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Aviation History
1996
1996 - 1692.PDF
HEADLINES Unions kill Air France Europe MAX KINGSLEY-JONES/LONDON JULIAN MOXON/PARIS THE GRAND PLAN of Air France Group chairman Christian Blanc to create a single European operation from the mer ger of Air Inter and Air France's re gional operations, has been blocked by the unions' failure to agree to productivity improvements. In stead, Blanc says that Air Inter will be merged into Air France in 1997 AFTER A SERIES of last-minute delays, Alitalia's rescue plans, including a badly needed cash injection, have been agreed by the airline's parent state-holding company, IRI. IRI eventually emerged from a shareholders' meeting on 1 July saying that it had agreed to provide Alitalia with L3 billion ($2 billion). Half of the cash will be paid by the end of the year, with the remainder to arrive by mid-1997 as Alitalia completes the restructuring plan agreed with its unions in June. The cash is likely to arrive piece- as part of a new short- to medium- haul division. The creation of Air France Eur ope was to have been completed in 1997, but pilots' unions represent ing the employees of the new divi sion refused to accept the corre sponding cuts in salaries and increases in productivity which Blanc had considered essential. On 4 July, Blanc presented this alternative merger plan to Air France and ex-Air Inter unions sep- meal, as IRI is burdened with mas sive debts and is expected to raise some of the cash through asset sales and privatisations. Alitalia will raise further cash through its own asset disposals, including the sale of its impressive headquarters building outside Rome and a deal with Fiat to take over the Alfa Avio engine-mainte nance business. The Italian flag carrier predicts that, with the new capital in place, it could be back in profit by the end of 1997, preparing the group for a planned privatisation. • arately. This plan has been publicly supported by French prime minis ter Alain Juppe. Air Inter pilots immediately called a strike, with virtually no notice, and a "summer of discontent" is anticipated as the merger plan is finalised. Blanc says that the only other options —to sell the airline or turn it into a low-cost carrier — are"unacceptable". Blanc says that the creation of a single airline will result in the align ment of Air Inter salaries and work- RUSSIAN SURFACE-to-air missile (SAM) design house Fakel is attempting to break into new markets by offering two air-to- air versions of secret SAM develop ment projects. Both weapons are being offered for the Sukhoi Su- 27M(Su-35) Flanker. Fakel is working on an active- radar-guided medium-range mis sile (box right in picture) and what is thought to be an infra-red, or imag ing infra-red, dogfight weapon. Mock-ups of the missiles have been shown to potential customers as part of a range of weapons avail able for the Su-2 7M. One missile is understood to be based on the naval 9M96 active- radar-guided SAM now in develop ment. The naval weapon and the proposed air-launched derivative resemble the in-service 9M330 (SA-N-9/SA-15). Fakel officials admit to working on air-to-air-missile (AAM) pro jects, with an active-radar seeker ing conditions widi those of Air France, route closures and 950 redundancies. The new merged airline will be set up in the second quarter of 1997. and will feature two distinct divi sions, one operating short-haul ser vices and the other long-haul. Blanc says that the merger will allow Air France to become prof itable again and provide the frame work for privatisation in the next two years. Q from design bureau Agat being used in at least one AAM. The missile-design bureau is known to be working on another new SAM design as well as the 9M96,the9M100. The 9M100 designator may be related to the tail-control-only mis sile mock-up displayed in front of an Su-27M privately displayed at Zhukovsky, near Moscow, for an unknown client. The missile's dimensions are broadly similar to those of the British Aerospace Dynamics new Advanced Short- Range Air-to-Air Mssile. No Vympel R-77s (AA-1R Adder) are displayed either on, or in front of, the aircraft, although this is a standard display missile for the advanced Flanker derivative. The Russian air force is known to have a requirement for a successor to the Vympel R-73 (AA-11 Archer) dogfight missile. Vympel has tried to move into die SAM marketwiththeR-77-3PK. • DLR cancels Strato 2C contract i\NDRZEJ JEZIORSKI/MUNICH THE GERMAN Aerospace Research Establishment J)LR), has terminated its contract with Burkhart Grob Aerospace for die development of the Strato 2C ligh-altitude research aircraft. The cancellation comes after the German Government refused to •elease DM47 million ($31.3 mil- ion) for the completion of the Jevelopment programme, despite rpproval of the funding by parlia ment and the DLR's continued grounded since August 1995 while die funding struggle went on. On its last flight, the aircraft set a world altitude record for a piston-engined aircraft of 68,867ft (21,000m). Grob says that its release from the DLR contract means that the aircraft is its own property, and the company is now free to find a com mercial partner to complete the development. Three potential partners, from the USA, the Middle East and the Far East are now in talks with the manufacturer. Grob savs that a DartnershiD could also Fakel is offering AAM derivatives of next-generation SAMs Fakel moves into AAM market ANDRZE (DLR) wit th high-altitud releas lion di developmen approva interest (Flight International, 7-13 February). The Government is no longer insisting on die return of DM72 millionalreadypaidtowards development, however. The prototype had failed to achieve the high-altitude perfor mance required by the original con tract with the DLR, and has been IRI approves Alitalia c t t . its t flight, aircraft t a fo a t t . say partnership include die GF200 tourer. The DLR may yet decide to buy the prototype. The Establishment has secured die right of first pur chase of the aircraft for an agreed DM41 million if Grob completes certification, and meets a revised performance requirement of 6h at 72,100ft, within six years. • ish-rescue package 4 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 10 - 16 July 1996
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