All Ops & safety articles – Page 1287
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Relative progress
Tim Furniss/LONDON Lockheed Martin delivered the second major piece of NASA's $550 million Gravity Probe B (GP-B) spacecraft to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, on 27 May. The delivery marks a major milestone in the protracted development of a spacecraft which, in 2000, will attempt to verify two ...
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Safer skies
Kevin O'Toole/JOHANNESBURG Fears about air safety over Africa are not new, but a year ago the issue hit the headlines worldwide, following pilot complaints that air traffic control (ATC) was either inadequate or simply absent over much of the continent. An image painted by the media was one ...
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Noisy pilots face jail
Airline pilots whose aircraft infringe airport noise regulations in Israel will face $41,000 fines or six months in prison if a proposed law is approved. Put forward by the environment ministry, despite Civil Aviation Authority and pilot opposition, the law would double penalties for a second contravention. The International Federation ...
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Unwanted Garuda MD-11s and A330s head for new homes
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Garuda Indonesia has reached agreement with Boeing to return six leased MD-11s, which in turn are being placed with Brazilian carriers Varig and VASP. Airbus Industrie is also assisting the Indonesian airline to find homes for six leased A330-300s. The Boeing tri-jets will be withdrawn from service within ...
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Cathay rethinks 777-200 fleet
Paul Lewis/SEATTLE Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways plans to review the future use of its four Boeing 777-200s, following the introduction of the stretch -300 into service. The carrier is also disposing of an initial two surplus Boeing 747-200s to Virgin Atlantic Airways in an effort to rationalise types and ...
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Boeing defines 747-400X
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Paul Lewis/SEATTLE Almost 18 months after cancelling the 747-500X/ 600X programmes, Boeing has finally settled on a firm design configuration for the next version of the 747-400, which could be in service in less than three years. The long awaited move increases the maximum take-off ...
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Bombardier remains bullish on 70-seat turboprops
Bombardier flew the second de Havilland Dash 8-400 regional turboprop on 26 May from its plant in Downsview, Ontario. The aircraft is expected to join the first -400 at Bombardier's flight test centre in Wichita, Kansas, within a few weeks, according to the company. Despite having booked only 32 ...
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Rolls-Royce completes Trent 8104 design and waits for 777-X
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Rolls-Royce is expected to complete design work on the 454kN (102,000lb)-thrust Trent 8104 by the start of June and is still "on track" to run the first engine in December, despite the slowdown of the Boeing 777-200X/300X derivative programme for which the powerplant is being developed. ...
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Air France pilots unions use the World Cup as a political football
Julian Moxon/PARIS French pilots' unions are using football's World Cup contest to threaten a series of strikes against Air France, the official carrier for the event. Recent meetings with president Jean-Cyril Spinetta have failed to resolve the management demand for salary cuts of up to 15% in exchange for a ...
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Dassault Electronique prepares to rival AlliedSignal's EGPWS
Ian Sheppard/LONDON Despite delaying certification of its ground collision avoidance system (GCAS) until September, Dassault Electronique is still confident that the system will head off AlliedSignal's market domination with the enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS). The French company, now allied to Thomson-CSF, is flying the GCAS on ...
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BA income slips, but analysts forecast recovery
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON As had been predicted, British Airways saw profits slip after a troubled year which included a damaging cabin crew strike. The fall was less than expected, however, and optimism is growing among financial analysts that the worst of the bad news is now over. The final ...
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Japanese carriers see their profits plummet
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE All three of Japan's largest carriers, Japan Airlines (JAL), All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Air System (JAS), slid back firmly into the red as their latest round of annual reports showed the impact of currency losses, a depressed home market and increased competition. JAL recorded ...
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Cerberus upbeat on fire detection
Cerberus Guinard is confident it can still increase its share of the fire detection market, bolstered by recent safety legislation, despite losing the contract for the Boeing Next Generation 737 to Kidde Technologies. The French company claims that, although its system is more modern, the fact that Kidde could ...
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FAA decides to extend wiring checks to non-Boeing types
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The USA's major airlines have agreed to check fuel tank wiring in a controlled sample of Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas aircraft to determine whether they need mandatory inspections like those recently ordered for older Boeing airliners. The high-time passenger aircraft which the US Federal ...
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Top of the props
Guy Norris/MONTREAL Later this month Pratt & Whitney Canada will receive Transport Canada certification for its PW150A turboprop. Flat-rated at 3,780kW (5,070shp) for take-off on Bombardier's de Havilland Dash 8Q Series 400, the engine has virtually double the power of any other member of the PW100 family from which it ...
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Routes
-Kenya Airways has signed a code-sharing deal with Alitalia on its twice-weekly Rome-Nairobi route, strengthening its ties with the KLM/Northwest alliance which now includes the Italian flag carrier. -The US Transportation Department has approved a codeshare alliance between American Airlines and the TACA Group of six Central American airlines, which ...
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Taiwan safety
In the wake of a series of fatal accidents, Taiwan has now established a Flight Safety Commission modelled on the USA's National Transportation Safety Board. Source: Flight International
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Indian policy starts afresh
Ravi Prasad The appointment of a new Indian civil aviation minister, Ananth Kumar, is translating into a fresh outlook for Indian aviation policy. The minister is scrutinising recommendations made by an expert group, headed by a senior civil aviation ministry official, to reassess India's aviation sector. Kumar promises ...
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How does your airline grow?
Tom Barkin and Todd Morgan With most airlines failing to deliver satisfactory shareholder returns over the full business cycle, it is essential to look beyond the core business for profitable growth. But seeking out and exploiting the best opportunities is not easy. Airlines need to combine their unique capabilities or ...
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China seeks foreign cash
David Knibb Zhu Rongji may be starting cautiously as China's new premier, but his pro-market plans are clearly visible in recent aviation initiatives. Beijing is cutting its own spending as the Civil Aviation Administration of China considers whether to allow more foreign capital in airlines and how to attract ...