Phasing in ‘Free Flight’

Federal aviation officials have announced a move toward gradually implementing “free flight” by allowing pilots to pick their own courses for the most economical and fastest routing.

Normally, pilots must follow routes set for them by ground control, which directs them on straight paths to intermediate points, regardless of traffic or weather conditions.

The Federal Aviation Administration said pilots, under certain circumstances, will now be allowed to choose their own routes as a way to avoid heading into strong winds or take more direct routes if airspace is not congested.

“Free flight will benefit airspace users and passengers by reducing the need for aircraft to operate along prescribed routes, saving fuel and time,” the FAA said.

“But,” the agency added, “the pilot’s flexibility will be restricted when traffic density at busy airports or in congested airspace precluded free flight.”

The change is to be phased in over 10 years.

FAA Administrator David Hinson said “changing how aircraft will be separated in the future requires careful examination to ensure that changes are safe, workloads for both controllers and pilots are manageable and benefits can be realized.”

The Air Transport Assn., the trade group of major U.S. airlines, backed the FAA action, saying free flight will save fuel, time and money for their customers.

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Manchester Airport Ranks No. 1: Manchester International Airport in England and Changi Airport in Singapore dethroned Amsterdam’s Schiphol as the world’s best airport in a vote by airline passengers, the International Air Transport Assn. said this week.

Schiphol was third and Florida’s Orlando airport placed fourth in the survey of 43 major airports in Europe, North America, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.

North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham ranked sixth and Cincinnati ninth.

The Athens airport, widely criticized for its security as well as its poor passenger facilities and slow baggage handling, easily ranked last, according to the IATA.

Only slightly better than Athens were John F. Kennedy in New York at 40th, Orly in Paris at 41st and Tokyo’s Narita at 42nd.

The ratings were extracted by the IATA from its annual Airport Monitor, a publication that compiles statistics drawn from opinion surveys of about 45,000 travelers.

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A Boost for Charitable Giving: American Airlines has introduced yet another twist in mileage building: deals with charities. “AAdvantage Fund Raising” works with nonprofit groups to make mileage an incentive for giving.

The nonprofits would buy mileage from American, as many companies do now for a variety of promotional purposes. American would provide free consulting services.

Information about the program is available at (800) 771-5000.

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Northwest to Fly to Indonesian Capital: Northwest Airlines Corp. plans to increase its Minneapolis-Tokyo service this summer and become the first U.S. carrier to serve Jakarta, Indonesia.

The nation’s fourth-largest carrier said it wants to operate four flights a week from Minneapolis to Tokyo, up from one currently, between July 1 and Sept. 30.

Minneapolis-based Northwest plans to offer service three times a week from Seattle to Jakarta as an extension of its Seattle-Osaka flights.

In addition, Northwest said it is changing its weekly flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai. The flight will instead connect with the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, which is near Hong Kong, the British colony scheduled to return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

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Jordan, Israel Flights to Resume: Scheduled flights between former Middle East foes Jordan and Israel will start April 7 from Amman and Tel Aviv, the first since a 1994 peace accord signed by the two states, aviation officials said.

The direct flights five times a week will last about 20 minutes.

Royal Wings, a new subsidiary of state-run Royal Jordanian Airlines, is to operate the flights.

Flights by Israeli national carrier El Al will be operated by planes belonging to Arkia, Israel’s domestic carrier.