NewsEtihad to retain equity stake in stronger-performing Air SerbiaAir Serbia has posted a €15.7 million ($18.3 million) net profit for 2017 and announced that Etihad Airways plans to continue as a 49% equity partner. “Air Serbia and Etihad Airways agreed that equity partnership of two airlines is going to be continued. Etihad continues to own 49% of Air Serbia and remains a fully committed and supportive shareholder in partnership with Air Serbia’s majority shareholder, the government of Serbia,” Air Serbia said in a statement July 2.
LinkFernandes: AirAsia Group, Airbus in A330neo delivery discussions AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes is holding discussions with Airbus about confirming A330neo deliveries, and he signaled the carrier may be interested in further Airbus orders.
LinkEtihad merges group structure with core airline Etihad Aviation Group has decided to make significant changes to its corporate structure, reflecting a strategy shift from its previous partnership model to a focus on its core business.
LinkChao: 1,500-hr. rule has ‘side effect’ of reducing pilot supply The significant increase in flight hours required to become a US airline pilot—mandated by US Congress in 2010 and cemented into regulation by FAA in 2013—has had the “side effect” of “reducing the number of pilots” and should be revisited by Congress, US transportation secretary Elaine Chao said
LinkUS lawmakers blast FAA’s oversight of foreign repair stations Two US Democrat congressmen have accused FAA or failing to implement mandatory drug and alcohol testing for workers at foreign aircraft repair stations. US Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) and Rick Larsen (D-Washington) have described their complaints in a June 28 letter to FAA and Department of Transportation (DOT) secretary Elaine Chao.
LinkDOT: FAA completes nearly half of runway incursion initiativesFAA has completed just under half of the initiatives it agreed to following a June 2015 “call to action” forum focused on preventing runway incursions, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Inspector General (OIG) said. As of November, FAA had completed 10 of 22 initiatives designed to prevent incursions—incidents involving unauthorized aircraft, vehicles or persons on a runway. Two initiatives were canceled and 10 still are in progress, the OIG said in a June 27 report.
LinkIAG’s Austrian-based Level increases LCC competition in Vienna International Airlines Group’s (IAG) low-cost, long-haul carrier Level is set to launch flights from Vienna, Austria from July 17. The new IAG subsidiary is the latest LCC to select Vienna as a strategic base or investment.
LinkNew Air Wisconsin Appleton maintenance base to grow UnitedAir Wisconsin Airlines is setting up a maintenance facility at Appleton International Airport (ATW) to support the carrier’s expanding schedule in the US eastern Wisconsin city. The United Airlines regional feeder plans to build a 30,000-sq-fit. hangar and 7,000 sq. ft. of office and support space on the northwest side of ATW. The $8 million project is slated for completion before the upcoming winter season.
LinkEthiopian Airlines takes first Boeing 737 MAX 8Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 July 2. The Addis Ababa-based carrier has firm orders for 30 MAX 8 aircraft, the largest of the type in Africa. Ten options were firmed in June 2017. Ethiopian said the new variant consumes 15% less fuel compared to its current 737-700/800 fleet.
LinkChina’s Hainan Airlines eyes Los Angeles service in December Los Angeles, California in the US will get two extra connections to Chinese secondary cities in December, if plans by Hainan Airlines and China Southern Airlines both go ahead. On July 3, Beijing-based Air China also opened a link between the California city and Chengdu, in southwestern China.
LinkTrent 1000 checks force ANA to cancel over 100 flightsAll Nippon Airways will cancel 113 domestic flights of Boeing 787s between 6-12 July in order to carry out additional checks on Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. FlightGlobal Schedules shows that ANA plans to operate 316 domestic services with 787-8s and -9s during the period, meaning that the engine checks will cancel over one third of ANA’s 787 domestic flights.
LinkA350 operators to check flight-surface actuator performanceAirbus A350 operators are being instructed to check the performance of electro-hydrostatic actuators for the type's primary flight-control surfaces. The European Aviation Safety Agency says that some of the actuators, manufactured by Moog, have been found to suffer from degradation as a result of moisture admission.
LinkTaiwanese MD-82 in engine failure incidentA Boeing MD-82 operated by Taiwan's Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) was involved in an engine failure incident on 2 July. The island's Aviation Safety Council (ASC) says the incident took place at 19.05 local time, when the aircraft, registered B-28035, issued an urgent signal while descending at 2,800ft (853m).
LinkIrish pilot union calls Ryanair strikeRyanair flightcrew represented by the Irish Airline Pilots' Association (IALPA) are to begin a 24h strike on 12 July. The union says 99% of members voted in favour of action amid a dispute over Ryanair's approach to transferring pilots between European and African bases.
LinkFAA clears Air France-KLM's technical unit for Leap supportAir France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance has been approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration to service CFM International Leap engines. The MRO group has been supporting the Leap-1A and -1B – which power Airbus A320neo-family and Boeing 737 Max aircraft, respectively – under approval by the European Aviation Safety Agency since 2017.
Link Sukhoi leans towards composite wing on 75-seat SuperjetSukhoi's civil aircraft division is concentrating on developing a composite wing for the proposed 75-seat version of its Superjet 100. Speaking to FlightGlobal, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft president Alexander Rubtsov said the airframer is developing wing profiles for the shrunk twinjet.
LinkUK committee urges against Wedgetail selectionThe chairman of the UK's cross-party parliamentary Defence Committee has taken the unusual step of making public its concerns over a possible plan to replace the Royal Air Force's fleet of Boeing E-3D Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft.
LinkCanada requests seven additional Australian HornetsCanada has requested an additional seven surplus F/A-18 A/B Hornets from Australia. In February, Ottawa requested seven examples for use in non-flying activities such as software testing, static training, and spares, says Australia’s Department of Defence.
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