Newsdesk-Commercial Aviation

A decision on the DC-10 upgrade is expected to be made early next year, as will other decisions concerning American’s fleet. There have been some reductions in the number of new aircraft being acquired due to a general downturn in business, among them allowing the 90 MD-80 options the airline held a year ago to lapse. The airline’s MD-80 fleet will therefore settle at 260 aircraft once. those still to be delivered from previous firm orders are in service.

Taaats Shortlist:

Three companies have been shortlisted by the Civil Aviation Authority to move onto the next phase of the contract letting process for Australia’s new air traffic management system TAAATS (The Advanced Australian Air Traffic System).

They are Hughes, IBM and Thomson. It is intended that the CAA will sign a contract with the successful company in the middle of next year to have the two centres (Brisbane) and Melbourne) operational by 1995. The CAA says that Australian involvement will play a large part in the contract.

Rural Airports in Danger:

The Municipal Association of Victoria has warned that a Federal decision to cut airport maintenance funds by $10m threatens the continued operation of about 270 regional airports in Australia, including 40 in Victoria. The association says the government wants local authorities to make up the short-fall by charging more for airport use and although some councils have increased their charges, the revenue raised could be insufficient to prevent closures.

Strarch Hangars Go to Overseas Interests:

Australia has lost another corporation with the recent sale by the Jennings Group of its 86% interest in the Strarch construction company to a Singapore based group of financiers.

Starch are best known for their radical. hangars which are used extensively through-out Australia by the RAAF, ASTA, Hawker de Havilland and a number of other organisations requiring large hangar like structures.

 Hdh Profit Slump:

Hawker de Havilland Ltd has recorded a massive fall in profits for the half year from January to June 1991, a 96% slump from $5. 66m in the same period last year to just $225,000 this year.

The company expects a slight improvement in the second half of the year but much of this will be offset by interest payments and expenditure on the McDonnell Douglas MDX helicopter project. Sales in the half year dropped by 2. 8% from $126. 4m to $122. 8m and the interim operating profit of $5. 39m before tax and abnormal expenses was severely cut by $4. 76m in retrenchment costs.

On the other hand, there was an abnormal gain of $2. 1m from the sale and leaseback of one of its facilities. Industrial action contributed to the slump as well. Militant unionism within the company has long been one of HDH’s major problems.

Air to Ground Communications:

Qantas passengers may soon have the luxury of being able to make inflight telephone calls to Australia from anywhere in the world as the airline’s Boeing 747-400 fleet is with the latest satellite communications gear.

Four Qantas 747s are already fitted with the necessary basic equipment for use by the crew but making the “phone and fax sevices available for passengers is still about a year away due to the current non-availability of the telephones. The service could be offered to passengers now if the ‘phones were available.

London City Gets the Nod:

After several years of discussion, Britain’s Secretary of State for the Environment has given the go-ahead for the expansion of operations at London City Airport, built in the former docklands area of the city.

At present, only De Havilland Canada Dash 7 turboprops are used at the airport due to its short runway and steep approach requirements, but the approval for full development (including a lengthened runway) paves the way for jet operations.

The decision will almost certainly result in several new orders for the British Aerospace 146 airliner, as this will be the only jet able to use the airport in the foreseeable future, even after the runway is extended. Tall structures at either end of the runway will still require steeper than normal approaches and departures (particularly a problem with the latter in the case of an engine failure on take-off) and the 146 is the only jetliner capable of meeting these criteria at the moment.

BAe operated two 146s into London City for demonstrations in 1988, successfully using the current short runway (albeit without the operational margins which would apply to revenue flights) and just as importantly, displaying the aircraft’s quietness. In fact the leader of the anti-airport protest group didn’t even hear the aircraft arrive and a group of protesters “made rather more noise than the planes”, said The Times!

Assets Not Quite So Valuable:

In what is really no surprise at all, it has been revealed that the Federal Government’s much vaunted ‘assets sale’ will realise considerably less revenue than at first estimated.

Considered by many to be highly optimistic when announced, the sale of 100% of Australian Airlines, 49% of Qantas, Aussat, the Housing Loans Insurance Corporation, part of ANL, the war service land settle- ments assets, the uranium stockpile and various property assets over the next three years will raise only $975m, less than half the figure originally mooted. Figures ranging from $400-800m have been put on Aussat alone, but the net value could well be next to nothing after the organisation’s substantial debts have been paid out. The same could also apply to Qantas.

Assets sold to date have generally realised only a fraction of the estimates. For example, revenue of $1bn was predicted in the 1990 Budget but only $161. 7m actually went into the government’s coffers.

No Sales?:

Believe it or not we are not running a Sales column this issue for the simple fact that during the month of September there was just one contract announced for a mere two plus four A300s for Olympic. These aircraft will be added to the hopefully more active month of October and presented in our usual fashion in our next issue.

Rollers for Thai:

Rolls-Royce has achieved another breakthrough in the South East Asian market with the selection by Thai Airways International of the Trent large turbofan engine for its newly ordered Boeing 777 airliners.

Thai has ordered six of the large capacity twinjets with six more on option. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in January 1996. Thai has traditionally been a purchaser of US engines, and the order means that three of the Pacific Rim’s major operators Thai, Garuda and Cathay Pacific have chosen the Trent.

The Trent has already exceeded 75,000lb thrust during early tests and developed versions will eventually produce up to 95,000 b thrust.

Franco-Soviet RJ Talks:

Dassault and Mikoyan have got together to discuss the possible development of a new 50 passenger regional jetliner dubbed at this stage the DM50.

In a similar category to the Canadair RJ, the DM50 follows the Canadian aircraft’s lead in stretching a ‘widebody’ corporate jet to seat 50 passengers four abreast, in this case the Falcon 900. The 900’s three Garrett TFE731 turbofans would be replaced with two Allison GMA3007s. Mikoyan believes there is a major market for such an aircraft in the Soviet Union. Design would be undertaken by Dassault and production by Mikoyan, the latter already building tail units for the Falcon 900 and new Falcon 2000 cor- porate jets.

MD-11 Production Efficiency:

McDonnell Douglas has introduced a new production management system to its MD-11 airliner production line which will ensure. greater efficiency and a decrease in the time it takes to build an MD-11 from 400 to 260 days.

The system is highly structured with a high level of accountability and communication between supervisors, managers, general managers and the company vice president responsible for MD-11 production. Meetings between these people are held at specified times of each working day where existing and potential problems are thrashed out, goals established and at the end of the day. results reviewed.

A key to the program is communication with outside parts, component and equip- ment suppliers, a traditional source of delays on any aircraft production line. It is not necessarily the smaller vendors which cause. supply problems either. A recent problem involved General Dynamics’ Convair Division, which makes MD-11 fuselage barrel sections MDC refused to pay GD because of schedule and quality problems, while the latter stopped shipping the fuselage sections to the MD-11 factory. McDonnell Douglas plans to build 36 MD-11s this year and about 45 in 1992. Production is presently at the rate of one per working week.

Satellite Navigation Breakthrough:

In what can be seen as a major breakthrough, the USA and Soviet Union. have guaranteed civil aviation users free access to their separate satellite navigation systems into the next century.

The announcements are the first step in creating a worldwide unified navigation system for civilian users, considered necessary to cater for rapidly expanding air traffic. The Americans have said they will provide free use of their Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite system for 10 years from 1993, while the Soviets have offered their GLONASS system for civil users once this is fully operational.

The whole issue of integrated satellite global navigation services was first tackled in 1988 by a Future Air Navigation Systems (FANS) committee and the new announcements fulfil part of the committee’s recommendations. FANS also called for the judicious use of existing ground based navigation and communications systems where appropriate along with the introduction of the Microwave Landing System (MLS) and other new technologies. The Americans and Soviets are now working together on a receiver which will process both GPS and GLONASS signals.

Eight Goes From Four to Two:

McDonnell Douglas is studying a twin engined version of its four engined DC-8 for freight carrier Airborne Express.

Airborne Express operates a fleet of more than 20 DC-88, nearly all of them stretched -61 or -62 versions powered by their original Pratt & Whitney JT3D turbofans. The carrier asked for a twin engined version of the DC-B using a pair of “MD-11 engines”, either GE CF6-80C2s or Pratt & Whitney PW4462. Such a conversion would endow the DC-8 with better fuel economy and compliance with Stage 3 noise regulations, and although at first glance it appears to be an unlikely conversion, it appears it may be viable. Some major structural reworking of the wing to increase ground clearance and cope with the greater engine weight would nevertheless be required.