Thread: Airline News

^ I wonder if they ignored the seat belt warning or if it wasn't issued?

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

^ I wonder if they ignored the seat belt warning or if it wasn't issued?

Probably no seat belt sign,as you leave India and start flying over The Bay Of Bengal early morning you nearly always hit turbulence.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by hazz

I am sure their planes will just as safe as their trains

You might discover it was the European supplied signalling system, installed by ex pat "Experts", which caused the crash. But hey it wouldn't be China bashing then would it.

Er.....

China Railway Signal and Communication, the signaling-system provider, sells its technology and services to more than 20 countries, including Pakistan, North Korea, Iran and Zambia. The company’s Web site says it devotes itself first of all to safety.

European?

Isn't all chinese technology stolen from the West or Japanese. Again I might be wrong.

What is the safety record of the Chinese railway system, say compared to the US, in numbers of reported accidents, do you know?

Dear me another chappie thats so desperate to prove to himself that all that is bad in this world must be caused by westerners, what he is peopled to use heroic levels of twisted logic to get there.

The reference was to the recent issues whey have been having with train safety in china and its causes by what would appear to fundamental design issues. The kind of stuff when you put development before everything else in a totalitarian state.

Originally Posted by sabaii sabaii

I should imagine you will want to invest in either earplugs or an iPod

Anyone travelling anywhere be it in air, road or by boat in Asia should invest in headphones with electronic noice cancelling. You dont even need to listen to music for it to help. This goes for outside Asia too.

And as they sometime advertise "Video/Karaoke included in ticket price", I would rather pay extra for no "Video/Karaoke included in ticket price" at all

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by hazz

I am sure their planes will just as safe as their trains

You might discover it was the European supplied signalling system, installed by ex pat "Experts", which caused the crash. But hey it wouldn't be China bashing then would it.

Er.....

China Railway Signal and Communication, the signaling-system provider, sells its technology and services to more than 20 countries, including Pakistan, North Korea, Iran and Zambia. The company’s Web site says it devotes itself first of all to safety.

European?

Isn't all chinese technology stolen from the West or Japanese. Again I might be wrong.

What is the safety record of the Chinese railway system, say compared to the US, in numbers of reported accidents, do you know?

Now Chinese have "stolen" technology from west, but there was a time when europeans "stole" technology from Chinese. But nowadays I have a feeling (havent taken a look any real stats) that now China spends more on research and development than USA.

Good point you mention, how many train crashes and fatalities per capita ie per size of population in each country. Accidents happen in small countries too. One train crash in France related to size of population might be same as thousands of deaths in China.

I have absolutely no worries taking a train in China (though I usually only go from Hong Kong to Shenzen and back - very comfortable, never any problems - it could all be Hong Kong efficiency of course, but as I understand, these border-crossing trains are under mainland china control).

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

China's industrial manufacturing is about where the nips were post-war. They will become entirely superb, but until then not a fucking chance will I buy or trust any form of Chinese transport more complicated than a donkey and cart.

I have made that argument as well. But there are some who say China is just not able to produce quality.

I don't believe that, they can, they won't though at junk prices.

Originally Posted by Takeovers

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

China's industrial manufacturing is about where the nips were post-war. They will become entirely superb, but until then not a fucking chance will I buy or trust any form of Chinese transport more complicated than a donkey and cart.

I have made that argument as well. But there are some who say China is just not able to produce quality.

I don't believe that, they can, they won't though at junk prices.

As I said, look to Japan as a model. They will eventually get it right, but their economy will heat with it, and a water melon will end up costing $50.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

The original post-war japanese motors were rust buckets that fell to bits, and now they dominate the motor industry.

China's industrial manufacturing is about where the nips were post-war.

They will become entirely superb, but until then not a fucking chance will I buy or trust any form of Chinese transport more complicated than a donkey and cart.

They have Chinese planes here in Laos, turboprops with like 60 seats. I have no problem flying with those since they are derived from Russian designs and have western engines and avionics installed. If they keep up maintenance it will be ok.

American Airlines Seeks 13,000 Job Cuts

American Airlines laid out for the first time on Wednesday what it will expect its employees to give up in its restructuring process — and the proposal was far worse than they feared.

The airline, which filed for bankruptcy in November, said it wanted to get rid of 13,000 workers, or 16 percent of its work force. It plans to terminate its pension plans. It wants to cut back health benefits for current employees and retirees. Over all, it said, it seeks to cut employee costs by 20 percent.

entire story: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/bu...-job-cuts.html

Originally Posted by S Landreth

American Airlines Seeks 13,000 Job Cuts

American Airlines laid out for the first time on Wednesday what it will expect its employees to give up in its restructuring process — and the proposal was far worse than they feared.

The airline, which filed for bankruptcy in November, said it wanted to get rid of 13,000 workers, or 16 percent of its work force. It plans to terminate its pension plans. It wants to cut back health benefits for current employees and retirees. Over all, it said, it seeks to cut employee costs by 20 percent.

entire story: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/bu...-job-cuts.html

Allowing businesses to use the Bankruptcy Courts to wipe out employee contracts and impose lower wages without first wiping out stockholders equity is a sad bastardization of the Bankruptcy Code.

AirAsia opens three new routes to stimulate tourism : National News Bureau of Thailand

AirAsia opens three new routes to stimulate tourism

BANGKOK, 3 February 2012 (NNT) – AirAsia, a Southeast Asian low cost carrier, is launching new domestic and international routes. It is also ready to bring in new Airbus A320 planes, hoping to spur Thailand’s tourism.

Mr. Tassapon Bijleveld, Chief Executive Officer of Thai AirAsia, said that in the first quarter of 2012 AirAsia is flying to three new destinations with two on domestic routes and one on an international route. The new domestic routes include daily direct flights between Bangkok and Trang, and the other is between Bangkok and Nakhon Phanom. The international route is between Bangkok and Sri Lanka (Colombo). Furthermore, this year the company plans to put brand new Airbus A320 planes on various routes throughout the year. The new planes will fly to new destinations both in the country and abroad, including China and new major economies. The Airbus A320s will also serve an increase in flight frequencies in most popular destinations, thus helping stimulate Thai economy through tourism expansion.

For the three new destinations, the Bangkok – Trang route has been launched since 15 January 2012. The Bangkok – Nakhon Phanom route will kick off on 15 February 2012 and will complement the recent opening of the third Thai – Lao Friendship Bridge linking Nakhon Phanom with Khammouan province in Laos. The daily direct flight Bangkok – Sri Lanka (Colombo) will start on 1 March 2012, linking the two economies, particularly in term of tourism. As Sri Lanka is the country of origin of Theravada school of Buddhism, AirAsia believes that the Bangkok - Colombo route would be popular among Thais.

^^
So what is to become of Nok Air - which I think is pretty good?

Well Boeing must have been pretty smug about the A380 cracks until....

Boeing finds another 787 manufacturing problem

Boeing has discovered a manufacturing error causing delamination in the plastic-composite aft fuselage section of some 787 Dreamliners, according to a person with knowledge of the problem.
By Dominic Gates
Seattle Times aerospace reporter




Boeing has discovered a manufacturing error causing delamination in the plastic-composite aft fuselage section of some 787 Dreamliners, according to a person with knowledge of the problem.


Boeing is inspecting all the airplanes already built to find the extent of the issue.


In a brief statement Sunday, Boeing said, "We have the issue well defined and are making progress on the repair plan. There is no short-term safety concern."
Boeing's statement didn't acknowledge the issue involves delamination.
It said unspecified damage resulted from "incorrect shimming performed on support structure on the aft fuselage of some 787s."


Mechanics install shims, or spacers, to fill small gaps that occur between parts that don't fit together exactly. An earlier problem arose in 2010 with faulty shimming by mechanics working for Alenia building the 787's horizontal tail in Italy. They had applied too much torque when tightening fasteners, and the consequent compression of the shims degraded the composite material.


At that time, those manufacturing quality issues with the horizontal tails added months of delays to the jet program. Many airplanes had to have their tails extensively reworked.


This time, the delamination is happening in a section of the aft fuselage near where the horizontal tail is joined. Boeing has completed assembly of about 50 Dreamliners to date, and has delivered five, to launch customer All Nippon Airways of Japan. The plane entered service in 2011 after more than three years of delays.


Flightglobal, the website for Flight International magazine, reported Saturday that structural stiffening rods, which had been hardened together with the fuselage skin in massive ovens, had partially separated from the skins.
The Dreamliner's aft fuselage section is manufactured in Charleston, S.C., at the former Vought plant that Boeing took over in 2009.


On Sunday, Boeing played down the problem, saying that "repairs, should they be needed, will be implemented in the most efficient manner possible."
However, if the fuselage repairs are needed in a large number of planes, that could further slow the already slothlike pace of Dreamliner deliveries.
According to the person with knowledge of the issue, any plane in which this fault has been discovered is not allowed to operate beyond "limit load," the term for the maximum load projected in normal service.


However, the planes must be certified to sustain 1.5 times that load, a standard called "ultimate load," for certification and delivery.
The person said discovery of the problem held back some flight tests needed to certify the version of the Dreamliner fitted with General Electric engines.
The initial model with Rolls-Royce engines is already certified.


Boeing did not provide detail beyond its short statement on the issue.
It was left unclear whether the delamination has been found on any of the five Dreamliners already delivered and in passenger service for All Nippon Airways.

^ Seems there is also a problem with visibility out of the window.

A ground staff person was run over during taxing and rushed off to hospital with multiple injuries after an hour long wait for the "jack".

I was told by an RAF airframe designer that the plastic-composite parts cannot take the extreme temperature changes when used in conjunction with aluminium and some other metals.

Originally Posted by thehighlander959

This is a major problem for Boeing. Its their first composite built airliner and was to set the standard for composite builds for the future.
It has had its teething problems, and ANA the first airline to fly the aircraft and the launch customer all be it two years late must be really pissed off now.
If its not one problem its another with this aeroplane.

I wonder if Airbus and the A350 XWB will have the same manufacturing and lamination problems when construction starts in 2014.

Probably not since they will have Boeing's mistakes to learn from. Funny how history repeats itself; with the first passenger jet, the 707, Boeing was able to learn from the problems that plagued the Comet.

Originally Posted by BobR

with their first passenger jet, the 707, Boeing

tidied that up for you.

New Wing Cracks (different from last week) Grounds Qantas A380

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia's Qantas Airways said Wednesday it was temporarily grounding one of its A380 superjumbos after discovering dozens of hairline cracks in its wings during a maintenance inspection.
The Australian flagship carrier said the 36 small fissures posed no threat to safety, and that the cracks were different from the cracks that manufacturer Airbus found in metal brackets inside the wings of two jets last month. That discovery prompted Europe's air safety authority to order the inspection of nearly a third of the world's A380s.

Any views on the iPhone Apps (and others) for Flight Schedules? The one I have seems to be wrong more often than right..

^ what site are you using?