All Ops & safety articles – Page 1458
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News
Fatalities In Kiwi Crash
A Beechcraft Queenair belonging to Kiwi West Aviation crashed near Hamilton in New Zealand on 29 March, killing all six passengers and crew. The twin-engine aircraft, under contract to Air New Zealand subsidiary Eagle Airways, was heading for New Plymouth when it crashed shortly after taking-off from Hamilton. ...
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Long Division
Rather as the UK and USA are described as being divided by the use of a common language, it now appears that Europe's Joint Airworthiness Authorities (JAA) and the USA's Federal Aviation Administration are divided by the use of increasingly common standards. In the old joke about language, there was ...
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Rotary groups fight FAA Robinson rules
US AND AUSTRALIAN helicopter associations, are disputing new US Federal Aviation Administration proposals, governing Robinson helicopter-pilot qualifications, as "unnecessary and restrictive." The Australians believe that the rules should apply to all helicopters. The FAA recommends that "...additional specific pilot training is necessary for the safe operation of ...
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Ice and poor management hit Viscount
THE OFFICIAL UK report on 1994's fatal crash of a Vickers Viscount freighter, following multiple engine ice-ingestion, severely criticises the crew's actions and the airline's emergency checklist. Two of the 36-year-old aircraft's four Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops flamed out after ingesting ice at 18,000ft (5,500m). The crew of the ...
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Showdown looms on JAA rules
A CRISIS IS EMERGING over the certification of derivative airliners in Europe as the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) declines to grant "grandfather rights" for key airworthiness requirements. McDonnell Douglas (MDC) MD-90s and Boeing's new 737 family are the primary aircraft affected by rules introduced since their forerunners gained ...
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Neil Kinnock
For a former head of the UK Labour party to become the European Commissioner responsible for transport may seem an unlikely move, but Neil Kinnock is no stranger to the political in-fighting posed by the job and has made his mark since taking up the post in January. ...
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Keeping track
The Traxon cargo automation system is now well established, but some significant technical and political obstacles remain. Mark Lyon reports. Air cargo doesn't achieve its potential for most airlines. Industry critics want carriers to work more closely with air freight forwarders so these two partners ...
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BM acts on code control
British Midland is trying to preempt possible regulation of codeshare agreements by the European Commission with a proposal to produce its own code of conduct in consultation with its seven codeshare partners. Speaking at an Airline Business conference in London, the UK independent's managing director Austin Reid said ...
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Sabena aided in opt-out?
The momentum built up around Swissair's plans to take a 49 per cent stake in Sabena after the Belgian government granted an exemption on part of its flag carrier's social cost obligations, could yet falter as the opt-out comes under the scrutiny of the European Commission. Sabena stands ...
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AMR cuts go to the core
Restructuring of the executive ranks at AMR Corp is widely considered cosmetic for the short term, with an eye towards labour negotiations. However, the restructuring is also focusing on preparing for longer term goals such as forming partnerships and joint ventures, especially in information technology. Robert Crandall turned ...
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Give Commission a clear mandate
Divisions in Europe on US bilaterals and state aid threaten the internal market Less than two months after moving to Brussels to take up his position as the new European transport commissioner, Neil Kinnock finds himself surrounded by controversy. In his early dealings he has adopted a spirited approach, ...
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A definitive lesson in competence
The US has split the European Union and pushed the European Commission further than ever in its attempts to obtain the right to negotiate air service agreements for its member states. But Mead Jennings and Mark Odell report that bloc negotiations are a long way off. Call it what you ...
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Conditions: in your dreams
As the European Commission starts investigating Iberia's plan for a second state aid package from the Spanish government, it emerges that Aer Lingus was allowed to receive the second tranche of its £175 million ($270 million) aid package despite the breach of a key condition. Iberia is seeking ...
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Overhauling costs
The US carriers are proving slow to react to calls for over-reliance on labour cost cuts to give way to a reengineering of the entire way in which airlines do business. Jane L Levere reports. While cost-cutting is nothing new to the US airline industry, the term 'reengineering' represents a ...
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A firmer future
As the industry recovers, aircraft values are hardening and surpluses falling but some types are faring better than others. Clive Medland of SH&E explains why. Predicting the outlook for the commercial aviation industry is somewhat analogous to forecasting the weather. We can accurately predict that there will be winters and ...
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Follow the leader or fix?
Did US airlines agree to cap travel agent commissions and then stage their announcements to make it look as if they were simply following the leader as usual? That is the key question in an antitrust class action filed by US travel giant Travel Network against the major ...
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Indian stake in question
The high hopes of ModiLuft's management to pull Lufthansa in as an equity partner appear threatened by a claim from a US consultancy on 40 per cent of the carrier's equity. ModiLuft has made no secret of its desire to have the German major as an equity partner, ...
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Peace pays off for Jordan
The peace process in the Middle East has brought mixed fortunes for Royal Jordanian. While the carrier stands to gain from co-operation with El Al and Israeli overfly rights, the government is slow in its plans to commercialise the airline. From the summer schedule, Royal Jordanian and El ...
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A340 fuel problem was 'acceptable'
THE EUROPEAN JOINT Aviation Authorities (JAA) says that the Airbus A340 fuel-indication problems highlighted in a UK safety inspectors' report were known of at the time of certification. JAA large-aircraft coordinator Adre Kraan says that the problems were considered to be acceptable teething troubles for which a fix ...
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FAA endorses de-icing boot change to overcome ATR 42/72 difficulties
THE US FEDERAL Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved the use of larger de-icing-boots on the ATR 42 and 72 regional turboprops. The modification, developed and tested by the Aerospatiale/Alenia consortium, is aimed at preventing the formation of an ice ridge on the wing by nearly doubling the effective coverage of ...