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Aviation History
1979
1979 - 3405.PDF
872 FLIGHT international, IS September 1979 Air transp Bilingual ATC plans raise pilots' fears THE simmering dispute over bilingual air traffic control in Canada has come to the boil again, following the find ings of a government-appointed in quiry into the language issue*. This recommends that both English and French be used for air traffic control communications in the province of Quebec. The commission of inquiry into bilingual air traffic services in Quebec was appointed by the former Liberal Government in June 1976, but submitted its report in mid-August to the new Progressive Conservative transport minister, Don Mazankowski, who has accepted its findings. Briefly, the Commission recom mends that bilingual air traffic con trol services be extended in Quebec by two stages. First, the Montreal Flight Information Region would be converted, using two languages for IFR communications at the Montreal Area Control Centre and Quebec Terminal Control Unit, as well as bi lingual VFR communications at Dorval (Quebec) and Mirabel (Mon treal) control towers. This phase is expected to be complete by early next *Available from the Canadian Ministry of Transport, Place de Ville, Ottawa, K1A ON5, Canada. year. The second stage provides for extending bilingual ATC to the rest of Quebec province by expanding the Montreal FIR. No time limit has been set for the second stage, but it will be complete when sufficient controllers have been licensed and new equip ment installed. The Canadian Airline Pilots Asso ciation has issued a muted statement, presumably to avoid antagonising its French-speaking members. Capt Roland Cook, Calpa president, says that the commission's findings "come as no great surprise" to the associa tion which nevertheless has "reser vations as to whether the theoretical approach of the report and simulation studies will be reflected in the real world." In April, Calpa submitted evidence! to the commission which expressed concern over bilingual con trol on the grounds that the radio listening watch may be put at risk by bilingual communications, causing a lowering of safety standards. Individual pilots have not been so restrained. One (English-speaking) pilot is quoted as saying: "I wonder fAvailable from Calpa, 1300 Steeles Avenue East, Brampton, Ontario, LT L6T 1A2, Canada. TAP-Air Portugal to buy TriStar 500s THREE TriStar 500s have been ordered by TAP-Air Portugal, the Portuguese flag carrier, and options placed on another two aircraft. The order is subject to approval by the Portuguese Government, which owns TAP-Air Portugal. The three aircraft on firm order will be delivered in the spring of 1982 and two options are held for 1983 delivery. TAP-Air Por tugal will receive the definitive -500, with Rolls-Royce RB.211-524B4 power- plants, extended wingtips and active controls. The order is worth $170 mil lion (over £76 million) to Lockheed and, if the options are taken up, Rolls-Royce stands to gain £35 mil lion-worth of business. TAP-Air Por tugal is Lockheed's third new cus tomer to select the -500 (after Pan Am and British West Indian Airways) and the eighth in all for this type. TriStar 500 orders now stand at 35 with 33 options. Portugal's flag carrier has embarked on an emergency recovery programme to pull it out of financial crisis. The airline has suffered badly from the loss of Portugal's African colonies, Angola and Mozambique, which used to account for 45 per cent of its traffic. At the same time, the Portu guese revolution led to a temporary fall in tourist traffic and large wage increases. In 1978, the airline lost about £9 million, but the current recovery plan aims to restore profits by 1981. The plan involves fleet re newal and financial restructuring to write off accumulated debts. Earlier this year, the airline announced a change of name from TAP (Trans- portes Aereos Portugueses) to TAP- Air Portugal, with its marketing literature and a new livery stressing the Air Portugal suffix. The airline's fleet currently includes eight Boeing 707s which will be gradually replaced by TriStars on routes to the Americas and Africa, serving New York, Caracas, Rio, Johannesburg and Kinshasa. Although Portugal's new government has yet to approve the purchase, announce ment of the order indicates that the airline is confident of a go-ahead. if they will have safety or politics in mind when they implement the changes?" Another reaction was, "if there are added risks, we don't want them no matter what the political repercussions." However, many anglophone pilots do not want to push the issue too hard at the moment for fear of straining relations with their francophone colleagues. This seems to be the prevailing view among air traffic controllers, who have reluc tantly accepted the changes. Only the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association, representing the general - aviation community, has come out in outright opposition to bi lingual ATC. The muted reactions so far contrast with the bitter wrangles in 1976-77 when the previous govern ment's more limited proposals for bi lingual ATC caused a storm of pro test. The reaction of foreign pilots has yet to be gauged, but there are reports that pilots serving one US carrier will refuse to fly into bilingual ATC zones. lata d-g urges "patience" on US KNUT Hammarskjold, director-general of lata, has urged the US to approach the task of exporting its domestic civil aviation philosophy with "patience and willingness to negotiate." He was addressing a hearing in Las Vegas on the proposed International Air Trans portation Competition Act of 1979. The Act should include an express recognition of the need to co-operate with other sovereign nations through bilateral and multilateral forums. It should also permit foreign airlines to seek approval and anti-trust immuni sation of inter-carrier agreements which affect US air transport, as is the right of American airlines. The Act should pay particular attention to the international difficulties which could arise from unilateral application of US anti-trust laws to international transportation, says Hammarskjold. Must read ... Aeronautical Law, Videla Escalada, Sijthoff and Noordhoff, PO Box 4, Wilhelminalaan 12, 2400 MA Alphen san den Rijn, the Netherlands, $37 • 50 ; . . Traffic Statistics 1978, Western European Airports Association, Aero- port de Paris, Orly Sud 103, 94396 Orly Aerogare Cedex, France.
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