NewsCommercial
Airbus secures 37 orders in first 2 months of year
Airbus said it received 37 orders in January and February, as well as nine cancellations for a net order of 28.
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Boeing 777 sales are steady despite 777X on the horizon
Boeing has already sold half of the 777s slated for production in 2017, the company said. The aircraft manufacturer plans to begin building a next-generation version, the 777X, later this year. The 777X would begin flying in 2019.
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Interim MH370 report offers details but few clues
Exactly one year after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, an interim statement about the safety investigation offers few new clues into what happened to the missing Boeing 777-200ER. The 587-page report was compiled by a 19-member, multi-national investigation team established by the county’s minister of transport under the auspices of ICAO regulations. But among the more notable items are the revelation that the battery for the flight-data recorder's underwater locator beacon had expired, as well as clarifications on the last voice transmission from the aircraft.
LinkAirlines
American aims for larger market share of U.S.-Asia flights
American Airlines is setting its sights on Asia as a top international destination. American currently holds 12% market share of U.S. flights to Asia, an increase from 10.6% in 2013.
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BA to retrofit newer A320s with sharklet wing-tips
British Airways is to retrofit some of its Airbus A320s with ‘sharklet’ wing-tips under a fuel-efficiency program. The scheme will initially involve 10 of the newest A320s in the airline’s fleet. BA has yet to confirm when the retrofit will begin, but indicates that it will start the work in the next few months.
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Hawaiian retrofits 717 with island-themed interior
Hawaiian Airlines' retrofitted Boeing 717s feature an island-themed interior with three tones and new seats in the coach section. Hawaiian will retrofit its entire fleet of narrow-body jetliners by the end of 2015.
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Norwegian Air, Pilots To Hold Talks With Mediator
Norway's national mediator will meet budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle and its striking pilots in a bid to end their dispute. "We can confirm that a meeting with the national mediator has been scheduled," Norwegian Air spokeswoman Anne-Sissel Skaanvik said. "Now we're hoping for a solution during the day." Norway's national mediator usually intervenes in disputes when negotiations have broken down.
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Thai Air Could Sell Assets To Cover 2015 Losses
Thai Airways says it will sell some of its THB15.5 billion baht (USD$481 million) of non-core assets to cover any losses this year from one-off hits for cutting its fleet and workforce. A sharp drop in fuel costs should save Thailand's national carrier around THB16 billion baht in 2015 and return it to operating profit for the first time since 2012, Charumporn Jotikasthira told Reuters. But a return to operating profit might not be enough to cover the costs of restructuring, said Charumporn, a former head of the Stock Exchange of Thailand appointed in December by the military junta which seized power last May.
LinkAirports
Minn. airport served 3.7% more passengers in 2014
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport handled more than 35.1 million passengers in 2014, 3.7% more passengers than the prior year. "The increase in passengers is indicative of a rebounding economy where more individuals and businesses feel they can travel," said Dennis Probst, executive vice president of the Metropolitan Airports Commission.
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Pa. county moves forward with plan for airport intersection
Greene County commissioners approved a letter of credit Thursday with First National Bank to cover the cost of constructing an intersection on Route 21 at Greene County Airport, part of a plan to open airport property to commercial development. The county received a letter of credit for $690,972, though it does not expect to have to draw down any of the money, said Jeff Marshall, county chief clerk.
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Sea-Tac benefits from added flights by Delta, Alaska
The first thing a traveler driving to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport sees, even before the main terminal itself, is a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft, decked out in the blue and white trim of Alaska Airlines, huddled around the airport’s North Satellite. The second thing he sees is a massive traffic jam of cars, inching along toward the arrivals level. Locals know to pick up arriving passengers on the speedier departure level.
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NASA develops simulator for airport control towers at airports across world
The skies are getting crowded. Every year more and more commercial aircraft join the world’s fleets. In the last 40 years the number of passengers flown on the world’s airlines has multiplied 10-fold to three billion a year. By 2030, that’s expected to be six billion a year. Keeping track of all those planes is proving to be a challenge. Take the winter storms which have battered the Midwest and Southeast United States in recent weeks; they led to many thousands of flights being cancelled. Getting those planes back into the air, resuming their schedules and getting thousands of people to where they need to be is a massive task. It calls for sophisticated technology, and highly trained controllers.
LinkMilitary
Singapore to replace ageing Super Pumas
Singapore has announced plans to replace the nation’s 32 Airbus Helicopters AS332/532 Super Puma/Cougar helicopters within the next ten years. “Our Super Puma helicopters…have been in service for almost 30 years,” said defence minister Ng Eng Hen in a speech to the country’s parliament. “They will need replacements and this will occur over the next decade.” Ng made no mention of the number of airframes to be obtained, but it is believed that the number acquired could be substantially lower, perhaps half, of the existing fleet size. As of early 2015, it was not clear if a request for proposals had been issued for the requirement, or which manufacturers would be interested in responding.
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One-week study re-affirms A-10 retirement decision: USAF
After a week of concentrated study of its close air support (CAS) role, the US Air Force essentially has decided to stick with plans to gradually retire the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II and hand the CAS mission to the Lockheed Martin F-35. The service plans to enshrine the close air support mission in dedicated squadrons that will transition from the A-10 to the Lockheed F-16 and Boeing F-15 until the F-35 comes online in sufficient numbers to take over CAS, Carlisle says.
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Aviation Quote
The last of the lonely places is the sky, a trackless void where nothing lives or grows, and above it, space itself. Man may have been destined to walk upon ice or sand, or climb the mountains or take craft upon the sea. But surely he was never meant to fly? But he does, and finding out how to do it was his last great adventure.
— Frederick Forsyth
On This Date
---In 1497…Nicolaus Copernicus 1st recorded astronomical observation.
---In 1918... The first American air casualty in World War I is Capt. James E. Miller who loses his life in a French Spad while flying a practice patrol across the German lines.
---In 1919... U.S. Navy Lt. Comdr. E. O. McDonnell makes the first successful flight from a gun turret platform on a U.S. navy battleship. The USS Texas is anchored in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for the test.
---In 1928... The English aviatrix Lady Mary Bailey takes off from Croydon on what becomes the first round-trip flight between London and Cape Town, South Africa flown by a woman. She arrives back in England on May 12.
---In 1938... A new parachute descent record of 35,450ft. is achieved by the French parachutist James Williams when he jumps from the cockpit of an ANF Les Mureaux 113 high-wing monoplane after taking off from the airfield at Chartres. Dropping to a height above the ground of 650 ft. in 2 minutes 50 seconds before opening his parachute, Williams easily achieves a world free-fall record.
---In 1945…The Great Tokyo Air Raid, an overnight incendiary bombing raid by B-29 Superfortresses on Tokyo, is one of the most destructive air raids in history. It creates a firestorm which destroys 41 square kilometers (16 square miles) of the city, killing an estimated 88,000 to 125,000 people, injuring at least 41,000 and perhaps as many as a million people, and leaving probably a million people homeless.
---In 1949…First flight of the Avro Shackleton prototype VW126.
---In 1959…1st known radar contact is made with Venus.
---In 1961…1st animal returned from space, dog named Blackie aboard Sputnik 9.
---In 1986…Vega 2, USSR Venus/Comet Halley Probe made its comet flyby.
---In 1986…NASA announces searchers found remains of Challenger astronauts.
---In 1987… First flight of the Yakovlev Yak-141.
---In 1991…U.S. 70th manned space mission STS-39 (Discovery 12) launches into orbit.
---In 1997… Colonel John (Richard) Boyd passes away at West palm Beach, FL. He was dubbed "Forty Second Boyd" for his standing bet as an instructor pilot that beginning from a position of disadvantage, he could defeat any opposing pilot in air combat maneuvering in less than forty seconds. A man with a self-admitted sub-100 IQ, he was a genius.
---In 2011…The Space Shuttle Discovery, first of the space shuttles to be retired, glides to a landing to end its 39th and final mission - the most by any space shuttle.
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(I think.) ShanwickOceanic wrote:^
There's a man who knows his mil stuff
I got about three of them.
halls120 wrote:My back yard growing up was NAS Los Alamitos. From 1963-1971 I saw every fixed wing aircraft in the US inventory except for the U-2 and SR-71. I'll never forget the day I saw a B-52 taxi 200 yards from my house.
