NewsCommercial
Airbus To Take More Time On A380 Changes - Report
Airbus will not abandon the A380 despite slow sales, its chief executive told Les Echos newspaper, and will take time to decide on an upgrade as Emirates has requested. Emirates, the leading buyer of the existing A380 with 140 orders, has been pushing Airbus to update the plane with newer engines, a move that could lower the number of seats airlines need to sell to break even.
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Mitsubishi develops regional jet in effort to rouse Japan's aircraft sector
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., which made the World War II-era Zero fighter planes, is set to launch its MRJ regional jet and hopes to become a major aviation power. "We think we have a lot of potential to give this industry. This is very high-tech work requiring skilled workers and engineers. We can compete in this area," said Mitsubishi's Hideyuki Kamiya. The company said last week it will push back the maiden flight of the aircraft, but that would not delay its first deliveries.
LinkAirlines
American revises Q1 revenue forecast
American Airlines Group Inc. said Friday that the strong U.S. dollar and some weaker foreign currencies are hurting its first quarter financial results. In public documents filed Friday, the Fort Worth-based airline said it expects first-quarter revenue to be down 1 percent to 3 percent from the same quarter in 2014 because of higher-than-expected foreign exchange losses from a strong U.S. dollar. American also lowered the forecast for its quarterly pretax profit margin to 12 percent to 13 percent.
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Germanwings Plane Evacuated After Bomb Scare
A Germanwings flight bound for Italy from Germany was evacuated late on Sunday due to a bomb threat. Germanwings has been in the spotlight since one of its planes crashed into a mountain in the French Alps last month, killing everyone on board. Germanwings said the pilot of flight 4U 826 to Milan was taxiing to the runway when he received a call from air traffic control at Cologne/Bonn airport to abort the flight.
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JetBlue traffic, load factor rose in March
JetBlue Airways reported a 9.2% increase in March traffic on a year-over-year basis. The carrier also saw its load factor rise to 87.2% in March from 84.8% in the same month last year.
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Jetstar uses RFID for safety checks
Australasia’s Jetstar Airways has drastically cut the time required to check on-board safety equipment by using a new Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solution. “We have a range of on-board safety equipment that must be regularly checked and tested by our engineers and our previous manual inspections could take up to 10 man-hours,” says David Lau, Jetstar Australia and New Zealand head of engineering.
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Pilot Strikes Hurt Lufthansa March Traffic
Lufthansa's passenger demand in terms of revenue seat km fell 2.5 percent in Europe in March due to the impact of four days of pilot strikes. Overall, the group reported demand up 1.9 percent and a load factor up 0.6 percentage points to 77.5 percent
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Southwest is poised to announce IFE upgrades
Southwest Airlines plans to unveil upgrades to its in-flight entertainment program at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Germany. The airline is working with AT&T Mobility Solutions and Global Eagle Entertainment on the upgrade.
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Virgin America Named Number One In 2014 Airline Quality Rating Report
For the third consecutive year, Virgin America has been recognized as the number one carrier in the Airline Quality Rating (AQR) report, an annual study of U.S. domestic airline performance conducted by professors at Wichita State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Based on publicly reported data all carriers must submit to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the AQR provides a comparative ranking based on key airline metrics important to air travelers today including: on-time performance, customer complaints, denied boarding and mishandled bags.
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Volaris Now Ventures into Central America
Volaris, the ultra low cost Mexican airline with the widest route network servicing Mexico and the US, announced today their first time venture into a Central American market, with the launch of two new flights to Ciudad Guatemala from Cancun, Quintana Roo and Guadalajara, Jalisco, effective June 18 and operating twice a week.
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Carriers upgrade premium travel for business travelers
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are upgrading their premium travel for domestic passengers. Experts say the carriers are trying to attract more business travelers.
LinkAirports
Berlin's Schönefeld Airport Re-Opens After Security Alert
Schönefeld Airport in Berlin has re-opened after being briefly evacuated on Monday because of a security alarm. A piece of luggage was found in an airport toilet and its owner could not be found, an airport spokesman said.
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Phoenix airport served 4.4% more passengers in Feb.
The number of passengers that went through Sky Harbor International Airport in February increased from the same month in 2014, according to numbers released by the city of Phoenix Friday. Close to 3.3 million passengers went through the city-owned airport in February, which is up 4.4 percent from the same time frame in 2014. That number includes both departing and arriving passengers.
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Fla. airport weighs new concessionaires for 2017 opening
The most coveted endorsements in bay area food and beverage circles were released Friday, offering a glimpse at what new eating and drinking options might come to Tampa International Airport in 2017. There could be a Hard Rock Cafe and Qdoba Mexican Grill in the main terminal.
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Military
TAI completes Turkish F-16 upgrade
The Turkish air force has received the last of 163 Lockheed Martin F-16C/Ds to have been upgraded with new avionics equipment and an expanded weapons capability. Handed over at Turkish Aerospace Industries’ (TAI) Ankara facility on 10 April, two-seat trainer 89-0044 was one of 147 Block 40/50-variant aircraft modernised by the company.
LinkUAV
FAA gives Amazon approval for UAV-delivery research
Amazon won federal approval again to fly drones in research for potential deliveries after its initial approval in March took so long that its remote-controlled aircraft became obsolete. The FAA announced Thursday that Amazon was one of 30 exemptions the agency granted a day earlier for commercial drones, bringing the total to 128.
LinkCorporate
Successful businessman takes up flying, owns largest fleet of former military jets
Jared Isaacman started Harbortouch, a payment processing company, in his parents' basement when he was still a teenager. Now 32, he's a baron in the finance industry and owns the largest fleet of former military tactical jets in the world. Isaacman, who took the GED instead of graduating from high school, went to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in his 20s to fight burnout and has earned airline transport, aerobatics and instructor ratings.
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Aviation Quote
How do you expect to get us to the Moon if you people can't even hook us up with a ground station?
— Gus Grissom, during the plugs out test of the Apollo 1 spacecraft, 27 January 1967.
On This Date
---In 1900... The spectacular Paris International Exhibition opens. Clement Ader’s Avion III is one of the exhibits.
---In 1906... In Dayton, Ohio, the Wrights send letters to the German, Italian, Japanese and Russian ministers of war offering to sell their airplane.
---In 1926... France and Germany sign an air treaty in Paris; since 1923, the Germans had seized 15 airplanes of the French-based airline CFRNA (now CIDNA) which were forced to land on German soil.
---In 1945…An Avro Lancaster on a night mission against Potsdam becomes the last British bomber shot down by a German night fighter during World War II.
---In 1949…First flight of the Helio Courier.
---In 1981…1st Space Shuttle-Columbia 1-returns to Earth.
---In 1986…United States Air Force and United States Navy jets attack Libya in Operation El Dorado Canyon. The U.S. Air Force component of the raid is the first U.S. bomber mission launched from British soil since 1945.
---In 1992…Onur Air is formed.
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Editor’s Choice
Trivia
Who Am I
1. I was born in Russia and emigrated to the United States. I was always tinkering with machines. I developed an aerial vehicle that was the first successful design in its class. With some assistance from fellow émigrés I started my company that began building flying boats. During WW2 I designed the first practical helicopter for the Department of War. My company still exists today as part of the United Technology Group. Who am I?
2. I was born the day after Pearl Harbor got bombed by the Japanese. I started my higher education at a Teacher’s college then transferred to the U of Missouri. I joined the US Navy in 1967 and was one of the first graduates of Top Gun. I was also the only Navy ace of the Viet Nam war. Who am I?
3. I was born in 1897, in Atchinson, KS. In December of 1920 I was given a ride that would change my life forever. I was the 16th woman to be issued a pilot’s license. In my second attempt to circle the globe, my airplane disappeared, no remains ever to be found. Who Am I?
4. I was born in 1914, and died in 1998. I started flying at an early age and grew up to be a test pilot for one of the industry’s leading manufacturers. Under the guise of selling airplanes, I barrel rolled a four-engine transport aircraft over Lake Washington. Who am I?
5. I was born in 1922 in Germany. I have had several nicknames, like “Bubi” or “The Black Devil.” As a fighter pilot I left a record that will never be broken; yes, I said never. I shot down 352 enemy airplanes. Who am I?
