All Ops & safety articles – Page 1324
-
News
Boeing outlines five 747 growth options
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DCPaul Lewis/SEATTLE Boeing is discussing with airlines five possible 747 derivatives as it moves towards a decision in early 1998 on which (if any) option to pursue. Airlines are being shown study aircraft with various combinations of capacities for up to 500 passengers and ranges of ...
-
News
Boeing may launch 777-X this year
Guy Norris and Paul Lewis/SEATTLE Boeing is confident that it will launch the 777-200X and -300X within three months. The company rebuts suggestions that the project is slowing down because of market uncertainty and concerns over performance. Programme manager Jeff Peace says: "We are very serious ...
-
News
AEA hits out as Europe's ATC delays soar
AndrzejJeziorski/MUNICH The Association of European Airlines (AEA) is calling for a fresh drive towards a single integrated European air- traffic-control (ATC) system, in response to rising traffic and record delays in Europe in recent months. Worsening punctuality figures on European routes show a "severe problem", with ...
-
News
Slowdown in USA hurts airport growth
A Slowdown in the US domestic-passenger market has left its mark on mid-year figures from the world airports, despite a continuing boom in the European and Asia Pacific regions. Airport passenger numbers continued to grow at a relatively steady rate of 4.7% around the world during the first ...
-
News
Zurich leads battle to penalise polluters with landing-fee rise
AndrzejJeziorski/MUNICH Zurich Airport has become the world's first major airport to introduce an emissions charge, amounting to as much as 40% of normal landing fees, for operators of aircraft which fail to meet the highest environmental standards. The charge, introduced from 1 September, is balanced by ...
-
News
Low fares or bust?
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Air South's recent bankruptcy has struck a chill note for US start-up airlines. Although the carrier may have been a relatively small player, its demise is dangerously close to home for a low-cost airline sector in which nobody is looking secure. The financial performance ...
-
News
Potential suitors eye Cathay partnership
Cathay Pacific Airways says that it is being actively courted by global airline partnerships - in addition to the Star Alliance - but that is in no rush to make a decision. The Hong Kong carrier also warns that the recent downturn in traffic will affect the timing of its ...
-
News
US Government Commission recommends FAA reform
The US government's National Civil Aviation Review Commission (NCARC) has recommended that US air-traffic-control (ATC) services be removed from the US Federal Aviation Administration and placed with a "performance-based" organisation. The NCARC proposal represents the latest effort to reform FAA financing and management. The Commission - ...
-
News
Sponsoring flying training: the debate continues
Sir - I can sympathise entirely with Christopher Stone, who is having difficulty finding an airline to sponsor him to fly. I have been trying since I was 16 (I am now 23), with no success. Despite having spent a fortune on my private pilot's licence, I have ...
-
News
Dasa tests flight management
AndrzejJeziorski/MUNICH Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa)is beginning a six-month flight-test campaign for a new flight-management system (FMS), the NFS-5000, developed by its Ulm, Germany-based subsidiary Navigation and Flight Guidance Systems (NFS). The system creates flight plans for pilots, who simply have to enter their point of departure and ...
-
News
FAA gets tough with freight operators
All US cargo carriers face tougher US Federal Aviation Administration surveillance in the wake of the 7 August fatal crash of a Fine Air McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61 freighter during its take-off from Miami International Airport, Florida. The FAA has started by suspending Fine Air's operating certificate and revising ...
-
News
Vietnam Airlines Tu-134 crashes on bad-weather approach at Phnom Penh
David Learmount/London Vietnam Airlines suffered its fourth serious accident since 1990, when a Tupolev Tu-134B crashed on 3 September during a daylight final approach in stormy weather to Phnom Penh's Pochentong Airport in Cambodia, killing all but two of the 66 people on board. Although the ...
-
News
STAe thinks again on AE31X
Paul Lewis/BEIJING Singapore Technologies Aerospace (STAe) is having second thoughts about participating in the planned joint Sino-European AE31X aircraft programme because of financial and workshare uncertainties. According to industry sources, STAe has in recent weeks voiced reservations to partners Airbus Industries Asia (AIA) and Aviation Industries ...
-
News
Saab pushes 35-seat option
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Saab Aircraft president Gert Shyborger says that Europe should look at the 30- to 35-seat market for its next regional jet, rather than the 70-seat sector being pursued by Aero International (Regional) (AI(R)). The comments come as Saab re-assesses its future in the regional-aircraft ...
-
News
BA aims to fly Qantas 747-400s in stopover periods
British Airways is seeking clearance from the UK Civil Aviation Authority to allow its pilots and cabin crews to operate Qantas Boeing 747-400s on routes from London Heathrow Airport for an unlimited period. An application to the CAA from BA says that the approval is "-initially to facilitate ...
-
News
Boeing may install new cockpit on 767-400ER
Boeing is considering the introduction of a new cockpit on the recently launched 767-400ER, in a move which could result in existing versions of the 767, the 757 and, eventually, the 747-400, being updated. Air Transport Intelligence, the new Reed Aerospace on-line news service, says that a decision ...
-
News
P&W effort to improve PW4000 reliability starts to pay dividend
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Pratt & Whitney says that an upgrade effort to counter reliability problems on more than 1,600 PW4000 engines is showing results, with a "dramatic reduction" to in-flight shutdown rates. The upgrade effort, known as the Number 1 reliability programme, involves around 100 service ...
-
News
AI(R) holds talks on 70-seater plans
Aero International (Regional) (AI(R) is in last-minute talks with potential partners on its planned Airjet family of regional jets as it nears a decision on whether to go ahead with the 70-seat aircraft. Embraer, Saab and Aerostructures are all competing to supply the wing, although the US firm ...
-
News
Boeing looks again at plans for NLA
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has restarted efforts which could lead to the rebirth of the New Large Airplane (NLA) concept, dropped in 1995 in favour of plans to develop the stretched, re-winged 747-500X/600X. One of the initiatives is aimed at creating "faster, cheaper", processes which would ...
-
News
AlliedSignal reveals China manufacturing plans
AlliedSignal Aerospace is aiming to finalise the first of three planned manufacturing joint ventures with Chinese industry by October, strengthening its bid to participate in the Sino-European Airbus/Avic/Singapore Technologies AE31X programme. The first joint venture involves a partnership with China Aero Technology Import & Export (CATIC) to produce ...