NewsCommercial
ATR happy for output to plateau at 100 aircraft
ATR believes its production will "plateau at 100 aircraft a year or just over" from 2016 as it continues to increase output to meet record levels of orders. But chief executive Patrick de Castelbajac admits the Franco-Italian turboprop manufacturer faces supply-chain "challenges" ramping up from 83 deliveries in 2014. Toulouse-based ATR has raised output 60% since the start of the decade, following a barren period for the joint venture in the mid-2000s when production fell almost to single figures.
Link
Boeing now offers option for Global Eagle Wi-Fi on 737's
Airlines purchasing Boeing 737 aircraft will now have the option of having Global Eagle Entertainment satellite systems installed when the planes are built.
LinkAirlines
Air Canada could debut service to Atlantic City, N.J.
Air Canada could begin flying to Atlantic City from Toronto, officials said, increasing the odds that the struggling gambling resort will attract a more profitable overnight clientele after the closing of four casinos in the past year. "We're talking to Air Canada," said Ron Marsico, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages Atlantic City International Airport. "Stay tuned."
Link
Delta made extra contributions to pension plan in 2014
Delta Air Lines boosted contributions to its pension plan last year with extra cash from lower fuel costs. In 2014, the carrier contributed $920 million to its pension plan, more than the $670 million contribution required by U.S. law.
Link
Delta oil refinery reports Q4 profit
Delta Air Lines reported a $105 million profit in the fourth quarter for its oil refinery in Trainer, Pa. During the same quarter of 2013, the refinery posted a $41 million loss. Delta purchased the refinery in 2012 as a way to reduce fuel costs for the carrier.
Link
Court Rejects EasyJet Complaint Over Schiphol Charges
A European court has rejected a complaint brought by easyJet against Dutch airport operator Schiphol Amsterdam over passenger and security charges. The UK-based airline had argued that Schiphol was discriminating by charging passengers who start their journey in Amsterdam twice as much as transfer passengers. It argued that the fees were neither related to costs nor transparent. It lodged a complaint with the Dutch competition authority in 2008, then with the European Commission in 2011. Both were rejected, prompting it to seek a ruling from the General Court of the European Union, the EU's second highest court.
Link
Indonesia AirAsia X Delays Inaugural Australian Flight
Long-haul budget carrier Indonesia AirAsia X has delayed indefinitely the launch of its inaugural flight between Bali and Melbourne after failing to get the approval of Australian regulators. Approvals were not forthcoming partly due to Australian concerns about Indonesia's aviation safety record, especially after a plane operated by sister airline Indonesia AirAsia crashed last month, said a person familiar with the situation. Indonesia AirAsia X, an affiliate of Malaysian long-haul budget airline AirAsia X, started selling tickets for flights between Denpasar, the capital of Bali, and Melbourne on October 28.
Link
Lufthansa's Eurowings Agrees Pay Deal With Pilots
Lufthansa's regional carrier Eurowings has agreed a five-year wage deal with its 300 pilots, clearing a further hurdle as it seeks to settle industrial disputes with other pilots in the group. Lufthansa is in dispute with employees on several fronts as it tries to cut costs to compete with budget airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet. The German group said on Wednesday it had now secured pay deals at Eurowings, Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa CityLine.
LinkAirports
FAA inspectors no longer allowed to skip TSA screening
The Federal Aviation Administration has suspended a program that allowed FAA safety inspectors to bypass Transportation Security Administration airport screening checkpoints.
Link
N.Y. governor unveils plan to provide rail service to LGA
N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced a plan to provide rail service to LaGuardia Airport. The plan, estimated to cost $450 million, would link the airport to a transit hub with a 1.5-mile AirTrain route. Both Newark Liberty International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport have rail service.
Link
Airports Of Thailand Approves Bangkok Budget Increase
Airports of Thailand's board has approved an additional THB48 billion baht (USD$1.47 billion) investment in two new projects for expanding Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. The investment is on top of its earlier announced plan to spend THB62 billion baht in a second-phase expansion of the overcrowded airport, Chairman Prasong Poontaneat told reporters. He said the previously announced number may be revised down.
LinkMilitary
Boeing upgrades B-52s with internal smart weapons
Sixty-one years since the type’s first flight, the US Air Force is upgrading the weapons bays of the Boeing B-52 to carry satellite-guided conventional munitions. A crew of Boeing and US Air Force technicians installed a prototype of the new weapons bay launcher in a B-52 at Edwards AFB, California. The prototype modifies a rotary launcher intended to carry nuclear weapons to carry conventional weapons, says Boeing.
Link
F-35 missed key software testing goals in 2014
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II missed key software testing milestones necessary for the US Marine Corps to field combat-ready jets while those already delivered remain unreliable and difficult to maintain, says a new report by the US Defense Department’s director operation test and evaluation (DOTE). The program was heavily focused on completing the testing necessary for the fleet release of software iteration 2B, which will enable the Marine Corps to declare initial operational capability in 2015 with what the report calls “limited combat capability.”
Link
IAI strives to finalise Brazilian tanker deal
The Brazilian air force and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) have renewed contract negotiations over Brazil's acquisition of three Boeing 767-300ERs that will be converted into tankers. Attempts to finalise the terms of the deal – which was agreed in mid-2014 – were delayed by general elections held in Brazil last October. An initial contract with IAI was signed last year, but the exact details of the conversion plan were not concluded. One of the aircraft will be modified by the company’s Bedek division in Israel, while the other two should be modified in Brazil by TAP subsidiary TAP Manutenção e Engenharia Brasil.
Link
Nigerian rotary capability challenged by Boko Haram threat
The Nigerian air force has described how its limited rotary capability has proven detrimental in its fight against Boko Haram insurgents that have been advancing throughout the country. The force has operated Mil Mi-24V and Mi-35P attack helicopters since 2000, but increased terrorist activity in recent years has demonstrated the limited capability of the aircraft, AVM AA Zannah, chief of policy and plans for the nation’s air force, told the Defence IQ International Military Helicopter conference in London on 21 January.
Link
Aviation Quote
The fascination of flight can't be expressed with words. But it really lies beyond the capabilities of human endeavor. Once you've experienced it, you'll never be able to forget it.
— Friedrich Oblessor
On This Date
---In 1952…The de Havilland Comet 1 became the first turbojet-powered civil airliner to be awarded a certificate of airworthiness.
---In 1958…Austral Lineas Aereas is founded.
---In 1965…U.S. launches TIROS 9 weather satellite.
---In 1969…Orbiting Solar Observatory 5 launched into earth orbit.
---In 1970…Pan Am introduces the Boeing 747.
---In 1970…The Boeing 747 enters service with TWA.
---In 1971... A US Navy P-3C Orion lands in Patuxent River, Maryland, after a flight of 15 hours 21 minutes from Atsugi, Japan, setting a nonstop distance record for a turboprop-powered aircraft of 7,010 miles.
---In 1975…Landsat 2, an Earth Resources Technology Satellite, launched.
---In 1982…An F/A-18 Hornet makes a fully automated landing, its autopilot linked to a ground radar at the Naval Air Test Center Patuxent River.
---In 1992…Space Shuttle STS-42 (Discovery 15) launches into space.
---In 1993…Norwegian Air Shuttle is founded.
---In 1997…Space Shuttle Atlantis Returns to Earth, Successful.
---In 1998…First flight of the Boeing 737-600.
---In 2000…Vandenburg Launch Pad Demolished.
Daily Video
Editor’s Choice
Trivia
Aircraft Manufacturers
Who made the following:
1. Beaufighter
2. Scimitar
3. Gannet
4. Argosy
5. Beverly
6. Valiant
7. Javelin
8. Shackleton
9. Sea Fury
10. Lightning
Queso wrote:Arvo
miamiair wrote:Something for our British friends...
From the days when there was an engineering company building aircraft in pretty much every big city over here.
