Gulf Air will sell six 767s and return other aircraft currently on lease in a downsizing aimed at returning the airline to profitability. Following the sale, Gulf Air will retain a fleet of five A340s, 11 767s and 14 A320s. Reducing capacity, the airline is terminating operations to New York, Geneva, Durban and Johannesburg, leaving 50 destinations. Gulf Air is continuing to operate its code share with American on all its flights to London Heathrow, giving its passengers access to direct services to the U.S.
AirFlite, Toyota's fixed-base operation at Long Beach Airport, was awarded contracts by American, to fuel three daily flights to Dallas/Fort Worth, beginning Jan. 31, and UPS, to fuel two daily flights. Service to American begins Jan. 31; UPS service is under way.
Swissair became the first airline to operate an aircraft with in-flight gambling for all passengers - a recent MD-11 flight featuring Interactive Flight Technologies' Inflight Entertainment Network, which offers access to up to 20 movies, 60 hours of music, several computer games and casino-style lotto, keno and video slot machines. Following a two-month trial, Swissair will install the system on 16 MD-11s and five 747s.
McDonnell Douglas said yesterday that James Phillips has been promoted to VP-general manager of the MD-95 program at Douglas Aircraft, replacing John Wolf, who is retiring March 28. Jerry Callaghan, now MD-95 program manager-technical, will move up to be second in charge on the MD-95 as development program manager.
India's decision to make it more difficult for international entities to buy stakes in the country's domestic carriers may block the planned joint venture between Singapore Airlines and India's Tata Group conglomerate, which retains backing in some parts of the government. The new carrier, majority owned by Tata, would compete with government-run Indian Airlines.
Airline Employee Placement Service said China Airlines, Malaysian Airlines and Flight Safety International have joined the more than 500 aviation companies using its employee data bank at no cost. The Internet-based employment service, also posts aviation job listings on a daily basis. The Web site is at http://www.aeps.com/aeps/aepshm.html.
Fear of decreasing job security and resentment of mounting profits are driving pilot union dissatisfaction with management during contract negotiations at several carriers, most notably American and United in recent weeks. American's Allied Pilots Association will conduct informational picketing at Dallas/Fort Worth Jan. 28-30 as it prepares to enter supermediation Feb. 10, five days before a possible strike.
Boeing 727 and 737 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Third Quarter 1996 B727-200 American Continental Number of Aircraft Operated 81 33 Total Fleet Operations Departures 265 112 Block Hours 644 266 Flight Hours 527 220 Miles 234,972 97,639
Upgrading its civil aviation procedures to comply with International Civil Aviation Organization safety oversight standards regarding air carrier operations, Taiwan expects to correct by March most of the deficiencies cited by the U.S. FAA in its "conditional" rating of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration operations. A CAA spokesman said the Taiwan cabinet has agreed to fund 32 additional inspectors for aircraft certification and surveillance of operations.
Sabena will drop service between Antwerp and London Heathrow Airport in March, pulling out of Antwerp's Deurne municipal airport. It currently offers the twice-daily service jointly with Deurne-based VLM, which uses a Dash 8 for the Sabena-coded flights. It and VLM compete for Antwerp-London traffic against British Airways subsidiary CityFlyer Express. Sabena carried about 29,000 passengers to London last year from Antwerp.
Boullioun Aviation Services said it has ordered nine more 737s from Boeing for delivery this year and next, adding to an order for eight 737s it placed in 1996. During 1996, the company also acquired a previously unannounced 737-300 from Boeing, and a used 737-300 and a used 737-400 in sale/leaseback transactions. All 20 of the 737-300s/400s have been placed on operating lease with airlines in North American, Europe and China. Three were delivered in December to China Airlines of Taiwan.
SAS posted a 5% gain in revenue passenger kilometers for 1996, increasing traffic in 11 of 12 months. December traffic was up 3%. For the year, SAS flew 19.73 billion RPKs and 19.83 million passengers. Freight was up 5% for the year to 477.4 million freight ton kilometers.
Society of Automotive Engineers and Experimental Aircraft Association have agreed to a partnership intended to enable members of either society to benefit from the technical expertise of both. As part of the pact, SAE and EAA will co-sponsor the biennial General, Corporate and Regional Aviation Meeting and Exposition, this year scheduled April 28-May 1 in Wichita.
Cathay Pacific Airways is offering U.S. travel agents American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyer miles for booking groups of 15 to Asia. Agents can earn 1,500 miles per passenger, up to 500,000 miles, for tickets from New York to Hong Kong and other Southeast Asia destinations.
Emirates has completed the retrofitting of its A300-600R and A310-300 fleets with business-class seats that recline more and have more space in front and behind. Pitch has been increased from 40 inches to as much as 52 inches. The carrier has taken delivery of the third of seven 777s.
Midwest Express Holdings named David Reeve president and chief executive of Astral Aviation, the Midwest Express Airlines wholly owned subsidiary that operates Skyway Airlines. Reeve, currently director of flight operations for DHL Airways, will take over March 1.
Flying Colours Limited (FCL) has filed for a foreign air carrier permit and, pending that, an exemption to operate passenger charter flights between points in the U.S. and the U.K. The carrier, founded in January 1996, has applied for corresponding approvals from British authorities. FCL plans to start its U.S. flights around May 1 with twice-weekly service between Manchester and Orlando, using 757-200s. The carrier hopes to receive all necessary approvals by March 10 to permit adequate marketing of the startup in May. (Docket OST-97-2097)
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Canadian Marconi said it won a $2 million order from Daimler-Benz Aerospace to develop an integrated circuit and provide microwave landing system (MLS) engineering assistance. DASA's Navigation and Flight Guidance Systems division is developing the MLS portion of a Rockwell Collins-DASA multi- mode receiver, which combines MLS, current ILS and emergency GPS technologies in a single unit.
FAA oversight of pilot training programs at several air carriers has passed an audit by the DOT Office of Inspector General. OIG evaluated FAA oversight of programs used by Alaska, United, USAir and JetTrain between November 1995 and August 1996. "We found FAA inspectors were familiar with and qualified to inspect pilot training programs," OIG said.
Continental received approval from the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners for a five-year lease on 42,520 square feet of space in Air Freight Building No. 4 at Los Angeles Airport. The airline agreed to make improvements totaling $950,000. The board said Continental's move from its previous site makes possible a larger relocation plan for seven other airlines.
Raytheon Co. said it has successfully passed the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) system design review, conducted last month. The company added that the integration and testing of two contract- configuration STARS units was completed nine days early at the FAA Technical Center in Atlantic City, N.J.
Laker Airways has applied for renewal of its exemption to operate between points in Florida and the U.K. The carrier has flown from Fort Lauderdale and Orlando to Manchester and Glasgow but did not serve Miami-Gatwick last year "because authority was received too late to obtain slots at Gatwick, advertise the service" and make other preparations. Now Laker plans to start serving the Miami-Gatwick route this summer, operating daily flights with a DC-10-30.
