All Systems & interiors articles – Page 858
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News
Time to stop dreaming
The general-aviation industry in the USA is putting its money where its mouth has been for a long time. It is sponsoring a television-advertising campaign in an effort to revitalise the US pilot population and to reverse a decade-long decline in the number of people learning to fly for pleasure. ...
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End of an era
The demise of the BAe/AI(R) Jetstream 41 commuter airliner represents another step in the (often involuntary) rationalisation of the regional-turboprop market. It also, however, raises serious questions about the future of the lower end of regional-airline operations. There can be little surprise in British Aerospace's decision to cease ...
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United introduces virtual maintenance training
UNITED AIRLINES HAS introduced a "virtual-reality" training tool designed to improve the troubleshooting skills of Boeing 737 maintenance technicians. Wicat Systems' Maintenance Virtual Workplace is in- tended to reduce the incidence of component removals when no fault is found. The Virtual Workplace is a CD-ROM-based desktop training aid ...
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Lessons from the jump seat
Sir - It may be true that there is no place for the flight engineer on the flightdeck of modern aircraft, but recent history suggests that another pair of eyes and ears in the jump seat might make a contribution to safety. It is interesting to note the ...
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New Labour, new taxes?
New Labour, new taxes? If the opinion polls are correct the United Kingdom could have its first Labour government in 18 years by early May. The new administration, led by Prime Minister Tony Blair with Gordon Brown as Finance Minister, would be very different from its predecessors. ...
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Alitalia too late for aid?
Alitalia appears to be a victim of the 'first come, first served' principle. Brussels has rejected the Italian carrier's amended restructuring plan yet cleared Air France's final tranche of state aid. But the legal challenge to Air France's aid has moved a step further. The Commission informed Alitalia ...
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Airline News
Continental Airlines is to start daily nonstop flights from New York/Newark to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janerio on 10 July. Continental Express was to launch three daily services from Cleveland/Hopkins to Raleigh-Durham on 1 May as well as three daily flights to Norfolk, Virginia via Washington/Dulles and a daily ...
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Cathay axes offshore plan
Plans by Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific to cut labour costs by setting up a cabin crew base in Bangkok have had to be abandoned following complaints by attendants that the rostering system was unworkable. The move is a body blow to a longer term scheme to ...
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Star bursts on to scene
United Airlines and Lufthansa have moved alliance building into a new era with the launch in mid-May of the five carrier Star Alliance, which attempts to present the passenger with a more uniform product while retaining individual brands. At presstime, details were scarce but the carriers were keen ...
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Proceed with care
If a single US airline were to be picked out for its sheer likeability, then that airline would have to be Southwest Airlines. This darling of the industry consistently puts smiles on the faces of its employees, its passengers, bankers, analysts, shareholders, and even former Department of Transportation inspector general ...
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Commission cuts hit the small guys
This year's decisions by five US majors to cut commissions for on-line travel bookings in half could result in the collapse of smaller on-line travel agents, leaving this potentially lucrative market in the hands of three major companies. Northwest was the first carrier to cut the commission paid for on-line ...
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Partners for now
Every year sees a major change to the global alliance movement and this year's survey, the fourth consecutive since 1994/95, is no exception. Last year SAS left the European Quality Alliance for Lufthansa, while this time British Airways ditched its codeshare with US Airways in favour of American Airlines. With ...
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Wolf stalks, unions resist
Frustrated by the lack of progress in labour negotiations and under pressure to cut costs, US Airways chairman and chief executive officer Stephen Wolf has launched an 'efficiency programme' that includes the ending of jet services to nine US cities, the grounding of 22 aircraft, and consolidation in maintenance and ...
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US Federal Aviation Administration demands EMB-120 ice-detection
The US Federal Aviation Administration has proposed an airworthiness directive (AD) calling for the installation of ice-detection systems on the Embraer EMB-120 regional turboprop. The AD follows the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report into the crash of a Comair EMB-120RT in Michigan on 9 January, which ...
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Airbus will limit A3XX engine choice
Airbus Industrie says that it will give airlines a choice of two engines only for the 550- to 650-seat A3XX. Three are now being offered: the Rolls-Royce Trent 900, a Pratt &Whitney PW4000 derivative, and a new engine from General Electric Pratt &Whitney Engine Alliance. "We are evaluating ...
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MDHS promises first MD 600N delivery
McDONNELL Douglas Helicopter Systems (MDHS) will deliver its first MD 600N in early June, to Grand Canyon tour operator AirStar Helicopters, following delayed US certification. The company has seven aircraft ready for hand over, and hopes to deliver up to 30 of the tailrotor-less MD 600Ns this year. ...
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NTSB urges action on 747 fuel-tank safety
THE US NATIONAL Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has added safety enhancements to commercial passenger-aircraft fuel tanks to its list of "most wanted" transportation-safety improvements. In late 1996, the NTSB urged the US Federal Aviation Administration to require air carriers to reduce the possibility of build-ups of explosive vapours ...
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Affordable start
Remarkably, Skyfox has been awarded the first certification for not one, but two aircraft under European/ Australian joint airworthiness regulations for very light aircraft (JAR/VLA). As a result of the certification of the tailwheel CA25 Impala, and its newer derivative, the nosewheel-equipped Skyfox Gazelle, the Queensland-based manufacturer is now promoting ...
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The aircraft after the explosions
Container No 1 is the US Federal Aviation Administration-manufactured "hardened" container, which was placed close to the cargo-hold wall where the fuselage is externally marked with the black grid lines. In each container, a "bomb" was placed against an outboard-facing wall to test for "worst-case" results. Immediate external visual inspection ...
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All change
The final countdown has begun to tick over Chinese rule over Hong Kong. With the clock ticking away, senior airline executives in the colony have been engaged in a last-minute game of musical chairs, before the Union Jack is hauled down on 30 June. The end-of-year departure of ...