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Muilenburg to tell Congress Boeing ‘Got some things wrong’
Boeing “got some things wrong” related to the 737 MAX development and the response to two fatal accidents, and remains committed to answering every question the FAA has to get the aircraft flying again, CEO Dennis Muilenburg will tell a Senate committee Oct. 29. “We have learned and are still learning from these accidents,” Muilenburg will tell the Senate Commerce Committee, according to a copy of his opening remarks.
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Regulators temporarily restrict A220 operations on engine failure probe
Regulators have mandated temporary operational limitations for Airbus A220 operators in the wake of three Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engine failures in the last three months. The restrictions, issued by Transport Canada (TC) in an Oct. 25 emergency airworthiness directive (AD), limit engine N1 settings to 94% while operating above 29,000 ft. (FL290). EASA adopted the directive and others are expected to follow.
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Embraer may consider re-entering turboprop market
Brazilian manufacturer Embraer, while currently occupied with shopping around its 146-seat E195-E2 jet, is indicating that it will consider entering the turboprop market to meet demand for the type in Latin America.
Citing market projections for 290 turboprops to be delivered in the Latin American region by 2038, Embraer VP-sales, Latin America and the Caribbean Reinaldo Krugner said Embraer is looking at turboprops. “There is interest,” he said.
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A220 operators told to limit engine thrust at high altitude
Operators of Airbus A220s are facing operational limitations of the twinjet's engines, following several serious incidents involving powerplant failure.
Transport Canada has issued an emergency directive covering both the A220-100 and A220-300 models, which are exclusively fitted with Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engines.
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FAA administrator: 737 Max will be made safe
The head of the Federal Aviation Administration is giving no clue about when his agency might clear Boeing's 737 Max to fly.
But when addressing attendees at the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum on 28 October, FAA administrator Stephen Dickson stressed repeatedly that his agency will not clear the aircraft to fly until Boeing fully addresses all the FAA's safety concerns.
LinkAirlines
Vueling launches EAN inflight connectivity
Spain’s Vueling has become the first LCC to offer European Aviation Network (EAN) inflight Wi-Fi, with an initial “soft launch” on five Airbus A320-family aircraft.
“The rollout will progressively continue over the coming months, with installations expected to be completed on its fleet of more than 110 Airbus A319, A320 and A321 aircraft by early next year,” Vueling said, Oct. 28.
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Icelandair extends MAX removal, narrows 2019 loss outlook
Icelandair will keep its Boeing 737 MAXs off its schedule through February 2020, a move that helped improve the carrier’s EBIT guidance for 2019.
Icelandair Group now projects an EBIT loss of $35 million to $55 million for the year, narrowed from a previous forecast of a $70 million-$90 million loss. The guidance includes a revised estimated EBIT impact of the MAX grounding to date of $110 million to $120 million.
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Paris Orly added to easyJet’s worldwide connecting service
UK LCC easyJet has added its Worldwide by easyJet connecting service to Paris Orly Airport, enabling passengers to use its self-connect desk to connect with long-haul partners Corsair and all-business class La Compagnie at the French capital’s second airport.
EasyJet launched its Worldwide connecting service in 2017, enabling passengers to buy other airlines’ flights on the easyJet website and connect to other airlines’ long-haul services.
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Volaris 3Q net profit driven by improved domestic market share
Mexican ultra-LCC Volaris posted a MXP713 million ($38 million) net profit in the 2019 third quarter, a strong turnaround from the MXP119 million net loss realized in 3Q 2018 and driven by increased domestic market share and a stabilizing regional economy.
Volaris president and CEO Enrique Beltranena said on the company’s Oct. 25 3Q earnings call that Volaris “now has the strongest point-to-point network schedule in the domestic market,” noting that it is the only Mexican carrier “in history” to transport over 20 million passengers during a 12-month period.
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Peach Aviation opens Tokyo Narita base after Vanilla Air merger
Japanese LCC Peach Aviation has established an aircraft and crew base at Tokyo Narita Airport, as the carrier reorganizes its operations as a result of its merger with Vanilla Air.
Peach will also base pilots and cabin crews at the airport, with an operations support center opening Nov. 1. The carrier said these moves will help expand its network from Narita.
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Alaska Airlines cancels all Santa Rosa flights due to wildfire
Alaska Airlines cancelled all of its scheduled service to the Santa Rosa, California airport, north of San Francisco, due to a massive wildfire nearby which has burned tens of thousands of hectares and forced 180,000 residents to flee their homes.
The Seattle-based airline suspended 18 nonstop inbound and outbound flights between the city in northern California and five west-coast destinations - Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego - through Thursday, 31 October, it says in a statement on its website on 28 October.
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Start-up Starlux identifies initial A321neo routes
Taiwanese carrier Starlux Airlines is to deploy its first three Airbus A321neos on services to Vietnam, Macau and Malaysia.
The airline has taken delivery of its first aircraft, which was ferried to Taipei from Hamburg, via Dubai and Bangkok.
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Silverstone under safety audit as Dash 8 loses wheel
Kenya's civil aviation regulators has disclosed that Silverstone Air Services is being subjected to an audit, after another incident involving a turboprop operated by the regional carrier.
One of the airline's Bombardier Dash 8-300s lost a wheel assembly during take-off from Lodwar, in northwest Kenya, for a service to Nairobi on 28 October.
LinkAirports
Finland plans to use AI for improved airport efficiency
Finnish airport operator Finavia plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) to cut delays at Helsinki Airport, after achieving strong efficiency gains and cost savings during a trial at a regional airport.
Finavia, which operates Finland’s 21 airports, initially commissioned consultancy firms Fourkind and Reaktor to streamline operations at the small Kittilä Airport in Lapland.
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Edinburgh unveils plans for new east terminus
More than £20 million is being invested to improve transport access as part of ongoing development works at Edinburgh Airport.
The first phase of the project will deliver a new East Terminus next summer (May 2020), which will house the airport’s licensed taxi operation (black cabs and private hire vehicles) for both pick-up and drop-off, making it easier for passengers to get a taxi.
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NY and NJ’s Port Authority Board to invest $4.5 billion in airport network
The Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have formally authorised an investment of approximately $4.5 billion to help accommodate increasing numbers of passengers at the Port Authority’s three major airports – John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, and LaGuardia Airport.
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Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to make travel more accessible for all
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) has become the first U.S. airport to launch a new accessibility programme to include passengers with hidden disabilities, and to improve services for passengers with reduced mobility (PRMs). The pilot programme aims to limit how stressful the journey is for all travellers and meet the needs of guests whose disabilities are not immediately evident.
LinkMilitary
Boeing’s plan to get the KC-46A tanker back on schedule
Amid criticism from the US Air Force that it is moving too slowly towards fixing the KC-46A Pegasus in-flight refuelling tanker Boeing is touting incremental improvements that is says should help get its troubled programme back on track.
The Boeing KC-46A aircraft is beset by three category one deficiencies: problems which could cause injury, death, aircraft damage or restricted combat operations.
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Czech Republic signs up to NATO tanker effort
The Czech Republic has become the sixth country to join NATO’s multinational tanker fleet following the signature of a memorandum of understanding in Brussels on 24 October.
Launched by Luxembourg and the Netherlands in 2016, the initiative aims to reduce European NATO members’ reliance on the US Air Force for aerial refuelling assets through the acquisition and operation of new tanker aircraft.
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Brazilian air force receives first Phenom 100EVs
Brazil’s air force has received a pair of Embraer Phenom 100EV light business jets for use by its 6th air transport squadron.
Designated the U-100 in Brazilian service, the two aircraft were handed over in a ceremony in THE capital, Brasilia, on 23 October.
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Aviation Quote
Many wonderful inventions have surprised us during the course of the last century and the beginning of this one. But most were completely unexpected and were not part of the old baggage of dreams that humanity carries with it. Who had ever dreamed of steamships, railroads, or electric light? We welcomed all these improvements with astonished pleasure; but they did not correspond to an expectation of our spirit or a hope as old as we are: to overcome gravity, to tear ourselves away from the earth, to become lighter, to fly away, to take possession of the immense aerial kingdom; to enter the universe of the Gods, to become Gods ourselves.
- Jerome Tharaud, 'Dans le ciel des dieux,' in Les Grandes Conferences de l'aviation: Recits et souvenirs, 1934.
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Trivia
General Trivia
Q.1 What new technology for a commercial airliner was introduced by Boeing on the 787-9?
Adaptive bypass ratio engines
Hybrid laminar flow control
Aero-elastic wings
Automated speech recognition for cockpit commands
Q.2 Which new aircraft concept did NOT emerge from either Airbus or Boeing in 2014?
A321neoLR
737 Max 200
A330-800
757 Max
Q.3 How many flight hours had been amassed by four Bombardier CS100s from first flight on 16 September 2013 to a grounding caused by an engine failure on 29 May 2014?
About 300
Nearly 2,400
Slightly more than 600
Less than 100
Q.4 Which country would have been the site of a Dash 8 Q400 assembly plant if negotiations with Bombardier had not failed?
China
Brazil
Russia
USA
Q.5 What Asia-Pacific carrier operates the world’s longest route?
Singapore Airlines: SIN-JFK
Cathay Pacific: HKG-LHR
All Nippon Airways: NRT-ATL
Qantas Airways: DFW-SYD
Q.6 Which Russian air defense system was identified by US officials as the source of an alleged missile attack that caused Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 to crash in Ukraine on 17 July?
Tor-M1
S-300
Patriot
Buk
Q.7 Which US carrier ordered 50 Airbus A350s?
Delta Air Lines
United Airlines
American Airlines
JetBlue Airways
Q.8 In April, Mesa Air Lines agreed to buy four regional aircraft from a mothballed Alitalia fleet. What type were they?
Sukhoi Superjet 100
Embraer ERJ 145
Bombardier CRJ900
ATR 72
Q.9 In its investigation of the 2013 battery fire on a Japan Airlines 787 at Boston’s Logan airport, the US NTSB raised quality control concerns about which Japanese supplier to Boeing?
Mitsubishi
Takamatsu
Panasonic
GS Yuasa
Q.10 Which Middle Eastern carrier is taking a 49% stake in Alitalia as part of a bid to save the troubled Italian flag carrier?
Emirates
Gulf Air
Etihad
Royal Jordanian Airlines
