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Aviation History
1983
1983 - 1806.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT BMAtO buy Loganair EAST MIDLANDS British Midland Airways has agreed terms with the Royal Bank of Scotland to buy Scot tish regional operator Logan- air. Under the new agreement BMA will hold a 75 per cent controlling interest in the airline and Loganair manag ing director Scott Grier, who has been responsible for guid ing the airline back into profit in 1983 after a period of losses, will hold 25 per cent. BMA chairman Mike Bishop says that the decision to acquire a controlling inter est in Loganair reflects important elements of strat egy in the development of domestic air services by the BMA Group. "We are keen to consolidate the strong foot hold we have recently estab lished in air operations to Scotland and expand within Scotland using the appropri ate size and style of airline so that feeder traffic can be provided from points in Scot land to Glasgow and Edin burgh as a link to our Heathrow trunk routes," he says. Bishop believes that the acquisition of Loganair will help the airline in its case for introducing a transatlantic service from Manchester and Glasgow to New York. As, he says, "a truly successful trans atlantic service can be intro duced by a British carrier only if this service can serve all destinations in Scotland through a network of connecting feeder services". Scott Grier tells Flight that the arrangement is a happy one for all concerned. Under BMA's ownership Loganair will keep its own identity and will maintain all its routes and flight schedules, he says. The change in ownership will not affect the jobs of any of its employees. Loganair will keep its own logo on its 15 aircraft. "The Loganair livery is a lifeline to the people living in the High lands and Islands," Grier says. For the immediate future This Pacific Southwest Airlines TriStar is the first widebody to be refurbished as an executive aircraft. A project of Associated Air Center and PSA, the aircraft holds 65-70 passengers on two levels. PSA was a short-term TriStar operator from 1974 Loganair is keenly waiting to hear whether it will be licensed to serve the Manchester-Belfast Harbour route. The Glasgow-based operator expects to carry about 210,000 passengers this year. Air France launches "LeClub" PARIS Air France is to introduce its proposed new business class "Le Club" to its Boeing 747 fleet from November 1. The carrier, which first conceived the idea of an improved business class last May, will charge 15 per cent more for the new service which will be available on Air France's flights to North America, Mexico, South America, and Asia. Le Club class attractions include deep seats arranged in rows of eight, (instead of the present ten) that tilt to 36° and which have a seat pitch of 36in, compared with the 34in pitch currently offered. Hot meals, champagne, wine and liqueurs will all be served on board and in addition the airline is installing a bar and a cloakroom at the front of the cabin. "Le Club", says Air France, has been designed to offer a "more personalised" service to its business passengers. Subject to Government approval single Le Club fares will be Paris-New York Fr5,355 (£442), Paris- Montreal £458, Paris-Rio de Janeiro £742, and Paris-Seoul £865. Air France was the first European carrier to introduce the Business Class concept in November 1978, at the same time as Pan American. Air France charged 14 per cent more than an economy fare on the Paris-New York route. American and Crandall cleared WASHINGTON D.C. ~ The US Justice Department's civil anti-trust suit against American Airlines and its president Robert L. Crandall has been dismissed, reports Bob Burkhardt. In March this year the Justice Department accused Crandall of trying to help Braniff International before its collapse and his own airline by proposing that both carriers raise their fares by 20 per cent. The Justice Department asked that American be prohibited for two years from employing Crandall as president, chief executive or "on any other position having authority for pricing". A Federal judge in Dallas ruled that while Crandall may have offered to raise Ameri can's fares if Braniff would do the same the offer alone did not add up to an attempt to monopolise airline routes by trying to fix prices, as the Government had charged. According to attorneys in the Justice Department's anti-trust division the US Government is expected to appeal the ruling. Shorts 360 maintains reliability record BELFAST ~ The 20th Shorts 360 to leave the Belfast production lines was delivered to Australian Murray Valley Airlines last week. As the carrier prepares to put the aircraft into commercial service later this month, Shorts reports that the 360 fleet is maintaining a 99 per cent despatch reliability. To date the 360 fleet, in service with regional opera tors in the UK and the USA, has carried more than 500,000 commercial passengers and has completed 16,000 flying hours. Snorts reports that its high despatch reliability is enabling airlines to achieve profits at load factors as low as 40 per cent. Orders and options have been placed for more than 60 360s by 14 airlines. 872 FLIGHT International, 1 October 1983
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