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Qantas' 747-400 fleet's certificated maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) has now been increased to 397,250kg (875,000/b) up from 394, 980kg (8 70, 000/b) allowing greater payloads on routes, such as Sydney/Los Angeles, where range is critical. The certification applies exclusively to Qantas at the moment, and came about after a Qantas initiative led to Boeing reviewing its calculations. The higher MTOW will allow the equivalent of an extra 15 passengers to be carried or the equivalent weight in cargo without sacrificing the fuel load. In the past long range flights, particularly if they had to fly against strong headwinds, had to accept a reduced payload penalty to reach a given range capability. Other airlines are believed to have expressed interest in gaining the higher weight certification, among them British Airways and United. (Paul Merritt)
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four engined airliner will cost no more to operate than an equivalent twin, and the new spares arrangement is part of that. The company guarantees to supply parts for an agreed charge, which means operators will be able to accurately predict spares costs and budget accordingly. With engine manufacturer Textron Lycoming offering a similar ‘power by the hour’ scheme, the whole aircraft is covered by the concept.
Fokker Looks for Efficiency:
In a reaction to the ongoing world recession and the reduction in airliner orders which has accompanied it, Fokker has decided on a package of actions designed to streng-then its efficiency and competitiveness.
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These include a decrease in the production rate of its Fokker 50 and 100 regional airliners, further cuts in employment, the removal of management layers (for quicker decision making), more efficient and flexible production processes and the negotiation of price discounts with partners and vendors.
The bottom line is that Fokker’s production level will be limited to 40 aircraft per year, an action which will lead to 1900 job redundancies. The declining market which has affected all manufacturers is in addition to another factor which is possibly not generally appreciated. That is the fact that in a buyers’ market with fierce competition among manufacturers, prices have dropped considerably. The result is a compounding of Allied Signal Aerospace the problem with revenues and therefore profitability suffering.
See the Light:
A recently developed exterior light pulse system is providing benefits for the first large US carrier to install it on its aircraft, South-west Airlines.
The brainchild of American company Precise Flight, the system pulses selected exterior and landing lights at preset intervals, typically 42 times a minute. The cyclic illumination improved visibility to other aircraft, air traffic controllers and during ground operations in poor visibility. Southwest has also found the $US2000 system apparently significantly reduces. birdstrikes, particularly with large migratory species.
ÚSAir is also having success with a safety programme it has introduced. Developed in cooperation with the Air Line Pilots Association, USAir’s altitude awareness programme has lowered the airline’s unintentional altitude deviations rate by 75%. The programme involves pilot education and improved altitude alert setting programmes as well as emphasising proper radio procedures and the elimination of extraneous and distracting tasks during takeoff and climbout.
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