Fine Air Pilots to Unionize --- Overloaded planes has always been
 the pilots' top concern
     Miami, FL,  Aug. 24 _ Fine Air pilots met with a Teamsters
 representative Sunday and said they have enough votes to unionize
 the flight ranks of the airline that had a DC-8 crash on takeoff
 earlier this month.
     "We've been talking about this for some time, but the accident
 really brought it to the forefront," said Capt. John Truman, the
 senior pilot at the cargo airline.
     Truman said Fine Air pilots believe a cargo shift on takeoff
 caused the plane bound for the Dominican Republic to crash Aug. 7,
 killing five people. The National Transportation Safety Board has
 not issued its final report on the cause of the crash.
     Truman said the pilots' chief concern has always been overloaded
 planes. Other problems at the airline include worn cargo netting
 that could allow freight to shift in-flight, pilots said.
                    No Opposition from President
     Efforts to reach the airline were unsuccessful Sunday. A man who
 answered the phone said no one at Fine Air would be available to
 discuss the matter until Monday.
     But Truman said he had a meeting with Fine Air President Barry
 Fine, who was not opposed to the pilots unionizing.
     Teamster representative Arnold Feldman said the pilots were
 satisfied with their pay and the move to unionize "is the result of
 dissatisfaction _ with safety (issues)."
     Last week, Fine Air moved toward giving the pilots more say over
 the loading of airplanes, which in the past were loaded and closed
 by the time the pilots arrived.
     Truman now occupies a newly-created "pilot advocate" position
 where he inspects the cargo of outbound Fine Air flights to make
 sure it is secure.
     The vote to unionize Fine Air flight crew members will take
 place by mail within the next month.
 ------------------------------------
Open skies -- Flying between China, Singapore to become even easier
     SINGAPORE (Reuter) -- August 25, 1997 - 1:34 p.m. EDT -  China
 and Singapore agreed on Monday to expand air links by up to 43
 percent by 2000, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said.
     It said in a statement a memorandum of understanding on air
 services was signed by the deputy director general of the General
 Administration of Civil Aviation of China, Wang Li An, and Singapore
 Minister of Communications Mah Bow Tan.
     The ceremony was witnessed by Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok
 Tong and Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng, who was in Singapore for
 the first official Chinese visit since the two nations established
 full diplomatic ties in 1990. . . .
 "The increase in capacity will be mutually beneficial," the statement
 quoted Mah as saying.
      "It will pave the way for further growth of trade, tourism and
 investments in both countries as Singapore and Chinese carriers will
 be able to respond more readily to changes in market demand."
     Five Chinese carriers now operate 22 weekly passenger services
 to Singapore.
     Singapore Airlines and its wholly owned unit Silkair fly passen-
 gers to six Chinese cities on 26 flights weekly and operate one
 freighter service a week to Shanghai.
     Over the last five years, air passenger and air freight move-
 ments between the two countries have increased by 38 percent and 50
 percent respectively, the statement said.
     In the first four months of this year, 210,000 passengers flew
 between the two countries. Some 8,000 tons of freight was flown on
 the same route during the same period.
 --------------------------------------
--- DB 1.39/004487
---------------