Mountain West and WestAir pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Association conducted informational picketing at Denver, Los Angeles and Seattle airports. The pilots of the Mesa Air Group divisions, which operate as United Express, have been in contract negotiations for more than a year.
The Delta Master Executive council, a unit of the Air Line Pilots Association at Delta, Friday elected Capt. Dennis Dolan chairman and First Officer James Stava vice chairman. First Officer Robert McCallum was re- elected secretary/treasurer. The officials will serve two-year terms, effective immediately.
American's AAdvantage Funds are being offered through Fidelity Investments. Individual investors, financial advisers and 401K plan participants can access the low-cost mutual funds - AAdvantage Growth and Income, Balanced, International Equity and Limited-Term Income - through a Fidelity account.
Although the U.S. and the U.K. did not schedule further negotiations when last week's meetings ended, the talks have not broken down, a U.S. official said. The U.S. plans to see what happens during the next couple of weeks, when the two sides exchange information or working papers, before figuring out when to meet again.
Reversing itself, Indonesia approved United's proposed service to that country from Osaka late last week. The carrier still needs clearance from Japan for the fifth-freedom service.
Canadian Air Cargo and American Airlines Cargo have signed an alliance, effective Sept. 1, that will link their Canadian and U.S. hubs. Canadian Air Cargo will act as general sales agent for American Airlines Cargo in Canada, and American will act as the Canadian carrier's agent in most of the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. Discussions relating to Europe and other points are continuing. The alliance creates a network of more than 420 destinations.
Canadian Airlines and British Airways will expand their code-sharing service between western Canada and London this fall. BA will place its code on Canadian's daily DC-10 flights from Calgary to London beginning Sept. 9. On Oct. 27, Canadian will code share on BA 747 nonstops to London from Vancouver, Canadians first daily nonstops in the market and the only flights in the market with first-class service. In September, Canadian will offer connecting service to London through Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto from Victoria, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Ottawa.
The new Tourism Industries office in the U.S. Commerce Department predicts 15.01 million Canadians will visit the U.S. in 1997, 15.38 million in 1998 and 15.54 million in 1999. A story in The DAILY's Travel&Tourism supplement gave incorrect numbers (DAILY, Aug. 1).
Emery Worldwide said it has acquired the Finnish multi-modal forwarding and transport company Finncargo Services Ltd. The division, based at Helsinki's International Airport, will operate as Emery Worldwide (Finland).
The House on Friday overwhelmingly passed anti-terrorism legislation (H.R.3953) that would direct FAA to deploy commercially available explosives detection devices on an interim basis while it develops a fully certified system. FAA would be required to issue regulations increasing security standards on passenger aircraft having fewer than 61 seats. The bill also would authorize more rigorous background checks on security screening personnel and would require FAA to establish performance standards for security personnel. Other aviation-related provisions would:
American said Friday its revenue passenger miles grew 1.6% in July from the same 1995 month, giving it a 2.6% increase for the first seven months. Capacity dropped 2.7% for the month, producing a 3.2-percentage-point increase in load factor. The rise in the domestic load factor was 5.1 points. Domestic traffic growth was strong at 4.9%, but international traffic fell 4.9%. Atlantic RPMs were down 13.3% - a slightly greater drop than the 12.5% decrease in capacity in the Atlantic market. Pacific traffic dropped 3.8%, while Latin American traffic grew 4.1%.
Charter operators are expressing "mass confusion over items such as the conditions of the North American Free Trade Agreement," prompting the National Air Transportation Association to schedule a conference on NAFTA and other issues, VP Andy Cebula said. The conference is scheduled Sept. 19-20 at the Sheraton Grand Hotel at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, with presentations from FAA, Customs, the National Transportation Safety Board and top aviation officials from Mexico.
American requested authority to operate combination service between Dallas/Fort Worth and San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. Beginning Nov. 1, the carrier proposes providing nonstop service six days a week on the route, using 139-seat MD-80 aircraft. "Since no other U.S. carrier presently operates between Dallas/Fort Worth and San Jose del Cabo, American's proposed service is consistent with the governing bilateral agreement," said American, noting that the bilateral allows one U.S. carrier to be authorized for service in any single U.S.-Mexico city-pair.
Worldspan will handle some of Microsoft's transaction processing as well as making its database on airline schedules, fares and available to the software giant as part of the companies' online alliance, the computer reservations system told DOT. Microsoft will reformat the database for its online travel booking product, which is meant to be user friendly to the public. Worldspan provides services to travel professionals with specialized training.
International airlines, including those of South Korea, will be able to "regularly use" the airspace of North Korea, beginning in December, according to the International Air Transport Association. Airlines can expect to save about $125 million a year because of the shorter flights, IATA said. North Korea signed the International Civil Aviation Organization's International Air Services Transit Agreement in February 1995, after which it began negotiations with IATA. IATA said it played a crucial role in assisting North Korea to implement the agreement technically.
The House Friday gave its final approval to legislation that will re-enact the aviation excise taxes, and the Senate was expected to follow suit Friday night (DAILY, Aug. 2). The reinstatement through Dec. 31, is included in the conference report on the small-business tax relief bill (H.R.3448), and the revenue is counted as an offset to tax cuts elsewhere in the legislation. President Clinton is expected to sign the legislation, which includes a popular 90-cent-an-hour increase in the minimum wage.
Joyce Fleischman was formally appointed acting inspector general at DOT Thursday (DAILY, Aug. 1), filling the vacancy created by the resignation July 3 of Mary Schiavo. A lawyer with 17 years' experience in federal inspector general offices and currently deputy IG at the Agriculture Department, Fleischman will move to DOT Aug. 12. She has previously worked at the Energy and Interior departments and the Federal Labor Relations Board.
Flying High: The Story of Boeing and the Growth of the Jetliner Industry by Eugene Rodgers. The biography of a premier U.S. company that reflects the changes in American business in the 20th century. Atlantic Monthly Press; $25 paper. For more information, call 212-614-7850.
Parker Bertea promoted Bob Barker to group VP-flight control and hydraulic systems operation, Frank Nichols to group VP-fluid management and control systems operation and Ed Arnold to group VP-marketing.
McGraw-Hill Aviation Week Group will host an electronic conference on FAA's Global Analysis and Information Network (GAIN) tomorrow at 9 p.m. EDT on CompuServe. Christopher Hart, FAA assistant administrator for system safety, will be the guest. To participate, key in Go Conference.
Reno Air plans to begin daily seasonal flights to Durango, Colo., from Albuquerque Dec. 19, with continuing service to Los Angeles. The advance- purchase Albuquerque-Durango fare will be $59 one way. On Oct. 1, Reno Air will add a third daily flight from Reno/Tahoe to Denver and to Colorado Springs, a fourth daily flight between San Jose and Las Vegas, and a second and third daily roundtrip between Portland and Seattle.
