Op-Ed Columnists – Page 21
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Opinion
Comment: A military aviation authority is a good idea, but it could still be badly executed
Setting up an independent military aviation authority to oversee airworthiness standards is an excellent idea, but those in charge are going to need a special type of bravery to be effective
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Opinion
Comment: Heavy guns for an existential struggle
More than 170 people were killed during last year's Australian fire season. That's a massive human tragedy by any measure, made worse by the fact that many...
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Opinion
Comment: Reality check
Pioneering Gulf Air was left behind as its former shareholders spun off their own network carriers. A new action plan must turn its fortunes around if it is to stay viable in the long term
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Opinion
Dubai 09: Comment: A quiet Dubai?
What signals did last week's Dubai air show give about an aerospace recovery? Do not be misled by the lack of big home-grown airliner orders. The region is powering up again fast
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Opinion
Comment: American's Agenda
Despite limited room for manoeuvre, carriers are trying to force through global joint ventures and pacts as they play out growth strategies for when the good times return. American Airlines is involved in deals that could give it big wins both east and west
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Opinion
Comment: Have BA and Iberia got it 20% right?
The decision by British Airways and Iberia to pursue a merger has re-ignited the debate on airline consolidation and its merits - or lack thereof. Proponents...
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Opinion
Comment: Market reality and the US middle man
Italy's Finmeccanica, virtually unknown in the US defence market even five years ago, seems to have set its sights on cracking the ultimate transatlantic...
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Opinion
Comment: Stripping out margin for error
Aviation has a long and worthy tradition of calculating safety performance to allow for error or the unexpected. This is being challenged by today's lean operating philosophy
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Opinion
Comment: A400M: the first cut
South Africa has finally lost faith with Airbus Military's delayed airlifter, but only time will tell whether it was right to withdraw now, rather than hold formation through flight test
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Opinion
Comment: Are old habits working against new vision?
NASA's commercial crew and cargo programmes are about changing the way it does...
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Opinion
Comment: SESAR off the radar?
Air traffic management is usually low on the political horizon unless there is a crisis, but with traffic down, the Single European Sky is in danger of disappearing behind the clouds
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Opinion
Comment: Awakening from a connectivity coma
Boeing has far more important things to worry about than deciding what in-flight connectivity it will choose for the 787. Shouldn't it focus on getting the...
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Opinion
Comment: USAF stealth strategy jammed on lock
Radar jammers are an inconvenient necessity. After all, a 30-year-old US Air Force strategy has poured billions of dollars into stealth technology ...
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Opinion
Comment: Foundation shaken
Times are hard, and companies are not the only organisations whose existence is threatened by economic crisis. The Flight Safety Foundation, a priceless industry asset, is also at risk
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Opinion
Comment: The final frontier: open to all?
A new vision for NASA, where crew and cargo transport to the International Space Station is privatised, emerged last week after remarks by the agency's administrator...
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Opinion
Comment: Beating the clock
The world deserted corporate aviation a year ago. Business jets offer comfort and status, but it is their biggest selling point - speed of getting from A to B - that will lure customers again
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Opinion
Comment: Volunteer or be volunteered
Business aviation could easily be safer than it is. Corporate operators and big fractional ownership companies could improve only a little as their standards...
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Opinion
Comment: MRJ's big deal
Mitsubishi's claims that its MRJ will set the standard for the next generation of regional jets seemed like wishful thinking until a big export order gave the programme serious credibility
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Opinion
COMMENT: Helicopter safety has no choice but to improve
Helicopters don't have to be the poor relations of fixed-wing aircraft, with safety worries consigning them to niche applications - the tools exist to raise operating standards dramatically