All Systems & interiors articles – Page 922
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News
China cramps Taipei links
Taiwan is struggling to retain or expand regional air links in the face of Beijing's campaign to isolate the island state and force it into direct ties with mainland China. The commercial agreement that serves as a bilateral between Taiwan and Hong Kong was extended for an interim ...
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Suppliers in demand
What enlarged role could suppliers and manufacturers play as airlines look to outsourcing as a cost control mechanism? Kevin P Michaels and William D Angeloni of the Canaan Group explore the possibilities.Airline suppliers have already endured a tumultuous decade - order boom followed by order bust, complicated by the constant ...
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A question of give and take
Many airlines have become more demanding of marketing alliances and are now prepared to abandon bad agreements or switch partners to get the right benefits.To the untrained eye the level of alliance activity over the past year could seem rather subdued compared to the frenetic activity of previous years. Some ...
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Qantas/BA green light
British Airways and Qantas are set to win approval from Australia's Trade Practices Commission (TPC) for their controversial revenue pooling and price arranging plans for the loss-making Kangaroo Route, though with some tough conditions attached. Approval will be strictly limited to cooperation on flights between Australia and Europe ...
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Team launches DC-10 upgrade
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES McDONNELL DOUGLAS (MDC) has teamed with Alenia subsidiary Aeronavali to launch a DC-10 product-improvement programme ranging in scope from a completely new, two-crew, digital flightdeck to a full conversion from passenger to freighter. The plan is aimed mainly at the expected growth in ...
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FAA applies to join Boeing GPS trials
Boeing says that the US Federal Aviation Administration is negotiating to join the manufacturer's global-positioning-system (GPS) landing-system evaluation programme, scheduled to start in June with delivery of four rival systems for installation on NASA's Boeing 757. The Boeing programme would follow the FAA's GPS automatic-landing technology demonstration, conducted ...
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MDC offers two-crew cockpit
BUILDING ON DC-10 avionics-upgrade work with United, MDC is offering a two-crew cockpit emulating that of the MD-11. "We'll know within 60 days whether we will do that," says Foreman. The core of what MDC calls the advanced common cockpit is a Honeywell-developed versatile integrated avionics (VIA 2000) ...
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Precise positioning
Boeing plans to evaluate GPS-based landing systems in parallel with the FAA. Graham Warwick/ATLANTA Boeing is leading an industry programme to validate use of the global-positioning system (GPS) for Category III automatic landings. While the US Federal Aviation Administration intends to demonstrate Cat III GPS, Boeing's ...
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Pro Line number 200,000 appears
ROCKWELL-COLLINS has produced its 200,000th Pro Line general-aviation radio and unveiled the next stage in development of its Pro Line integrated avionics for business and regional aircraft. Collins Commercial Avionics' General Aviation division says that it already has an application, yet to be announced, for the new Pro ...
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JetRanger replacement helps drive 407 market
PRODUCTION OF Bell Helicopter Textron's Model 407 light helicopter, launched in February, is sold out until mid-1997. The company has firm orders for 105 aircraft, with company demonstrators and other commitments taking the number of delivery positions accounted for to 140. Production at Bell's Canadian plant will ...
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Boeing acts to solve 757/767 pylon cracks
Guy Noris/SEATTLE BOEING IS notifying operators of a fleet-wide structural strengthening programme for 757 and 767 engine mounts, following reports of cracking in strut boxes and fuse pins. The programme, which will affect more than 1,200 aircraft in service, will be explained to operators on ...
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Assertive cabin crew save lives
David Learmount/COPENHAGEN ASSERTIVE ACTION, by cabin crew, could greatly increase passengers' chances of survival after a crash-landing, new research has shown. Assertively applied emergency-evacuation drills can accelerate airline-passenger emergency-evacuation markedly, the study demonstrates, whereas, non-assertive cabin crew make little difference to egress rates. ...
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The dangers of in-house training
Sir - Authorised Examiner (AE) courses conducted by the UK Civil Aviation Authority are due to end soon, because of the requirement to harmonise with European Joint Aviation Authorities Regulations. The AE course is to be replaced with a new concept, aimed more at the instructional element of ...
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New Fokker in New Mexico
FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO-BASED Mesa Air has taken delivery of the first of two 78-seat Fokker 70s to be operated in the colours of America West Express. The Mesa Air Group, the USA's largest independent regional-airline group, will fly the aircraft in a single-class cabin layout from America West's Phoenix hub ...
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Saab sounds off on noise
SAAB AIRCRAFT IS tackling sound at source to try to achieve the 76dB average cabin-noise level promised for the Saab 2000 high-speed regional turboprop. Launch customer Crossair criticised Saab earlier this year for failing to meet cabin-noise guarantees. The Swedish manufacturer says that the present average noise-level of ...
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Volga-Dnepr pushes An-124 co-operation
Kieran Daly/LONDON VOLGA-DNEPR Airlines is leading a renewed effort to co-ordinate the investment by operators of the Antonov An-124 Ruslan outsized freighter in technical improvements to the aircraft. The carrier hosted an April meeting of An-124 operators and suppliers in Ulyanovsk, where it proposed a ...
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MDHS speeds up 600N programme programme
McDONNELL DOUGLAS Helicopter Systems (MDHS) has accelerated development of the MD600N (formerly the MD630N) to bring forward US certification to the third quarter of 1996. Several design changes have been announced by the Mesa, Arizona-based company,, including a switch to a more powerful, digitally controlled, version of the Allison 250 ...
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Boeing floats short 777 with longest range yet
Paul Lewis and Guy Norris/ SEATTLE BOEING IS considering launching a short-bodied ultra-long-range variant of the 777, which would be capable of carrying around 250 passengers on routes up to 16,650km (9,000nm). Airlines are already being briefed on the aircraft The 777-100X or "Shrink" as ...
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Purso Tools updates MD-80 cabin trainer
THE RECENTLY established Aviation Engineering unit of Purso Tools, based in Pori, Finland, has completed its first cabin-trainer project by updating an existing McDonnell Douglas MD-80 cabin-procedures simulator. Purso says that it is in negotiations with potential customers and that it is attempting to establish a foothold in ...
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ADS Europe wins EU contract
ADS EUROPE, a consortium of French, Netherlands and UK companies, has received a £1.5 million ($2.4 million) European Union contract to demonstrate satellite-based automatic dependent-surveillance (ADS). Consortium member Racal Avionics is to supply ADS equipment for installation in five British Airways' and Netherlands national carrier KLM's Boeing 747-400s. ...