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The ARJ21 progress report
Comac appears to be on the verge of finally getting its much delayed ARJ21 regional jet certificated, after having completed all the necessary ground tests and 95% of all flight test modules. Its four flight test aircraft have so far completed 2,652 flights, accumulating 4,812 flight hours. The programme’s vice-chief designer Zhao Keliang tells Flightglobal there are about 10 flight test certification modules left to be done. These include tests on the aircraft’s maximum break energy, rejected takeoff and its flight control system. The ARJ21 also needs to undergo functional and reliability testing, which would require the aircraft to fly for another 150 hours. This means that the test fleet would surpass the 5,000 flight hour mark by the time it is certificated by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
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Survey ships set to grapple with MH370 search
As the underwater search for the lost Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 resumes, Australian authorities have underlined the challenges inherent in finding the aircraft. “The complexities surrounding the search cannot be understated,” says the Australian Safety Transport Bureau. “It involves vast areas of the Indian Ocean with only limited known data and aircraft flight information. While it is impossible to determine with certainty where the aircraft may have entered the water, all the available data and analysis indicates a highly probable search area close to a long but narrow arc of the southern Indian Ocean.”
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New data, refined analysis nudge MH370 search southwards
As the deep water search for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER missing since March commences, Australia has released an updated flight path analysis. The updated analysis issued by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) factors in an unanswered ground-to-air satellite call made to the aircraft at 18:39UTC on Saturday 8 March, 17 minutes after the last positive primary radar fix on MH370. It also benefits from further refinements to the mathematical model used to determine the aircraft’s course.
LinkAirlines
Air France Puts Pilot Strike Cost At €500 Million
Air France-KLM has put the total cost of last month's two-week pilots strike at EUR€500 million (USD$632 million), enough to wipe more than a fifth off the group's estimated full-year core profit. Air France in July revised down its target for 2014 EBITDA earnings from EUR€2.5 billion to between EUR€2.2 billion and EUR€2.3 Million. At the time, it mainly cited overcapacity on long-haul routes and weak cargo demand. The strike has added to its woes. It said on Wednesday total passenger traffic fell 15.9 percent in September compared with the year before, adding that bookings for the fourth quarter were down by between 1 and 2 percentage points.
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American Airlines to resume LGA service from Atlanta
American Airlines is resuming service to New York City's LaGuardia Airport from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. A spokeswoman for the carrier said the route represents "a really important market, especially for our business travelers." The service will restart on Jan. 6.
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Shares soar after American reports Sept. traffic
Shares of American Airlines AAL, -2.26% rose 1.2% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the air carrier reported September traffic results. Revenue passenger miles for the month fell 0.2% from year-earlier levels to 16.9 billion, while total capacity increased 1.6% to 21.1 billion available seat miles. Total passenger load factor was reduced to 80% from 81.5%. The company revised its growth outlook for third-quarter passenger revenue per available seat mile to 0.5% to 1.5%, from a previous forecast of flat to 2%. Through Tuesday, the shares have fallen 15% over the last three months, but were still up 35% this year, compared with a 4.7% year-to-date gain for the S&P 500.
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American Airlines to expand meal offerings
American Airlines announced additional changes in its meal service, after having significantly modified its offerings on September 1. The current round of changes will begin on October 16. The Fort Worth-based airline said it would restore meals on some flights where they had been eliminated, reintroduce certain items that had been eliminated, and improve the quality of what is being served. The minimum flight time for a meal will change from two hours and 45 minutes to two hours and 30 minutes. The airline is also adding three new routes to the list of what American calls “exception markets,” i.e. flights that are too short for a meal but need one for competitive purposes. The new routes are Chicago-Austin, Washington, D.C.-Miami, and Dallas/Fort Worth-Mexico City.
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Austrian Airlines, Pilots, F/As Agree Deal
Austrian Airlines said it had reached a broad outline for a new collective wage agreement with pilots and flight attendants, ending years of disputes as the Lufthansa subsidiary undergoes painful cost-cutting measures. The agreement, which will apply to around 900 pilots and 2,300 flight attendants as of December 1, covers future salaries, retirement benefits and working time. The final text of the agreement is to be presented to staff within days, Austrian Airlines officials said without giving financial details. Under the deal, the airline will take back flight operations and thousands of employees that it had previously transferred to cheaper operator Tyrolean Airlines, the officials said.
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Delta Air Lines mobile app, website back online
If you had hard time accessing Delta's website or mobile apps Tuesday morning, it wasn't just you. The carrier says its website and mobile app tools are "now fully available" after a glitch disrupted those functions earlier Tuesday. In a statement on its website, Delta acknowledged the issue "limited customers' ability to check in or book future travel using the platforms." Delta apologized for the problem, which it says stemmed from "a hardware failure which required immediate maintenance and has been resolved. Our technical teams worked to quickly resolve the issue and minimize the impact to our customers."
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Dallas could rename airport road after Southwest co-founder
The Dallas City Council will vote today on renaming the main road into Dallas Love Field after a Southwest Airlines co-founder. The road, now called Cedar Springs Road, could be renamed Herb Kelleher Way. Brad Hawkins, a spokesman for Southwest, said the carrier "could not be more pleased with the ... truly monumental honor to Herb."
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PAL Considering Delaying Aircraft Deliveries
Philippine Airlines is considering delaying delivery of aircraft it has on order as it reviews operations after billionaire tycoon Lucio Tan resumed management control of the carrier last month. The airline is currently scheduled to take delivery of its 30th Airbus jet in November under a USD$7 billion deal to buy 44 A320s and 20 A330s signed in 2012. It is scheduled to take 10 more aircraft in 2015 and another 10 in 2016. In August, the airline decided not to exercise an option to purchase eight Airbus A321neos.
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Southwest traffic, PRASM rose in Sept.
Southwest Airlines reported around a 5% increase in passenger revenue per available seat mile for September on a year-over-year basis. Passenger traffic also rose by 5.1% for the month, as compared to September 2013.
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Southwest makes progress on swapping 737 cockpit displays
Southwest Airlines has replaced 20% of the Boeing 737 cockpit displays in its fleet that are subject to a new FAA airworthiness directive (AD), and says it will meet the agency’s 2019 deadline for operators to complete the retrofit. Several years ago, Honeywell’s so-called Phase 3 display units exhibited susceptibility to radio frequency emissions at radiated power levels during ground testing for Wi-Fi system certification on a 737NG aircraft. The Phase 3 displays last year became the subject of a proposed AD, following a 2012 Service Bulletin from Boeing and Honeywell. Late last month, the FAA issued its final rule, calling for 737NG and 777 operators to swap out the displays for either Phase 1 or Phase 2 units, or use the Boeing/Honeywell-agreed Phase 3A upgrade.
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Thomson to benefit from TUI's upped 787 order
Holiday group TUI Travel intends to boost to 10 the number of Boeing 787s it has allocated to UK arm Thomson Airways, having raised its overall Dreamliner order by two to 15. Thomson's managing director, John Murphy, confirmed the decision during a briefing on board a 787 bound for Palma de Mallorca. Murphy adds that the carrier will have 10 of the type available from summer 2016. Thomson has used the 787 on all long-haul routes since July this year.
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Turkish Airlines Cancels Flights To Southeast City
Turkish Airlines cancelled all of its Wednesday morning flights to the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey after the local governor imposed a curfew amid civil unrest. Five people were killed in Diyarbakir on Tuesday as Kurds, who make up an estimated 20 percent of the population, demanded the government to do more to protect the Syrian town of Kobani, populated by Kurds, from Islamic State militants. At least four others died in protests in other cities.
LinkAirports
Boston Logan fire spurs e-cigarette concerns
Concern is growing in the aviation community about potential fire hazards posed by electronic cigarettes. In recent days, emails about the devices have swirled among airport operators in response to a fire aboard a JetBlue Airways aircraft last summer at Boston Logan International airport. The blaze was reportedly ignited by an e-cigarette, a type of device that typically uses a lithium-ion battery to heat and vaporize a liquid containing nicotine. The process of smoking an e-cigarette is called "vaping". Although the e-cigarette industry says the devices are safe, fire officials insist they can start fires and at least one passenger has been detained in recent days for smoking an e-cigarette during a flight. Lithium-ion batteries, which are used on the Boeing 787, have also faced heightened scrutiny from regulators following three 787 battery fires and one battery failure since the beginning of last year.
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US To Toughen Ebola Screening At Airports
US health officials will unveil within days new screening procedures for the Ebola virus at the country's airports to address public concern over the possibility of an outbreak. "We’re working very intensively on the screening process both in the places of origin and upon arrival," Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters. "We will absolutely look at every step that could tighten that process."
LinkMilitary
Stored Rafale M completes F3 upgrade
One of the French navy’s first Dassault Rafale M combat aircraft has been returned to the nation’s DGA defence procurement agency, following the completion of an upgrade activity to bring it to the latest F3 operating standard. Handed over on 3 October, aircraft M10 is from a first batch of naval-variant Rafales which were produced from the late 1990s in a basic F1 configuration. These were “limited to [air] superiority and air defence missions only”, according to Dassault.
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Greece looks to reactivate P-3 Orion fleet
Greece has moved a step closer to reactivating its Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft, with the US State Department having on 7 October approved a requested $500 million modernisation deal. To be performed by Lockheed via the Foreign Military Sales process, the move opens the door for Greece to overhaul and upgrade the aircraft, and purchase associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) says. "The proposed sale for overhaul and upgrade would allow the Hellenic navy to resume operations of its P-3B aircraft for land-based maritime patrol and reconnaissance, surveillance and protection of areas of national interest," it adds.
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Russia's re-engined Il-76MD makes flight debut
Russia’s air force remains on track to receive its first Ilyushin Il-76MD-90A airlifter before the end of this year, after the type completed a 4h 20min flight debut from the Aviastar SP production site in Ulyanovsk on 3 October. The aircraft’s crew performed checks on its general handling, engine performance and other systems during the sortie, Aviastar says.
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USAF pilot escapes UK F-15 crash
A US Air Force Boeing F-15 has crashed near RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, the service has confirmed. In a statement released via its Twitter account on 8 October, the 48th Fighter Wing says: “We can confirm that one of our jets went down north of the base, in Lincolnshire. The pilot ejected and is safe.” The USAF has single-seat F-15Cs (file image below) and twin-seat F-15Es based at Lakenheath. The statement’s reference to a single pilot suggests that the crashed aircraft is a C-model example, but the service says it is unable to provide further details yet.
LinkRegulatory
FAA: Airbus A350 to receive certification by end of month
The Federal Aviation Administration plans to certify the Airbus 350 soon. "The FAA anticipates being able to issue the A350 type certificate during the latter part of October," a spokesman for the agency said. The A350 received safety approval from European regulators last week.
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CDC plans more stringent Ebola screening at U.S. airports
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing to announce tighter screening for Ebola at U.S. airports and possibly other ports of entry this week, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday. In an interview with The Washington Post, the third-ranking Senate Democrat said he spoke with CDC Director Tom Frieden earlier in the day and received assurances that officials were moving swiftly toward new protocols. “He told me that they will announce this week that they will do tougher types of screening on U.S. soil,” Schumer said.
LinkCorporate
FAA approval accelerates G650ER deliveries
Gulfstream expects to start deliveries of an extended range version of the G650 slightly early by year-end. The US Federal Aviation Administration certificated the design four months after Gulfstream unveiled the G650ER at the EBACE convention in Geneva, Switzerland. Gulfstream launched the concept in May with a promise to deliver the first retrofit models in early 2015 and the first new-build aircraft in 2017, but now will accelerate the delivery schedule a few months.
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Aviation Quote
Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.
— Captain Eric Moody, British Airways, passenger PA after flying through volcanic ash in a B-747.
On This Date
--- In 1890... The 1st full-sized manned airplane to leave the ground under its own power is Frenchman Clement Ader’s steam-powered, propeller-driven aircraft.
---In 1900... French aeronaut Count Henri de La Vaulx sets a world record for non-stop long-distance balloon flight. He flies for over 35 hours after taking off from Paris, France.
---In 1987…First flight of the EHI EH101.
---In 1999…First flight of the Boeing 767-400.
---In 1999…Completing a career during which she set scores of speed and altitude records, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird makes its final flight.
---In 2009…The Centaur module of NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) is purposely smashed into the surface of the Moon, creating a plume of dust which is collected by another spacecraft to test for the presence of water. Five weeks later, test results confirm the existence of water vapor on the Moon.
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Editor’s Choice
Humor
An Aerospace Engineer and St. Peter
A promising young NASA aerospace engineer was killed in a horrific car accident and arrived in Heaven, protesting to St. Peter at the pearly gates. “St. Peter, I’m only 35. I’m much too young to die. I have a wonderful wife and family, so much to live for. Why in the world am I here?”
St. Peter looked through a huge stack of papers, looked over the top of his glasses and said, “Well, according to all of these hours on your time sheets, you’ve got to be at least 108.”
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