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Aviation History
1993
1993 - 2183.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Abeles quits TNT over aviation strategy BY PAUL PHELAN 7N CAIRNS The future of Ansett Trans port Industries and Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services (AWAS), and a row over group debt-reduction strategies, were central to the shock resignation of deputy chairman Sir Peter Abeles and four other TNT directors in a boardroom show down on 30 August. According to a brief state ment from the group, "...TNT's strategy for the past year has been clear. It concentrates on improving operating earnings, selling non-core assets, and re ducing debt. The directors who resigned sought a change in that strategy". Abeles, who at one time was joint chairman of Ansett, had been pressing for major changes in TNT's planned re structure so that the group's aviation interests could be re tained. He wanted to use fund ing which other directors said was urgently needed to reduce TNT's debt by 50%, to about AS800 million ($530 million). Abeles wanted TNT split into three entities: TNT Austra lia; AWAS and Ansett Trans port Industries; and the group's European freight business, GD Net Express. His proposal, which re portedly included using funds from the sale of equity in GD Net or from an expected rights issue, was to retain a grip on the aviation interests which it shares with Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. The debt-reduction strategies which will now be pursued under managing director David Mortimer include the sale of non-core assets such as TNT's stake in Ansett and AWAS. News Corp says that it has no plans "in the immediate future" to divest its aviation interests. Ansett is still seeking to re structure the debt from a re cent, costly modernisation of its domestic fleet. Now it is faced with the need to put aircraft, staff and infrastructure in place to implement its new international rights. Services to Indonesia and Malaysia had already been granted, and these have now been added to by the Austra lian International Air Services Commission's (IASC) ruling on flights to Osaka's new Kansai airport. The ruling awarded 2,200 seats a week to Ansett and 1,200 to Qantas. The IASC has also issued a draft determination allowing Ansett to commence services to Hong Kong from April 1994, while also allowing Qantas extra Hong Kong capacity. The Japanese and Hong Kong routes are seen by Ansett as the most critical in its strategies. Ansett will be able to operate four Boeing 747 services a week - from Sydney to Kansai and three Boeing 767 services Alcazar receives Swiss approval Alcazar, the planned four-airline link-up between Dutch carrier KLM, Scandi navian Airlines System, Swis sair and Austrian Airlines has had one hurdle removed from a cluttered track to unity: the Swiss Federal Council has given Swissair the mandate to proceed with "formal negotiations". The first stage is the planned memorandum of understand ing (MoU) between the four airline presidents, officially due this month, followed by an "integration agreement" sched uled for January 1994. A formidable number of in terested parties has to be satis fied, however. These include shareholders; full airline boards; staff; the European Commission; the USA (KLM, Swissair and SAS have US eq uity links with, respectively, Northwest, Delta and Conti nental Airlines); and Lufthansa, which is making a competing bid to link with Austrian. D McDonnell Douglas' MD-90 T-l is joined by a second prototype MD-90 T-2 flown three weeks early The second McDonnell Douglas MD-90 test air craft, the T-2, has entered the certification programme, hav ing flown for the first time on 27 August, some three weeks ahead of schedule. The aircraft was flown to the company's flight test site at Yuma, Arizona, on a six-hour sortie. It has now been re turned to Long Beach, Califor nia, where it will be based for the certification effort, which is due to be completed in August 1994. First customer deliveries are expected in October 1994. McDonnell Douglas is using the T-2 primarily as an avionics test aircraft. • a week from Brisbane. The proposed Hong Kong allocations would allow Ansett to operate three 747 services weekly between Sydney, Mel bourne and Hong Kong, com mencing in April 1994, adding two services a year later. D See Business Analysis, P29. WORKSHOP PEMCO 737 DEAL Pemco Aeroplex has signed a contract with Polaris Air craft Leasing to convert 10 Boeing 737-200s to freight ers, marking the launch of the company's -200 conver sion programme. Pemco has converted, or is scheduled to convert, 39 737-300s to cargo configuration. CASE FOR RYDER Ryder Airline Services' Love Field/Carter Field, Texas, engine shop and test cell have gained approval from the airline audit group, the Coordinating Agency for Supplier Evaluation (CASE). The CASE standards are de rived from US Federal Ad ministration Aviation regula tions and approved compa nies are named in a register available to airlines. SHANNON SUCCESS Shannon Aerospace of Ire land is to perform mainte nance checks on three McDonnell Douglas MD-83s from Private Jet Expeditions of Atlanta, Georgia. Shannon says that its competitive down-time outweighed the cost of the transatlantic crossing required. ELBE FLOWS Dresden, Germany-based Elbe Flugzeugwerke has re ceived Joint Aviation Au thorities part 145 approval as a Boeing 737-200/300/ 400/500 maintenance organ isation. The company also has Tupolev approval for maintenance and services on the Tu-T54M. 18 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 8 - 14 September, 1993
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