US House passes FAA extension, reauthorization looks less likely this year The US House of Representatives yesterday passed a three-month extension of FAA funding to Dec. 31 and the Senate is expected to follow quickly, decreasing the possibility that a multiyear reauthorization bill will be passed this year. Link
Emirates reconsidering A330 for off-peak operations Emirates may be in the market for more aircraft at November's Dubai Airshow and is revisiting the prospect of operating up to 30 A330s during off-peak periods, President Tim Clark hinted when speaking yesterday. Link
American carriers raise funds American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and US Airways each made moves in the financial markets over the past two days, indicating that confidence in the industry is starting to recover somewhat even if traffic and revenue continues to lag. Link
Dust storms cause havoc in southeast Australia Australia's airlines were thrown into chaos yesterday as unprecedented dust storms in Sydney and Brisbane and wild weather in Melbourne closed and restricted runway operations at the country's three largest airports. Link
JAL to seek government bailout Japan Airlines (JAL) will again seek public funds in an effort to remain a viable business. Several media reports cite JAL president Haruka Nishimatsu as making the requests after meeting with the country's transport minister. Link
Other News
TAP Portugal pilots called a 48-hr. strike today and Friday over pay. The airline said it expected "some disruptions in its operations" but that it "has taken all measures to minimize its impact." Flights operated by its PGA Portugalia Airlines subsidiary will be unaffected and connections between Lisbon and the Azores, Madeira, Luanda and Luxembourg will be maintained, TAP said. It estimated that the stoppage will cost the company around €10 million ($14.8 million), according to the Associated Press.
Gol announced the early October sale of at least 51.8 million shares on the Sao Paulo stock exchange--34.5 million preferred shares in a primary offering and 17.3 million voting shares in a secondary offering. According to press reports form Sao Paulo, the offering would raise BRL963.9 million ($530.1 million) based on Tuesday's closing price and would raise the LCC's capital to BRL2.57 billion.
Air France KLM Group hopes to reach breakeven by the April 1 start of the 2010-11 fiscal year excluding its fuel hedge contracts, CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon told Les Echos. The hedges will continue to have a negative impact, but previously announced cost cuts should stop the deterioration in cash flow, he said, adding that he does not expect a return to 2008 traffic levels until 2012. Gourgeon insisted that AF is not evolving toward a low-cost service concept on its medium- and short-haul network, but "passengers are moving toward the low-cost. We will continue to offer a classic service, though with certain adaptations. We do not intend to remove the front of the cabin. There are still passengers that wish more comfort." The network will be adapted to save money, he confirmed. For instance, from Paris Charles de Gaulle AF will be operating fewer frequencies with larger-capacity A321s instead of A320s beginning in November. It lost €431 million ($635.9 million) in its fiscal first quarter ended June 30.
United Airlines this week furloughed 290 pilots, part of its plan announced last year to radically "resize" itself. It plans to cut 7,000 jobs overall and already has let go more than 1,100 pilots. There are still more than 6,000 active UA pilots.
Wizz Air will add a third A320 to its Sofia base in May 2010 and will launch new thrice-weekly flights to Madrid, Paris Beauvais, Frankfurt Hahn and Forli on May 22. Frequencies to Eindhoven and Valencia will increase and passenger numbers at the airport are expected to rise 37% over 2009.
Jat Airways said it presented a business plan to the Serbian government outlining its program "to regain its position as the regional leader in air transport" and stated that it would need to transport 1.5 million passengers per year aboard its 16 aircraft to accomplish the goal. It carried 1.4 million in 2008. Jat said it planned to join an alliance, reconfigure its schedule to facilitate better connections, "upgrade the quality of service" and implement "intensive marketing" initiatives to boost traffic. It said it also is considering establishing its own maintenance operation or selling off noncore units.
Aeroflot took delivery of its fifth A330-200 on lease from AerCap. The Trent 772-powered aircraft seats 34 in business class and 207 in economy. SU currently operates the type to Beijing, Havana, Vladivostok and London Heathrow and said it will fly the new aircraft on both international and domestic routes. It said it plans to take delivery of five A330-300s and one more -200 before year end.
Qantas took delivery of its 75th 737 this week, an -800 that will fly on transtasman routes. It will take two more before year end and three in 2010.
Helvetic Airways will continue to operate three F100s for Swiss International Air Lines through spring 2014 under an extended ACMI agreement announced this week. Helvetic operates a fourth F100 on charter flights.
Nexcelle is the new name for the joint venture company created by GE's Middle River Aircraft Systems and Safran Group's Aircelle last year to develop engine nacelles for next-generation integrated propulsion systems. According to a statement from the companies, Nexcelle's responsibility covers complete nacelles and nacelle subsystems for CFM International engines in applications on both new and existing aircraft. The collaboration was announced at last year's Farnborough Airshow.
Sensis said US FAA has introduced its wide-area multilateration surveillance system at four Colorado airports to enable ATC to track aircraft not covered by radar in the state's remote mountainous regions. FAA is sharing the cost of the system with the Colorado Dept. of Transportation. Initial operations began on Sept. 12 at Yampa Valley-Hayden, Craig-Moffat, Steamboat Springs and Garfield County Regional-Rifle. "The new system is comprised of a network of relatively small sensors deployed in remote areas," FAA said. "The sensors send out signals that are received and sent back by aircraft transponders. No other aircraft equipment is required." It said WAM is a near-term solution while ADS-B is rolled out and eventually is aimed at serving as a backup to ADS-B. The agency will operate the WAM system in Colorado and "monitor how [it] works. . .to determine further deployment." CDOT Aeronautics Director Travis Vallin said that the "Sensis WAM system [provides] accurate surveillance of flights in this area during all weather conditions," increasing the airports' capacity and efficiency.
ACSS, an L-3 Communications and Thales joint venture, introduced a software enhancement that will enable aircraft operators with its TCAS 2000 and TCAS II to upgrade to "Change 7.1 capability," which it said "delivers two important safety enhancements: Reversal logic and new aural alerting for Adjust Vertical Speed." The upgrade will be available in the fourth quarter.
Air France Industries and KLM Engineering & Maintenance extended its contract with Virgin Atlantic Airways for heavy airframe maintenance on 747-400s for one additional year through 2011. It also announced that its CRMA subsidiary was named a primary repair source on the Engine Alliance GP7200 TCF and combustion chambers by GE.
Aircraft Management Technologies announced that Jet2.com will install its Flightman electronic flight bag software on its 737-300s and 757-200s.
SR Technics announced a five-year extension of its integrated component solutions agreement with Skynet Asia Airways covering its eight 737-400s.
Air Proxy was appointed by cargo carrier Coyne Airways to be its GSSA for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Commercial Jet of Miami named M7 Aerospace VP-MRO Sales and Service John Schildroth as VP-business development and Leading Edge Aviation Services GM Dale Mullinax as VP-operations.
AVIATION QUOTE
I can't tell you how much we laughed on the set to have Alec Guinness in a scene with a big, furry dog that's flying a space ship.
Mark Hamill
AEROSPACE TERM
Goniometer
An instrument for measuring angles.
DAILY VIDEO
HUMOR
Good Luck Mr. Gorsky
When Apollo Mission Astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only gave his famous "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" statement but followed it by several remarks, usual com traffic between him, the other astronauts and Mission Control. Just before he re-entered the lander, however, he made the enigmatic remark "Good luck Mr. Gorsky."
Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs. Over the years many people questioned Armstrong as to what the "Good luck Mr. Gorsky" statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.
Just last year, (on July 5, 1995 in Tampa Bay FL) while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26 year old question to Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had finally died and so Neil Armstrong felt he could answer the question.
When he was a kid, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit a fly ball which landed in the front of his neighbor's bedroom windows. His neighbors were Mr. & Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, "Oral sex! You want oral sex?! You'll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!"
TRIVIA
World Helicopter ID
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And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen
First of all, I really enjoyed yesterday's featured video of the C-141 retirement flight.
1. Westland Lynx 2. Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne 3. (Don't remember this one for sure, it's "Colibri" I think.) 4. Eurocopter Tiger? 5. Aerospatiale Gazelle 6. 7. Kamov Ka-50 Hokum 8. Mil Mi-26 Halo 9. Kamov Ka-31 Helix, although I am a bit confused about the markings. 10. Sikorsky MH-53
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