NewsCommercial
EASA certifies A350-900
Airbus has secured European certification for the A350-900 following a 15-month flight-test campaign comprising more than 2,600h. The European Aviation Safety Agency has certified the aircraft with two maximum take-off weight variants: a basic 268t and a higher 275t option. This higher capability is intended to mitigate the A350’s airframe weight which is around 3t above Airbus’s target specification.
Link
Airbus' A380 Breakeven Goal Still Stands
Airbus chief executive Fabrice Bregier told French daily newspaper Le Figaro that it is sticking to a target for its A380 superjumbo to break even next year. He added in an interview that he saw the potential for 10,000 orders for its re-engined A320neo family of single-aisle aircraft.
Link
Ala. Airbus facility continues hiring spree
Hiring activity for Airbus' A320 final assembly line under construction at Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley remains strong as the aircraft manufacturer seeks both an information technology specialist and aircraft systems installation workers. Aircraft systems installers will focus on specified areas such as the vertical/horizontal tail plane or hydraulic line installation. The positions require a high school diploma or GED and at least two years' experience with aircraft maintenance. The starting training pay is $16.50 per hour depending on skills, experience and education. Click here for the complete job description and additional requirements.
Link
Accused In Chicago ATC Fire Appears In Court
A man accused of setting fire to an air control facility in Chicago on Friday appeared in federal court on Monday to hear the charges against him. Brian Howard, 36, of the Chicago suburb of Naperville, appeared in the US District Court of the Northern District of Illinois and was charged with damaging an air navigation facility, interfering with its operations and endangering the safety of aircraft in flight. He did not enter a plea. Howard, a telecommunications contractor at the control center for eight years, tried to kill himself with a knife on Friday after he sabotaged the facility, according to the criminal complaint against him. He was released from hospital on Monday morning and appeared in court with a bandage around his neck.
Link
Advanced weather-radar systems smooth and shorten flights
Airlines are investing in sophisticated weather-radar systems to route between and around storms, making for smoother flights and reducing weather-related detours. "In terms of situational awareness, some of the stuff that the modern-day radars do is incredible," said Erik Eliel, an airline pilot who trains other pilots on radar.
LinkAirlines
Air France-KLM May Need Strategy Rethink
With no deal in sight over pilot pay and up to EUR€300 million (USD$380 million) of strike costs to absorb, Air France-KLM may need to rethink its route to viability. As pilots returned to work and the airline restored its flight schedule to 98 percent on Tuesday, its estimated cost of the two-week strike represents more than double the EUR€130 million operating profit of last year. The company suffered a loss in 2012 and has not paid a dividend since 2008. Like other traditional carriers, the Franco-Dutch group has been squeezed in its long-haul business by competition from Middle East carriers, on shorter routes by the low-cost sector, and by industry overcapacity.
Link
Airlines reduce fuel consumption in innovative ways
Higher oil prices have had a traumatic effect on U.S. airlines, forcing carriers to re-examine every aspect of the way they do business in a bid to control costs. Between 2002 and 2012, the price of jet fuel quadrupled from 70 cents per gallon to over $3. Fuel bills rose from 15 percent to more than 40 percent of the total operating costs of U.S. airlines to become their single largest operating expense. The airlines have responded by changing almost every element of their operations - from restricting capacity growth, eliminating short routes and hiking baggage fees to instructing crews to fly aircraft more slowly and reducing the amount of water carried on board for lavatories and washing.
Link
Delta sommelier describe challenges of in-flight wine
Selecting wines to serve in-flight presents a challenge, experts say. Andrea Immer Robinson, a master sommelier who helps Delta Air Lines choose vintages, said she looks for "real presence on the palate" in the selection process. "There's also the reduced cabin pressure, which affects the aromatic vapors of the wine," she said.
Link
Germany Examines Etihad, Air Berlin Codeshare
Germany is examining codeshare plans between Air Berlin and shareholder Etihad Airways, a move the German airline says is an attempt to reinterpret a bilateral agreement with the United Arab Emirates. The German federal aviation authority (LBA) checks codeshare deals every time airlines submit winter and summer schedules for flights to and from Germany. The two airlines have shared flight codes since 2012 and the LBA has approved all six flight schedules. Air Berlin said that the authorities were trying to put a new spin on the provisions of an air transport agreement between Germany and the UAE during the review of the airlines' winter schedules. The agreement governs traffic rights between the two countries and dictates how often Gulf carriers can fly to Germany, and to which airports.
Link
Hawaiian Airlines partners with Maui Brewing Co.
Hawaiian Airlines has an official craft beer: the products of Maui Brewing Co., which beginning this week will be featured on the airline's beverage carts. The brewery's Bikini Blonde Lager is the launch beer for the partnership, which started with international flights and now includes domestic travel as well.
Link
JetBlue, El Al Israel seek code-share deal
JetBlue and El Al Israel Airlines are seeking U.S. Department of Transportation approval for a code-share deal that capitalizes on the airlines' overlap in the New York area. The code share would allow El Al to put its "LY" code on some JetBlue flights, making it possible for passengers to book flights on both airlines with a single ticket.
Link
United Airlines appoints Linda Jojo as new CIO
United Airlines announced the hiring of Linda Jojo as chief information officer and executive vice president. Jojo previously served as CIO at Rogers Communications. Jojo will replace outgoing CIO Bob Edwards, who announced plans to retire.
Link
Vietnam Airlines' first A350 aircraft enters final assembly
Vietnam Airlines' first Airbus A350-900 has entered final assembly. The entry into final assembly comes a day after the aircraft gained type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which certified it with two maximum take-off weight variants: a basic 268t and a higher 275t option.
LinkMilitary
First PC-21s head for Qatar
Pilatus has delivered its first two PC-21 trainers to Qatar, with the pair having left its Stans manufacturing site in Switzerland for the Middle East on 29 September. Registered as QA 353 and 354, the two-seat aircraft are among eight to have been completed so far, under a deal for 24 of the type signed in July 2012.
Link
Poland requests JASSM weapons for F-16 fleet
Poland is looking to add the Lockheed Martin AGM-158A Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) to its fleet of Lockheed F-16 fighters, under a potential acquisition worth around $500 million. Disclosed to the US Congress on 17 September, the proposed Foreign Military Sales programme deal with Warsaw would include 40 AGM-158As, plus flight certification test vehicles, instrumented test weapons and inert JASSM rounds. “The proposed sale will improve Poland’s capability to meet current and future threats of enemy air and ground weapons systems,… strengthen its air-to-ground strike capabilities and increase its contribution to future NATO operations,” the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a notification. “Poland will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defence,” it adds.
Link
RAF Tornados strike first Islamic State targets
A pair of Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado GR4s engaged their first Islamic State targets in Iraq on 30 September, the UK Ministry of Defence has announced. The strike aircraft were conducting an armed reconnaissance mission launched from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, when they were “tasked to assist Kurdish troops in north-west Iraq who were under attack”, the MoD says. What the MoD describes as “a heavy weapon position” was located using the Tornado’s Rafael Litening III targeting pod, before this was engaged using one Raytheon Paveway IV precision-guided bomb. “Following this engagement, the patrol identified an armed pick-up truck in the same area and conducted an attack on the vehicle using a [MBDA] Brimstone missile,” it adds.
Link
First new-build MH-47G delivered to US Special Operations
US Special Operations Command aviators already fly a highly advanced version of the Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy lift helicopter, but not until 29 September did they have one built from scratch. The command’s MH-47Gs, as they are designated, have previously been heavily retrofitted CH-47C, D and E models. Building the aircraft from the ground up allowed for a monolithic, machined airframe rather than sheet metal, which cuts down on vibration fatigue and subsequent maintenance. Design work began in 2011 and first flight of the first new-build of a total eight on order took place in late September. The helicopter is slated for the 160th special operations aviation regiment, known as the Night Stalkers, and was delivered at Boeing’s Ridley Park facility on 29 September. Steve Parker, Boeing’s cargo helicopter and H-47 program manager says it is “without a doubt the most capable Chinook that Boeing has ever built.”
Link
More T-6C trainers head for New Zealand
Beechcraft has transferred its second batch of two T-6C trainers to New Zealand, with the aircraft having left its Wichita production site in Kansas. Carrying the registrations NZ1404 and NZ1405, the turboprop-powered aircraft made stops in Canada, Greenland and Iceland, before passing through Glasgow, Scotland (above) and making an overnight stop in Stansted, England on 23 September during the long range transfer. The pair follow an initial two trainers which completed the ferry flight to Ohakea air base in late August.
Link
Aviation Quote
United has little to fear from numerous small competitors. We should be able to compete effectively by advertising our size, dependability, and experience, and by matching or beating their promotional tactics. . . . In a free environment, we would be able to flex our marketing muscles a bit and should not fear the treat of being nibbled to death by little operators.
— Richard Ferris, CEO United Airlines, 1976.
On This Date
---In 1861... The United States Army Balloon Corps, consisting of five balloons and fifty men, is formed.
---In 1906... United States Army Lieutenant Frank Lahm wins the 1st Gordon Bennett international balloon race.
---In 1912... The Military Aviation Service is founded in Germany.
---In 1941…Inter-Island Airways was renamed Hawaiian Airlines.
---In 1947... Los Angeles Airways opens the world’s 1st regular airmail service by helicopter, using Sikorsky S-51 machines.
---In 1947…First flight of the North American XP-86A.
---In 1966…West Coast Airlines, Flight 956 crashed with 18 fatalities. This was the first crash of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9.
---In 1971…Aurigny Air Services commences operations with Britten-Norman Trislander.
---In 1972…Malaysian Airline System is formed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
---In 1976… After his 1973 RTW attempt was aborted by bad weather between Hokkaidō and the Aleutian Islands, Don Taylor of California successfully circumnavigates the world (Oshkosh eastbound to Oshkosh) in his Thorp T-18, the first aviator to do so with a homebuilt aircraft.
---In 1986…The AH-64 Apache enters service with the US 6th Cavalry Brigade.
---In 1994…United Airlines created a new airline named United Shuttle.
Daily Video
Editor’s Choice
Humor
Flight Deck Visit
The charter flight home had been a long one. The passengers had got a bit bored over the second half and cockpit visits were taking place.
After a while the crew were getting tired of this, so when the steward asked for "just one more", the captain told him to show the passenger the cockpit himself and then they were going to descend.
As they went through the plates, the crew heard something like, "So this is the captain on the left - the sexual adviser on the right and the flight engineer here behind. Now, these instruments in the middle are.." "excuse me, what did you say the man on the right was?" asked the passenger. "The sexual adviser." answered the steward "Now - these levers here are......"
"I am sorry to interrupt again" said the pax but do mean to tell me that you carry a sexual adviser on your crews?" The steward looked blankly at him. "Well I presumed so!" he answered - "At least, every time he opens his mouth, the captain says 'When I need your F---ing Advice, I'll ask you for it!
Trivia
Tail ID
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Airlines reduce fuel consumption in innovative ways
Higher oil prices have had a traumatic effect on U.S. airlines, forcing carriers to re-examine every aspect of the way they do business in a bid to control costs. Between 2002 and 2012, the price of jet fuel quadrupled from 70 cents per gallon to over $3. Fuel bills rose from 15 percent to more than 40 percent of the total operating costs of U.S. airlines to become their single largest operating expense. The airlines have responded by changing almost every element of their operations - from restricting capacity growth, eliminating short routes and hiking baggage fees to instructing crews to fly aircraft more slowly and reducing the amount of water carried on board for lavatories and washing.
Delta sommelier describe challenges of in-flight wine
Selecting wines to serve in-flight presents a challenge, experts say. Andrea Immer Robinson, a master sommelier who helps Delta Air Lines choose vintages, said she looks for "real presence on the palate" in the selection process. "There's also the reduced cabin pressure, which affects the aromatic vapors of the wine," she said.
