Fleets – Page 1003
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News
United attacks 777 reliability
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES UNITED AIRLINES has unleashed a fierce attack on the reliability of its newly acquired Boeing 777s. A letter from a senior United executive to Boeing, dated 13 February, called the aircraft's reliability and performance a "major disappointment". Within 24h of ...
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Schweizer delays delivery of Twin Condor spy craft to US Coast Guard
DELIVERY OF Schweizer Aircraft's RU-38A Twin Condor surveillance aircraft to the US Coast Guard (USCG) has been delayed by between six and eight months because of design flaws discovered during flight-testing of the twin-boom aircraft, says Paul Schweizer, the firm's president. The first of three low-cost, long-range ...
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'Major disappointment': what O'Gorman wrote
Dear Ron United's 777 reliability and performance has been a major disappointment during the past few months. I am very concerned, and would like to ensure that Boeing and United are taking any and all actions necessary to fix these significant problems as soon as possible. The ...
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Japan gears up for US bilateral battle
Kevin O'Toole/TOKYO BATTLE LINES are being drawn up in Japan and the USA as pressure mounts on both sides of the Pacific for a renegotiation of the controversial passenger bilateral between the two countries. Although talks are now under way over a revised cargo agreement, ...
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Private Qantas delivers on performance promise
QANTAS IS HOLDING its own, despite competition in international and domestic markets, says chairman Gary Pemberton, revealing the group's first financial figures, since it completed privatisation in mid-1995. Pemberton reports that Qantas pushed up profits by more than 15%, to A$148 million ($110 million) in the first half ...
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EMB-145 'exceeds expectations'
EMBRAER'S EMB-145 regional jet is performing better than predicted, the Brazilian manufacturer says. One prototype and two pre-series aircraft are now in flight-test and a fourth EMB-145, is scheduled to have been flown, by 20 March. Engineering director Luis Affonso says that the performance is exceeding specification because ...
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Northwest takes A320s and defers A330 deliveries
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC NORTHWEST AIRLINES has postponed and may eventually cancel delivery of 16 Airbus A330s in favour of acquiring 20 more A320s and hushkits for its 32 Boeing 727-200s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s. The decision puts in doubt the US carrier's intentions of ever ...
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Nepal looks to modernise fleet
NEPAL'S FLEDGLING airline industry is looking for more modern aircraft, in response to market deregulation, growing competition and new regulations forcing the retirement of older equipment. The number of fixed-wing Nepali carriers has grown to four since deregulation of the country's domestic services in 1992. State-run Royal Nepal ...
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Thai Airways plans fleet shake-up over five years
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE THAI AIRWAYS International is to purchase 21 new jet-powered airliners and dispose of 31 older aircraft, under a five-year fleet-rationalisation plan approved by its directors. The carrier's 1996-2000 long-term plan calls for a reduction from 14 to six baseline aircraft types and a ...
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BAe calls for Airbus restructuring
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON AIRBUS INDUSTRIE must start to rework its consortium structure and finances, before going ahead with the launch of a new A3XX large-aircraft project, says British Aerospace chief executive Dick Evans. There is little prospect of BAe approving a new Airbus programme "...unless there ...
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Second Trent 777 returns to Seattle after testing
THE SECOND Rolls-Royce Trent 800-powered Boeing 777 was expected to return to Seattle on 1 March after undergoing 91 route sectors with Cathay Pacific Airways. Boeing is striving to achieve early extended-range twin-operations (ETOPS) clearance for the aircraft. By the end of February, the Trent 777 had undergone ...
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Combi Saab 2000 nears certification
SAAB AIRCRAFT is hoping to complete development and certification of a passenger/cargo combi version of its Saab 2000 turboprop by the end of 1996, in an effort to boost flagging sales. The Swedish manufacturer is proposing two different basic combi configurations. The aircraft can be configured typically for ...
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JAL takes keys of first 777
JAPAN AIRLINES WAS HANDED the keys to its first Boeing 777-200 at a ceremony in Seattle on 16 February. The aircraft, which has 389 mainly economy seats, will begin services between Tokyo's domestic hub at Haneda and Kagoshima on 26 April. The airline has ten 777-200s on order and another ...
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Aircraft news
GE Capital Services has ordered 102 B737s, including 82 next generation models, and five B777s. The company has options on a further 76 B737s in a $4 billion deal. Vietnam Airlines will take 10 A320s on operating leases from Regionair and 3 B767-300s from Gecas. KLM ...
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Order doubts slay dragons
China's smaller carriers are in a life or death struggle to gain Beijing's approval for what they expect will be a limited number of aircraft orders this year. The outcome of the battle looks likely to settle which airlines survive and which are swallowed by others. And the ...
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Lessors less committed
For the first time in years, operating lessors are placing major aircraft orders again without advance lease commitments and amid warnings that history may repeat itself. General Electric Capital Aviation Services (Gecas) has ordered 107 Boeing aircraft, and is reportedly close to making a large Airbus order. Singapore ...
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DAC to take Tarom slack
Tarom Romanian Airlines is preparing to hive off its unprofitable domestic routes and part of its regional operation to a new private enterprise, DAC Air. At presstime, the Romanian government was negotiating the conditions of the transferral of route rights with George Paunescu, entrepreneur and chairman of the ...
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Jumbo threat spurs Airbus
Boeing's recent sales successes in Asia with the B777 and B747 are forcing Airbus to consider an early launch for its A3XX project, as the US manufacturer prepares to stretch its largest jet. While Airbus and its partners ponder the viability of their $8 billion programme, Boeing is ...
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Kinnock aims for mandate
European transport commissioner Neil Kinnock is hoping to turn a potentially serious threat to securing the external negotiating mandate to his advantage as the Commission aims to secure at least part of the elusive holy grail this year. On the surface, the tentative open skies accord reached between ...
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ANZ rejigs Ansett deal
Air New Zealand's tortuous attempts to forge an equity alliance with Australian operator Ansett are fast taking on more shades than a chameleon. After prolonged discussions to reach an agreement to make a phased purchase of TNT's 50 per cent holding, new talks are underway to change the shape of ...