Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chairman of the House Appropriations transportation subcommittee, last week asked the FBI, the National Transportation Safety Board and the General Accounting Office to investigate the use of suspected unapproved parts in the aviation industry and efforts by FAA to curb it.
Delta and Swissair are increasing their code-share operations to include service from Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Newark to Geneva and Zurich. On Friday, Delta began purchasing seats on Swissair's daily Boston-Zurich, five-times-weekly Los Angeles-Zurich, twice-weekly Los Angeles-Geneva- Zurich and six-times-weekly Chicago-Zurich services. Beginning July 1, Delta will buy seats on Swissair's daily Newark-Zurich service.
FAA's new personnel system is barely two months old, but members of Congress already are proposing to chip away at the agency's newfound flexibility. Rep. Stephen Buyer (R-Ind.) introduced legislation (H.R.3593) last week to require that reductions in force under the new FAA personnel management system be subject to veterans preference.
Airbus Industrie barred SabreTech, ValuJet's Miami contractor, from working on Airbus aircraft after inspecting maintenance the company performed on its customers' Airbus planes, officials of the European consortium say. Airbus took the action in April, before the ValuJet 592 crash. In general, Airbus officials say they are concerned about airlines' ability to monitor the quality of work done by contract maintenance providers.
America West reported record May traffic results of 1.3 billion revenue passenger miles, a 12.3% increase from May 1995. Available seat miles rose 9.2% and the load factor improved 1.9 points to 70.7%. For the first five months of the year, the carrier also flew a record number of RPMs, 6.1 billion, and ASMs, 8.5 billion, for a record year-to-date load factor of 71.1%.
America West stock clerks have filed authorization cards with the National Mediation Board for representation by the Teamsters. Forty stock clerks are employed at the carrier, whose mechanics won a bitter battle for representation by the Teamsters earlier this year (DAILY, April 18).
Delta has made strides lately in improving its least on-time flights. It traditionally has more egregiously late flights than other carriers and ranked 10th, 10th and ninth in DOT's on-time performance tabulations in February, March and April, respectively. But the number of Delta flights late 70% of the time or more decreased from 157 in February to 88 in March and eight in April. The number that were late 80% of the time or more went from 48 to 21 to seven.
Granted orally to Swissair an exemption to operate scheduled combination service from points behind Switzerland, via Switzerland and intermediate points, to points in the U.S....Granted orally to Aerotransportes Mas de Carga an exemption to operate scheduled all-cargo service between Cancun, Mexico, and Miami, and between Mexico City and Los Angeles...Granted orally to Midwest Express authority to operate scheduled combination service between Milwaukee and Toronto...Granted orally to Air-India renewal of its exemption to operate scheduled combination service between Ind
Atlantic Coast named Richard Kennedy general counsel and secretary. Atlas Air named former Michigan Gov. James Blanchard and newly appointed President Mickey Foret to its board. Virgin Atlantic Cargo appointed John Ryan senior VP-sales and services, the Americas.
Moody's Investors Service has placed the debt ratings of Continental on watch-list for a possible upgrade if the carrier continues to improve operations and cash flow. The review covers the senior unsecured rating of B2, subordinated rating of Caa, preferred stock rating of caa, industrial revenue bond ratings of B3, pass-through certificates series 1996 A2, Baa1, Ba1 and B1, and multiple seniority shelf ratings of (P)Ba3, (P)B2 and (P)Caa.
Northwest will test InVision CTX 5000 explosive detection systems (EDSs) at Ninoy Acquino Airport at Manila, Philippines. In a program sponsored by FAA, the airline will assess the devices in an airport operating environment, providing data and assistance to FAA for evaluation of certified EDS technology before the planned use of devices on U.S.-bound and -departing international flights. The CTX 5000 systems are to be installed at the airport early in August to screen U.S.-bound baggage.
Air Canada will increase its Toronto-Nashville service to three flights a day from two on July 8. The carrier said traffic has exceeded expectations during the two months it has been operating in the market. It said Toronto-Nashville is its 31st new route since the U.S. and Canada signed an open skies agreement 16 months ago.
Delta has received the Innovation in First and Business Class Service award from the International Inflight Food Service Association for its inflight menus. The group cited Delta's "A Taste of America's Bounty" first- and business-class menu program as being the most imaginative. As the official airline of the Olympic Games this year in Atlanta, Delta's theme has been to "introduce the world to America" through its menus. Menu entries include Oregon pan-seared salmon and Louisiana lemon pepper catfish creole.
U.S. aviation officials held informal talks with their counterparts from Portugal, Spain, Germany, France, Poland, Hungary and even the U.K. during the recent meeting of European transport ministers in Budapest. With the U.K., the U.S. reaffirmed its desire for open skies, said a U.S. official. Open skies with Hungary may be a way off. The Hungarians "are philosophically inclined toward open skies but need to clear up a number of internal corporate issues involving Malev," the official said.
DOT has issued a show cause order tentatively approving Sky Trek International Airlines' application for a certificate to operate charter service. Sky Trek plans to begin operating passenger charters in the near future using 165-seat 727-200s (DAILY, Feb 28). The carrier said it wants to take advantage of unmet demand caused by the demise of such carriers as Private Jet, Leisure Air and Grand Airways. Sky Trek plans to operate mainly domestic charters, with flights to the Caribbean and Mexico primarily on behalf of tour operators (DAILY, Jan. 8).
Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic April, 4 Months 1996 Revenue Ton-Miles (000) April April % 1996 1995 Change Domestic Freight 677,528 672,909 0.7 Mail 146,466 146,320 0.1 Total 823,994 819,229 0.6 International Freight 588,008 594,449 (1.1)
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Air Pacific plans to begin weekly nonstop flights between Vancouver and Fiji, starting Oct. 31. The new service, aimed at leisure travelers and passengers flying from Canada to Australia and New Zealand, will be operated with a 432-passenger 747.
FAA is extending to auxiliary power units its attempts to harmonize U.S. regulatory procedures and airworthiness standards with those of Canada and European trading partners. The Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee's working group on propulsion harmonization will compare procedures and standards for adequacy and technical differences.
American is scheduled to brief legislators and staff on Capitol Hill tomorrow on its potential alliance with British Airways. Chief Executive Robert Crandall filled in DOT Secretary Federico Pena on the plan last week.
American, Canadian Airlines International and their respective affiliates are urging DOT to make final its tentative approval of their bid for antitrust immunity and dismiss concerns raised by competitors. "None of the comments or objections justifies denying or delaying the public benefits that will result from the joint services to be offered by American and Canadian under their alliance agreement," American/Canadian said.
American International Freight named Gary Super marketing director- western region. Coltec Industries Canada named Roger Wright president of Menasco Aerospace, a unit of Coltec Aerospace Canada. Flight&Space magazine, to debut next year, named Donald Fink publisher and Leon Jaroff editorial director. BFGoodrich Aerospace Avionics Systems appointed David Hegg sales administrator-Business and General Aviation Sales Group.
Vanguard Airlines' traffic escalated 182% in May to 72 million revenue passenger miles from 25.5 million RPMs in May 1995. Capacity rose 92.8% to 99.6 million available seat miles from 45.4 million for a load factor gain of 14.74 points, from 56.16% to 72.23%. The carrier said its passenger revenues grew to $6.8 million during the month from $4 million in May 1995.
Hopeful new entrant SouthStar Airlines has applied for a certificate to operate scheduled combination interstate service. The Atlanta-based would- be startup proposes offering low-fare service in a number of long-haul markets, including Atlanta-New York/Los Angeles. Planning to operate Airbus A300B4 aircraft, SouthStar said it has begun negotiations with prospective lessors. The company said it would initially operate two aircraft, and add two more during the first year of operation. (Docket OST-96-1426)
