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Commercial

Leap-1B awarded joint FAA, EASA type certification
CFM International has received joint certification by US and European regulators of the Leap engine selected to exclusively propel the Boeing 737 Max family. The type certificate approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) comes nearly three months after the 737 Max 8 achieved first flight.
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Airlines

Air France-KLM Posts First-Quarter Rebound
Air France-KLM posted a stronger-than-expected recovery in the first quarter due in part to low oil prices, but warned of geopolitical risks and airline overcapacity. The airline group reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of EUR€266 million, compared with a loss of EUR€26 million in the first quarter of last year.
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Alaska reports higher traffic for April
Alaska Air Group reported an 11.1% increase in passenger traffic for April on a year-over-year basis. Alaska also boosted capacity by 10.4% for the month.
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Etihad: 31 passengers injured in severe turbulence near Jakarta
An Etihad Airways Airbus A330-200, operating as flight EY474 from Abu Dhabi to Jakarta on May 4, encountered severe and unexpected turbulence about 45 minutes prior to arrival at Soekarno Hatta International Airport, injuring 31 passengers, the airline said in a statement. The flight landed safely and passengers were met by medical assistance teams as they disembarked the aircraft.
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Fastjet reduces fleet
African low-cost carrier fastjet will cut its fleet from six to five aircraft, with the early return of one of its Airbus A319s, as it works to match its fleet to market conditions. “Further to the trading and operational update in March 2016, and as part of the company’s ongoing review of its routes and fleet in order to match current demand with capacity, fastjet has agreed the early termination of the lease on one of its A319 aircraft. The aircraft, which was scheduled to come to the end of its lease term in October 2016, will come out of service immediately,” fastjet said in a stock exchange disclosure dated April 29.
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JetBlue inks deal with Ukrainian airline
JetBlue Airways has signed an agreement with Ukraine International Airlines. The agreement allows travelers to buy one ticket for travel from a JetBlue gateway to the Ukraine, and vice versa.
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Nok Air director resigns following cancellations, pilot strike
Thai-based low-cost carrier Nok Air has announced the resignation of the chairman of its audit committee Pimol Srivikorn, effective immediately. Srivikorn was also a director at the Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok. The resignation comes after the carrier reported a nearly 50% increase in losses for FY 2015, to THB723.9 million ($20.08 million).
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Ryanair Says Brussels Attacks Dampening Demand
The attacks on Brussels in March continue to dampen demand for flying in Europe, though traffic was strong during the Easter holidays, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said. O'Leary last month predicted Ryanair's profits would fall by EUR€10 million - EUR€20 million in January-March as a result of the Brussels attacks and air traffic control strikes, and forecast airlines would have to cut fares.
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Southwest Airlines to expand service to Mexico, CEO says
Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines, said the carrier plans to add flights to Mexico following a recently revised open skies agreement between the US and Mexico. "We have plans in the works for additional service to and from Mexico, so we'll look forward to making those announcements just as soon as this agreement becomes fully effective," Kelly said.
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Airports

Fraport Assuming Weak Retail Performance
Fraport is expecting its retail performance to be weak this year, with some recovery happening but not enough to catch up to last year's per-passenger spend performance. "There's a general negative trend coming from currency and we're suffering from reduced numbers of Chinese passengers," the airport operator's chief financial officer Matthias Zieschang said.
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Military

USAF to automate MQ-9 takeoffs and landings
The US Air Force is pressing forward with a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper upgrade that would allow the widely fielded armed aircraft to takeoff and land automatically. This is a capability already inherent in the US Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle system, but the air branch has been slow to adopt it.
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Rotary Wing

EASA mandates H225 gearbox checks following fatal Norway crash
European regulators have mandated a number of “precautionary” checks covering the main gearbox of the Airbus Helicopters H225 rotorcraft in the wake of the 29 April fatal crash in Norway. The European Aviation Safety Agency says that although the investigation into the root cause of the accident – in which 13 passengers and crew lost their lives – remains ongoing, “the partial information available so far indicate[s] in-flight separation of the main rotor hub from the main gearbox”.
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Aviation Quote

In flying I have learned that carelessness and overconfidence are usually far more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks.
— Wilbur Wright in a letter to his father, September 1900..

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Trivia

General Trivia

1. True or false; The highest-scoring non-German fighter ace of all time was an American.

2. True or false; When Buzz Aldrin left the lunar lander, Eagle, to join Neil Armstrong on the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 mission, he had to be careful not to close Eagle’s door because it did not have an outer handle.

3. True or false; It is possible to fly a conventional airplane in such a way as to reduce its stall speed to 0 knots.

4. From reader Richard Somers: An airline mechanic is taxiing a Boeing 747 from a maintenance hangar across an active runway and along active taxiways to the terminal building. He is required to have
a. an FAA pilot certificate.
b. an FAA taxi certificate.
c. a driver’s license.
d. None of the above.

5. Orville and Wilbur Wright were the first and second pilots to fly an airplane. The third person was:
a. American.
b. Brazilian.
c. British.
d. French.

6. Dynamic hydroplaning occurs when water cannot get out of the way of rolling tires fast enough and literally lifts the tires off the runway surface. The speed above which this occurs depends on the
a. gross weight of the airplane.
b. tire footprint area.
c. tire pressure.
d. depth of the water.