NewsCivil Aviation
Emirates Considering Record Boeing Order - Report
Emirates is in advanced talks with Boeing to buy up to 100 long-haul planes with a price tag of up to USD$30 billion, according to a report in the Financial Times. The Gulf airline is also looking at further deals with Airbus for A380 superjumbos and the A350.
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Hundreds Of Flights Cancelled As Storm Hits UK
Britain's strongest storm in a decade battered southern regions on Monday, forcing hundreds of flight cancellations, cutting power lines and disrupting the travel plans of millions of commuters. Winds of up to 99 miles per hour (160 km per hour) lashed southern England and Wales in the early hours of Monday, shutting down rail services in some areas during rush hour. Toppled trees crushed cars, damaged properties and flooding made some roads impassable in southern England. Storms were are also expected to hit parts of the Netherlands later on Monday, the Dutch Meteorological Institute said, and Schiphol airport told passengers to expect cancellations.
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Storm Causes Travel Chaos In UK, Netherlands
Hurricane strength winds battered Britain and the Netherlands on Monday, killing five people, cutting power and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and train journeys before the storm blew further into mainland Europe. Gusts of up to 99 mph (160 kph) lashed southern England and Wales in the worst storm recorded in Britain in a decade, while Denmark and Sweden were bracing for the impact there. A 17-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell onto her home while she slept in Kent, southeast of London, while a man in his 50s was killed when a tree crushed his car in Watford, just north of the capital.
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Spain Seeks Sale Of Up To 60 Percent Of AENA
Spain is seeking three to five core investors to buy 20 to 30 percent of debt-burdened state airport operator AENA and may then float further shares to leave 60 percent of the company in private hands, according to an official report. The Privatization Consulting Council (CCP) study made public on Monday was commissioned by AENA to assess the legal basis for the government's privatization plan. Details of the plan were unknown until now. Investment bank Lazard and Spain's N+1 brokerage have been hired to help line up investors for AENA. However, sources close to the process said there was a slim chance of meeting the government's goal of a deal early next year unless Madrid's Barajas airport, which represents 20 percent of AENA's income, can turn around a decline in traffic.
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C-130 crash crew had no terrain warning
Terrain-warning settings on a Lockheed Martin C-130J were not adequate to detect the presence of Sweden’s Kebnekaise mountain before the Norwegian military transport fatally collided with the peak. All five occupants were killed as the aircraft struck the snowy rock face at 280kt (518km/h), just 14s after levelling off at its cleared altitude of 7,000ft (2,130m). It had been descending towards Kiruna on a service from Evenes, as part of the Cold Response exercise, on 15 March last year. Owing to the high latitude, above 60°N, there was no terrain database available for the forward-looking terrain-awareness system.
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Eurofighter upgrades move closer to operational release
A package of upgrades for the Eurofighter Typhoon has moved closer to operational release, following the completion of flight test activities by consortium partner company Cassidian. Taking place at company sites in Manching, Germany and Getafe, Spain, the "intensive" test effort, using instrumented production aircraft 4 and 7, has validated the Phase 1 Enhancement (P1E) program, says Cassidian. This, it adds, "delivers a simultaneous multi-/swing-role capability to the nations' air forces", and will be available to customers from end-2013. "The Phase 1 Enhancements will provide a significant leap in the Eurofighter's operational capabilities. Deploying multiple weapons with attack constraints simultaneously in all weather has never been easier," says Chris Worning, Eurofighter project pilot at Cassidian.
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Fifth T-50 PAK FA stealth fighter takes flight
Sukhoi has completed the first flight of its fifth prototype T-50/PAK FA stealth fighter at Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the company announces in a 28 October media release. The NPO Saturn 117-powered aircraft flew for 50min and conducted stability and propulsion system tests, says Sukhoi, adding that the pilot reported that the aircraft’s system performed reliably.
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Analysis: AMR results should boost confidence in reorganization plan
An analysis by the Investment Doctor says the AMR reorganization plan has proved successful in reducing costs by trimming $850 million from wages during the first nine months of 2013. AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, also reported a profit for the third quarter. "American Airlines' (and subsidiary American Eagle) passenger revenue was actually the highest in the history of the company, which gives investors a lot of confidence in the outcome of the current Chapter 11 procedure," the Investment Doctor writes.
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Delta launches service on Boeing 717s
Delta Air Lines has started flying Boeing 717s purchased from AirTran Airways. Delta repainted and modified the interiors of the 717s, which will replace 50-seat regional jets, which were less fuel efficient. The first re-purposed 717 transported Delta passengers from Atlanta to Newark, N.J., last week.
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Alaska opts for fuel-saving winglets
Alaska Airlines announced the carrier will purchase winglets produced by Seattle's Aviation Partners Inc. The split scimitar winglets will be installed on 111 of Alaska's Boeing 737 aircraft. Alaska projects the winglets will save 58,000 gallons of fuel annually.
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UPS reports Q3 earnings of $1.1B
United Parcel Service reported earnings of $1.1 billion, or $1.16 earnings per share, for the third quarter, more than double its results from the same quarter last year. The quarterly results also surpassed analyst estimates of $1.15 earnings per share.
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Airbus highlights U.S. presence
Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier is promoting the manufacturer's facility on American soil as a way to increase market share in the U.S. Bregier pointed to recent orders from Delta Air Lines and JetBlue for Airbus A320s as successes. "This is first of all because of the quality of the product, but also because we are seen as a U.S. citizen and assembling our aircraft here in the United States," he said.
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Airbus recommends 18" international economy-seat standard
Capitalizing on the trend towards narrower seats, Airbus called for airlines to adopt an 18” (45.72 cm) standard for the width of economy seats on long-haul aircraft on Monday. In recent years, numerous airlines including American, Air Canada, Air France-KLM, Dubai’s Emirates Airline, and United Airlines are cutting back on shoulder space by adding an extra seat into each row in coach. Until recently, the standard on a Boeing 777 was nine seats per row. In 2012, the airframe maker says that almost 70% of the largest versions of that aircraft were shipped with ten seats per row.
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Airlines address fuel efficiency through innovation
All U.S. airlines are taking steps to increase fuel efficiency of aircraft by introducing innovations such as slimmer seats and winglets. "Most of our capacity growth in the past couple of years has been through adding gauge to aircraft and utilizing our aircraft more and putting more seats on the airplane," said Scott Kirby, president of US Airways. United Airlines revealed the slimmer seat designs it will roll out on 500 of its planes, saying the airline is "focused on customer comfort, revenue generation and fuel efficiency." United is also the first airline to test a new winglet design that is expected to save nearly $200 million in annual fleet fuel costs.
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PwC survey: Passengers want more customized choices
According to a survey by PwC, passengers want more customized choices. "Those airlines that understand the true value drivers among each flier segment will be best-positioned to compete and drive returns on their investments through enhanced products and services," said Jonathan Kletzel, U.S. transportation and logistics leader for PwC.
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Airlines' family plans offer rewards to less-frequent fliers
Some airlines allow their customers to pool their air miles as part of a family plan, enabling those that don't fly as frequently to collect rewards. JetBlue offers a program that lets up to two adults over 21 and five kids under 21 to pool their miles. ANA and Japan Airlines also offer these types of programs.
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Aviation Quote
The preponderance of the Republican Guard divisions outside of Baghdad are now dead. I find it interesting when folks say we're softening them up. We're not softening them up, we're killing them.
— Lt. Gen. Michael Moseley, USAF, 5 April 2003.
On This Date
---In 1917... An American-built DH-4 flies for the 1st time.
---In 1976… Last flight of the Big Tail SR-71 (959). (Q)
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Ways To Annoy The Person Sitting Next To You On A Flight
• Find common interests. Ask, "Are you in the Witness Protection program too?"
• Tell your fellow passenger that you just heard the bathrooms were out-of-order. Then pause and say, "Did you know that peanuts are a natural diuretic?" Smile.
• Call the stewardess "nurse".
• Sport a kamikaze helmet and goggles. Speak in a low voice into a hand held tape recorder: "Today's date, December 7th, 1941. I was not able to command my own personal plane but success shall still be ours...."
• Yell out, "John Lithgow is on the wing!"
• Speak in Spelling Bee-eese: "Hello. H-e-l-l-o. Hello. Nice weather we're having isn't it? Weather. W-e-a-t-h-e-r. Weather."
• Start singing the Shari Lewis theme, "This is the song that never ends, it just goes on and on my friends, some people started singing it not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it forever just because, this is the song that never ends...." Suddenly realize that you can never stop singing. Become very panicky. Scrawl "Help me" on a piece of paper and hand it to the person sitting next to you. Claw at your throat and thrash around in the seat. Never stop singing.
• Continually offer to share your "Beano".
• Decorate. Bring a scatter rug and tiny draperies. Hang a "Home Sweet Home" plaque on the back of the seat in front of you. Invite your fellow passengers in for tea.
• Suddenly remember that you left your iron on. Ask if the pilot would mind going back so you can check.
• Bring your computer keyboard without a monitor. Place it on your lap. Stare into the palm of your hand. Wait. Push the return key a few times. Yell out "Yes! Alright! I told them I didn't need a laptop!" Plug the headphones into your nostril and play DOOM.
• Bring a duffel bag packed with pipe cleaners, styrofoam balls, construction paper, etc. Organize a "Kraft Korner". Make a craft likeness of the person sitting next to you. Give yourself an "F".
• Say, "Did you know every time a plane crashes, an angel gets its wings?" Then sigh and stare dreamily into the clouds.
• Snap Polaroids of him or her. Pull out an empty photo album and arrange the pictures inside it. Tuck the album under your jacket and say, "You know, in some cultures they believe that when you take a person's photograph...you own their soul...," while smiling maniacally.
• Bring a cellular phone. Call God. Say, "The reception is much clearer up here...."
• Speak in an incredibly fake Australian accent. Call the person "mate". Tell them you're not used to seeing the sky, since you are from "Down Under". Keep repeating quotes from "Crocodile Dundee," such as "That's not a knife! That's a knife!", until they are forced to yell at you that you are not Australian. Call them prejudiced.
• Bring a "Word-a-Day" calendar on board with you. Read every single word aloud and attempt to use it in a sentence. Use them all incorrectly.
"My, you have a very irate home,' she said governessly."
Lean back in your seat, fold your arms behind your head and exclaim, "Thank God for auto-pilot, eh?"
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