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Commercial

Bombardier opens Munich support centre
Bombardier Business Aircraft has opened a new regional service office (RSO) in Munich in response to growing demand in Europe. The German facility will be its second in Western Europe, alongside an existing RSO at Farnborough in the UK. It will be staffed initially by 10 employees, including four field service representatives and three customer support account managers.
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Honeywell doubles wi-fi speeds with software upgrade
Honeywell Aerospace has launched a High Data Rate (HDR) software upgrade that will double the speed of in-flight Wi-fi for existing Inmarsat Swiftbroadband customers, and is hoping to sign up some business aviation customers during EBACE. Providing peak speeds of up to 2.75mbps, the upgrade is twice as fast as existing Swiftbroadband in-flight connections. Honeywell vice-president marketing and product management Carl Esposito says it is “very easy to install and quick to retrofit”.
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LHT to provide cabin completions on ACJ319 Elite
Lufthansa Technik will carry out cabin completions for the Airbus ACJ319 Elite corporate jet, following on from its cooperation with the airframer on the ACJ318 Elite. “Due to the huge market recognition, we have maintained the basic layout of the original ACJ318 Elite,” says Walter Heerdt, senior vice-president of VIP & Executive Jet Solutions at Lufthansa Technik.
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Airlines

Air Canada to fly nonstop to Austin
Air Canada will begin daily service between Toronto and Austin, Texas, according to a recent announcement.
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American Airlines to "compete aggressively" to protect market share, says CEO
American Airlines will be aggressive in protecting its market share, according to CEO Doug Parker. While American Airlines will not expand in the face of low fuel costs the way some airlines have, he assured shareholders, "We're not going to lose customers on price."
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American Airlines tops list for best in-flight music
American Airlines continues to gather accolades for its March move to update its playlists. The airline has adopted a playlist of contemporary indie rock that has excited younger passengers and created an Internet sensation.
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American Airlines looks to improve operations in 2016
American Airlines is looking to make more investments next year to improve operations and systems that had been put on hold during the merger with US Airways. President Scott Kirby said some of those improvements will include the unbundling of some products and changes to the frequent flier program.
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Avianca Selects Global Eagle Entertainment to Provide Content Services Fleet-wide
Global Eagle Entertainment Inc., a market-leading media and connectivity provider to the travel industry, today announced that it has been selected by Avianca Holdings to provide the in-flight entertainment service on-board its subsidiary airlines. Through this long-term agreement, GEE will provide a variety of international and regional inflight entertainment (IFE), including movies, TV programming and audio, to Avianca's fleet of 168+ aircraft. The agreement will also be extended to provide content services on the 33+ A320neo aircraft that the airlines recently committed on order from Airbus. In addition, GEE will also provide content technical services to the airlines.
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El Al's First Quarter Loss Narrows
El Al's net loss narrowed in the first quarter as the carrier increased its market share, flew more passengers and benefited from a stronger dollar and lower fuel prices. Israel's flag carrier said net loss in the quarter was USD$16 million compared with USD$39.7 million a year ago. Revenue rose to USD$419.8 million from USD$415.4 million as revenue from passengers rose 1.1 percent and from cargo by 1.6 percent.
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Etihad selects Phenom 100E for pilot training
Etihad Airways has selected the Embraer Phenom 100E as a jet trainer for a pilot-training school acquired one year ago, signing a purchase agreement at the EBACE convention on 20 May for four aircraft. Al Ain-based Etihad Flight College also has options to order three more Phenom 100Es. The list value of all seven aircraft is $30 million. The former Horizon International Flight Academy now operates 16 single-engine propeller aircraft, including three Diamond DA42s and 13 Cessna 172s. Etihad acquired the flight academy in May 2014 from Mubadala.
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Hainan Airlines Partners with the World's Largest Loyalty Point Platform Points.com
Hainan Airlines Co., Ltd announced on May 18 that it is joining hands with the world's largest loyalty point platform, Points.com, in a global partnership effective the same day. Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club is Points' first airline partner in mainland China as well as the first airline in mainland China to launch a frequent flyer plan based on mileage sales. Fortune Wings Club's points can be exchanged for the points of many world-renowned airlines.
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IAG CEO Walsh Relaxed On Protracted Aer Lingus Bid
IAG is relaxed about the time it is taking Aer Lingus shareholders to decide whether to back a takeover deal, chief executive Willie Walsh said. British Airways and Iberia owner IAG's proposed EUR€1.36 billion bid was recommended by the Aer Lingus board in January but is conditional on the support of the airline's two main shareholders, Ryanair and the Irish state.
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JetBlue announces second new flight out of BWI this year
JetBlue will begin flying from BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport to Orlando, starting in November. The airline previously announced service from BWI to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., also to begin in November.
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PAL Considering Airbus A350 For New Routes
Philippine Airlines will consider the Airbus A350 for an expansion of its long-haul operations, PAL President Jaime Bautista said. PAL currently flies Boeing 777s on its long-haul routes, having retired its last Boeing 747 in September last year. "There will be a need for us to get more long-haul aircraft for expansion to North America, Europe," Bautista told journalists. "Of course we will study it very carefully," he said, asked whether PAL is interested in the A350. The airline's interest in new aircraft comes as PAL Holdings, its parent company, returned to the black in 2014 with a profit of PHP127 million pesos (USD$3 million) due to a combination of lower fuel prices and improving market conditions. It had reported three years of losses before that.
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SAS: Negotiations with the Pilots’ Unions in Final Phase
SAS is in the final negotiations with the Swedish pilot union SPF and the Norwegian pilot union NSF. SAS’ firm intention is to reach an agreement in the negotiations, but in case of a possible industrial action passengers will be mostly affected in Sweden from May 21. SAS has currently signed new Scandinavian collective bargain agreements with over half of the SAS pilots. Negotiations are now underway with the assistance of mediation with the Norwegian pilot union NSF and the Swedish pilot union SPF.
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Southwest Airlines adds second flight to Ronald Reagan airport
Southwest will add a second flight from Port Columbus to Washington, D.C., six days a week, starting Nov. 1. Southwest began offering daily service on the route in April.
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Southwest Airlines expects "significant fuel cost savings"
Fuel costs will be down almost a dollar per gallon from last year, according to Southwest Airlines CFO Tammy Romo, with jet fuel averaging $2.10 a gallon. Southwest expects to save $1.2 billion or more on fuel this year. The announcement comes despite a recent uptick in fuel prices.
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Airports

Japanese Bidders Tepid About Kansai Airport
Days before the sale of Kansai Airport closes, just one Japanese company has pledged to bid, casting doubt on a marquee project in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's effort to involve private companies in major infrastructure projects. The 10-month initial bidding for the rights to operate Japan's fifth-busiest airport is meant to start a wave of public-private partnerships to attract investment to Japan and chip away at the government's massive debt. But with bids closing on Friday for the USD$18 billion concession, only financial services firm Orix has declared it will bid, teaming up with France's Vinci.
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Military

AC-130W crews to get JHMCS advance
The US Special Operations Command's Lockheed Martin AC-130W crews are to be equipped with the joint helmet-mounted cueing system (JHMCS), in the first application for the design on a transport platform. Announced by Elbit Systems, the integration activity will be performed over the next two years as part of a wider effort to update the capabilities of the armed AC-130W "Stinger II" for the close air support role and other duties.
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Boeing proposes international A-10 Warthog sales
Boeing has floated the idea of selling refurbished A-10 Warthogs to other nations as the US Air Force seeks to retire the venerable attack airplane. The company is currently extending the service life of the air force’s A-10 fleet through a re-winging program, and it recently delivered its 100th modification with more than 70 modifications left on contract.
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Hungarian Gripen crashes in Czech Republic
A Saab Gripen D crashed at Čáslav air base in the Czech Republic while landing during its participation in the multinational exercise Lion Effort on 19 May. Pictures have emerged on Twitter showing the crashed aircraft off the end of the runway at Čáslav. The mishap marks the first non-Swedish air force Gripen crash.
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Indian Su-30 MKI lost in crash
An Indian air force Su-30 MKI twin-seat fighter, the mainstay of the nation’s combat fleet, crashed on 19 May, with both pilots ejecting safely. A statement issued by the ministry of defense says the aircraft was on a “routine sortie” and crashed approximately “36km south of Tezpur in Assam.” The fighter took off from Tezpur air base, located in India’s North-Eastern region at 1230 local time and crashed a short while later. The air force has ordered a Court of Inquiry. It is not yet known if the air force will ground the entire Su-30 MKI fleet, as was done following the loss of another SU-30 MKI on 21 October 2014.
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Space

Boeing doesn't see business case yet for RD-180 replacement
Boeing’s president of network and space systems says he’s yet to see the business case for developing an alternative rocket engine to the Russian-built RD-180 that powers the Atlas V rocket, even as lawmakers press the US military to develop an American-made alternative by 2019. Congress tasked the US Air Force to come up with an alternative propulsion system following Russia’s annexation of Crimea last year, but air force secretary Deborah Lee James says leading launch providers aren’t interested since they’re already heavily investing in alternative launch systems.
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Regulatory

China To Hold Foreign Airlines To New Safety Rules
Foreign airlines operating in China will be evaluated by the country's aviation regulator, and those who fail to meet safety standards will be prohibited from operating in China. According to the new safety rules, all 156 foreign carriers in China will be scored according to 34 criteria, including number of accidents, their compliance with rules and regulations and the number of safety-related complaints from customers, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said.
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Aviation Quote

Real planes use only a single stick to fly. This is why bulldozers & helicopters — in that order — need two.
— Paul Slattery

On This Date

---In 1878... Glenn Hammond Curtiss, pioneer of the first years of powered flight and rival of the Wright brothers, is born in Hammondsport, New York.

---In 1946... Royal Dutch Airlines, KLM, inaugurates a scheduled service to New York. It is the first European airline to open post-war flights to New York.

---In 1956…B-52 Stratofortress drops the US hydrogen bomb, a 3.75 MT device on (Bikini Atoll) Central Pacific, a first such air drop.

---In 1975…First flight of the Rutan VariEze N7EZ.

---In 1977... The Concorde makes a special trip from New York to Paris to mark the 50th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s historic flight on the same route in the Spirit of St. Louis; the airliner takes just 3 hours, 44 minutes, compared with Lindbergh’s time of 33 hours, 29 minutes.

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