Systems & interiors – Page 856
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Lufthansa 747 'Classic' digital cockpit retrofit is certificated
The first Boeing 747 "Classic" to be retrofitted with a digital cockpit has been certificated by the German civil aviation authority. The aircraft, an ex-United Airlines 747SPbelonging to the Brunei royal family, was modified by Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg, Germany (Flight International, 26 June-2 July, 1996). It has ...
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Breath of fresh AI(R)
When Aero International (Regional) (AI(R)) was formed in January 1996 from the regional-aircraft businesses of Aerospatiale of France, Alenia of Italy and British Aerospace, its declared policy was to manufacture and market a family of complementary regional aircraft. That family now includes the Jetstream 41 turboprop (with 29-30 seats), the ...
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Sharing the loads
The utilisation by major carriers of regional airlines with low cost bases to operate low-volume, short-haul feeder services is a concept that has been established in North America since the 1980s, but has only recently caught on in Europe. British Airways was the first European carrier to conclude a franchise ...
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GE maintenance business challenged by P&W moves
Pratt & Whitney is seeking to combat General Electric Aircraft Engines' growing dominance of the powerplant maintenance market with the launch of its own scheme to secure a major slice of the business. The US engine maker is offering airlines a "thrust-manager" deal covering the entire life of ...
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Slater slams Miami ruling
In his first major decision as US secretary of transportation, Rodney Slater has overturned a controversial ruling on the financing of a new terminal at Miami, which would have set a precedent on the raising and use of airport funds. Slater's action reverses a March decision by a ...
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The new jet set
Long acknowledged as a quiet revolution, the issue of regional jet aircraft service was catapulted into the public domain when the potential American Airlines pilots strike became a staple feature of the evening news. Yet the operation of moderate-sized jets seating between 50 and 90 passengers, including the Canadair Regional ...
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Can Sabena bite the bullet?
When the going gets tough, the tough get going, or so the saying goes. If the maxim runs true then Sabena will need to toughen up its act. The Belgian flag carrier may be regaining ground. Thanks to the quality Swissair management at its helm, it has identified ...
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Battle of wills
Washington has changed tactics on Japan. When President Clinton wrote to Prime Minister Hashimoto last September to urge that Japan and the US replace their contentious bilateral with a new open skies agreement, that represented a change of thinking in Washington. For eight years the administrations had insisted on Tokyo's ...
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Latin cargo tempts Asia
Access to unlimited beyond rights is one of the main goals for the US in its global drive for open skies and now Asian carriers are discovering there may yet be benefits in return, in the booming Latin American cargo market at least. China Airlines will become the ...
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Suitors fly close to Sun
Privatisation has become a bit of a buzz word among Africa's airlines recently and, while some plans should be treated with healthy scepticism, the search for foreign and local investors for South African domestic operator Sun-Air should prove less difficult. The first stage of the full privatisation of ...
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French force unions down
The French may still be demanding liberté but there's less égalité and fraternité as unions resist management attempts to force the lower working conditions of Air France and Air Liberté on to their members at Air France Europe and TAT respectively. Pilots and ground staff from Air France ...
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Euro agents fight change
European travel agents are portraying their attempts at resisting the rising tide of commission cuts as a case of the biblical slaying of Goliath by David and, in most cases, they are right. But the tables are reversed in the case of low-cost operator Ryanair, which is one of the ...
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BA hires and fires equally
British Airways has agreed concessions with one main union but the others may not comply so easily as the carrier launches a recruitment drive to hire 1,300 pilots and 2,000 cabin crew. Ground staff of the transport workers' union, TGWU, voted in favour of a three-year proposal at ...
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Having fun in Brussels
As Sabena throws itself into revamping its shaky operations it had better remember to watch its back. Both Virgin Express and City Bird are attacking the flag carrier's Brussels base with gusto. The two airlines claim to be revolutionising the services on offer in Europe with a cheap, ...
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Crossair tries back door
Swiss regional carrier Crossair has taken a 35 per cent stake in a proposed French startup carrier, in an attempt to improve its access to the European Union market. Initially, Euro Continental Airways would operate two Crossair Saab 2000s from major French cities to the French sector of ...
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US user fees rock Canada
Canadian government has requested an urgent meeting with the US Federal Aviation Administration over proposed new overflight fees that Ottawa sees as 'highly discriminatory'. From 19 May, the FAA will begin charging fees for aircraft which fly through US airspace, but do not take off or land in ...
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KLM switches to Boeing for 747 SUD freighter-conversion work
KLM has signed a contract with Boeing for the freighter conversion of two 747-200 stretched-upper-deck (SUD) combi aircraft, having previously signed a commitment for Israel Aircraft Industries' (IAI) Bedek division to conduct the modification. KLM values the contract at DFl80 million ($42 million). The two 747-200 SUDs, which ...
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Barry wins cabin-noise deal for Northwest DC-10s
Barry Controls Aerospace's Active Tuned Mass Absorber (ATMA) has been selected by Northwest Airlines to reduce cabin noise in its 173 McDonnell Douglas (MDC) DC-9s. The system has been on trial with the airline for two months and was selected after a competitive evaluation against a noise-suppression system ...
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European lead
Europe's flag carriers may be leading the charge into the brave new world of liberalisation, but there are signs that the region's airports, too, are beginning to wake up to some of the new commercial realities of running as efficient businesses rather than as government arms. Airports have ...
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Airport role-reversal
On 1 January, 1998, the two main airports of Italy's second city will start a process of gradual role-reversal. Linate, which has always been Milan's main airport, is almost logjammed, while Milan Malpensa opens the first stage of a development which will give it more than twice Linate's capacity, both ...