All news – Page 6821
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Airbus counts cost of short-haul price war with Boeing
Chris Jasper/LONDON Airbus Industrie has made provisions for losses totalling £400 million ($650 million) as a result of the mid-90s price war with Boeing over shorthaul airliner sales, the European manufacturer has revealed. Around £200 million of the charge was absorbed last year, resulting in a loss to the ...
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US carriers optimistic as market shows recovery
ChrisJasper/LONDON The USA's major carriers are suddenly more bullish about their financial prospects for the rest of the year following a modest improvement in overall market conditions and better than expected performance in the first quarter. Most of the country's big airlines expressed serious concerns about their likely fortunes ...
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JAL to concentrate on high-profit routes
Japan Airlines (JAL) is to transfer low-profit operations to its subsidiaries in an effort to cut costs under a new business plan running to 2001. JAL plans to rename Japan Air Charter and transform it into a scheduled carrier operating short-haul flights to mainland Asia, Hawaii and Oceania, while ...
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Deep Space 1 on course for asteroid fly-by
The ion engine on board NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft has again fired successfully, placing the $152 million New Millennium spacecraft en route for a 13km fly-by of the asteroid 1992 KD in July. The ion engine - one of several new technologies being demonstrated on the mission - ...
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Sea Launch sets off on maiden voyage
Tim Furniss/LONDON The Sea Launch offshore launch platform Odyssey has left Long Beach, California, for an equatorial position in the Pacific Ocean 2,253km south of Hawaii, to launch the first Zenit 3SL booster on 26 March. The historic Sea Launch flight will demonstrate a new commercial launch system ...
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First 767-400 wing shapes up at Everett
Assembly work on the left wing of the first Boeing 767-400 has begun at the company's Everett site. The 23.5m (77ft) long rear spar was loaded into the wing major jig assembly on 11 March and construction is expected to be essentially complete by the end of the month. The ...
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Russian warning
Modernise former Soviet Union defence equipment without Russia's participation, and modernise at your own risk, warned Grigori Rapota, director-general of Russia's state armament corporation Rosvoorouzhenie at the IDEX '99 show. Recent contracts issued to countries to upgrade military equipment originally produced under the auspices of the Soviet Union, such as ...
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Heathrow T5 inquiry
A public inquiry into plans to construct London Heathrow's Terminal 5 (T5) has finished after four years of taking evidence. The inquiry inspector is not expected to file a report for two years, with another six to 12 months before the UK Government gives its verdict. If it goes ahead, ...
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Turnaround target
Turboméca says overhaul and repair turnaround times on its Arriel 1 turboshaft - averaging 89 days last year against a target of 28 days - are reducing as it increases capacity and overcomes parts shortages. The company was shipping at least 20 engines a month by the end of last ...
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Engine control
AlliedSignal Aerospace and Altair Avionics have introduced the IntelliStart Plus+ engine control unit, intended to reduce helicopter operating costs by preventing hot starts. Available initially for the Rolls-Royce Allison 250, and later for the AlliedSignal LT101 and Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6T, the system can be installed in about 5h. ...
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BBJ supplier
Raytheon Systems has chosen IEC International to supply the in-flight entertainment and cabin management system (CMS) for the Boeing Business Jet demonstrator. This follows a contract with IEC to equip the first nine BBJs with its integrated CMS. The demonstrator will have a 106cm (42in) plasma bulkhead monitor, IEC's touchscreen ...
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Pakistani pilot deal linked to US block on UAE technology release
Plans by the United Arab Emirates air force to contract up to 200 Pakistan air force fighter pilots to fly F-16D Block 60 fighters it has ordered from Lockheed Martin are at the heart of the US Government's decision to block the release of sensitive technology to the Gulf state, ...
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FAA rules out 737 rudder malfunction crash link
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Recent Boeing 737 rudder malfunctions are not being linked to rudder control unit failures suspected of causing fatal 737 crashes in 1991 and 1994, senior US Federal Aviation Administration officials say (Flight International, 3-9 March, P13). Preliminary rulings refer to a MetroJet Boeing 737-200 incident on ...
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Air 2000 delays A330s in favour of 767s
Air 2000 has completed integrating the Leisure International Airways (LIA) fleet following last year's merger. The airline's two ex-LIA Boeing 767-300ERs (above), leased from International Lease Finance, will be joined this month by the first of two similar aircraft leased from GE Capital Aviation Services. Air 2000 has dropped plans ...
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CFMI prepares for massive slowdown in engine orders
Guy Norris/CINCINNATI CFM International is predicting a significant slow-down in new orders for 1999 and 2000 , to levels possibly 50% below last year's intake. At the same time, the General Electric/Snecma joint venture is having to achieve record production levels to meet the demand from massive orders ...
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Safety boards act on cockpit recorder safety
Canadian and US safety boards are recommending changes to cockpit voice and flight data recorders (CVRs and FDRs) to prevent power interruptions which have complicated recent accident investigations. Canadian investigators say their efforts to determine the cause of last September's Swissair Boeing MD-11 crash have been compromised by missing ...
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European Air Express launched with Fokker 50s
A former shareholder in Debonair Germany has setup an airline to operate on the Mönchengladbach-Munich route using 48-seat turboprops. UK-based Debonair pulled out of the German domestic market in December after signing a wet-lease deal with Lufthansa. European Air Express (EAE) is operating twice-daily flights using two Fokker 50s ...
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Y2K live test set for US airspace systems
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The first live test of changes made to the US national airspace system to overcome year 2000 (Y2K) computer problems has been scheduled for the early hours of 10 April, centred on Denver, Colorado. The Federal Aviation Administration says it is on course to complete ...
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ICAO leads way with enhanced proximity warning proposals
David Learmount/AMSTERDAM In a visible break with tradition, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is set to make mandatory the use of flight data analysis (FDA) and enhanced ground proximity warning systems (EGPWS) even though they have not yet been declared requirements in any member state. Previously, the organisation ...
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Gandalf targets Linate traffic with 328JET fleet
Italian new entrant Gandalf Airlines is to launch operations from Bergamo at the end of this month and will take delivery of four Fairchild Dornier 328JETs between September and December. Initial flights will be operated to Munich and Stuttgart in Germany, using two 328 turboprops dry-leased from the manufacturer, ...