All aerospace news – Page 1911
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SASCommuter confirms selection of 15 Dash-8 400s
SASCOMMUTER confirms that it plans to sign a $350 million deal for 15 Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-400 turboprops, plus 18 options, representing the largest single order to date for the Canadian manufacturer's new high-speed 70-seat aircraft. The Dash 8-400 selection will fill a gap between the mainline ...
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Swissair and Lufthansa study 747 replacements
Airbus could land two more prestige customers for its A340-600 later this year, as Swissair and Lufthansa examine the aircraft to replace their Boeing 747 "Classic" ßeets. Swissair says that it expects to make a decision on the long-term future of its 747-300 ßeet by the year-end. The Ìve aircraft ...
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Robst controls
Penny & Giles has developed a rotary variable-differential transformer for the automatic roller-decoupler device of the McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, which, on damage to the primary flight controls, informs the flight-management system when control has passed to the back-up system. Production of the units will begin in November. ...
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Two captains could enhance safety
Sir - The crew of the Korean Air Boeing 747 which crashed 5km (2.5nm) short of the runway at Guam on 6 August was executing a non-precision approach at night and in poor visibility. The instrument-landing-system glidepath was known to be inoperative, and there were no visual-approach-slope indicators. ...
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Cassini stays on schedule
The NASA Cassini spacecraft and its European Space Agency Huygens piggyback probe are now back on schedule for a launch to Saturn from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 6 October. The Titan-Centaur launch had been threatened by a propellant leak in the Centaur upper stage. The Cassini will become the first ...
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NASA loses contact with Lewis after four days
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA has lost contact with its Lewis remote-sensing and technology satellite, only four days after a successful launch into initial orbit on 23 August. The craft could have just weeks of life left unless contact is regained. An unplanned thruster firing sent the spacecraft ...
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The right attitude
Tim Furniss/BRISTOL If a communications satellite's antennas are not pointing towards the Earth, or a space telescope's lenses are not aimed at the stars, they become not only useless, but an expensive waste of time and effort. Spacecraft only point accurately if their attitude and orbit control systems ...
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Suppliers
Galileo International's initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange raised US$784 million, giving the company a market value of $2.45 billion. Galileo acquired the Traviswiss distribution company for $8 million in July. The Sabre Group is to install its passenger reservation, yield management, passenger control, frequent ...
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Time to measure up
The airport industry has been caught up in the trend towards benchmarking and should accept performance indicators as a valuable source of information to both managers and investors, argues Peter Mackenzie-Williams. Airports beware. In many business fields managers have for some time increasingly been seeking to compare the performance ...
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BA strikes up Spanish talks
After a damaging three-day strike forced British Airways back to the negotiating table, management set about leaking plans for a low-cost carrier in a bid to raise the pressure on the cabin crew union. At the same time, BA has started talking with Iberia about a possible alliance, following a ...
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Strong debut for Southern
Fresh from its strong debut on the Hong Kong and New York stock exchanges in late July, China Southern Airlines has revealed plans to spend nearly US$1.3 billion on a fleet expansion and general modernisation programme over the next three years. The carrier will spend some US$560 million ...
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Time to worry: the economy is fine
The time to feel most worried about the global economic condition is when things seem to be going well. Take the most recent International Monetary Fund analysis of the global economy. Written in almost poetic terms, it talked of the most favourable economic conditions in recent memory 'underscored by the ...
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Airline news
KLMis to introduce twice-weekly services from Amsterdam to Sapporo and Nagoya effective 28 October. KLMand Transavia are to codeshare to Casablanca from 26 October. Northwest and KLMare to operate daily Amsterdam-Seattle codesharing services from April 1998. American Airlines is to start daily Miami-Asuncion services on 1 December. ...
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FAA falters over charges
Under a barrage of protest from overseas governments and pressure at home, the Federal Aviation Administration may back down and modify its position on overflight fees. A senior official at the FAA confirms that most of the comments received on the overflight ruling are negative. Before the current ...
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No ticket to ride catching on fast
Electronic ticketing - or ticketless travel - continues to grow in popularity in the US, where the concept was invented, and should become widespread in the international arena in the near future, carrier officials say. First adopted by ValuJet and Morris Air, electronic ticketing was next embraced by Southwest - ...
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TWA acts as clock ticks
Trans World Airlines is cutting jobs, has a fresh look and is introducing new frequent flyer incentives in a bid to attract high-yielding business traffic, but Wall Street analysts question if the returns will come quick enough. 'There is a mad dash going on to improve the product ...
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HAI
The Helicopter Association International (HAI), of Alexandria, Virginia, has made additions and promotions to its staff. Patricia Willibey is the new executive assistant to the president. Stephanie Minor becomes executive assistant to HAI's executive vice-president. Kimberly Newell has been promoted to sales manager. The association's new exhibits manager is Deborah ...
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CTV test
The European Space Agency has conducted the first automatically guided descent and landing of a parafoil test vehicle to support the Crew Transfer Vehicle programme for the International Space Station. The vehicle, carrying a 1,700kg payload and a global-positioning system, was dropped from an aircraft at 1,800m altitude. ...
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MAS/GE engine deal
Malaysia Airlines (MAS)and General Electric have finalised an agreement to form the joint venture, Aircraft Engine Repair & Overhaul (1997) (AERO '97). The new company, which is 70% owned by GE and 30% by MAS, will focus on developing the airline's existing CFM56 and Pratt & Whitney PW4000 capabilities. Similar ...
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Cathay will re-engine entire 747-400 fleet
Hong Kong Aero Engine Services (HAESL) will ship Cathay Pacific Airway's first hybrid Rolls-Royce RB211-524G/H-T engine to Boeing in early September for flight certification, following agreement to modify the airline's entire fleet of 21 747-400s. HAESL is now modifying the first -524G and plans to run the engine ...