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echo: aviation
to: ALL
from: JIM SANDERS
date: 1997-09-25 05:50:00
subject: News-746

 Another theory for crash. How many now?  Jim
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 Possible Cause of TWA Crash
     Federal investigators reportedly have zeroed in a possible cause
 of the crash of TWA Flight 800 off Long Island, N.Y., 14 months ago.
 CBS News, citing unspecified sources, says the theory focuses on the
 fuel measuring system and seven tube-like probes inside the 747's
 center fuel tank, which exploded shortly after the Paris-bound flight
 left New York, killing all 230 on board. The probes are connected by
 low-voltage wires to cockpit gauges, but in places those wires are
 tightly bundled with high-voltage wires. The sources say high voltage
 could have leaked onto a low-voltage wire, triggering the deadly
 ^^^^^^
 explosion.
 04:07 09-25-97
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      Atlanta, GA -- Sept 23 _ ValuJet Airlines is ending its use of
 the name associated with last year's crash in the Florida Everglades
 and will offer reserved seating and a business class as part of a
 new business strategy.
     In the first phase of its merger with AirTran Airways, ValuJet
 begins operating Wednesday as AirTran Airlines.  The company will
 soon offer business-class seats, as well as computerized seat
 assignments for all passengers.
     "This merger gives us the opportunity to relaunch the airline as
 an airline more friendly to business travel," AirTran Airlines
 President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Corr said Tuesday.
     Business class fares will be $25 more than the regular one-way
 full coach fare on nonstop flights and $40 more on multistop
 flights, the company said.
              Still Committed to Affordable Travel
     The company is seeking to appeal to a broader travel audience
 but "will always be committed to the affordable fare niche," Ponder
 Harrison, the company's senior vice president for sales and
 marketing, said.
     AirTran's new business-class section, to be offered on all air-
 craft beginning Nov. 22, will feature four rows of two-by-two seats.
 Instead of the current 115 seats, AirTran's DC-9s will initially be
 reconfigured to hold 16 business-class and 90 coach-class
 passengers.
     Corr said the business class seats would have seven more inches
 of legroom and four more inches of seat width than typical coach
 seats. "We're going to call it business class rather than first
 class, even though the pitch is greater than (in) most modern narrow-
 bodies," he said. Pitch is the distance from the back of one seat to
 that of the seat in front of it or behind it.
                         Launching New Logo
     The company's new livery features a large "a" on aircraft tails,
 which Corr said stands for "affordable." The logo was used in teaser
 newspaper advertisements that began running in Atlanta this week.
     ValuJet, which began operations in October 1993, has received
 federal approval for a code-sharing agreement with its merger part-
 ner, Orlando-based AirTran Airways. The former ValuJet flies to 22
 cities with 31 airplanes. AirTran AirWays operates flights to 22
 cities with 11 aircraft.
     AirTran will also begin full participation in computerized
 reservation systems, allowing travel agents to book flights
 without telephoning the airline.
     Corr said no decision had been made on where the merged airline
 would have its headquarters, though Orlando has been mentioned as a
 front-runner.
     During the second quarter of this year, ValuJet lost $9.2
 million. Corr said costs associated with the merger and the react-
 ivation of aircraft would hurt the company's financial performance
 during the third and fourth quarters.
 -------------------------------------
--- DB 1.39/004487
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