News from FlightGlobal – Page 2404
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Boeing expects to receive JAA approval of 737-700 in January
Guy Norris/SEATTLE Boeing expects the first of the Next Generation 737 models, the -700, to be given long-awaited European certification by "mid- to late-January" when final tests are conducted on the first European production-standard -700, which is destined for Maersk Air of Denmark. The tests centre on the ...
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Alitalia restructures Airbus narrowbody order
Alitalia has completed the restructuring of its A321 orderbook with Airbus Industrie and placed additional orders, which will see the majority of the 27 aircraft now on backlog delivered as smaller A320s. It was revealed earlier this year that the Italian flag carrier was negotiating to re-arrange its outstanding ...
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French/US bilateral talks stall
Julian Moxon/PARIS Failure of the latest round of negotiations on a bilateral deal between France and the USA has put at risk a major element of the commercial agreement between Air France, Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines and American Airlines' separate plans to link with Air Liberté. ...
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Cost cuts increase hopes for MD-95 production
Guy Norris/LONG BEACH Douglas Products division is optimistic that Boeing will clear continued develop- ment of derivatives and production of the MD-95 in January, after the development of a series of cost-saving initiatives by the manufacturer and its risk-sharing partners. Boeing is due to decide whether to proceed ...
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Marketplace
++ Philippine Airlines has agreed to the early return of two Boeing 747-200s to the lessor, Atlas Air. The two aircraft, acquired by Atlas under earlier sale/leaseback deals, were scheduled to be handed back in late 1998 and 2000 but will instead be terminated in January and February 1998. The ...
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TWA crash hearing helps to clarify policy on fuel tanks
The public hearing on the 1996 Trans World Airlines flight 800 fatal crash ended in Baltimore on 12 December without the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) coming any nearer to discovering the cause, although it can claim to have clarified potential safety policies. Measures to reduce the risk ...
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Air France president Spinetta lays plans for competitiveness
Julian Moxon/Paris Air France president Jean-Cyril Spinetta has unveiled the main elements in his plans to solve the "persistent competitiveness problems" which he says continue to plague the airline. Pilots' unions have objected to the plan, however. The strategy centres on a Fr40 billion ($6.7 billion) investment in ...
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British Midland expects to make record profits for 1997
British Midland (BM) expects to return record profits for 1997, after having successfully fended off growing competition from low-fare airlines, and benefited from the industrial dispute at British Airways. The news comes as the airline reveals plans for head-on competition with BAon the London-Manchester route. BM expects to ...
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PIA chairman begins mission to restore 'financial discipline'
New Pakistan International Airlines(PIA) chairman Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has set about a clean sweep of the carrier's finances, taking heavy write-offs in the latest 1996/7 accounts and pledging to "restore operational and financial discipline". The accounts, which show a heavy Rs4.8 billion ($110 million)net loss in the year to ...
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Thai privatisation is in prospect for 1998
The long-awaited partial privatisation of Thai Airways International finally looks set to proceed in 1998, spurred by a major Government financial shake-up and the urgent need to raise new capital for the debt-ridden carrier's planned fleet renewal. Thai invited a pre-selected group of finance brokers to a company briefing ...
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Hidden turmoil
There is something vaguely ironic about Boeing outlining continuing production delays and, in the same breath, of the need to shed production staff. The irony is, however, a reflection of the underlying turmoil in the civil airframe industry - a turmoil which has to some extent been hidden by the ...
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747-400IGW gets go-ahead
Guy Norris/SEATTLE The Boeing board has given its civil-aircraft sales team authority to offer a growth version of the 747-400 with a maximum take-off weight of 413,140kg and a range of up to 14,245km (7,700nm). The decision is the first significant growth step for the aircraft since the ...
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Alitalia confirms KLM alliance
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Alitalia plans to start its alliance with KLM from November 1998, shortly after the opening of the Italian carrier's new Milan hub at Malpensa Airport, which is seen by both carriers as a cornerstone of their partnership. Alitalia's choice of European alliance partner on 17 December ...
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737 production recovery disappoints Boeing
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Boeing "is not seeing the improvement anticipated" for its production-recovery programme on the Next Generation 737, admits Commercial Airplanes Group president Ron Woodard. The number of jobs behind schedule have stayed essentially static since October, despite Boeing's efforts to "rebalance" the 737 production line. Woodard ...
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Guarantee allows Garuda to receive 737s at last
Garuda Indonesia will finally begin taking delivery of six completed Boeing 737-300/500s parked in the USA, following a long-awaited guarantee from the Indonesian finance ministry on lease financing. Delivery of the aircraft has been on hold since August after demands from the US Eximbank for a guarantor to agree ...
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P&W considers new rival for CFM56
Guy Norris/EAST HARTFORD Pratt & Whitney has begun studies of an advanced-technology geared-fan engine in an initiative to re-enter the narrowbody market and challenge the dominance of CFM International. The study outlines an initial series of engines for the 107-156kN (24,000-35,000lb)-thrust range, and is based around the use ...
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Saab decides to terminate turboprop products
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Saab is to discontinue manufacture of the Saab 340 and 2000 turboprops by mid-1999, shifting the focus of its civil-aircraft operation to support and finance of existing fleets, and to contracting for other manufacturers. The Swedish company is continuing discussions about the possible move of the production ...
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Psychiatrists have too big a say in the selection of pilots
What is the best way to decide who should sit in the flightd Sir - I greatly agree with Mr Julian Ticehurst's letter (Flight International, 26 November -2 December) about "Fliers who lose their way" (Flight International, 5-11 November), but have something to add. The scenario depicted by the US ...
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BA pioneers global monitoring
Ian Sheppard/LONDON British Airways is using an aircraft visual-tracking system which allows it to monitor the position of aircraft and immediately react to unforeseen events which cause flights to be diverted. Previously a diversion decision by a flightcrew would require "a call to tech-dispatch and manual calculation of ...
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Lynton snaps up GEC's Magec
GEC has sold Magec Aviation to UK corporate- aircraft charter and management company Lynton Group, ending more than five months of speculation over the fixed-based operator's future. Completion is expected within 30 days. The UK defence-electronics and power-engineering company began looking for buyers for Magec in July, following its ...