Programmes – Page 1135

  • News

    P&W begins to assemble PW7000 prototype

    1998-07-22T00:00:00Z

    Pratt & Whitney is preparing to assemble the next Joint Technology Demonstrator Engine (JTDE), the XTE-66. The demonstrator, which will begin tests later this year, also forms an initial prototype of the next generation PW7000 fighter engine family. Like the XTE-66, the PW7000 family is planned around the XTC-66 core. ...

  • News

    Pacific ambitions

    1998-07-22T00:00:00Z

    Guy Norris/GUAM Below the warm, crystal-clear waters of Bikini Atoll lagoon lies the mammoth Second World War aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. Almost 270m long, she is bigger than the Titanic and is the world's largest diveable underwater wreck. Resting upright on the bottom, her bridge is a mere 12m below ...

  • News

    PAL rescue plan goes into extra time

    1998-07-22T00:00:00Z

    Philippine Airlines (PAL) has been given US and Philippine bankruptcy protection until the end of July, allowing the local Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)-appointed "rehabilitation committee" extra time to finalise and present a financial rescue plan. The troubled national carrier is temporarily shielded by the SEC from any claims made ...

  • News

    Pressure points

    1998-07-22T00:00:00Z

    International pressure is mounting for the process of aircraft accident investigation to be opened up, just as it is increasing on those countries seen to be underperforming in airline safety. It is vital to understand the positive and negative effects of this pressure for transparency, however. Investigators themselves are ...

  • News

    Double standards

    1998-07-22T00:00:00Z

    Any remaining doubts that action on airline safety is needed in South Asia and Asia-Pacific have been dissolved by the accidents that occurred in the first six months of 1998. After the 2 February Cebu Pacific Air fatal accident, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) broke its characteristic neutral silence ...

  • News

    Endevco sensor

    1998-07-15T15:58:00Z

    Endevco has introduced a new lightweight sensor for monitoring rotating components such as bearings. The Californian company, a subsidiary of the UK's Meggitt, says the output from its Isotron accelerometer, which costs $600, can be fed directly to recording equipment . Source: Flight International

  • News

    A310 seizure forces Afrique suspension

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Debt-laden Air Afrique has been forced to suspend its long-haul route network following the seizure of its four Airbus A310-300s by creditors. The Abidjan, Ivory Coast-based carrier, which is owned by 11 French-speaking West African nations and the French Government, has been struggling financially since the CFA Franc, the ...

  • News

    Bombardier rethinks turboprop marketing

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Bombardier has acknowledged the need to rethink the marketing strategy for its de Havilland Dash 8 family as the growing success of regional jets makes selling turboprops airliners more difficult. "The road is going to be bumpy, as the excitement is around jets," says Bombardier ...

  • News

    Boeing catches up with 737 output

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Boeing is working its way through the backlog of Next Generation 737s built before last-minute modifications, including a revised horizontal stabiliser leading edge and novel upward opening emergency exits, which were required for US and European certification. Twenty of the 28 737-700s completed before certification have now been delivered with ...

  • News

    BR715 clears last certification hurdle before 717 flight

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    BMW Rolls-Royce has completed the last major test of the BR715 turbofan for the Boeing 717 before engine certification, scheduled for September. The full engine fan blade-off test involved releasing the fan blade by detonating an explosive charge at the root, with the fan running at maximum rotational speed. ...

  • News

    Launch of Falklands airline is put back

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Plans to launch an airline to serve the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic from the South American mainland have been postponed until later this year. British South Atlantic Airlines (BSAA) had been planning to start operations between the Islands and Sao Paulo, Brazil, in April with a wet-leased ...

  • News

    Fairchild Dornier challenges Embraer on interest benefits

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Fairchild Dornier has lodged a complaint with the European Commission against the Brazilian Government's Proex export support scheme, which the US/German company says gives rival regional aircraft manufacturer Embraer an unfair advantage. Meanwhile, Fairchild Dornier has landed a deal to supply US airline Midwest Express with up to ...

  • News

    Marketplace

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    -A New Tahitian carrier, Air Tahiti Nui, will launch services to points on the US West Coast and Japan later this year with an ex-Air France Airbus A340-200 leased from Airbus Industrie Financial Services. -SAS Commuter has increased its firm orders for Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-400 from 15 to ...

  • News

    A320 beats 737 in Qatar fight

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Qatar Airways has selected the Airbus A320 over the rival Next Generation Boeing 737 for its new short-haul fleet, and concluded a deal with Airbus for up to 11 aircraft. The Gulf airline is now turning its attention to the replacement of its A300s. The airline ...

  • News

    Swissair goes ahead with Stansted response

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Swissair plans to fly three times a day between Zurich and London's Stansted Airport from October using 126-seat Airbus A319s, countering the growing threat from UK no-frills carriers such as easyJet and Go. Stansted-based British Airways subsidiary Go has applied for slots to launch services to Geneva from October ...

  • News

    Quicksilver machine

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Guy Norris/DALLAS-FORT WORTHWithin the next five years, the combined fleets of American Airlines and its regional affiliate, American Eagle, will number almost 1,000, of which the vast majority will be jet powered. Managing these huge fleets, and restructuring them to meet the changing needs of the 21st century, has become ...

  • News

    A late entry

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Tim Furniss/LONDON A new European Space Agency (ESA) launcher, the Vega, will fly from Kourou, French Guiana, in 2002. The heads of the space agencies of ESA's 14 member states gave the initial go-ahead at a meeting in Brussels late last month (see box), with Italy taking the largest ...

  • News

    BA ponders engine switch for big new 777 acquisition

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    British Airways is considering buying 20 more Boeing 777s in a $2 billion deal that could see it switch engine suppliers. The carrier selected the General Electric GE90 engine for its current fleet of 777-200s, having rejected an offer from traditional supplier Rolls-Royce, but it is now seeking bids ...

  • News

    P&W warns partners on future of V2500 engine programme

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Pratt & Whitney has warned its International Aero Engine (IAE) partners that it will pursue development of the PW6000 and geared PW8000 turbofan family unless agreement can be reached on the future direction of the collaborative V2500 programme. "Pratt can't survive without participating in the largest ...

  • News

    Boom continues for Airbus and Boeing

    1998-07-15T00:00:00Z

    A surge of narrowbody business kept the order boom going for Airbus and Boeing over the first half of 1998, although both will be watching for signs of a slowdown in the second half, when the full impact of the Asian recession is likely to be felt. The two ...