You are at netAirspace : Forum : Air and Space Forums : netAirspace Daily News

NEWS

Spirit AeroSystems resumes shipments, but no timetable to clear backlog
Wichita-based Spirit AeroSystems has confirmed it has restarted shipments to Boeing after a week-long operational hiatus caused by tornado damage. The aerostructures supplier on 20 April shipped two previously completed 737 fuselages and one 777 cabin to Boeing's assembly lines in Renton and Everett, Washington, respectively. All of the items shipped had been completed before 14 April, the company says. A severe storm that included a tornado ripped through the southeast corner of Wichita on that day, causing substantial structural damage across the Spirit AeroSystems' sprawling factory complex.
Link

Virgin's Ridgway vows to fight on over IAG's takeover of BMI
Virgin Atlantic Airways is vowing to maintain its vocal opposition to International Airlines Group's takeover of BMI despite the formal completion of the controversial deal, which leaves IAG subsidiary British Airways with more than half the take-off and landing slots at congested London Heathrow airport. "It's always hard in these situations, but we've never shied away from these things, and we won't in this case either," said Virgin Atlantic chief executive Steve Ridgway, speaking earlier today at an event to mark the Boeing 787's visit to London Heathrow airport as part of the twinjet's global 'Dream Tour'.
Link

American CEO deflects US Airways’ merger interest

American Airlines (AA) chairman, president and CEO Tom Horton pushed back against US Airways’ (US) efforts to bring about a merger of the two carriers, telling employees in a Monday letter that “we must be mindful of other parties who don’t have our best interests at heart.”
Link

ANA raises FY 2011 forecast; net profit jumps 40%

All Nippon Airways has revised its 2011 full financial year performance forecast upward, citing strong tourism demand and reduced operating expenses.
Link

A US Airways, American Airlines merger could face challenges

Some experts say a merger between US Airways and American Airlines may create the world's largest airline, but also would present challenges. "The challenge is to integrate the workforces. And US Airways to date hasn't been able to do that with its America West merger," said Eric Smith, a bankruptcy and aviation attorney. However, Bob Herbst, an airline industry analyst and founder of AirlineFinancials.com, said, "Total cost-saving synergies [equal] $1.8 billion to $2.5 billion accretive within 12 months of merger. ... It's the opinion of AirlineFinancials.com that American and US Airways must merge to remain long-term competitive."
Link

American Airlines will present case in court over union contracts

American Airlines will plead its case for canceling union contracts in bankruptcy court this week. AMR Corp., the parent company of American, filed for bankruptcy in November. "We must follow this course to address our onerous labor costs through either consensual agreements or court-imposed reductions to return American to industry leadership as a viable, sustainably profitable airline," said Bruce Hicks, spokesman for American.
Link

Lufthansa aims for flat capacity in 2012; will phase out 737s by 2016

Lufthansa is planning to keep capacity flat this year and will phase out its Boeing 737 fleet by 2016 as part of its €1.5 billion cost-cutting measures, Deutsche Lufthansa AG executive board member Carsten Spohr told employees in an internal letter.
Link

Transaero reverses losses in 1Q

Russian Transaero Airline reported first-quarter net income of RUB15 million ($508,000), reversed from a net loss of RUB381 million ($12.9 million) in the year-ago period. The airline said the results were due to more efficient aircraft that were added last year and higher fleet utilization level.
Link

U.K. airlines will inspect Dreamliner at Heathrow

Thomson Airways, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will inspect the Dreamliner 787 at Heathrow Airport in London. The carriers have placed orders for the 787. Boeing is taking the Dreamliner on a world tour, and plans to visit three airports in the U.K
Link

Deadline looms for mandated plane-diversion plans at airports
Airports are struggling with required plans for plane diversions as the May 14 deadline draws closer. Congress ordered airports to devise procedures for disembarking and aiding passengers in the event of a delay or airplane diversion following an October incident in Connecticut when passengers were forced to wait seven hours on the airport tarmac after being diverted because of a snowstorm.
Link

Wireless in-flight entertainment is expected to boom in next decade
A new report from IMS Research estimates that some 9,000 aircraft will offer wireless in-flight entertainment systems by 2021 as carriers move away from the traditional seat-back or cabin-roof entertainment systems. Wireless IFE will offer passengers streaming content such as sports, music, TV shows and video games that goes straight to passengers' or airline-provided handheld devices that will also allow travelers to manage their travel in the air.
Link

IAG's Walsh 'Not Confident' On bmi Unit Sale

British Airways and Iberia owner IAG will struggle to sell two loss-making subsidiaries it inherited through the acquisition of Lufthansa's UK unit bmi, IAG's chief executive Willie Walsh said on Monday.
Link

BAA Sells Edinburgh Airport For £807 Mln
Global Infrastructure Partners, owner of London's City and Gatwick airports, is to buy Ferrovial-owned BAA's Edinburgh airport for GBP£807 million (USD$1.3 billion), cementing its position as a leading British airport operator.
Link

Air France Mulls German Angle In Etihad Talks

Air France-KLM is considering a partnership with Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad that includes the German domestic routes of Air Berlin, a German newspaper quoted the chief executive of the Franco-Dutch airline as saying.
Link

Qantas returns engine-damaged A380 after 18-month repair

The Qantas (QF) Airbus A380 that had been undergoing major repairs in Singapore since an inflight engine explosion in November 2010 returned to Sydney over the weekend. Flight QF32 with 433 passengers and 26 crewmembers had taken off from Singapore and was over Indonesia Nov. 4, 2010, when it experienced a major high pressure turbine failure in its No. 2 Rolls-Royce Trent 900, which ripped away a large section of the engine cowling. The explosion also damaged the leading edge of the A380’s wing as well as part of the upper wing surface. After shutting down the engine and dumping some fuel, the pilots returned to Singapore for an overweight emergency landing. Two tires burst on landing. There were no injuries
Link

Other News

The Assn. of European Airlines (AEA) has welcomed the European Union (EU) Parliament’s decision to approve a new data transfer agreement with the United States.

Austrian Airlines has concluded the planned transfer of the company’s flight operations into its subsidiary, Tyrolean Airways, to take place after July 1, as part of its $220 million restructuring program.

Goodrich signed a five-year nacelle services agreement with LOT Polish Airlines to support the carrier’s nacelles and thrust reversers for its fleet of CF34-10E-powered Embraer E-195 aircraft.

Delta TechOps signed a multi-year agreement with Atlas Air to provide maintenance and support services for three Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, including 331 APU and CF6 engine time and materials maintenance support, and 767-300ER PBH component support.

MDS Coating Technologies has signed a teaming agreement with Delta Air Lines (DL) to give the carrier “exclusive partnership rights” to its engine compressor protective coatings, including the BlackGold coating family. It is currently undergoing qualification on “several” engine types operated by DL. First fleet incorporation for the carrier is scheduled for the second quarter.

AFI KLM E&M signed a contract with Air Corsica covering phase out and C checks on its two Airbus A319s, to be carried out in April at AFI KLM E&M's Toulouse-Blagnac facility.
Link

AVIATION QUOTE

Flying is done largely with the imagination.

— Wolfgang Langewiesche, 'Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying,' 1944.

ON THIS DATE

---In 1909... Wilbur Wright makes five flights in Centocelle, Italy with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy present. During one flight, a Universal News Agency cameraman accompanies him and takes the first motion pictures from an airplane in flight.

---In 1911... Lts. M. Longmore and C. R. Samson are the first British Royal Navy officers to qualify as pilots, after just two month’s training.

---In 1913…O. Gilbert flies a TK 825 km from Villacoublay, France to Vitoria, Spain in 8 hours and 23 minutes.

---In 1917... Lt. Col. William “Billy” Mitchell becomes the first U.S. Army officer to fly over German lines.

---In 1929…Royal Air Force Squadron Leader A G Jones-Williams and Flight Lieutenant N H Jenkins take off in a Fairey Long-range Monoplane from RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire, England on the first nonstop flight between Britain and India. Strong headwinds impede forward progress and the crew decide to land in Karachi, Pakistan 50 hours later.

---In 1944…The first B-29 Superfortress arrives in China, beginning the build-up by the United States Army Air Forces' 20th Air Force for a strategic bombing offensive against Japan.

---In 1946... First flights of the first Soviet designed and built jet aircrafts, MiG-9 and Yak-15, are made. A member of the company test team for the Yak-15, Olga Yamschikova, is probably the first woman to fly a turbojet-powered aircraft when she flies in 1947.

---In 1946... Winged Cargo Inc. opens an unusual freight service in which goods are carried in a Waco CG-4A glider towed by a DC-3.

---In 1957…Heli-logging pioneer Columbia Helicopters is founded in Portland, Oregon.

---In 1962…1962/April/24 - First A-12 (924) engine test runs completed, high speed taxi tests. Pilot Lou Schalk. Accidental lifts off for a few seconds (first actual flight but not considered official). (Q)

---In 1967…Cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov suffers history’s first in-flight spaceflight fatality as the parachutes on the Soyuz 1 spacecraft fail during its return to earth. The crash was the culmination of many technical failures that forced the flight control director to abort the mission after 18 orbits.

In 1970…China launches its first space satellite, Dong Fang Hong I using a Long March I rocket. The satellite’s weight exceeds that of the first four satellites launched by Russia, the United States, France and Japan combined

---In 1971…Soyuz 10 spacecraft docks with the world’s first space station, Salyut 1. The cosmonauts on board are forced to return to earth without entering the station, however, due to a faulty hatch.

---In 1980…Operation Eagle Claw, an attempt by the U.S. Navy to rescue the 52 hostages being held in the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, fails miserably. Eight servicemen are killed as one of the eight Sikorsky RH-53Ds used in the operation crashes in a sand cloud, while another crashes into a C-130 Hercules on the ground in Iran.

---In 1984…First flight of the Dornier SeaStar D-ICDS.

---In 1990…Space Shuttle Discovery launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida on mission STS-31 carrying the Hubble Space Telescope.

---In 1992…A US Air Force C-130 Hercules transport aircraft on an anti-narcotics mission over Peru is attacked by Peruvian Air Force Sukhoi Su-22s.

---In 2001…A Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV takes off from Edwards Air Force Base for a nonstop flight to Australia in 23 hours, the longest ever flight by an unmanned aircraft and the first UAV to cross the Pacific.

DAILY VIDEO

EDITOR’S CHOICE

HUMOR

Student Pilot

A young and stupid pilot wanted to sound cool on the aviation frequencies.
So, this one time he was approaching a field during the night time.
Instead of making any official requests to the tower, he said: "Guess who?"
The controller switched the field lights off and replied: "Guess where!"

TRIVIA

General Trivia

1. There have been several British airplanes named after insects, such as the de Havilland Mosquito. How many American production airplanes have been named after insects?

2. Most pilots are familiar with the PBY, a twin-engine Consolidated Catalina flying boat used initially as a patrol bomber during World War II. What was a PBJ?

3. As any pilot who has studied a sectional chart knows, an RCO is a remote communications outlet used to communicate with distant facilities. What is a GCO?

4. What well-known civilian landplane may land with landing gear retracted during routine operations?

5. True or False, early Lear Jets have a "knife blade" down the center of the windshield. Its purpose is to dissect birds in flight.

6. True or False, After resigning from and selling his interest in TWA, Howard Hughes purchased another airline and named it after himself.