All Ops & safety articles – Page 1279
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News
Air France profits roll but alliances come under EC scrutiny
Air France's transatlantic alliances have become the latest to come under scrutiny by the European Commission (EC), although the French flag carrier is pressing ahead with its expansion, buoyed by its recent financial turnaround and the prospect of a private cash injection. Regardless of the EC inquiry, Air France ...
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SAA prepares to rethink 777 purchase
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON South African Airways (SAA) has widened the brief of the task force set up to re-evaluate its fleet plan to include new Airbus A330/A340 types. This confirms that the long-delayed order for Boeing 777-200s could be revised. The airline says that it will include a smaller ...
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FAA orders 737 checks after wrecked tail find
Precautionary checks on certain Boeing 737-300s, -400s and -500s have been ordered by the US Federal Aviation Administration following the discovery of tailplane wreckage from the crashed Silk Air 737-300. Fasteners are missing from sections of the horizontal stabiliser, and bolts from elevator attachments. The accident occurred on 19 ...
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Boeing firms up the flightdeck design of stretched 767-400
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has completed the firm design configuration of the stretched 767-400ER, revealing an upgraded flightdeck and a new-look cabin based on the 777 interior design. The bulk of the design was fixed by September 1997, but airline pressure drove Boeing to conduct trade studies on the additional ...
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MEA revises A310 lease agreement
Middle East Airlines (MEA) has agreed a revised deal with Singapore Aircraft Leasing (SALE) over the five-year lease of three Airbus A310-200s. The new agreement reduces the price of the lease from $39 million to $34 million. Agreement has been reached as investigations by the Lebanese public prosecutor into alleged ...
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P&W tests new combustor design for JT8D-200
Pratt & Whitney is testing a new combustor design for the JT8D-200-series engine. The new design is expected to reduce nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions by 20% as part of a drive to keep the engine compatible with imminent emissions legislation. The revised combustor is aimed at new-build -200s and ...
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Insurers warn on 1997
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Aviation insurers are again warning that they face a serious shortfall for 1997 following estimates which have put the cost of losses at close to $1.4 billion, despite a relatively encouraging year for air safety. The preliminary year-end figures from the UK Airclaims consultancy, widely used ...
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Swissair 'back in profit' in 1997
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH The SAir Group says that its core Swissair airline operations are due to show a profit for the first time in eight years when the 1997 results are revealed. The airline points to soaring load factors, which have climbed to 70% from just above 60%, as ...
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Training fails test
The oversight of pilot and flightcrew training by the US Federal Aviation Administration must improve, says a US General Accounting Office (GAO) report. It states that accident rates can be reduced by improved pilot training. The study examines the relationship of airline pilots' performance to accidents, and the FAA's system ...
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Collins for America
American Airlines has selected Rockwell-Collins as the primary avionics supplier for its new fleet of Boeing 737s and 777s. The ten-year agreement, worth $200 million, allows for guaranteed acquisition pricing and provides for maintenance and logistics support, and includes the GLU-920 multi-mode receiver, traffic-alert collision-avoidance system and WXR-700X forward- looking ...
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TARMAC puts pilots on the right road
The German Aerospace Centre Institute of Flight Guidance has extended its prototype Taxi and Ramp Management and Control (TARMAC) system to the flightdeck, with an Airborne System (AS) display which is being evaluated by pilots in an Airbus A320-based demonstration cockpit. The TARMAC-AS assists the pilot graphically during taxiing, while ...
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Problems with checking chip detectors
Disaster avoided, but could changes in Sir - I refer to the "potentially catastrophic multiple-engine failure on a British Aerospace 146", as reported in the article "RAF Queen's Flight contractor comes under safety audit" (Flight International, 3-9 December, 1997, P17). There was another incident some years ago. Like that on ...
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Cathay warns of more cuts as troubles multiply
Cathay Pacific Airways' management is warning of further deep cuts ahead in equipment and possibly staff numbers, as the financially troubled Hong Kong-based carrier struggles to pull out of an increasingly steep downward plunge. The airline is negotiating with manufacturers to defer decisions on some of its 25 outstanding ...
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Dow makes moulded cascades
Dow-United Technologies Composites (Dow-UT) has developed a technique for producing turbofan thrust-reverser cascades using resin-transfer moulding of braided composites. The resulting parts, the company says, are lighter and more durable than conventional multi-part cascades assembled from aluminium or magnesium castings. Dow-UT says that metal cascades, which divert fan airflow ...
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Boeing delivery delay forces Hokkaido to defer start-up
A delay in the delivery of aircraft has forced the Japanese start-up Hokkaido International Airlines to postpone its launch of regular services until mid-1998. The airline's first aircraft, a new Boeing 767-300ER leased from Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services, was scheduled for delivery in February but will now be up to ...
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BA awards pilot-training contracts
British Airways is moving some ab initio pilot-training out of Australia and into the USA, while renewing contracts with two UK-based training colleges. The airline says that considerations were "overall cost-effectiveness, but also quality and reliability". The US contract-winner is the Western Michigan University's new International Pilot Training Centre, ...
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Coliins for Air Pacific
Air Pacific is to equip the three Boeing 737-700s it has on order with Rockwell-Collins avionics, including traffic-alert and collision-avoidance system, forward-looking windshear radar and Inmarsat Aero-I satellite-communications equipment. Source: Flight International
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Forecasts 98': Airlines
Paul Lewis/Singapore Kevin O'Toole/London For the world airline industry, 1998 begins much as 1997 ended, with two issues on top of the agenda: the fall-out from Asia's economic woes and the next step in the industry's increasingly rapid consolidation. Both issues should make 1998 a busy one for airline ...
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CFMI/Rybinsk discuss CFM56
Julian Moxon/PARIS CFM International (CFMI) and Russian engine manufacturer Rybinsk Motors are discussing the setting up of a production line for CFM56-3s, which power Boeing 737-300s. Rybinsk, which already builds some CFM56 components, is said by CFMI president Gerard Laviec to be a "good candidate" for such a ...
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DHL-Europe boosts fleet of A300B4 freighters
The European arm of US express-parcels carrier DHL has increased its Airbus A300B4-200F freighter acquisition programme to nine aircraft. The airline has also received its first Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus (Dasa Airbus)-converted aircraft, following certification of the cargo conversion. The aircraft, one of three ex-Egyptair A300B4s being leased from ...