All Ops & safety articles – Page 1224
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News
The weasel game
Andrzej Jeziorski/TOKYO Japan's dominant Big Three carriers face radical change in domestic and international markets, at a time when the Asia-Pacific region is still wrestling with its economic woes. Japan Airlines (JAL) is the oldest of the three, and the biggest in revenue terms - in fiscal year 1997 (from ...
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PAL pays to ward off fleet repossession
Philippine Airlines (PAL) has averted the threat of repossession of its fleet with a $37.9 million payment to its fully secured aircraft creditors. It is the first payment since June 1998 towards clearing the airline's $2.24 billion of debt. According to PAL, the payment was approved on 29 January ...
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SkyWest pursues expansion plans
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC SkyWest Airlines intends to expand its western US regional network further with its newly announced purchase of 25 Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) 200LRs, while longer-term planning is focused on finding a smaller jet or turboprop replacement for its Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias. "We've grown by 35% over ...
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European schools face shake-up
David Learmount/LONDON Criteria for the location of flying schools permitted to train pilots for the new joint European pilots licence are to be "restructured", but not dropped, according to the European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA). In their present form the Joint Aviation Requirements for flight crew licensing (JAR FCL) require ...
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Damage at Frankfurt
An Air India Boeing 747-400 escaped with minimal damage when it touched down short of runway 07R at Frankfurt Main Airport, Germany, but the event seriously damaged the runway's approach lighting and instrument landing system (ILS) localiser antenna. In the 20 January incident, the aircraft got too low on a ...
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Euro carriers edge toward privatisation
Julian Moxon/PARIS The French Government has launched the partial privatisation of Air France, with up to 17.4% of the airline's capital due be placed on the stock exchange in February. The much-delayed privatisation will see the Government's 94% stake cut to around 64% initially, diminishing to around 53% ...
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China slashes civil aviation spending
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE China is halving its investment in the civil aviation industry to 11.1 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) this year as its airlines struggle with financial losses, the official Xinhua news agency says. Liu Jianfeng, Minister of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) says that the country ...
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Airports
-American Airlines will build a new $1 billion, 59-gate terminal at New York Kennedy International to replacing its two existing terminals and accommodate expansion into the next century. The new 76,500m² (1.9 million ft²) facility is to open in 2006 with work to begin later this year. The three concourses ...
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Floating airport trials to begin
A consortium of 17 Japanese steel manufacturers and shipbuilders is to start trials next year off the coast of Japan of a technology which could lead to the creation of a floating airport. Mega Float Technology Research Association will complete and test the construction of an off-shore aircraft landing ...
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Snecma closes in on airline maintenance contracts
Snecma's Services division is moving to seal its first maintenance deals with three airlines in the first half of the year. The French engine builder expects to create a series of joint ventures with the carriers to expand its maintenance arm into new markets. The company intends to follow a ...
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Airbus and P&W order reverser modifications for A300/A310s
Airbus Industrie has issued a safety bulletin ordering rewiring modifications and thorough checks of the thrust reverser systems on Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4 and PW4000-powered A300-600 and A310 twinjets, before reactivation of the reversers. The move follows an incident in November when a Korean Air (KAL) A300-600, powered by ...
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Japanese rejig overseas strategies
Most Asian airlines have concentrated on costs to survive the region's doldrums, but Japan's airlines, facing new low cost domestic rivals, are looking at both international costs and revenues in an effort to boost profits. Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) have both taken the bold step ...
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Mexico faces pressure
Trans World Airways' return to Mexico City with daily flights from St Louis and New Orleans underscores Mexico's need to reach some fundamental aviation decisions. The presence of yet another US carrier fuels Mexico's need to resolve the future of Aeromexico and Mexicana, which are caught up in a debate ...
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Hard day's flying
El Al is getting ready for a mid-year privatisation. Even without the right to fly on the Sabbath, the airline reckons that it is one of the most efficient in the world. When running an airline that can fly only five days a week, you could be forgiven for ...
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Are there dangers in duopoly?
As Airbus again draws closer to Boeing, are there risks from an airliner duopoly? Whatever else the Airbus and Boeing year-end figures may have revealed, there is one fact that remains inescapable. The market for large civil aircraft is now a straight fight between two fairly evenly matched manufacturers. Conventional ...
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Continental's Latin push gets weaker
Continental Airlines is finding its push into Latin America hampered by the fact that American Airlines has already secured matches with many of the region's flag carriers. Pickings among the second- and third-tier airlines tend to be much smaller, Continental is discovering. Chile's Avant Airlines is the latest example. ...
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News in Brief
BA/JAL link - British Airways and Japan Airlines have inked a strategic partnership agreement that will take effect from 1 April. Initially covering codesharing on JAL's Osaka-London service from "late summer", it moves the Japanese carrier closer to a place in the oneworld alliance. JAL has strong ties with all ...
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India ditches joint board
An attempt by their joint board of directors to bring Air-India and Indian Airlines together under a single holding company has provoked a furious response from the Indian Government. Heading off what it saw as a management attempt to begin merging the two state-owned carrier's, the government swiftly dissolved their ...
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SIA halts bid for CAL
Shareholders in Singapore Airlines (SIA) breathed a sigh of relief early in January when the carrier announced that it had withdrawn from discussions to buy shares in Taiwan's China Airlines (CAL). As SIA's share price rose on the news, CAL's fell on concerns that long-running plans for a badly-needed ...
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Prevention is better than cure
The increase in disruptive airline passengers - the perpetrators of 'air rage' - is a warning sign that flying is becoming more stressful. Even its most ardent supporters would have to admit that airline travel is not always the most soothing of experiences. The advertised image is of the ...