All Safety News – Page 1291
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News
Crisis spreads to China as airlines make losses
The Asian economic downturn has begun to have an impact on the Chinese air transport industry, with the country's 11 largest carriers announcing for the first time a collective loss of ¥1.7 billion ($206 million) in the opening quarter of the financial year. According to the state-run China ...
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EGPWS move leads Korean Air safety drive
Korean Air (KAL) is to begin fitting its entire fleet with enhanced ground proximity warning systems (EGPWS), starting in July with the delivery of new Airbus Industrie A330-200/300s and Boeing 777-200/300s. The airline warns, however, that some of its future widebody deliveries may be delayed because of the economic ...
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Surprise share plan changes UK's air traffic control chart
David Learmount/LONDON Privatisation of the UK air traffic control (ATC) system has been put back on the political agenda, with the year-old Labour Government mooting the sale of 51% of the Civil Aviation Authority's National Air Traffic Services (NATS). ATC privatisation has been a running issue within UK ...
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Carriers push Airbus on LCDs
Paul Lewis/SINGAPOREAirbus Industrie is being pressed by major international carriers to offer a choice of new liquid crystal display (LCD) systems in the cockpits of future aircraft, as the consortium narrows the final selection of vendors to Rockwell Collins and Sextant Avionique. The European consortium plans to fit its A320/A330/A340 ...
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PAL fights for survival as pilots are sacked and flights slashed
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Philippine Airlines (PAL) is drawing up survival plans for a massive shrinkage of its international and domestic operations, after sacking 600 pilots involved in a week-long strike that has brought the national carrier close to financial ruin. Pilots were protesting over plans to force redundancies among older ...
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757-300 prepared for flight test
Guy Norris/SEATTLE The first Boeing 757-300 is being prepared for flight testing, provisionally scheduled to begin with a maiden flight on 1 July, following the roll-out ceremony at the company's Renton site on 31 May. Three 757-300s are due to take part in the test effort, which is ...
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Boeing studies extending 767-400ER range
Guy Norris/SEATTLE Boeing is evaluating the case for increasing the range of the 767-400ER to about 11,100km (6,000nm) in response to requests from Britannia Airways. The UK charter operator is interested in operating the stretched version of the twin on non-stop operations to Asia-Pacific destinations. The -400ER, which ...
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Costa Rican start-up chooses A300 freighter
Costa Rican start-up carrier JHM Cargo Airlines has leased seven Airbus A300B4 freighters from C-S Aviation Services (CSAS) for all-cargo operations to begin by the end of June. The carrier plans to start with twice-daily services between San Jose and Miami, Florida, says general manager Capt Roberto Escalante. The ...
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MetroJet takes on Southwest
Ramon Lopez/BALTIMORE US Airways launched its low-cost MetroJet operation at Baltimore/Washington International Airport on 1 June, leaving industry analysts waiting to see whether Southwest Airlines drops its already low ticket price to protect its market share. MetroJet's initial fares match those of Southwest, but that could change if ...
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Marketplace
-Air Europa has leased an ex-Carnival/Pan Am Boeing 737-400 from International Lease Finance (ILFC) for four years. The Spanish carrier leases two 737-300s and two 737-400s from ILFC. -KLM uk has extended the terms on five British Aerospace 146-300s on lease from BAe Asset Management - Jets, but is returning ...
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GE inspects CF6-80E1s after A330-200 oil leak problem
General Electric has asked airlines to inspect all CF6-80E1 engines after Canada 3000's first Airbus A330-200 was forced to make a precautionary diversion on its inaugural flight. The diversion followed the discovery of an oil leak in the number four bearing area. GE says the aircrew, who were flying from ...
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Cathay will lead US/Asia transpolar flights
Cathay Pacific Airways is planning a record breaking non-stop flight from New York to Hong Kong in early July, which is intended to lead the way to the opening up in 1999 of four new transpolar routes between the US East Coast and Asia over the Russian Far East. ...
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Sempati suspends services as losses mount and traffic falls
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Indonesia's privately run Sempati Air Transport has suspended operations in the face of mounting financial losses, falling domestic traffic and after its shareholders failed to inject further capital into the business. Sempati's owners have said that, for now, the airline will not be liquidated and have ...
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IAE inspections start again after failure
The engine failure which caused one of British Midland's International Aero Engines (IAE) V2533-A5-powered Airbus A321-200s to return to London Heathrow on 15 May was caused by a sixth stage [high-pressure compressor] stator vane fracture resulting from an inclusion in the vane material. The incident has prompted IAE to ...
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Big losses put MAS deliveries on hold
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is to delay delivery of nine Boeing 747-400s and 777-200s on order by up to 36 months and dispose of an extra four surplus 737s, in the wake of a larger than expected end of year net loss of M$260 million ($67.3 million). ...
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Hydraulic loss spoils Global Hawk UAV test
Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical (TRA) is investigating a hydraulic failure which marred the otherwise successful third flight of the Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The aircraft lost hydraulic pressure on approach to the runway at Edwards AFB, California, after the 5h 22min flight on 30 May. The landing gear ...
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Multi-role machine
Peter Gray/SINGAPORE Eurocopter has brought two completely new turbine helicopters to the market in the past two years: the light single-engined EC120 and the light twin-engined EC135. Before putting pen to drawing board to design a new light twin, Eurocopter asked operators what they wanted. Later, during development, ...
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Geared Turbofan Basics
A conventional turbofan is divided into high and low pressure spools, each consisting of a compressor and turbine. The low-pressure spool drives the fan and provides most of the propulsive power. The fan works best at slower speeds, while the rest of the spool - the compressors and turbines - ...
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Preparing for partnership
Kevin O'Toole/JOHANNESBURG This could finally be the year when the pieces start falling into place for South African Airways (SAA). If all goes according to plan, by the end of October the South African Government will have decided on a strategic partner to take a 20-30% stake in its ...
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Safer skies
Kevin O'Toole/JOHANNESBURG Fears about air safety over Africa are not new, but a year ago the issue hit the headlines worldwide, following pilot complaints that air traffic control (ATC) was either inadequate or simply absent over much of the continent. An image painted by the media was one ...