NEWS
LAN/TAM complete merger under LATAM Airlines Group
LAN Airlines and TAM officially completed their merger under LATAM Airlines Group Friday, creating a mega-airline company that is expected to control more than 40% of the Latin American air passenger market. The transaction was carried out through an exchange offer in which TAM’s shareholders received 0.9 LAN shares for each TAM share. “The creation of this group of airlines is an opportunity to take South America to the world and to allow us to position ourselves to operate in an increasingly competitive environment due to the continuing consolidation of the global airline industry,” LATAM CEO Enrique Cueto, who was formerly LAN’s CEO, said in a statement.
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Ruling on American’s labor contracts postponed one week
A US bankruptcy court has postponed ruling on whether to dissolve American Airlines’ (AA) largest labor contracts to June 29, giving airline management and union leaders more time to reach a deal.
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Report outlines integration steps for Air India workers
The Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation on Thursday released the Dharmadhikari committee report, outlining measures to integrate Air India’s (AI) fractured workforce following its merger with state-run Indian Airlines nearly five years ago. The unresolved integration issues between employees of the two airlines have led to union unrest.
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Airlines identify their top IT priorities
Nine out of 10 airlines plan to sell tickets via smartphones by 2015, turning mobile into a mainstream distribution channel, according to SITA’s latest Airline IT Trends Survey. Mobile technologies were a top investment priority for the airlines surveyed, for both distribution and passenger service. “Airlines are going to get personal, selling direct to customers through new channels,” said SITA market insight director Nigel Pickford, speaking at the 2012 Air Transport IT Summit in Brussels.
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Thai Airways’ first A380 rolls out of paint shop
Thai Airways' first Airbus A380 aircraft bearing the carrier's livery has been rolled out of the Airbus paint shop in Hamburg. The roll out marks the completion of painting and cabin installation work on the aircraft, which is entering the final phase of ground and flight tests, Airbus said in a statement. Airbus will undertake advanced general performance tests with the aircraft before preparing it for delivery in the third quarter.
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Indonesia's safety committee makes first recommendations after Sukhoi crash
Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) has issued some immediate recommendations to how demonstration flights should be conducted while investigations into the May crash of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 continue. To address the safety issues that were identified, the NTSC is recommending that Indonesia's directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) ensure that all aircraft on demonstration flights operate within a "published minimum safe flight altitude". It also wants Sukhoi to review its procedures for the preparation and operation of demonstration flights and if needed, make the appropriate changes.
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Pending pilots deal highlights Delta's regional contracts
Delta Air Lines will have to renegotiate its contracts with five regional airline groups in order to add 70 76-seat regional jets (RJs) and drop 218 50-seat RJs from its contract carriers, if its pilots approve a new contract.
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Pinnacle Airlines suspends talks with unions
Pinnacle Airlines has suspended negotiations with its labour groups as it returns to the drawing board on its new business plan, following discussions with its sole partner Delta Air Lines on reductions to its 50-seat regional jet fleet and additions to its 76-seat regional jet fleet.
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Bombardier predicts 24,000 business jet deliveries by 2031
"Business jet industry deliveries will return to sustained growth starting in 2013," says Bombardier, "with the large aircraft category demonstrating the fastest growth." In its latest annual forecast, released on 19 June, the Canadian manufacturer predicts deliveries of 24,000 business jets valued at $648 billion by 2031 in every segment in which it competes. The manufacturer produces ultra long-range, long-range, super-large, large, super-midsize, midsize, super-light and light types.
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Indonesian president questions further use of F27 following crash
The Indonesian air force has grounded its fleet of Fokker F27 transport aircraft following a fatal crash last week near Jakarta, as president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono questioned the type's continued use. The air force's F27s are being inspected for any faults, it said. If no issues are found, the type will eventually return to service. The grounding comes amid media reports quoting the Indonesian president as saying that the F27s would be grounded permanently, given that they are due to be replaced with Airbus Military C295s.
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Syria confirms shooting down of Turkish F-4 Phantom
Syria has confirmed that it has shot down a McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom fighter operated by the Turkish air force after it allegedly "violated Syrian airspace" on Friday 22 June. According to the official Syrian news agency Sana, the two-seat fighter entered Syrian airspace at around 11.40 local from the west at "very low altitude and at high speed over territorial waters". It was hit by anti-aircraft artillery around 1km from land and subsequently crashed into Syrian territorial waters 10km west of the village of Om al-Tuyour in the province of Lattakia.
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Small fire injures three at LaGuardia Airport
Three police officers were treated for minor injuries after a small fire broke out at New York's LaGuardia airport on Sunday, prompting a terminal to be evacuated briefly. An electrical fire broke out around 5 pm under the conveyor belt of a Transportation Security Administration screening machine at the security checkpoint in Terminal 1, which houses Delta Air Lines, according to a Port Authority spokesman.
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Turkish Airlines eyes Aer Lingus
Turkish national carrier Turkish Airlines may be a potential bidder for Aer Lingus, just days after rival Irish airline Ryanair made a surprise buyout bid, according to a report in the Sunday Business Post. Turkish Airlines is assessing Ireland's 75-year-old former flag carrier and is "very interested" according to sources.
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No Qatar Airways orders at Farnborough
Qatar Airways will not place any orders at the UK's Farnborough Air Show next month, the airline's chief executive said on Sunday. "We have too many airplanes now. There will be no more orders," chief executive Akbar al Baker told reporters on the sidelines of an event in the Qatari capital, declining to specify a timeframe for when new orders might be made.
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Other News
Elbit Systems has been awarded a $62 million contract to upgrade South Korea's inventory of Lockheed Martin C-130 tactical transports.
TAM absent from Star events as LATAM alliance decision nears: As speculation mounts about the alliance choice of LATAM Airlines Group, the parent of merger partners TAM and LAN Airlines, Star Alliance member TAM noticeably did not attend the alliance’s joining events for Copa and AviancaTaca. As a condition of approving the merger, Chilean regulators are forcing TAM/LAN to choose one global alliance. Santiago de Chile-based LAN is a member of oneworld. TAM did not come to the Copa and AviancaTaca joining events in Panama City and Bogota because the merger's completion was just days away, Star Alliance CEO Mark Schwab said in Bogota. “After that, then they’ll make a decision on how to continue [regarding alliance membership]. For Star Alliance, the situation still remains open [regarding] how TAM will decide," he said.
NextGen benefits already tangible: Tangible benefits are already evident with elements of NextGen, panelists told attendees at ATW’s 5th Annual Eco-Aviation Conference in Washington DC Thursday. “We’re already seeing benefits,” FAA assistant administrator for policy, international affairs and environment Julie Oettinger said. She noted that Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is producing significant benefits in certain areas, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico. JetBlue Airways has become the first US airline to use satellite-based Required Navigation Performance Authorization Required (RNP AR) approaches to runways 13L and 13R at New York JFK using Airbus A320s
Vueling (VY), the Spanish carrier, is planning to do away with check-in, labeling the process as unnecessary and outdated. “There’s no reason for check-in. We don’t need check-in anymore,” CEO Alex Cruz said at the 2012 Air Transport IT Summit in Brussels. “Vueling will eliminate check-in by the end of the year.” VY claims to have the second lowest unit costs in Europe at €0.0418 per ASK, compared to Ryanair at €0.022. “This year we think we are going to make some inroads into that and make the unit costs even lower,” Cruz said. “We are complying with the low-cost bible, but at the same time we feel as though we are a full-service carrier.”
Southwest Airlines’ (SWA) mechanics, represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. (AMFA), and AirTran Airways mechanics, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), voted to ratify their Seniority Integration Agreement. This agreement integrates the two groups' seniority lists following SWA’s acquisition of AirTran Holdings in May 2011.
Air Astana (KC) will delay launching services to Hong Kong by some weeks while awaiting final approval, KC president Peter Foster said. The carrier announced earlier this month it would add 2X-weekly Almaty (ALA) Hong Kong service from July 1.
AVIATION QUOTE
"Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain lurking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space."
— Stephen Hawking, interview in the Winnipeg Free Press, 19 November 2011.
ON THIS DATE
---In 1914... Tom Blakely flies the West Wind in Calgary, Canada. The Curtiss-type biplane was designed by Frank Ellis.
---In 1919... The world’s most modern airliner, the Junkers F-13, makes its first flight at Dessau, Germany. It is made entirely of metal, with a strong, corrugated outer skin and cantilever wing structure, without struts or bracing wires.
---In 1928... The Boeing Model 83 biplane, the last from this company in which wood was used for the wing frame and the last biplane built by Boeing, makes its first flight.
---In 1946…First flight of the Northrop XB-35 flying wing bomber 42-13603.
---In 1947…First flight of the Boeing B-50.
---In 1950…Korean War breaks out.
---In 1955…First flight of the Dassault Mirage I.
---In 1966…The 4200th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing it was changed to 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. The 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing was organized as the unit to fly the SR-71. (Q)
DAILY VIDEO
EDITOR’S CHOICE
HUMOR
Rules of Flying
When a flight is proceeding incredibly well, something was forgotten.
(Robert Livingston, "Flying The Aeronca")
Just remember, if you crash because of weather, your funeral will be held on a sunny day.
(Layton A. Bennett, "Never fly the 'A' model of anything")
When a prang seems inevitable, endeavour to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity as slowly and gently as possible.
(Advice given to RAF pilots during W.W.II)
The Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you.
(Attributed to Max Stanley, Northrop test pilot)
A pilot who doesn't have any fear probably isn't flying his plane to its maximum.
(Jon McBride, astronaut)
If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash as possible.
(Bob Hoover)
If an airplane is still in one piece, don't cheat on it; ride the bastard down.
(Ernest K. Gann, advice from the 'old pelican')
Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death I Shall Fear No Evil For I Am 80,000 Feet and Climbing.
(Sign over the entrance to the SR-71 operating location on Kadena)
You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3.
(Paul F. Crickmore)
Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you.
(Richard Herman, Jr., "Firebreak")
There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime.
(Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970)
The three best things in life are a good landing, a good orgasm, and a good bowel movement. The night carrier landing is one of the few opportunities in life where you get to experience all three at the same time.
"Now I know what a dog feels like watching TV."
(A DC-9 captain trainee attempting to check out on the 'glass cockpit' of a A-320)
TRIVIA
GENERAL TRIVIA
1. What is the primary reason to avoid operating an engine with excessive oil temperature (other engine parameters being normal?
2. Tropical depressions. Tropical storms and hurricanes are defined by their sustained wind speeds. A depression has a maximum of _____knots, a tropical storm has a maximum of _____knots and a hurricane has a minimum of _____knots.
3. Why are some pilots in the habit of applying full power at the instant of touchdown while attempting a full-stop landing?
4. Air Traffic controllers often use the expression “souls on board” when asking the number of people aboard an aircraft in distress. How did this expression originate?
5. What are the two weather conditions most likely to produce extreme turbulence?
6. What was the first airliner (not a seaplane) to have both hydraulically boosted controls and a flight engineer’s station?
7. Why do balloon pilots customarily carry champagne and cheese on their flights?
8. Which of the following aircraft has not been operated successfully from an aircraft carrier?
General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady
North American F-86 Sabre
North American P-51 Mustang
9. A pilot planning a flight to Honolulu wants to minimize the length of the oceanic leg. He should take off from:
Alaska
California
Oregon
Washington
10. Most pilots have observed lightning strike a mountain top, so it would not be surprising to see lightning strike at or near the summit of Mount Everest? True or False.
11. The L in the LTIO-540 Lycoming engine indicates that it is the left engine on a twin with counter-rotating engines. True or False.
12. An airport with a precision or non-precision approach may be designated as an alternate airport if the forecast for the alternate at the estimated time of arrival is “600 and 2” or “800 and 2” respectively. True or False.
on the smaller U2.
ORFflyer wrote:Editor's Choice
