A ValuJet flight attendant and Association of Flight Attendants union leader will talk about the working conditions of the carrier's 600 flight attendants tonight at the AFL-CIO's Town Hall Meeting in Atlanta. The meeting is scheduled at 6 p.m. at the IBEW Auditorium on Pulliam St. as part of the America Needs a Raise campaign. The AFA said some ValuJet flight attendants make $12,000 a year, are not guaranteed raises and have no paid sick leave or vacation.
Greenwich Air Services said it has completed the $231.5 million purchase of Aviall's domestic and foreign commercial engine services operations. The cash transaction was financed by public offerings. Greenwich Chairman Eugene Conese said the purchase "made our company the largest, most diversified independent gas turbine engine repair and overhaul organization in the world." Greenwich now can provide repair and overhaul services for all the major original equipment engine manufacturers, he said. This includes 14 engine lines and 50 engine models.
American and British Airways unveiled the terms of their commercial alliance yesterday, detailing plans to code share on many flights, merge their frequent flyer programs and take other steps to integrate their cargo and passenger operations. As expected, the pact is premised on immunity from U.S. antitrust laws, which in turn requires an open skies aviation treaty between the U.S. and the U.K. Both carriers said yesterday they have encouraged their governments to seek such an agreement quickly.
Delta said yesterday that on July 11 it will redeem all outstanding shares of its Series C convertible preferred stock and related depository shares. As of yesterday, there were about 22,995 shares of Series C convertible preferred stock and 22.99 million depository shares. Each depository share is equal to 1/1,000 of a share of Series C convertible preferred stock. The move will save $80 million in annual preferred dividend payments, the carrier said. Each depository share will be redeemed for 0.7605 shares of Delta common stock.
Crash of a ValuJet DC-9 even while the carrier was undergoing intensive FAA surveillance "underscored what we have known for some time - that even heightened surveillance is not going to be enough to prevent every accident," according to FAA Administrator David Hinson. "What the times require is a fundamental change in the FAA's primary mode of intervention - from regulation and inspection to risk management and collaborative problem solving," Hinson said.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund Income Statement October 1, 1995 - February 29, 1996 Current Month RECEIPTS (Revenues) Revenues: Excise Taxes (Transferred from General Fund): Liquid Fuel other than Gas $ (6,513,000.00) Transportation by Air, Seats, Berths, etc. (351,712,000.00)
Bedek Aviation of Israel has received a UPS contract to convert two 747- 200s from passenger airplanes into freighters. The conversion will include a side cargo door. The contract is valued at up to $30 million.
Raytheon and Telephonics have joined with local partners in India to bid for a 5 billion rupee (US$142.8 million) project to set up a satellite- based networking system for 89 airports countrywide on a build-and-transfer basis, civil aviation ministry officials said this week. Raytheon has tied up with the Tata Group of companies, and Telephonics and Ispat Group have formed a joint-venture company, Ispat Telephonics, to bid on the project, ministry sources said. Other contenders include the Mumbai-based Mittal Group.
Frontier Airlines flew 148% more revenue passenger miles in May, 60.2 million, than in May 1995. Capacity rose 81.3% to 99.1 million available seat miles, and the load factor grew from 44.5% to 60.8%. Frontier nearly doubled the number of passengers it carried during the month, to 87,471 from 44,036. For the first five months of the year, traffic rose 161.2% to 302.6 million RPMs from 115,852, and ASMs increased 88.4% to 496.2 million from 263.4 million.
Kiwi International Air Lines will open on June 18 the Kiwi Travel Store, its first consumer ticketing office, in Atlanta. Customers will be able to make reservations and pick up tickets, and the facility will provide office space for sales staff. Tad Hutcheson, VP-marketing and business development, said, "Kiwi is the sixth largest carrier at Hartsfield International, and we've had great consumer demand for this type of facility for some time."
Fokker delivered its first Fokker 60 Utility aircraft Monday to the Royal Netherlands Air Force, which accepted two of four it has on order. The Fokker 60 is a stretched Fokker 50 propjet designed for multi-purpose transport uses.
TriStar Airlines and Eagle Canyon have signed a joint marketing, ticketing and baggage agreement for tour service to the Grand Canyon. TriStar operates daily flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Las Vegas, and Eagle Canyon offers tour flights to the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas, including ground tours. Passengers arriving in Las Vegas on TriStar will be escorted from Eagle's ticket counter by carrier representatives to the new Las Vegas Executive Air Terminal, or they will be picked up at their hotel by Eagle tour buses.
The National Transportation Safety Board ended its salvage and recovery work yesterday in the Florida Everglades at the site of the May 11 crash of a ValuJet DC-9 following the recovery of about 75% of the wreckage and the identification of 36 crash victims thus far. NTSB Chairman Jim Hall told a news conference in Miami that investigators' activity at the site for a month was an "unparalleled effort" to recover evidence, and that the board hopes it will enable analysts to determine the probable cause of the crash.
Federal Express Corp. has awarded two contracts to Hewlett-Packard for Intel and UNIX system computing products. Hewlett Packard desktop PCs will become one of the standards for high-volume customers using FedEx Powership automated shipping systems, Hewlett Packard said. Powership is a package tracking system used by FedEx customers that also prepares customized management reports.
AirTran Airways clocked 83.7 million revenue passenger miles in May, a 217% increase over May 1995 while it flew 163% more capacity. Available seat miles totaled 124.9 million, up from 47.6 million. The load factor increased 11.5 points to 67%. AirTran carried 96,188 passengers during the month. For the first five months, RPMs rose 287% to 419.6 million as ASMs increased 209% to 613.6 million and the load factor jumped 13.7 points to 68.4%. Boardings grew 321% to 476,113. AirTran will accept its 11th 737- 200 in July.
Canadian Airlines International has signed a three-year contract with Pepsi-Cola Canada Beverages to serve the soft drink maker's products on its flights. Under the pact, which includes a two-year extension option, Pepsi will supply the airline with 250,000 cases of soft drink per year, including Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, 7-Up and 7-Up light. The deal took effect yesterday. As part of the pact, Pepsi has produced 10 million cans of soda showing the Canadian and Pepsi logos.
American Trans Air said yesterday it will add four destinations to its route map this summer, with nonstop flights from Orlando to Nassau and Montego Bay and direct flights from Orlando to San Diego and Seattle.
Northwest has asked DOT for exemptions to operate scheduled combination service from Detroit to Providenciales, Turks&Caicos Islands, and Antigua and Barbuda islands. The carrier proposes weekly service in both markets, using Airbus A320 aircraft in the former and Boeing 757s in the latter. Northwest also wants to operate service weekly A320 service between Minneapolis/St.Paul and San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. All the services are scheduled to begin Dec. 21. (Dockets OST-96-1439, OST-96-1440&OST-96-1441)
In a major cabinet reshuffle Taiwan's president Lee Teng-hui has named Tsai Chao-yang to succeed Liu Chao-shiuan as minister of transportation and communications. Tsai formerly served as deputy min-ister under Liu. Until recently, Liu had been expected to stay on as minister of transportation and communications in the new cabinet formed by President Lee following his re-election.
GE Engine Services said yesterday it was awarded a five-year contract valued at more than $60 million by the Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Co. on behalf of Gulf Air. GE Engine Services will maintain CFM56 engines that power 14 Airbus A320 and six A340-300 aircraft in Gulf Air's fleet. The work will be performed at GE facilities in Wales under a program that provides support at a flat rate per flying hour. GE says this enables customers to forecast expenses and manage costs better.
Computer reservations system fees have risen 211% in the past five years and are one of the main drivers of distribution costs, Delta Executive VP- Marketing Bob Coggin told business executives in Atlanta. Just as it did by introducing caps on travel agent commissions, Delta is exploring ways to reduce CRS fees through new technology, such as the Internet, and wants to offer electronic ticketing on all domestic flights by yearend. Distribution costs for the industry totaled $12.6 billion last year, or 18.6% of total costs, he said.
Another low-cost startup with ties to the U.S. plans to establish itself in Europe. Debonair intends to start flying from London Luton Airport next week with five BAe 146s. The airline will be run by Franco Mancassola, a principal of defunct Discovery Airways, launched in Hawaii in 1988. Jonathan Ornstein, another U.S. airline veteran, recently launched Virgin Atlantic's low-cost operation on the Continent.
Amadeus Global Travel Distribution has launched new fare displays that expand the number of columns in the first screen to include data on penalties, taxes, travel dates and days. Amadeus said the change to its Central System is one of the most significant enhancements it has made since the system became operational in January 1992. Separately, the company said it has been named the preferred CRS of SRG International, a global travel management company headquartered in France.
