Boeing will provide a senior scientist to become program director of the FANS Stakeholder Group (FSG) at the International Air Transport Association. Frank Ruggiero, senior principal scientist at Boeing, will be based at IATA headquarters in Montreal, said Director General Pierre Jeanniot. He said Ruggiero will lead an "active plan" for implementing FANS (future air navigation system). "FANS offers enormous benefits to both airlines and air traffic service providers - both in increased safety and financial savings.
Swissair is blowing hot and cold about its 49.5% stake in Sabena. The Belgian flag carrier's Swiss-appointed chief executive, Paul Reutlinger, said Swissair likely will write off its 6 billion Belgian francs investment in Sabena this spring but insisted a total pullout is not imminent. Last October, Swissair threatened to drop its Sabena stake unless the carrier started making money soon, and Reutlinger told employees recently that Sabena had six months to win back shareholder confidence.
Belgium's National Council of State overturned a local court order from last summer that forbade nighttime flights at Brussels Airport International in nearby Zaventem. According to the council's statement issued after the decisions, the "normal demands" of a modern international city "inevitably create" noise disturbance for residents who choose to live there.
Delta, which suffered three engine failures on its 727 fleet since last January, lost another JT8D-15A to an uncontained failure Monday after takeoff from New Orleans. The failure is believed to be the third involving the turbine area, and all three occurred during takeoff or climbout. The latest incident involved the first-stage turbine, while the previous two affected the fourth-stage turbine. Delta experienced engine failures on 727s last August during climbout from New York LaGuardia and last January on an aborted takeoff, also from LaGuardia.
United and Lufthansa have asked DOT to renew and amend their code- share/blocked-space agreement under the U.S.-Germany open skies bilateral. The carriers want permission to substitute one German point for another when operating beyond German gateways. Exchanging German gateways at will would eliminate the need to amend the statement of authorization every time a beyond point is served from a different German gateway, the carriers said.
LTU International Airlines, Germany's second largest airline, will resume weekly nonstop San Francisco-Dusseldorf service May 14. LTU and Air New Zealand have extended their code-share agreement, applying it to the Los Angeles-Frankfurt route, and LTU's Phoenix-Dusseldorf weekly flight continues. On May 5, LTU plans to operate from Fort Myers, Florida, to Cancun, Mexico, subject to government approval. The leisure airline also is expanding service to Bergen and Lakselv, Norway, and will introduce scheduled service this summer to Luxor, Egypt, and Agadir, Morocco.
DOT Administrative Law Judge John Mathias is retiring, effective Jan. 31, after 40 years of federal service. He has been DOT's chief judge for six years.
Far Eastern Air Transport Corp., newly approved as the fifth Taiwan carrier authorized to operate scheduled international service, hopes to launch weekly flights between Taipei and Guam in April. Currently, Continental Micronesia is the only airline providing direct flights in the market. Sources in Taipei say Far Eastern may not be able to fly the route as hoped, however, because Taiwanese airlines have been barred from opening new routes to the U.S.
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chairman of the House Appropriations transportation subcommittee, urged President Clinton yesterday to nominate quickly as FAA administrator an individual with longstanding aviation experience and skills in leadership and management of a large, diverse organization. Sources said Wolf's letter in essence opposes the candidacy of Frank Kruesi, DOT assistant secretary for transportation policy, who is believed to lead other contenders for the post.
KLM is offering inexpensive one-way tickets to London, Paris and Berlin, in imitation of a low-cost rival, U.K.-based EasyJet. An EasyJet spokesman called KLM a "copycat" and a "bad loser." Cheap one-way tickets also are marketed by Brussels-based Virgin Express.
Federal Express became the first cargo carrier to join detractors of the proposed American-British Airways alliance in filings to derail routine approval. Supporting Delta's motion for a stay pending an open skies aviation agreement with the U.K., FedEx said it wants to ensure that negotiators address cargo competition.
Mexico is the most popular winter travel destination for the third year in a row, according to nearly 400 travel agents polled by Carlson Wagonlit. Ranking after Mexico were the Caribbean, Florida, cruises, Hawaii, California, Colorado, Europe and Asia. More than 50% said clients want to go somewhere warm but inexpensive.
Commercial airline service will begin soon to small M. Graham Clark Airport, two miles from Branson, Mo., at The College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout. The airport, owned by the college and leased to Ozark Mountain Management Group, is building a 13,600-square-foot terminal for completion by June 1. Chantilly, Va.-based Country Tours, the majority shareholder of Ozark, will manage the airport. The company said it is seeking a firm to manage the air service and likely will announce a selection in two to three weeks.
Lufthansa Group's total volume grew moderately last year to 41.4 million passengers, 1.7% more than in 1995. Its subsidiary, regional airline Lufthansa CityLine, racked up the strongest growth, as passengers rose 17.4% to 3.1 million. The group's charter operator, Condor, carried 6.6 million passengers, an increase of 7.3%. By contrast, the passenger volume of Lufthansa AG, the group's flagship carrier, dropped 0.6% to 31.8 million.
FAA, replying to General Accounting Office criticism that air traffic control modernization has led to unreliable cost information (DAILY, Jan. 24), said Friday that it canceled in 1994 an "over-budget and behind schedule modernization program that caused the GAO's core concerns." That action, FAA said, saved taxpayers $1.6 billion.
Air France reported a 16.9% gain in revenue passenger kilometers for December and a 10.2% rise in capacity. Passenger load factor was 70.3%, up 4.0 percentage points, and freight rose 10.4% to 439 freight ton kilometers. For the April-December period, RPKs grew 15.1% to 44.4 billion. During that period, capacity grew 9.2%.
George Mitchell, former U.S. Senate majority leader, was named special counsel to Pan Am. Mitchell recently became part of the international and regulatory law firm Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand. He also sits on the boards of Federal Express, Walt Disney and Xerox.
Airline chiefs from Delta, United, TWA, Tower Air and Laker Airways wrote DOT Secretary-designate Rodney Slater yesterday urging him to halt American-British Airways alliance proceedings until U.S. authorities can complete a "comprehensive analysis" of its effect on competition. United simultaneously asked DOT for a full evidentiary hearing into competition issues raised by the alliance, with witnesses submitting evidence under oath and subject to cross-examination.
U.S. charter airline Prime Air Inc. has filed for a DOT exemption to operate short-term wet-leases for scheduled operators. The carrier, doing business as TransMeridian Airlines, said it will "continue to concentrate on the charter market. Nevertheless, it has been TransMeridian's experience that there is an increasing demand for sub-service by scheduled airlines that results from, among other things, operational and/or equipment problems or excessive demand.
Guatemalan startup carrier Mayan World Airlines took delivery last week of the first of two ATR 42 aircraft it will use to begin service next month. The regional airline, based in Guatemala City, will serve Flores, a tourist center with Mayan ruins, and intends to operate to neighboring countries in the near future. Aero International (Regional) said 321 ATR 42s and 188 ATR 72s have been sold since the beginning of the program.
Sabena Technics will provide long-term maintenance for Biman Bangladesh Airline's Airbus A310-300 aircraft. The Belgian carrier's maintenance subsidiary will station a team of engineers at Dhaka Airport to carry out line and light maintenance on site and to instruct and assist Biman's staff with heavy maintenance work.
A recent proposal offered by USAir management to its pilots may be tied to giving the employee group a "significant" equity stake in the airline in exchange for substantial wage cuts, BT Securities analyst Vivian Lee said. The proposal calls for mainline pilot wage concessions of 12.5-15% and cuts greater than 30% for pilots of a yet-to-be-formed low-cost subsidiary, she said. "We believe this proposal is tied to a significant equity stake in the company not unlike the United deal," Lee said.
Delta and Aeromexico applied for DOT approval of their code-share/blocked- space agreement to link Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth with Cancun. The airlines want to start to code share March 1 with hopes of receiving DOT's blessing by today. Aeromexico will operate the flights under Delta's DL code.
