<B> Washington Wire</B>
By Barbara Cook, Washington Correspondent
<B>GSA Contract Goes Public</B>
The General Services Administration this week published the final version of its new master contract, marking the federal government's initial foray into fee-based pricing for travel services. The contract calls for all travel manage-ment companies wishing to participate in the five-year agreement to make offers by May 27 at 1 p.m. The new contract divides up the federal market into 55 geo-graphical regions, plus a nationwide region; companies may bid on any or all of the regions. Companies selected by GSA will be pre-qualified to go after specific government accounts using less formal "task orders" rather than full bids.
<a name="2"><B>DOT Excludes None From Y2K Insurance</B>
The U.S. Department of Transportation is notifying U.S. and foreign airlines that it has not approved any exclusion from its mandated minimum passenger liability insurance rules for Y2K computer problems. Any flights conducted without lawful insurance coverage are unauthorized, DOT said. Some aviation insurers want to write policy clauses that would exclude liability or all damages related to Y2K problems, and some carriers already may have had similar policy exclusions, DOT said. Airlines must carry liability insurance covering all claims resulting from an accident except for exclusions from coverage that DOT specifically has permitted, the department said.
<a name="3"><B>FAA Opens Runway Testing Center</B>
A $21 million facility to test the ability of airport runways to handle the larger commercial aircraft now being designed was opened in mid April at Federal Aviation Admin-istration's tech center in Atlantic City, N.J. Jointly funded by Boeing Co. and FAA, the facility consists of a 100-ft. by 1,200-ft. hangar, nine sensor-equipped sections of pavement and the testing machine. The machine will travel from one end of the building to the other to simulate the wear caused by jet takeoffs, landings and taxiing, FAA said. It has the capability to simulate 30 years worth of wear in 18 months or less.
<a name="4"><B>Safety Study Denounces Fire Procedures</B>
The Coalition for Airport and Airplane Passenger Safety, a union group comprised of pilots, flight attendants and firefighters, has released a report critical of the government's airport firefighting regulations. The report concluded that, "Many airports across the United States are completely unprepared to respond in the few vital minutes after an airplane crashes and fires ignite, when lives hang in the balance." The report did not identify any specific airports, but focused on ways FAA could increase regulations affecting aircraft rescue and firefighting. According to Alfred Whitehead, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a coalition member, the current FAA regulations "don't even call for firefighters to rescue passengers or extinguish fires inside an airplane."
<a name="5"><B>737 Operators To Inspect, Repair Cracks</B>
Following reports of fatigue cracks on Boeing 737-200 aircraft, FAA has ordered operators of certain 737 equipment to check for possible cracks in the plane's aft pressure bulkhead located near the aircraft's tail. The directive requires operators of Boeing 737-100 through -500 series aircraft to do electronic or visual inspections and repair any cracks found. The agency explained that these cracks could cause rapid decompression if not repaired. The estimated cost is $480 per aircraft for each electronic inspection and $120 per aircraft for each detailed visual inspection. The order covers 500 U.S.-registered airplanes.