All Ops & safety articles – Page 1335
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News
Does the USA have worldwide rights?
Sir - I read with interest Capt de Piednoir's letter "Déja vu with age-60-years ruling" (Flight International, 8-14 January, P37), about a US Federal Appeals Court panel ruling on whether the US Federal Aviation Administration can continue to bar pilots aged 60 years old from commanding US passenger aircraft. The ...
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AlliedSignal wins $100 million APU/avionics deal
GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) has selected AlliedSignal Aerospace to supply auxiliary-power units (APUs) and avionics for up to 80 Airbus Industrie A320s which the US leasing company plans to buy, in a deal worth around $100 million. The agreement means that GECAS is likely to be one ...
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Iridium launches will be further delayed after Delta explosion
The much-delayed maiden flight of the first of Motorola's Iridium mobile communications-satellites aboard a McDonnell Douglas (MDC) Delta 2 booster faces a further hold-up pending the investigation into the loss of a Delta 2, 13s after launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 17 January. MDC had planned seven ...
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JAA alarms GA operators with proposal for new ETOPS limit
General-aviation (GA) industry officials believe that a European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) proposal to impose a 120min extended-range-twin-engine-operation (ETOPS) limit on twin-engined business aircraft would severely hamper their operations. Late in 1996, a JAA Operations Committee issued a Notice of Proposed Amendment which would set a 120min ETOPS ...
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Virgin Express may pull out of its Brussels base
Virgin Express, one of the pioneers of Europe's low-fares air market, reports that it grew by one-third in 1996 and expects to report a profit despite the dramatic growth. The announcement comes, however, with a veiled warning that Belgium's high social costs could persuade the carrier to leave ...
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New Piper launches Seneca V
TWO YEARS AFTER starting work on the aircraft, New Piper Aircraft has unveiled its Seneca V cabin-class piston twin, its first new product since emerging from the bankruptcy of the former Piper Aircraft (Flight International, 8-14 January). "We look at the Seneca V as a dual-purpose aircraft, with ...
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Sabena denies Swissair rumours
Sabena chief executive Paul Reutlinger has denied growing speculation that Swissair is preparing to pull out from the alliance with its struggling Belgian partner if the carrier's unions fail to agree on new working conditions and wage structures. Rumours of a possible pull-out were revived by confirmation that ...
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The big issue
BOEING'S REVELATION that it will not be competing in the very-large-airliner market with a derivative of the 747, thus apparently leaving Airbus Industrie's A3XX with a clear run, has certainly raised more questions than answers. While attention has focused on Boeing's doubts about lack of "sufficient market demand" ...
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Record airline results
The US airline industry appears to be on course for net profits of around $2.5 billion, making 1996 the best year in its history. American Airlines is leading so far with $854 million, although Delta Air Lines has come close with $754 million before special charges, and Northwest Airlines notched ...
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-Steps up tempo of long-range 777 work
Boeing has revealed new details of its plans for heavier versions of the 777, which will be led by the -200X effort, which the company hopes to launch, along with the -300X, at the time of the Paris air show in June. The projected entry-into-service date for the ...
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Cathay will launch FANS 747 flights by year's end
Cathay Pacific Airways plans to finish equipping its entire fleet of Boeing 747-400s with future-air-navigation system (FANS-1) equipment by March and hopes to be operating on the first communications, navigation and surveillance/air-traffic-management (CNS/ATM) route across the northern Pacific Ocean by the end of the year. The Hong Kong ...
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R-R and airlines wrangle over cost of -524G/H problems
Rolls-Royce is facing demands that it bear the brunt of the massive costs airlines are incurring because of reliability and performance shortfalls of their RB.211-524G/H engines. The problems, which affect more than 100 RB.211-powered Boeing 747-400s and 767-300s, are estimated already to have cost the airlines more than $200 million ...
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Sabretech talks
Sabre Tech, the maintenance operation which lost business after being linked with the ValuJet crash investigation last year, is due to be acquired by Commodore Aviation, the overhaul subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) also based in Miami, Florida. Commodore, which had sales of $35 million in 1996 and expects ...
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Reaching for free flight
Forecasts of extraordinary growth in civil air traffic have become commonplace. The details vary, but a projected doubling of traffic by 2010 and a tripling by 2020 are widely accepted. There is just one problem - those numbers are not feasible, given the existing operational infrastructure. The problem is worst ...
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PPI finishes plating shop
Pacific Propeller (PPI) is close to completing a new plating shop at its Kent, Washington, site, which is aimed at expanding its propeller and control-assembly servicing and refurbishing capabilities. The shop will be used for zinc, chromium, hard chrome, cadmium and nickel plating and anodising of major propeller components, providing ...
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Infracstructure deterrent to growth
Lack of infrastructure could be an important deterrent to growth unless a rapid and comprehensive expansion of airports and air-traffic- control equipment is put in place. Air Transport Action Group director Thomas Windmuller, speaking recently at a conference in Bangalore on infrastructure, said that at least $5 billion is expected ...
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Competing powers
"The EC competition commissioner's interest in the BA/AA alliance is curious - the competition department has failed to involve itself in more significant airline competition issues." By seeking to stamp his authority on the proposed alliance between British Airways and American Airlines, the European Commission (EC) competition commissioner, ...
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Government clears way for full Lufthansa privatisation
The German Government has passed a new Bill, proposed by transport minister Matthias Wissmann, aimed at clearing the way for a full privatisation of the national airline Lufthansa. The airline group says that its shares could be available on the stock market this year once the new legislation ...
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China Eastern prepares to list in New York and Hong Kong
China Eastern Airlines has taken the initial steps towards a share listings on the New York and Hong Kong stock exchange, which will make it the first mainland Chinese carrier to undergo a public flotation. The Shanghai-based airline has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and ...
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Building a new India
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) boss R N Sharma's announcement at the Aero India '96 show in December that he intended to start negotiations to license-build a 50-seat turboprop, and to buy a stake in a regional-jet programme, raised a few smiles among the Indian press corps. They had heard it all ...