All Ops & safety articles – Page 1298

  • News

    SAS postpones decision on replacements for 767 fleet

    1997-09-03T00:00:00Z

    The decision by SAS on a possible replacement for its long-haul fleet of 14 Boeing 767s is now not expected until 1998. A final decision could run into 1999 as the airline looks hard at the cost justification for the investment. The Scandinavian airline expects to take 15-20 ...

  • News

    Swissair and Lufthansa study 747 replacements

    1997-09-03T00:00:00Z

    Airbus could land two more prestige customers for its A340-600 later this year, as Swissair and Lufthansa examine the aircraft to replace their Boeing 747 "Classic" ßeets. Swissair says that it expects to make a decision on the long-term future of its 747-300 ßeet by the year-end. The Ìve aircraft ...

  • News

    Fokkers out

    1997-09-01T09:55:00Z

    Indonesian regional carrier Merpati Nusantara has been told by the government to replace its 13 Fokker F27s with British Aerospace BAe146-100s, while private carrier Sempati has decided to sell its F27s. The moves follow a fatal crash of a Sempati F27 in late July, as well as concerns about spare ...

  • News

    Tough on TAM

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Just kick them where it hurts most - this is standard parental advice given to daughters the world over to arrest ardent advances. Translate the formula into airline terms and the equivalent way to stall an airline's overzealous advances is to damage its safety record. Well, TAM (Transportes Aereos Regionais) ...

  • News

    Time to sprint

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    The pace of business life in Brazil is slow. The Brazilians tend to advocate the 'Mañana' approach introduced by their Portuguese forefathers and add an extra week onto the deadline for virtually any urgent task. Liberalisation is proceeding at a leisurely pace. 'Any new step towards open skies will ...

  • News

    Peru regains top ranking

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Peru has become the first Latin American country to regain Category I status for safety oversight from Washington, but officials in the region are wary over claims that the US Federal Aviation Administration will upgrade other Latin American countries still on the 'black list.' 'This as not at ...

  • News

    Marking time

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    It's time to open those bottles of champagne again, as Airline Business reports another year of airline profits. With the 100 largest carriers achieving a collective net profit of nearly $5.5 billion, 1996 looks like another vintage year. Hold on. Before you are overcome by frothy bubbles, take a sober ...

  • News

    Traffic leaders

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Last year was another relatively strong year for growth. The 100 largest airlines achieved a 5.3 per cent increase in passenger numbers, but as average journey distances increased revenue passenger km jumped by 8.7 per cent. A disappointing freight performance held the growth in total tonne km back to 6.5 ...

  • News

    US and Japan keep talking

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Negotiators are pressing to meet a self-imposed deadline of 30 September for a Japan-US bilateral deal. Both sides know a failure to settle their differences could set off a round of sanctions. At presstime, a second round of talks had been scheduled for the end of August - ...

  • News

    Ins and outs

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Five major airlines were unable to provide 1996 revenue figures, and they have been eliminated from the main Airline Business 100 list because it is unrealistic to attempt to estimate revenues for several years in a row. Had data been available, Garuda's revenues of around $2 billion would ...

  • News

    How much value on human life?

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Despite a strong safety culture, accident rate must improve to avoid more deaths. Ask an airline chief what his or her number one priority is, and the reply will probably be: 'Safety'. It certainly should be. While they struggle with all the other priorities, from service standards to costs and ...

  • News

    PAL sues the home team

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    It looks like an aeropolitical first. The sudden abandonment of planned open skies talks between Singapore and the Philippines in late July had nothing to do with a dispute between the two nations and all to do with Philippine Airlines initiating legal action against the head its own country's negotiating ...

  • News

    Marginal gains

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Given the usual distortions caused by special items, from restructuring costs to investment write-downs, all summaries of airline profitability have to be read carefully. The overall impression from this year's Airline Business 100 is that 1996 was a great year for some, but others have a long way to go ...

  • News

    Giant leap forward?

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Varig may still be the undisputed giant of the Brazilian airline industry, but will restructuring efforts be enough to keep it ahead of burgeoning competition? Lois Jones reports.When you start off at the top, the danger is that there's only one way to go - and that's down. Five years ...

  • News

    Great expectations

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    The European Commission is putting a stronger case than ever before for direct powers to apply EC competition rules to air transport services on third country routes. If it is successful the implications will be enormous. By Trevor Soames.The European Commission never was one to give in easily. With some ...

  • News

    Olympic sees the endgame

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    The European Commission looks set to authorise Olympic Airways' outstanding state aid and once the funds are in place, the flag carrier plans to implement ambitious restructuring measures. Olympic chief executive Jordan Karatzas is confident that the Commission will shortly unfreeze Olympic's outstanding state aid, amounting to GDr35 ...

  • News

    Time to worry: the economy is fine

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    The time to feel most worried about the global economic condition is when things seem to be going well. Take the most recent International Monetary Fund analysis of the global economy. Written in almost poetic terms, it talked of the most favourable economic conditions in recent memory 'underscored by the ...

  • News

    Northern delights?

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Routes Oslo '97, the third route development forum organised by Airline Business and Airport Strategy & Marketing, takes place in Oslo on 15-16 September and is sponsored by Gardermoen Airport and the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority. In this preview, Sally Gethin examines the role of Oslo's new airport at Gardermoen, ...

  • News

    Strong debut for Southern

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Fresh from its strong debut on the Hong Kong and New York stock exchanges in late July, China Southern Airlines has revealed plans to spend nearly US$1.3 billion on a fleet expansion and general modernisation programme over the next three years. The carrier will spend some US$560 million ...

  • News

    FAA falters over charges

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Under a barrage of protest from overseas governments and pressure at home, the Federal Aviation Administration may back down and modify its position on overflight fees. A senior official at the FAA confirms that most of the comments received on the overflight ruling are negative. Before the current ...