Airline Affairs

At presstime, it appeared that around 40 Ansett FE’s would be displaced with 14 of these immediately going over to Qantas. The majority of the rest are opting for pilot training and will be trained at company expense with their initial postings being with Aero Pelican and possibly on the Ansett group’s fleet of Fokker 50s. Few have chosen the option of returning to ground based duties as LAMES or to take early retirement.

 Radar Problems and Solutions:

The lack of radar facilities at Caims and Coolangatta Airports has recently been the subject of much media attention, particularly on the Nine Network’s ’60 Minutes’ programme which made great issue of the collision risk which exists at these facilities due to the massive increase in traffic at both over the past few years.

Cairns also has some operational problems associated with the nearby mountainous terrain and its sub-tropical weather. That particular show naturally highlighted the more sensational aspects of the problem, but in the meantime, the Civil Aviation Authority had already announced the installation of radar facilities at the two airports.

The matter was regarded with some urgency by the CAA, who will be spending $21m on primary and secondary ATC radar facilities at the airports plus new control towers. While the ’60 Minutes’ programme highlighted the collision risks which exist, the current lack of radar often also means operational restrictions on the use of Caims airport which results in traffic delays. The CAA is also examining the feasibility of providing temporary terminal area radar facilities at Cairns and Coolangatta pending the installation of permanent facilities. Both airports will have their new radars operational by late 1990.

Meanwhile, Cairns’ 2,071m primary runway is also to be extended following the Federal Governments decision to write off a $20m debt that the Cairns Port Authority owed against the airfield. With the debt removed, the funding will now exist to begin planning a runway extension that is long overdue. Presently, 747s have to depart at reduced payload in order to track direct to Honolulu, costing the airlines dearly. Meanwhile, further south at Tullamarine, that airport’s new ATCARDS (Air Traffic Control Autonomous Radar Digital System) has also been running into bother with several contacts mysteriously disappearing from the operators’ screens. One of them was a Qantas 747 which ‘faded” from the terminal area radar but continued to be tracked by another system. The problems have been identified by a CAA task force and are now being rectified.

The French-designed ATCARDS was originally intended as a long-range cruise control radar and not intended for terminal approaches but has been adapted for the latter role for use in Australia.

Blocked Airline Funds – A $775M Problem:

IATA airlines presently have the equivalent of $US775 million in revenue blocked or delayed for transfer in some 40 countries, according to a recent survey carried out by the International Air Transport Association.

Of this worldwide total, which equates to about 1. 5% of the Member’s international airt- ine turnover, SUS415 million is blocked in African countries and $US323 million in the Middle East.

“Blocked money, where airlines are not able to repatriate their earnings from certain countries, remains a serious problem,” according to IATA Director General Dr Gunter O Eser. “We recognise the difficult financial position of nations suffering from shortages of foreign exchange. However, civil aviation brings essential advantages in business travel and tourism to their economies and their national development. That is why it is of mutual benefit that aviation transfers be given priority in the financial policies of debtor countries. ” IATA has been conducting an annual survey of remittances of foreign balances by airlines since 1979, to identify the problem countries and to determine whether industry action is required. In 1987, IATA coordinated 20 missions to 14 countries and achieved the successful transfer of over $US400 million, thus preventing the global amount outstanding from exceeding the $US1 billion mark.

The Price of Monopoly:

People traditionally travelling in Australia at their own expense have for a long time predominantly chosen the chronically embattled East-West Airlines as their first choice in air travel.

It seems that the dream of the cheaper air fare has died a natural death since the airline was taken over by the Ansett/TNT group last year. EWA’s latest round of fare hikes has now effectively placed its primary route fares in line with both Australian and Ansett.

Sad times indeed and obviously the price of progress in view of an ever-expansive Ansett. EWA staff do, however, point our that their range of discount fares are both easier to book (like they’re available!) and are apportioned in a greater number than the larger carriers who these days have very few spare seats at all available for discount.

 Ansett’s F50 Worries:

A series of inexplicable engine surges has put Ansett’s and its subsidiary Air New South Wales’ entire fleet of new Fokker 50 turboprop airliners into an ‘operationally restricted’ situation which temporarily rendered the fleet all but useless. In July the CAA ordered the F50s could not be flown in either wet or icing conditions until the reason for the problem could be traced and cured.

The problem had occurred on three flights between April and July, all of them while on approach to Sydney airport and in the middle of torrential rain. The problem manifests itself in the form of a momentary loss of power which sorts itself out after a few seconds. In one case both engines surged simultaneously; in the other cases it has been only one of the Pratt & Whitney PW124 engines which has misbehaved. None of the engines have failed in flight and no shutdowns have been necessary. According to Ansett’s Mr Tony Hill, it was originally thought the problem was water ingestion into the electronic engine management boxes which were then dried and resealed, but another incident after that indicates that was not the cause.

As a result the airline, Pratt & Whitney and Fokker are investigating the entire engine management system, a potentially lengthy process. In order to maintain its schedules, the airline recalled some of its remaining Fokker F27s to service (refer Traffic) and has also been forced to lease aircraft from East-West and Lloyd Aviation.

Qantas to Test Individual Seat Back Videos:

Qantas will start testing individual video screens on its services from October 30 for four months. It is the first airline in the region and the second airline in the world to test such a system.

The First Class seats of one Qantas Boeing 747-300 will have 7. 5cm Liquid Crystal Display screens installed in the armrests of the seats. Passengers will be able to watch their choice of six video programmes on these screens, controlled from a unit in the seat arm. The programmes will include feature movies, film classics, sport, music video and television programmes.

The new system puts the passengers in control of their inflight entertainment. They can now choose what they want to watch and when they want to watch it. The system Qantas is testing is produced by Air Vision, a Los Angeles company owned by electronics and entertainment firms, Philips and Warmers. If successful, Qantas will consider fitting the system to new aircraft as they are delivered.

 Cathay Pacific Expands Its Fleet:

Cathay Pacific Airways is buying two more L-1011 TriStar Aircraft to help meet the recent rapid growth in demand for air travel in the Asian region.

The two aircraft will be delivered in September and December respectively and will enter service two months later, after they have been completely refurbished by HAECÓ to meet the same high standard as the rest of the fleet. The airline’s existing fleet of 12 TriStars has recently undergone a major refurbishment programme which included new interior decor, new seats, new storage bins and improved lighting and air-conditioning.

Cathay Pacific will introduce 4 additional aircraft into service during this year – 2 Boeing 747s and the 2 TriStars. With the latest purchase of 2 more TriStars, the airline will be introducing 5 additional aircraft into operation next year including 3 Boeing 747-400 Ultra Long-Range aircraft which are already on order.

By the end of 1989, Cathay Pacific’s fleet will have been increased to 33 aircraft-comprising 14 L-1011 TriStars, 10 747-200s, 6 747-3008 and 3 747-400s- this compares to a fleet of only 18 aircraft in 1985. In addition, the airline has an option to purchase 6 additional 747-4008 between 1990-1992.

Room With a View:

Australia’s newest airline, Australian Regional Airlines (Queens- land) – an Australian Airlines subsidiary-has been exploiting the tourist market on the North Queensland coast since late July by operating a fleet of five DHC Twin Otter aircraft equipped with a ‘bubble’ window on each side of the fuselage to allow passengers the best possible view and photographic opportunities as they cruise over the Barrier Reef. The 18 seat Twin Otters are based in Calms and Townsville and fly to island resorts along the coast including Lizard, Dunk and Brampton plus other main-land centres. Australian Regional was formed immediately after the closure of Air Queens- land and its Twin Otters were formerly in AQ’s fleet. The new airline operates in full Australian Airlines livery and uses its ‘TN’ designation flight numbers, the first time such a code sharing arrangement has been established between a major and commuter airline outside North America.

Eastern Orders Dash 8s:

Eastern Australia Airlines, now 42% owned by Australian Airlines, has ordered 2 DHC Dash 8-100 36 seat airliners with which to serve its newly gained ports of Armidale and Port Macquarie.

Eastern now has a mix of Titans, Bandeirantes and ex-Australian Jetstreams and from July began to service the ex-EWA routes of Glen Innes, Grafton, Kempsey. Inverell and Taree. In addition to the firm order of two Dash 8s, due to be delivered this December and next February, the airline also optioned two additional aircraft.

Meanwhile, another Dash 8 buyer nearing the completion of contract status is Norfolk Island Airlines, who are planning to use a single -100 on their expanding Norfolk and Lord Howe services.

BA Increases Non-smoking Seats:

British Airways has increased the number of non-smoking seats on aircraft on the Australian route. The airline has moved from a 70:30 ratio of non-smoking to smoking to 80:20 following increasing passenger demand for non-smoking seats.

With non-smokers an ever increasing majority, BA is currently conducting non-smoking fights between the UK and certain European cities for a trial period and will do the same later in the year on London/New York and London/Los Angeles services.

About Face on Sydney Curfew:

Within days of an announcement in late June by Federal Transport and Communications Minister Peter Morris that Sydney Airport’s night curfew was to be relaxed, the decision was overturned by the Prime Minister, Mr Hawke, apparently in fear of an electoral backlash by voters in marginal seats near the airport.

in his original announcement, Mr Morris said that between the hours of 11pm and 6am only takeoffs and landings over Botany Bay using the portion of runway 16/34 south of the 07/25 intersection would be permitted and then only by propeller driven aircraft and the latest ICAÓ Stage 3 ultra quiet jets. At the moment, only the former are permitted to operate from Sydney’s Kingsford Smith airport during those hours, albeit from any runway.

The proposal – although couched in ‘noise reduction terms for the benefit of general public consumption, actually meant that at last Sydney airport would be capable of jet operations in the hitherto banned hours using the latest generation of very quiet airliners and corporate jets.

The Prime Minister ordered Mr Morris to reverse the announcement for reasons mentioned above and the episode is not only a severe embarrassment to the Minister but also reveals a severe lack of Government coordination on the issue. Despite the reversal, sources within government and the industry reveal that the proposal will in fact be adopted. The main problem is educating the nervous politicians and the public about the whole issue and showing them just how little noise the latest jets make, particularly in this case when they will be operating well away from the suburbs and without the use of reverse thrust.

Coincidentally, Ansett Air Freight ordered two BAe 146-200QT ‘Quiet Trader’ freighters for operation in and out of Sydney during the small hours. The irony of this is that just about all of the propeller driven aircraft currently permitted to operate from KSA during the curfew hours are notably noisier than the jets Mr Morris’ announcement pertains to! The old Electra freighters for instance were considerably noisier than either a Boeing 737-300, 767 or Á300 while the Friendships which presently operate are amongst the noisiest used from KSA, day or night! It appears that with several Labor politicians near the airport-and one or two in Canberra – ignorance and the overwhelming desire to be re-elected by an equally ignorant public is more important than practical reality.

Interlining a Major Fiscal Boost to Qantas:

Qantas’ General Manager, Marketing has predicted that the carrier’s newfound interlining rights, which became effective on July 1, will be worth around $30m extra in revenue this year alone.

“If we can fill just a third of the 17,000 seats that we were previously forced to fly empty around Australia each week, then this will be equivalent to at least an extra $30m in additional revenue”, he said.

To promote this new capability Qantas has launched worldwide its Discover Australia Fare which represents a flat 40% discount on the standard domestic economy air fare. There are no restrictions as to the tickets use except that the holder must be an overseas visitor using a standard international airline ticket.

Specially designated check-in counters have been built and Qantas is aiming for a minimum of a 60 minute wait for boarding passengers. Priority baggage has also been arranged while all in-flight service will be to international standards.

Flying of High:

Symptomatic Colombia’s corrupt government and cocaine based economy, its national flag carrier Avianca has been ‘busted for the fourteenth time since January 1986.

On the latest occasion US Customs officers impounded one of the airline’s Boeing 7478 after finding 222kg of cocaine on board-hid-den among boxes of roses. Avianca will be fined $US16,000 for each pound of cocaine seized – a total of nearly $USBM-or the air- craft will be sold at auction. In the past the air line has coughed up the fines, which despite their apparent severity they aren’t sufficient to deter it from future drug running operations as the profits to be had from them run into the billions.

Perhaps rescinding Avianca’s or any other airlines indulging in that sort of thing’s licences may do the trick!

Qantas Adds Three More Jets to Fleet:

Qantas has placed a firm order for another three Boeing jetliners-two 747-400s and a 767-300 Extended Range. The aircraft will be delivered between September and December 1989 at a total cost of $500 million.

The acquisitions, which will build the Qantas fleet to 43 aircraft, are needed to meet traffic demand. Total market growth over the next two years is forecast to grow at an average of 12% per annum. According to Qantas each 747 teams on average $50 million a year in foreign exchange and each has a planned operating life of 15 to 20 years. The new aircraft will be financed by Qantas foreign exchange earnings and by overseas borrowings. The order will boost to six the number of the advanced technology 747-400s in the Qantas fleet and to five the number of 767-300ERs.

The improved range and payload of the 747-400 makes them ideal for one stop operations between Australia and Europe and for non-stop flights between Sydney and Los Angeles-it has a range of over 7,300 nautical miles. The twinjet 767-300ER, with its 250 passenger capacity, is used for short and medium haul operations – its maximum range is 4,400 nautical miles. The 747-400s will continue to use Rolls Royce engines, while the 767-300s will use General Electric engines.

East-West Goes International:

East-West Airlines, which is nowadays even turning a modest though reassuring profit, has linked up with Qantas to greatly boost its international sales presence.

East-West has signed a wide ranging General Sales Agent agreement with Qantas which will see the airline marketed throughout the world alongside Ansett in Qantas’ 70 overseas sales centres. EWA will also now feature in the Qantam CRS system as well as Ansamatic, allowing it access to new offshore markets not previously available to it.

In the past year alone, revenue from offshore bookings has soared by 300% and EWA expect this to continue growing as the carrier adds to its leisure orientated timetables with additional F28 jet aircraft. The addition of extra F28s was running slightly behind schedule at presstime though EWA hoped to have four additional F28-4000s in operation by this November. Two will be coming from Ansett WA while the other two are from Bangladesh Biman and have been subject to delays due to administrative problems in Bangladesh.

Safe to Fly Says FAA:

After an unprecedented six week period of safety checks, Eastern and Continental Airlines have both been declared ‘safe to fly’ by the US Federal Aviation Administration. However Easter didn’t score as well as its stablemate and surveillance of that carrier will continue; the FAA as yet has failed to rule out the possibility of new fines against the airline. The checks involved no fewer than 1,542 inspections of all 280 of Eastern’s aircraft. A further investigation into the financial fitness of the two airlines’ parent company, Texas Air, ruled that it was indeed suitable. The situation at Eastern is far from resolved, however, as the Airline Pilots Association maintains that the carrier indulges in unsafe maintenance and operating practices while Eastern’s mechanist’s union described the FAA report as a “whitewash”.

Australian Bites the Boeing Bullet:

Australian Airlines officially announced during late July that it would enter the age of airline deregulation with largely a Boeing 737 fleet. The carrier has as a result ordered 9 737-400s and optioned 5 more which will see it operating up to 30 737s by the end of 1992.

Australian’s 737-400s will be delivered from 1990 and will be configured in a 139 seat arrangement. As soon as deregulation becomes effective in October of 1990, Australian will also reconfigure its 737-300 in a more efficient 116 seat arrangement. Overall the airline will use the new 737-400s to replace its existing fleet of 727-200s while additional 737-300s, to be delivered later this year and early next year will replace the last 5 DC-9-30s in the fleet. The first DC-9s entered TAA service back in 1967 and have proven to have been one of the most reliable and cost effective airliners to have been used by an Australian carrier.

Australian has also verified that it will make a decision on the future of its deferred order for 9 A320s 1992. With the full agreement of Airbus Industrie, it will either opt for the proposed stretched version of the A320 or select an alternative Airbus product with which to back up its 737 fleet. Australian will, in the meantime, continue with its 242 seat Airbus A300B4 twinjets and will have 4 in service by the end of this year when the presently leased Air Niugini A300 is replaced by that airline’s own A310- 300.

The primary reason that Australian has decided to purchase additional 737s in favour of the new A320, which Ansett will have in operation by year end, is lack of base capital. The carrier will in effect save more than $100m by continuing to build up fleet capacity with an existing type that can use the same cross-endorsed crews, maintenance facilities and spares inventory. Acquisition of the all new technology A320, particularly with IAE V2500 engines, would have meant a considerable additional outlay in support, training and introductory services at a time when the airline is already facing extremely high debt servicing requirements as a result of being a government owned and chronically under funded enterprise.

CAAC Becomes Air China:

In yet another restructuring of China’s civil aviation sector, the familiar ČAAC has been replaced by a new carrier on domestic and international routes, Air China.

The existing CAAC fleet is presently being repainted in Air China titles and the new airline will be working hard to improve on CAAC’s poor reputation with particularly western travellers, who have long suffered by its poor inflight service standards, frequent flight cancellations and apparent lack of interest in sticking to published timetables.

Indeed, some harsh plays on the airline’s initials have resulted – China Airways Always Cancelled, Crash All Around China, Cancel At Any Cost and so on-have become somewhat pointed jokes over the years. To non-aviation people, the phonetic pronunciation of CAAC was also commonly taken as Cack, hardly the name for a nation’s flag carrier! The new Air China will be financially and managerially independent from CAAC which will remain but in the more limited role of supervising China’s other various independent’ airlines.

DC-10 Brakes Under Scrutiny:

Following a rejected takeoff by an American Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10 at Dallas/ Fort Worth, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has instigated an investigation about the type’s brake wear standards. The DC-10s takeoff was aborted just moments before lift-off at 178kt after a warning that the flaps and slats were incorrectly deployed was noted. The warning turned out to be spurious but the captain still aborted, instigating full braking which slowed the DC-10 to about 130kt, after which braking effectiveness all but ceased. The aircraft ran off the end of the runway still with 97kt on the clock and finally came to a stop in soft ground 1,200m later.

Investigation showed that eight of the ten brakes had failed due to excessive wear, those eight being close to, but still within, MDC’s recommended wear limit when braking began. The NTSB is concerned that DC-10-30 and -40 brake wear limits are inadequate and that air- craft operating near the current limit will “most likely fail if a high gross weight/high speed rejected takeoff is attempted”.

This concem also extends to other large jets and the NTSB is recommending that the FAA redefine DC-10 brake wear limits, issue an airworthiness directive, change the rules to match the much more conservative limits used by the British authorities, ensure all transport aircraft comply with the new limits and – as a side issue – ask MDC to redesign the flap/slat sensor device which highlighted the problem in the first place.

 Rolls Launches Its Latest:

Rolls- Royce is to commence full-scale development of the latest version of its RB211 engine, the -524L. Rated from 65,000lb to over 70,000lb thrust, the -524L will enter service in 1993 and will be offered for installation on the Airbus A330, Boeing 767 and and McDonnell Douglas MD-11.

The estimated cost of the project is £300m (about $A750m) and the company is hoping to receive government funding which would be paid back by a levy on each engine sold.

Flying United

In a move that is likely to become more common in future years, s, United Airlines and Alitalia have reached agreement on a wide ranging co-operative effort which will give them wider access to each other’s markets, improve passenger flow between connecting flights and allow Alitalia to introduce new fares on its services to the USA.

Primary elements of the agreement include Alitalia’s use of United’s new terminal at Chicago O’Hare, Alitalia’s joining United’s Silver Wings Plus programme which offers various discounts and special packages covering accommodation, car rental and other services, one-stop check-in for United/Alitalia flights at several US and Italian airports and ultimately through check-in service for all United and Alitalia flights including those of its domestic subsidiary, ATI.

V2500 Certificated:

International Aero Engines’ (IAE) V2500 turbofan has achieved one of its major milestones-certification by the CAA, FAA and other airworthiness authorities – on time following a 4,300 hour test programme which included 43 hours of flight testing on a modified Boeing 720.

By the time these words are read the V2500 should also have begun flight testing on its first production application, the Airbus A320, and some 540 flight hours will be logged on this aircraft before initial customer deliveries take place in the first half of 1989.

East-West Expands in Qld:

East-West will operate to four new Queensland ports effective October 31 following approval to vastly upgrade its services to the sunshine State.

EWA already serves Cairns and Townsville from Brisbane and will now also offer 9 services a week to Rockhampton, 4 to Proserpine, 15 to Mackay and one direct to Mt Isa. All services will be operated by F28 jets with more than half of the new services being non stop to Brisbane.

Meanwhile, the airline was copping some local flak in Port Macquarie and Armidale following suggestions that it would opt out of these loss making routes earlier than expected. EWA has had to forfeit these routes under the judgment of the TPC and the NSW Trans- port Council, though it is expected to continue serving them till the new designated operator, Eastem, is able to commence its Dash 8/J31 services next February. At presstime, EWA management were unable to comment either way as to whether or not the services would be maintained right through till next February or prematurely terminated.

Cathay and Qantas at Logger- Heads on Beyond Rights From Hong Kong:

Qantas is beginning to press both the UK Government and Cathay Pacific Airways on the matter of fifth freedom rights out of Hong Kong.

Qantas is complaining that traffic and existing capacity to the island colony is so tight that quite often flights are booked out weeks in advance. Crucial to the problem though is that Qantas claims that most Cathay passengers are flying beyond Hong Kong to Europe, a traffic right that Qantas does not have. The national carrier argues that many Australians would like to visit Hong Kong and be able to fly on to the UK or Europe using their flag carrier. Government to government talks during July failed to bridge the impasse and both carriers have scheduled their own meetings for this October. One suggestion is that Cathay shares traffic rights out of Bangkok to Hong Kong with Qantas, giving Qantas beyond rights from Thailand that it presently doesn’t have in addition to possible de facto access to other Asian centres such as Taipei.

The bottom line though is that both carriers have virtually no excess capacity with which to either add additional frequencies or new services in the foreseeable future given the pressure of recent traffic gains.

 PW4000 for A330:

Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Pratt & Whitney and Airbus Industrie, a growth version of the PW4000 turbofan engine will be offered for the A330 medium/long range two engined transport.

The initially 68,000lb thrust engine should be certified in the second half of 1992 and gains its extra power over current models in the 56,000lb class by virtue of a larger fan and an additional low pressure compressor stage.