NEWS
US Airways CEO: Standalone American suffers from ‘structural weakness’
US Airways (US) chairman and CEO Doug Parker said Thursday that rival American Airlines (AA) is saddled with “a structural weakness that bankruptcy can’t fix,” and again called for Dallas/Fort Worth-based AA to consider a merger with Phoenix-based US.
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US Air Seeks To Sell Shareholders On AMR
The chief executive of US Airways sought to bolster shareholder support on Thursday for a proposed merger with bankrupt American Airlines, saying the financial community already likes the idea and the two airlines would make a strong combination.
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Judge Blocks Union Ballot At American
A judge on Wednesday temporarily halted a union organising drive for 10,000 passenger service agents at bankrupt American Airlines that had been cleared by federal mediators.
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EasyJet founder targets Africa for new airline venture
EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou will call his new low-cost carrier (LCC) Fastjet and base it in Africa. The new LCC, which will be based on the platform created by Lonrho Aviation’s Fly540 network, will transform Nairobi-based Fly540 into a low-cost, point-to-point, no frills, all-jet airline for Africa. Haji-Ioannou first revealed plans to launch the airline last fall, causing a row with the easyJet board.
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Air China to increase annual capacity by 10%
Air China (CA) will expand its fleet to about 700 aircraft by taking delivery of approximately 150-200 aircraft annually in the next five years, increasing capacity by around 10%, according to CA chairman Wang Changshun. The carrier will phase out older aircraft as it takes delivery of the newer aircraft as part of its fleet renewal program.
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TAAG Angola Airlines eyes new US, Europe services
TAAG Angola Airlines (DT) is planning to open new routes and increase frequencies on existing ones as the economy grows in the African country. DT chairman and CEO Pimentel Araujo said on the sidelines of the IATA annual meeting and summit in Beijing this week that the carrier is not only planning routes to Frankfurt or Paris but also wants to fly to the US “in two to three years.”
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Japan Airlines Looking To Relist Shares
Japan Airlines is looking to relist its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in mid-September, business daily Nikkei reported.
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Australia Fines Malaysian Over Cargo Cartel
Australia's Federal Court fined Malaysia Airlines Cargo AUD$6 million (USD$5.97 million) for price fixing, stemming from a cartel action brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the watchdog said on Thursday.
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Philippine Air Plans Regional Carrier Investment
Philippine Airlines, the country's flag carrier, is planning to invest in a regional airline even as it seeks to restructure its operations to a low-cost carrier, the company president said on Thursday.
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BA to operate premium A318s under new subsidiary
British Airways is establishing a new subsidiary through which to operate its premium transatlantic services from London City, a decision which appears linked to possible additional financing. The new subsidiary, British Airways Limited, is securing its own air operator's certificate and operating licence. It will operate the two Airbus A318s in the fleet under a wet-lease arrangement with British Airways.
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Farnborough will be crucial time in re-engined narrowbody fight
Airbus recently firmed two outstanding orders for A320neo family aircraft, with Norwegian Air Shuttle committing to 100 A320neos and Air Lease taking 36 of the re-engined jets, including 20 of the larger A321neos. This takes Airbus's total firm orders for Neos to 1,425 from 26 customers. Meanwhile, Boeing has gained what it describes as over 1,000 "commitments and orders" from 16 customers for its CFM International Leap-1B-powered 737 Max, of which 451 are firm orders.
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Northrop unveils first MQ-4C Triton for US Navy
Northrop Grumman has unveiled the first production MQ-4C Triton, a derivative of the unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk optimised for the US Navy, at the company's Palmdale, California manufacturing facility. The aircraft, formally dubbed 'Triton' after long being known as the broad area maritime surveillance (BAMS) aircraft, is one of two test articles produced in advance of a projected order for 68. The second example is roughly one month from rollout, says Northrop.
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Other News
Singapore Airlines (SQ) is among customers for a batch of orders for new full-flight simulators (FFS) placed with CAE, the Canadian simulation and training company announced Thursday. The contracts include one Airbus A330 FFS equipped with a CAE Tropos-6000 visual system for SQ; one Airbus A320 FFS for the Zhuhai Flight Training Center (ZFTC), a China Southern/CAE joint venture; and one Embraer E-190/195 FFS for an undisclosed customer; plus one commercial aircraft FFS with Tropos-6000 for Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).
Russia and the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Denmark and Sweden are developing a new bilateral agreement to replace the document signed in 1956. Russian authorities want approval to operate scheduled flights from Russia to Oslo, Bergen, Tromso, Haugesund, Fagernes, Kirkenes, Trondheim, Stavanger in Norway, Copenhagen, Billund and one more point in Denmark; as well as Stockholm, Goteborg, Malmo, Lulea and Ostersund in Sweden.
LAN Airlines and Brazil's TAM have extended to June 21 the share exchange offer, part of the merger process between the two carriers under LATAM Airlines Group. The extension will give more time for shareholders to sign up for the exchange.
AirAsia Japan (JW) has taken delivery of its first Airbus A320 aircraft. Japan’s newest LCC will have four single-aisle jets by year end, the carrier said in a statement. The Narita-based low-cost carrier plans to launch commercial services Aug. 1 from Tokyo Narita to Sapporo and Fukuoka, and from Aug. 3 to Okinawa. Later in the year, it will start services to Seoul Incheon and Busan in Korea.
Eastern Airways has taken delivery of a second Embraer E-145 regional aircraft, increasing the number of Embraer jets in its fleet to four.
Avolon has received the first of 12 Boeing 737-800NextGens it has on order. The aircraft will be operated by the Dublin-based leasing company’s airline customer, Japan Airlines.
Embraer S.A. and Zodiac Aerospace have reached an agreement to set up a joint venture to manufacture cabin interior parts for the Embraer E-170/190 family of jets. This jointly operated manufacturing facility will be located in Mexico.
Skyworld Aviation has arranged the sale of two Airbus A320 aircraft to operate with Aviatrans-K Airlines of the Ukraine. The aircraft, from the defunct Viking Hellas Airlines of Greece, are equipped with IAE V2500-A1 engines and were purchased from the AWAS portfolio of aircraft. Aviatrans-K took delivery of one aircraft May 20; the second aircraft was delivered in early June.
AVIATION QUOTE
You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3.
— Paul F. Crickmore, 'Lockheed SR-71: The Secret Missions Exposed,' 1993.
ON THIS DATE
---In 1910... The world’s youngest flyer, 15-year-old Frenchman Marcel Hanriot, gets his pilot’s brevet, no. 15.
---In 1928... An Imperial Airways AW Argosy piloted by Gordon Olley races the London and North Eastern Railway’s Flying Scotsman train the 390 miles from London to Edinburgh; the Argosy takes 84 minutes to refuel twice en route and beats the train by only 15 minutes.
---In 1928... Mail is successfully transferred from an airplane in flight to a train as Lt. Karl S. Axtater flies directly over an Illinois Central train and transfers a mail bag to a railway clerk.
---In 1943... The first operational jet-bomber, the German-built Arado Ar-234 Blitz, makes its first flight.
---In 1946…The US Navy's newly formed Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, gives its first public performance at Jacksonville-Craig Field, Florida.
---In 1972…Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z, operated by a Convair 880 (VR-HFZ) from Bangkok to Hong Kong, disintegrated and crashed while the aircraft was flying at 29,000 feet (8,800 m) over Pleiku, Vietnam after a bomb exploded in a suitcase placed under a seat in the cabin, killing all 81 people on board.
---In 1984…The Saab 340 enters service with Crossair.
---In 1985…Amal guerrilla gunmen hijack TWA Flight 847 en route from Rome to Athens. The plane, which includes some Jewish passengers, is then re-routed and taken to Algiers, Beirut, and Algiers again before setting in Beirut. The 39 passengers and crew are freed on July 1 after Israel agrees to free 700 Shiite prisoners. This event was the inspiration for The Delta Force.
DAILY VIDEO
EDITOR’S CHOICE
HUMOR
Defense Computer
A large defense contractor finally succeeded in building a computer able to solve any strategic or tactical problem. Military leaders assembled in front of the new machine and were instructed to feed a difficult tactical problem into it. They described a hypothetical situation to the computer and then asked the pivotal question, "Attack or retreat?"
The computer hummed away for an hour and then came up with the answer, "Yes."
The generals looked at each other, stupefied.
Finally one of them submitted a second request to the computer, "Yes what?"
Instantly the computer responded, "Yes, Sir!."
TRIVIA
Google Airports
Need a hint? PM me.
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Queso wrote:Thank you for doing the Daily each day, Vic.
