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NEWS

Report: JAL to slash more than 19,000 jobs by March 2015
Japan Airlines, undergoing bankruptcy rehabilitation, plans to cut 19,133 jobs from its workforce of 47,000 by the end of March 2015, according to documents cited by Kyodo News.
Link

Malaysia Airlines plans Kota Kinabalu as eastern hub
Malaysia Airlines has selected Kota Kinabalu in Sabah as its eastern hub for onward travel to China, Taiwan, North Asia, Indonesia and Australia.
Link

Mexicana's financial situation 'deteriorated substantially,' cuts 15 routes
Mexicana Airlines said in a statement Sunday that its "financial situation has deteriorated substantially in the last week" and announced it is suspending 15 international routes effective yesterday and today.
Link

FAA proposes AD on 747-400 thrust reverser control system wiring
US FAA proposed an airworthiness directive to require operators of certain 747-400s to modify thrust reverser control system wiring to prevent inadvertent, automatic retractions of leading edge flaps.
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Raytheon wins SDB II contract over Boeing/Lockheed team
Raytheon has won a $450 million contract to launch development of the small diameter bomb increment II (SDB II) for the US Air Force and Navy, a competitive triumph over a Boeing/Lockheed Martin team that seemed to be the early favorite for the award.
Link

Colombia requests nine more Black Hawks for counter-narcotics fight
Colombia has requested the possible purchase of nine more Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk utility helicopters to support its counter-narcotics and armed forces modernisation efforts.
Link


Other News

Bombardier said Porter Airlines signed a firm order for four Q400 NextGens plus six options. The Toronto-based airline’s firm order is valued at C$123 million ($120 million) at list prices. The four aircraft will increase Porter’s fleet of Q400s to 24. Porter took delivery of its 20th aircraft, and the 300th Q400 aircraft to be delivered, in April.

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise has cancelled an order with Airbus for 18 A320s and seven A350-900s valued at around $3 billion. ATW reported yesterday that Boeing lost 26 aircraft orders last week including 10 777s and 15 787s believed to have been ordered by DAE. Airbus has had 41 order cancellations so far this year.

An Alaska Airlines 737-400 was forced to abort takeoff Sunday in Sitka after an eagle strike shut down one of its engines. An airline spokesperson told CNN the aircraft braked to a stop about 3,000 ft. from the end of the 6,500-ft. runway, which ends at the water's edge. The plane then taxied back to the terminal with its single working engine. None of the 134 passengers and five crew members aboard was injured, he said.

Delta Air Lines flew 19.6 billion system RPMs in July, a .5% rise year-over-year.Capacity decreased .3% to 22 billion ASMs and load factor increased .7 point to 88.3%.

Great Lakes Aviation operated 13.92 million RPMs in July, up 10.1% year-over-year, against a 6.1% cut in capacity to 33.43 million ASMs. Load factor rose 6.1 points to 41.6%.

Southwest Airlines flew 7.49 billion RPMs in July, up 3.4% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 1.4% to 8.82 billion ASMs while load factor rose 1.7 points to 84.9%.

Hawaiian Airlines operated 829.9 million RPMs in July, up 11.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity was up 9.4% to 957.3 million ASMs as load factor rose 1.5 points to 86.7%.

WestJet operated 1.40 billion RPMs in July, up 18.2% year-over-year, on an 11.9% increase in capacity to 1.74 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 4.3 points to 80.7%.

Alaska Airlines flew 1.99 billion RPMs in July, an 11% increase on the year-ago month, while capacity rose 7.1% to 2.27 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 3.1 points to 87.4%.

Horizon Air operated 241 million RPMs in July, a 1.3% increase year-over-year as its capacity remained flat at 296 million ASMs. Load factor grew 1 point to 81.6%.

Allegiant Air flew 553.1 million RPMs in July, up 23.7% year-over-year, on a 25.7% increase in capacity to 627.5 million ASMs. Load factor fell 1.5 points to 88.1%.

Lufthansa Cargo will increase its worldwide cargo rates by 20% from Oct 1.

Ethiopian Airlines said it signed a purchase agreement with Diamond Aircraft Industries of Austria for 10 DA40NG pilot training aircraft and one D-SIM-40 simulator valued €3.7 million ($4.9 billion).

SunExpress of Turkey launched a new frequent flyer program called “SunPoints" in which passengers can earn an individual volume of points for each ticketed fare. It said it plans to buttress the program by partnering with hotels, tour operators, car rental companies and perhaps other airlines.

Swissport will provide ground handling for Swiss International Air Lines at Zurich, Geneva and Basel through 2015 under a contract signed this month. Annual volume is some 64,000 flights for which Swissport will supply all passenger and baggage handling services, all ramp services, de-icing and "various further airport services and customer processes," Swissport said.

Baltic Aviation Academy in Lithuania added the A320 to its type rating training list.

Lufthansa Technik Logistik signed a five-year contract with SuperJet International for worldwide spare parts logistics distribution at Frankfurt International.

Etihad successfully passed its third consecutive IATA safety audit.

AirTran Airways unveiled its state-of-the-art new Systems Operation Control Center in Orlando, Florida, and also announced plans to open a pilot base in Orlando this fall.
The base will initially employ 100 pilots, including a chief pilot. Orlando will join Atlanta and Milwaukee as domiciles for AirTran pilots. The $6.9 million SOC was paid for by a combination of funds from the state of Florida, the city of Orlando, including the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, and AirTran. The facility is built to withstand 150 mi.-per-hr. winds, contains redundant communications systems, scalability for future growth and features a backup generator capable of powering the facility indefinitely.



AVIATION QUOTE

The Art of Flying is but newly invented, 'twill improve by degrees, and in time grow perfect; then we may fly as far as the Moon.

— Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, 'A week's conversation on the plurality of worlds,' 1686. (English translation by William Gardiner, 1728.)



DAILY VIDEO

Thanks to Zak for the submission.





EDITOR’S CHOICE





HUMOR

You know you are a freight pilot when

1) On the tarmac, the ground personnel rolls the red carpet AWAY from your plane ;

2) The plane you are flying was getting old when you were born ;

3) You haven't done a daylight landing for 6 months ;

4) The ATC tells you there is smoother air at another FL and you don't care ;

5) You call for transportation to the hotel and they can't find you on the airport ;

6) Your uniform has not been ironed for two weeks and nobody cares ;

7) You fly through a terrible storm and you can hear the thunder (instead of the passengers);

You have to get your own coffee ;

9) Nobody is afraid when you use the toilet ;

10) Upon approaching, you call ATC and decline your company's name and ATC replies "Who?" ;



TRIVIA

AIRPORTS

Provide Either the ICAO code or the airport name

1. Will Rogers International Airport.
2. LEMD
3. General Billy Mitchell International Airport
4. TNCM
5. LFSB
6. EDDF
7. EGLL
8. YSSY
9. SAEZ
10. SKBQ
11. ENGM
12. Tokyo Haneda
13. OIII
14. Cape Town D.F. Malan
15. BOMBAY INTERNATIONAL

1.
2. Madrid Barajas, MAD?
3.
4. SXM
5. France somewhere
6. FRA
7. LHR
8. SYD
9. EZE
10. South America somewhere
11. Norway somewhere
12. HND
13. OIII - that's pretty much what I said
14. CPT
15. BOM

1.
2. Madrid Barajas (MAD)
3.
4. St. Maarten Princess Juliana (SXM)
5.
6. Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport (FRA)
7. London Heathrow (LHR)
8.
9.
10.
11.
12. HND
13. Tehran Mehrabad (THR)
14. CPT
15. BOM

1. TUL
2. MAD
3. MKE
4. SXM
5. ????
6. FRA
7. LHR
8. SYD
9. EZE
10. ????
11. ????
12. HND
13. THR
14. CPT
15. BOM

1. OKC
7. LHR

Guessing - #10 is Barranquilla (BAQ)? If not, at least I'm certain it's some airport in Colombia...

Answers
1 KOKC
2. Madrid Spain, Barajas
3. KMKE
4.Princess Juliana Airport, Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, Netherland Antilles
5. Basel Europort
6. Frankfurt, Germany
7 London Heathrow
8 Sydney Australia
9. Ezeiza, Buenos Aires Argentina
10 Barranquilla Colombia
11. Oslo, Norway Gardemoen
12. RJTT
13. Tehran, Iran
14. FACT
15 VABB