FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1999
1999 - 0072.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT PAL talks to resume as President steps in ANDRZEJ JEZIORSKI/SINGAPORE PHILIPPINE Airlines' (PAL) creditors have agreed to resume talks to rework die airline's rehabilitation plan, after over whelmingly rej ecting it in their ini tial analysis, according to the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The announcement follows Philippine President Joseph Estrada signing an executive order making die SEC direcdy answer able to him, instead of to die Department of Finance. The SEC's chairman, Perfecto Yassay, previously warned that PAL would be shut down if die airline's rehabilitation plan, presented to die commission in December, proves to be inadequate. In stark contrast, Estrada has publicly stat ed diat die airline would be pre served "at all costs", and that no more PAL employees would lose dieirjobs. The airline owes over $2.1 bil lion to more dian 9,000 creditors, and has been in receivership since June under an order from die SEC blocking creditors from seizing its assets. Its rehabilitation plan calls for fleet downsizing to 22 aircraft, partial resumption of debt repay ments, die sale of non-core busi nesses and a $150 million shareholder cash injection. It also assumes thatastrategic partner will be brought in to help run die airline in due course. Most of PAL's creditors, including die US Exim bank and European creditors, have declared die plan unworkable without die help of a foreign airline partner. The four senior ex-Cathay exec utives hired via newly formed con sultancy Regent Star Services to try to save PAL have started work in senior management positions in Manila (Flight International, 13-19 January). No potential partner has emerged since Cadiay Pacific Airways pulled out of advanced talks in December. PAL chairman and majority shareholder Lucio Tan is, however, reportedly in talks widi four unnamed international investors over the sale of up to 40 % of the airline, according to an announcement by finance secre tary Edgardo Espiritu. Tan is believed to be losing some 25 mil lion pesos ($660,000) a day keeping PAL running. Most recendy, Japanese trading house Marubeni announced plans to halt financing arrangements on two Airbus A320s after rejecting the plan for writing off interest charges owed to PAL's financiers. Shortly before, Japan's Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank (DKB), had slammed die plan for providing inadequate cash flow projections, making it impossible to calculate the risk involved in keeping up financial links widi die airline. • Swisscargo drops spin-off proposal SWISSMR'S cargo division, Swisscargo, has ditched pro posals to spin off its own freight air line and will instead expand its existing strategy of wet-lease and block space agreements. The tentative plan to set up the cargo airline was studied in 1997, when an initial diree of five Boeing 747-300 passenger aircraft operat ed by Swissair became available. The five aircraft, including three combis, are being replaced from this year as the airline renews its fleet. The aircraft are being offered for sale or lease by Flighdease, die leasing division of Swissair parent SAirGroup. Swisscargo, which operates purely in the freight marketing role, wet-leases three McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 freighters from Gemini Air Cargo, and also has block space agreements with Cargolux. The cargo division is known to have placed deposits last year with Boeing's freighter modi fication centre in Wichita for three 747-3 00 combi conversions, which the manufacturer still holds. Swisscargo says that when the availability of the 747s arose, it studied die setting up of a cargo air line to operate them, but has now "...decidednotto operate our own aircraft, due die costs involved. We will remain purely as a marketing enterprise and continue to focus on sub-contracts," it says. The division is finalising its long term strategy, and is studying an expansion of links widi Cargolux. One scenario could see die existing block space agreements expanded to die wet-lease of 747-400Fs from the Luxembourg carrier. • Surat Thani crash brings Thai aviation reform a step closer THAI TRANSPORT minister Suthep Thaugsuban has promised to reform the country's aviation bodies following the fatal crash of a Thai Airways Inter national Airbus A310 at Surat Thani 11 December. Suthep, whose sister was among the 101 dead out of 146 people on board, says die results of the crash investigation will be disclosed by 24 February, following the extrac tion of data from the aircraft's cock pit voice recorder and flight data recorder by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The minister says he plans to set up an agency to co-ordinate die work of the Aviation Department, Airports Authority of Thailand, Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, Thai Airways International and die Meteorological Department. The move comes after criticism that poor co-ordination of diese organ isations has compromised safety. The aircraft crashed on its third landing attempt at die airport, where there was no functioning instrument landing system, and half die runway lights were deacti- vated.The runway had been under repair for several months. The transcript of conversations between the cockpit crew of Thai flight TG 261 and Surat Thani air traffic control has now been released, but raises further ques tions about the weadier conditions at the time of die crash. Many reports to date have cited a heavy rainstorm in the vicinity at the time of die crash although Surat Thani tower only reports light rain throughout the incident. The tower also warned die pilot diat die precision approach path indicator (PAPI) light on die right hand side of the runway was not working, although the left hand PAPI was. The pilot appears to have had difficulty seeing die run way on each approach attempt, although after his first go-around he reports being able to see the runwayat"3 miles [5km]". As TG 261 made its third and last failed landing attempt, which led to an apparent stall into the ground during the go-around, die tower reported visibility to be only 1,000m (3,3 00ft). The Thai opera tions manual mandates a diird landing attempt only if conditions have improved "considerably". The last communication in the air traffic control transcript is the pilot confirming his landing clear ance on runway 22. • 10 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 20 - 26 January 1999
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
