NewsAirlines
Air Europa confirms order for 14 787-9s
Air Europa has confirmed a new order for 14 Boeing 787-9 aircraft with a $3.6 billion list value. The Spanish carrier signed the order in December. Boeing listed the deal as placed by an unidentified customer. The order raises Air Europa’s order book with Boeing to 22 787s, including eight 787-8s. An engine selection for the new order was not announced. Air Europa selected the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 when the 787-8 order was signed in 2007.
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Delta calls up one Boeing 747 from retirement
Delta Air Lines is bringing back one of four Boeing 747s it retired last year. The carrier now has 13 of the jumbo jets in its fleet, but still plans to retire all of the planes by 2017.
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Hawaiian Airlines promotes from within for interim CFO
Hawaiian Airlines has appointed Shannon Okinaka as interim CFO and senior vice president. Okinaka joined the carrier in 2005, and previously served as vice president and controller. Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Mark Dunkerley said "we look forward to the contributions Shannon will bring as we execute on our expansion strategy."
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Pilots Say Further Lufthansa Strikes Likely
German pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) said it is likely to call for further strikes at Lufthansa as a long-running row continues. The dispute revolves around an early retirement scheme and Lufthansa's plans to expand its low-cost operations to win back market share lost to the likes of Ryanair and easyJet, which are expanding in Germany. Ten strikes staged by VC last year cost the airline close to EUR€200 million in operating profit and affected hundreds of thousands of passengers.
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Qatar A350 inaugural arrives in Frankfurt
The inaugural Airbus A350 revenue service, operated by launch customer Qatar Airways, touched down earlier today at Frankfurt airport after a flight from Doha. The 283-seat A350-900 operated Qatar Airways flight QR67 with a scheduled arrival time of 12:30. Its scheduled departure time for the return service – flight QR68 – is 15:25.
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US Fines Southwest Over Runway Delays
The US Department of Transportation has fined Southwest Airlines USD$1.6 million in what it said was the biggest civil penalty levied against an airline for violating rules barring long waits for passengers in planes on the runway. DOT said Southwest had failed to abide by the rules last January when 16 of its aircraft were delayed on the tarmac at Chicago's Midway Airport. Passengers were not given the chance to get off the planes after three hours, and the airline did not have enough staff in place to avoid the delays, it said.
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SpiceJet Co-founder Agrees To Take Control
SpiceJet co-founder Ajay Singh has agreed to buy a majority stake in the airline from its billionaire owner, pushing ahead with a long-awaited bid to revive the low-cost carrier that has been struggling for months to pay its bills. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Singh, who helped set up the low-cost airline in 2005, had been expected to submit a rescue plan for SpiceJet, India's second-largest budget airline, by the end of this month.
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Portugal Imposes Layoff Ban In TAP Sale
The future buyer or buyers of Portugal's flag carrier TAP will be barred from laying off workers en masse as long as the state remains a shareholder, the government said. The Portuguese government set the condition after talks with unions who last month threatened a crippling strike over Christmas, forcing it to invoke special powers to prevent the stoppage. The government plans to sell its 66 percent controlling stake in TAP, but will retain a 34 percent stake that can be sold off two years after the privatization.
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Virgin Galactic takes pragmatic approach to fatal spacecraft crash
Virgin Galactic is focusing on the development of its next sub-orbital tourist spacecraft, following the fatal crash of the previous model in October 2014. The Scaled Composites-developed SpaceShipTwo crashed on 31 October, claiming the life of one of the test pilots. A US National Transportation Safety Board investigation is under way and is expected to be complete some 12 months after the crash.
LinkMilitary
Peru signs for two more C-27J transports
Alenia Aermacchi has sealed a follow on order from the Peruvian air force for two C-27J Spartan medium transports in a deal valued at around €100 million ($116 million). The Latin American nation already has a pair of the Rolls-Royce AE 2100-powered aircraft on order, which are due to be handed over in the coming weeks, Alenia says.
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Scorpion team reveals design changes, sales target for 2015
Textron AirLand’s Scorpion program is facing a busy 2015, with design enhancements and customer demonstrations set to dominate its activities amid optimism that a first sale will be announced. “There are a lot of countries interested, and a lot of demonstrations to come this year,” says Dale Tutt, chief engineer and programme manager. Interest in the Scorpion has grown since its debut flight in December 2013, and in particular since the company brought the twin-engined type to the Royal International Air Tattoo and Farnborough air show in the UK last July.
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Bombardier pauses Learjet 85 on $1.4bn write-off
Bombardier has taken a $1.4 billion impairment charge after deciding to "pause" its Learjet 85 programme due to continued weak demand in the light jet sector. The write-off will be recorded as a pre-tax special charge in fourth-quarter results scheduled for release by the Canadian airframer on 12 February. Bombardier also will further reduce its workforce by 1,000 employees, with the job cuts focused on Learjet 85 manufacturing sites in Queretaro, Mexico, and Wichita, Kansas.
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Aviation Quote
The soaring pilot makes an aerial excursion, not an incursion. His passage leaves a whisper, not a shriek.
— Richard Miller, 1967
On This Date
---In 1942... TWA Flight 3 crashes into Potosi Mountain in Nevada, killing all 22 aboard including movie star Carole Lombard.
---In 1957... Five B-52Bs of the Ninety-third Bombardment Wing, commanded by Maj. Gen. Archie J. Old, Jr., commander of the U.S. Fifteenth Air Force, begin Operation Power Flite, the first nonstop round-the-world flight by turbojet aircraft.
---In 1969…Soviet Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform 1st transfer of crew in space.
---In 1975... In Operation Streak Eagle, the USAF sets new climb-time records with the McDonnell Douglas F-15A aircraft, operating from Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota. The Streak Eagle reaches a height of 3,000 m (9,843 ft.) in 27.57 sec., 6,000 m (19,685 ft.) in 39.33 sec., 9,000 m (929,528 ft.) in 48.86 sec., 12,000 m (39,370 ft.) in 59.38 sec. and 15,000 m (42,2132 ft.) in 1 min. 17.02 sec.
---In 1976…Helios 2 - USA & West Germany Solar Probe launched. Solar probe came within 43 million kilometers of the Sun.
---In 1980… British Island Airways and Air Anglia merge to form Air UK.
---In 2013… The FAA issues an Emergency Grounding Order for the 787.
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