All Ops & safety articles – Page 1264
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Competition rules in US
A new US Department of Transportation policy document defining anticompetitive behaviour, is prompting cries of 'reregulation' from most US majors. The document has appeared in the wake of a Senate hearing on the competitive impact of the US hub-and-spoke system, adding heat to an uncomfortable spotlight that seems set ...
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Chaos reigns at Olympic
Olympic Airways' employees are taking strike action over the Socialist government's decision to impose new working conditions. A series of strikes by Olympic workers in April reduced the flag carrier's services to one daily flight to one destination. Some 50 international and 30 domestic flights were being cancelled daily, ...
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Continental leads CRS bypass move
The continuing battle between airlines and computerised reservations systems over rising costs took an unexpected twist in late March when Continental Airlines forced Galileo International to rescind a new fee it planned to impose on electronic tickets. Continental also announced that it planned to cut its distribution costs further by ...
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US to defuse time bomb?
The US Federal Aviation Administration admits that the year 2000 computer issue needs to be addressed on an international basis but is reluctant to take a leadership role. Instead the FAA suggests that the International Civil Aviation Organisation might be a better candidate. The FAA's reluctance stems from two ...
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DOT puts the clock back
A US Department of Transportation inspector has called for a standard definition of 'arrival' as on-time arrival becomes the latest hotly-contested issue among US majors. The call for a clearer policy came as some majors accused other airlines - most notably Southwest Airlines - of fudging the manually collected ...
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Poles apart from capital?
A proposed change in Polish state ownership law could further delay a vital capital injection for cash-starved LOT Polish Airlines, just as the Polish government lines up potential investors. The Polish government was due to shortlist consortium bidders for LOT in April and declare a winner by the end ...
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More room on top
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON On 24 October 1997, Airbus Industrie retired the last Boeing Super Guppy from service, bringing to an end some 26 years of the outsized cargo turboprop's operations ferrying subassemblies between the consortium's European plants. At its peak, the fleet of converted Boeing 377s/C-97s totalled four aircraft, but in ...
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Single Mandate
British Airways and American Airlines appear on the verge of securing the long-awaited competition approval for their alliance from the European Commission (EC) with Brussels insiders set to give a mid-May date and a painful but probably realistic demand for slot surrender at London Heathrow. With some irony, however, ...
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FAA to refund overflight fees
The US Federal Aviation Administration is to refund millions of dollars in overflight fees charged to foreign air carriers between October 1997 and the end of January after a Federal Appeal Court decision questioning the basis of the fees. The FAA says it will not appeal against the ruling ...
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Eurocontrol tests pilot-controller link
A major step was taken towards operational datalinks for air traffic management (ATM) on 14 April when a Lufthansa Boeing 747-200 en route from Frankfurt to Miami accepted clearances from traffic controllers in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The preliminary Eurocontrol test of the PETAL-II air to ground datalink saw Maastricht ...
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East Europeans set to join single skies
A comprehensive air transport agreement between the European Commission (EC) and 10 East European states has been drafted and could take effect early next year. Frederik Sorensen, head of airline policy at the EC's transport directorate, says that the accord will create "a complete integration" of the countries into ...
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Concern grows over Sydney noise regime
Paul Phelan/CAIRNS Qantas and Ansett have warned of mounting chaos at Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport following an Australian Government directive on overflying the city's suburbs which has effectively halved off-peak capacity at the airport. Controllers have also raised safety concerns. A new long term operating plan (LTOP) had ...
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The vital combinations
Shahe Ouzounian/LONDON and FRANKFURT, Brent Hannon/TAIPEI ACCORDING TO Wilhelm Althen, chairman of the executive board of Lufthansa Cargo, the revolutionary break in January 1995 with the passenger side of Lufthansa's business was "-a process that hasn't just been about the last three years, it's a 20 year old road ...
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Polar challenge
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Polar Air Cargo and its older competitors are facing tough times. The Asian economic engine that helped pump Polar rapidly into life is faltering and cargo traffic is down by almost one-third compared to 1997. Yet the five year old carrier is in good shape ...
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EC steps up open skies battle as American/BA approval nears
Alan George/BRUSSELS Mounting controversy over the legality of bilateral open skies agreements between the USA and individual European Union member states is threatening a further twist to the American Airlines and British Airways alliance as approval nears. The European Commission (EC) is set to clear the partnership in ...
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New wave of airline alliances hits USA
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC American Airlines and US Airways have agreed to a marketing alliance which initially combines their frequent flier programmes, while United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have followed with confirmation that they are discussing a global alliance. The US Airways/American pact, which stops short of a ...
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FAA targets business aircraft EGPWS
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The US Federal Aviation Administration plans to include business aircraft in new rules requiring installation of the enhanced ground-proximity warning system (EGPWS) in all turbine-powered aircraft with six or more passenger seats. Types as small as the Raytheon Beech King Air will be affected. The ...
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Airbus ponders commercial market prospects for Beluga
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Super Airbus Transport International(SATIC) and Airbus believe that the growing success of the Beluga's third party cargo charter business could see an external market develop for the aircraft with outsized cargo carriers. The A300-600 based Beluga was designed, built and certificated for Airbus by the Toulouse-based Aerospatiale/Daimler-Benz Aerospace ...
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Air France pilots receive scant sympathy from US colleagues
The US airline pilots association (ALPA) has provided an ambiguous reply to the request by Air France's main pilots' union, the SNPL, for a critical analysis of the carrier's salary structure. The SNPL is objecting strongly to Air France's insistence on a two-tier salary level and a 15% reduction ...
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ANA Star gazes after signing deals with Lufthansa and United
All Nippon Airways (ANA) has signed its codesharing agreements with Lufthansa and United Airlines, suggesting that it may now join their Star Alliance. At the same time, the airline's pilots are to suspend their strike action. Under the new alliances, ANA will codeshare on 11 routes to the USA ...