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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 0251.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT OPERATIONS DAVID LEARMOUNT / LONDON Pilots must be trained for new US approaches: FAA Six airports to boost runway capacity but crews need to be familiar with procedures Special approach procedures are to be introduced at six US interna tional airports to increase runway utilisation, and foreign crews will not be able to land there unless they have completed a prescribed train ing programme or get pre-departure clearance, says the US Federal Avia tion Administration. Airports affec ted will be New York Kennedy, San Francisco International, Minnea polis/St Paul, Philadelphia, St Louis and Cleveland. The FAA requires that every national aviation authority oversee ing airlines operating to the airports using the new system will be responsible for reporting that pilot training has been completed to the specified standards. There are two types of approach, depending on how close the parallel runways are. Both are monitored by a dedicated air traffic controller with a precision runway monitor (PRM) who can order one of the aircraft to carry out a "breakout" manoeuvre if either enters the "no transgression zone" (see diagram). The simplest form - for parallel runways laterally less than 1,310m (4,300ft) but more than 915m apart - is the instrument landing system (ILS)/PRM. These are conventional ILS approaches aligned with their respective runways, but subject to PRM to ensure safety. For parallel runways laterally closer than 915m but more than 230m apart, one of the runways has an ILS/PRM approach and the other an approach offset between 2° and 3° from the runway heading (see dia gram) to increase the lateral separa tion between approaching aircraft. This would apply at San Francisco and St Louis, says the FAA. The off set approach would have a localiser- type direction aid (LDA) that would give glideslope advice as an ILS does. On this type of approach - an LDA/PRM - the aircraft would be spaced behind an aircraft simultane ously flying the ILS/PRM, and would be the heavier of the two because of wake vortex considera tions. But the pilots flying the LDA/PRM would have to be sure that the reported visibility and cloudbase would give them 30s to visually acquire both the aircraft ahead and their own landing run way. Then at the minimum descent point the pilot flying would be able to manually intercept the extended centreline to be stabilised by 500ft on the final visual approach. The advance training would test pilots' understanding of the app roach types, and also their ability to react correctly to a breakout instruc tion at a given minimum rate. Finally, they have to prove their ability to combine a breakout turn with an airborne collision avoid ance system resolution advisory. SIMULTANEOUS OFFSET INSTRUMENT APPROACHES WITH PRECISION RUNWAY MONITOR (PRM) FOR RUNWAYS LESS THAN 3.000FT APART ILS/PRM Visual sight of aircraft Airport visual segment FLIGHT Localiser directional aid LDA/PRM offset 2.5°/3.0t Line up with runway centreline Approach flown visually from here LDA missed approach point (MAP) RESTRUCTURING Swiss hopes to break even Swiss International Air Lines will halt its cash haemorrhage within the next three months and plans to break even this year, says int erim chief executive Pieter Bouw. The airline made a SFr498 million ($394 million) operating loss in 2003, although interest pay ments, taxes and reconstruction costs pushed this up to a SFr687 million net loss. Over the past year, Swiss has spent SFr753 million of its SFr1.26 billion reserve, ending the year with only SFr503 million in cash and equivalents. By June, the airline says this will have fallen to near SFr250 million. "We will start to break even in the summer," says Bouw. The air line has also drawn all of a SFr50 million loan backed by a credit guarantee from British Airways, earlier this month. However, Swiss is still trying to close a deal on a SFr500 million credit facility, which it has been negotiating since June 2003. The problem, Bouw says, is that the aircraft it plans to use as collateral for the loan are already involved as collateral in another deal, and Swiss has nothing to offer as a substitute. The loan is no longer essential for Swiss's successful restructuring and Bouw says "the same time pressure does not exist as it did last year" but it is still important to the airline for flexibil ity against external shocks. APPEAL JUSTIN WASTNAGE / DUBLIN Ryanair gears up to fight compensation ruling Ryanair is finalising its appeal ag ainst the European Commission's state aid ruling and will join fellow no-frills airlines to contest other passenger compensation laws. The Dublin-based carrier last week received a copy of the full EC judgement on illegal local govern ment subsidies given by Brussels Charleroi airport to attract air ser vices and it plans to lodge its for mal appeal by the end of May. Jim Callaghan, Ryanair head of regula tory affairs, says the cornerstone of its appeal will be the Commission's application of the market economy investor principle (MEIP) in declar ing a quarter of the subsidies Charleroi gave to Ryanair to be ille gal. The essence of the MEIP is that, under European Union competi tion rules, when a public authority invests in an enterprise under con ditions that would be acceptable to a private investor, the investment is not a state aid. Callaghan says the EC failed to take this principle into account when looking at Charleroi, which reported a small operating profit last year. "The EC has to ensure that public airports be allowed to compete with their private counterparts on a level footing," says Callaghan. The airline is simultaneously leading the European Low Fares Air lines Association (ELFAA) in lodging its complaints on the recently passed denied boarding rules to the Court of First Instance in April. ELFAA is basing its appeal on two points: the absence of any link in compensation levels to the fare paid; and the failure to take third- party delays into account. Callaghan says if this early appeal fails to reverse the legislation, Ryanair predicts law suits "from every disgruntled passenger", which would have to be challenged on a one-by-one basis until case law proves the regulations unworkable. Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is considering a legal challenge to the denied boarding compensation rules. "This is not a piece of legisla tion we can live with...We are look ing for the most appropriate venue for a challenge," says IATA. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 30 MARCH - 5 APRIL 2004 9
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