Systems & interiors – Page 754
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Mergers
Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications expects to complete its merger with Comsat early in the third quarter, after the US Congress approved satellite communications reform legislation that clears the way for the privatisation of the Intelsat and Inmarsat satellite networks. The legislation allows US customers to bypass Comsat, which controls access ...
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FANS-A datalink tested on A340-300
Airbus Industrie's A340-300 testbed has demonstrated datalink communications between pilot and air traffic controllers as part of round-the-world trials of Airbus' FANS-A (future air navigation system) avionics (Flight International, 8-14 September, 1999). The aircraft features an air traffic services unit manufactured by Aerospatiale Matra Aerospace Airbus, Smiths Industries' digital ...
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Aeronavali looks beyond MDC and targets 767s and ATRs for conversion
Andy Nativi/GENOA Aeronavali is expanding its freighter conversion business beyond the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) DC-10, with plans to add the Boeing 767 widebody and ATR turboprop to its portfolio. The company, a division of Italian aerospace giant Alenia Aerospazio/Finmeccanica, had long-term links with MDC and holds exclusive original equipment ...
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Rockwell venture makes News
Emma Kelly/LONDON Rockwell Collins has formed a joint venture with media giant News Corporation in the latest stage of the avionics manufacturer's continuing move towards providing equipment and services for the passenger cabin. The partners' In Flight Network (IFN) joint venture is designed to provide airline passengers with the latest ...
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Russian airline passenger numbers continue to slip
Russia's 323 airlines carried 21.46 million passengers last year, says the Federal Service of Air Transport - a 3.9% drop compared with the previous year, and the tenth successive fall since 1990's high of 90.7 million passengers (for Russia alone). Passenger load factors rose by an average 3.5 points, ...
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Frequency protection
An industry-wide group comprising airlines, airports, pilots, air traffic controllers and regulatory bodies has formed a coalition and finalised an industry position designed to protect aviation's essential radio frequencies, in preparation for the International Telecommunication Union World Radiocommunication Conference in May. Meeting in London on 9-10 March, industry associations, including ...
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In the dark
Kawasaki is puzzled by Eurocopter's reluctance to promote the BK117/EC145 Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) plans to lift the veil on its BK117C-2/EC145 helicopter programme, developed jointly with Eurocopter, at Tokyo Aerospace 2000 (TA2000). It faces an unusual problem, however, in its Franco-German partner's reluctance to ...
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Enaer targets South America for Eaglet
Enaer is trying to interest South American government agencies in Argentina, Chile and Columbia in its new two-seat side-by-side Eaglet light utility aircraft. The Mexican police had shown interest in the composite aircraft for observation work. The company delivered the first new prototype airframe to its Dutch joint venture ...
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Ayling bails out as British Airways slump takes its toll
Emma Kelly/LONDON British Airways chairman Lord Marshall took over the running of the airline on 10 March with the resignation of chief executive Bob Ayling. Marshall will take on the role of chief executive while a successor is sought. Ayling leaves BA after four years as chief executive and ...
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American expands DVD programme
American Airlines has extended the use of personal digital versatile/video disk (DVD) players on its flights and will introduce the new in-flight entertainment (IFE) technology to additional services in July. American became the first carrier to offer passengers individual DVD players on regular scheduled services last September (Flight International, 22-28 ...
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JAL to entertain with Total system
Japan Airlines (JAL) has put into passenger service its first Boeing 747-400 equipped with the Rockwell Collins Total Entertainment System (TES). It will have to wait until the third quarter of the year to activate audio-and video-on-demand (A/VOD) services, however. The aircraft, which has the TES fitted to every ...
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Television to go live on JetBlue
JetBlue Airways will launch Sextant In-Flight Systems/Harris' LiveTV service on its first two Airbus A320s this month. The New York Kennedy-based airline will be the first carrier to introduce the joint venture's live broadcast satellite service and the first to offer live broadcast television service across its fleet. The ...
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Bluetooth potential
Bluetooth wireless technology has been identified as having potential applications for in-flight entertainment. Bluetooth comprises a small transceiver allowing two-way communications between similarly equipped devices within a 10m (33ft) range. IFE applications could include wireless headsets, handsets and telephone devices, with possibilities including linking a passenger's notebook computer to a ...
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SAS closes on interactive IFE
Emma Kelly/LONDON Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) is to decide before the end of this month on the interactive in-flight entertainment (IFE) system for its new Airbus A330-300s and A340-300s. IFE manager Hermine Wachmeister says SAS has completed its evaluations of the final two candidates - Matsushita's new System 3000 ...
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Boeing unwraps avionics upgrade technique
Boeing has demonstrated a low-cost avionics upgrade technique that allows existing software to run unmodified on new commercial processors. The technique involves a computer program which "wraps" around the legacy software and allows it to operate with new commercial software and hardware. Boeing's demonstrations involved the C-17 Globemaster ...
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Midland determined on long haul
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON British Midland (BM) is adamant that it will begin long-haul services next year, but is tight lipped about its contingency plans should it not receive clearance for transatlantic flights. The airline had expected to be in a position to detail its plans for transatlantic flights from London Heathrow ...
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NASA details ISS price list
Tim Furniss/LONDON Users of the US share of International Space Station resources will be charged a standard price of $20.8 million a year, according to a preliminary price structure released by NASA. The charge is quoted for use of each of two typical "bundles" of equipment, excluding transportation ...
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Star seeks busier fleet
Julian Moxon/PARIS French charter carrier Star Airlines has isolated improved aircraft utilisation as the key to matching 1999's financial performance during the current year. Star posted an after-tax profit of Fr11.72 million ($1.75 million) last year, up 128% on 1998, with operating profit up even more sharply, increasing to ...
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Data overload
Current flightdecks can reduce pilot situational awareness David Learmount/LONDON Flightdeck avionics are supposed to give pilots "situational awareness", but there is evidence that modern systems can reduce it. Situational awareness is the pilot's mental picture of the aircraft relative to its three-dimensional operational environment, including navigation and terrain, the ...
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Jet power
The potential for Indian air transport has never been greater Julian Moxon/MUMBAIWith a population of close to 1 billion people, most of whom travel by train, India offers immense potential for air transport. That potential was unlocked with the Indian Government's liberalisation of the domestic civil aviation industry in 1990. ...