All Systems & interiors articles – Page 818
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Bombardier remains bullish on 70-seat turboprops
Bombardier flew the second de Havilland Dash 8-400 regional turboprop on 26 May from its plant in Downsview, Ontario. The aircraft is expected to join the first -400 at Bombardier's flight test centre in Wichita, Kansas, within a few weeks, according to the company. Despite having booked only 32 ...
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Boeing defines 747-400X
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Paul Lewis/SEATTLE Almost 18 months after cancelling the 747-500X/ 600X programmes, Boeing has finally settled on a firm design configuration for the next version of the 747-400, which could be in service in less than three years. The long awaited move increases the maximum take-off ...
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Cathay rethinks 777-200 fleet
Paul Lewis/SEATTLE Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways plans to review the future use of its four Boeing 777-200s, following the introduction of the stretch -300 into service. The carrier is also disposing of an initial two surplus Boeing 747-200s to Virgin Atlantic Airways in an effort to rationalise types and ...
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BA creates jobs
British Airways is to create 15,000 jobs over the next three years, representing a 25 per cent increase in staff. Some 3,400 jobs will be for cabin crew, 2,100 for customer services, 400 for pilots and 1,100 for telephone sales staff. Source: Airline Business
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Hold your horses!
Jackie Gallacher Close your eyes. Now open them. Like magic the alliance picture has changed again. In fact the speed of airline alliance courtships in 1997-8 is beginning to make pinning down an accurate image of the major groupings a bit like trying to capture fairy dust. Has the ...
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Ryanair passes go in Europe
Tom Gill With soaring profits, share price and traffic, Europe's largest and longest established low-cost airline may yet achieve its ambition to be the Southwest of Europe. But as it strives to continue its profitable growth path Ryanair can expect to cross swords with the new British Airways ...
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Delta ties knot at last
Karen Walker To the relief of its new chief executive officer, Delta Air Lines has joined the US matchmaking game. But the planned strategic alliance with United Airlines has union and governmental hurdles ahead. The two airlines confirmed their alliance plans on 30 April. The pair say they will ...
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Who's ready for a cosy threesome?
And then there were three. If things work out as planned - and that's a big 'if' - over 80 per cent of the US airline industry will be in the hands of three alliance groups. Globally, the situation is less clear-cut, but the industry is moving in the same ...
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Time to climb?
Karen Walker From the bottom of the pile, life offers a different perspective. While most US airlines have returned to profitability in the 1990s, the financial haemorrhage at Trans World Airlines has continued. So management was encouraged to note, after announcing 1998's first quarter results, that the words 'beleaguered' ...
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Uganda eyes foreign cash
Tom Gill Uganda Airlines is set to go private, with the sale of a controlling stake slated for mid-year. Six airlines have expressed interest in a yet to be determined majority stake in wholly government-owned Uganda Airlines, according to Michael Opagi, director of the Ugandan government's privatisation unit. The ...
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Bizarre Thai love triangle
David Mann Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Qantas are among the latest suitors to be linked with buying a stake in Thai Airways International, as doubts linger over the airline's future membership of the Star Alliance. SIA, due to join Star in the near future, has confirmed its interest in ...
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American to bed US rival
Karen Walker Caution is the key word in the American Airlines and US Airways alliance proposal, but some wonder whether early tiptoeing might lead to a full merger further down the road. The two airlines describe their marketing alliance as 'broad and innovative', but provide few other details. By ...
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How does your airline grow?
Tom Barkin and Todd Morgan With most airlines failing to deliver satisfactory shareholder returns over the full business cycle, it is essential to look beyond the core business for profitable growth. But seeking out and exploiting the best opportunities is not easy. Airlines need to combine their unique capabilities or ...
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Family planning
The early successes of regional jet upstart Fairchild Dornier are undoubtedly spurring a surge in excitement among the more established regional players. But perhaps before everyone rushes headlong into launching a raft of new aircraft in response to the market upswing, considerable thought needs to be given to the factors ...
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SR Technics reveals global ambitions
SR Technics, the maintenance subsidiary of Swissair parent SAir Group, is trying to secure joint venture partners in the USA and Asia-Pacific to enable it to offer comprehensive global support to its airline customers. Konrad Wittorf, vice-president of aircraft maintenance and overhaul, says that the company has retained Ernst ...
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US Airways may forge fresh alliance with British Airways
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC US Airways could forge a new marketing alliance with British Airways as a result of the projected tie-ups by both carriers with American Airlines. The deal would go ahead only under certain conditions, says Stephen Wolf, head of US Airways Group. The prospect of a ...
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Sfim uses GPS to calibrate aircraft approach paths
Julian Moxon/PARIS French avionics specialist Sfim has developed a new low cost system to replace the optical equipment used for tracking aircraft flying runway approaches when calibrating runway landing equipment. Its Traki trajectography kit uses the satellite global positioning system (GPS) instead of a ground- based theodolite to ...
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Airbus plans laminar flow tests in bid to bring down fuel costs
Max Kingsley-Jones/TOULOUSE Airbus Industrie will launch a laminar flow technology flight test later this year as part of its probe into the potential cost and emission reductions resulting from a lessening in aircraft skin drag. The consortium is modifying the tailfin of the prototype A320-100 for tests due to begin ...
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German guard will take its first EC135
Germany's border guard is to receive the first of 13 Eurocopter EC155 twin-engine medium helicopters this year. Eurocopter co-president Siegfried Sobotta says the group is putting a "tremendous effort" into getting the first of the EC155s to the border guard this year. The EC155 is a further development of ...
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Global Hawk flies second mission
THE Global Hawk reconnaissance unmanned air vehicle has flown for a second time at Edwards AFB, California, performing what the company describes as a "text book" mission lasting 2h 24min. The aircraft reached 41,000ft (12,500m) during the sortie, which also included the successful hand-off of command and control via ...