights from New York Kennedy, four from Chicago, three from Los Angeles and two from Miami. El Al provides cargo service to Tel Aviv from Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Brussels and Cologne, and connections to other major European industrial centers.
U.N. peacekeeping operations are "an important instrument in the international community", said Assistant Undersecretary of Defense for Strategy and Requirements Edward Warner, "and a very important part of American foreign and defense policy as well." Responding to Republican demands in the Contract with America, the Defense Dept. Friday defended the participation of troops in contingency operations. Citing the Korean war and Desert Storm, Warner said most U.S. contingency operations "are not U.N. peacekeeping" and are beneficial to the U.S.
The 3,000-hour endurance test completed Saturday by the Pratt&Whitney PW4084 turbofan (DAILY, Jan. 31) included three simulated ETOPS (Extended Twin Operations) diversions in which the engine ran for three hours at maximum continuous thrust, as if it were powering a twin-engine 777 with an engine out. The objective is 180-minute ETOPS authority for the engine and the Boeing 777, for which it is being developed, when United begins operating PW4084-powered 777s in June.
Mexicana has switched back to the Unisys USAS Reservation system after just five months of using the IBM-based British Airways Booking System (BABS), Unisys said yesterday. BA had no comment on the Unisys announcement. According to Unisys, Mexicana gave it the order to begin work converting back to USAS in October, and the conversion was made in mid-November.
Loral Vought Systems, a subcontractor to McDonnell Douglas on the International Space Station's crew compartment cooling system, has received a $13.3 million contract to redesign the heat rejection radiators to meet NASA requirements, the company reported yesterday.
DOT and FAA issued yesterday the long-awaited policy on airport rates and charges and rules of practice for complaints and other proceedings regarding airlines' fees at airports. The agencies requested comments on the new policy "because of substantial industry interest in the proposed policy and because the final policy differs in several respects from the proposal." The policy statement and rules of practice will be published in the Feb. 3 Federal Register.
The Commission on Roles and Missions has received the Army's proposal to take control of the Defense Dept.'s entire rotary wing infrastructure. The unsolicited plan delivered Friday would consolidate all of DOD's helicopter research and development, testing and evaluation, acquisition and training under the Army. The Army already controls 79% of the DOD rotor wing fleet and 85% of rotor wing acquisitions.
Northwest Airlines and Pacific Island Aviation will begin code sharing today among islands in the Northern Marianas that connect to Northwest flights to Japan. PIA, which operates regional turboprops, will provide five daily roundtrips between Guam, Saipan and Rota carrying Northwest's code. Passengers will be able to earn mileage in Northwest's WorldPerks plan, and Northwest will offer improved airport check-in for PIA customers.
U.S. National Carriers Productivity, In Revenues And Expenses Per Employee Third Quarter 1994, In Dollars Total Total Operating Operating Revenues Expenses Total Airline (000) (000) Employees Alaska 319,127 275,124 6,522 Aloha 60,082 60,695 1,945
The House National Security Committee yesterday approved the GOP Contract With America language directing the Defense Dept. to "develop for deployment" at the earliest possible date "a cost-effective, operationally effective anti-ballistic missile system." Also approved was identical language to "develop for deployment" at the earliest date "advanced theater missile defense systems."
For a one-time cost of $12 million, all 95 B-1Bs in the U.S. Air Force can achieve a 75% mission capable rate, according to AF Air Combat Command chief Gen. Michael Loh. The B-1B bomber historically has shown a low mission capable rate, averaging about 55%, "because it's never been adequately funded," Loh told reporters yesterday during a Pentagon briefing to highlight the findings of last year's operational readiness assessment (ORA). Congress ordered the AF to conduct the study, which was completed in late November.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace, which hurt the reputation of Germany's national air show last year with a last-minute decision not to participate, has helped "revive local and federal interest" in the show with its decision last week to take part next year, American Embassy personnel in Berlin told the Commerce Department.
AUSTRIAN AIRLINES yesterday ordered four Fokker 70 aircraft, and took options on four more, for low-density routes such as those between Vienna and Geneva, Turin and Tirana, Fokker reported. Two are scheduled for delivery this year, in September and October, and the others are due in March 1996.
No matter which engine industry picks to put on the Joint Advanced Strike Technology fighter, the JAST office will fund modest development of a second engine to ensure back-up capability for the production-version aircraft, JAST program director Gen. George Muellner said yesterday. "In the long-term, we're going to make sure both engines are there," Muellner told The DAILY after speaking at a JAST industry seminar in Alexandria, Va. The National Security Industrial Association sponsored the event.
Gordon Ow Aircraft Ltd. (GOAL), Long Beach, Calif., has received a $250,000 state grant to develop a high speed vertical takeoff and landing aircraft modeled on a "Frisbee" flying disk toy. The design, said to be capable of high subsonic speeds, is in the concept stage, with development depending on whether the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) awards a contract in coming months. Lloyd Ikerd, president of GOAL, told The DAILY that ARPA, NASA, and the U.S. Air Force and Navy have all voiced support for the still-unnamed program.
GE Aircraft Engine's Engine Services Dept. has been awarded a five-year, $60 million maintenance-cost-per-hour contract to maintain the JT9 engines that power a 747 operated by Paris Orly-based charter carrier Corse Air. The work will be performed at the GE Aircraft Engine Services Ltd. maintenance facility at Nantgarw, Wales.
American is contesting United for authority to operate combination services between Los Angeles and Guadalajara. American proposes to begin May 1 two daily nonstop flights using MD-80 aircraft. United earlier requested the designation, proposing two nonstop roundtrip flights between the two points using 737-300 aircraft, beginning June 7. The U.S.-Mexico bilateral pact permits the U.S. to designate two carriers for the route. Delta and Alaska are designated for the service, but the latter has announced plans to discontinue it.
