All Opinion articles – Page 25
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Opinion
OPINION: Charleston debut breaks with 101 years of history
After 101 years of history, the choreography of a first flight event for a Boeing commercial aircraft seems rather routine. The telemetry truck is stationed at an appropriate location, the Boeing-owned Lockheed T-33 chase plane taxies by and takes off and then the new model or sub-model completes pre-flight checks ...
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Opinion
OPINION: Bishkek crash highlights loss of airmanship
Four decades, almost to the day, since the unsurpassed catastrophe at Tenerife, investigators in Russia detailed another completely avoidable fatal fiasco involving a Boeing 747, a fog-shrouded runway, and a bewildering absence of situational awareness.
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OpinionOPINION: Can Pentagon's new F-35 chief keep on target?
A military acquisition manager has a tough job. There are schedules to meet and budgets to keep, fickle politicians to placate, penny-pinching from bureaucrats and relentless finagling by contractors.
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Opinion
OPINION: Is this Alitalia's final last chance?
As Alitalia faces yet another round of cost cutting, just how many last chances for salvation can one airline have?
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OpinionOPINION: Does Asia Aviation Capital make sense for Korean money?
Korea Transport Asset Management (KOTAM) is in pole position to acquire AirAsia's leasing arm Asia Aviation Capital for roughly $900 million, Reuters has reported.
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OpinionOPINION: Cabin laptop ban is selective, ineffective
Just two hours before the UK parliament became the scene of an armed assault and counter-terrorism operation, the transport secretary had been inside, fending off awkward questions about weaknesses in new enhanced security measures for airline passengers.
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Opinion
OPINION: How airliner development is fraught with difficulty
Fifteen years ago, the aviation industry gathered in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, to witness the unveiling of the first all-new large regional jet in a generation, the Fairchild Dornier 728.
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Opinion
OPINION: Dana Air crew failings highlight African safety gap
As IATA stresses a continuing falling accident rate in its annual review of commercial airline safety, the circumstances of the Dana Air crash in Lagos serve to remind that global progress is far from a uniform affair.
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OpinionOPINION: Why size matters for '797X' project
It has an authority to offer from Boeing, public endorsements from influential airlines and lessors and finally, it seems, a name: the 797X.
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Opinion
OPINION: Financiers should prepare for downturn despite buoyancy
Aviation downturns are tough to predict. They're usually caused by an exogenous shock that makes people not want to board aircraft.
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OpinionOPINION: Why Bell had to impress with FCX concept
For all its storied history of aviation firsts, Bell Helicopter has in recent years become stuck in a rut.
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OpinionOPINION: The party continues in aircraft finance
The mood music was more upbeat in San Diego than in Dublin two months ago. Aviation finance executives took to the stage at ISTAT Americas to tell the story of an industry that still appears very healthy.
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Opinion
OPINION: Are UK air shows safer post-Shoreham?
For anyone who attended the Shoreham air show in 2015 – or who witnessed harrowing news footage of the Hawker Hunter crash that killed 11 people – the confirmation that pilot error caused the disaster will come as little surprise.
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OpinionOPINION: What an interest-rate hike means for aircraft finance
Rising interest rates will probably not become a critical issue for the traditional aircraft finance industry – but for newer sources of capital, it may be a reason to walk away.
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OpinionOPINION: Can commercial engine suppliers deliver on innovation?
For all the challenges within its own production system and the wider supply chain, it is engines that are producing the biggest headaches for Airbus.
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Opinion
OPINION: Can Ryanair's O'Leary continue to play the outsider?
Few company executives across businesses full stop, let alone the airline industry, have challenged convention, expectations and corporate image to the extent that Michael O’Leary has.
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Opinion
OPINION: Why safety pays on helicopter programmes
Aerospace, by nature, is an industry of extremes. Costs are huge, technical and financial risks severe. Timescales are long, business cycles fierce. Political winds can be fair or very foul.
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OpinionOPINION: Should A400M partners prop up Airbus?
Even for a programme with a history as chequered as the A400M, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders’ latest critique of the troubled airlifter was astonishingly frank – and packed with intent.
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Opinion
OPINION: India needs fighters more than factories
Visitors to Aero India this year could be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu. Back in 2011, the soundtrack to the show was the roar of fighter aircraft as eager bidders put their jets through their paces.
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Opinion
OPINION: 737 Max 10 could be lucky 13 for Boeing
A 13th passenger-carrying version of the Boeing 737 is now being seriously pursued in Seattle. If launched later this year, the 230-passenger 737 Max 10 would be 1.68m (66in) longer than the 737 Max 9 and 15.1m longer than the 737-100 that first flew 50 years ago in April.