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Star Alliance hails ‘smooth start’ at Heathrow’s T2
More than 4,000 passengers used London Heathrow’s Terminal 2 in its first eight hours of operation, says Star Alliance. The first flight to arrive at the new facility, which landed at 05:43 this morning, was conducted by Star carrier United Airlines, which will the sole operator at Terminal 2. The 22 other Star carriers with operations at Heathrow will be resident at Terminal 2 within six months, along with Aer Lingus, Germanwings and Little Red.
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Strike Threatens LATAM Airlines On Eve Of World Cup
Maintenance workers at LATAM Airlines have threatened to delay or cancel flights throughout South America in support of a strike by Peruvian colleagues in the days ahead of the World Cup. LATAM workers in countries where the airline operates were handing out flyers to passengers to warn them of disruptions, Dario Castillo, president of the union of maintenance workers for LAN Chile, told Reuters on Wednesday. "We are going to support our Peruvian colleagues with flight delays and cancellations and that applies to the whole LATAM network," Castillo said. The World Cup kicks off on June 12, with Brazil expecting one of the biggest influxes of tourists it has ever seen.
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Volcanic Eruption Disrupts Air Travel In Alaska
A volcanic eruption in Alaska that sent a plume of ash and smoke high into the sky forced regional airline PenAir to cancel flights on Wednesday. Pavlof Volcano, which has been spewing ash and lava for years in an uninhabited region nearly 600 miles (966 km) southwest of Anchorage, erupted with new intensity this week and prompted Alaska scientists to issue their highest volcanic alert in five years on Monday. Regional airline PenAir began canceling flights late on Tuesday from Anchorage to a pair of Aleutian Island destinations, Cold Bay and Dutch Harbor, because of a mix of high winds and volcanic ash from Pavlof, PenAir spokeswoman Missy Roberts said.
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Australia Opens Tender For Next Phase Of MH370 Search
Australia on Wednesday began the process of finding a private contractor to take over the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 after three months of military-led searches failed to find any trace of its wreckage. The Boeing 777, carrying 239 passengers and crew, disappeared from radar screens on March 8 shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing. Investigators say what little evidence they have to work with suggests the plane was deliberately diverted thousands of kilometers from its scheduled route before eventually crashing into the Indian Ocean. The next phase of the search is expected to start in August and take up to a year, covering 60,000 sq kilometers of ocean at a cost of AUD$60 million (USD$55.5 million) or more. The search is already the most expensive in aviation history.
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Delta Air Lines traffic soared 5.8% in May
Delta Air Lines announced its passenger traffic increased 5.8% in May on a year-over-year basis. The carrier's passenger revenue per available seat mile also rose 7% for the month, while its load factor increased to 86.5% from 84.8% in the same month of 2013.
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US Airways signs codeshare agreement with Air Berlin
Air Berlin and US Airways have entered into a new codeshare agreement allowing the airlines to place their code on the other carrier on some transatlantic flights. Under the new agreement, passengers on the airlines may also earn points through frequent flyer programs operated by either carrier.
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Delta launches nonstop service to Korea from Seattle
Delta Airlines yesterday launched a daily non-stop service between Seattle and Seoul. The carrier is deploying a B767-300ER aircraft on the route with 35 seats in business elite, 32 in economy comfort and 153 in economy. Flight 199 departs Seattle Tacoma at 1200 and arrives at Seoul Incheon at 1530 local time the following day. Return service 198 departs from Seoul at 1720 and lands at Seattle at 1205 local time the same day.
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Air Canada CEO to serve as chairman of IATA board of governors
Calin Rovinescu, the president and CEO of Air Canada, will serve a one-year term as chairman of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) board of governors. "As we continue to celebrate 100 years of commercial aviation, I am excited at the opportunity of taking on the chairmanship of the IATA Board of Governors," Rovinescu said. He takes over the position from Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Air Lines.
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Airbus begins passenger-flights to assess new A350 XWB
The cabin environment and other systems of the new A350 XWB are being assessed by Airbus in a series of Early Long Flights. The two flights are being conducted with cabin crew from Air France and Lufthansa and passengers are being asked to give feedback on such systems as air flow, noise, in-flight entertainment and ergonomics. "We'll be looking at everything from the in-flight entertainment system and overhead storage bins to the air conditioning and lavatories," said ELF test director Christophe Bertrand.
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Free Wi-Fi now available at Atlanta airport
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta now has free Wi-Fi. The new system can handle as many as 15,000 users at the same time.
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Boingo Wireless to provide free Wi-Fi at Nashville airport
Travelers using Nashville International Airport in Tennessee can take advantage of free Wi-Fi service. The service requires users to watch an advertisement, download an application or complete a survey for every 30 minutes of use.
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Boeing plugs remaining 12 C-17s on international market
Boeing is working on the sale of the 12 final C-17 strategic transport aircraft, but says its joint marketing with Embraer on the KC-390 programme is taking longer than expected. When asked about the final 12 examples from the C-17 line, Chris Chadwick, president and chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, reiterated that the company is working on selling them, but did not provide specifics. “We’re pretty bullish on those airplanes,” he says. “There are some existing customers we’re in dialogue with and Middle East customers that have interest in C-17s. India has also stated that they would like additional C-17s. We firmly believe we’ll have no difficulty selling those C-17s.” Chadwick made the comments in Singapore last week on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogues event. His comments followed Boeing’s 8 April announcement that it will bring forward the closure of the C-17’s Long Beach product line to mid-2015, three months earlier than expected.
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Boeing defence chief guns for fighter deals
Boeing is optimistic about the health of its tactical fighter business, and believes its diverse portfolio of aircraft types and capabilities will serve it in good stead in the prevailing lean defence environment. “Worldwide there is a rebalancing of social and defence needs, and this has brought pressure to bear on almost all the governments we deal with,” says Chris Chadwick, president and chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. “We’ve put a full court press on how we break from the pack of other defence companies.” Chadwick made the remarks on the sidelines of the recent Shangri-La Dialogues event in Singapore, where he led a Boeing delegation to network with Asia Pacific defence leaders. He says it is key for defence contractors to break the cycle of escalating costs, while also delivering capabilities that customers require for the 21st century.
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Saab makes Southeast Asia maritime surveillance push
Saab sees an increasing demand for its portfolio of defence products in Southeast Asia, and is particularly focused on opportunities in the maritime surveillance mission. Anders Dahl, head of Saab Singapore, says the countries in Southeast Asia will need to grow their capabilities to better control their littoral regions and oceanic frontiers. Dahl made the remarks to journalists on the sidelines of last week’s Shangri-La Dialogues forum in Singapore. The event sees defence leaders from around the world meet to discuss strategic issues in the Asia Pacific. It was the first time a Saab presentation coincided with the event. The big theme of this year’s event was China’s increasing assertiveness in the South China and East China Seas.
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Canadian fighter debate intensifies
Ottawa expects to make a decision soon on whether to stage an open competition to replace its Boeing CF-18 fighters, or to instead advance with previous plans to acquire up to 65 Lockheed Martin F-35s. Expressing concern that the nation’s government could lean towards the first of these options, a pro-F-35 ‘Canadian JSF Industry Group’ published an open letter ahead of the CANSEC defence and security show, which took place in Ottawa from 28-29 May.
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Aviation Quote
A pilot who says he has never been frightened in an airplane is, I'm afraid, lying.
— Louise Thaden
On This Date
---In 1909... John Berry and Paul McCullough win the U.S.’s first National Balloon Race, covering 377.9 miles – from Indianapolis, Indiana to Fort Payne, Alabama – in 25 hours 35 minutes.
---In 1909... The first monoplane flight of over one hour is made by Englishman Hubert Latham on the Antoinette IV for one hour, seven minutes, 37 seconds.
---In 1963... President Kennedy announces that his administration would seek funds for the sponsored development of a supersonic transport aircraft.
---In 1967…Monarch Airlines is founded.
---In 1967…Boeing delivers its 1,000th jet airliner, a Boeing 707-120B for American Airlines.
---In 1967…The start of the Six-Day War, is fought between Israel and her Arab neighbours Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. In a pre-emptive strike, the Israeli Air Force destroys half of the Egyptian Air Force on the first night. By the end of the six days, 452 Arab aircraft had been destroyed for a loss of 46 Israeli aircraft.
---In 1969... The Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic airliner becomes the first aircraft of its class to fly through the sound barrier when it exceeds Mach 1 at a height of 36,000 ft.
---In 1969… The Air Force agreed to allow NASA to use two YF-12s in a NASA program. (Q)
---In 1981… The KC-10 completed qualification testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
---In 1983…Death of Kurt Waldemar Tank (b.February 24, 1898) was a German aeronautical engineer and test pilot, heading the design department at Focke-Wulf from 1931-45. He designed several important aircraft of World War II, including the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft.
---In 1989... The massive Antonov An-225 Mriya flies in to Paris-Le Bourget for the 1989 Paris Air Show, carrying the Soviet Shuttle Buran on its back. When it takes of from Kiev to fly to Paris, the combination has a takeoff weight of 1,234,600 lb., the greatest weight ever lifted into the air.
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A New Operative
The CIA needed to fill an opening for an overseas coordinator of covert operations. They wanted someone absolutely ruthless and loyal, willing and able to follow any order.
Finally, they whittled it down to 3 candidates. Each was brought to the Director's office one at a time. When the first one walked in, the Director said: 'John, I think you're one of the best candidates for this job. I just want you to do one thing to prove it to everyone. Take this pistol, go in the room next door, and shoot the person in there.'
John takes the gun, opens the door, shouts 'Are you CRAZY? That's my WIFE!' Tosses the gun to the Director, takes his wife and storms out.
Second agent, same instructions, pauses briefly when he opens the door, steels himself and goes in. Director listens to the silence beyond the door for a minute, then the agent comes back, with his wife, puts the gun on the desk and leaves, shaking his head.
Third agent enters the room, pulls the door shut behind him. Director hears a few shots fired, and gets up from his desk. Then there is a horrendous noise of screaming and thuds. He runs to the door, yanks it open just as the third agent comes back. 'Some idiot put blanks in the gun, but I managed to beat her to death with the chair.'
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