FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1985
1985 - 0162.PDF
WORLD NEWS Boeing sales down SEATTLE In the words of a Boeing marketing executive, 1984 was "a good year, but not a great year", for the commer cial division. A total of 169 orders was received during the year, valued at $5,780 million. The 1983 figure was $7,000 million. Top-selling aircraft in 1984 was the 128-149-seat 737-300, which notched up 110 orders. The -300 entered service at year end with launch custom ers US Air and Southwest Airlines of Dallas. To date Boeing has received 160 orders for the type from 14 airlines. Announced orders for the 737-200 and the more fuel-efficient -300 derivative combined totalled 135 air craft; an impressive result, Boeing believes, considering the present shape of US and world economies. That total was exceeded by the 727 only twice in its 25-year production life and only once before by the 737. Hughes Aircraft for sale LOS ANGELES ~ Hughes Aircraft is to be put up for sale by the Hughes Medical Institute, and will probably go public in the near future, steered from private ownership by the Morgan Stanley Wall Street Investment Bank. The Medical Institute, a charitable organisation set up by the late Howard Hughes, instructed the bank to prepare the sale of its sole asset, Hughes Aircraft missile and defence electronics manu facturer, for sale or public offering. With the value of the company variously estimated at between $38,000 million and $50,000 million, the sale is likely to be well received. Reception is unlikely to be tainted by recent US military complaints about quality control on several Hughes' missiles. The sale has been rumoured for some time. The Institute has been forced to sell off Hughes Aircraft because of US rules concerning tax exemptions for charitable organisations. The Institute could not keep Hughes Aircraft competitive while spending the requisite 3 • 5 per cent of its assets to maintain tax-exempt status. Rumours that UK-based GEC was keen to buy into Hughes Aircraft have been scotched in the USA. It seems unlikely that the Defence Department will countenance a British firm taking a major shareholding in a US arms company as large and important as Hughes. Potential bidders, should the company be sold, are Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed, Rockwell, and United Technologies. But a public offering of Hughes shares is thought most likely, both because the company is worth so much and because it would be difficult to break it up into affordable portions. Airlines try to buy off Laker MIAMI Creditors of Laker Airways have been offered an out-of- court settlement of just under £50 million in an attempt to stop his anti-trust case in the US Courts. The 12 defendants, led by British Airways, met in Miami and outlined their proposed settlement. Smaller creditors owed up to £50,000 would be paid in full; included in that category are former Laker employees and ticket- holders stranded by the airline's collapse. Major cred itors would be paid £50,000 plus 20 per cent of debt remaining. Sir Freddie has also been offered between £2 million-£4 million. In addition, British Airways disclosed that it has set up a limited company in Jersey, registered under the name of Ivanhoe Investments, solely to pay off Laker creditors. Despite the obvious tax advantages, it is a logical place for the company's base because Laker Airways was registered in Jersey. British Airways wants to make an out-of-court settle ment as quickly as possible so that it can push ahead with privatisation. Laker's liquidator is seek ing £297 million damages against British Airways and 11 others, claiming that they conspired to drive Laker Airways out of business. It is not yet known whether Laker Airways liquidator Christopher Morris of accountants Touche Ross, and the airline's creditors, will accept the settlement. If they do, Sir Freddie could decide to continue with the lawsuit independently, but it would be costly and less likely to upset the flotation of British Airways. US Navy buys F-16s WASHINGTON D.C. ~ General Dynamics has sold its F-16 Fighting Falcon to the US Navy at a greatly reduced price to win an order for 14 adversary aircraft. Worth $154-7 million in total, the contract will be funded in two instalments. The first is worth $77-35 million, and is described by the Navy as a contract for long-lead items. This means that the unit cost of the F-16N, as it will be designated, is only $11-05 million, some $4 million under the 1983 price quoted for the F-16C, on which the Navy version will be based. GD is circumspect about the deal, only issuing a brief statement expressing its plea sure at winning the contract and its confidence that the aircraft will perform well in the adversary role. The US Navy say that it chose the F-16N in preference to the Northrop F-20 Tiger- shark and the LTV modi fied MiG-21 because it would realise "definite cost savings". The Navy's F-16N will be based on the single-seat F-16C. As the role will be air- to-air training rather than the latter's primary ground- attack role, the F-16N will be optimised for air combat. The F-16N will be powered by the General Electric F110 engine, not the F-16C's Pratt & Whitney F100. FLIGHT mTEfMXnOHAL NEXT WEEK #: J& , -,;•- LM ad "Ritz of the skies" pro claims Air New Zealand's advertising campaign. Peter Middleton describes how the airline fought its way back from the tragedy of Erebus. David Learmount presents our annual survey of world airliner safety. Japan's airline industry is now one of the world's safest. To find out where the others stand, see J. M. Ramsden's appraisal. Ian Parker presents his first report from this year's Helicopter Association International convention. -I TWA plans SOtnin twins WASHINGTON D.C. Trans World Airlines is to fly Boeing 767 twins between Boston and Zurich via Paris under the FAA's 60min rule from February 1. The present rule on overwater twins speci fies that flights may not be made over a route which is more than 60min away from a suitable emergency landing field at engine-out ranges. To do this the airline will have to fly nearer New foundland and Iceland, adding between 15-30min to the flight time. TWA is also pressing the FAA to endorse the 90min rule so that it can fly 767s on its new Paris-St Louis service in early 1986. FLIGHT International, 19 January 1985
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
