Scheduled Operations Highlighted

On Monday, the National Transportation Safety Board released preliminary aviation accident statistics for 2003 showing an increase in several civil aviation categories, including scheduled airliners, air taxis and general aviation. The total number of U.S. civil aviation accidents rose from 1,820 in 2002 to 1,864 in 2003. There were a total of 695 fatalities in all aviation accidents in 2003.  The majority of these fatalities occurred in general aviation and air taxi operations.  There were 351 fatal general aviation accidents, up from 345 the year before. Total general aviation accidents increased from 1,713 in 2002 to 1,732 in 2003. The accident rate remained relatively unchanged from 6.69 in 2002 to 6.71 in 2003 per 100,000 fl

Votes To Be Tallied Today

Votes were cast yesterday by SPEEA union members at Boeing's Wichita facility, as the debate over a proposed three-year labor contract drew to an end. The final tally will determine if Boeing Wichita's second-largest union will accept or reject the company's offer. Saying the proposal is inferior to what Boeing has given other groups of workers, leaders of the union -- the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace -- were recommending that workers reject the proposal. If it was indeed rejected, the two sides would have to return to the bargaining table for additional discussion. However, the gamble is high, as there are no guarantees the subsequent talks would produce a better offer for the workers.

Airline Relying On Government Backing To Exit Chapter 11

United Airlines has made it clear, it needs federal money to stay afloat. A United executive on Friday said the company is focused on winning government approval for a big loan as the way to get out of bankruptcy. Management would not disclose what their back-up plans were. On two recent occasions, United Airlines executives were asked if they have an alternate plan to exit Chapter 11 protection if they do not get the U.S. government backing for $1.6 billion -- part of a $2.0 billion loan. Twice, different executives replied they are totally focused on the government loan.  

U.S. Airlines Add Seats Amid Fare Wars

What price will airlines pay to attract passengers? In some cases, the money counter can reach quite high. As the travel industry sputters its way out of a three year downturn, U.S. airlines are adding enough seats to approach pre-Sept. 11 levels. However, some analysts see turbulent skies ahead as carriers slash fares to win market share, leading revenue to trail demand. Industry analysts expect low-cost carriers to expand capacity by more than 10 percent this year, and regional carriers by 24 percent. Even the larger carriers are doing the same, even as many continue to lose millions of dollars a day.

Group Of 17 Selected

Mesaba Airlines (Northwest Airlink) has hired 17 graduates of Pan Am International Flight Academy's Career Pilot training program, bringing the number of graduates recently hired by Mesaba to 20. Since the beginning of 2004, the airlines have hired 30 Academy graduates.