Air Canada will offer more international capacity this summer than in any other summer in company history, the airline said yesterday. The carrier's summer schedule, which goes into effect March 26 and runs through Oct. 28, features service to two new destinations - Tel Aviv and Brussels - and increased frequencies in many current markets. Air Canada's transpacific and transatlantic capacity combined will increase 18% this summer from summer 1994 after rising 31% in summer 1994 over the previous summer.
HUGHES AIRCRAFT CO., Fullerton, Calif., will investigate the feasibility of developing a high data rate, super high frequency antenna system for submarines, according to a Jan. 23 Commerce Business Daily notice from the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center Detachment, New London, Conn.
Joint venture between British Aerospace units Avro Aerospace and Jetstream Aircraft with Avions de Transport Regional (ATR) partners Aerospatiale of France and Alenia of Italy still must clear the European Community's antitrust roadblock to become effective - something ATR failed to do when it was bidding for de Havilland Aircraft of Canada. Even with that approval, sources say it will be the middle of 1996 before people "really get together and get into the same building." Basic structure of the new entity is far from being set in concrete...
Delta's announcement this week to sharply realign its domestic route network and turn numerous routes over to its Delta Connection affiliates represents a fundamental change in the way the carrier and its partners will do business in the future (related story, Page RA2). The move places increased emphasis on Business Express, Comair and SkyWest jet operations, with each increasing its opportunities for its own on-line feed.
Boeing's Slowing Down From 32 planes a month two years ago, overall jetliner production rates have fallen to 17.5 today, and Boeing expects to hit 16.5 per month by the end of the year. Feb. Apr. Nov. Dec. Mid Model '95 '95 '95 '95 '96 737 8.5 8.5 7 7 7 747 2 2 2 2 3 757 4 4 4 4 4 767 3 4 4 3.5 3.5
House and Senate Republican defense leaders yesterday went after President Clinton for his public comments blaming Congress for not passing the defense supplemental when it hasn't even been sent to Capitol Hill. What upset them was Clinton's public remark before a meeting at the Pentagon Wednesday with the unified commanders: "We need to get that [the supplemental] through [Congress] as quickly as possible...."
There were no engine-caused inflight shutdowns in 1994 for the CF34 engine that powers the Canadair Regional Jet Fleet, General Electric Aircraft Engines reported. The powerplant logged 191,000 flight hours on 48 airline aircraft while achieving a shop visit rate of 0.02%, or about 50,000 engine flight hours between visits. Engine-related dispatch reliability was 99.98%.
American, pursuing its goal of weeding unprofitable markets from its operations, will increase flights at its Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami hubs this summer and make further shifts in transcontinental and international service. At DFW, the carrier will add 30 daily departures for a total of 532, increasing to 20 flights a day to New York LaGuardia by May 1, and to 15 flights to Miami by June 15. By mid-June, it will operate 20 daily flights to Los Angeles, 10 to San Diego, San Francisco and Orange County, nine to San Jose, six to Ontario and five to Sacramento.
Atlanta-based Delta Connection affiliate Atlantic Southeast Airlines received approval from its board of directors to acquire another six EMB- 120 aircraft, the company announced. ASA President John Beiser said the aircraft are intended to replace EMB-110 Bandeirante aircraft at the regional's Dallas/Fort Worth hub.
Rep. Norman Mineta (D-Calif.) is pushing for a change in the unfunded mandates reform bill (H.R.5) to prohibit economic regulation of transportation industries, including airlines. Mineta, ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, will press for changes during the legislative conference to resolve differences between the House and Senate bills. House Government Reform Chairman William Clinger (R-Pa.) told Mineta he is not convinced that the Mineta amendment is necessary, but he agreed to revisit the issue in the conference.
International air cargo carried by U.S. airlines jumped 16.4% in December, compared with the same 1993 month, according to figures compiled by the Air Transport Association. Domestic shipments were up 6.5% and total cargo, including freight and mail, rose 10.4%. ATA President James Landry said, "The December growth of more than 16% in international air shipments is an indication of why U.S. carriers want more liberalized cargo agreements with our trading partners." For the year, international cargo rose 12%, domestic cargo 8.8% and total cargo 10.1%.
Compuflight Inc. said that it has repaid a $200,000 loan made to it by Global Weather Dynamics a year ago, and that Global released from pledge the 746,495 outstanding shares of Compuflight common stock it had held as security. Compuflight, which with its Navtech Systems Support subsidiary provides computerized flight planning services, weather and NOTAMS to airlines and corporate flight operations, also said it has suspended discussions with Global about a possible business combination.
U.S. AIR FORCE plans to release a request for proposal on about Feb. 14 for the new Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS)-High program. AF Space and Missile Systems Center said in a Feb. 3 Commerce Business Daily notice that it anticipates an 11-year program that will be considerably broader than previous SBIR programs that have been terminated, such as ALARM (Alert, Report and Locate Missiles) and FEWS (Follow-on Early Warning System). The announcement said the SBIRS-High program will follow objectives identified in a study completed last September.
DOT Secretary Federico Pena yesterday unveiled DOT reorganization proposals that would reduce its 10 operating agencies to three, the FAA, the Coast Guard and a new Intermodal Transportation Administration. Pena said the changes, subject to approval by Congress, are "the next bold step," building on recommendations from past administrations. DOT's current structure is "more like a holding company than a corporation," he said, and it is "not ready for the next century." The DOT streamlining will sharpen its safety emphasis and customer responsiveness, he said.
All Nippon Airways took options on eight A321 aircraft at the same time it placed a firm order for 10 of the aircraft, Airbus Industrie said. ANA also deferred five A340 deliveries, converted six 777 and 767 options into orders, and canceled four 747-400 orders (DAILY, Feb. 1).
Danish employee union LFF, which represents about 1,700 SAS staff in Denmark, had to withdraw a strike notice for Feb. 16 because its contract with the carrier still will be in effect at that time. The contract expires Feb. 28, and LFF has rescheduled the strike for March 2.
Citing a growing regional market, impressive 1994 results and the proposed joint venture with ATR, Michael Donovan, Avro International Aerospace chief executive, boosted the fortunes of Avro in the regional jet market. At a news conference in Washington Wednesday, Donovan said that 1994 was "a very, very good year for us." The company was able to put behind its failed joint venture with Taiwan, he said, and move ahead during the year, positioning itself with a mainline carrier, Lufthansa.
Hughes Aircraft Co. said yesterday that it has delivered to other contractors five software development stations for the F-22 fighter. The Data Processing Element (DPE) Development Stations (DDS) will be used by F-22 avionics team contractors to develop software to be hosted on the F-22 Common Integrated Processor (CIP). Receiving the stations on Nov. 23 were Boeing, Westinghouse, Lockheed Sanders, Motorola and TRW. They will use them for checkout of their own unique CIP module designs.
The European Regional Airlines Association (ERA) general assembly has been scheduled for October 12-13 on Lago Maggiore, Italy. The combined members' meeting, conference and exhibition has attracted seven committed sponsors - AlliedSignal Aerospace, BF Goodrich Aerospace, Bombardier Regional Aircraft, Collins Avionics, GE Aircraft Engines, Jetstream Aircraft and Saab Aircraft. The organization represents 50 regional carriers and 110 associate members, including principal airframe and engine manufacturers, suppliers and airports.
U.S. Major Carriers Advertising Expenses Third Quarter 1994 % Of Total Expenses Passenger By Region Revenue America West $ 5,358,668 1.61 Domestic 5,343,361 1.61 Latin 15,307 0.73 American 52,121,000 1.55
The U.S. inventory of nuclear weapons should be reduced to 100 or 200, former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Gen. Andrew Goodpaster (USA-Ret.) said yesterday. They also told a group of defense writers in Washington that all five of the acknowledged nuclear nations-the U.S., Russia, China, the U.K. and France-should jointly move toward lower levels. The nuclear arsenals of the U.S. and Russia are both over 8,000.
MarkAir and Mountain Vacations are offering six ski packages to Colorado ski resorts. The packages, ranging from $302 for Vail to $380 for Steamboat Springs, include roundtrip air fare from Dallas to Denver, three nights' accommodations, two days of lift tickets, a three-day Hertz car rental and lodging taxes. The resorts include Aspen, Copper Mountain, Keystone/Breckenridge, Steamboat, Vail and Winter Park. The fares are based on roundtrip travel from Dallas.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration controllers have started moving GOES-8, the nation's newest geostationary weather satellite, to its operational location above the sea approaches to the East Coast. NOAA said yesterday the Space Systems/Loral platform will reach 75 degrees West longitude on Feb. 27 or 28, giving forecasters a clear view of the route hurricanes take as they move westward across the Atlantic. The satellite had been positioned over 90 degrees West during its checkout period following launch on April 13, 1994.
British Airways plans to resume nonstop service to Beirut Feb. 27 with twice-weekly 767 flights from London Heathrow. The service will be BA's first since it suspended operations to Lebanon 15 years ago as a result of that country's civil war. Mediterranean Airways and Middle East Airlines also are expected to operate in the market.
Senate Armed Services Committee Republicans yesterday announced their agenda for the current Congress which Chairman Strom Thurmond (S.C.) said reflects their commitment to holding the defense budget at the fiscal year 1995 level and strengthening readiness. Funding the FY '96 budget at the '95 level adjusted for inflation would mean $270 billion in budget authority, or $13 billion more than the planned Clinton Administration level of $257 billion. Thurmond said the priorities fall into five categories:
