NewsCommercial
Analysis: Deferred production costs could take bite out of 787 profit
Boeing said that deferred production costs related to its 787 program crossed $25 billion during the third quarter. The airplane maker had earlier anticipated to cross this figure in 2015, so this sooner-than-anticipated increase in deferred 787 production costs indicates that Boeing could take longer to make an actual profit on its 787 program. Currently, the company is losing money on every 787 that it sells, but accounting rules allow the company to allocate overall 787 production costs over an extended period of time, allowing it to book profit currently. This is the standard procedure employed for accounting for the development of commercial airplanes, which require huge initial capital investments.
LinkAirlines
American Airlines to expand LAX-London service
American Airlines is adding a second daily flight to London Heathrow Airport from Los Angeles in 2015. "As the premier airline in Los Angeles, this additional frequency to London caters to our high-end Los Angeles-area customers," said Andrew Nocella, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for American.
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787 Dreamliner painted with American Airlines livery
A Boeing 787 Dreamliner destined for American Airlines emerged from a paint facility on Thursday bearing the carrier's livery. American is expected to accept delivery of the 787 before the end of the year, which will make it the second U.S. airline to fly the 787.
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IAG lifts third-quarter operating profits to €900m
IAG has turned an operating profit of €900 million ($1.13 billion) for the third quarter, ending 30 September, compared with €690 million in the same period last year. It achieved the results on the back of a strong performance from all three of its carriers: British Airways, Iberia and Vueling. British Airways made an operating profit in the period of €607 million, up from €477 million in the same period last year. Iberia's operating profit increased to €162 million from €74 million, while Vueling reported an operating profit of €140 million, slightly ahead of the €139 million it made last year. IAG’s combined revenues for the quarter rose 8.5% to €5.86 billion while the non-fuel unit costs were down 4.5% and fuel unit costs were down 7.5%.
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Iberia the 'star performer' for IAG: Walsh
IAG chief executive Willie Walsh hails Iberia as the group's "star performer" in the third quarter, with the Spanish carrier having reduced labor costs and generated an improved operating profit. While that €162 million ($204 million) operating profit had been "anticipated on the back of the restructuring" program under way, it was "great to see [the] underlying financial performance of Iberia being as strong as it is", Walsh told analysts today. "Iberia has been improving to reach best in class in the group," adds IAG finance chief Enrique Dupuy, pointing to a 10% reduction in employee cost per available seat-kilometre in the quarter – and an increase of nearly seven percentage points in operating margin, to 13.1%.
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No Lufthansa Strikes During Negotiations - Report
German pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) will abstain from industrial action during negotiations with Lufthansa over pay and early retirement benefits, Germany's Focus magazine reported. A dispute between Lufthansa and the union has resulted in repeated strikes at Lufthansa this year affecting thousands of passengers. Shares in Lufthansa have lost 15 percent of their value over the last three months due to the strikes as well as concerns over Ebola.
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Malaysia Airlines Sees First MH370 Lawsuit
Two children of a passenger on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have sued the company and the Malaysian government for damages, the first lawsuit over the aircraft which disappeared in March. The two Malaysian boys, aged 13 and 14, filed the suit at the High Court registry, also naming the heads of the Department of Civil Aviation, the Immigration Department and the country's air force, The Star newspaper reported. Their father, 41-year old Jee Jing Hang, was on the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing carrying 239 passengers and crew when it went missing on March 8.
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Southwest recycles old leather seats through LUV Seat
Southwest Airlines has recycled its old leather seats by donating the materials to a nonprofit in Kenya which reuses the leather for shoes and soccer balls. "LUV Seat has fostered the culture of sustainability at Southwest as we look for new ways to upcycle and grow our commitment to global citizenship," said Bill Tiffany, vice president of supply chain management for the carrier.
LinkMilitary
Russian delivers final US-bought transport helicopter to Afghan army
Russia has delivered the last of 63 Mil Mi-17 transport helicopter purchased by the US Defense Department on behalf of the Afghan National Army. Russian Helicopters announced in had met the milestone in October. The US Defense Department signed a contract in 2011 with Rosoboronexport, , the Russian state-owned company that brokers the country’s military imports and exports, for the Mil Mi-17 helicopters. “Helicopters such as Mi-17 scored well when operating in harsh climatic conditions and use in the highlands,” says a statement from Rosoboronexport that was translated from Russian.
LinkSpace
SpaceShipTwo broke up after tail feathers moved
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo telemetry data has offered a vital clue to investigators searching for the cause of the fatal 31 October crash while the wreckage appears to rule out an engine or fuel tank malfunction. Nine seconds after the Scaled Composites spacecraft separated from mothership WhiteKnightTwo, co-pilot Mike Alsbury unlocked the tail feather deployment mechanism as SpaceShipTwo passed through Mach 1.0, says US National Transportation Safety Board chairman Christopher Hart, citing review of telemetry data and cockpit video. Like the X-Prize-winning SpaceShipOne design, SpaceShipTwo deploys two aft-mounted feathers as the vehicle approaches the top of its climb into suborbital space. The deployed feathers are intended to enable a “carefree re-entry” attitude, automatically configuring the vehicle in a safe position during the most dangerous phase of the flight. SpaceShipOne founder Burt Rutan says he came up with the idea to reduce the workload on the pilot, after being present at Edwards AFB, California, in 1967 when X-15 pilot Michael Adams died during a botched re-entry from suborbital space.
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Branson hedges on SpaceShipTwo future
In his first live remarks since the Scaled Composites SpaceShipTwo crash on 31 October, Richard Branson linked the future of the Virgin Galactic space tourism venture to the results of the investigation. “Once we find out what went wrong if we can overcome it we’ll make absolutely certain the dream lives on,” says Branson. Branson founded the Virgin Galactic/Scaled Composites project in 2004 with plans to launch tourists into surborbital space three years later. Instead, the project has faced numerous setbacks, even as the number of paid deposit holders swelled to more than 700.
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Few clues on cause of fatal SpaceShipTwo crash
One Scaled Composites test pilot died and another was injured severely after a powered flight of SpaceShipTwo ended in disaster near Mojave, California, for the commercial space tourism venture led by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic on 31 October. If the test had gone as planned, upon releasing from mothership WhiteKnightTwo around 45,000ft at around 215kt, SpaceShipTwo would have ignited a hybrid rocket motor propelled by a new fuel chemistry on the fourth powered test of the suborbital spaceplane, commencing a final phase of testing before achieving certification by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
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Aviation Quote
He's a nut job, but a focused nut job.
— Robert Land, JetBlue Airways government affairs director, regards boss David Neeleman, quoted in Fortune magazine, 28 May, 2001.
On This Date
--- In 1897... The 1st all-metal rigid airship is tested in Germany. It uses wafer-thin aluminum, a major innovation, but crashes soon after taking off.
---In 1926... Captain Charles Lindbergh jumps from his disabled airplane during a night airmail flight, making this his 4th time he has had to use his parachute to save his life.
---In 1949... Charles Moore makes the 1st manned flight in a polyethylene balloon over Minneapolis, Minnesota.
---In 1952…The first combat between jets at night occurs, when a United States Marine Corps F3D Skyknight night fighter piloted by Major William T. Stratton and crewed by radar operator Master Sergeant Hans C. Hoglind shoots down an enemy jet aircraft over Korea they identify as a Yak-15.
Daily Video
Editor’s Choice
Humor
Noise Abatement
Tower: "Alpha Charlie, climb to 4000 ft for noise abatement"
AC: "How can I possibly be creating excess noise at 2000 ft?"
Tower: "At 4000 ft you will miss the twin coming at you at 2000 ft, and that is bound to avoid one hell of a racket.”
Trivia
General Knowledge
1. Approximately when was the first military attack made using drones?
2. The only four instruments required on a hot air balloon are an altimeter, a vertical speed indicator, a fuel gauge and a ______?
3. What airplane was not designed or built by Ford, and was affectionately called a Ford?
4. Almost every aviation enthusiast knows that the Spirit of St. Louis was a Ryan monoplane, but what was the airplane's model designation?
5. Actor Steve McQueen (1930-1980) loved flying and his last airplane was a Stearman PT-17 with registration number N3188. What was special about the number 3188?
miamiair wrote:4. N-X-211.
