All Safety News – Page 1397

  • News

    Sabena is rocked by record losses

    1997-03-19T00:00:00Z

    Sabena president Paul Reutlinger has revealed the heaviest losses in the Belgian airline's history and admits that its performance remains under review by main shareholder Swissair. The group's total net loss climbed to BFr8.8 billion ($248 million) in 1996, although close to half of the figure came from ...

  • News

    Bad Promises

    1997-03-19T00:00:00Z

    A EUROPEAN UNION guarantee seems to be a bit like Sam Goldwyn's famed verbal contract - not worth the paper it's written on. Certainly, that seems to be the case with the guarantees that the EU gave operators of Chapter 2 aircraft in 1992 that they could continue to operate ...

  • News

    Alcatel asks for US SkyBridge approval

    1997-03-19T00:00:00Z

    Alcatel Espace has applied to the US Federal Communications Commission to launch and operate a 64-satellite, low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation to provide high-speed, broadband, interactive services to business and private users worldwide, at a data rate of up to 60 million bits/s. The $3.5 billion system, called the ...

  • News

    The big question

    1997-03-19T00:00:00Z

    Given the highly public differences between Airbus Industrie and Boeing over the existence, or otherwise, of a multi-billion-dollar market for a new large airliner, you could be forgiven for thinking that a yawning gulf exists between long-term forecasts from the two manufacturers. In fact, this is not so. ...

  • News

    Struggle for success

    1997-03-19T00:00:00Z

    There have been recent airline casualties in the South American commercial air-transport industry's struggle to find its feet - a scrap which continues today. Although traffic is growing fast in this market, there is a clear need for restructuring what has traditionally been a fragmented and unprofitable airline sector. According ...

  • News

    No barriers to foreign training, says CAA

    1997-03-19T00:00:00Z

    The UK Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed that additional foreign flying schools will be able to apply for approval to offer UK private and commercial pilot-licence training until 1 July, 1999. After that, however, European Joint Aviation Regulation for flightcrew licensing (JAR FCL) will be in place, stating that approved ...

  • News

    Pilots can expect harder tests, CAA warns

    1997-03-19T00:00:00Z

    European pilots will have to meet higher written-examination standards than those of existing UK ones, reveals UK Civil Aviation Authority head of flightcrew licensing (FCL), Des Payton. Payton describes the ground-examination standards set by the new European pilot-licensing Joint Aviation Regulations (JAR FCL) as "-a bit of a ...

  • News

    Tarom discusses MD-11 acquisition with MDC

    1997-03-19T00:00:00Z

    Romanian flag carrier Tarom is talking to McDonnell Douglas (MDC) about a possible MD-11 purchase as it awaits Government clearance to buy next-generation Boeing 737s and AI(R) ATR 42 turboprops. A delegation from McDonnell Douglas visited Romanian capital Bucharest in February to discuss the potential acquisition by Tarom ...

  • News

    Sabreliner moves cargo conversions to boost capacity

    1997-03-19T00:00:00Z

    Dimension Aviation, the new modification centre set up recently by Sabreliner, has taken over all McDonnell Douglas (MDC) US widebody cargo-conversion work from sister company SabreTech, and could eventually have the capability to convert up to 12 aircraft simultaneously. Sabreliner established Dimension in February as part of a ...

  • News

    IPTNcalls in Europeans on N250

    1997-03-19T00:00:00Z

    IPTN has enlisted a team of European aerospace consultants to try to help secure Joint Airworthiness Authorities (JAA) type certification of its N250 regional turboprop. Jakarta-based consultancy Bramadi Pratama has recruited a group of former British Aerospace employees, ex-JAA officials and test pilots to assist IPTN and the Indonesian Directorate ...

  • News

    Gulf Air accident

    1997-03-19T00:00:00Z

    The pilots of a Cairo-bound Gulf Air Airbus A320-212 (A4O-EM) were injured when they aborted take-off some 600-900m (2,000-3,000ft) from brakes-off at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. In strong winds, the aircraft veered right, hit a bank and came to rest having lost its nose-gear and suffered serious ...

  • News

    MDC reveals FedEx MD-10 freighter-conversion sites

    1997-03-12T00:00:00Z

    McDonnell Douglas (MDC) has chosen US and European sites to convert up to 60 ex-United Airlines and American Airlines DC-10-10s to phase 1 of the MD-10 freighter specification. The aircraft are destined for FedEx. Phoenix, Arizona-based Dimension Aviation, a division of Sabreliner (previously SabreTech/ DynAir Tech), has been ...

  • News

    Embraer seeks Paris show launchfor new 37-seat regional turbofan

    1997-03-12T00:00:00Z

    Embraer has confirmed its intentions to develop a family of small regional jets which would include new 37- and 70-seat aircraft on either side of its EMB-145 50-seater. The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer hopes to be able officially to launch the 37-seater, which will be known as the EMB-135, ...

  • News

    Renewed US ticket tax sparks hostility

    1997-03-12T00:00:00Z

    US PRESIDENT Clinton has renewed the 10%airline ticket tax to the end of the fiscal year, pending a longer-term review of new proposals for funding the Federal Aviation Administration. The ticket tax lapsed again at the end of 1996 without agreement in Congress on a replacement funding method, ...

  • News

    Fuel charges and dollar rate push Korean Air into the red

    1997-03-12T00:00:00Z

    Korean Air (KAL) dived into the red in 1996 because of rising fuel charges and the impact of a strong US dollar on its debt burden. Despite the losses, the airline is pressing ahead with plans for a further fleet expansion. The South Korean flag carrier ended the ...

  • News

    Rich International retrieves FAA certificate

    1997-03-12T00:00:00Z

    RICH INTERNATIONAL Airways has been re-awarded its air-carrier certificate from the US Federal Aviation Administration, but the carrier still awaits authorisation from the US Department of Transportation (DoT) to restart charter flights. The Miami-based operator was grounded by the FAA in September 1996 after a safety audit uncovered ...

  • News

    TNT looks at large freighters

    1997-03-12T00:00:00Z

    TNT Express Worldwide is aiming to introduce its first large freighter aircraft in 1998, if a strategic analysis of the market which it is now undertaking concludes that such a move is required. The express-parcel company, acquired by Dutch postal company KPN late in 1995, is timing the ...

  • News

    GrandAir puts US plans on hold

    1997-03-12T00:00:00Z

    GrandAir has been forced to put on hold plans to fly to the USA by the Philippine regulatory authorities' continued failure to comply with the US Federal Aviation Administration's Category I safety requirements. The airline and incumbent national carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) have been told that there can ...

  • News

    Boeing finalises 767-400ERX

    1997-03-12T00:00:00Z

    Boeing expects to begin the second phase of windtunnel testing of the 767-400ERX "within the next couple of months" as it works towards a planned May 2000 service-entry for the aircraft, according to programme manager John Quinlivan. Quinlivan also confirms that the company "-has held discussions "with airlines ...

  • News

    NATS works to avoid further Swanwick delay

    1997-03-12T00:00:00Z

    The UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) is facing a race against time to prevent the opening of its ú350 million ($570 million) Swanwick en-route air traffic control (ATC) centre slipping to late-1998, as prime contractor Lockheed Martin works to finish debugging 1 million lines of software code. ...