Malaysia Airlines selected the Pratt&Whitney PW4056 engine to power the 10 747-400s it ordered from Boeing in January 1996. Ordering 44 engines at an undisclosed price, the carrier cited the PW4056's capability and performance advantages over competing engines. The 747-400s on order, plus 15 777s, comprise MAS's fleet modernization program. The 747-400s will replace older 747s currently in operation. MAS selected the Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engine for the 777s in a deal valued at $500 million.
KLM and Jet Airways, a private Indian domestic carrier, have agreed to redeem one another's frequent flyer miles and establish a through check-in facility from any Jet Airways point to any city on KLM's global network, Jet Airways officials said last week. Both agreements stem from a memorandum of understanding signed in August 1995. KLM was the first foreign carrier to fly into India in the 1920s and operates seven weekly flights to New Delhi, Mumbai, and Calcutta from Amsterdam.
American Eurocopter Corp. President David Smith and two others were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that they conspired to use U.S. Foreign Military Financing funds for "undisclosed and unauthorized commissions, fees and other payments" in a 1993 helicopter sale to Israel. The sale totaled $48 million at first and was increased in 1995 to $63.1 million, of which $35.1 million was from FMF. American Eurocopter said that it was discussing the charges with the U.S.
United is offering a new Hawaiian menu on flights to and from Hawaii to observe 50 years of nonstop service to the state from the mainland. Aiming to add to the Hawaiian experience, the carrier has changed menu covers and snack boxes to an orchid motif, is offering a tropical nut and fruit snack, is showing what it terms a "mood-setting" 10-minute video on Hawaii and is giving passengers 15%-off certificates for lunch, dinner and Polynesian revues at ITT Sheraton properties.
Air France and Alitalia signed a letter of intent last week to launch code- share flights in Europe April 1. Collaboration will begin on flights between the two countries, but it is not limited to that and likely will be expanded, an Air France spokesman said. Each carrier will be responsible for its operating, marketing and sales costs, but the alliance might include joint ground-handling and maintenance in all countries the two serve other than France and Italy.
Wall Street analysts said the government's financial miscalculation on up to $1.5 billion in fourth quarter aviation excise tax receipts - and the same amount's absence from the aviation trust fund - likely will spur Congress to move faster to reimpose the dormant 10% ticket tax and other levies. Analysts said airlines will lose more in revenues if the ticket tax returns soon than they earned from interest by keeping tax revenues in the bank a few extra months. Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Harris, who expects the ticket tax to return July 1, said U.S.
Rolls-Royce won a $500 million order to power Emirates' new fleet of Airbus A330-200 aircraft, the U.K. engine manufacturer said last week. Emirates placed a firm order for 16 aircraft plus seven options in November 1996. Delivery of the Trent 772-powered aircraft is scheduled from 1999 until 2002.
Travel and Tourism Government Affairs Council will hold its annual Unity Dinner March 5 at the Washington Hilton&Towers. The Travel Industry Association affiliate holds the dinner to showcase the industry to members of Congress and top administration officials. Last year's event was attended by nearly 1,400 people. The dinner costs $2,750 for a table of 10 or $325 per person. For more information, call 202-408-8422.
Yakovlev, still interested in rescuing Fokker, may itself be a candidate for rescue soon. Aerospace industry contraction may force one of Russia's three big civil transport manufacturers - Yakovlev, Tupolev and Ilyushin - out of the picture, according to reports in Moscow. Yakovlev, needing a strong partner to survive, is said to be in discussions with Sukhoi Design Bureau.
American's tour division has signed what it called a "landmark partnership" with the City of Philadelphia to provide year-long, multi-cultural tours of the city. Fly AAway Vacations is selling a "Philadelphia Share the Heritage" tour aimed at African-Americans. The package includes dining options, jazz and blues clubs and an optional African-American historical walking tour.
DMR Consulting Group of Montreal has acquired Sydney-based Qadrant International Pty. Ltd, which offers systems integration services to the airline industry. The Canadian information company, which held 51% of Qadrant previously, purchased the remaining 49% from Qantas Airlines. "DMR already has outstanding knowledge in verticals such as telecommunications and finance, and has now set its sights on the transportation industry," said DMR Chief Executive Michael Poehner.
FAA set up Vice President Gore to announce at the mid-January safety conference that the agency will sponsor, to the tune of $250 million, a free flight project in Alaska and Hawaii. Announcement of the project took the airlines - whose cooperation is vital - completely by surprise.
Merger of the Canadian Air Line Pilots Association with the Air Line Pilots Association became official Feb. 1. As a result, ALPA represents 46,000 pilots at 48 airlines.
Japan Airlines has ordered BE Aerospace's fully interactive individual passenger entertainment systems for installation in all three classes of service on its next three 747-400s. The order for Multi-Media Digital Distribution Systems and associated seating, valued at $30 million, provides interactive video, audio and game channels and a video-on-demand system that enables each user to start, stop, forward and rewind programming. The system supports 25 full-length digital video programs and 24 broadcast channels of programming.
Employee placement service AEPS Inc. recently added China Airlines, Malaysian Airlines and Flight Safety International to the more than 500 aviation organizations that search for potential new employees via the company's World Wide Web site. The database is available free at www.aeps.com/aeps/aepshm.html. Members can update information online, and AEPS posts new aviation job listings daily.
U.S. aviation negotiators face a busy schedule of bilaterals this month. Open-skies talks with Malaysia are to take place, though no firm date is set. Taiwan negotiators will be in Washington Feb. 26-27. Talks with the U.K., originally scheduled this week, have been moved back to Feb. 18-20 to accommodate a hospital stay by British negotiator Tony Baker for minor surgery.
Amelia Earhart: A Biography by Doris Rich. Paper-bound issue of the 1989 hard cover edition. Smithsonian Institution Press; $14.95. To order, call 800-782-4612.
Croatia Airlines ordered six Airbus A319s and took options on six more aircraft in the single-aisle family. Deliveries will begin early next year, but the carrier plans to begin operations with a leased A320 this year, citing strong development of the Croatian economy and tourism.
Export-Import Bank authorized $640 million in the first quarter of fiscal 1997 to support aircraft sales to India, Korea, China and Uzbekistan. The amount doubles the $317 million approved in the same period in fiscal 1996. Three of this year's four deals are asset-based finance leases in which the security is based on the aircraft.
Maersk Air is adding an extra flight on Sundays this month on its London Gatwick-Billund, Denmark, route. The airline plans further capacity increases during the month by providing three flights daily except Saturdays, when it will operate two. The airline also operates 12 weekly flights that connect onward to Kristiansand and Southern Norway. All flights are operated with 737s.
Delta will expand its electronic ticketing option to include every point in the continental U.S. and Alaska for flights beginning tomorrow. Advance seat selection is available through electronic ticketing.
Aerospatiale and Renault are forming a 50-50 venture, Societe de Motorisations Aeronautiques, to develop and sell a new generation of 180- to 300-hp light aircraft piston engines using a diesel cycle to burn jet fuel, promising lower fuel consumption and less frequent overhauls. Renault Sport, until now devoting most of its expertise to Formula One auto-racing engines, will design, develop, build and certify the new engines. Aerospatiale general aviation subsidiary Socata will use them in its latest aircraft designs.
