You are at netAirspace : Forum : Air and Space Forums : netAirspace Daily News

News

Commercial

Airbus expects unions to target A320 FAL in Alabama
Airbus already has developed a strategy to counter an internally expected move by labour unions to organize the A320 final assembly line that opens later this year in Alabama. “I don’t think there’s any question that organised labour will want to try to approach our employees there,” Alan McArtor, chairman and chief executive of the US-based Airbus Group Inc., tells Flightglobal in an interview.
Link

Bombardier CEO assesses possible CSeries schedule change
Five weeks after becoming Bombardier’s new chief executive, Alain Bellemare says he is assessing potential changes to the scheduled certification date of the CSeries aircraft family. “We might have a little bit of schedule impact in terms of certification that I’m trying to assess right now,” Bellemare says in an interview on the sidelines of the US Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit in Washington DC on 17 March, where he spoke on a panel of manufacturing executives.
Link

Honda Aero Receives FAA Production Certificate For HF120 Turbofan Jet Engine in North Carolina
Honda Aero, Inc. announced today that it has been issued a PART 21 Production Certificate from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). HAI is responsible for the production of the GE Honda Aero Engines (GHAE) HF120 turbofan engine that powers the HondaJet and other GHAE customers' aircraft.
Link

Airlines

Air Canada to Carry Canada's Top Professional Hockey Teams
Air Canada proudly announced today that it is the airline of choice for Canada's major professional hockey teams. Under six-year agreements with six of Canada's best professional teams, the airline will provide air transportation through Air Canada Jetz, its in-house, all-Premium Class charter service operated by mainline Air Canada pilots and flight attendants.
Link

American Airlines Group joins S&P 500
American Airlines Group will join the Standard & Poor's 500 Index on March 20. The S&P 500 includes two other U.S. carriers, Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
Link

American CEO: Drop in oil prices will boost earnings
American Airlines stands to benefit from a drop in oil prices, according to CEO Doug Parker. "We've been very successful since 2008 actually not entering into derivatives, not doing any hedging," said Parker. He estimates fuel prices will cost $4.5 billion less in 2015 than in 2014, which will boost earnings for the year.
Link

Atlas Air will order more Boeing 747-8 at some point - CEO
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings plans to order more Boeing 747-8 at some point, its chief executive said Tuesday. "Yes we plan to place more orders," William Flynn told Reuters on the sidelines of an aviation conference.
Link

Cargojet Launches New Enhanced Air Cargo Network
Cargojet Inc., Cargojet today announced the expansion of its domestic air cargo network effective April 1, 2015. The recent introduction of five new Boeing 767-300F Extended Range Freighters, three new Boeing 767-200F Extended Range Freighters, and one new Boeing 757-200F Extended Range Freighter, brings Cargojet's all-cargo freighter fleet to a total of twenty-four aircraft. These will provide significant additional air cargo capacity to meet the needs of our growing customer base across Canada.
Link

Delta celebrates 75th anniversary of its flight attendant service
Delta Air Lines celebrated the 75th anniversary of its first flight with flight attendants on March 16, 1940. The flight from Atlanta to Fort Worth, Texas, took five hours and stopped at five other destinations.
Link

Airlines report more on-time flights, fewer cancellations for Jan.
The U.S. Department of Transportation reported Monday that January saw 76.8% of flights on time, up from 67.7% in January 2014. Airlines canceled about 2.5% of flights during the month, compared with 6.5% in January 2014. Delta Air Lines led the industry with 86.1% of flights on time.
Link

Ethiopian Airlines Pilot Guilty Of Hijacking Own Plane
An Ethiopian Airlines pilot was convicted in absentia on Monday of hijacking his own plane and flying it to Geneva, 13 months after he surrendered to police and sought asylum there. The high court in Addis Ababa said it would sentence Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn on Friday -- if he ever returns to his home country he could face up to 20 years in jail. Hailemedhin, second-in-command on the February 17, 2014 flight to Rome, took control of the aircraft when the captain left the cockpit for a toilet break, Swiss police said.
Link

JetBlue shares soar on analyst upgrade
JetBlue Airways shares soared to the highest level since 2004 after an analyst upgraded the stock to "outperform."
Link

SkyWest, Inc. Declares 79th Consecutive Quarterly Dividend[/b]
The Board of Directors of SkyWest, Inc., 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.
Link

Spirit Delivers What Customers Want Most
Customers are starting to understand Spirit Airlines is different than other airlines. The message sent has been successful: those differences save them money on travel, which has led to the airline's rapid growth and popularity. In fact, Spirit has seen a 40% growth in customer satisfaction according to internal surveys. This growth has also led to Spirit being included in the Department of Transportation monthly Air Travel Consumer Report beginning this year.
Link

United Airlines to end practice of using auxiliary power unit after landings
United Airlines pilots on the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 fleets will stop starting the auxiliary power unit (APU) after arrival to save money, the carrier told pilots recently. The shift, which is coming in stages, is a return to an operating procedure used by United in the mid-2000s, before its merger with Continental Airlines. As part of the change, most narrowbodies will arrive at the gate with the No. 1 engine continuing to run until the aircraft is attached to ground power. United said the switch is part of “Project Quality,” an airline-wide cost-saving effort.
Link

Airports

Kan. airport is planning celebration for new terminal
The city of Wichita is planning a $250,000 celebration to open the new terminal at Eisenhower Airport. The airport staff is asking the City Council on Tuesday for permission to spend that much for “dedication and grand opening events” to mark the opening of the new $200 million terminal at Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport. The airport is owned by the city, and the council acts as the Airport Authority board.
Link

Ore. airport carpet is donated for recycling projects
Hipsters worldwide were in mourning when word got out that Oregon's Portland International Airport was going to rip out and replace its 30-year-old green, blue and pink carpeting. The floor covering with a geometric pattern inspired by the airport's intersecting runways had become an iconic symbol of home celebrated on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and in souvenirs that mimicked the rug's pattern on everything from socks, caps and water bottles to tote bags, sneakers and bike helmets.
Link

Military

Boeing, MD Helicopters spar for light attack requirement
Malaysia could be edging closer to the acquisition of a light attack helicopter, with MD Helicopters promoting the MD 530G and Boeing the AH-6i for the role. At its LIMA debut, MD Helicopters made a major push. The Arizona-based company brought a single MD 530G, which performed during the show’s aerial display and also took Malaysian defence officials on test flights, while the company also had a large chalet at the show.
Link

Malaysian firm proposes MiG-29 upgrade
A unit of Malaysian maintenance, repair and overhaul firm Airod has proposed an upgrade program for Malaysia’s fleet of 10 RAC MiG-29 aircraft. The upgrade, which an industry source says is being considered by the air force, would see the type upgraded to what it refers to as the “MiG-29NM” standard.
Link

South Korean tanker acquisition delayed by 12 months
The introduction of an in-flight refuelling capability for South Korea has reportedly been postponed by some 12 months, following a delay in downselecting one of the three bids for the deal. A decision on the bids was expected to be made at the end of 2014, ahead of entry to service in 2017, but according to local news agency Yonhap, a decision will now be made in June 2015 and Seoul will now begin fielding the tanker in 2018.
Link

UAV

Pakistan army fires indigenous missile from UAV
The Pakistani army says it has successfully carried out flight tests of the Barq laser-guided missile on board the Burraq unmanned air vehicle, both of which it claims have been indigenously developed. In a series of tweets on 13 March, Maj Gen Asim Bajwa, director general of the Pakistani government’s Inter Services Public Relations agency (ISPR), claims that the indigenous missile was deployed from the UAV against static and moving targets with “impressive pinpoint accuracy”.
Link

Unmanned MQ-9 Reaper achieves one million flight hours
The existing operational fleet of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Predator B unmanned air vehicles (UAV), also called the MQ-9 Reaper, in March reached a cumulative one million flight hours, the majority of which were in combat.
Link

Regulatory

EASA proposes new safety oversight management
Following broad consultation with national aviation authorities, EASA has published proposals for a more flexible and responsive way of managing safety oversight in Europe. When national aviation authorities lack resources or expertise, for example, they should be able to delegate some of their oversight functions to other authorities or to EASA, says the agency. The proposal goes further, suggesting that, on a voluntary basis, member states could decide that their state aircraft (excluding the military fleet) can be overseen by EASA. At present these aircraft, in some member states, are in a kind of limbo, overseen by neither the military nor the civil aviation authority, or carrying out civil tasks while overseen by the military.
Link

FAA Ineffective On Hazardous Materials Compliance
The Federal Aviation Administration lacks the skills to ensure that US air carriers comply with rules governing the safe transport of hazardous materials including lithium batteries, a government watchdog said. A report released by the US Transportation Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that the FAA lacks the training and guidance necessary to enforce Bush-era regulations that allow carriers to disclose hazardous material violations voluntarily, without incurring civil penalties.
Link

White House Urged Look At Gulf Airline Subsidies
A US congressional leader on transport issues has asked the Obama administration to look into allegations that Gulf carriers have received unfair subsidies from their home states. US airlines have accused Gulf carriers of receiving more than USD$40 billion in government subsidies, allowing them to drive down prices and start pushing competitors out of key markets.
Link

Aviation Quote

The very existence of aviation is proof that man, given the will, has the capacity to accomplish deeds that seem impossible.

— Eddie Rickenbacker, Rickenbacker: An Autobiography, 1967.

On This Date

---In 1906... Trajan Vuia, a Rumanian, first tests a monoplane in France. Although it only hops and does not fly, Louis Bleriot (1872-1936) decides that its monoplane design is superior to his biplane.

---In 1938... Only seven months after its first flight, the prototype Heinkel He 115 V1 begins a series of flights breaking eight seaplane speed records by carrying loads between 1,100 lb. and 4,400 lb. over distances of 1,000 km (621 miles) and 2,000 km (1,242 miles) at an average speed of 204 mph. The He 115 is the Luftwaffe’s most successful seaplane.

---In 1939…Three months after its first flight, a Boeing 307 Stratoliner crashes on Mount Rainier during a test-flight. The crash kills 10 people, including Boeing’s Chief Engineer.

---In 1945…Douglas XB2D-1, prototype of the AD Skyraider.

---In 1952... Two USAF F-84 Thunderjets land in Neubiberg, Germany after the longest sustained jet flight; they flew 2,800 miles from the USA in 4 hours 48 minutes, without refueling.

---In 1957…A Lloyd Aereo Boliviano Douglas DC-3 (CP-535) crashes in Sayari, Bolivia, killing all of its 19 passengers and crew.

---In 1958…Austrian Airlines takes off on its first flight, with a Vickers Viscount from Vienna to London with a stop in Zurich.

---In 1962…The Convair CV-990 enters service with American Airlines.

---In 1963…The Dassault Balzac becomes the first VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft to go from switch back and forth between vertical and horizontal flight.

---In 1965…USSR launches Voshkod 2; Alexei Leonov makes 1st spacewalk (20 mins).

---In 1966…United Arab Airlines Flight 749 crashes outside Cairo, Egypt , killing all 25 passengers and 4 crew. The Antonov AN-24 (SU-AOA) was on approach from Nicosia Airport in Cyprus when unexpected weather forced the aircraft into IFR conditions for which the flight crew was not prepared for. That, along with a crack in a cockpit window and discrepancies between the two altimeters is thought to lead to the crash.

---In 1980…Vostok rocket exploded on launch pad while being refueled, killing 50.

---In 1989…27th space shuttle mission, STS-29 (Discovery , returns to Earth.

---In 1994…Space shuttle STS-62 (Columbia 16), lands.

---In 1997…Stavropol Airlines Flight 1023, an Antonov AN-24 (RA-46516) crashes half an hour after takeoff in Cherkessk, Russia. Separation of the tail-section due to poor maintenance and metal fatigue are blamed in the death of all 50 occupants.

---In 1998…A Formosa Airlines Saab 340 (B-12255) crashes into the sea, killing all 13 aboard. The Captain decides to depart, despite the known failure of the right-hand main bus. This has a domino effect on several systems, including navigation and flight instruments. With that, the right engine anti-ice start bleed valve being in the open position lead to a 13% torque split between the two engines and a yaw-effect when not compensated for. Poor weather conditions and pilot fatigue (the Captain flew several flights throughout the day already) led to spatial disorientation. Add it all up and the result is a right bank after departure that the pilots do not notice until it is unrecoverable.

---In 1999…An ALIANSA Colombia Douglas DC-3 (HK-337) disappears on a flight from Cucuta to El Yopal. After four days, the crash site is found on a hill, along with its 8 deceased passengers and crew.

---In 2008…Delta Air Lines offers voluntary severance to 30,000 employees, which is half of their workforce.

Daily Video

Editor’s Choice

Trivia

Tail ID

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9.


10.