AMR aims to increase amount of cash it has in the bank American Airlines' parent company, AMR Corp., has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise $725.7 million, using planes as collateral for the debt. AMR's debt offering is expected to yield roughly 8%, making it an attractive offer to investors, said Mark Streeter, an analyst at JPMorgan. "The bottom line is that this deal makes us feel better about the AMR near-term credit story, we like the deal structure," wrote Streeter in a research note. Link
ATA's Calio blasts Obama's plan to raise aviation taxes Nicholas Calio, president and CEO of the Air Transport Association, called the White House's plan to increase aviation taxes a "job destroyer." He also said the plan is an "all-out assault" on the aviation industry as he warned that it would force carriers to reduce service and increase fares. "In short, the administration is proposing a new, huge tax on the least profitable and most highly taxed industry in the country while leaving our competitors totally alone," Calio said. Link
High fuel prices prompt airlines to reduce capacity Jet-fuel prices are the airline industry's biggest expense. This year, the industry's fuel bill is projected to increase to $54 billion from $39 billion last year, says the Air Transport Association. "Their 2011 fuel bill is expected to dwarf 2005, despite lower [fuel] consumption," said an ATA spokeswoman. Airlines have been cutting capacity and expect to keep it down in an effort to cope with persistently high fuel costs. Delta plans to extend its fourth-quarter capacity cuts into early next year, and Southwest, Frontier and other airlines are also making cuts. Link
Boeing is being careful to balance 737 production with demand Boeing wants to reduce the waiting time that airlines face when interested in purchasing one of its 737s, but the airplane manufacturer is concerned about the risk of saturating the market with passenger jets. Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing's commercial subsidiary, says the company is not planning to follow the lead of Airbus in ramping up production beyond a previously established goal. Link
Airlines oppose EU's plan to limit greenhouse-gas emissions Analysts estimate that the EU's plan to rein in greenhouse-gas emissions could cost the global airline industry more than $1 billion in 2012. Carriers are opposed to the proposal, presented this week by EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard. Link
Sabre asks judge to drop American suit on earlier antitrust ruling Sabre Holdings cited a Sept. 12 Manhattan court ruling that absolved Sabre of two antitrust violations in a request to a federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, to toss a lawsuit filed by American Airlines. U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cederbaum earlier tossed two antitrust claims by US Airways, ruling that "a Sabre-only market was not plausible on its face." An American spokesman said, "We do not believe that the decision by a New York judge is, in any way, dispositive of any of our claims. We remain confident that we will prevail on the facts and merits of our claims." Link
Embraer: Next aircraft decision to come by year end Embraer will announce its next commercial aircraft development step before the end of the year, a company executive said Wednesday. Executive VP-airline market Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva said Embraer had been waiting to see whether Boeing would replace or re-engine the 737NG before decidingeither to launch a 130-150 seat aircraft or embark on an E-Jet re-engining. Link
Inquiry confirms electrical arcing caused fatal Tu-154 fire Investigators have attributed the fatal blaze on a parked Kolavia Tupolev Tu-154B at Surgut to electrical arcing in a generator panel mounted in the rear of the aircraft. All eight crew members escaped but three of the 126 passengers were killed as flight 7K348 was preparing to operate to Moscow Domodedovo on 1 January. Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee said the fire broke out as the three electrical generators were engaged, after the 28-year old Tu-154's (RA-85588) three engines had been started and set to idle thrust. Link
USAF helicopter competition postponed again, faces new budget review A competition to supply 93 helicopters to the US Air Force may be the first publicly known victim of sweeping budget reviews within the Department of Defense. At least four companies vying for the common vertical lift support programme (CVLSP) have been expecting the release of a draft request for proposals for several months. However, a new acquisition notice released by the USAF informs the bidders that the draft RFP is being withheld because of "programmatic and budgetary deliberations". Link
BAE reveals dramatic cut to Typhoon production rate The Eurofighter programme's annual production rate is to be slashed dramatically as partner nations Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK battle economic difficulties. Details of the reduction emerged as BAE Systems announced plans to axe about 3,000 jobs at several of its sites around the UK, including its Eurofighter Typhoon final assembly site at Warton in Lancashire. "The four partner nations in the Typhoon programme have agreed to slow production rates to help ease their budget pressures," said BAE chief executive Ian King. Link
Other News
Taiwan’s China Airlines (CI) on Wednesday officially joined SkyTeam, becoming the first Taiwanese airline to join the alliance. CI becomes SkyTeam’s 15th member. China Southern and China Eastern joined the alliance in November 2007 and June 2011, respectively. CI operates 224 daily departures to 80 destinations and brings three new destinations to SkyTeam’s network: Okinawa and Miyazaki, Japan, and Surabaya, Indonesia.
US Air Transport Assn. president and CEO Nicholas Calio said Tuesday that new airline flight taxes/fees proposed by President Barack Obama amount to "an all-out assault" on the industry, which he said is already greatly overtaxed by the federal government.
Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department (CAD) on Tuesday said it is conducting an investigation into Sunday’s loss of separation incident between a Cathay Pacific (CX) Boeing 777-300ER and subsidiary Dragonair (KA) Airbus A330-300. According to CAD, the two aircraft came within 1 n.m. (2 km.) of each other in diverging turns while on approach to Hong Kong International.
Lufthansa said it plans to operate Airbus A380 service from Munich to New York JFK, beginning in December.
Japan Airlines and China Eastern Airlines reached an agreement to expand their codeshare partnership. The two carriers will now place their codes on every flight operated by the other, between cities in China and Japan.
Virgin America will launch seasonal daily Palm Springs service from San Francisco and New York JFK Dec. 15-April 30.
AVIATION QUOTE
A fierce and monkish art; a castigation of the flesh. You must cut out your imagination and not fly an airplane but regulate a half-dozen instruments . . . .At first, the conflicts between animal sense and engineering brain are irresistibly strong.
— Wolfgang Langewiesche, describing flying on instruments, 'A Flier's world,' 1943.
ON THIS DATE
September 29th
---In 1946…a United States Navy Lockheed P2V Neptune sets a new distance record of 11,235 miles (18,082 km).
---In 1948…First flight of the Vought F7U Cutlass.
---In 1954…First flight of the McDonnell F-101A Voodoo, flown by test pilot Robert C. Little.
---In 1955… An English Electric Canberra sets a new altitude record of 65,876 ft (20,079 m).
---In 1964... The 1st take-off and landing of the XC-142A vertical take-off transport is made in Dallas, Texas. The aircraft has four 2,850-hp General Electric turboprops mounted on the wings that can pivot 90 degrees to allow for a vertical take-off.
---In 1990…First flight of the YF-22 Raptor.
---In 2006…Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907, a Boeing 737, collides with an Embraer Legacy business jet and crashes in Mato Grosso, Brazil. The Embraer Legacy, with seven on board, lands safely with no reported injuries. All 154 people on board the Boeing 737 perished.
---In 2009…Olympic Air is founded ; formed from the privatization of the former national carrier Olympic Airlines.
---In 2009…British Airways operates the first transatlantic flight from London City Airport: BA001 (a flight number unused since Concorde retired), an all-business class Airbus A318.
DAILY VIDEO
EDITOR’S CHOICE
HUMOR
Lufthansa Humor
Lufthansa Pilot says "Good morning ladies and gentlemen, Velcome aboard the LH162 from Frankfurt to London Heathrow. I would like to ask you all to fasten your seatbelts, and I only vant to hear one click!"
TRIVIA
Tail ID
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And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen
1. Midwest 2. Alaska - Special one a/c only livery - Chester is still smilin though 3. Alitalia 4. Delta - Breast Cancer livery IIRC. 5. Aer Lingus 6. Frontier 7. KLM 8. I'm stupid and I can't get it into my head . . . damnit. 9. Saudia 10. Southworst . . . . Texas plane or some such . . .
1. AL, Skyway Airlines/Midwest Connect 2. AS, Alaska Airlines 3. AZ, Alitalia 4. DL, Delta Airlines/Breast Cancer Awareness 5. EI, Air Lingus 6. F9, Frontier Airlines 7. KL, KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines 8. M3, Westjet Airlines 9. SV, Saudi Airlines 10. US, America West/USAirways 11. VA, V Australian Airlines 12. YK, Horizon Air
Ideology: The mistaken belief that your beliefs are neither beliefs nor mistaken.
