World Airways selected EDS to provide its Shares reservations system, which will support World's launch of scheduled flights between 10 U.S. cities and nine European destinations this summer. The system, an inventory management and control tool, connects with major travel agency distribution systems. EDS said the system will enable World to determine the optimum balance between yield and load factor on each flight.
Sabre Travel Information Network introduced Sabre for Windows 95 and Pentium-based hardware for travel agents. ``Sabre for Windows 95 provides the highest performance for the lowest cost of any computer reservations system -- some agencies are going to see a cost savings of as much as 50% depending on their current system configuration,'' said Jeff Katz, president of STIN. The Windows 95 platform enables agencies to create systems that cater to their particular businesses.
American and United, in a joint letter, are urging Illinois lawmakers to oppose a bill that proposes to draw $30 million each year from Chicago O'Hare Airport for a suburban noise commission, thus putting "increased pressures" on carriers that "could lead to higher ticket prices."
ValuJet may have to lay off employees because of its reduced flight schedule, airline President Lewis Jordan said yesterday. The airline also held out the possibility that it will offer workers voluntary leave in order to decrease the size of its payroll. Last week, the carrier announced plans to cut its flight schedule in half during an intensive safety inspection being conducted by FAA in the wake of the crash of Flight 592 into the Florida Everglades on May 11.
RAA kicked off a "Plane Sense" public relations campaign during its convention this week to help improve the public image of the regional airline industry. The Washington, D.C., firm Ogilvy Adams&Rinehart, which conducted focus group research on industry attitudes last fall, developed the campaign to enable airlines and other travel professionals to promote the industry.
Alitalia's plan for restructuring and a state-aided capital injection includes the transfer in 1999 of most of its long-haul flight operations from Rome to Malpensa Airport near Milan. The move is an attempt to recover from erosion in what the carrier considers its natural clientele - affluent northern Italians who are increasingly beginning foreign trips from Switzerland and Germany instead of Italy.
U.S. National Carriers Operating Revenues and Expenses The Year 1995 Operating Operating Revenues Expenses (000) (000) The Year 1995 Alaska $ 1,162,878 $ 1,090,454 American Trans Air 690,247 675,034 Carnival 244,394 237,387
Top Regional Aircraft 1995 (By Total Seats) Total Aircraft In Airline Total Rank Manufacturer Model Service 1/ Seats 1 Saab 340 219 7,246 2 Embraer Brasilia 219 6,570 3 Bombardier Dash 8-100/200 137 5,069 4 Beech 1900 265 5,035
Fairchild has reached agreement with Daimler-Benz to buy Dornier in a move that will enable Fairchild to bolster its product line and Daimler- Benz to shave off another piece of its money-losing interests in the aerospace business. Fairchild Chairman Carl Albert told reporters this week the company hopes to close the agreement in June.
Indonesian manufacturer IPTN is now offering two versions of its new twin turboprop regional aircraft. In addition to its 64-passenger N250, which it will market primarily to domestic customers, it will offer a 70- passenger N270 in North America. Ironically, however, the N270 will have a 31-inch pitch while the N250, which the company said it is marketing in Asia where people are generally of shorter stature, will have a 32-inch seat pitch. U.S. certification is expected in early 1998, although there is still no airworthiness bilateral between the two countries...
AMR Eagle's decision on a new regional aircraft in the 50- to 70- passenger range is not expected until the end of the year, according to sources close to the sales effort. It is believed, however, that the decision between a high-speed turboprop and a regional jet may be driven as much by the Allied Pilots Association (APA) as by capacity and performance. APA already has proposed flying a 70-passenger jet as the entry-level flying job, which the company rejects. Choice of a regional jet by Eagle could become a strike issue, an industry source said.
Clinton administration may be willing to moderate its support for a user-funded FAA. In light of overwhelming opposition to the measure, Assistant DOT Secretary for Governmental Affairs Steve Palmer said this week there may be room for compromise, although the administration will not back off completely. DOT supports the Senate McCain-Ford bill that would impose the user charges but contains few specifics.
DOT's Enforcement Office and Mesa Airlines have reached a settlement of the Office's charges that Mesa was delinquent in filing origin-and- destination and revenue data with the department in late 1995. Under the settlement, Mesa was assessed $25,000 in compromise of potential civil penalties, half of which will be forgiven if the regional complies with an order calling for it to cease and desist from future violations of the filing requirements.
Pampas Air is the South American launch customer for the Canadair Regional Jet, placing an order for four of the 50-passenger airplanes. The airline, based in Cordoba, Argentina, plans to serve a number of domestic locations with the new aircraft, beginning in July, including Mendoza, Salta, Neuquen and Jujuy. Canadair said the order is valued at approximately $80 million.
Vietnam Airlines will purchase 10 A320s from Airbus Industrie, the European aircraft manufacturer said. Aircraft deliveries are scheduled to begin in June and continue until early 1997. Vietnam will use the jets for flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to destinations throughout Asia. The aircraft will be powered by CFM International CFM56-5B4 engines and outfitted in a two-class configuration with 12 seats in the forward cabin and 138 seats in economy.
Prompted by the continued focus on the possible role of oxygen generators in the ValuJet Flight 592 crash, DOT yesterday issued a temporary ban on the transportation of the generators as cargo on passenger service. Effective from 6 a.m. today until Jan. 1, 1997, the prohibition applies to all foreign and domestic passenger-carrying aircraft entering, leaving or operating in the U.S. "The ban is a prudent step to ensure public safety while we review whether oxygen generators, carried as cargo, might pose an unacceptable safety risk to passenger airlines," said D.K.
Manassas, Va.-based Colgan Air signed a contract to purchase up to two used Saab 340B regional turboprops. Colgan, which ordered one Saab 340B and placed an option for a second, will take delivery of the first 30- passenger airliner May 29. The aircraft, which will enter revenue service June 10, will be based at Hyannis, Mass., serving the Hyannis/Nantucket-New York LaGuardia market this summer. Colgan will operate the aircraft from Charlottesville, Va., to LaGuardia beginning in September.
America West yesterday named Richard Goodmanson, an industry outsider, as its president and chief operating officer and revealed plans to set up a holding company - America West Holdings Corp. - for the airline. The new corporate structure, to be in place July 1, will give the company added flexibility in dealing with business units not directly related to the running of the airline, America West said.
Air France Group Chairman Christian Blanc's plan to save Air France Europe from bankruptcy - and prepare the entire group to be privatized by 1998 - includes the launch of shuttle services in October from Paris to Marseilles, Nice and Toulouse comparable to the Shuttle by United service operated in California by United. The three routes account for 25% of Air France Europe's traffic and 31% of its sales, and company officials hope the shuttle initiative will generate extra revenue of 240 million French francs.
Delta is one of the first of two advertisers on The Weather Channel's World Wide Web site, found at http://www.weather.com. The channel says its site receives 200,000 hits each week. Delta's advertising banner connects the Weather Channel site to its own site, SkyLinks. Web users who visit Delta's site will have access to key weather information.
...Snecma/Pratt&Whitney partnership appears to be leading the chase to power the new AI(R) regional jet. The duo is offering the SPW14 turbofan, rated in the 12,000- to 16,000-pound range, for which many of the components are already available from the French and Canadian joint-venture partners. Also in the running, however, is Allison's AE3012, GE's CF34 and an offering from Rolls-Royce/BMW. The SPW14 is expected to available when the first regional jets in the 60- to 90-passenger range begin rolling off production lines in the early 2000s.
