All Systems & Interiors news – Page 907
-
News
NASA starts on New Millennium project
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA PLANS TO launch three interplanetary space missions before 2000, as part of a $100 million-a-year New Millennium space-technology validation effort. The first to be launched in 1998, will be built by Spectrum Astro at a cost of about $30 million. It is ...
-
News
SIA expands 777 options
SINGAPORE AIRLINES (SIA) has widened its "Y aircraft" evaluation of the Boeing 777 to include the longer range -200 B-market and -300 stretch variants. The 777 is competing against the Airbus Industrie A330/340 for an SIA order for up to 17 aircraft. A final selection was due ...
-
News
FANS doubters 'risk being left behind'
AIRLINES WHICH DO not subscribe to the future air-navigation system (FANS) risk being left behind as others reap the financial benefits resulting from the more efficient route structure and reduced delays the system will make possible. The warning came as the industry met for the Flight International ...
-
News
Big three airframe builders demand IFE standard
THE WORLD'S three largest airframe builders have joined together to warn the in-flight entertainment (IFE) industry that it has to standardise hardware or face serious consequences. Airbus, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas (MDC) executives shared a stage at the recent World Airline Entertainment Association conference in Amsterdam to give ...
-
News
Air France recovery derailed by problems
Gilbert Sedbon/PARIS A NEW SERIES OF strikes, trouble with Algeria, and a 1.5% drop in traffic during the first five months of its current financial year to 31 March, 1966, are combing to derail Air France's three-year recovery plan. The twin aims of chairman Christian Blanc -to raise ...
-
News
'Big three' plan for FANS as cost benefits emerge
THE BIG THREE aircraft manufacturers estimate that up to 2,500 of today's jet-powered airliners could potentially be equipped with Future Air Navigation System (FANS) datalinks, although they warn that the speed of implementation will hinge on proof of clear cost gains for airline customers. Boeing has led ...
-
News
Lufthansa fares cuts upset Deutsche BA
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH DEUTSCHE BA IS considering complaining to the European Commission over Lufthansa's decision to slash fares on domestic routes. The move comes after the German flag carrier announced that it is replacing its low-priced Express concept with a new domestic service, introducing a fares ...
-
News
Uncommon sense
IT MAKES FOR GREAT copy, but does it really make sense for two great business-jet manufacturers to distract attendees with an old-fashioned slinging match at their industry's most important annual event? The Gulfstream V and the Bombardier Global Express, when they enter service, will be far more ...
-
News
Stop downsizing
Considerable barriers to rationalising airline maintenance remain. The answer lies not in downsizing but in upgrading training and systems, discarding outdated procedures and making facilities flexible, argues Scott Brandt.Airline maintenance has historically accounted for 9 to 13 per cent of an airline's operating costs. Maintenance cost per ASM varies throughout ...
-
News
None the wiser
At a preliminary meeting to lay the groundwork for a quasi plenary session early next year, five members of the European Comité des Sages have begun a campaign to accelerate changes in European aviation policy. Mark Odell reports exclusively on the proceedings.Just when the European Commission thought it was safe, ...
-
News
Voyage into cyberspace
Airlines are already taking their first tentative steps onto the Internet but remain uncertain over what type of product they should make available. By Carlos de Pommes, Steve Geller and Jens F Meyer.As the Internet continues its global expansion, cyberspace is becoming as big as outer space and the travel ...
-
News
A breath of fresh air
After several wrong turnings on the bumpy alliance road, Sabena and Swissair are finally travelling together. In Brussels, Sabena chief executive Pierre Godfroid and alliance supremo Patrick du Bois discuss the prospects for the carrier with Trevor French.The irony is probably lost on Sabena chief executive Pierre Godfroid that almost ...
-
News
Kiwi sold on Murphy's law
The traditionally difficult winter season could prove especially challenging for troubled US minnow Kiwi International. In August, the Newark-based carrier installed its fourth chief executive in seven months, and its competitive position in the eastern US is under threat from Southwest's planned entry into Florida. But CEO Jerry ...
-
News
Blanc rejigs his top team
Air France chairman Christian Blanc is putting pressure on flight attendants to accept a two-tier pay structure. The latest bid to cut costs follows a management reshuffle at the end of August. Blanc has commissioned a study by Munich-based consultants Roland, Berger and Partner which shows that cabin ...
-
News
No ticket to ride with UAL
United Airlines' decision to make electronic ticketing an option for passengers on all its domestic routes, including services to Hawaii and Puerto Rico, could save the carrier up to $5 per ticket. The carrier estimates the new technology will save it about $25 million annually, similar to savings ...
-
News
How much trust in US?
With all nine European countries signed up to open skies agreements with the US, Washington has completed a key part of its international aviation policy announced last November. But the fallout could have serious repercussions for the European Commission's attempts to win an external negotiating mandate with the US, in ...
-
News
Team tactics
International joint ventures pave the way for an expansion of the maintenance market in China. Paul Lewis/BEIJING/GUANGZHOU/XIAMEN A WORLDWIDE OVERCAPACITY in aircraft maintenance and overhaul has left many companies struggling under the weight of intense competition and uneconomical work rates. This gloomy global picture, however, has not ...
-
News
Ranging wider
Canadair has gradually improved its Challenger corporate jet over the past decade. Harry Hopkins/WICHITA THE CANADAIR CHALLENGER series of corporate jets has evolved over 15 years in a series of small steps which have not detracted from the success of the original formula - to marry the ...
-
News
BA beds in for class battle
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON BRITISH AIRWAYS SAYS that the highly publicised launch of its new long-haul first-class "cabin" concept is just part of a broader £500 million ($776 million) programme to redesign all cabin services over the next three years. The new first-class offering, which was officially ...
-
News
Greenwald blames bilaterals for strangling industry
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON UNITED AIRLINES (UAL) chairman Gerald Greenwald has launched one of the most scathing attacks yet on the system of bilateral air agreements, including among his main targets the slow progress being made on UK-US liberalisation. "What we have now is a kind of ...