All air transport news – Page 2228
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News
Software problems delay WAAS implementation
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has delayed initial fielding of the Raytheon Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) by at least 14 months because of software development problems. The WAAS was to have entered service in July 1999, but the FAA says this has been pushed back to September ...
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Niche accidents
David Learmount/LONDON Despite a worldwide campaign to reduce it, controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) increased in 1998 for the second year running, both among jet and non-jet flights, confirming the reversal of a previously favourable trend. There were five jet CFIT accidents and eight involving propeller-driven commercial aircraft. This ...
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Orenda wraps up Turkish deal
Canada's Orenda Recip has clinched its first original equipment manufacturer contract after a multimillion dollar deal with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). Orenda will supply and install its OE-600 V-8 piston engine for a multimission aircraft, under development at TAI's Ankara, Turkey-based factory. "The agreement is expected to result in ...
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DeCrane Aircraft Holdings plans to acquire PATS
DeCrane Aircraft, a growing US avionics components manufacturer and integrator, has agreed to acquire Columbia, Maryland-based PATS, which manufactures and installs auxiliary fuel tanks and other equipment for corporate and commercial aircraft. DeCrane, based in El Segundo, California, declines to reveal any acquisition details, saying only that "-the closing ...
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Boeing loses ground to Airbus in backing of firm orders
Boeing again sold more aircraft than Airbus Industrie in 1998, but its high delivery rate, combined with cancellations, saw it lose ground to its European rival in terms of firm order backlog. Provisional figures from Airbus suggest its share of the total backlog in the 100-seat plus sector grew ...
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Fresh delay threatens A3XX
Julian Moxon/PARIS The Airbus Industrie A3XX is facing further delay as potential customer airlines, confronted by increasingly tough market conditions, retreat from committing to the aircraft in time to support an already delayed late 1999 launch deadline. While the airlines consider their options on timing, the European consortium is believed ...
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Aerospace awards
The list of sponsors for The 1999Flight International Aerospace Industry Awards has been completed with the addition of Airbus Industrie, Marconi Electronic Systems and SITA. They join Bombardier, CFM International, Lockheed Martin, Lucas Aerospace, Rockwell Collins, Sextant Avionique and Smiths Industries. The event will culminate in a gala dinner on ...
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747 cut forces Northrop Grumman to take pre-tax charge
Northrop Grumman is taking a pre-tax charge of $125 million in the fourth quarter of 1998, mainly because of a reduction in deliveries of fuselages for the Boeing 747-400 programme. A $20 million charge was also taken to cover a cost estimate increase on the Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) programme. ...
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767 'Stretch 2000' progresses
Boeing plans to load the first wing spar of the first 767-400ER next month following 90% completion of the engineering definition stage. The -400ER programme is dubbed "Stretch 2000" to denote its first delivery date to launch customer Delta Air Lines in May 2000. Some 80% of the 767-400ER has ...
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Big changes on the way for aerospace, says NASA scientist
Information technology (IT), environmental concerns and global competitiveness will stimulate major changes in aerospace, says Dennis Bushnell, NASA's chief scientist at the Langley Research Center, Virginia. Speaking at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London, Bushnell envisaged a future including "dramatically improved air transports, automatic VTOL aircraft for personal use, ...
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French achieve equivalent of Mach 7.5 in scramjet tests
Julian Moxon/PARIS French researchers have successfully tested a supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) at an equivalent speed of Mach 7.5 - the highest performance for such an engine to have achieved in Europe. The engine ran for 10s, ending a five-year, Fr370 million ($62 million) programme involving France's aeronautics ...
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Kourou studied for Soyuz
Julian Moxon/PARIS Arianespace is close to deciding whether to extend its launcher base at Kourou, French Guyana, for use as a second pad for the Russian Soyuz launcher. Arianespace chairman Jean-Marie Luton says that a political decision is likely "later this month".The Russian launcher forms the basis of ...
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Another PanAmSat craft malfunctions
PanAmSat's space woes continue despite the successful launch of the PAS 6B satellite on 22 December. Yet another satellite in its fleet has malfunctioned. Two of the 24 Ku-band antennas on PanAmSat 8, a Space Systems Loral-built FS-1300 spacecraft launched last November, are not aligned properly, restricting coverage over ...
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Avant Airlines links with Continental for international feed
Avant Airlines of Chile has signed a marketing alliance with Continental Airlines in an effort to expand its international traffic feed and further strengthen its position as the country's second largest carrier. The two carriers plan to begin joint marketing activities and codeshare services early in the new year ...
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Euralair takes first leased 737-800
French charter carrier Euralair International Airlines has introduced the first of two Boeing 737-800s on lease from GATX Capital, with the second aircraft scheduled for delivery in January. The 737s will be operated on charter routes to Mediterranean and African destinations. The first aircraft is painted in the colours of ...
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Continental Express aims for all-ERJ fleet within five years
Paul Lewis/SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS Continental Express is committed to replacing its entire fleet of 98 turboprop aircraft with new Embraer ERJ-135/145 jets within five years, but has ruled out a near-term requirement for a larger 70-seat regional transport. The Continental Airlines subsidiary has ordered 75 ERJ-145s and ...
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Horizon brightens orderbook for CRJ-700 with $580 million deal
Paul Lewis and Ramon Lopez/ WASHINGTON DC The Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) Series 700 orderbook has been given a major end-of-year boost with the $580 million sale of 25 aircraft to US domestic carrier Horizon Air. The Canadian manufacturer has also secured another order for the smaller CRJ-200ER ...
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Debonair extends AB Airlines link with Boeing 737 lease
Debonair has expanded its co-operation with fellow UK low fare airline AB Airlines and boosted its fleet capacity with a nine-month deal to lease a 139-seat Boeing 737-300. The London Luton-based carrier will use the aircraft to supplement its fleet of 12 smaller British Aerospace 146s, initially to increase ...
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Delta boosts Boeing backlog by 49 aircraft
Delta Air Lines has topped up its Boeing orderbook to 173 aircraft by converting options and firming up previously announced purchases totalling an additional 49 Next Generation 737, 757, 767 and 777s. The carrier has announced option conversions and incremental orders covering the six-month period between June and December ...
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European creditors throw out Philippine Airlines rescue plan
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Troubled Philippine Airlines (PAL) has suffered a fresh blow with the rejection of its rehabilitation plan by European creditors. One local creditor, the Philippine International Commercial Bank (PCI Bank), has suggested changes to the plan, meanwhile. The European creditors control the leases on 12 Airbus ...