There is no evidence indicating that safety will be enhanced by FAA's proposed flight and duty time rule, and the Air Freight Association will file against it by Wednesday's deadline, according to AFA President Steve Alterman. Alterman said the FAA proposal, if adopted, would go into effect in 60 days. "This would require industry to have thousands of pilots and train them during that period. Where would those pilots come from?
Apart from Continental, which said DOT should attach many restrictions to this week's strategic agreement between American and British Airways, and TWA, which put itself at the head of the line for whatever London Heathrow slots might open up as a result of it, early industry reaction was measured.
Fairchild Aircraft plans to transfer some product development work from its San Antonio headquarters to its new Dornier Luftfahrt joint venture in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, including that of its proposed stand-up-cabin Metro and a wing modification for the 19-passenger aircraft. The company also plans to reduce the 2,200-person work force to 1,200 while seeking to reduce costs and keep Do 328 production at the facility beyond 1999. Meanwhile, Daimler-Benz will pay some $460 million to Fairchild to cover current and future losses and restructuring costs.
Laker Airways will become an Airlines Reporting Corp. participant, effective June 17. ARC said Laker, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, should not be confused with Laker Airways Bahamas, which already is an ARC participant. Laker intends to start service Aug. 2 from Orlando to Prestwick, Scotland; Aug. 3 from Orlando to Manchester, England; July 5 from Fort Lauderdale to London Gatwick, and Sept. 26 from Miami to Gatwick.
J.D. Power and Associates and Frequent Flyer magazine will issue the findings of the fourth annual Airline Customer Satisfaction Study, U.S. flights, June 18 in Washington. Awards will be handed out for the top two categories - best long-flight and best short-flight service.
Southwest has extended the ticketing date for its Take Along Fares, which expired April 12, until June 26 for travel through Sept. 5. The fares allow one adult, full-fare customer traveling roundtrip to take up to three other people for $25 per person each way.
Early returns of May traffic results among regional airlines show that the point spreads between revenue passenger miles and available seat miles - traffic versus capacity - are increasing. Northwest Airlink Mesaba Holdings reported a 29.7% increase in traffic, compared with an increase in capacity of only 11.6%, a spread of 18.1 percentage points. Two carriers topped a 15-point spread.
St. George, Utah-based Delta Connection affiliate SkyWest made 119.6 million seat miles available for sale last month, a 25.1% increase from May 1995. Revenue passenger miles, meanwhile, swelled 40.4% to 61.8 million from nearly 44 million, boosting load factor for the month 5.7 percentage points to 51.7% from 46%. May 1996 May 1995 5 months 1996 5 Months 1995 RPMs 61,771,624 43,985,040 280,236,050 192,815,102 ASMs 119,595,087 95,599,919 545,576,240 423,543,426
What remains of regional manufacturer Fokker will continue to support the 1,200 Fokker aircraft "well into the next century," Fokker Services told operators in Amsterdam this week. Fokker Services is a unit of the new Fokker Aviation holding, formed by bringing together the businesses of Fokker not affected by the company's bankruptcy filing early this year.
Air Transport Association said legislation that proposes new regulations on cabin air quality is not based on any research that links the quality of cabin air with health problems reported by the Association of Flight Attendants. The bill, introduced by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), "puts the cart before the horse," ATA said. The airline association said newer aircraft exchange 100% of the air inside the cabin every two to three minutes and circulates the air through filters similar to those used in hospitals.
USAir Wednesday lowered fares by as much as 55% in more than 1,200 domestic markets, Canada and San Juan on tickets purchased by today. Travel must be completed by Sept. 30, and all travel must be round-trip and include a Saturday night stay. Some examples of the fares are $358 between Los Angeles and San Juan, $298 for Houston-Pittsburgh and $298 for San Diego- Washington National or Dulles.
Saab says it will not produce a new, larger aircraft without a partner, although recent talks with potential partners in Asia and the U.S. have not borne fruit. Internal discussions include everything from a new 30- passenger configuration to 89 passengers and both turboprop and turbofan powerplants. The company's history has been that of introducing new products every 10 years - the Saab 340 in 1984 and the Saab 2000 in 1994. That timetable would dictate a development launch decision within a year or so, but officials say there is nothing now on the plate.
Traxon, the logistics provider for Air France, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Japan Airlines, Korean Air and Lufthansa Cargo, has signed an agreement with Sita for cargo distribution in North America via the US Cargo Community System. The deal will make possible the exchange of cargo EDI messages with the major airlines represented by Traxon and bring the number of carriers connected with US-CCS to more than 60. Traxon has major distribution systems in Frankfurt, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
The Amadeus computer reservations system and Resinter, the automated reservations service for the Accor Group of hotels, have renewed their agreement to work as marketing partners. Amadeus said the goal of this year's pact is to increase significantly the number of Resinter bookings made through Amadeus, specifically in France, Germany, Spain and Thailand. The two companies will set up a Resinter-Amadeus help desk in Spain and will jointly train travel agents to make hotel bookings and provide training for Resinter sales and other staff.
With the comment deadline closing next Wednesday on FAA's flight and duty time proposal, many in industry say life-style affects pilot fatigue more than the work schedule. The following comment was filed anonymously at FAA: "The fatigue factor I see, and am concerned about, is one generated by USAir pilots living in 47 of the 48 contiguous states. For some reason, they have shunned North Dakota. We have crew bases in BOS-PIT-BWI-DCA-CLT and LAX, but no one lives there. They all commute to work and will travel anywhere to best exercise their seniority.
As New York Kennedy Airport renumbers its passenger terminals, American and American Eagle are renumbering their gates. American will operate in Terminals 8 and 9, which have been Terminal 3. American will operate international, Caribbean and Miami flights from Gates 1-10, Concourse A, and Gates 20-23, Concourse B, Terminal 8. Flights to other domestic points, Puerto Rico and Canada, and most of Eagle's flights, will operate from Terminal 9.
Hilton Hotels Corp., IBM and TelePort Corporation have unveiled a virtual conferencing TeleSuite, bringing videoconferencing to the hotel industry by enabling users to experience life-size, "virtual personal contact." The TeleSuites are in two Hilton properties - the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C. Hilton will expand the system to other hotels across the country. During the conference, all participants appear simultaneously on screen without delay, and seem to be sitting across the table from one another.
FAA, asked by Congress to compare rescue and firefighting requirements at civil facilities with those required by the military, is soliciting public comment on some of the issues involved. The agency said it has done its own studies on the requirements and responsibilities of airports and officials charged with providing rescue and firefighting service at military and civil airports.
Continental Chief Executive Gordon Bethune said yesterday the proposed alliance between British Airways and American is anti-competitive, and he pressed Continental's case for more access in regulated international markets. He likened an American-BA merger to one between American and United, which would never be allowed, and said the same prohibition should apply to American and BA.
Former FAA Administrator and NTSB member Donald Engen will be named director of the National Air and Space Museum today. Engen, who also has been president of the AOPA Air Safety Foundation, is a retired vice admiral who holds the museum's Dewitt Ramsey Chair for Naval Aviation History.
Travel and Tourism Research Association will hold its 27th annual conference June 16-19 at the Bally's Las Vegas Hotel. Sessions include standards for measuring tourism, ecotourism, the current status of the gaming industry, international tourism research and marketing to honeymooners and travelers with children.
The American Automobile Association kicked off a nationwide campaign yesterday to improve U.S. highways and airways, including a proposal to take the transportation trust funds off budget and reinstate the airline ticket tax. AAA branches will work with transportation officials and policymakers to find local solutions to problems caused by aging highways and the congested air traffic control system.
Visa and Barnett Bank of Florida are marketing Visa TravelMoney - a prepaid debit card enabling travelers to get cash anywhere in the world. TravelMoney is an electronic alternative to travelers cheques, they said, and is to be used at ATM machines. Travelers determine how much money they will need and purchase a card for that amount. The card is discarded after its prepaid value, which cannot be increased, is depleted.
Travel management firm Rosenbluth International has acquired Business Partners International, a $13.4 million travel agency in Brussels. The acquisition is Rosenbluth's sixth in a year.
French tour operator FRAM said it would purchase Air France's charter subsidiary Air Charter if the company were privatized. FRAM Chairman Georges Colson said his company would team up with other tour operators to take over Air Charter, but FRAM would hold a majority stake. Stressing that Air Charter is his company's main service provider, he said FRAM would stop cooperation with Air Charter if it were bought by a rival tour operator. FRAM posted a profit of 52.2 million French francs in 1995, down 19% from 1994, with sales totaling 2.011 billion francs, down 4.3%.
