All aerospace news – Page 1910

  • News

    Alitalia brings A320s into Airbus contract

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Marco Massela/ROMEJulian Moxon/PARIS Alitalia is negotiating with Airbus Industrie for the conversion of its 23 outstanding A321 orders to include some smaller A320s, which would be the Italian carrier's first order for the 150-seat member of the Airbus narrowbodied family. The airline is also examining its longer-term strategy ...

  • News

    Condor prepares for low-cost subsidiary

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Condor Flugdienst, the charter subsidiary of Lufthansa, is expected to found a Berlin-based subsidiary airline within weeks. According to Condor, plans are being finalised for a low-cost airline, to be called Condor Berlin, which will compete against rivals such as Aero Lloyd and Air ...

  • News

    Fairchild advances preliminary design work for stretched 528JET

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Fairchild Dornier is close to completing the preliminary design of its stretched 50-seat 528JET derivative, with the outstanding issue of engine selection expected to be resolved soon. Earl Robinson, Fairchild Dornier's senior vice-president for product development, says that the company hopes to select a powerplant by early December. ...

  • News

    BA waits on Russian approval for FANS go-ahead

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    British Airways is ready to equip up to 40 Boeing 747-400s with Future Air Navigation System (FANS) avionics to take advantage of new cost-saving routes across Russia - but may walk away from the project if there is no sign of funding for ground infrastructure by the end of this ...

  • News

    Hokkaido finalises fleet for April 1998 start-up

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Hokkaido International Airlines, Japan's new domestic carrier, is finalising its fleet plans as it aims to start in April 1998. The airline has signed a letter of intent with Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services for the lease of a Boeing 767-300ER, to be delivered in February. It has also ...

  • News

    Rogue RVSM flights cause concern

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Kevin O'Toole/AMSTERDAM Air traffic control (ATC) services have warned that the success of new reduced vertical-separation minima (RVSM) across the North Atlantic is being marred by safety concerns over their inability to discriminate against aircraft not approved to operate within the minima. When the RVSM was ...

  • News

    R-R offers local investment to win SAA deal

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    South African Airways' (SAA) order for seven Boeing 777s, which has been in limbo for nearly two years, is back in the spotlight following an offer by Rolls-Royce to invest in a repair centre in return for a firm deal to power the aircraft. The move comes as SAA is ...

  • News

    FAA conducts key wide-area augmentation system test

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    The US Federal Aviation Administration successfully demonstrated the wide-area augmentation system (WAAS) in Mexico on 23 September. In the test, a NAVCANADA Bombardier Canadair Challenger using the WAAS was flown on approaches to Tijuana International Airport. The FAA says the flight evaluation is "the first big step" towards ...

  • News

    Matra BAe Dynamics secures Sea Skua Kuwaiti order

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    After a prolonged and highly charged competition, Matra BAe Dynamics has finally secured an order from Kuwait for the ship-launched variant of its Sea Skua anti-ship missile. Matra BAe Dynamics was competing for the Kuwaiti order in competition with Aerospatiale. The latter was offering a ship-launched ...

  • News

    The weakest link

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    corporate aviationaccident causes 1996Listed fatal accidents by No ofNo of Causeaccidentsfatalities Aircrew error28156 CFIT18106 Weather1365 Loss of control1051 Engine failure/fire425 Structure/systems fail13 Operations error12 Maintenance00 Airframe/systems fire00 ATC error00 Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) refers both to collision with high ground or rising terrain, and also to collision ...

  • News

    Good news, bad news

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    David Learmount/London While THE USA can exult in its lowest general aviation (GA) fatal-accident rate in history, and Canada's raw data for 1996 also look promising, the UK is forced to declare that last year was its worst since 1987. On the other side of the globe, New ...

  • News

    Lauda prepares to introduce its first Boeing 777

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Niki Lauda, chief executive of Austrian carrier Lauda Air, took delivery of the airline's first Boeing 777-200 on 25 September. The aircraft, which is the first of four 777-200IGWs (increased gross weight) to be delivered to Lauda, is equipped with General Electric GE90 engines. The cabin is fitted with a ...

  • News

    Boeing hints at MD-95 family commitment

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Boeing has hinted strongly that it is committed to continuing with the former McDonnell Douglas MD-95 and is likely to introduce derivatives of the 100-seat aircraft. The news comes as ValuJet - the only MD-95 customer so far, with 50 on firm order - says that it expects to exercise ...

  • News

    BFGoodrich emerges as buyer in on-and-off Rohr take-over

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The mystery of Rohr's "on-again, off-again" merger talks was resolved in late September when BFGoodrich agreed to acquire the nacelle specialist for $792 million in stock and $424 million in assumed debt. The deal, expected to be completed early in 1998, will almost ...

  • News

    USA and Japan miss deadline

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Andrew Mollet/TOKYO US and Japanese negotiators meeting in Tokyo failed to reach a new bilateral air-services agreement by the 30 September deadline set in July. The US delegation says that sufficient progress has been made for talks to continue, however, and another round is due for the week ...

  • News

    Why do authorities fear democracy?

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Sir-Bob Crowe (Letters, Flight International, 10-16 September) puts forward a very reasonable case for the lessening of the authoritarian stance of the UK Civil Aviation Authority when it comes down to rule-making and the stand it takes on such items as single-engined commercial freighters and other matters. The ...

  • News

    Smiths

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Smiths Industries Aerospace has appointed Paul Edwards vice-president of business development for its civil-systems division, based in Clearwater, Florida. He was previously director of strategic planning, and joined the company in 1994. Smiths has also named David Montgomery director of manufacturing operations at Clearwater, responsible for assembly, test, production control, ...

  • News

    Commitment to Bell Boeing 609 grows

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Although the first flight of the Bell Boeing Model 609 is still two years away, interest in the civil tilt-rotor continues to grow. The joint venture by Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing holds preliminary purchase agreements from 29 customers representing 41 aircraft, including Evergreen Helicopters, Massachusetts Life Insurance, ...

  • News

    The people's airline

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    The new climate at employee-owned United, instilled by chairman Gerald Greenwald, has not filtered through to the airline's grass roots nor brought any obvious great advantages over US rivals. But the airline's strategy looks sound and profitability is at an all-time high. By Karen Walker. Gerald Greenwald, United Airline's ...

  • News

    Delta bends to new head

    1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

    'Bent, but not broken' is how Delta Air Lines' new president and chief executive, Leo Mullin, sums up the airline's current performance, identifying customer service improvements as a priority. As a newcomer to the airline industry it comes as no surprise when he puts his own spin on ...