The U.S. is awaiting replies from the nine European countries to model open skies agreements, while forging ahead with Canada negotiations. "We're giving the nine time to digest the contracts" presented to them last Thursday before beginning the seven negotiations, Paul Gretch, director of DOT's Office of International Aviation, told The DAILY. There will be one set of negotiations for the Scandinavian countries concerned - Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The other countries are Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.
Barbados-based startup Carib Express will begin flight operations Feb. 15 with a single BAe 146 (DAILY, Dec. 15). The initial schedule will include an early morning Barbados-St. Lucia-St. Vincent flight; a midmorning Barbados-St. Lucia-Domincia service; an evening Barbados-Grenada-St. Vincent-St. Lucia service, and a three-times-weekly Barbados-St. Lucia-St. Vincent-Grenada flight. All flights return to Barbados.
America West was profitable in the fourth quarter of 1994, its eighth straight quarter in the black, but its earnings dropped significantly because of stiff downward pressure on yields and softer-than-expected traffic. For the three-month period ended Dec. 31, the carrier posted net earnings of $6.6 million, down 36% from a year earlier, and an operating profit of $30.5 million, a decline of 33.2%. Operating revenues declined 1.8% as traffic was flat to slightly down, and yield dipped 2%.
Justice Department is planning to file an antitrust suit and proposed settlement against St. Louis-based Sabreliner Corp., which purchased Midcoast Aviation from TWA last November, because of a monopoly situation concerning general aviation fuel services at St. Louis Lambert Airport.
Andrew C. Genor has been elected vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer. Genor most recently served as chief financial and operating officer of HNSX Supercomputers, Inc., Boston, Mass.
GM Hughes Electronics turned in slower sales and earnings for the fourth quarter of 1994 as missile production rate cuts hit revenues and the introduction of the DirecTV satellite service took a bite out of quarterly profits. But stronger Automotive Electronics and DirecTV sales helped swell full-year revenues to record levels, and aggressive cost-cutting was credited for improving operating profits against 1993 results.
Barney Parrella, senior VP finance, administration and international affairs for the Airports Council International-North America, said it is ACI's "preference to keep AIP within FAA depending how the funding goes." He added, "If AIP shrinks to such a point [that] it is very limited, then we would be open to looking at an infrastructure bank." ACI is not in favor of individual banks in each state. Parrella was misidentified and the quotation by implication was attributed erroneously to FAA Feb. 1 in The DAILY.
French industry observers believe Air France's statement last week that it will cancel orders for 10 Boeing and seven Airbus Industrie aircraft is no more than pressure on the manufacturers, aimed at securing deferral of deliveries without a cost penalty.
Flight attendants at USAir Express carrier Allegheny Commuter Airlines have ratified a five-year contract that places them on equal footing with flight attendants at Pennsylvania Airlines, which merged with Allegheny in 1991. The new contract, according to the Association of Flight Attendants, provides for a pay raise and a longevity step increase each year and significant work rule changes.
The Japanese government's 1995 budget plan allocates $4.8 milion for Phase-1 development of multi-purpose, stealthy unmanned aerial vehicle. The retractable wing UAV will be deployed from Air Self-Defense Force fighters. After deployment, it will be guided by an inertial navigation system and ground data links. Parachutes will return the UAV to the ground. Phase 2, which will include prototype flight tests, is scheduled to begin in 1996 and be completed 1998. Total program cost will be about $40 million.
All Nippon Airways is ordering new Airbus and Boeing aircraft while cancelling others in an attempt to cope with delays in completing a new runway at Tokyo's Narita Airport. ANA said yesterday it will order 10 short-haul Airbus A321s, but will put off previous orders for five higher-margin Airbus A340 long-haul jetliners. The A340s would have started arriving in 1996, but now ANA won't revisit the issue until at least 2000.
Greenwich Air Services has signed a five-year contract - the largest single contract in its history - with Continental to provide the airline with engine overhaul and maintenance services. Greenwich said revenues from the engine maintenance terms of the agreement could exceed $125 million. Greenwich will service Continental's Pratt&Whitney JT8D-7 through -17 series engines that power 727s, 737s and DC-9s.
Members of the House National Security Committee received more than $1.4 million between January 1991 and October 1994 from companies that had contracts under the old Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program, according to an analysis released yesterday by an independent watchdog organization.
Airborne Freight Corp. d/b/a Airborne Express yesterday posted record net earnings for 1994 despite weaker-than-expected second-half results. The company recorded net earnings available to common shareholders, after preferred stock dividends, of $37.9 million, or $1.81 per share on a fully diluted basis, on total revenues of $1.97 billion. In 1993, Airborne had net earnings after dividends of just under $36.4 million on revenues of $1.72 billion. Revenues grew 14.6% year over year.
The Latin American airline industry is poised for "significant" profitability - subject to a number of "ifs," according to a new study by Aviation Management Services (AvMan). The study, called, "The Impact of the U.S. Carriers, Deregulation&the Free Market Economy on Latin American Aviation," says the Latin America/Caribbean region is "full of promise," but the realization of profits is "subject to certain consolidations, cross-border equity alliances and, possibly most importantly, a genuine emphasis on improving management processes and practices."
NASA plans to offer selected employees cash to leave the agency by March 31 in the second round of buyouts offered as the agency struggles to meet its White House target of a 16.5% staff reduction by the end of fiscal 1999. Administrator Daniel S. Goldin announced the new buyout yesterday in a brief address to employees over the agency's internal television network, but offered few details of just who will qualify.
Denver Mayor Wellington Webb said yesterday the new Denver Airport will open Feb. 28, meeting a deadline set by the city council last August. Airlines and other tenants will move Feb. 27 from Stapleton Airport. The airport will open with a $52.9 million baggage system developed as an alternative to an automated system beset with testing problems. United will use the automated system - with modifications - for outbound baggage.
El Al has acquired two 747-200 freighters from Singapore Airlines to expand its transatlantic cargo capabilities. The first aircraft began operating in January and the second will begin in March. El Al's 1995 cargo schedule from the U.S. to Tel Aviv consists of five weekly flights from New York Kennedy, four from Chicago, three from Los Angeles and two from Miami. El Al provides cargo service to Tel Aviv from Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Brussels and Cologne, and connections to other major European industrial centers.
U.N. peacekeeping operations are "an important instrument in the international community", said Assistant Undersecretary of Defense for Strategy and Requirements Edward Warner, "and a very important part of American foreign and defense policy as well." Responding to Republican demands in the Contract with America, the Defense Dept. Friday defended the participation of troops in contingency operations. Citing the Korean war and Desert Storm, Warner said most U.S. contingency operations "are not U.N. peacekeeping" and are beneficial to the U.S.
The 3,000-hour endurance test completed Saturday by the Pratt&Whitney PW4084 turbofan (DAILY, Jan. 31) included three simulated ETOPS (Extended Twin Operations) diversions in which the engine ran for three hours at maximum continuous thrust, as if it were powering a twin-engine 777 with an engine out. The objective is 180-minute ETOPS authority for the engine and the Boeing 777, for which it is being developed, when United begins operating PW4084-powered 777s in June.
Mexicana has switched back to the Unisys USAS Reservation system after just five months of using the IBM-based British Airways Booking System (BABS), Unisys said yesterday. BA had no comment on the Unisys announcement. According to Unisys, Mexicana gave it the order to begin work converting back to USAS in October, and the conversion was made in mid-November.
Loral Vought Systems, a subcontractor to McDonnell Douglas on the International Space Station's crew compartment cooling system, has received a $13.3 million contract to redesign the heat rejection radiators to meet NASA requirements, the company reported yesterday.
DOT and FAA issued yesterday the long-awaited policy on airport rates and charges and rules of practice for complaints and other proceedings regarding airlines' fees at airports. The agencies requested comments on the new policy "because of substantial industry interest in the proposed policy and because the final policy differs in several respects from the proposal." The policy statement and rules of practice will be published in the Feb. 3 Federal Register.
The Commission on Roles and Missions has received the Army's proposal to take control of the Defense Dept.'s entire rotary wing infrastructure. The unsolicited plan delivered Friday would consolidate all of DOD's helicopter research and development, testing and evaluation, acquisition and training under the Army. The Army already controls 79% of the DOD rotor wing fleet and 85% of rotor wing acquisitions.
