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Commercial

Boeing Union Seeks Vote On S. Carolina Workers
Boeing's largest union has filed for a vote to unionise 2,400 workers at the company's factory in South Carolina, setting the stage for a clash between the two sides in the strongly anti-union state. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), which represents 35,000 workers at other Boeing locations in the United States, has been organising for more than two years in North Charleston, South Carolina, one of two sites where Boeing assembles the 787 Dreamliner.
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Bombardier lands Malaysian LOI for 40 CS100s
New Malaysian carrier, Flymojo, has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Bombardier for up to 40 CS100s.The LOI comprises firm orders for 20 aircraft and options for 20 more.
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Airlines

Singapore Air In Talks On Jeju Air Stake
Singapore Airlines is in talks to take a stake in Jeju Air either directly or via the low-cost South Korean carrier's IPO, a Jeju Air spokesman said. Jeju Air is preparing a fourth-quarter IPO, aiming to be the first listed Korean low-cost carrier.
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Lufthansa Pilots To Strike On March 18
German pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit said it will take strike action against Lufthansa on Wednesday March 18, targeting the airline's short- and medium-haul flights. The move to take industrial action comes amid a long-running dispute between the union and the German airline's plans to expand its low-cost operations.
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American Airlines Group Set to Join the S&P 500
American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) will replace Allergan Inc. (AGN) in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on Friday, March 20. American Airlines Group is the holding company for American Airlines and US Airways. Headquartered in Fort Worth, TX, the company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Airlines Sub-Industry index.
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SkyWest Declares 79th Consecutive Quarterly Dividend
The Board of Directors of SkyWest, Inc. (SKYW) declared a quarterly dividend of $.04 per share to Shareholders of record at the close of business on March 31, 2015 on all shares then issued and outstanding. The 79th consecutive dividend will be paid on April 6, 2015.
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Silver Airways and JetBlue Further Partnership With Codeshare
Silver Airways, Florida's largest intrastate airline, and JetBlue Airways (JBLU) today announced a codeshare partnership, giving customers of both airlines easy and convenient access to even more destinations in Florida and the Bahamas.
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Airports

Fraport Board Recommends Higher Dividend for 2014
At its regular board meeting today, the Fraport AG supervisory board approved Fraport AG's annual financial statements for 2014 and the Fraport Group's annual statements. For the fiscal year ending December 31, 2014, the Fraport Group posted revenue of about €2.4 billion (up 0.8 percent), EBITDA of about €790 million (up 7.8 percent) and a Group result of about €252 million (up 6.8 percent). Based on this development, the supervisory board has decided to recommend at the company's upcoming annual general meeting that the dividend be increased by 10 euro cents per share to €1.35 per share for the 2014 fiscal year.
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Aviation Quote

All my life, I've never been able to get enough airplanes. This will keep me flying every day.

— Astronaut Robert 'Hoot' Gibson, commander of four Space Shuttle missions, on his taking a job as a Southwest Airlines B-737 first officer, 1996.

On This Date

---In 1911... U.S. Navy Lt. John Rodgers reports to the Wright Co. at Dayton, Ohio for flying instructions. On March 9, the Wrights had offered to train one Navy pilot if that service bought a Wright flying machine at a cost $5,000. The conditional offer was later replaced by one that provided unconditional free training for one would-be Navy pilot.

--In 1921... The first U. S. Marine airman to serve in the Pacific arrives on Guam with responsibility for supporting U. S. land and sea forces in the region. There, 10 pilots and 90 enlisted men operate seaplanes on reconnaissance duty as Flight L, Fourth Squadron, for 10 years.

---In 1935... German authorities make the color-coding at vital aircraft parts obligatory; red for fire circuit-breakers, green for temperature regulators, yellow for throttles and brown for hydraulic circuits.

---In 1936... Smoking in an airplane’s toilet is as serious an offense as smoking at school. An Imperial Airways passenger, caught red-handed while lighting up against airline regulations in a Handley Page HP.42 en route from Paris to London, is fined £10 in Craydon court, England.

---In 1947…The first flight of the North American B-45 Tornado. The aircraft is the United States Air Force’s first jet bomber and the first jet to be refueled in midair. Only 143 were produced after it was replaced fairly quickly by the Boeing B-47 Stratojet.

---In 1957…A Douglas C-47 Skytrain crashes into Mount Manunggal in Cebu, Philippines, killing Ramon Magsaysay, the President of the Philippines, along with 23 others of the 25 on-board (one survivor). The exact cause is unknown, but it is suspected that fatigue in the drive shaft led to the aircraft not having enough power to clear the mountain range.

---In 1958…Air Inter commences operations.

---In 1958…Navy launches Vanguard 1 into orbit (2nd U.S.), measures Earth shape.

---In 1960…Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710, a Lockheed L-188 Electra (N121US), crashes in Cannelton, Indiana, killing all 63 aboard. Wing separation and subsequent disintegration of the aircraft spread the wreckage over a very wide area. Multiple theories surround the crash, ranging from a bomb, metal fatigue and severe turbulence as being possible causes.

---In 1966…First flight of the Bell X-22.

---In 1974…An Eastern Air Lines Douglas DC-9 is hijacked by a man who is later overpowered, with the aircraft diverting to Boston. The First Officer is killed in the struggle.

---In 1976…A JAL Boeing 747 makes the first Tokyo to New York flight nonstop in 11.5 hours, covering 6,300 miles.

---In 1979…An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-104 crashes in Moska-Vnukovo, Russia, killing all 90 on-board. Blame is placed on the crew for failure to request de-icing before departure in an ice storm.

---In 1988…Avianca Flight 410 strikes terrain at 6,200ft near Cucuta, Colombia leaving no survivors among the 143 on-board. The crash of the Boeing 727 (HK-1716) is the result of a non-crew pilot that was present in the cockpit and distracting the flight crew.

---In 1992…Russian manned space craft TM-14, launches into orbit.

---In 1995…An Intercontinental de Aviacion McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15 (HK-3564X) burns in Barranquilla, Coloumbia. Though the aircraft is completed destroyed in the fire, which begins after a short-circuit in the aft lavatory, all passengers survive.

---In 1997…Pilot Linda Finch departs on her journey to complete Amelia Earhart’s 1937 flight around the world in a restored Lockheed Electra 10E. She goes on to complete the flight in 73 days.

---In 2000…AeroPerlas de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter (HP-1267APP) crashes into a hill in Kuna Yala, Panama, killing all 10 on the aircraft while on a flight from Panama City to Puerto Obaldia.

---In 2001…A SAL Express Beechcraft 1900C (S9-CAE) crashes into a mountain in Angola during heavy rainfall, with only one survivor among the 17 on-board.

---In 2007…UTAir Flight 471 crashes short of the runway in Amara, Russia, while trying to land in poor weather. The Tupolev Tu-134 (RA-65021) hits the ground 1000ft short and rolls onto its back in flames, resulting in the deaths of 6 passengers among the 57 on-board. Poor planning and handling of the foggy conditions brings charges of negligence onto the pilots for which the Captain and First Officer received 6 and 2 years respectively.

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Trivia

General Trivia

1. What is unusual about the control tower at Wellington International Airport in New Zealand?

2. Who was “Chicken” Kamikaze?

3. There were five space-shuttle orbiters that circled the Earth: Atlantis, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, and Endeavor. What was the total number of orbital missions launched, and during how many years were they flown?

4. Pilots know that 0 degrees Celsius represents the freezing point of water. What is the significance of 0 degrees Fahrenheit?

5.What was the first turboprop airplane to enter production in the United States?

6. A VFR pilot with seaplane and landplane ratings takes off from a lake in an amphibian, flies for an hour, and then lands on a hard-surface runway. How must the flying time be logged?
a. all as seaplane time
b. all as landplane time
c. half seaplane, half landplane
d. It does not matter.

7. Why did British Spitfires regularly take off for battle with bright red patches of tape on their leading edges?

8. True or False: Excluding the effects of magnetic deviation, the magnetic compass in an airplane points to the magnetic north pole.