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Aviation History
1987
1987 - 2209.PDF
Airlines block MLS in USA MIAMI Many airlines are opposing the US Federal Aviation Administration plans to introduce microwave landing systems (MLS) at the nation's airports despite the capacity increases the FAA says it may offer. "The manufacturers haven't come up with a system that will work, and the airframe manufacturers tell us that if you install MLS in an aircraft and it has to have ILS as well [as you would have to do for some time] you would have a degradation of both systems", according to Delta Airlines' president and chief operating officer Hollis Harris at the Airport Operators Council International annual con ference in Miami. The FAA says the intro duction of MLS could achieve "the quantum jump" in airport capacity that the world needs. FAA eastern region director, Joseph Del Balzo says the benefits MLS could provide are "airport specific" but says the New York/New Jersey area appli cation of MLS "could be equivalent in capacity to a fifth airport, with much less cost". Del Balzo says the FAA has ordered 178 production ground installations, the first to be installed at Buffalo in early 1988. Demonstrations of the production models are also to be tested by Eastern Airlines, and Pan Am Washington/New York/ Boston shuttles in the begin ning of 1989. Del Balzo says the USA alone needs at least 1,000 MLS ground sets but Congress recently refused to approve funding for the equip ment. While the airport operators have supported MLS, Del Balzo says the programme is "still moving slowly because some major airlines have concerns about the costs and benefits". Hollis Harris agrees that capacity increases may be possible with the introduction I of MLS but says "we don't think they [the FAA] are as far along as they say they are". An Air Transport Association representatives told Flight "all MLS sets that have been made are only Cat I and they are not even upgradable to Cat II. The FAA talks about curved approaches, but no civil aircraft has ever flown a curved approach on MLS, and nobody has looked at what those areas under the curved approaches would do to the noise problem. The FAA has a long way to go". AF and UTA battle for Air Inter PARIS ~ A fight for the control of French domestic airline Air Inter is raging between Air France and UTA, France's two leading international carriers. The fight between the state flag carrier and the independent airline is taking place in the context of forth coming liberalisation within the European Community's air transport industry, reports Gilbert Sedbon. Both Air France and UTA have large stakes in Air Inter, but in recent weeks the privately-owned UTA has doubled its stake in the domestic airline to 28 per cent, and has indicated it is aiming for additional pur chases to raise its share to 37 per cent. In response to the UTA move, Air France has also confirmed plans to increase its stake in Air Inter. Air France now owns 24-96 per cent of Air Inter, and is negotiating to buy an addi tional 12 per cent share from French national railways, which also holds 24-96 per cent. Air France chairman Jacques Friedman, who wants a mega-sized airline to stand up to the onslaught from the mammoth US and Asian airlines on Europe, has already entered into talks with Air Inter for a tie-up. Air Inter chairman Pierre Eelsen has come out in favour of Air France increasing its stake in his company to block UTA's efforts to gain a more substan tial foothold. Eelsen feels that Air France is the natural part ner for Air Inter, especially since the domestic airline is planning to expand to the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain in the coming 18 months. Air Inter, the biggest domestic airline in Western Europe with a record 11-8 million passengers in 1986 (an increase of 11 per cent over 1985) and good prospects for 1987, is bracing itself to meet the challenges of the liberali sation of air transport in the European Community. But Air Inter is very anxious to keep its own management and colours in any arrangement either with Air France or UTA. The domestic airline is fast expanding its fleet of 30-odd aircraft, which range from Airbus A300B2s to Cara- velles and Mercures as well as 26 A320s on order. UTA chairman Rene Lapautre no longer wants to be part of the protected French air transport heir- archy under which he still enjoys privileges. He now wants greater freedom for his airline and speaks volubly on AIR TRANSPORT his favourite topic, European liberalisation, which is seen in some Government quarters as coming dangerously close to biting the hand that feeds him. Lapautre, a former senior Treasury officcial, has already incurred the wrath of Air France by capturing a route to San Francisco. But his plans for landing rights at New York's Newark airport are running into greater turbulence. "UTA is a private airline with the same rights to develop its network as Air France", he says. "No part of the world . is exclusively reserved for Air France, and we will see to it". New routes will safeguard UTA's profitability in future years, instead of relying on other European rivals to feed in traffic to Paris. French Transport Minister Jacques Douffiagues agrees, and has actually granted UTA the route to Newark, but stiff opposition from Air France has resulted in the French Prime Minister's office block ing it for the time being. "We'll get Newark, sure as we did get San Francisco", says Lapautre. "We must expand, from north to south and from east to west". Before long, UTA hopes to operate out of London to San Francisco and Tahiti via New Caledonia and the South Pacific. Rene Lapautre wants to pick up his passengers wherever they are, and trans port them anywhere they wish to go. That is why he is set on building up his company into a major, with a closely knit European network. "Two major carriers (Air France and UTA) will stand up better than one to the ruthless inter national competition ahead", he says. Air Inter receives the first of its 25 Airbus A320s in May 1988 for its fast expanding network fr ««^«i^piwiaflMft*^^^^ gmgj^-mmmxgBXJSirrVGl-WMJEi •^"^Mll .•••• .,.:. • : :•>•.•: •- • ••• • •• M^S^I^^H SSfflBilSS jM£j^0MfnEff Hi •—"~^MT» :.; .' ''JSt^A#% "* * f§ . •. • • . ••• • •• ••.•••••••••;•••• •<••••. .•• • . • •• • : • w W -7 H : : sit FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 31 October 1987 7
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