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Aviation History
1996
1996 - 0527.PDF
Mm TRANSPORT Northwest takes A320s and defers A330 deliveries RAMON LOPEZ/WASHINGTON DC NORTHWEST AIRLINES has postponed and may even tually cancel delivery of 16 Airbus A3 30s in favour of acquiring 20 more A3 20s and hushkits for its 32 Boeing 727-200s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s. The decision puts in doubt die US carrier's intentions of ever tak ing delivery of die larger, longer- range A3 30s. Airline officials emphasise that die airline has secured die right to substitute other Airbus and Pratt & Whitney prod ucts for the A330s. The deal allows Northwest to cancel the A3 30 without financial penalty, once the A320s have been delivered. Announcing the memorandum of understanding with Airbus Industrie, Northwest declined to say what the A3 20s and hushkits will cost. A company official says that the deal improves North west's cash flow "...by more than $500 million through 1999 by restructuring a like amount of Northwest will operate the world's biggest Airbus A320 fleet obligations with the airframe and engine manufacturers". The fourth-largest US air carrier already owns 50 A320s, but the 50 options it took at the time of the original order have lapsed. It will receive ten A320s in 1998 and ten more in 1999. All Northwest A3 20s will be powered by CFM Inter national CFM56 turbofans. The delivery schedule for the 16 A3 30s has been pushed back five years, to 2004 and 2005, with eight aircraft to be delivered in each year. The hushkit agreement calls for P&Wto equip 20 727-200s and 12 DC-9-30s with JT8D hushkits to meet Stage 3 noise restrictions. The DC-9 hushkit is manufactured by Safety Harbor, Florida-based ABS Partnership. ABS is a partner ship consisting of Airborne Express, Burbank Nacelle and Sanfran. The 727 hushkit is provided by Federal Express Aviation Services. Con sideration is also being given to hushkitting some Northwest DC- 9-50s still in service. "This revision to our aircraft orderbook better matches our fleet to our marketing plans," says Michael Levine, Northwest's mar keting chief. He says that, over the next few years, the A3 20s will replace narrowbody aircraft which are being retired. • US Navy recovers 757 recorders from sea THE US NAVY has found the cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders of die chartered Boeing 757 which plunged into die sea north of the Dominican Republic on 6 February. A USN recovery vessel retrieved die critical components from the aircraft, operated by a Turkish air craft charter company, Birgenair, which crashed soon after departure from the airport at Puerto Plata. The equipment has been delivered to Washington for analysis. The Germany-bound aircraft, powered by Rolls-Royce RB.211 turbofans, was leased to Dominican airline Alas Nacionales. All 189 aboard,, including 13 crew, were killed. The estimated $1.4 million salvage cost will be shared by Ger many, Turkey, Boeing and R-R. • EMB-145 'exceeds expectations' E MBRAER'S EMB-145 re gional jet is performing better than predicted, the Brazilian manufacturer says. One prototype and two pre-series aircraft are now in flight-test and a fourth EMB- 145 is scheduled to have been flown by 20 March. Engineering director Luis Af- fonso says that the performance is exceeding specification because of a higher-than-predicted wing lift- coefficient; more thrust than expected from the Allison AE3007 turbofans; and better optimisation of the take-off speed schedule. Take-off and landing field lengths are shorter, useful weight higher, time to climb faster, cruise speed 6kt (llkm/h) higher and range 130km (70nm) greater than projected. "We are very pleased with the results," Affonso says. A dispatch reliability of 95% is being achieved with the test aircraft. Certification is on schedule for late October/early November, says Embraer president Mauricio Botelho, and the company still plans to deliver the first four air craft by the end of 1996. The fourth test aircraft, the first with an interior, will -be demonstrated at the US Regional Airlines Association meeting in Orlando, Florida, in late May. Armed with performance fig ures from flight testing, Embraer will kick off efforts to convert let ters of intent into firm orders on 20 March, says Sam Hill, presi dent of the company's US sales and support arm. Firm orders still stand at 13 air craft, plus options and other com mitments for around 150 more. Embraer plans to build 27 aircraft in 1997, Hill says. • NEWS IN BRIEF • EXPANSION DEFERRED Midwest Express Airlines has deferred plans to add 30-seat turboprops to its regional subsidiary Skyway Airlines until "the timing is right". Skyway flies 15 Raytheon Beech 1900Ds as Midwest Express Connection. • CARGO HUB CREATION GD Express Worldwide, which operates as TNT Express Worldwide, is to in vest DfllOO million ($67 mil lion) in a new European air hub, at Liege, in Belgium, scheduled to open early in 1998. TNT now operates from Cologne, Germany. • NORTH-EAST EXPANSION Southwest Airlines is to extend its low-fare services into the north-east USA, launching flights to the Boston area as early as November, according to the Wall Street Journal. South west entered the Florida market in early 1996 and now serves all regions of the USA except the north-east. • MONTREAL MOVE Montreal's Airports Auth ority will transfer all sched uled international flights from Mirabel to Dorval by April 1997, to lure back traf fic lost as more airlines have pulled out of the unpopular Mirabel, 70km (38nm) out side the city. • AGES ACQUIRES 727S AGES Aircraft Sales and Leasing has acquired four Boeing 727-200s from Fords Aviation. • LIQUID GOLD Brymon Airways has won a £10 million ($15 million), three- year contract to carry oil-rig personnel between Aberdeen and the Shetland Islands. The UK regional carrier, wholly owned by British Airways, was awarded the contract by a con sortium of oil companies led by BP Exploration. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 6 - 12 March 1996 11
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