All Systems & interiors articles – Page 773
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New challenge to charter
European low-cost scheduled operators have begun to make small inroads into traditional charter markets. But, despite some aggressive noises, they have some way to go before posing a serious threat. Europe's low-cost carriers may continue to grab the headlines, but one sector remains resolutely unimpressed. The traditional charter airlines ...
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Delta pilots talk tough
KAREN WALKER WASHINGTON DC Delta Air Line pilots have thrown down the gauntlet to airline management and demanded formal negotiations in one of the most important US contract negotiations of the year. But a swift response by management has already led to a tentative agreement In addition to ...
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Labouring in Europe
TOM GILL LONDON Industrial relations appear to have improved and European workers are becoming more efficient. But will the changes be far-reaching enough to enable airlines to cope with cyclical downturn? The British Airline Pilots Association(BALPA) describes itself as "serene". The UK white-collar union MSF says it is ...
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Low-cost survivors
CAROLE SHIFRIN WASHINGTON DC After years of uncertain and even disastrous performances by new entrant carriers in the USA, some seem to be thriving and even beginning to report profits. Why did these start-ups survive where so many failed? Accepted wisdom in the USA is that the fate ...
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A question of scale
KEVIN O'TOOLE Conventional wisdom has held back outsourcing of heavy maintenance, but as it starts to be challenged, only as few as a dozen airlines may emerge able to justify keeping work captive, argues IPG Consulting. On paper the equation looks perfect. On one side, airline boardrooms are keen ...
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Boeing details revised growth 777 schedule
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Boeing has unveiled a detailed revised timetable for development of the growth 777-200X and -300X, calling for delivery of the first General Electric GE90-115B-powered aircraft within 44 months of formal launch. The schedule is based on a formal launch for the programme by the end ...
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IATA calls for industry action to fight threat to radio spectrum
Emma Kelly/AMSTERDAM The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is urging the aviation industry to increase efforts to protect its radio frequency spectrum in preparation for next year's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC). The aviation industry's vital radio spectrum was threatened by mobile satellite communication operators at ...
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UPS wins Alaska FAA ADS-B contract
The US Federal Aviation Administration has awarded UPS Aviation Technologies a contract for at least 150 shipsets of avionics to be made available to small commercial operators in Alaska, finalising plans for an operational evaluation of free flight. The three-year Capstone programme will involve most of the aircraft operating ...
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Qualiflyer to standardise fleet with Flightlease Airbus deal
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH The Qualiflyer Group of airlines is stepping up its fleet standardisation efforts following an order by GATX Flightlease for 38 Airbus aircraft for delivery between next year and 2006. The SFr2.5 billion ($1.6 billion) deal covers 32 A320 family aircraft - 12 A318s, 10 A320s and ...
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Austrian defection leaves Qualiflyer seeking new ties
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Swissair is claiming that its faltering alliance remains intact, despite the spectacular defection of core Qualiflyer Group member Austrian Airlines to the rival Star Alliance camp. Austrian and its partially-owned associates Lauda Air and Tyrolean Airways will assume full Star membership in the second quarter of next year. ...
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Mars Climate Orbiter gets lost
A software navigation error or human error is thought to have caused the loss of NASA's $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter on 23 September. The craft was lost 5min after its orbital insertion engine was fired to send it into orbit around the planet. The orbiter is thought to have ...
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Airbus' A3XX economics target 'unachievable', says Boeing
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Boeing has dismissed Airbus Industrie's 15-20% cost saving target for the A3XX over the 747-400 as unachievable. The European consortium claims to be ahead of the targets, as its US rival focuses on cheaper 747-based growth derivatives rather than an all-new design to meet its ...
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Greek minister killed in Falcon 900 flight incident
Greece's deputy foreign minister and five others were killed when the Greek Government-owned Dassault Falcon 900B presidential jet suffered an unexplained flight incident on descent into Bucharest, Romania on 14 September. The Falcon 900 (SX-ECH) descended rapidly from 15,000ft (4,600m) to 2,000ft, where the crew recovered control. Although ...
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Joining the jet age
Turbofan power is giving the 328 regional airliner a new lease of life Andrew Doyle/OBERPFAFFENHOFENIt is an unconventional way of bringing a regional jet to the marketplace. Fairchild Aerospace has created a capable 30-seat aircraft by re-engining the Dornier 328 turboprop with turbofans. First deliveries of the 328JET were made ...
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French air force takes first Cougar CSAR
Eurocopter has delivered the first Cougar Mk2 combat search and rescue helicopter to the French air force. Service entry is planned in around 18 months. The air force requires up to 14 machines, but the latest defence budget provides funding for only four. The remaining three have yet to ...
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Airbus roll-out
Germany's Lufthansa Technik has rolled-out the first of two Airbus A319CJs for the Italian Air Force in its full livery. The Frankfurt-based maintenance and completion centre, which took delivery of the aircraft on 24 August, will outfit the cabin for January delivery. The second aircraft is due for delivery in ...
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Zeppelin heads for airship approval
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON Zeppelin's new-technology airship flight test programme has passed the halfway mark with over 300 flying hours chalked up. The milestone comes 60 years after the German company halted development of its original family of rigid machines following the loss in May 1937 of the Zeppelin Hindenburg after a ...
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'Free' launch for Australia's FedSat
Australia's experimental FedSat micro-satellite will be launched free of charge by the Japanese National Space Development Agency (NASDA) in return for access to scientific data. The satellite will be carried as a piggyback payload aboard an H-IIA rocket launch planned for the last quarter of next year, with a ...
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Four form joint union
Cabin crew unions from the Netherlands and Italy have formed a new joint organisation in the wake of the KLM/Alitalia strategic alliance. The Wings Cabin Crew Union (WCCU) ties together VNC of the Netherlands and Italy's SULTA, ANPAV and UGL, with the Dutch union claiming the four represent the ...
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Step by step
A year after ICAO's global CVS/ATM gathering, progress towards the ultimate goal of global implementation is slowly being made Emma Kelly/LONDON In May last year, more than 800 International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) states and aviation decision makers met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to discuss communications, navigation and surveillance/air ...