You are at netAirspace : Forum : Air and Space Forums : netAirspace Daily News

NEWS

Air NZ Gets Compensation For 787 Delays
Air New Zealand has been compensated for delays in receiving its Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes and is in talks for more, while it will also spend up to USD$270 million to upgrade its domestic fleet, the airline said on Wednesday.
Link

BAA To Sell Edinburgh Airport, Keep Glasgow
British airport operator BAA said it would sell Edinburgh airport following a ruling earlier this year by the UK's Competition Commission ordering it to sell off London Stansted airport and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport in Scotland.
Link

Hainan Air Says No Change To Boeing Order
Hainan Airlines, China's fourth-largest carrier, said on Wednesday that it will stick to its aircraft order with Boeing, despite a growing number of cancelled or changed orders within the industry.
Link

American's fiscal troubles continue; airline presses for new labor deals
American Airlines (AA) parent AMR Corp. did little to mitigate concerns about its financial health when it reported a third-quarter net loss of $162 million Wednesday. The result was reversed from net income of $143 million earned in the year-ago period and marked the company's fourth straight negative reporting period following the rare profit in last year's third quarter.
Link

Aegean remains upbeat despite dire Greek environment
Aegean Airlines (A3) said it is “adapting and changing to the difficult Greek environment” and vows it will not relinquish its high-quality service approach. The Greek sovereign debt crisis and austerity measures introduced by the government are affecting demand and causing recurring strikes by ATC workers.
Link

Queensland to begin Bell 206 police helicopter trials
The Australian state of Queensland will operate its first police helicopter from November with a six-month trial of a Bell 206 Long Ranger. The helicopter and pilots will be supplied by fast-growing Western Australian company Heliwest, which recently won a series of helicopter contracts from emergency services and the mining and resource sector. The Bell 206, which will be flown for the Gold Coast City Council to assess its crime-fighting capabilities, will be equipped with a forward-looking infrared camera and Spectrolab Nightsun searchlight. Link

ICBC Leasing orders 45 C919s, becomes launch customer
Chinese leasing company ICBC Leasing has inked an order for 45 Comac C919 narrowbodies and agreed to become the launch customer for the aircraft. This is the largest order for the aircraft, which is being developed in China as a possible competitor to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 family of aircraft. Neither ICBC Leasing nor Comac revealed the financial details of the order. "As launch customer, ICBC Leasing will actively participate in projects related to C919 research and development, and aircraft design," said Comac in a statement.
Link

Eurocopter targets 2012 for hybrid launch decision
Eurocopter is pressing ahead with tests of a hybrid powertrain it believes will increase safety on single-engined helicopters in the event of engine failure. As well as the regular turboshaft engine, the system also uses a battery-powered electric motor which automatically cuts in if the main powerplant fails. This initially provides power to ensure there is no drop in rotor speed and then provides sufficient thrust immediately prior to landing to safely flare the aircraft.
Link

Southwest CEO urges customers to protest proposed fee
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly is joining the industry's battle against a fee of up to $100 on flights and a $7.50 increase in the security taxes. "I am writing to urge you to speak out against the proposed increase in federal taxes on the airline industry and help keep the cost of air travel affordable," Kelly wrote to customers on his blog on the Southwest website.
Link

Hawaiian Airlines' Q3 results reflect rebound in Japan traffic
Hawaiian Holdings, the parent company of Hawaiian Airlines, reported a $25.6 million profit for the third quarter as traffic to Japan rebounded. "Our results on these routes would qualify as good in any year, let alone the year in which an earthquake and tsunami took such a large human and economic toll," said Hawaiian President and CEO Mark Dunkerley.
Link

Pilots had "good judgment" when controller fell asleep, United says
When an air-traffic controller on a midnight shift fell asleep on the job at Reagan National Airport, pilots landed using rules for unmanned towers. "Our pilots exercised good judgment in managing the situation they faced that night in Washington D.C.," said United Airlines spokesman Mike Trevino. A report by the National Transportation Safety Board said the airport was not authorized for such landing rules.
Link

Boeing increases production of 737s to meet demand
Boeing has increased its production rate of next-generation 737 planes from 31.5 per month to 35 per month due to customer demand, the company said. Eventually, Boeing plans to produce 737s at a rate of 42 planes per month in 2014. "This is part of the series of rate increases to meet customer demand for the most popular airplane in aviation history," said Beverly Wyse, 737 program general manager.
Link

Aviation industry unifies against proposed flight tax
Typically clashing sectors of the aviation industry have come together to oppose new flight taxes and fees proposed by the White House, which includes a $100 takeoff fee per flight, said Air Transport Association President Nicholas Calio. "The airlines, the unions, employees, airports and our customers are aligned in opposition to these tax increases," Calio said in a speech Tuesday to the Aero Club of Washington.
Link

Airlines are edging toward profit through shrinkage strategy
U.S. airlines are set to report a second consecutive year in the black in 2011 by sticking to their strategy of reduced flights, maximum-capacity planes and added fees. "The industry's survival over the past decade has necessitated a substantial degree of shrinkage. ... Most businesses would rather see an entity grow profitably rather than shrink profitability," said John Heimlich, chief economist for the Air Transport Association.
Link


Other News

Air New Zealand (NZ) has ordered seven ATR 72-600s, plus five options, in a deal worth $270 million at list prices. Deliveries will begin in October 2012 and are expected to be completed by 2016.

Australian officials investigating the Airlines of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Bombardier Dash 8-102 crash on approach to Madang Oct. 13 are focusing on a possible component failure. The Airlines PNG flight (CG1600) was en route from Port Moresby via Lae and crashed while on approach to MAG, killing 28 people. There were 32 people onboard. The four survivors included 35-year veteran Australian captain Bill Spencer, 64, (18,000 hr.) and New Zealand first officer Campbell Wagstaff (over 2,500 hr.).

Malaysia Airlines Group (MAS) has launched a network rationalization program with its subsidiary, Firefly, which will now serve short-haul turboprop routes. MAS will focus on enhancing its premium full-service offering, it said. Firefly’s turboprop operations will remain unaffected by the restructure.

Peach Aviation, Japan’s newest low-cost carrier, confirmed it has obtained approval from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to operate flights to congested airports.

Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras took delivery of the first ATR 72-600 be delivered to a Latin American customer. Fast-growing carrier Azul has placed orders for a total of 30 -600s, with 10 options. In addition to the turboprops, Azul operates a jet fleet of Embraer 190s and 195s.

United Airlines (UA) announced that Boeing has completed the final assembly of the airline's first 787, finishing the first major step in the aircraft's production. UA will be the first North American carrier to take a 787 delivery, with plans to introduce the first of 50 Dreamliners into revenue service in 2012.

Aero Instruments & Avionics has purchased the Teradyne Spectrum CTS, an advanced ATE solution for commercial aviation, replacing the ATS-182a, which it currently operates. The solution is designed to perform complete diagnostics on the avionics systems of the Boeing 737, 747, 757, 767, 737NG and 777. It also offers future capability to support the 787 and 747-8.

Bombardier has released "Aircraft Diagnostics Solutions (ADS) Plus" for Dash 8/Q-Series 100/200/300 aircraft.



AVIATION QUOTE

Don’t be a show-off. Never be too proud to turn back. There are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old, bold pilots.

— E. Hamilton Lee, 'Ham' Lee began his long and distinguished career as an instructor pilot during World War I. After leaving the Army Air Corps, he flew the airmail for United Air Services, later United Airlines. The “old pilots, bold pilots” statement was made on his retirement from United Air Lines in 1949. 'Ham' Lee did indeed become an old pilot. On his 100th birthday he fly a restored United Airlines DC-3.



ON THIS DATE

October 20th

---In 1920... Flying his Nieuport Delage, Sadi Lecointe set a world speed record flying at 187.99-mph.

---In 1950…U.S, paratroops cut off supplies from Pyongyang, Korea.

---In 1953…a TWA Lockheed Constellation makes the first non-stop scheduled passenger flight across the United States

---In 1969…Finnair introduces an inertial navigation system on its aircraft, becoming the first airline to dispense with the need for a navigator aboard.

---In 1970…A chartered Convair 240 carrying 26 people including members of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd runs out of fuel and crashes in a forest at Gillsburg, Mississippi. Among the six dead are three band members and a manager, and the rest of the band members are injured.

---In 1980…First dog fights of the Iran–Iraq War. An Iraqi Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is shot down by Iranian F-4 Phantoms.

---In 2010…Hamburg International ceases operations.



DAILY VIDEO





EDITOR’S CHOICE





HUMOR

Working For An Airline

"I see that you work for the airlines. What do you do? Are you a mechanic?"
"Well, no. I empty the honey buckets. I operate the equipment that removes human waste from incoming aircraft."
"You must get paid plenty to do a job like that."
"Are you kidding? I don't get paid jack."
"Well, at least the benefits must be good."
"Benefits? There aren't any. We have to buy our own medical insurance. Our retirement plan has been terminated. I only get one space-available pass per year for me and my family, and when we try to fly somewhere during my vacation, we always get bumped. The benefits stink."
"So why don't you quit and get a better job somewhere else?"
"What? Leave aviation?"



TRIVIA

Guess The Airport

One airport only. You may request one hint in this thread.

Tomorrow a larger image will be added if this has not been solved.

miamiair wrote:TRIVIA

Guess The Airport

One airport only. You may request one hint in this thread.

Tomorrow a larger image will be added if this has not been solved.

LGA:

http://g.co/maps/ajun2

I was gonna go with SFO, but if Jeff doesn't think it's SFO...

That didn't take long...

Like the idea for this type of trivia?

miamiair wrote:Like the idea for this type of trivia?

Yes. Add it to the mix.

miamiair wrote:Like the idea for this type of trivia?

I do.

My initial guess was JFK, but a check on Google Earth didn't confirm that. Close, but a miss...

But I guess for this type of trivia not to be solved asap, you may have to start with an even smaller image detail. Some of our geeks here seem to able to identify an airport by the characteristics of the piano keys...

halls120 wrote:

miamiair wrote:Like the idea for this type of trivia?

Yes. Add it to the mix.

And for the record - I too was going to guess JFK.

Since Jeff mucked it up for everyone else...

Here's another...

I like it too, even though the likelihood of me knowing the answer is probably very low. Although, if you show a closeup of a B-29 at the hold-short line on 16R I might take a shot.

I like this, though I'm a bit stumped with the new one.

Long shot - NCE?

Sorry for being so cryptic but the answer lies below:

I can always obfuscate...

Green eggs and ham.

miamiair wrote:Sorry for being so cryptic but the answer lies below:

I can always obfuscate...

Green eggs and ham.

Hmmmm well in that case, has to be IDK. Miami, PM.

I recognized it straight away...

Not NCE.

W.A.G- AMS?

Great video...miss the sound of the C-5, but that performance is impressive.

Good job GQ!

miamiair wrote:Sorry for being so cryptic but the answer lies below:

I can always obfuscate...

Green eggs and ham.

ICAO
EHAM

miamiair wrote:Since Jeff mucked it up for everyone else...

Sorry about that. I was up too late last night after too much to drink so I wasn't thinking clearly.