All Ops & safety articles – Page 1160
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Report deepens mystery of Crossair Saab 340 accident
David Learmount/LONDON A quirk in the flight management system (FMS) of the Crossair Saab 340 which crashed near Zurich, Switzerland, on 10 January led the captain to reverse a cleared left turn and turn right instead just before the crash. After the manoeuvre, the right bank quickly became extreme, ...
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X-33 deal in renegotiation talks
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC NASA and Lockheed Martin are renegotiating their co-operative agreement on the X-33 technology demonstrator and follow-on VentureStar reusable launch vehicle (RLV). The talks are a result of technical problems with the X-33 and the decision by NASA both to delay and open to competition its ...
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Baggage space limitations hit DaimlerChrysler A319CJ
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH DaimlerChrysler Aviation has had to remove four of the 48 seats installed in its recently delivered Airbus A319 Corporate Jet (CJ) because there is insufficient space in the cargo hold for passengers' baggage. The Stuttgart-based operator is looking, meanwhile, at the possibility of launching intra-European flights ...
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Airbus targets Farnborough air show for launch of A330-100
Guy Norris/SANTIAGO Airbus Industrie hopes to launch its proposed mid-range A330-100 at the Farnborough air show in July, providing the basis of a twin-aisle replacement of the ageing A300-600 and A310. Revealing the plan at the FIDAE 2000 air show in Chile last week, Airbus senior vice-president, commercial, John ...
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FAA Bill approved
Following a three-year fight, the US Federal Aviation Administration's $40 billion three-year reauthorisation Bill has been approved by both the House and the Senate and looks set to be signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The Bill represents a triumph for FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, who has fought hard ...
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Play by the rules
David Knibb WASHINGTON DC As momentum grows to liberalise the skies, the rules for fair and open competition become more important. But few agree on what they should be. When Grupo TACA accused Continental Airlines last November of predatory pricing and capacity dumping, a charge the latter denied, it ...
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Life at the top
KAREN WALKER SINGAPORE Airbus is right to feel proud of its 1999 performance, as it overtook Boeing on new orders. But the fight to stay on top will be fierce. If Airbus Industrie's managers find the heights to which they climbed in 1999 overwhelming, they show no signs of vertigo ...
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Lawyers question trend to prosecute over safety
DAVID KNIBB WASHINGTON DC US lawyers are raising concerns over a growing tension between air safety and criminal law. An 80% rise in US airline fines in 1999 and a jury's conviction of SabreTech for its role in a ValuJet crash have drawn attention to a trend by prosecutors to ...
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Soft Landing
Tom Gill and Colin Baker LONDON There are all the classic signs of a downturn in the cycle, with aircraft prices weakening and deliveries slowing, but this time it looks more like a gentle decline rather than bust When the airline industry cycle last turned down a decade ago, it ...
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Struggling VASP looks to domestic market
BRIAN HOMEWOOD RIO DE JANEIRO VASP, Brazil's third-biggest airline, is struggling to maintain its credibility after a run of embarrassing problems caused by an apparent lack of cash. The beleaguered airline, which has cut several international routes and returned four Boeing MD-11s, nearly had its landing rights suspended at Brazilian ...
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Plan set to solve dispute over Italian flight transfer
BARRY CROSS LONDON A new plan may have solved the long-running saga over the transfer of flights from Milan's Linate Airport to the new hub at Malpensa. The so-called Plan B is to be implemented on 20 April, even though the airlines involved are still far from happy. The ...
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KLM gives profit plan details
COLIN BAKER LONDON KLM has detailed its plans to bring the airline back to profitability next year. The measures include a cost-cutting programme and a change in fleet deployment to bring total savings of DFl700 million ($307 million). The airline says the measures, aimed to tackle rising fuel costs, ...
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EASA delayed by debate over powers
ALAN GEORGE BRUSSELS The protracted project to create a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) now seems unlikely to come to fruition until 2002 at the earliest. It still remains uncertain whether the new body will be an agency of the European Commission (EC), or, as originally envisaged, an international agency ...
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Vietnam-USA seal deal
NICHOLAS IONIDES ATI SINGAPORE Vietnam and the USA have finally signed a bilateral to allow codesharing. That could be the prelude to a full air-services accord when talks resume in June. The codeshare agreement was signed early in March in Hanoi and is described as a "memorandum of discussions", although ...
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EU fuel tax proposal criticised
A proposal by the European Commission that individual member states take steps to levy tax on aviation fuel has been criticised as "confused and confusing" by the Association of European Airlines. The proposal, a follow-up to the wide-ranging Communication issued at the end of last year, calls for member states ...
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US majors fight for new China routes
KAREN WALKER WASHINGTON DC The availability of rights for 10 new weekly non-stop flights between the USA and China has pitched US passenger airlines into an unusual battle against cargo carriers. Under an updated US-China aviation agreement, China is granting the US Government the 10 new flights as well ...
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Hungary for a change?
Tom Gill BUDAPEST With a new chief executive and new investors on the horizon, things might be looking up for Malév Ferenc Kovacs is cautiously confident. Appointed Malév's chief executive in October after 23 years with the company, he is well aware of the many false starts that the Hungarian ...
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Dragonair fleet expansion challenges Cathay Pacific
Nicholas Ionides ATI SINGAPORE Hong Kong's Dragonair has confirmed a major fleet expansion in what observers say is a clear sign that the carrier intends to mount a more direct challenge to the dominance of the former colony's de facto flag carrier, Cathay Pacific Airways. China-controlled Dragonair announced details of ...
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Canada proposes tougher rules
DAVID KNIBB SEATTLE Canada's transport administration, Transport Canada, proposes to rewrite the country's aviation laws, but the Competition Bureau thinks it is not enough. In response to Air Canada's takeover of Canadian Airlines, a parliamentary committee has completed a review of the laws. Ottawa believes these need revision to ...
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A people business
The departure of Bob Ayling from British Airways may have had more than one simple cause, but his apparent lack of ability to motivate staff and sell his vision provide important lessons as the airline looks for a new head. It may be a well-worn maxim, but the airline ...