UPS, acting on the recommendations of its asset utilization group, will modify five 727-100 freighters for passenger charter service (DAILY, May 10). Currently developing the FAA-required procedures and training for passenger service, the cargo carrier believes it can be ready to fly charters as early as Dec. 26. The aircraft, which can seat 113, can be reconfigured for passenger service in four hours with a quick change kit, the company said. UPS will offer the aircraft to cruise lines and large tour operators for use on weekends.
The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 yesterday to delete from Mayor Richard Riordan's proposed budget a $30 million transfer from Los Angeles Airport to the city treasury. The vote followed strong opposition, locally and in Congress, from the Air Transport Association, which said yesterday it "strongly commends" the city council for the vote and looks forward to building a more constructive relationship with the city. Airlines generated opposition among local businesses and key federal legislators. Last week, Rep.
The Sabre Group has appointed Terrell Jones chief information officer responsible for key future development and technology planning efforts. He will continue as president of Sabre Interactive, the unit responsible for consumer-direct electronic distribution. Jones will be replaced as president of Sabre Computer Services by Bradford Boston, senior VP- information processing for American Express Travel Related Services. Boston held technology positions, as well as the post of VP-systems development, at United/Covia Partnership several years ago.
As part of ongoing efforts to determine whether there is a basis for resuming stalled bilateral negotiations, DOT Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs Charles Hunnicutt met yesterday in Washington with his U.K. counterpart, Tony Goldman. They discussed the possibility of future talks, setting no dates, and were "pleased to exchange rumors" about a potential deal between British Airways and American, a senior U.S. government official said.
Taiwan's China Airlines will take a minority position in a ground services company to be formed at Hong Kong's new international airport. CAL will invest NT$860 million (US$31.5 million) for a 15% stake in CLK Airport Ground Handling Ltd. Majority partners China Aviation and Jardine Fleming will control 80% of the shares, while an unnamed European partner will take the remaining 5%. The venture is the first between aviation companies in Taiwan and mainland China.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) has applied at Japan's Ministry of Transport for authority to serve Delhi via Bangkok from Tokyo, and Mumbai (formerly Bombay) nonstop from Osaka, the carrier said. Both routes would be operated twice a week using 767-300s in a two-class configuration. Osaka- Mumbai service is slated to begin Sept. 5, and Tokyo-Bangkok-Delhi flights start Oct. 4. ANA has local traffic rights between Bangkok and Delhi, the carrier said.
British Airways yesterday announced record net earnings of 473 million ($724 million), reaffirmed its ties to USAir, and disappointed some observers by avoiding the subject of a possible affiliation with American. The release of the earnings news came as U.S. and U.K. aviation negotiators held a day of informal talks in Washington (see following story). BA's after-tax profit shot up 89.2%, but the good news was dampened by the threat of a strike by BA's pilots.
Continental will inaugurate twice-daily service between Newark and Toronto July 1, using Boeing 737 aircraft, having gained authority last week from DOT to serve the Canadian city (DAILY, May 20). The carrier plans to offer one-way fares as low as $115 and launch one-stop service in the fall from Raleigh-Durham to Toronto through Newark. Continental also operates four roundtrips per day between Newark and Montreal.
In another effort to attract more business travelers, Canadian Airlines International will equip its entire fleet with inflight telephone service from AT&T Wireless Services. Canadian said it expects the service, which will enable passengers to make and receive calls, e-mail and fax messages, to generate more than $1.5 million per year. The phones will be available at each seat of the carrier's business class and in each cluster of three seats in economy class. Installation on narrowbody aircraft will begin in October.
Leaders of American's Allied Pilots Association and Northwest's Air Line Pilots Association unit met last week to exchange ideas on negotiating strategies and reaffirm their positions against giving concessions at a time when their employers are experiencing record profits. The APA, in midst of Section 6 contract negotiations, and Northwest's ALPA, on the verge of talks, say they agree it is time that their contracts reflect the successes of their companies.
UPS will begin construction of a new package sorting and distribution facility in East Los Angeles this year, the carrier said. The 400,000- square-foot building, which is expected to be ready by late 1998, will operate 24 hours a day, five days a week. It will be located on 26 acres at 716 Lamar St. UPS sold its Soto St. facility to the firm building the new plant.
SimuFlite Training International said its maintenance training program for inspection authorization renewal has been approved by FAA. Renewal requires 16 hours of additional training every two years, and all of SimuFlite's maintenance courses "will cover those hours," the company said.
Northwest and local officials in Michigan have agreed to build an $800 million midfield terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, subject to a definitive agreement. The arrangement also calls for the construction of a fourth parallel runway, giving the airport a total of six. The new terminal will give Northwest 74 gates at its largest hub, 10 of which will be for international departures. It will be funded by a proposed $150 million federal grant, existing passenger facility charges and proceeds of Wayne County airport bonds.
Traffic flown by major U.S. carriers rose 5% last month, compared with April 1995, while capacity was up 2%, according to statistics compiled by the Air Transport Association. ATA's member carriers logged 43.9 billion revenue passenger miles for the month on capacity of 63.5 billion available seat miles. "April figures show that passenger growth continues to be strong, which we hope foreshadows a strong summer performance for the industry," said ATA President Carol Hallett.
Cathay Pacific Airways and China Airlines said they will reduce the cost of a one-day roundtrip ticket between Taipei and Hong Kong to NT$5,500 (US$201), effective June 1. The current cost of a single-day return flight ticket is NT$7,500 (US$275). Analysts in Taipei say that the reduction in ticket price will have a significant effect on the earnings of both companies, which between them carry nearly 90% of the 1.6 million passengers who fly between Taipei and Hong Kong every year.
Airlines Reporting Corp. said travel agent commissions were up 2% in the first four months of 1996 to $2.164 billion, resulting from a 1% increase in domestic commissions and a 7% increase in international commissions. Domestic fares for the year to date were up 11% and international fares 10%.
Rebutting continued criticism, ACCESS U.S.-Japan Chairman Gerald Baliles is taking pains to distinguish his coalition's views from those of one of its key members, American. "I know that some keep attempting to mischaracterize ACCESS U.S.-Japan's agenda, but as chairman of the group, I can only repeat what has been and will continue to be ACCESS U.S.-Japan's agenda: 'more service by more airlines from more cities between the U.S. and Japan and beyond,'" he said, responding to a query from Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce.
American International Airways is seeking authority to operate scheduled all-cargo service between Honolulu and Jakarta, Indonesia, via Melbourne, Australia. The carrier has proposed operating once-weekly 747 service on a Honolulu-Melbourne-Jakarta-Honolulu routing, beginning June 2. (Docket OST-96-1376)
FAA analyses of ValuJet operations that led the agency to launch a 120-day special emphasis program in February, described at the time by ValuJet President Lewis Jordan as "routine" (DAILY, March 7), show concerns about decreases in the experience level of new-hire pilots, mechanics and other personnel; "continuous changes of key management personnel," and "an increase in unfavorable geographic [outside Atlanta] reports concerning discrepancies found by FAA inspectors during revenue operations." Other sources of concern were some of ValuJet's low-cost innovations, includi
Aero International (Regional) said yesterday it received FAA certification last week for its newest ATR 42 model, the ATR 42-500, and made its first delivery to a U.S. customer, Continental Express. The Continental subsidiary has seven more on order, all scheduled for delivery this year, and holds options for 12. AI(R) said the carrier will use the aircraft initially for service between Houston and Monterrey, Mexico, and to other points in southern Texas. A later application will be on Continental Express's planned Houston-Memphis service.
Financial analysts in Taipei are nearly united in their disapproval of China Airlines US$1.4 billion agreement to purchase four Boeing 747-400s with an option to take an addition four. The deal, coming only five months after CAL's US$750 million purchase of six Boeing 737-800s with an option for a further nine, is in line with the company's announced goal of increasing its fleet from 41 aircraft to 67 by 2003.
FAA and Boeing will share the cost of what the agency termed the world's first full-scale airport pavement test facility at the FAA Technical Center, Atlantic City, N.J., for research on pavement technologies that will be needed for future large aircraft weighing as much as one million pounds. The facility is scheduled to be operational in 1998. Boeing will pay $7 million and FAA $14 million in construction costs, and FAA will operate the facility at a cost of $2 million-$3 million per year, FAA said.
Flight problems account for an increasing percentage of complaints lodged at DOT against ValuJet during the past year.In the first quarter of 1995, ValuJet did not register on the complaint list, which only includes carriers receiving at least 10 complaints. For the first six months, DOT received 26, nine of which were for flight problems. For the year 1995, 83 complaints were lodged, 32 for flight problems, and for the first quarter of 1996, ValuJet received 70 complaints, 31 for flight problems.
