Delta, Swissair and Austrian Airlines filed a joint application for code sharing on their routes. Delta wants to start third-country code-sharing on Austrian's daily nonstop flights between Vienna and Bucharest, placing its DL code on the route starting April 8. The service would connect with Delta transatlantic service in Vienna. Delta also wants to place its code on Swissair daily nonstop A320 flights between Zurich and Bucharest, also on April 8. In a separate filing, Delta said it will discontinue daily one-stop flag service between Frankfurt and St.
Ameritech received a five-year contract to be UAL Corp.'s single-source manager of telecommunications services, including its voice network at about 500 U.S. locations.
Great Lakes Aviation has received approval from DOT for 20 slots at Chicago O'Hare Airport. The carrier said it will launch nonstop service as United Express to Dubuque, Sioux Falls and Fargo during the next three to six months. Service beyond Dubuque will include Mason City, Iowa, using Beech 1900 aircraft to both points. The carrier also will serve Huron, S.D., beyond Sioux Falls with Brasilia aircraft. DOT asked carriers in October to submit essential air service proposals involving O'Hare (DAILY, Oct. 30).
SAS is cutting its lowest fares to 50 European points by 20% to 25% between Jan. 20 and March 23 to boost tourist demand in a period of excess capacity.
French regional carrier Air Littoral, with a view to the upcoming liberalization of ground-handling services in France and the European Union, plans to transfer its ground-handling activities to a new joint venture set up with French cleaning company Onet. The Nice-based company, Air Littoral Assistance, will be 60% owned by the airline and 40% by Onet. The new company aims to capture 3% to 6% of the French market in the next two years, excluding Air France operations.
ValuJet sold three additional aircraft yesterday, including its last remaining MD-83, as it pares its fleet to include only DC-9-30 aircraft. The carrier also prepaid before the end of 1996 the debt on a fourth aircraft, which it intends to sell. The transactions enabled ValuJet to lower aircraft bank debt by $18.7 million. The carrier disclosed neither the aircraft purchasers nor the price of each aircraft, and spokesman Gregg Kenyon said he had no reason for the lack of disclosure.
U.S. Major Carriers Productivity, In RPMs And ASMs Per Employee, Third Quarter 1996 U.S. Major Carriers Productivity, In RPMs And ASMs Per Employee Third Quarter 1996 Total Total Operating Operating Revenues Expenses Airline (000) (000) Alaska 384,898 331,797 America West 425,636 478,779
U.S. and Japanese officials concluding informal talks Saturday in Tokyo agreed to another round of meetings but did not set a date.Joel Spiro, deputy assistant secretary of state for transportation affairs, said the meeting yielded "good, frank discussions." The next round of talks also will be characterized as informal. "We still have to work on a framework" on which progress can be made, Spiro said. Custom would dictate that the next round take place in Washington, perhaps within a couple of months. A source familiar with U.S.
Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said it found "no serious deficiencies" during inspections of Merpati Nusantara, China Eastern, Air Mauritius, Garuda, Air Niugini and Air China at Melbourne and Sydney. The inspections, which included checks of aircraft and crew documentation, were part of an ongoing effort to monitor air safety in response to "increasing global concern about the capability of some countries to exercise effective regulatory oversight of their national carriers," the agency said.
Air France intends to launch a direct service between Paris and Havanathis year, subject to agreement between French and Cuban aviation authorities. As well, on Jan. 29, Air France will start a new service between Cuba and its overseas territories in the Antilles with a 141-seat 737, linking Cayenne, French Guyana, and Havana, via Fort-de-France, Martinique, and Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe.
India has rejected new slots made available at London Heathrow Airport to its national carrier Air-India by the British Airport Coordination Authority (BACA) following the "total failure" of talks between its civil aviation ministry and BACA, ministry sources said. "They were the worst, most ill-timed slots and were just not acceptable to us," said a senior ministry official. As a result of this rejection, Air-India will continue to operate its India-Chicago flights - which began Nov. 30 - via Frankfurt, carrier officials said.
The coming year will be crucial in Taiwan's attempt to develop international aviation services at Taipei, according to Tsai Tuei, director general of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration. Tsai told a meeting of the ruling Nationalist Party's Central Standing Committee that the CAA will negotiate soon with Cambodia, Laos, India, Greece, Spain, Turkey, Poland, the Czech Republic and Brazil for new bilateral aviation agreements, and with the U.S., Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia for amendments permitting expanded services.
United has set a goal for 1997 of 68% departures within five minutes of the scheduled departure time. Monthly goals will be established to account for weather.
Pilots of the Comair EMB-120 that crashed last week near Detroit (DAILY, Jan. 10) tried to shut down the right engine, investigators found during the weekend. The crew activated the aircraft's fire-extinguishing system, but investigators found no indication that there was a fire. The flight data recorder showed that the crew lost control of the aircraft during a turn in which the banking angle increased to about 40 degrees.
Robotic Vision Systems said its aircraft safety division received an order from Delta for wide area aircraft ice detection systems. The order will result in deployment of the equipment throughout the Delta Shuttle operation, the company said.
The four Airbus Industrie members yesterday signed an agreement to restructure the consortium from its current groupement d'intert economique (GIE) status into a limited liability company by 1999. As a single corporate entity (SCE), Airbus will have a unified management structure controlling engineering, testing, production, procurement and customer service in addition to its current functions of marketing, sales and product support.
The Indian government has given preliminary approval to a proposal by Singapore Airlines and the Tata Group of India to form a new domestic airline. Indian officials said the Industry Ministry's Foreign Investment Promotion Board has recommended the proposal for final approval by the country's Cabinet Committee on Foreign Investments. Tata would hold 60% of the venture and SIA 40%. They plan to develop in five years a fleet of 19 aircraft serving a comprehensive domestic network.
Iberia has decided to delay forming a global alliance with a U.S. or a European carrier until the end of the first half of this year. The Spanish flag carrier says it first wants to complete talks with employees about a new three-year plan. Talks are due to start at the end of the month. Iberia Chairman Xavier de Irala is expected to ask workers for greater sacrifices, including new pay freezes and a review of Iberia's system of incentive payments.
British Airways Express plans to start scheduled service from London Gatwick to Luxembourg on May 5, to be operated by BA's franchise carrier, CityFlyer Express. Operating three times a day, the flights will be the first scheduled service to Luxembourg from Gatwick. It will feature business- and economy-class service and will offer the first departure of any carrier from Luxembourg to London at 6:50 a.m., with further flights leaving at 11:05 a.m. and 5:40 p.m. The departures from London will be at 7:55 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.
Four Canadian regional airlines owned by Air Canada, whose pilots have been on strike since Friday, are using some Air Canada aircraft and charter companies to maintain as much of their schedule as possible. The pilots union, the Canadian Air Line Pilots Association (CALPA), will meet tomorrow with management representatives from the four airlines - Air Ontario, AirBC, Air Alliance and Air Nova - and from Air Canada as well. The meeting was called by Canada's Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
European Union authorities are questioning elements of the American-British Airways alliance, though the effect of recent moves is unclear given competing interpretations of applicable law. Two areas undergoing EU scrutiny are slot sales at Heathrow and the question of whether the alliance itself is fundamentally anticompetitive.
U.S. Major Carriers Productivity, In Revenues and Expenses Per Employee, Third Quarter 1996, In Dollars Revenue Available Passenger Seat Miles Miles Airline (000) (000) Alaska 2,893,237 4,099,844 America West 3,988,708 5,554,561 American 27,808,526 39,135,801 Continental 10,121,107 14,421,386
TWA has sent furlough notices to 218 flight attendants based in New York and 160 in St. Louis, effective Jan. 31. This week, it will send notices to ground-handlers and customer service agents.
Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok Airport, preparing to open in April 1998, will undergo a monthlong series of FAA test flights, beginning in February. FAA will use a British Aerospace HS125-800 for initial tests of air traffic control system equipment and procedures. Newly constructed highways linking the airport with surrounding urban areas will be opened for traffic, also beginning next month.
