Thai Airways cleared to pursue $15 billion fleet renewal plan The Thai government gave Thai Airways the right to decide how it acquires aircraft, clearing the way for the carrier to move forward with a plan to buy or lease up to 75 aircraft over a 12-year period. Thai previously could only acquire aircraft under the direction of Thailand's Transport Ministry, which had pushed for all new acquisitions to be purchases rather than leases. Thai Airways President Piyasvasti Amranand believes the carrier should acquire aircraft through a mix of purchases and leases. Link
Virgin America incurs $69 million 2010 net loss Virgin America enjoyed its first profitable reporting period in the 2010 third quarter but was unable to sustain the momentum in the fourth quarter, posting a $25.1 million net loss, widened from an $18.8 million net deficit in the 2009 December quarter and pushing the company to a $68.7 million full-year net loss. Link
Air India 737 captain deeply asleep shortly before fatal approach Indian investigators have cited a lethal combination of sleep inertia and over-dominance by the captain as having led to the fatal overrun by an Air India Express Boeing 737-800 at Mangalore. Cockpit voice recordings recorded typical breathing patterns of deep sleep from the Serbian captain, lasting for 1h 28min, until just 21min before the accident. The Indian ministry of civil aviation's final inquiry report indicates that the captain slept for at least 1h 40min. Link
MC-130J Combat Shadow enters flights tests Lockheed Martin will begin a five-month series of flight tests of the MC-130J Combat Shadow after completing first flight on 22 April. The first MC-130J is scheduled for delivery in September to Cannon AFB, New Mexico, where it will start replacing Air Force Special Operations Command's (AFSOC's) MC-130Ps that entered service in 1986. Link
FAA requires new procedures for ATC around presidential transport The US FAA has issued new procedures for air traffic controllers handling presidential, vice presidential and flights carrying the First Lady. The action comes in the wake of an 18 April incident in which First Lady Michelle Obama's Boeing 737 (called Executive One Foxtrot) had been vectored to an approach on Runway 19L at the Andrews Air Force Base behind a C-17 military transport. Link
Operator of crashed Manx2 flight faced possible grounding Spanish authorities have disclosed that they took preliminary action last month to suspend the air operator's certificate of Flightline, the carrier linked to February's fatal Manx2 Fairchild Metro III crash at Cork. Link
FAA administrator Babbitt wants to see MROs adopt SMS US FAA administrator Randy Babbitt is urging maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) firms to formally adopt safety management systems, saying SMSs will play a key role in enhancing the industry's safety culture. Link
NTSB factual: TAWS may have been turned off in Ted Stevens crash A required terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) on a de Havilland DHC-3T Otter that crashed on August 2010 in Alaska, killing former Sen Ted Stevens and four others, may have been turned off. Link
Other News
Sabre Holdings Corp. on Friday said it intends to “aggressively defend” against US Airways’ antitrust claim, calling it “baseless and without merit.” In a lawsuit filed Thursday, US charged that Sabre “engaged in a pattern of exclusionary conduct to shut out competition, protect its monopoly pricing power, and maintain its technologically obsolete business model.”
Lufthansa Systems said it will launch a solution transforming iPads into full-fledged Electronic Flight Bags "centered around an advanced version" of its Lido/iRouteManual. The iPad EFB is slated to become available in the current quarter.
US airlines' January scheduled domestic and international traffic rose 3.5% year-over-year to 60.7 billion RPMs on a 2.3% rise in capacity to 79.3 billion ASMs, according to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Load factor was 76.5%, up 0.8 point from January 2010. Total passengers carried numbered 53.7 million, up 2.2% year-over-year but still 6.9% below the 57.7 million carried in January 2008.
Air France last week launched twice-weekly service from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Freetown and commenced twice-weekly CDG-Monrovia flights. Both new routes are via Conakry. AF last week increased CDG-CKY service to daily, of which four weekly flights are nonstop and three are via Nouakchott. Flights to CKY, NKC, FNA and MLW are being operated by an Airbus A330-200 with 208 seats in a three-class configuration, including 40 seats in business, 21 in premium economy and 147 in economy.
Austrian Airlines will launch thrice-weekly Vienna-Baghdad service from June 8 using an A320, marking the carrier's return to the Iraqi capital after a 21-year absence. It previously operated to Baghdad from 1982-1990. It currently operates flights from VIE to the Iraqi city of Erbil; it will operate six-times-weekly service on the route during its summer schedule.
German Leasing Co. took delivery of Air France's fifth A380, which the carrier will operate on the Paris Charles de Gaulle-Montreal route. The leasing company has financed seven Airbus A380s, four Boeing 777s and two A319s, representing a total volume of €1.68 billion ($2.43 billion).
Boeing expanded its Landing Gear Overhaul and Exchange Program to cover 777-200LRs, 777Fs and 777-300ERs.
GE Aviation signed an agreement with Air Canada for the provision of myEngines. The solution's digital app suites help customers manage and access their engine data on smartphones, laptops and other computer systems, GE said.
LOT Polish Airlines took delivery of its first 112-seat Embraer 195. The carrier currently operates 10 E-170s, 14 E-175s and five -145s and plans to add three more E-195s in 2011 and 2012.
Germania received its first five directly-purchased CFM56-powered Airbus A319s.
Alitalia Group said it will fly to 92 destinations during the summer season, "eight more than last year," with 163 routes and more than 2,600 weekly frequencies. The carrier, in a codeshare with China Eastern Airlines, will launch four-times-weekly Rome Fiumicino-Beijing service, increasing to five-times-weekly in October, and thrice-weekly FCO-Rio de Janeiro Galeão service June 1, increasing to four-times-weekly June 28. Subsidiary Air One will inaugurate its second hub this July at Pisa—from which it will serve Catania, Lamezia Terme, Olbia, Athens, Tirana, Palma de Mallorca, Minorca and from Sept. 19, Prague.
Lufthansa Cargo will launch weekly MD-11F Frankfurt-Dacca service April 20.
Japan Airlines announced it will operate extra flights to Tohoku during the Japanese Golden Week holidays, from April 29 to May 8. JAL also added extra flights from Tokyo Haneda and Osaka Itami to Aomori on April 28.
AVIATION QUOTE
When anyone asks me how I can best describe my experiences of nearly forty years at sea, I merely say uneventful. I have never been in an accident of any sort worth speaking about....I never saw a wreck and have never been wrecked, nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort.
— Captain Edward J. Smith, R.M.S. Titanic, an experienced 62 year old captain, this was to be his last voyage prior to retirement, 1912.
ON THIS DATE
April 25th
• In 1922... Known as the Stout ST-1, the first all-metal airplane designed for the U.S. Navy makes its first flight piloted by Eddie Stinson.
• In 1940... McGee Airways pioneers the transportation of fresh meat and milk to the Alaskan interior.
• In 1972... The world straight-line distance record for a single-seat sailplane is set by German Hans Werner Grosse, who sails 907 miles (1,460 km) in a Sleicher AS-W12 sailplane.
DAILY VIDEO
EDITOR’S CHOICE
HUMOR
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE INFANTRY, ARMOR, AND THE ARTILLERY.
HAPPINESS IS Infantry: A good rifle Armored: A big tank Artillery: A loud boom
HEARING FIREWORKS Infantry: Cool, just like a live fire excercise Armored: Not loud enough Artillery: Fireworks? What fireworks?
IDEA OF FUN Infantry: Not having to "pepper-pot" an entire grid square before the objective Armored: Racing across a grid square on "full stab" Artillery: Levelling a grid square
FAVOURITE SONG Infantry: "Ballad of the Green Beret" Armored: "Purple Haze" Artillery: Anything, just play it LOUD!
LUXURY IN THE FIELD Infantry: Engineers blowing trenches for them with C4 Armored: Grunts to dig their trenches for them Artillery: SATCOM Television Broadcasts
A LONG ROAD MARCH WITH FULL FIELD PACK Infantry: 20 clicks Armored: From the hangars to the tank Artillery: What's a route march?
FAVORITE TRANSPORTATION Infantry: Anything but walking Armored: Tanks. Tanks. Tanks. TankstankstankstanksTANKS! Artillery: Don't you have to move around to require transport?
BIGGEST BITCH IN THE FIELD Infantry: The weather Armored: Coffee maker in tank not working Artillery: Only having basic cable channels
BREAKFAST IN THE FIELD Infantry: I don't care what it is, just so long as I can sit down to eat it Armored: Hot coffee and rum with a beer chaser Artillery: Eggs over easy, crispy bacon, sausages, toast, and a cup of steaming coffee
WHAT THEY CALL THEMSELVES Infantry: Death Techs Armored: Cavalry Artillery: 10 Mile Snipers
TRIVIA
Tail 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
