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Commercial

Airbus patents bird-scaring technology
Airbus has patented advanced digital sonic technology that could be deployed to frighten away birds from aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration has estimated that bird strikes cost $957 million a year.
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Boeing predicts growth in market for global air freight
Boeing Co. predicts that the market for global air freight will double over the next 20 years. "We see strong signs of a recovery as air-freight traffic levels continue to strengthen after several years of stagnation," said Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for the carrier.
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Boeing to use St. Louis facility for 777X aircraft parts
Boeing Co. announced plans to expand its defense facility in St. Louis to build composite aircraft parts for the 777X. Mo. Gov. Jay Nixon said the decision will add up to 700 jobs in the region. Boeing now employs around 15,000 people in St. Louis.
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Airlines

Southwest CEO: Demand higher than expected for Love Field flights
Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines, said bookings for long-haul flights out of Dallas Love Field are higher than predicted. "I'm very confident that the demand will far exceed the capacity of the airport," Kelly said. On Monday, the Wright Amendment expires, which will allow unrestricted flights to domestic destinations from Love Field.
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Hawaiian Airlines carried more passengers in Sept.
Hawaiian Airlines carried 5.2% more passengers in September than the same month last year. The carrier ferried 823,000 passengers in September, and Hawaiian's load factor rose 2.2% to 82.5% for the month.
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KLM celebrates 95th anniversary in Amsterdam style
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines on 7 October celebrated its 95th anniversary with the unveiling of a special “KLM 95 years” logo on one of its MD-11 aircraft and the laying of the first stone for a new KLM lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol. The “95” logo will also, for the duration of KLM’s anniversary, appear on one aircraft of each type in the carrier’s intercontinental fleet, where passengers flying business class during the anniversary year will receive an exclusive on-board gift of a new KLM Delftware miniature house created for the occasion.
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Pilots To Strike At Lufthansa Cargo
German pilots union VC has called a strike at Lufthansa Cargo for October 8-9 in a dispute over retirement benefits. The strike is the sixth by Lufthansa pilots this year and the first to target the air freight unit only. The union said the walkout would last from October 8 at 03:00 until October 9 at 22:30 local time, affecting all Lufthansa Cargo flights departing from German airports. The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union, representing about 5,400 Lufthansa pilots, wants the airline to maintain a scheme that allows pilots to retire early at the age of 55 and still receive up to 60 percent of their pay before pension payments start.
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Ryanair 737s in taxiing collision at Dublin airport
Two Ryanair aircraft were involved in a ground incident at Dublin airport this morning. "The winglet of one aircraft appears to have scraped the tail of the other," says the Irish budget carrier. The Boeing 737s had been "taxiing slowly" and were "under the instruction of Dublin airport air traffic control", adds Ryanair. It stresses that there was "no impact on customers on board" and that it has been working with the Irish Aviation Authority to return both aircraft to stand. Replacement aircraft are being used to fly the delayed customers to Brussels Charleroi and Edinburgh.
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Airports

N.C. airport authority to offer incentives for EU flights
The Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority pledged Monday to spend $2.1 million in first-year incentives – and urged Triangle government and civic leaders to match the investment – in a new push to attract more international flights to the region. With Paris and Frankfurt cited as primary destination targets, RDU leaders said they would waive landing fees, rents and customs processing costs worth $1.6 million for the first year of new international service. An additional $500,000 worth of support would come in marketing campaigns to promote the new flight. RDU has expanded nonstop service to the West Coast in the past two years and has enjoyed 20 years of success with its American Airlines flight to London, but it has struggled to land a second overseas connection. Delta announced a Paris flight in the fall of 2008 but changed its mind a few weeks later.
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Military

Learjet collided with German Eurofighter during hard turn
The two-man crew of a Bombardier Learjet 35A died when their aircraft was in collision with a German air force Eurofighter after a quick reaction alert training exercise went wrong, Germany’s BFU accident investigation board has concluded, in an interim report into the 23 June accident. Operated by Germany’s GFD, Learjet D-CGFI was taking part in training with a pair of Eurofighters, the latter having taken off from Nörvenich air base. The exercise scenario was for the aircraft to be out of communication with air traffic controllers, prompting a Eurofighter to intercept and fly alongside it to observe its pilots, before instructing them to follow it to land at Wunstorf air base.
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Philippines invites bids for ASW helicopters
The Philippines has issued a tender for two anti-submarine warfare helicopters, with bidding to commence on 21 October. In a bidding document posted on its web site, the Department of National Defence says that the budget for the two helicopters is Ps5.4 billion ($120 million). This amount will also cover weapons, key equipment, d logistics support. Manila is in the process of recapitalising its military in the context of simmering territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.
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UK to delay next Tornado squadron retirement
All three of the Royal Air Force’s current Panavia Tornado GR4-equipped frontline squadrons will continue to operate the strike aircraft for the immediate future, after the UK government reversed a decision to disband one of the units early next year. Prime Minister David Cameron on 3 October confirmed that 2 Sqn – based at RAF Marham in Norfolk – will continue to operate the Tornado GR4 until March 2016. It had previously been expected to stand down in March 2015, following the completion of the UK’s combat involvement in Afghanistan by the end of this year.
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US clears way for Brunei purchase of Lockheed C-130J
The US State Department has approved the possible sale of a Lockheed Martin C-130J and six engines to the government of Brunei. Brunei requested clearance to purchase one C-130J and six Rolls-Royce AE2100D3 engines – four installed and two spares ‑ along with equipment, spare parts and training and logistical support for a total $343 million, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on 7 October. DSCA delivered the necessary certification to Congress for approval on 6 October.
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Regulatory

FAA almost finished repairing damage at Chicago ATC center
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it is close to completing a clean out of equipment damaged last month in a fire at a suburban Chicago air traffic control center. Nearly 4,000 domestic flights were canceled last weekend following a fire at an air traffic control tower in Aurora, Ill., set on Sept. 26 as part of a suicide attempt by an FAA employee. The agency said in its latest update that air service was returning close to normal levels at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway international airports.
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Aviation Quote

There is not much to say about most airplane journeys. Anything remarkable must be disastrous, so you define a good flight by negatives: you didn't get hijacked, you didn't crash, you didn't throw up, you weren't late, you weren't nauseated by the food. So you're grateful.

— Paul Theroux, The Old Patagonian Express, 1979.

On This Date

---In 1883... French brothers Albert and Gaston Tissandier make the 1st flight with an airship powered by electricity.

---In 1967…The first helicopter gunship designed as such to see combat, the U.S. Army's AH-1G Cobra, flies its first combat mission when two AH-1Gs operating over South Vietnam escort U.S. Army trasnport helicopters, then support South Vietnamese troops by destroying four enemy fortifications and sinking 14 sampans.

---In 2001… The aircraft SAS MD87 was taking off from Milan's Linate airport in Italy for a flight to Copenhagen when it collided with a Cessna Citation on the fog-shrouded runway. The airliner then crashed into a nearby hangar and caught fire. All six crew members and 104 passengers on the airliner were killed, as were the four occupants of the business jet and four airport workers on the ground.

Daily Video

Editor’s Choice

Humor

The Copilot

I am the copilot. I sit on the right.
It's up to me to be quick and bright;
I never talk back for I have regrets,
But I have to remember what the Captain forgets.

I make out the Flight Plan and study the weather,
Pull up the gear, stand by to feather;
Make out the mail forms and do the reporting,
And fly the old crate while the Captain is courting.

I take the readings, adjust the power,
Put on the heaters when we're in a shower;
Tell him where we are on the darkest night,
And do all the bookwork without any light.
I call for my Captain and buy him cokes;
I always laugh at his corny jokes,

And once in a while when his landings are rusty
I always come through with, "By gosh it's gusty!"
All in all I'm a general stooge,
As I sit on the right of the man I call "Scrooge";
I guess you think that is past understanding,
But maybe someday he will give me a landing.

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Queso wrote:Thanks again for putting together the Daily each day, Miamiair.

Queso wrote:Thanks again for putting together the Daily each day, Miamiair.