In the battle for the hearts and minds of airline companies
between Boeing and Airbus, Boeing clearly believes it's won -- this
round, anyway.
America's aerospace giant Monday announced it had sealed a deal
with Japan's All Nippon Airways for 50 (yeah, that's right, fifty)
7E7 Dreamliners. That, says Boeing, means the Japanese at least
agree with its philosophy that bigger isn't necessarily better.
The organization may be shady, but the letters are
crystal-clear: If your countries don't pull troops out of Iraq,
your airline offices in Bangkok, Thailand, will be bombed.
It's a symbiotic relationship that's all too familiar to airport
managers. Just ask Ben DeCosta, the general manager at Atlanta's
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
"The airport does well because Delta is here, and Delta does well
because the airport is here," he says.
But what if Delta wasn't doing so good (hint: it's not)? The
airline continues to struggle, spilling red ink by the bucket-load
as it wrestles with high labor costs and the rising price of fuel.
And then there's the airline's staggering debt load -- Delta
Airlines owes $20.6 billion.
So it's perhaps not an unfair question to ask what happens to
Hartsfield if Delta bites the bankruptcy bullet?
AD NUMBER: 2004-08-19
MANUFACTURER: Airbus
SUBJECT: Airworthiness Directive 2004-08-19
SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness
directive (AD), applicable to certain Airbus Model A330-200 series
airplanes. This action requires certain modifications of the rudder
servo controls.This action is necessary to prevent failure of the
driving finger of the rudder servo control and consequent loss of
the rudder servo control function in driving the rudder to its
commanded position, which, if combined with an engine failure
during takeoff or go around, could result in lossof control of the
airplane. This action is intended to address the identified unsafe
condition.
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