Pan Am will begin service between New York Kennedy and Los Angeles and Miami next Thursday, after gaining final approval for its certificate application. Introductory one-way fares for travel through Nov. 24 are $99 economy and $198 first class for Miami-New York and $199 economy and $398 first class for Los Angeles-New York. The carrier will operate Airbus A300 aircraft.
British Airways said yesterday that it would close a money-losing, 750- person ground-handling unit at London Heathrow Airport. The move came just one day after Chief Executive Bob Ayling revealed a plan that would offer voluntary severance packages to 5,000 employees and make several other moves to save the airline $1.6 billion over the next three years. The closure of British Airways Contract Handling (BACH) will affect ground services for 25 other airlines at Heathrow, but not BA.
The launch of Delta Express in less than two weeks will bring what Delta hopes is better snacks as well as low-fare service to Northeast-Florida markets. Passengers on short flights will get Fisher Nut and Crunch, a honey-coated bar of nuts and granola, instead of a small bag of peanuts. Travelers on flights of 1,050 miles or more will be able to pig out on a cheese wedge, crackers and a candy bar.
American asked DOT for authority to expand greatly its authority to operate code-share service with South African Airways. The U.S. carrier wants to display SAA's designator code on certain flights it and its regional unit, American Eagle, operate beyond SAA's New York Kennedy and Miami gateways. The code-share service from JFK would be to Boston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington.
Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority filed suit against ValuJet alleging breach of contract and seeking back rent for Nashville Airport. The suit, filed in Chancery Court of Davidson County, Tenn., asserts that because ValuJet shut down its operation voluntarily, before being forced to do so by FAA, it is contractually bound to the lease. The authority seeks a declaratory judgment on the leasehold and about $2.5 million in damages - including the present value of ValuJet's minimum fixed rental over the remaining term of the lease.
FAA approved the Honeywell/Trimble-designed HT9100 GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) Navigation Management System. The Technical Standard Order (TSO C129 A1) approval encompasses standard instrument departures, standard terminal arrival routes, GPS (Global Positioning System) overlay and GPS approaches, and company routes, J-route and V-route capability.
Delta has agreed to purchase four 757s from International Lease Finance Corp. that are being operated by American Trans Air. The aircraft, powered by Pratt&Whitney PW2037 engines, are scheduled for delivery during the fourth quarter for use in markets where Delta needs capacity to replace 737s it shifts to dedicated Delta Express operations beginning Oct. 1. The airline said it will make more announcements on aircraft acquisitions in the future as it meets demand created by moving 25 737s to the Express operation.
Carlson Wagonlit Travel appointed Douglas Ziemer president of Carlson Wagonlit Travel-Americas, where he will be responsible for Carlson's wholly owned business travel operations in the U.S., Canada, Central and South America. Ziemer said he is "looking forward to expanding the Carlson Wagonlit Travel business travel brand into new markets and introducing new consultative services that will add even more value to our customers' bottom line." Ziemer previously was executive VP-administration.
Delta is offering SkyMiles members extra miles this fall. Frequent flyer members who have achieved Medallion, Gold Medallion and Platinum Medallion levels will receive a 50% mileage bonus. General SkyMiles members will receive a 25% bonus. Members who fly five more qualifying segments between Oct. 1 and Dec. 15 than they did during the same period last year will receive the bonus, except that elite-level members who flew at least 50 segments during the 1995 period need only to match that to earn the 50% bonus.
Kiwi International Air Lines has named Stanley Brown VP-marketing and business development to fill the position left vacant when Tad Hutcheson resigned.
Transportation Trades Department, which represents all transportation workers, plans underscore the records of President Clinton and Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole in its position on ssues important to workers in the runup to the November election. Convening for its annual fall policy meeting, the TTD's executive committee said it would work to stop assaults on employee protections and block proposals to privatize airports.
Airports Council International-North America is pressing DOT to move beyond its current exploratory effort and actively pursue open skies pacts with like-minded Asian nations. "We are pleased to hear that the U.S. government is actively exploring the concept of open skies with selected Asia/Pacific countries," said ACI-NA President David Plavin in a letter to DOT Secretary Federico Pena. "However, while the U.S. continues to test the temperature of the water, we strongly urge it to finally take the plunge," he said. "U.S.
Spirit Airlines pilots voted in favor of representation by the Air Line Pilots Association. The National Mediation Board, which counted ballots from 86 pilots eligible to vote, found that 60% of them voted for ALPA. Spirit, based in East Pointe, Mich., operates 11 DC-9s.
British Airways, accelerating the restructuring begun under former Chairman Colin Marshall, will reducing its staff by as many as 5,000, change employee skills, enlarge its customer service staff, alter its alliance strategy, outsource some of the work currently done by divisions and reduce its annual costs by #1 billion, or $1.6 billion, over three years. "Some jobs will go, others will be outsourced and some will be relocated," said BA Chief Executive Bob Ayling, who noted that he "does not expect wholesale job loss."
TWA is predicting lower third quarter pre-tax results, mainly due to lower yields during July and August. The airline cited a loss in premium-fare international bookings and lower September bookings overall, following the July 17 crash of Flight 800, as the chief reason for the reduced earnings. It said, however, that it has not observed a negative impact on fourth- quarter bookings.
The House and Senate yesterday approved the conference report on the fiscal 1997 DOT appropriations bill (H.R.3675), sending it to President Clinton for enactment. The bill includes $8.337 billion for FAA (DAILY, Sept. 13). Also yesterday, the House passed 401-to-4 legislation (H.R.3923) on assisting families of aviation disaster victims (DAILY, Sept. 13).
U.S. domestic air fares continue to fluctuate as more carriers announce fall sales, many of them specialized, short-term promotions. Northwest yesterday extended its fall fare sale to most domestic cities, Hawaii, and some points in Europe and Canada. USAir is offering up to 45% off excursion fares through Feb. 13. Among the lowest roundtrips are Boston- Denver, $364, Charlotte-Houston, $272, and Pittsburgh-Albuquerque, $359. The fares require a seven- or 21-day advance purchase, depending on the market. Tickets must be purchased by Sept. 30.
India's state-owned domestic carrier Indian Airlines announced an average 16.3% increase in fares on all domestic routes, effective Sept. 22, an IA spokesman said Monday. The hike is expected to trigger similar fare increases by the seven major private carriers operating in the country. The increase is IA's 10th in six years.
Some carriers are blunting regional fuel price spikes with "tankering" programs, in which they carry more fuel than is necessary on flights to cities where fuel costs are high. Delta is installing a new computer system to improve a tankering program that already saves it millions of dollars per year.
Continental is urging DOT to grant LanChile's application to provide all- cargo service at Buenos Aires only through Nov. 30 and to defer action on the remainder of the request. The Chilean carrier is seeking an exemption to serve Buenos Aires on flights between Santiago, Chile, and points in the U.S. LanChile is authorized to serve. As it did in the case of Fast Air's bid to serve Buenos Aires on its Chile-U.S.
The FAA task force formed after the ValuJet crash called yesterday for tightening certificate application procedures and increasing surveillance of new carriers. Headed by Deputy Administrator Linda Daschle and tasked to report in 90 days, the task force made 30 recommendation in six general areas, beginning with rigorous enforcement of DOT and FAA airline application procedures.
Air Transport Association has promoted Richard Carlson to managing director-international affairs from director-international programs. The association also announced Phil Boughton's appointment to VP-engineering, maintenance and material from director-aircraft systems engineering. Carlson will represent ATA's members on inter-governmental civil aviation issues, including bilateral negotiations and user charges, and as airline representative on international delegations dealing with foreign and domestic policies and procedures.
SAS this week celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first transatlantic flight. Attending the gala event in New York were the two original pilots who flew the SAS DC-4 with 28 passengers on a 27-hour flight Sept. 17, 1946, from Stockholm via Copenhagen, Prestwick and Gander to New York Municipal Airport, now LaGuardia.
