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NEWS

Airlines request 6 more months to prepare for new ad rules
The Air Transport Association, the Regional Airline Association and the Air Carrier Association of America urged the Department of Transportation to give them six months beyond the Oct. 24 deadline to prepare for the agency's new consumer-protection rules. "Dismantling the current advertising system and reassembling it to meet the new standards will take multiple steps and will be difficult and time-consuming," the airlines said in a statement. The new rules will require advertised fares to include taxes and fees.
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Virgin America selects engines, considers entertainment systems
Virgin America has chosen new jet engines from a General Electric affiliate for 30 Airbus A320neo jets on order. The engine deal, which also includes CFM56-5B engines, has a list price of $1.4 billion. The airline is also preparing to roll out its next-generation in-flight entertainment and connectivity system. Ken Bieler, director of engineering at Virgin America, said the entertainment system "gives us the growth path in the future and the canvas for creativity to do many amazing things."
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WestJet negotiates code-share agreement with Delta
WestJet Airlines CEO Gregg Saretsky said the company is aiming to secure a code-share agreement with Delta Air Lines this year after reaching an interline deal in February. "We're in the process of establishing the terms and conditions of a code-share with Delta," Saretsky said. "There's a significant amount of plumbing that's required to support a code-share, and we want to have seamless policies and procedures so that guests don't get trapped between airlines.
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Boeing plans production rate of one aircraft every 12 hours
Boeing would produce an estimated 720 commercial aircraft annually if the company is able to smoothly implement its plan to produce one every 12 hours starting in 2014. Boeing is expected to deliver 485 to 500 aircraft this year. The ramped-up production rate is in response to a general upswing in the aerospace market. "We're sold out on the 737 through 2015; we're sold out on the 787 through 2019. And one of the biggest challenges that we have is having the slots for our customers, and that's why we're going up in rate," said Jim Albaugh, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
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Boeing will boost 737NG production rate to 42 monthly in 2014
Boeing said Wednesday it will boost the production rate for the 737NG to 42 per month in the first half of 2014, up from 31.5 currently and planned increases to 35 per month in early 2012 and 38 monthly in the 2013 second quarter.
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FedEx uses 777Fs to gain share in emerging markets
FedEx has been increasing its fleet of Boeing 777Fs and using them to improve market share in emerging economies, according to Michael Ducker, an executive at FedEx Express. "Adding the 777s has enabled us to grow our international business and to capture a greater share of emerging markets," he said.
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DOT reports 31% jump in airlines' average fuel cost per gallon
Airlines in the U.S. paid 31% more in April for a gallon of fuel than they did the same month the previous year, according to the Department of Transportation. The cost was 6.8% more than in March. The DOT also reported that total fuel consumption by airlines for scheduled flights was up 4.8% in April, compared with the previous year, but down 2.9% when compared with March.
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2010 fee revenue helped, but did not cover airline costs, analysts say
In response to the Department of Transportation report on ancillary fee revenue collected by airlines in 2010, some analysts pointed out that the airline industry needs to cover costs. "If it weren't for the fees, the airlines would most likely be losing money," said Jim Corridore, airline analyst with Standard & Poor's. Bill Swelbar of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said, "Without baggage fees, the industry would have lost another $3 billion to $4 billion last year."
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Chilean volcanic ash impacts Australia’s west coast
Australian and New Zealand air travelers faced another day of travel disruptions as Perth Airport on the west coast was affected by the ash cloud from Chile’s Puyehue-Cordon Caulle Volcano. Qantas, Virgin Australia and a host of smaller domestic operators canceled up to 200 flights from the capital of Western Australia as the ash cloud crossed the southwest corner of the country.
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Cebu Pacific orders 30 A321neos, firms seven A320 options
Philippine low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific has placed a firm order for 30 Airbus A321neo aircraft with 10 options, and firmed up options for an additional seven A320s.
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ANZ to resume some NZ flights today
Air New Zealand (ANZ) plans to resume operations in the lower South Island this afternoon, as ash plumes from a volcano eruption in Chile continue to affect flights in the region.
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Other News

Qantas slashed A$700 million ($750 million) from its capital expenditure over the next 12 months as it pares back its planned domestic growth over the next year from 8% to 5.3%.

Air Canada customer services and sales members, represented by the Canadian Auto Workers union, set up picket lines at AC-serviced airports across the country Wednesday to rally against threatened back-to-work legislation by Federal Labor Minister Lisa Raitt. CAW’s 3,800 AC members went on strike Tuesday after the two sides could not reach a tentative agreement regarding the existing pension plan. AC says it is maintaining its schedule with the help of supervisory staff.

Air Arabia decided to delay the launch of a base in Amman owing to the social and political unrest in the region and high fuel prices. “With the current environment, we have delayed the Jordan plans ... we will review the situation and take a decision,” said CEO Adel Ali. “Jordan is stable but countries like Syria, Egypt and Tunisia are still facing political instability. There is a lot going on in the region and with the current fuel prices, we thought this was not the right time.”

European pilots and their unions will demonstrate Thursday in Luxembourg outside an EU transport ministers meeting to rally against a regulatory proposal on pilot fatigue drafted by EASA in December. Pilots claim the EASA proposal does not take into account scientific evidence on pilot fatigue and that the planned proposal will reduce safety standards currently in place in many EU countries.

Turkish Airlines launched thrice-weekly Istanbul Atatürk-Genoa service, increasing to four-times-weekly June 27.

SriLankan Airlines will restart service to Zurich with the launch of Colombo-Zurich service Dec. 23, which it said is "likely" to operate via Male. The route was suspended in 2005.

US Airways launched thrice-daily Philadelphia-Quebec service.

Singapore Airlines will launch thrice-weekly Singapore-Kolkata service Aug. 1; its regional subsidiary SilkAir will launch four-times-weekly SIN-CCU service the same day.

Wizz Air will launch twice-weekly Brno-Eindhoven service Dec. 16.



AVIATION QUOTE

From a safety standpoint, in our view one of the things that we do in the basic design is the pilot always has the ultimate authority of control. There's no computer on the airplane that he cannot override or turn off if the ultimate comes. In terms of any of our features, we don't inhibit that totally. We make it difficult, but if something in the box should behave inappropriately, the pilot can say 'This is wrong' and he can override it. That's a fundamental difference in philosophy that we have versus some of the competition.

— John Cashman, Chief Test Pilot Boeing 777



ON THIS DATE

June 16th

• In 1909... A two-day celebration in Dayton, Ohio marks the homecoming of the Wrights.

• In 1922... A hybrid aircraft – part airplane (three fixed wings) and part helicopter (twin rotor blades) designed by American inventor Emile Berliner – makes a short vertical flight.

• In 1932... The Lockheed Aircraft Corp. finally closes down eight months after the receivers were called in to its parent company, Detroit Aircraft Corp. On June 21, investment broker Robert Ellsworth Gross leads a consortium that buys the assets and opens a new company under the same name.



DAILY VIDEO





EDITOR’S CHOICE





HUMOR

Lost Snack

After a long, bumpy flight, our passengers were glad to finally land.

They disembarked, and the other attendants and I checked for items left behind.

In a seat pocket, I found a bag of home-made cookies with a note saying, "Much love, Mom."

Quickly, I gave the bag to our gate agent in hopes it would be reunited with its owner.

A few minutes later, an announcement came over the public-address system in the concourse: "Would the passenger who lost his cookies on Flight 502, please return to the gate?"



TRIVIA

Aircraft ID

Reno Air Races Edition

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10.

1. Grumman F8F Bearcat
2. Douglas AD-1 Skyraider
3. Lockheed P-38 Lightning
4. ??
5. ??
6. North American F-86 Sabre
7. Norht American T-2 Buckeye
8. Chance Vought F8U Cutlass
9. North American T-6 Texan
10. Lockheed T-33