Summer doldrums appear to have overtaken regional airline stocks in June, with the average price per share for the nine issues dropping by 16 cents to $13.30. It was the first dip of the average since January, having climbed nearly $5 per share since then - until June, that is. Overall market value of the nine stocks increased, however, by $28 million to nearly $3 billion. Delta Connection Atlantic Southeast led gainers with a $1.75 hike to $28.25, beating fellow Delta partner Comair's 75-cent gain to $27.
Dornier Luftfahrt, the 80/20 joint venture between Fairchild Aircraft and Daimler-Benz Aerospace, has acted swiftly to consolidate and reduce costs in the Do 328 high-speed turboprop program by hiring as president Jim Robinson, former president of Learjet and AlliedSignal Engines. Robinson is reputed for his skills in the consolidation of businesses and in eliminating unnecessary costs in the production process. His mission, he said, is to "stop the bleeding" at Dornier and restore the company to profitability. He is based in Germany...
Delta connection carrier Comair has added jet flights from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale, New Orleans and Nashville, offering an additional daily roundtrip in each market with 50-passenger Canadair Jets. Comair also will add a fourth daily roundtrip between Orlando and Melbourne and upgrade a flight between Orlando and Sarasota to a 30-passenger Embraer Brasilia aircraft.
Granted orally to Bay Air Cargo an exemption to conduct all-cargo charter service between a point or points in Brazil and a point or points in the U.S., and other charters. The authority is limited to operations conducted under a wet-lease arrangement between Bay Air Cargo and a duly authorized and properly supervised U.S. or foreign air carrier....Granted orally to American authority to operate scheduled combination service between Chicago and Budapest on a nonstop basis, and on a one-stop basis via the intermediate points Frankfurt, Zurich or Vienna.
Mediated contract negotiations between American and the Allied Pilots Association resume tomorrow in Orlando. As evidence of continuing acrimony between the two sides, the union said last week the company is violating the existing contract. It filed eight grievances and told its members the only pressure on American to negotiate will be the threat that the National Mediation Board will impose a cooling-off period.
Northwest has filed a complaint against Japan under the International Air Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act. "Northwest is one of the airlines originally authorized to operate under the U.S.-Japan bilateral, and, as such, has the right to serve points of its choosing beyond Japan," the carrier noted. "However, Japan has elected not to allow Northwest to operate Seattle-Osaka-Jakarta service," planned for July 1. "By refusing to authorize the service...Japan has failed to honor its bilateral commitments."
The U.S. is looking again at liberalizing relations with Asia/Pacific countries, including Malaysia, South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan and Singapore. On Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor's recent trip to Asia, U.S. officials held exploratory talks with their Malaysian and Korean counterparts. Beyond aviation liberalization, the goal is to improve relations among the Asia/Pacific countries as well as with the U.S.
Some FAA units are not coordinating their research with the Human Factors Division, even though the division is "primarily responsible for allocating and coordinating" FAA resources for work involving human factors, the General Accounting Office found. GAO commented, however, that the "organizational structure for FAA's work on human factors is still evolving," and it is "too soon to evaluate the effectiveness" of FAA's procedures for incorporating human factors considerations throughout the agency.
Both traffic and capacity fell for Alaska Air Group subsidiary Horizon Air last month - revenue passenger miles dropped to 73 million from 75 million in June 1995, and available seat miles declined 2.3% to 120 million from the prior period's 123 million. Load factor fell 0.3 points to 60.6% from 60.9%. Enplanements dropped to 320,000 from 342,300.
General Electric Aircraft Engine said FAA has certified its GE90-92B at 92,000 pounds takeoff thrust, "making it the highest-thrust engine ever certified by the FAA." The certification means flight testing of the 777- 200IGW (increased gross weight) aircraft can begin in September. GE said the engine will the first certified for aircraft's operating range of 7,200 nautical miles. It will be derated to 90,000 pounds when it enters service with British Airways early next year.
Diagnostic/Retrieval Systems promoted Nancy Pitek to VP-finance. $end 33 NAMES IN AVIATION: Industry FlightSafety International FlightSafety International named Don Roney manager-FlightSafety Learning Center at San Antonio and Tim Fallon regional marketing manager-maintenance training, a new position.
European governments should sell their ownership of aerospace companies to clear the way for creation of large private companies that can compete head to head with U.S. and emerging Asian competitors, according to Donald Spiers, president of the U.K.'s Royal Aeronautical Society.
One of the next steps in the eight-year-old effort to develop common U.S.- Europe civil airworthiness standards will involve the design and testing of hydraulic systems. FAA is asking for comments on its harmonization proposal by Oct. 1.
Fokker Services, the surviving maintenance unit of the bankrupt Dutch aircraft manufacturer, signed a memorandum of understanding with Merpati Nusantara Airlines to look into the creation of a company in Indonesia to maintain Merpati's Fokker fleet. Fokker Services said it is holding talks aimed at reaching similar agreements with other airlines in Asia and the Americas. Merpati operates 46 Dutch aircraft, mainly Fokker 27s and Fokker 28s.
As airlines forge more international alliances, so do the airline's unions. The Air Line Pilots Association unit at United has signed a letter of understanding that calls for closer cooperation with its counterparts at Lufthansa.
Eurowings, Germany's major regional airline, announced record net profits following two years of losses after it was formed in the merger of RFG and NFD. The airline recorded net profits of 2.1 million Deutschmarks - about US$1.38 million - for the year ended Dec. 31, 1995, as revenues increased 30% to DM410 million - about $269 million. The results represent a turnaround of almost DM10 million, following losses of DM7.7 million in 1994.
AMR Eagle is eyeing development of up to 15 or 16 loading bridges at Chicago O'Hare's Concourse G designed for its ATR 42/72 turboprops. Passengers currently must use stairwells for access. Responding to passenger gripes, Eagle already has developed adapters for existing loading bridges throughout its system to provide direct access to the ATRs. The approximately $11 million Chicago project will give turboprop passengers, for the first time, loading bridge access to aircraft at both ends of the trip. The project could begin this fall.
FAA said it fined Delta $650,000 for operating a Boeing 757 on 476 scheduled flights without conducting an engine thrust reverser inspection mandated after the Lauda Air accident, in which the thrust reversers deployed in flight. The agency said its airworthiness directive required a modification of the thrust reversers by installing an additional locking feature, plus inspections after every 1,000 flight hours. The locking features prevent the thrust reversers from deploying in flight.
...Robinson, who is receiving "a piece of the company" for his efforts, said the 30-passenger 328 is a good product, but that the current work force of 2,600 at Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich, must be reduced by at least 1,000 as "the first piece of business." The second is the planned stretch of the aircraft to 50 passengers, a commitment made to customers by Carl Albert, chairman of Fairchild and Dornier. In addition, the stand-up cabin 19- passenger Metro likely will be developed at Dornier, where engineering is a strong point.
National Business Aircraft Association has selected Ralph Michalka, of Parmcia Upjohn, to receive its 1996 Maintenance Technician of the Year and Flight Instructor of the Year awards.
U.S. and France agreed to meet again in the fall after completing two days of exploratory talks last Wednesday. The U.S. is scheduled to meet early in August for negotiations with Pakistan, in which the two sides are expected to consider modernizing the current agreement but stop well short of open skies.
