Iberia Airlines has chosen its first private-sector leader in naming Basque businessman Xavier de Irala Estevez president. The New York-born de Irala Estevez, who replaces Juan Saez, had been in charge of Asea Brown Bovery Spain since 1991. Previously, he was a VP and member of the managing committee of General Electric in France and worked for GE in the U.K., Portugal and Spain.
The European Commission launched Wednesday its long-awaited investigation into several transatlantic airline partnerships and its review of the yet- to-be approved American-British Airways alliance. The EC competition and transport ministers, Karel Van Miert and Neil Kinnock, said July 3 they would launch investigations into the anti-competitive threat of the proposed American-BA alliance and several established partnerships: BA- American; Lufthansa-United; SAS-United; Swissair-Sabena-Austrian-Delta; KLM-Northwest and BA-USAir (DAILY, July 8).
Swissair launched an economy-class fare sale for fall and winter travel from seven U.S. gateways to Zurich, Geneva and Basel. With an Oct. 16 purchase deadline, the fares permit travel from Oct. 15 to Dec. 12, from Dec. 25 to Jan. 1, and from Jan. 13 to March 13. The maximum stay is 30 days, each stay must include a Sunday night, and travel must be completed by March 20. Roundtrip fares are $494 from New York/Newark and Boston, $514 from Philadelphia, $554 from Washington, $574 from Atlanta, $594 from Chicago and $634 from Los Angeles.
DOT has made final its tentative order awarding new U.S.-Peru scheduled all-cargo certificate authority to Arrow Air, Florida West International Airlines and Millon Air, allocating each of these carriers two weekly frequencies for their service. Also, the department said it will defer a decision on awarding the three weekly U.S.-Peru scheduled all-cargo frequencies that become available Nov. 1.
Sabre Travel Information Network will hold its second global travel technology conference, Sabre World '97, Sept. 11-13, 1997, at the Navy Pier in Chicago. The Navy Pier can accommodate 200 vendors for the trade show.
Credit Lyonnais, one of the largest banks in Europe, is bolstering its commitment to the aviation industry in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. Mark Tuminello, formerly head of the bank's U.S. Aviation Group, was made a director of Credit Lyonnais Securities (CLS) and is responsible for aviation-related structured securities and notes. The bank also hired William Van Alsten as manager of the aviation group. Van Alsten was VP, customer finance at United Technologies.
U.S. Major Carriers Operating and Net Profit Second Quarter 1996 Operating Net Profit/Loss Profit/Loss (000) (000) Second Quarter 1996 Alaska $ 37,424 $ 19,008 America West 62,082 28,416 American 447,427 212,690
World Airways signed another long-term wet-lease agreement to supply the aircraft and crew for Malaysia Airlines' new passenger charter business. World will provide two DC-10-30s to Malaysian under a 32-month $92.3 million contract. World has supplied aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance services to Malaysian for several years.
ValuJet's re-introductory $19 fares have been snatched up by the thousands this week, but one consultant believes the carrier still should be viewed as a questionable commodity. "A $19 fare is what you put your ex-wife on," said Mike Boyd, president of Aviation Systems Research.
Empire Capital Corp. said yesterday it has received a deposit from Baikal Airlines of Russia to lease a used 757ER valued at $38 million. Ala Brooks, chairman, described Empire, based in Southport, Conn., as a "new player in the huge worldwide market for used commercial jet aircraft."
Swissair will reschedule arrivals from and departures to North America when it puts its winter schedule in place Oct. 27. Flights from New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia and Atlanta will arrive at Zurich two to three hours earlier than they do now, beginning at 8 a.m. Departures from Zurich to these cities, plus Los Angeles, will shift forward also, from midday to 10 a.m.
In a case that could affect the careers of all professional pilots in commercial operations, a FedEx pilot has appealed the loss of his suit against FedEx for terminating him as a pilot after he turned 60. Robert Coupe, a member of the Professional Pilots Federation, brought the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. PPF also is seeking repeal of the Age 60 rule in a federal court appeal of its case against FAA.
Fairchild Dornier has released some preliminary performance data for its proposed Do 320-300 regional jet. The 30-passenger aircraft is expected to cruise at 375 knots at 31,000 feet, post a range of up to 1,200 nm and have a balanced field length of less than 4,000 feet. Direct operating costs will be "quite competitive" with comparable turboprops on a 300-nm sector, according to one source, although fuel burn will be about 25% higher. Most weights are expected to be close to those of the Do 328 turboprop. Price is projected to be "just over" $10 million.
LTU of Germany will conduct ticket auctions on the CompuServe online service, beginning Oct. 7. In the first week, the carrier will offer six tickets to each of five destinations, selling them to the highest bidders within a preset price range.
Belgian aeronautics firm Sonaca S.A., which manufactures fuselage parts for the EMB-145 regional jet, expects to receive major orders in the coming months from Embraer. Embraer forecasts production that would reach 150-200 units per year by 2000, which would mean as much as 3 billion Belgian francs for Sonaca.
Massachusetts-based Cape Air will add Fort Lauderdale to its Key West Express service, effective Nov. 26, Cape Air announced. The company will offer 10 daily nonstops between Key West International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport. An introductory fare of $159 roundtrip is available on all Fort Lauderdale flights, while day trip customers can fly to Key West for $149 roundtrip without restrictions. Frequent travelers can obtain a $138 roundtrip fare with the purchase of a Frequent Flyer Discount Book of 10 one-way tickets, Cape Air said.
SkyWest this week announced new or resumed service to several western points and celebrated 10 years of inflight service in cabin-class (more than 19 seats) aircraft. At the same time, the carrier said it has appointed industry veteran Diane Douglas public relations manager, effective Aug. 27. SkyWest on Oct.
Previous Carrier No. Type Engines Operator -------------------------------------------------------------------- Air Atlantic 1 Metro 23 TPE331- Air LA 12UA-701G1 Adv Avn Ind 1 CV Super 580 501-D22G Air Resorts Aerosur 1 Metro III TPE331- SkyWest Alns 11U-612G
Finnair and Delta filed a joint application at DOT seeking an exemption for Finnair to operate scheduled combination service between Helsinki and Boston via New York Kennedy, and authority for Delta and Finnair to engage in a code-share/blocked-space service on the route. Under the arrangement, Delta would display Finnair's designator code on some flights it operates between New York and Boston. Earlier, the carriers received authority to engage in code-share/blocked-space operations between Helsinki and Kennedy.
Lloyd Aero Boliviano contracted to lease an Airbus A310-300 from International Lease Finance Corp. for three years. The aircraft is the airline's second A310 leased from ILFC, both powered by General Electric engines.
U.S. Major Carriers Operating Revenues and Expenses Second Quarter 1996 Operating Operating Revenues Expenses (000) (000) Second Quarter 1996 Alaska $ 342,014 $ 304,590 America West 466,688 404,607 American 3,884,660 3,437,233
United's ALPA unit is in deep internal discussions on regional jets - whether United pilots will fly them, Express carriers will operate them or nobody will. Currently, the only United Express affiliate allowed to fly jets is Air Wisconsin - up to 15 BAe 146s, identified by tail number, are grandfathered under the union's new scope clause. No other jets are permitted yet, but both Air Wis and Atlantic Coast have been evaluating regional jets for network fit. Barring the Express carriers from operating RJs could be competitively counter-productive.
Northwest and Mesaba Airlines will begin offering electronic ticketing from Detroit to points throughout the U.S. and Canada Nov. 1. Northwest said it has introduced the ticketless concept gradually to allow for responses to customer feedback. It offered ticketless travel first between Minneapolis and Chicago and then expanded to its Memphis and Minneapolis hubs. It will start offering electronic ticketing on international flights next spring.
A section of the FAA authorization bill that passed the Senate yesterday authorizes FAA to assess fees on foreign flights overflying the U.S., some of the proceeds of which would help fund a $50 million Essential Air Service Program. Both Houses of Congress have passed the measure and it awaits President Clinton's signature.
