NewsCommercial
Transcontinental U.S. flights show increase in premium seats
Premium seat capacity on transcontinental U.S. flights is up 9 percent year over year for the first three months of 2015, due largely to the introduction of JetBlue's Mint product, according to a research note from Hunter Keay at Wolfe Research. Keay reported that premium capacity on transcontinental routes is "approaching an all-time high on an absolute basis," with five airlines—American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, United Airlines and Virgin America—offering premium product largely with lie-flat seating. Mint has given JetBlue market share of 8 percent on transatlantic premium capacity, which likely will increase as JetBlue plans to expand the service, he said.
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Column looks at Boeing's aircraft sales
That's the upshot of Boeing's announcement this week that in 2014, it set new records for both commercial airplanes delivered, and also for new orders of airplanes to be delivered in the future. The company delivered a total of 723 commercial jets to its customers last year, beating 2013's tally. Adding icing to the cake, Boeing says it booked new orders for 1,432 (net of cancellations -- gross orders were even higher), worth $232.7 billion at list prices, breaking the previous record set in 2007. As of Tuesday, Boeing says it has 5,789 planes in its backlog, awaiting construction and delivery to its customers. It only takes a bit of back-of-the-envelope figuring to estimate that these backlogged orders are probably worth just under $1 trillion in future revenue to Boeing (assuming, of course, that all these planes were sold at list prices ... which they almost certainly were not).
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Explaining the ins and outs of de-icing aircraft
Question: I am a nervous flier, although I really enjoy the great sights I've seen from the air. Recently on a winter flight, the plane was de-iced before taking off, and I noticed fluid seeping into the cabin floor. Why did this leakage occur, and was it a cause for concern?
Answer: During ground de-icing, high-pressure fluid is sprayed on the airplane. If the stream hits a seal, it can leak. Ground crews are trained to avoid having the high-pressure stream hit the exit windows, cockpit windows or doors, but it happens on occasion. I have had de-icing fluid come in cockpit windows, causing us to be "wet," but it was not a safety issue.
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Airbus In Talks With Regulator On Ejectable 'Black Boxes'
Airbus has begun talks with European regulator EASA on proposals to make ejectable flight data recorders available on its two largest models, the A380 and the new A350, potentially making them the first commercial planes to use the technology. Airbus said it was also not ruling out expanding the use of ejectable recorders, which combine both voice and data recordings, to new versions of the A330 and A320. The talks with the European Aviation Safety Agency come as global aviation authorities consider recommending the devices to make it easier to recover evidence in cases such as the December 28 crash of AirAsia flight QZ8501, whose data recorder was recovered more than two weeks later but whose voice recorder is still missing.
LinkAirlines
Indonesia recovers QZ8501 cockpit voice recorder
Indonesian navy divers have recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from the crashed Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501, a day after the aircraft’s flight data recorder (FDR) was retrieved. An official from the country’s National Transport Safety Committee (NTSC) tells Flightglobal that the CVR, like the FDR, will be handed over to Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), before being transferred to the NTSC. The recorders will then be brought to Jakarta for investigations.
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Alaska Airlines offers self-tagging for luggage
Alaska Airlines is offering a service that allows customer to save time by printing luggage tags at home instead of at the airport. The Self-Tag Express is available at most of the airports the carrier serves, including three airports in Hawaii.
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American, United report Dec. traffic
United Airlines posted a 0.1% increase in consolidated traffic for December, compared to the same month last year. United also boosted consolidated capacity for December by 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Meanwhile, American Airlines reported a 0.4% dip in traffic for December.
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Lufthansa's December Traffic Hurt By Pilot Strikes
Lufthansa said a two-day walkout by pilots in December that forced the cancellation of over 1,000 flights, hurt its sales and passenger numbers for the month. A long-running dispute between pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit and Lufthansa management over early retirement benefits and low-cost expansion resulted in 10 strikes last year, costing the airline almost EUR€200 million (USD$236 million).
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Fourth vessel joins in underwater search for MH370
An additional vessel has been commissioned to carry out the underwater search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The Fugro Supporter, jointly funded by Australia and Malaysia, will join three other vessels already carrying out underwater searches of the southern Indian Ocean sea floor for the missing aircraft. The vessel is equipped with an autonomous underwater vehicle, which can scan portions of the search area that equipment on other vessels are not able to reach effectively.
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Southwest reports 2.8% uptick in Dec. traffic
Southwest Airlines posted a 2.8% increase in passenger traffic for December on a year-over-year basis. The carrier flew 9.2 billion revenue passenger miles in December, compared to 9 billion RPMs in December 2013.
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United Considering Outsourcing Some Airport Jobs
United Airlines is assessing whether to outsource jobs at airports around the US in a cost-cutting effort that could impact 2,000 workers. United informed employees that jobs up for review included baggage handlers and gate and customer service agents at 28 airports that are not hubs, ranging from Atlanta to Anchorage. It has yet to make any decisions. The potential outsourcing marks another step the carrier could take to help meet the goal it laid out in 2013 to cut costs by USD$2 billion annually. United said in an investor update on Friday that it expects 2014 unit costs to increase up to 1.4 percent year-over-year, excluding fuel and other special charges.
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United focused on customer satisfaction
United Airlines has tapped general counsel Brett Hart as its new head of customer care, as the airline seeks to further enhance the travel experience for customers.
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United unleashes "New Year Bonus" for loyalty members
United Airlines will dole out award bonus miles to customers who buy tickets to fly in the airline's first- and business-class cabins. United says the "New Year Bonus" offer will begin Friday (Jan. 9) and apply to flights through Feb. 28. On long-haul flights – those of at least 3,000 miles – non-elite United frequent-fliers will earn 3,000 bonus miles when they fly in the premium cabin on fares booked in the F, A, J, C or D fare classes. Not eligible for the bonus are "deeply discounted" business-class fares, or those booked in Z or P fare classes. The "long-haul" bonus also applies to United's "p.s." premium service flights that fly between New York JFK and both Los Angeles and San Francisco.
LinkAirports
Paris Tourism Launches 'Open For Business' Campaign
Representatives of the Paris tourist industry will set off on a world tour next month to reassure visitors and agents that the French capital is safe and open for business after last week's fatal shootings by Islamist militants. France, which is struggling to get economic growth going, is the most visited country in the world. Almost 85 million foreigners a year support a EUR€150 billion (USD$177 billion) industry that delivers 7 percent of the nation's GDP, according to government figures. In Ile-de-France, a region which includes Paris, 550,000 jobs depend on tourism, making it the biggest industry there. The city had 47 million visitors in 2014, about half of them from abroad.
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Aviation Quote
You haven't seen a tree until you've seen its shadow from the sky.
— Amelia Earhart
On This Date
---In 1906... The first air exhibition of the Aero Club of America opens for eight days in the Sixty-ninth Regiment Armory in New York City. The Wrights are asked to send the motor that powered their 1903 flying machine but can only salvage the crankshaft and flywheel.
---In 1908... The first European to fly one kilometer in a circle is Henri Farman in his Voisin-Farman airplane. Farman’s 1 minute 28 second flight wins him the Grand Prix d’Aviation Deutsche-Archdeacon race in France.
---In 1942... The first fully practical, single rotor helicopter makes a successful flight flown by its creator, Igor Sikorsky.
---In 1950…First flight of the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-330, prototype of the MiG-17.
---In 1961…Convair B-58 Hustler, jet bomber powered by four GE J-79 engines, broke six world speed records, Maj. H. J. Deutschendorf, U.S. Air Force, as pilot. On first closed-course run, the Hustler averaged 1,200.194 miles per hour, and it averaged 1,061.808 miles per hour on both runs carrying a payload of 4,408 pounds and a crew of three.
---In 1982…Air Florida Flight 90, crashed into frozen Potomac River. Seventy-eight people were killed including four motorists on ground.
---In 2004… An Uzbekistan Airways plane crashes in Uzbekistan's capital of Tashkent, killing all 37 aboard.
---In 2010…German airline Blue Wings ceased operations.
Daily Video
Editor’s Choice
Trivia
Brussels Airlines Destination Scramble
1. NIDAAJB
2. NLATEIAC
3. AHAINKSS
4. TNECAMSRESH
5. NAUDYEO
6. IONRMOAV
7. ANDUAL
8. JMUBUBRUA
9. OFNRWETE
10. NTBHOGEGUR
halls120 wrote:regarding this factoid:
---In 1961…Convair B-58 Hustler, jet bomber powered by four GE J-79 engines, broke six world speed records, Maj. H. J. Deutschendorf, U.S. Air Force, as pilot. On first closed-course run, the Hustler averaged 1,200.194 miles per hour, and it averaged 1,061.808 miles per hour on both runs carrying a payload of 4,408 pounds and a crew of three.
An important part is missing. Anyone know what the omission is?
halls120 wrote:---In 1961…Convair B-58 Hustler, jet bomber powered by four GE J-79 engines, broke six world speed records, Maj. H. J. Deutschendorf, U.S. Air Force, as pilot. On first closed-course run, the Hustler averaged 1,200.194 miles per hour, and it averaged 1,061.808 miles per hour on both runs carrying a payload of 4,408 pounds and a crew of three.
An important part is missing. Anyone know what the omission is?
halls120 wrote:MAJ H.J Deustchensdorf is the father of?
