U.S. Major Carriers Pacific Share of Service, First Quarter 1996 Total Revenue Departures American 517 Delta 690 Northwest 5,678 United 5,719 Total 12,604 Average Number of Seats Per Departure American 243 Delta 264
AvAero said it has received Transport Canada certification of its 737 hushkit. WestJet of Calgary will be the first Canadian carrier to use the device.
All Nippon Airways and Air Canada launched daily code-share service Thursday between Osaka Kansai Airport and Vancouver. The service is operated on Air Canada 284-seat Airbus A340s, and ANA has a block of seats and a flight attendant on every flight. Air Canada considers the service a step in its "rapidly developing strategy to expand across the Pacific," VP- Corporate Strategy Ross MacCormack said. For ANA, it is its first to Canada and its first in a transpacific market from Osaka.
Accurate Automation Corp. has developed an aircraft for NASA and the Air Force with a computerized flight control system that learns as it flies. The experimental aircraft will be used to explore new flight control techniques involving neural networks, which enable the aircraft control system to learn by mimicking the pilot. The aircraft is a Mach 5 waverider, a hypersonic aircraft that cruises on top of its own shock wave.
Vice President Gore's Aviation Safety and Security Commission will hold its first meeting tomorrow at FAA. Members will be chosen from a group selected at the last meeting of the Aviation Safety Advisory Committee to look into aviation security. Industry officials had been concerned that Gore might go outside aviation circles for commission members.
Granted orally to American Trans Air authority to conduct scheduled foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail between Orlando, Florida, and Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands...Granted orally to Aviacion del Noroeste renewal of its exemption to engage in scheduled combination service between Mexico City (including Toluca) and San Diego and charter combination operations between Mexico and the U.S., using large equipment...Granted orally to Mexicana renewal of its exemption to conduct scheduled combination service between Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and Los Angeles...G
Avitas promoted John Vitale to VP-asset valuation, Noel Petrie to asset valuation analyst and Kevin Archambault to manager-technical projects, and appointed John Elias manager-technical services.
TWA President Jeffrey Erickson has told employees it is time to resume normal operations following the Flight 800 tragedy. The carrier's flights are full, he says, and its first Boeing 757, delivered on schedule but without the planned hoopla, was put in service between St. Louis and Orange County.
Regional airline industry continued its record growth in the first quarter as revenue passenger miles increased nearly 25% to 3.3 billion, according to a survey by the Regional Airline Association. The number of passengers jumped more than 20% to 14.4 million, and the average load factor rose 11.8 percentage points to 51%.
BWIA International Airways installed Gilles Filiatreault as chief executive last week with the mission of turning the carrier around in what it termed the "shortest possible time-frame." Filiatreault is assigned to make BWIA more efficient and profitable, with better operational reliability and managerial accountability. After many years at Air Canada, Quebecair and Air Alliance, Filiatreault joined LIAT in 1994 with the aim of initiating a privatization plan by the end of 1995. He implemented a restructuring plan within six weeks.
- In Federal Register dated July 29...Issued special conditions on Embraer 145 aircraft...Issued an AD on certain Airbus A320-200 aircraft requiring modification of the shock absorber subassembly of the main landing gear...
The Securities and Exchange Commission has declared effective Hawaiian Airlines' amended registration statement for the issue of 12.1 million shares of common stock to be made available in the company's upcoming rights and investor offerings, the carrier said Friday. Hawaiian reset the subscription price at $3.25 per share and the rights offering record date at Aug. 7, 1996. The subscription price represents a 30% discount on the average closing price of Hawaiian common stock on the American Stock Exchange over a period of 30 consecutive days ending July 25.
SAS Commuter ordered four new Saab 2000 jetprop regional aircraft and took an option for two more. Saab plans to deliver two of the aircraft in February and two more in April. SAS Commuter will use them on its Swedish routes from Arlando to Kalmar, Ronneby, Vaxjo, Karlstad, Kristianstad and Skelleftea, and from Arlando to the Finnish destinations of Tampere, Vaasa and Turku.
The Transportation Department will review "promptly" agreements by airlines to drop the $75,000 liability limit on passengers injured or killed on international flights to and from the U.S., Secretary Federico Pena said. The administration "commends the airlines for using the tools that we gave them" - an immunity order that allowed carriers to discuss the liability limits - "to produce these agreements," Pena said.
Taiwan's Health Department says drinking water served on aircraft leaving the island may not be safe. Of 133 samples of drinking water taken from flights departing Chiang Kai-shek Airport for Southeast Asia, 18 failed to meet the department's hygiene standards. On flights from Kaohsiung Hsiaokang Airport, six of 11 samples flunked.
Digital Automatic Termination Information Service was commissioned last week at the Houston Intercontinental Airport tower by FAA's Aeronautical Data Link Integrated Product Team. Plans call for the service to be available at 56 more airports by the end of the year, according to Arinc, which developed the application as part of the Tower Data Link Services system for FAA to provide messages to pilots via data link in addition to voice communications. Tower Data Link Services are operational at 55 airports in the U.S.
McDonnell Douglas can expect a long-awaited earnings boost in the third quarter from settlement of an eight-year dispute with the U.S. Navy over a training aircraft contract. The Navy will pay the company $209 million by the end of September, for a net of $169 million, or about four cents per share, after taxes and paying off suppliers. MDC got about 93% of what it sought.
Nine regional airline stocks fell by an average of 11% during July, from $13.05 at the June market close to $11.61 Wednesday. The average price per share dipped as low as $11.14 on July 15. Only one of the nine issues was in positive territory for the month. United Express Atlantic Coast Airlines stock rose $1.81 per share to $14.88. Independent Air L.A. was unchanged at nine cents per share. Taking the biggest hit was Delta Connection Atlantic Southeast, which tumbled $4.63 to $23.63 per share.
Mesa Air Group Inc. reported record operating earnings per share during the June quarter - 29 cents, reflecting a total of $17.3 million - before taking a $3 million charge for returning two Fokker 70 aircraft to the bankrupt Dutch manufacturer. The quarter, the third in Mesa's fiscal year, brought $8.4 million in net earnings, up from $3.6 million during the year-earlier period, on the strength of $130.2 million in operating revenues, up 10.5%, and operating expenses of $113 million, up 2%. The 1996 quarter earnings and expense data exclude the Fokker charge.
Air Transport Association is advocating DOT approval of an agreement among member carriers to ensure that passengers "will be fairly and fully compensated for losses." ATA President Carol Hallett said ATA has worked for years to modernize and reform the international air travel liability system. Both ATA and the International Air Transport Association filed documents asking DOT to increase liability caps (DAILY, July 31).
