Business & GAThe Ultimate in Cabin Completions Every field has its "ultimate." In automobiles, Rolls-Royce offers the ultimate in luxury. Mount Everest is the ultimate challenge for mountain climbers. The ultimate in executive air travel would be converted widebodies…
CommercialHow Northwest Saves Millions with its EIDS At Northwest Airlines’ maintenance facilities in Minneapolis, Minn., engine maintenance crews save the airline millions of dollars, thanks to a state-of-the-art engine instrument display system (EIDS). Developed by Spirent Systems Wichita Inc.,…
CommercialACARS on the Net For decades, major U.S. carriers have used the ARINC Inc. Airborne Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), a two-way VHF data link, to exchange operational messages with pilots on the tarmac and…
Business & GAThe 2-in-1 Orb'Phone Belgian-based Euro-GSM is offering a dual, in-flight telephone system that can use the Iridium and the Globalstar satellite nets simultaneously or either system independently. The company’s Orb’phone system is intended to virtually…
ATM ModernizationPeople Components Corp of America: New Officials Components Corp. of America (CCA) has promoted James Gust and Richard Brown of CCA’s StacoSwitch subsidiary. Effective July 1, Gust, a 39-year StacoSwitch veteran, assumed the…
CommercialProduct Focus: Handsets We live in a time when everyone demands constant communications. People want to stay in contact with their lives. Think of it. Fifteen years ago the cell phone business essentially did not…
ATM ModernizationNew Products Book about Free Flight The noted author and long-time national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, James Fallows, has published a book entitled Free Flight: From Airline Hell to a New Age of…
MilitaryRussian Airborne Computers Avionics Technology has progressed in the former Soviet Unio and now Russia, but at a slower pace than in the West. And today that progress faces economic roadblocks. At major airshows, we…
ATM ModernizationSafety in Avionics: Blocked Radio Transmissions Blocked radio transmissions represent a significant safety hazard, and they have contributed to at least two fatal airline accidents. A remedy has been available for years, but it has yet to be…
ATM ModernizationIndustry Scan Airlines Select Avionics Air transport carriers recently selected avionics systems to update their existing aircraft or install in aircraft on order. Here are some examples: Continental Airlines plans to retrofit 208 of…