FAA has begun a crackdown on airline contract maintenance programs, widely anticipated following the ValuJet crash on May 11, and top agency officials have sent out orders to its principal inspectors of airlines and notices to the airlines themselves.
Canada's Department of Public Works and Government Services plans to contract for an architecture study to see whether Canada should develop its own Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) for Global Positioning System signals. Open issues include whether Canada should have its own master station, independent of FAA's.
Cathay Pacific recently finished installing economy-class personal television systems in a 747-300, the first aircraft in a two-year upgrade estimated at $150 million fleetwide. On a lesser scale, Cathay is installing cappuccino/espresso machines on its A340-300s and 747-400s this month for business- and first-class passengers.
Delta, which has been setting boarding records throughout its system this spring, set another July 7 in Cincinnati with 24,173 passengers and broke it the following day with 24,300.
Aeromexico has applied for renewal of its exemption to operate scheduled combination service between Cancun, Mexico, on the one hand, and Atlanta and Los Angeles, on the other. The carrier operates weekly Cancun- Los Angeles nonstops but currently serves the Cancun-Atlanta market via Mexico City. It said, however, it wants "to continue to have the flexibility to institute direct service when market conditions warrant." (Docket OST-95-263)
European Regional Airlines Association appointed Andrew Clarke manager-air transport policy. Helicopter Association International elected Rod Kvamme, Heli-Jet Corp., chairman.
The proposed British Airways-American alliance may reduce competition and spur higher prices, according to a TWA-sponsored study conducted by GRA Inc. TWA sent the study last week to the U.K. Office of Fair Trading with a letter from Jeffrey Erickson, president and CEO, urging the British government to postpone its investigation of the alliance until competition is restored in the U.S.-U.K. market (DAILY, July 12). "A key question is the extent to which there will be economic costs due to the market power created by the alliance," according to the study.
Vanguard Airlines, one and a half years old, said its traffic more than tripled in June, to 72.8 million revenue passenger miles from June 1995's 22.7 million. The load factor was Vanguard's highest ever, 72.6%. Although passenger revenues totaled $7.1 million, up from $2.9 million, Chairman Bob McAdoo said the carrier discounted fares more than it would have liked. "Our business continues to suffer from the public reaction to the press coverage related to the tragic ValuJet accident," he said.
Adoption of proposed aviation whistleblower legislation (H.R.3187) would help a budget-constrained FAA enforce safety regulations on increasing airline operations, particularly those of low-cost new entrants, unions told Congress last week. Although witnesses at a House Transportation aviation subcommittee addressed elements of the bill in their prepared remarks, discussion centered more on conflicts within the flight attendant work force at ValuJet than on the merits of the bill itself.
AAR Corp. selected David Storch to succeed Ira Eichner as chief executive officer. Atlantic Aviation appointed Fred Escheu manager-aircraft support service sales, Aircraft Services Division. CIT Group/Capital Equipment Financing promoted Kathleen Park to VP- aerospace. FlightSafety International named Don Roney manager-Learning Center in San Antonio and Tim Fallon regional marketing manager-maintenance training on the West Coast, a new position. ITS named Hovav Frenkel chief security officer.
Aeroperu appointed Magda Granda assistant to the regional sales manager-Southeast AirWays Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Swenson was named to the additional positions of president and chief executive of its AirTran Airways unit. American Airlines Cargo named Wayne Zimmerman mana-ger-cargo operations in Miami and Steve Brno manager-cargo operations in Los Angeles. China Airlines named H.H. Sun president of Formosa Airlines. Frontier named Gary Benham district sales manager.
Temporary waivers of Russia's 50% import tariff on four U.S. aircraft being operated by three Russian airlines will be made permanent this week during Moscow meetings of U.S. Vice President Gore and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. The aircraft are two McDonnell Douglas DC- 10-30s operated by KrasAir, a Boeing 737 operated by Sakhalin Air and a Boeing 757 operated by Baikal Airlines. How many U.S. aircraft will be allowed to enter the Russian market in 1997 without being subject to the tariff has not been decided.
Southwest reduced fares to $25 one way for all nonstop routes in its system for travel Aug. 19 through Oct. 31, and it made $50 one-way fares available to any destination with published direct or connecting service. Tickets must be purchased by July 23. Most of the majors matched in markets where they compete. Southwest's tickets do not require a stayover but must be purchased within one day of making reservations.
U.S. Major and National Carriers Rental Expenses First Quarter 1996 % Of Total Operating Systemwide Expenses Alaska $ 42,099,000 14.64 America West 65,834,603 17.24 American 275,460,000 8.09 Continental 159,143,000 13.48
DOT was still undecided Friday whether to testify at this week's U.K. House of Commons Transport Committee hearing on the proposed British Airways- American alliance. Testimony is unlikely - generally, the U.S. government does not participate in foreign government hearings, said a U.S. official.
Unisys Corp. is offering a customer loyalty system that will enable airlines to customize their frequent flyer programs by analyzing customer travel patterns and preferences. Carriers will have access to customer data, such as an individual customer's contribution to profits, their hobbies, interests and family and business relationships. The system is based on the Aeroplan program used by Air Canada.
DOT approved AHK Air Hong Kong's bid to conduct all-cargo scheduled service between Hong Kong and Chicago with technical stops in Japan, Korea and/or Anchorage. (Docket OST-96-1451)
Air Afrique asked DOT to renew its exemption to serve Bamako, Mali, as an intermediate point on its Abidjan-Dakar-New York service. The carrier suspended its Bamako operations in mid-1994 but said it "anticipates that it will be in a position to resume operations via Bamako later this year....No other air carrier currently provides direct service to Bamako. Thus, Air Afrique's request will enable the Company to provide the only direct service to the Mali region, with a population of over 7 million people." (Docket OST-95-350)
June was a fantastic traffic month for the four largest U.S. carriers, whose average load factor increased from 72.6% in June 1995 to 76.2% this year, according to Gruntal Investment Research's Steve Lewins. In 1991, when the industry was in the doldrums, the same four carriers' load factor was 57.3%.
U.S. Major and National Carriers Commission Expenses First Quarter 1996 % Of Total Operating Systemwide Expenses Alaska $ 19,632,000 8.34 America West 32,598,780 8.44 American 293,159,000 8.93
TACA de Honduras is seeking renewal of its authority to conduct scheduled service between San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa, La Ceiba and Roatan, Honduras, on the one hand, and the U.S. terminal points Miami, Houston and New Orleans, on the other, via the intermediate point Belize City, Belize, and to operate charters. The carrier currently offers daily roundtrip service on these routes using a wet-leased 737-200A aircraft with 125 seats. It said it will continue wet lease operations to the U.S.
AirTran Airways has reduced its fares from Orlando to 22 destinations by as much as 30% for passengers traveling between Aug. 20 and Oct. 15. Tickets must be purchased by July 31. Among one-way sale fares are $45 to Nashville, $49 to Birmingham, $59 to Knoxville and $79 to Rochester and Kansas City. No advance purchase or Saturday night stay is required.
- In Federal Register dated July 5...Superseded an airworthiness directive on Airbus A300 aircraft concerning supplemental structural inspections...Issued an AD on Boeing 747-200/300 aircraft modified under a Heath Tecna Supplemental Type Certificate to require a new hose for the oxygen supply....Issued an AD on certain Boeing 767 aircraft with Pratt&Whitney JT9D-7R4 engines to require inspection for proper clearance between the No. 18 fuel nozzle secondary transfer fuel tube and the pylon drain tube.
