NewsCommercial
Why Bell had to impress with FCX concept
For all its storied history of aviation firsts, Bell Helicopter has in recent years become stuck in a rut. Gone was its pioneering spirit, to be replaced with a steady-as-she-goes attitude that translated into the churning out of endless derivatives of old designs.
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CDB Aviation Lease Finance orders 30 Boeing 737 MAXs
CDB Aviation Lease Finance, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing, has ordered 30 Boeing 737 MAXs. The order, valued at $3.3 billion at list prices, was previously listed by Boeing as being placed by an unidentified customer.
LinkAirlines
Airlines prepare for winter storm in Northeast
Major US airlines are proactively working to accommodate passengers in the Northeast as the region braces for a winter storm. Airlines are making plans and pre-emptively canceling flights to ensure normal operations could be resumed quickly once the storm passes. Carriers are also implementing flexible rebooking policies, enabling affected travelers to rebook or change their travel plans at no additional cost.
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Airlines simplify boarding process, enhance travel experience
American Airlines has introduced a simplified format when it comes to calling passengers to board its aircraft, labeling the boarding groups Group 1 through Group 9.
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British Airways brings business class to domestic UK flights
British Airways (BA) will introduce a business-class service on domestic UK flights for the first time, as it faces increased competition. The UK national carrier said it would be extending its Club Europe service to internal services as it seeks “to align our domestic services with our European ones.”
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Delta closes $620m investment in Aeromexico
Delta Air Lines has closed its tender offer for nearly a third of Aeromexico Group, investing roughly $620 million in the Mexican carrier. Atlanta-based Delta acquired 228 million additional shares in Aeromexico’s holding company under the oversubscribed offer that closed on 10 March, it says today. It now holds a 36.2% stake in the airline.
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Emirates Airline launches Athens-Newark service
Emirates Airline operated the first rotation of its controversial fifth-freedom Dubai-Athens-New York-Newark service March 13, following a weekend of protests by US airlines’ staff. US airlines have asked the Trump administration to block the new service and look again at the Open Skies agreements between the US and Gulf states.
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FedEx First Overnight covers more than 90% of businesses
The FedEx First Overnight delivery service's reach encompasses 92% of US businesses. Some 32,000 postal codes are covered by the service.
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Hawaiian Airlines sees bright future in Pacific Rim
Hawaiian Airlines sees future growth in Pacific Rim routes, said Mark Dunkerley, president and CEO of the airline, citing the fact that Hawaiian is "about four times larger than we were, say, six or seven years ago."
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South Korean startup KAIR orders eight A320s
New South Korean budget carrier KAIR Airlines has placed an order for eight Airbus A320ceos. The carrier has not yet announced its choice of engines for the aircraft, which will be between the CFM International CFM56 and International Aero Engines V2500.
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Lucky Air receives first widebody in long-haul push
Lucky Air has received its first widebody, an Airbus A330-300, which will be used by the low-cost carrier to operate long-haul services. The aircraft, bearing the registration B-5971, is configured with 292 seats in two classes: 32 business and 260 economy. Flight Fleets Analyzer indicates that the 2015-vintage aircraft was first operated by Hainan Airlines, and is owned and managed by Tianjin Bohai Leasing.
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Nordavia to boost domestic network from St. Petersburg
Russia’s Arkhangelsk-based Nordavia regional airlines plans to develop its domestic network from St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport with Boeing 737-500 service to Anapa, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Samara and Chelyabinsk during the IATA 2017 summer season.
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Qatar Airways to receive first A320neo-family jet next year
Qatar Airways expects to take delivery of its first Airbus A320neo-family aircraft in 2018. Chief executive Akbar Al Baker said at the ITB travel fair in Berlin earlier this month that Qatar Airways would not receive any narrowbodies this year.
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Southwest Airlines Launches New Nonstop Flights to Belize
Southwest Airlines has continued its Caribbean expansion with a new nonstop route to Belize. The company has launched the first-ever nonstop service between Denver, Colo. and Belize, with the inaugural flight over the weekend.
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Turkish deferrals cut into 2020 fleet size
Turkish Airlines’ restructuring of its fleet capacity means it will be operating 40 fewer aircraft by 2020 than it had intended last year. The airline’s revised fleet schedule – disclosed in its full-year financial results – shows that its fleet in 2020 will comprise 369 aircraft, compared with the 409 expected in its previous full-year statement.
LinkAirports
Berlin airports cancel flights as ground staff continues strike
German trade union Verdi has called for around 2,000 ground staff at Berlin’s Tegel and Schönefeld airports to strike from Monday, March 13, to Wednesday, March 15, in a continuation of the strike called last week for Friday, March 10. The two-day strike has had a considerable impact on air traffic to and from Berlin. On Monday, Tegel canceled 448 flights and Schönefeld canceled 194 flights. On Friday, both airports canceled a total of 650 flights.
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Military
Malaysia's air force operates on shoestring budget
The Royal Malaysian Air Force faces an uncertain future for its capability development plans, given the government’s budgetary limitations, constrained by slow economic growth and falling oil revenues.
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Boeing renews Korean F-15K sustainment pact
Boeing has won a five year contract to sustain Seoul’s fleet of F-15K fighter aircraft. The contract involves both materials and technical support, and will see Boeing use local suppliers to maintain and manufacture F-15K components, says the US airframer.
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China’s J-20 set to receive indigenous engine
China is nearing the use of an indigenous powerplant for the Chengdu J-20 fighter aircraft, although mass production of key engine technologies is a challenge. A report in the official China Daily newspaper quotes an official of Aero Engine Corporation of China, Chen Xiangbao, as saying that “it will not take a long time for our fifth generation combat plane to have China-made engines.”
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Aviation Quote
Spaceflight will never tolerate carelessness, incapacity, and neglect. Somewhere, somehow, we screwed up. It could have been in design, build, or test. Whatever it was, we should have caught it. We were too gung ho about the schedule and we locked out all of the problems we saw each day in our work. Every element of the program was in trouble and so were we. The simulators were not working, Mission Control was behind in virtually every area, and the flight and test procedures changed daily. Nothing we did had any shelf life. Not one of us stood up and said, ‘Dammit, stop!’ I don’t know what Thompson’s committee will find as the cause, but I know what I find. We are the cause! We were not ready! We did not do our job. We were rolling the dice, hoping that things would come together by launch day, when in our hearts we knew it would take a miracle. We were pushing the schedule and betting that the Cape would slip before we did.
From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: ‘Tough’ and ‘Competent.’ Tough means we are forever accountable for what we do or what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for. Competent means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect. When you leave this meeting today you will go to your office and the first thing you will do there is to write ‘Tough and Competent’ on your blackboards. It will never be erased. Each day when you enter the room these words will remind you of the price paid by Grissom, White, and Chaffee. These words are the price of admission to the ranks of Mission Control.
- Gene Kranz, NASA Flight Director, address to flight control team on the Monday morning following the Apollo 1 disaster. Since known as the Kranz Dictum. 30 January 1967.
Daily Video
Editor's Choice
Trivia
World Airlines
1. What is the oldest airline still operating under its original name?
KLM
Northwest Airlines
Deutsche Lufthansa
Qantas
2. What airline carried the most passengers in 2005?
British Airways
American Airlines
United Airlines
Japan Airlines
3. Which of these low-cost airlines is not based in India?
Air Blue
Go Air
SpiceJet
Paramount Airways
4. What colour is associated with EasyJet?
Dark Blue
Purple
Orange
Maroon
5. Which of these is not an international airline?
Continental Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines
Delta Air Lines
6. Which of these European Airlines is not operating?
SABENA
Air Dolomiti
Eurowings
Luxair
7. Which of these is a French airline?
GB Airways
Air Scotland
Brit Air
Aurigny Air Services
8. MALEV the flag-carrier of what country?
Czech Republic
Lithuania
Iceland
Hungary
9. Which of these is not a Japanese Airline?
Skymark Airlines
All Nippon Airways
Asiana Airlines
Hokkaido International Airlines
10. Which of these is a Mexican Airline?
Aero California
Mesaba Airlines
Frontier Airlines
Chautauqua Airlines
