All Ops & safety articles – Page 1357
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News
ValuJet struggles to fly back into profits
VALUJET REPORTS a net loss of nearly $21 million for the fourth quarter of 1996, its first since restarting operations after the three months' grounding which was imposed in the wake of the Florida crash. The airline warns that there will be more red ink to come in the first ...
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Lufthansa Cityline
Lufthansa is fighting hub congestion by offering an increasing number of direct city-to-city flights, both within Germany and to destinations in Europe, avoiding its hubs at Frankfurt and Munich. Flying 320 flights daily to European centres on routes for which traffic is too light for a 100-seat aircraft is the ...
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FAA puts high price on safe fuel tanks
Making fuel-vapour in airliner fuel tanks explosion-proof would require "a major change in design concept", says the US Federal Aviation Administration, replying to US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations following the July 1996 Trans World Airlines Boeing 747-100 crash. The FAA, however, says that it will publish ...
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The importance of independence
Sir - Andrew Tetley, in his letter about the UK Civil Aviation Authority-proposed stick-shaker for the Dassault Falcon 2000 (Flight International, 12-18 February, P55), refers to an important matter of principle which has received little or no public debate. It concerns the ability, or otherwise, of national airworthiness authorities of ...
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Lawmakers vote to renew US ticket tax
THE US HOUSE of Representatives has voted to renew the 10%ticket tax through to the end of the 1997 fiscal year in September, and the US Senate is expected to follow suit. The tax, which finances US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operations, expired again at the end of ...
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Making markets
DEVELOPMENT OF THE Canadair Regional Jet Series 700 promises to be less difficult than launching the 70-seat aircraft, jokes John Holding, group executive vice-president, engineering and product development, at Bombardier Aerospace. Certainly, the Canadian company has been talking about stretching its 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) for almost as long ...
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Notes
The tabular data have been collated mainly from information supplied by the manufacturers. Where no reply was received from the manufacturer, the previous year's entry is repeated, updated wherever possible from other sources Normal empty weight includes equipment and unuseable fluids, but does not take account of crew and baggage ...
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Off target on Air Afrique
I would like to correct some information in your January news article 'Harry heads to Air Afrique'. Four, not five completely compatible Airbus A310s have been acquired by the company on a financial lease basis. These have replaced three DC-10s, not four. Your union quote is from Mr ...
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Euro agents' work cut out
European travel agents need to start convincing airlines of their worth. The decisions by alliance partners Lufthansa and SAS, as well as KLM, to slash their agents' commissions are expected to trigger Europe-wide cuts, following the trend set by US carriers. KLM plans to lower domestic commissions from ...
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Disquiet on the state aid front
The debate over continuing state support to Europe's airlines refuses to roll over and die, just like the concept of the national flag carrier, which lies at its heart. With four cases on Brussels' books, 1997 may yet prove to be a landmark year. The European Commission's scrutiny of ...
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News
El Al tackles weekend trip
The Israeli government is coming under fierce pressure to lift the ban on flag carrier El Al's operations on the Sabbath. The limitation of a six-day operation is blamed for $50 million of the airline's $120 million loss in 1996 and contributed to last year's shelving of its planned privatisation. ...
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Alitalia in for a rough ride
The European Commission has asked Alitalia to reassess its proposed restructuring plan and even then looks set to rule that the carrier's planned injection is state aid. It will also be looking at Alitalia's linkup with Air France, while both carriers suffer further industrial unrest. The revelation that ...
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BA-AA rivals round on DOT
The posturing surrounding the proposed American Airlines-British Airways alliance has moved across the Atlantic with the US Department of Transportation coming under growing pressure from rivals to act. In the most extreme case, the outspoken chairman and chief executive of Continental Airlines, Gordon Bethune, is threatening to ask ...
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Union strife to bite in US?
The dispute between American Airlines' management and its pilots appears to have set the tone for a year of discontent across the US that could help to fuel more strife elsewhere. At presstime, American's management and the Allied Pilots Association remained locked in stalemate just hours away from ...
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Viasa future looks bleak
Iberia and the Venezuelan government were playing a game of brinksmanship at presstime after flag carrier Viasa ran out of cash and ceased operations on 23 January. Both sides are believed to be willing to let the airline fold but, according to one source close to the negotiations, ...
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Safety but at what cost?
The industry has given its unqualified support to the report by the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, despite the ambiguity over how its costly recommendations will be funded. But then it's not exactly good for business to criticise the findings of an inquiry in to ...
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US cracks softest nuts
Hard on the heels of a landmark open skies pact between the US and Singapore, neighbouring Malaysia is poised to sign a similar deal - giving Washington a significant boost in cracking the tough nut of protectionism that exists in Asia-Pacific. The US hopes the breakthroughs will have ...
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Top of the curve
In some airline boardrooms, the champagne corks are finally popping. After years in the doldrums, the airline business appears to be on course to report record profits for the second year running. Still, in this business even the best news tends to come with a few caveats, and this initial ...
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Indian policy is a let down
India's revised civil aviation policy has led to charges of protectionism after it failed to set an investment limit for foreign airlines and airports in Indian carriers. The strategy is being viewed as another setback for Singapore Airlines' planned joint venture with Tata Industries, which remains on hold in the ...
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Shares rise in the east
Four days before the Chinese New Year, China Eastern Airlines made an auspicious debut on the world's markets by raising an estimated US$250 million. The success of the issue should pave the way for the other Chinese majors to follow suit, although holding company China National Aviation Corp may well ...