All air transport news – Page 2577
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United trials ERS
For One-Step FANS UNITED AIRLINES has begun a six-month evaluation of a computer-based electronic-resource system (ERS), developed by Minnesota-based Computing Devices International, on 5 June. The ERS, fitted to a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, is "basically the pilot's interface to the FANS [Future Air Navigation System]," says ...
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A fair fight?
Philippine Airlines battles with competition and domestic deregulation. Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Philippine Airlines (PAL) has suffered more than its fair of share of turbulence over the last 54 years. Buffeted by a succession of political crises, military coups and corrupt mismanagement, control of the airline has routinely ...
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Jersey European back in profit
JERSEY EUROPEAN Airways (JEA), an Exeter, UK-based domestic airline, has announced a significant turnaround in its financial performance. The airline has recorded a net profit of nearly £1.8 million on a turnover of £56 million in its 1994/5 fiscal year to 31 March. The profit figure includes receipts of £350,000 ...
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Bright light
A NASA-led initiative may help GA emerge from the doldrums - almost Karen Walker/ATLANTA Once upon a time there was a thriving general-aviation (GA) industry in North America - and you do not have to be especially well informed to know that this story may not end ...
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Cargolux
Cargolux Airlines International has ordered another Boeing 747-400F for delivery in the last quarter of 1995. The carrier's decision to go ahead with the purchase is based on the improvement in productivity and efficiency it has achieved with its two 747-400Fs. These made a substantial contribution to the airline's return ...
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Fokker will challenge Avro's jet monopoly at London City
Andrew Doyle/LONDON DUTCH MANUFACTURER Fokker is working on airframe and avionics modifications to its JetLine family of Fokker 100 regional jets, to allow them to be operated at London City Airport, threatening Avro International Aerospace's long-standing monopoly on jet operations at the airport. Fokker's move ...
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Boeing narrows NSA propulsion bidders' field
BOEING HAS short-listed three competing turbofan engines to power its proposed 90- to 108-seat New Small Aeroplane (NSA), due to enter service early in the next century. The three candidate engines are the BMW Rolls Royce BR.715, CFM International CFM56 Lite and the planned standard version of the ...
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United studies 727 life-extension
UNITED AIRLINES IS examining the possibility of extending the lives of its Boeing 727s in an effort to reduce fleet-renewal costs. The carrier's work on head-up displays (HUDs) and enhanced-vision systems (EVS) has helped move it towards a life-extension decision. United has been increasingly voluble in its questioning ...
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AlliedSignal cuts down on BAe 146 engine-maintenance costs
ALLIEDSIGNAL HAS pledged to cut LF502 engine maintenance costs for British Aerospace 146 operators to below $40/h over the next five years. The programme is a joint initiative with BAe's Asset Management Organisation (AMO), which handles the manufacturer's 100-strong fleet of leased 146s. AMO managing director Robin Southwell ...
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KAL chooses PW4000 engine family to power 777s and A330s
KOREAN AIRLINES (KAL) has selected the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engine family for its Boeing 777s and Airbus A330s, in a deal worth about $850 million. KAL's first four 777-200Bs will be powered by the 400kN (90,000lb)-thrust PW4090 and its remaining eight stretch -300s by the PW4098, derated ...
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Four-rotor Cobra crucial to Venom bid
Douglas Barrie/PARIS Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC GEC-MARCONI'S VENOM bid for the UK's £2 billion attack-helicopter programme hangs on its ability to provide the UK with a four-bladed development of the Bell AH-1W Cobra, according to a senior US Navy official. GEC and the US Marine Corps ...
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GE confident of fan blade answer
Graham Warwick/PARIS GENERAL ELECTRIC Aircraft Engines has developed a solution to the fan-blade failure which has grounded GE90-powered Boeing 777 flight-test aircraft (Flight International, 14-20 June, P4). GE has until mid-July to restage the 3.6kg birdstrike test successfully, if Boeing is to deliver the first GE90-powered 777 ...
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Another 777 suffers depressurisation
THE FOURTH FLIGHT-test Boeing 777, returning from the Paris air show, suffered a pressurisation failure while en route from Washington DC to Seattle on 14 June. The incident was a less-serious recurrence of the loose duct-clamps, which caused pressurisation losses on two other 777s. The aircraft had not ...
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Four engines on offer for A340 stretch
AIRBUS WILL begin evaluating four engine options for the stretched version of the A340 in the fourth quarter of the year, says vice-president, engineering, Bernard Ziegler. The consortium says that it would "...prefer to offer a choice of engines, but that depends on the manufacturers". "We're working with ...
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MDC discusses 100-seater production with Chinese
McDONNELL DOUGLAS (MDC) has entered into discussions with Aviation Industries of China (AVIC) on the joint development and production of a 100-seat passenger aircraft. Initial talks centre on either assisting China with the development of a new 100-seat aircraft or expanding the existing MD-90 TrunkLiner programme to include ...
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Prospects look modest for new freighters
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES NEW FREIGHTER deliveries will remain sluggish over the next ten years as used-aircraft conversions and belly-hold capacity absorb the bulk of cargo traffic growth, according to latest predictions from McDonnell Douglas (MDC) and Boeing. MDC predicts that cargo traffic will continue to average ...
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Missile killer advances
Loral is developing ERINT, a highly agile upgrade for the Patriot missile system. Graham Warwick/DALLAS Praise for the Raytheon Patriot air-defence system during the Gulf War turned to expert criticism afterwards when the missile's performance against Iraq's Scud tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs) was analysed, with the benefit ...
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Prospects look modest as European cargo blossoms
AIR CARGO traffic on European routes exceeded the world average growth rate of 12% in 1994, in spite of some economic uncertainty, according to David Pierce, Boeing Commercial Airplane Group regional director of marketing. Trends in air cargo tend to indicate wider economic movement, says Pierce. He adds ...
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Plans for longer-range GIV held up
GULFSTREAM Aircraft has suspended plans to develop a longer-range version of the GIV business-jet. The company says, that market research indicates, that the present 7,800km (4,200nm)-range GIV-SP is regarded as, the "best value" by customers. The decision to put development of the 8,300km-range GIV-B on hold for ...
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Airbus picks expansion priorities
AIRBUS INDUSTRIE has identified three priorities for the expansion of its A330/A340 range by the end of the century. The European consortium says that the move will give it the "best possible position" in the medium- and long-range markets within five years. The 14,800km (8,000nm)-range A340-8000 will ...