Strike threatens to bring France to a halt just in time for World Cup
     PARIS - May 31, 1998 11:08 a.m. EDT - France braced for chaos at
 its airports on Monday with the launch of an Air France pilots'
 strike expected to ground up to 90 percent of flights at the end of
 a busy holiday weekend and amid early arrivals for the World Cup
 soccer tournament.
     The main pilots' union SNPL has threatened to strike from June
 1-14 if its demands over pay are not met, while the three smaller
 unions have called for a work stoppage from June 1-6.
     The strike is expected to wreak havoc at airports on Monday as
 thousands return from a holiday weekend and as the World Cup kick-off
 on June 10 quickly approaches.
     Air France, the official World Cup airline, has promised to make
 sure all the teams arrive on time for their matches but the same will
 not be true for thousands of fans, or tourists, already scurrying
 this weekend to find other arrangements.
     The pilots' action is over management efforts to cut their sala-
 ries by 15 percent, bringing them in line with pay scales at rival
 airlines, in exchange for shares in the airline.
     The labor unrest was expected to spread during the week to other
 sectors, notably in the transport, construction, health, defense,
 power and public service sectors.
     Air France management has denounced the pilots' action saying
 that it "showed a desire to degrade the company's image" on the eve
 of the World Cup.
     Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta said that although the airline made
 a net profit of $83 million dollars in the year to March, it was
 still "convalescing" and had higher costs than most of its
 competitors.
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  Collision of helicopter and seaplane near Juneau leaves two dead
    JUNEAU, Alaska - May 31, 1998 02:32 a.m. EDT - A seaplane crashed
 into the cold channel waters off Alaska's capital Saturday after col-
 liding with a sightseeing helicopter. At least two people on board
 the plane died.
     It was not immediately known how many others were aboard the
 plane, which was submerged in the Gastineau Channel.
     The helicopter, with six people aboard, landed safely despite
 being damaged in the afternoon collision.
     The only sign of the plane Saturday night was a red buoy, marking
 the sight where it went into the water. The plane went down about 4
 miles south of downtown Juneau, where tourists are beginning to
 converge at the start of the summer season.
     Search boats combed the channel and a Coast Guard helicopter
 swept slowly looking for any sign of survivors. From the beach, only
 scattered pieces of debris were visible.
     Bill Zeman, manager for helicopter owner Era aviation, said some
 of the helicopter passengers reported minor injuries.
     A spokesman at Bartlett Regional Hospital said a 47-year-old man
 who was riding in the helicopter was hospitalized in stable
 condition after suffering a broken leg.
     Four other helicopter passengers, all of them from the cruise
 ship Universe Explorer, were treated and released, the hospital said.
 The 34-year-old pilot was admitted for a routine check.
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                            Vegas flights
     TOKYO - 3:21 p.m. ET May 31, 1998 Capitalizing on a surge in Jap-
 anese tourists to Las Vegas, Northwest Airlines announced Sunday it
 will start non-stop flights between Tokyo and America's gambling
 mecca.
     Northwest will introduce two flights a week and the new service
 will cut the travel time between the cities by 3 1/2 hours, Northwest
 said. The first flight is scheduled for Monday.
     Northwest is the first airline to provide a Tokyo-Las Vegas
 service.
     More than 400,000 Japanese visited Las Vegas in 1997, a 30 per-
 cent increase from the previous year, Kyodo News reported, quoting
 Las Vegas tourism officials.
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     HONG KONG - 3:23 p.m. ET May 31, 1998 In the latest blow to Hong
 Kong's ailing economy, Cathay Pacific Airways is reportely planning
 to cut another 1,000 jobs in addition to the 870 layoffs announced
 so far this year.
     The Hong Kong-based airline hopes to cut staff by between 5 per-
 cent to 7 percent within the next 12 months, the Sunday Morning Post
 reported Sunday. The job losses could save the company 500 million
 Hong Kong dollars (U.S. $64.1 million) a year.
     The cuts will mainly be in commercial departments, the report
 said. The airline has about 15,000 employees.
     Airline officials were not immediately available for comment.
     Cathay Pacific is facing a tough year as the economic and tourism
 downturn in Hong Kong shows no signs of abating.
     Over the first four months of 1998, tourist arrivals were down
 24.2 percent compared with a year ago, mainly because the strong Hong
 Kong currency is making the territory virtually unaffordable for many
 tourists from Southeast Asian countries, some of Hong Kong's biggest
 tourist markets.
     Hong Kong's dollar, which is linked to the U.S. dollar, is the
 only convertible Asian currency not to have been devalued since the
 onset of the region's financial storm last year. Other currencies
 have lost 50 percent to 80 percent of their value.
     The airline is increasing the number of flights in an attempt to
 boost revenues and is recruiting crew and cabin staff for 13 new air-
 craft despite a general hiring freeze, the Post said.
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