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NEWS

Pentagon to propose $553B budget for FY2012
The Pentagon is due to unveil a $553 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2012 this week, its largest budget proposal in history. According to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the proposed budget represents the minimum needed to address challenges ranging from cyber warfare and terrorism to pandemic diseases and human trafficking. However, defense analysts question the need for the military to address every possible threat, and the proposal will likely face challenges amid efforts to cut spending.
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Boeing 747-8 passenger jet is on track for year-end delivery
Boeing appears on track to deliver a passenger version of the 747-8 by the end of the year, after a year of successful test flights on the freighter version. Those tests should make regulatory certification easier for the passenger model, said Todd Zarfos, vice president of engineering for the 747-8.
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Senator calls on FAA to change fatigue regulations
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling on the FAA to resist efforts to alter proposed rules on pilot fatigue. Warning against efforts to "water-down vital safety regulations," Schumer on Sunday released a letter to the Air Transport Association urging the airline industry "to come to the table to ensure we have the greatest possible protections for airplane passengers." ATA stressed that safety is the industry's No. 1 priority, but noted that "[t]he rules, as written, will not improve safety, and regulations that are based neither on science nor operational experience should be rejected."
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Airports are "disappointed" with limited funding in House FAA bill
Airports will have to make do for four more years with a $4.50 cap on passenger facility charges under the FAA reauthorization finalized on Friday by Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Mica's bill also cuts funding for the Airport Improvement Program by $500 million and phases out the Essential Air Service program, with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii. The bill also is notable for several omissions, including an in-flight ban on cell phones and a provision to sunset antitrust immunity for airline alliances.
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Emirates awards Rolls-Royce a $2.2 billion TotalCare contract
Rolls-Royce Group landed a $2.2 billion long-term service contract with Emirates airline. The TotalCare arrangement covers Trent engines for 70 Airbus A350XWB aircraft. The contract should help repair the engine maker's reputation, which was tarnished after one of its engines on an Airbus A380 failed last year.
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NASA: 'We were lucky' with shuttle's early safety record
A new internal risk assessment shows that NASA seriously underestimated the chance of a fatal accident in the early years of the shuttle program. While managers put the risk at 1 in 100,000 and engineers thought it might be as high as 1 in 100, the actual number was 1 in 9 over the first nine missions and 1 in 10 for the next 16 launches, according to the latest study. "We were lucky. There were a number of close calls," NASA says in a report from the Shuttle Program Safety and Mission Assurance Office.
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Latest FAA funding battle kicks off
Debate over FAA funding heated up in Washington, with a House of Representatives panel last Friday introducing a new FAA reauthorization bill and President Barack Obama on Monday issuing his budget proposal for the federal government's fiscal year starting Oct. 1.
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IATA projects 3.3 billion global air travelers by 2014
IATA projected that worldwide annual airline passengers will rise to 3.3 billion by 2014, up 32% over the 2.5 billion passengers that flew commercially in 2009. Speaking at IATA's Vision 2050 meeting in Singapore, DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said the organization's forecast "indicated that the world will continue to become more mobile … In five years, we need to be able to handle 800 million more passengers."
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Alitalia, Meridiana Fly contemplate possible merger
Alitalia and Meridiana Fly are in talks about a possible partnership, Meridiana said, although it did not confirm reports in Il Messaggero that the airlines’ respective management teams are reviewing the details of a possible acquisition. The Italian newspaper reported on Saturday that AZ would be interested in buying Meridiana to prevent Lufthansa from stepping in.
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Other News

Air Astana President Peter Foster said that the carrier's dispute with GDS provider Amadeus is not over and could escalate. Amadeus was obliged to restore distribution services to KC after a Madrid court granted the Kazakh carrier injunctive relief on Feb. 3. Amadeus canceled KC’s agreement, which expired on Dec, 31, on Jan. 21 after 15 days’ notice, alleging a breach of the terms of the agreement.

A Central American Airlines Let L-410 crashed in Honduras Monday, killing all 14 persons on board including both pilots and 12 passengers. Among those onboard were the Honduran Assistant Secretary for Public Works and the leader of a key union, Associated Press reported. Flight No. 731 departed from San Pedro at 7:04 a.m. local time en route to Tegucigalpa, a 40-min. flight according to the Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network. It crashed in a forest near Cerro de Hula at 8:02 a.m. The aircraft made its first flight in 1991 according to ASN.

Boeing said it welcomes reports that El Al has selected the 737-900ER and looks forward to finalizing a contract. El Al said it ordered four 737-900ERs with an option for two more, in a deal valued at up to $320 million, Reuters reported. The 737-900s are intended to replace its 757s. EL AL took delivery of its first 757 in 1987.

Delta Air Lines and United Continental Holdings will pay out a combined total of $537 million in profit sharing to their respective employees as a result of their strong 2010 performances. DL earned $593 million in 2010 and UCH had pro forma earnings of $854 million.

South African Airways took delivery of its first of six Airbus A330-200s this week. The aircraft will replace its current A340-200 fleet.

Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of its third new Boeing 777–200LR on Jan 28. ET will take delivery of two more 777-200LRs before the end of 2011. It operates a fleet of 45 aircraft.

Germania signed a long-term contract with the Austrian LCC Niki to lease two Airbus A319s from 2011 onwards.

KLM took delivery of its fifth new Boeing 777-300ER, configured with two classes and a total of 425 seats. The Dutch carrier has a further two of the type on order, which will join its fleet next year.

Air India COO Gustav Baldauf confirmed to ATW the carrier is expecting the first of 27 Boeing 787s it ordered to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2011. The first aircraft was originally scheduled to be delivered in September 2008.

Qatar Airways launched five-times-weekly Doha-Brussels service and will launch four-times-weekly Doha-Stuttgart flights March 6.

WestJet launched twice-weekly Edmonton-Maui service, which it will operate until April 30 with a Boeing 757-200 leased from North American Airlines.

Spirit Airlines launched four-times-weekly Ft. Lauderdale-Pittsburgh/Latrobe service and will operate seasonal four-times-weekly Latrobe-Myrtle Beach service beginning May 5.

Hawaiian Airlines will launch daily Boeing 767-300ER Honolulu-Osaka Kansai service July 12. It will later introduce its new and larger 294-seat Airbus A330-200 onto the route.

American Eagle Airlines launched twice-daily Dallas/Ft. Worth-Joplin, Mo. service. The carrier is utilizing a 64-seat Super-ATR aircraft on the route.



AVIATION QUOTE

I enjoyed my service flying very much. That is where I learned the discipline of flying In order to have the freedom of flight you must have the discipline. Discipline prevents crashes.

— Captain John Cook, British Airways Concorde Training Captain.



ON THIS DATE

February 15th

• In 1910... King Edward VII grants the title “Royal” to the Aero Club of the United Kingdom.

• In 1926... The Ford Motor Co. becomes the first U.S. private air carrier to operate a contract airmail (CAM) route. Ford begins operations with CAM-6 between Detroit and Chicago and CAM-7 between Detroit and Cleveland.

• In 1961... Members of a US skating team are among 73 killed when Belgian airliner Sabena Boeing 707 crashes during its landing approach near Brussels, Belgium.

• In 1965... Mrs. Guy Maher arrives from Culver City, California to Medford, New Jersey in a Hughes 300 to complete the USA’s first transcontinental helicopter flight by a woman.



DAILY VIDEO





EDITOR’S CHOICE





HUMOR

Flying That Damned Airplane

A fighter pilot goes to a bar after a good days flying. Whilst there he meets a young, attractive and available lady. She is charmed by his tales of aerial combat, high speed flight, and death defying feats. The inevitable happens and they slip away to somewhere more comfortable for an evenings intimate entertainment.

Much later that night the pilot drives home to his long suffering wife. On the way he puts on his oxygen mask and draws the straps up as tight as they will go. When he gets home he removes the mask and bravely enters the house. Immediately he tells the wife exactly and honestly what he has been up to that evening.

She replies: "Do not lie to me, I can see you have been flying that damned airplane yet again".



TRIVIA

Thanks to Allstarflyer for today’s trivia.

The Early Days of Commercial Aviation

1. Who's airline was it in the early 30's functioned as a mail carrier from San Francisco to Chicago, with passengers riding along with parachutes, helmets and goggles?

A. Walter Varney
B. Bill Boeing
C. Frederick Rentschler
D. Leon D. "Lee" Cuddeback

2. What mid-sized city in 1930 was home to the busiest airport in the world?

A. Miami, FL
B. Tulsa, OK
C. Boise, ID
D. St. Louis, MO

3. With four carriers in the early 30's assigned to specific air mail routes - Northern, Central, Southern and Eastern - which carriers had which specific routes?

4. Which two air carriers "snagged" air mail routes from the first 4 in the wake of FDR's capitulation which allowed private contractors to bid again for mail routes after the government had seized those routes?

A. Delta and Continental
B. Pan Am and Braniff
C. Braniff and Continental
D. Braniff and Delta

5. What act brought on by Congress was sponsored by the airlines which brought regulation to the industry?

A. Air Commerce Act
B. Civil Aeronautics Act
C. Federal Aviation Act
D. Interstate Commerce Act

6. Put the airline name with the CEO

A. Juan Trippe
B. Eddie Rickenbacker
C. Tom Braniff
D. C.R. Smith

7. What aircraft, which was prepared to roll out in 1935, was influenced in its design by the CEO of the airline that 1st acquired it?

A. DC-3
B. Martin M-130
C. Boeing 314
D. Lockheed Model 9 Orion
E. DC-2

8. Football coaching legend Knute Rockne died in 1931 due to a crash on which airliner?

A. Pan Am
B. Eastern Air Lines
C. Continental
D. TWA
E. United
F. Braniff
G. American

Nobody wanted to touch it?

Answers -

1. B - Bill Boeing bought United from Varney in the late 20's and contracted with Rentschler's Pratt and Whitney to supply the engines. Cuddeback was Varney's chief pilot.

2. B. Tulsa, Oklahoma served more people than London, Paris and Berlin combined in 1930 due to an oil boom. (Hard Landing, Thomas Petzinger Jr. p. 8 )

3. United in the North, TWA in the Central, American in the South and Eastern in the East. (Hard Landing, pp. 10-11)

4. D - Braniff got the Dallas-Chicago route while Delta took the Atlanta-Chicago route. (Hard Landing, pp. 11-12)

5. B - The Civil Aeronautics Act gave the government the power to regulate fares and routes for air carriers.

6. A. PanAm, B. Eastern Air Lines, C. Braniff, D. American Airlines

7. A. DC-3 (H. L. p. 14), which was influenced by C.R. Smith to get Douglas to produce a 3-seater in the style of a DC-2. The Martin M-130 was produced for Trippe's Pan Am, where he also later used the Boeing 314. The Lockheed Model 9 Orion was 1st used by Bowen Air Lines in the early 30's and the DC-2 was known to be used by both American and Braniff (and both later went to the DC-3).

8. D. TWA (H.L. p. 9)