NewsCommercial
Boeing on pace to produce 900+ aircraft a year
Boeing has announced plans to push commercial aircraft production above 900 units a year. "We delivered more than 720 this year and it will grow easily to over 900 over the next few years," said CTO John Tracy. "There is a tremendous demand for these products."
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In storage: Top 10 parked airliner types
What airliners are you most likely to find parked? Ascend Fleets data for January 2015 reveals the types with the most non-active examples.
1. Boeing 737 Classic (passenger version)
2. Bombardier CRJ regional jet (passenger version)
3. Boeing MD-80 (passenger version)
Clcik the link to see the rest of the list.
LinkAirlines
Alaska Airlines expanded flights from Seattle in 2014
Alaska Airlines debuted service to 16 additional cities from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last year, and continues to project growth last year. "In general, new markets are exceeding expectations," said Andrew Harrison, senior vice president for planning at Alaska. "This gives us confidence we are entering 2015 on a strong footing."
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American accepts delivery of Boeing 787
American Airlines accepted delivery on Thursday of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner destined for the carrier. American said in an employee newsletter that "we expect the first 787 to enter revenue service in the second quarter, flying domestically between hubs for several weeks before it's launched on international flights."
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American Airlines to launch Dallas-Beijing route
American Airlines, which originally announced plans to offer service linking Dallas/Fort Worth and Beijing last fall, announced it had received approval for the new route from the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The airline will begin operating the route on May 7. American is the first carrier to offer non-stop flights between the two cities. Flights will depart Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport at 10:40 a.m. local time, arriving at Beijing Capital International Airport at 2:15 p.m. the next day. Return flights depart from Beijing at 4:25 p.m. and arrive in Dallas at 5:00 p.m. the same day.
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Delta To Cancel 600 Flights On Monday
Delta has cancelled about 600 flights for Monday, January 26 due to a "historic" blizzard expected to hit the East Coast, an airline spokesman said. Delta has cancelled about six regional flights into New York for Sunday, the spokesman added.
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Delta renegotiates American Express agreement
Delta Air Lines has renewed an agreement with American Express that gives more favorable terms to the carrier. Jeffrey Campbell, American Express CFO, said the agreement means the company is "going to pay Delta a little bit more money when a Membership Rewards member transfers MR points to redeem a flight on Delta."
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Emirates Debates Fuel Surcharge Cut - Report
Emirates is studying whether to cut the fuel surcharge it passes on to customers to reflect recent drops in oil prices, its president said in The National, an Abu Dhabi-based newspaper. Tim Clark also said the falling prices -- oil is now about 60 percent cheaper than it was at its June peak -- would be "a huge boost" to the airline's 2014 earnings. That should offset disruption from runway work at its home airport and a decline in business with Russia, he said. Emirates has been studying the impact of lower oil prices since November and is likely to introduce new prices in April. The new prices will take into account the Emirates fuel surcharge and other factors.
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IAG Ups Offer For Aer Lingus - Reports
IAG has made a third takeover approach to Aer Lingus, offering to pay €2.50 per share, or around EUR€1.3 billion in total for the Irish airline, Sky News reported. The Financial Times said Aer Lingus was set to recommend the approach and the two sides could confirm formal talks in the next few days. International Airlines Group (IAG), which owns British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, has had two offers rejected by Aer Lingus, the last in early January for €2.40 per share.
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Southwest CEO says he has a list of 50 new possible destinations
Southwest Airlines chairman and CEO Gary Kelly said Thursday that the Dallas carrier would be interested in flying to Cuba, once the two governments allow scheduled service between the U.S. and Cuba. However, Southwest already counts about 50 places beyond the lower 48 U.S. states that are possible destinations for new Southwest service, Kelly said.
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United installs slim-line seats on 300 aircraft
Why order new aircraft when you can cram in additional, thinner seats? During United’s fourth quarter earnings call today, Jim Compton, United’s chief revenue officer, said the airline has installed slim-line seats on 300 aircraft, making the project begun in 2013, 85 percent complete. When the installations are finished by the end of 2015 they will be the equivalent of adding 14 aircraft, he added. United, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest and American are all adding slim-line seats to squeeze more revenue out of each aircraft by increasing the number of seats, coaxing additional ancillary revenue, and enhancing fuel efficiencies. “Each row of coach seats used to have 32 or 33 inches of space front to back for a seated passenger between seat backs — a measurement the airline industry calls seat pitch. But now many big airlines are down to 31 inches of seat pitch,” writes Scott McCartney of the Wall Street Journal. “United goes as tight as 30 inches on some of its Boeing 737s.”
LinkAirports
Miami airport breaks record with 40.9M passengers
Miami International Airport served more than 40.9 million passengers in 2014, setting a new record for the airport. Last year, the airport debuted service to new international cities such as Brussels, Helsinki and Doha, Qatar.
LinkMilitary
Finnish NH90s creep towards 50% operational serviceability rate
The Finnish army is only achieving an approximate 40% operational serviceability rate on its current NHIndustries NH90 transport helicopter fleet, its chief of aviation has claimed, as its final example is set to be delivered in the coming weeks. Based on the number of available aircraft – there are currently five aircraft per year undergoing retrofit – the service is only working at a 40% availability rate. However, it hopes to take this to 50% over the next three years, Lt Col Tuure Lehtoranta told the Defense IQ International Military Helicopter conference in London.
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KC-46 tanker testing will begin at least a year behind schedule
Operational testing of the Boeing KC-46 aerial refueling tanker is expected to begin at least a year later than planned. The US Defense Departments director of operational testing and evaluation (DOTE), in its annual report on ongoing development projects, says “readiness for the scheduled start of [the initial operational test and evaluation phase]continues to be high-risk with a 12-month delay expected.” In the same report in 2013, initial operational testing was estimated to begin six to 12 months later than laid out in the tanker’s post milestone-B test and evaluation master plan. A March report by the Government Accountability Office put the testing start date at least nine months late. Boeing is on contract to deliver 18 aircraft to the US air force in 2017. The DOTE report also calls into question whether that deadline will be met, but both Boeing and the air force said that 18 aircraft will be available for operational testing by 2017.
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Aviation Quote
Once you have learned to fly your plane, it is far less fatiguing to fly than it is to drive a car. You don't have to watch every second for cats, dogs, children, lights, road signs, ladies with baby carriages and citizens who drive out in the middle of the block against the lights. . . . Nobody who has not been up in the sky on a glorious morning can possibly imagine the way a pilot feels in free heaven.
— William T. Piper, president of Piper Aircraft Corporation.
On This Date
---In 66AD...5th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
---In 1910... The first practical seaplane is flown. Built and flown by American Glenn Curtiss, it lands and takes off in the waters off San Diego, California.
---In 1926…Ramón Franco takes off from Spain piloting a Dornier Do J and reaches Buenos Aires 59 hours later.
---In 1945…McDonnell XFD-1 Phantom, the first jet aircraft to operate from a US Navy aircraft carrier.
---In 1946…Col William Councill sets a new US transcontinental speed record of 4 hours 13 minutes in a Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star.
---In 1949…Garuda Indonesia is founded (as Garuda Indonesian Airways).
---In 1951... First flight of Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket supersonic research aircraft is made. It is launched from underneath its B-29 mother-ship and exceeds Mach 1 (the speed of sound) in a dive.
---In 1953…The first meeting of the Experimental Aircraft Association takes place at Curtis-Wright Field in Milwaukee.
---In 1960…CIA orders an initial five A-12 OXCART aircraft. (Q)
---In 1962…NASA launches the Ranger 3 moon probe aboard an Atlas-Agena rocket. After a series of malfunctions, the spacecraft would miss the moon by 22,000 miles.
---In 1988…French Defense Ministry approves full-scale development of the Dassault Rafale.
---In 1990…The first of two new VC-25 aircraft, the 747 variant used as Air Force One, is delivered to the United States Air Force.
---In 1995…Outbreak of the Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador. Peruvian Mil Mi-8 and Mil Mi-25, as well as Ecuadorian Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopters begin ground attack operations.
---In 2010…Spanish airline Quantum Air ceased operations.
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Editor’s Choice
Trivia
Thai Airways International Destinations
1. KUHEPT
2. ATTSLEE
3. SANIHGAH
4. TCMSUA
5. LYADMAAN
6. NIAAKLWG
7. CHARAKI
8. NAUZGGOUH
9. PGNOACEENH
10. NACSIR
