NewsCommercial
Perception lags improving airline safety
Aviation professionals are pessimistic about the ability of the industry to continue to improve airline safety. Only a narrow majority – 51% – of respondents to a recent Flight Ascend Consultancy airline safety perception survey thought that safety had improved during the past five years. A majority – 52% – also took the pessimistic view that safety cannot be expected to improve any further or may actually get worse. Only 44% thought that airline safety could continue to improve.
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Three decades of the A320, by the numbers
By the end of 2016, Airbus had received 13,066 orders and delivered 7,422 A320-family aircraft. With the announcement of a re-engined version in 2010, the airframer refreshed the programme in response to customer demands for lower fuel-burn and competition from Boeing and Bombardier as it aims to stay at the front of the narrowbody market.
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Recaro posts record year for aircraft seat deliveries
German aerospace equipment manufacturer Recaro Aircraft Seating delivered over 100,000 seats in 2016, setting a new record across its four production sites. Detailing the year-end results on Feb. 9, Recaro CEO Mark Hiller described 2016 as an outstanding year for the company. “New products, new customers and numerous new orders … drove business development in 2016. The full order books are ideally matched to the workforce and capacity expansion we have undertaken in recent years.”
LinkAirlines
Alitalia braces for strike in face of financial crisis
Italian national carrier Alitalia faces a strike by multiple trade unions and professional associations Feb. 23 that will force it to cancel 60% of flights that day. The walkout by unions representing some pilots, cabin crews and other staff will last for 24 hours, while other groups plan a more limited, four-hour walkout. The strike is being planned despite the airline being at a “critical” stage, according to its CEO, and in dire need of a more sustainable financial base.
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Russian commuter Aurora increases frequencies
Aeroflot subsidiary Aurora Airline, which serves Russia’s far eastern regions, has increased commuter flights frequencies in Primorsky Krai. The commuter airline, which operates three Twin Otters, has increased Vladivostok-Dalnegorsk service from 4X-weekly to daily, and Vladivostok-Terney from 3X-weekly to daily; while Vladivostok-Kavalerovo increases from daily to 10X-weekly, Vladivostok-Dalnerechensk doubles to 4X-weekly, and Terney-Svetlaya service also doubles to 4X weekly.
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Executive jet transatlantic operator seeks new business model
More competition for lucrative transatlantic first-class passengers is imminent with the appearance of a new operator—New York-based Bliss Jet—selling individual seats on high-end business jets. Bliss Jet describes itself as an indirect air carrier; it will use Gulfstream G450 and G550 aircraft from US charter operators, including White Cloud Charter and Jet Access Aviation, to fly what will initially be a 2X-weekly service between New York La Guardia and London Stansted airports.
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GOL reverses losses, posts 2016 $339 million net profit
São Paulo-based low-cost carrier GOL reported a full-year 2016 net profit of BRL1.1 billion ($338.5 million), reversing the airline’s BRL4.3 billion net loss in 2015. GOL reported full-year revenue of BRL 9.9 billion, up 0.9% from 2015 as operating expenses decreased 7.9% to BRL9.2 billion. The company reported BRL696.5 million in operating income for the year, reversing a BRL183.8 million operating loss in 2015. The airline’s operating margin (EBIT) for the year was 7.1%, up 9 points from 2015.
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JetBlue unveils special "Blueprint" livery
JetBlue is marking its 17th year in business with a new special livery dubbed "Blueprint" on an Embraer 190 passenger jet. Other special liveries currently in service with JetBlue include Vets in Blue, FDNY and "What's Old is Blue Again."
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Norwegian focuses on mid-size US cities for new Atlantic services
Low-cost carrier Norwegian is planning to open up transatlantic services from several mid-sized US cities that do not have European flights, the airline’s CEO said Feb.20. Speaking to ATW in London, Bjorn Kjos said that the airline’s planned Airbus A321neoLR long-range variants would give it the capability to serve medium-sized US airports. They would also allow the carrier to open up new routes from Scandinavia to India and “a large part of Asia.”
LinkAirports
West Star Aviation to expand maintenance facility at Tenn. airport
Officials at Tennessee's Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport approved plans for a $20 million expansion of a West Star Aviation repair and maintenance facility. The city's Airport Authority will spend about $3 million to prepare the building site.
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Renovations planned for Indianapolis airport
Indianapolis International Airport is in the planning stages of a renovation that could include more retailers near airline gates, more seating in a circular commons area and improved signage.
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Russian airport reports international traffic up 70% in January
Samara’s Kurumoch International Airport in the Russian Volga region reported handling 28,000 international passengers in January, up 70% year-over-year (YOY). Kurumoch COO Konstantin Bylinin cited new winter services to Almaty, Antalya, Tel Aviv—as well as existing service growth, which included Samara-Dubai services (up 63% YOY) and Samara-Prague services (up 24% YOY).
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Military
India needs fighters more than factories
Visitors to Aero India this year could be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu. Back in 2011, the soundtrack to the show was the roar of fighter aircraft as eager bidders put their jets through their paces. The noise was much the same this time around, with a number of repeat participants in the air display as the Dassault Rafale, Lockheed Martin F-16 and Saab Gripen all took to the skies.
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Aviation Quote
Every generation has the obligation to free men's minds for a look at new worlds, to look out from a higher plateau than the last generation. Your vision is not limited by what your eye can see, but by what your mind can imagine. . . . Make your life count and the world will be a better place because you tried.
- Astronaut Ellison Onizuka, astronaut, in his graduation address to Konawaena High School, Hawaii, 1980.
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Trivia
General Trivia
1. Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin were first to walk on the moon. Altogether, how many men have walked on the moon, and who were the third and fourth astronauts to do so?
2. The tires of some turbofan-powered airplanes have chines. What are these and what purpose do they serve?
3. What is the greatest speed ever achieved by a man-made object?
4. Who was apparently the only pilot to intentionally solo a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress?
5. True or false; The Boeing JB-17G Flying Fortress was a single-engine, propeller-driven version of the famed bomber.
6. True or false; When filing flight plans, pilots should include cadavers when indicating the number of persons on board the aircraft (or mention them in the Remarks section).
