The Pritzker organization and Israel Aircraft Industries are expected to receive approval in the first quarter for their joint venture company to manufacture, market and support a line of business jet aircraft. The new entity, Galaxy Aerospace Corp., will be a U.S. company based initially in Princeton, N.J., as are the current executive offices of Astra Jet Corp., IAI's business jet marketing subsidiary. With final approval, Astra Jet's operations will be absorbed into Galaxy. The new company will be led by Brian Barents as president and chief executive.
Era Aviation, Anchorage, said it would lower fares on all its airline routes in response to the yearend expiration of the federal transportation excise tax.
Kiwi International Air Lines said yesterday it will resume scheduled passenger operations Jan. 20 with service to Newark, Chicago, Atlanta and West Palm Beach. The airline has received the first installment of a $5 million investment from Edwards/Wasatch International, with which it is negotiating for an additional $15 million-$20 million of secondary financing that would enable it to purchase new aircraft from major manufacturers.
Aeroflot renewed its contract with Lufthansa Technik for A310-300 fleet maintenance. The new agreement, which runs until 2002, provides help for the Russian carrier in setting up a maintenance center at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport.
Three Gorges Airport in Yichang, which will serve the world's largest dam project with regular air flights, opened officially with an initial roundtrip by South China Airlines to and from Beijing's Capital International Airport. The new airport "will give a strong push to the construction of the Three Gorges [dam] project and the development of the local economy," Lu Youmei, president of China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Corp, said before boarding the return flight to Yichang.
Bulgaria is seeking foreign investment to finance a $150 million rebuilding project at Sofia Airport, beginning in May or June with a new passenger terminal capable of handling 3.5 million passengers per year and a 60,000-tonne freight terminal. In 1995, the Bulgarian government tore up a $100 million agreement with a French construction company, Campenon Bernard SGE, because of a disagreement on financial terms. The new investor solicitation is based on a modernization study by British consultants, Gibb Business Consulting and Hallcrow.
Jonathan Ornstein, former president of Continental Express and executive VP of Mesa Air Group, has acquired approximately 4.78% of the outstanding shares of Charlotte-based USAir Express CCAIR. He now serves as chief executive officer of Virgin Express in Brussels. The investment is part of a 6.6% stake - 510,200 common shares - acquired in CCAIR since late August by limited partnership Barlow Partners. According to a Securities&Exchange Commission filing, the stake is worth approximately $956,625, based on the closing price of CCAIR stock on Dec.
The National Transportation Safety Board is considering whether to reconvene its hearing into the ValuJet DC-9 crash last May 11, a board spokesman said yesterday. New information that came to light on SabreTech, a ValuJet maintenance contractor, prompted NTSB member John Goglia, who chaired the hearing in November in Miami, to ask the board to look into reconvening the hearing for a day or so, perhaps in Washington, the spokesman said. "Some additional information came to Goglia's attention after the hearing in Florida," the spokesman said.
Airline Industry Stocks Trends Closed Closed Exchange 12/31/96 11/29/96 Majors Alaska Air Group NYSE $ 21.000 $ 24.120 AMR NYSE 88.120 91.250 America West (Class B) NYSE 15.870 14.620 Continental (Class B) (*) NYSE 28.250 28.370 Delta NYSE 70.870 75.250
General Accounting Office intends to investigate the procurement practices FAA used to award the Weather and Radar Processor (WARP) contract to Harris Corp. GAO told DAILY affiliate ATC Market Report it is responding to allegations - from a source it did not disclose - that the WARP procurement was "wired." Harris was the only bidder. The WARP probe will be part of a broader investigation of FAA procurement practices to be attached as an appendix to GAO's annual budget statement to the appropriations committees.
LADS Corporation Ltd., Adelaide, Australia, will take delivery of a Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8 Series 200B in June and use the aircraft as an airborne platform for a "revolutionary hydrographic survey of shallow coastal waters," according to the manufacturer. The aircraft will be outfitted with Laser Airborne Depth Sounder (LADS) specialized shallow- water survey equipment and will be available for service entry in mid-1998.
ValuJet on Tuesday was continuing to operate Florida charter service that FAA approved through Jan. 6, with no word from the agency on whether it will approve scheduled service. ValuJet spokesman Greg Kenyon said the carrier is working daily with FAA, but he declined to comment on why the approval has not come.
National Air Transportation Association (NATA) and the Helicopter Association International (HAI) expressed opposition to restrictions on air tour overflights at Grand Canyon National Park announced Tuesday by FAA and the Department of the Interior. In addition, a coalition of eight air tour companies that operate tours over the Grand Canyon will ask the courts to block the new rules.
FAA chose Comsat Mobile Communications to provide satellite communications services for the Wide Area Augmentation System, which is expected to begin operations in December 1998. The contract, worth as much as $100 million if all options are exercised, provides for satellite and uplink services to the National Satellite Test Bed (NSTB) as well as WAAS. It also includes two uplinks for the Functional Verification System, a "mini-WAAS" of five stations used for testing purposes, and four uplinks for the operational WAAS.
Fresno-based Air 21 has ceased all scheduled service through Jan. 15 and was expected to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy Dec. 31. The carrier said it still is negotiating with financial entities regarding its future, and that due to the "incompleteness and the uncertainty of these complex discussions," it had to cease operations. A carrier spokesman said potential buyer Pacific Southwest Airlines walked away from the table Monday (DAILY, Dec. 20).
DOT announced this week a permanent ban on carrying chemical oxygen generators as cargo aboard passenger airplanes. A temporary ban issued May 23 limited the canisters to compartments in freighter aircraft that have crew access during flight. The final rule from the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) and from FAA also applies to foreign air carriers that operate in the U.S. and to any person who offers the oxygen generators as cargo.
Status of Airline Labor Contracts, As of January 2, 1997 Flight Mechanics/ Clerical/ Airlines Pilots Engineers Attendts Dispatchers Related Persnl Agts ABX IBT(7/31/95) -- -- -- -- -- In mediation Alaska ALPA12/1/97 -- AFA3/14/99 TWU2/9/02 IAM9/1/97 IAM /20/99 Aloha ALPA(11/30/96 -- AFA8/31/98 TWU12/31/97 IAM10/31/97 IAM10/31/97 In negotiation
Even though Korea is one of the five countries with which the U.S. wants to launch open skies in Asia, an increasing number of objections are being filed at DOT against conduct by the Korean government. This week, United filed in opposition to Korean Air Lines' bid for extra-bilateral service between Seoul and Kona, Hawaii, saying the U.S. risks giving Korean carriers much of the authority they desire before it secures open skies access for U.S. carriers.
New Aircraft Orders And Options, September 1996 Last 12 Months Firm Orders Options Orders Options Carrier # Type # Type Engines Del Dates # Type # Type Air Berlin 1 737-400 - CFM56-3C1 - 2 737-400 - Air Pac 3 737-700 - CFM56-7 98- - - Alaska 12 737-400 - CFM56-3C1 Jun97-99 2 737-400 -
Continuing an established trend, air freight grew faster than any other mode of cargo transport in China during the first 10 months of 1996 and outpaced the growth of passenger transportation, according to the State Statistical Information and Consultancy Service Center. About 947,000 tons of freight was transported by air, 15.5% more than during the same period in 1995, and the growth of passenger transportation was moderate by comparison, 10.4%. Total freight volume stood at 2.2 billion tons in the 10-month period, unchanged from the year before.
Continental has appointed Michael Campbell senior VP-human resources and labor relations, effective yesterday. Campbell joins Continental from the law firm Ford&Harrison, where he was a founding partner. He has represented the airline industry for more than 20 years in labor and employment matters, Continental said, including contract negotiations, arbitrations and union organizing campaigns.
The aviation excise taxes lapsed at midnight Dec. 31, setting the stage for another draw-down of the aviation trust fund surplus. FAA estimates that the uncommitted trust fund balance will be exhausted by early July unless the taxes are renewed before then. The taxes also lapsed at the end of 1995 but were reinstated through Tuesday under legislation signed by President Clinton on Aug. 20.
The Korea Airport Construction Authority selected a consortium led by Korea's Hanjin Engineering&Construction to build the main passenger terminal for the new Inchon International Airport, now under construction near Seoul. Hanjin Engineering&Construction is part of the Hanjin Group, which owns Korean Air. Other consortium members are Korean companies Samsung Corp. and Daewoo Corp., and Fluor Daniel Inc., Irvine, Calif. The Korean firms will be responsible for construction, and Fluor Daniel will provide construction management.
PATS Inc., Columbia, Md., said it has designed, fabricated and documented the first auxiliary fuel system for the 767 and expects an FAA supplemental type certificate for it in mid-January. Boeing commissioned the system, which has completed testing at Jet Aviation's Basel, Switzerland, facility, in a corporate-configured 767-200ER. The auxiliary fuel system provides 4,000 additional gallons of fuel, enabling the aircraft to fly nonstop from Saudi Arabia to California.
America West said it will open two more overnight maintenance shops and lease one additional spare aircraft. The shops will be located at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., and Columbus, Ohio, where the carrier maintains a hub with daytime maintenance operations. The two new shops will enable America West to perform routine maintenance on four to six more airplanes per night, the carrier said.
