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NEWS

AMR Corp. files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The parent company of American Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. AMR Corp. also appointed Thomas Horton as chairman and CEO to guide the company as it restructures its debt. "Our very substantial cost disadvantage compared to our larger competitors ... has become increasingly untenable given the accelerating impact of global economic uncertainty and resulting revenue instability, volatile and rising fuel prices, and intensifying competitive challenges," Horton said. In a statement, American said it expects to continue normal business operations throughout the reorganization process, including honoring tickets and reservations, making normal refunds and exchanges and the frequent flyer program is not affected."
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Arpey ends 8-year quest to avoid Chapter 11
From the moment in 2003 when he took over as American Airlines (AA) chairman and CEO, replacing Don Carty just as the Dallas-based carrier was narrowly avoiding a Chapter 11 filing, Gerard Arpey spent eight years trying to prove that a major US legacy airline could both avoid bankruptcy and achieve sustained profitability.
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Arab air carriers must work together to grow
Members of the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) must act as “one body” to secure the continuation of the unprecedented growth, AACO chairman and Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan said.
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First rate 35 737 advancing through final assembly
Boeing has increased the production rate on its 737 line to 35 aircraft per month as it transitions to 42 per month by 2014. The first aircraft to be produced at the higher rate is destined for Norwegian Air Shuttle and is at position four on the Renton factory's line two. It will hit 38 aircraft per month by the second quarter of 2013, and 42 each month after that, said Erik Nelson, head of 737 production at Renton.
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787 GEnx certification to slide to 2012
US Federal Aviation Administration certification of the General Electric GEnx-1B-powered 787 is set to slide to early 2012 due to the lack of availability of a production aircraft to satisfy final regulatory requirements, sources have confirmed. While Boeing has completed a portion of its extended operations (ETOPS) and functionality and reliability (F&R) testing on a Block 4 GEnx test aircraft ZA005 and ZA006, the FAA mandates a portion of the required 300h F&R campaign to be undertaken on a production aircraft.
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IAG Confident On American Airlines Joint Venture
International Airlines Group said its transatlantic joint venture with American Airlines would continue to operate as normal after the US carrier filed for bankruptcy protection.
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Britain Faces Mass Strike Over Pension Reform
Teachers, hospital staff and border guards will be among workers taking part in Britain's first mass strike for more than 30 years on Wednesday, adding to pressure on a coalition facing a weakening economy.
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Politics Blocking Arab Airline Tie-Ups
Political barriers must be knocked down if consolidation among Arab airlines is to take place, a move that could shore up their profits expected to suffer due to "Arab Spring" protests, senior aviation industry officials said on Tuesday.
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Indian Minister Proposes Foreign Investment in Airlines
India's aviation ministry has proposed allowing foreign airlines to invest less than 26 percent in Indian carriers and the final decision will be made by the cabinet, civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi told news channel CNBC TV18.
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Some airlines offer "Cyber Monday" deals
Virtually every major online retailer launched "Cyber Monday" deals, and airlines and hotels got in to the act with discounts and unique offerings. Virgin America offered a round-trip flight on a jumbo jet for 146 people for $60,000. The offer on deals website Gilt City also allowed the customer to name the plane. "Yes, it is real," said Abby Lunardini, Virgin America spokeswoman. "We think it's a unique once-in-a-lifetime gift for Gilt's holiday gift list."
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National Mediation Board sides with Delta, not union
The National Mediation Board sided with Delta Air Lines on Monday in a union dispute over elections. A union representing machinists and aerospace workers had filed a complaint saying that Delta interfered with a 2010 election by Delta TechOps employees. The federal government rejected the claim covering 700 employees.
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Evergreen will test avionics with satellite-based augmentation
Evergreen Airlines plans to install an avionics system that uses global satellite-based augmentation systems to increase GPS accuracy on six Boeing 747 freighters. The avionics system is manufactured by Universal Avionics. "They'll be using data recorded from systems to show demonstrated improvement in flight times and fuel burns," said Scott Campbell, director of airline and military marketing for Universal.
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ATA is preparing to rebrand as Airlines for America
The Air Transport Association is preparing to change its name to Airlines for America -- We Connect the World, or A4A. "Part of what we did in terms of reorganization and restructuring was to create the first-ever strategic plan for ATA, where previously there had been none," said Nicholas Calio, CEO of the trade association. "We saw the need to both repair and establish the reputation of ATA."
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American selects Pratt & Whitney engine for some A321s
American Airlines has selected the V2500 engine from Pratt & Whitney to power some of its Airbus fleet. The V2500s will power some A321s that American plans to lease in 2013. The airline has not yet selected engines for its Airbus NEO fleet.
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EU-U.S. agreement limits use of passenger data
A tentative agreement reached by the U.S. and EU would allow the U.S. to use passenger data only to investigate crimes punishable by at least three years in prison. Data would also be provided directly to the Department of Homeland Security under the agreement. The agreement still needs approval from 27 member countries and the European Parliament. "It's not a done deal yet, but we are halfway through and are quite confident that we will have a successful conclusion," said Cecilia Malmström, European Union commissioner for home affairs.
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Government agencies are subject to few U.S. safety rules for aircraft
Government agencies, excluding the military, lease or own more than 2,400 planes but are not subject to the same oversight as commercial airlines. "The issue for us is, who is responsible [for safety]. We have cases now where we ask that question and no one seems to know," said Tom Haueter, director of the National Transportation Safety Board's office of aviation safety. The Federal Aviation Administration says it does not "have the authority to apply regulations to other government offices," this feature says.
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Other News

Brussels Airlines (SN) will add three frequencies on its Brussels-Moscow route, nearly doubling the number of flights between the two capitals to 13 weekly flights by the summer schedule 2012. Markku Ahteela, SN area manager-Nordic Countries and Russian Federation, said the new route became possible owing to the changes made in bilateral agreements between Belgium and Russia. The negotiations between the two countries were complicated and took nearly three years. They were finalized at the end of 2010, enabling SN and Aeroflot (SU) to operate 14 flights per week on the Brussels-Moscow route. SU operates 10 flights a week in the winter schedule 2011/2012; it is not known if the carrier will add new frequencies.

Qantas (QF) has denied Australian media reports that its Asian strategy has been put on hold and confirmed that discussions were continuing with Malaysia Airlines (MH) and Singaporean interests. In August, the Qantas Group announced it was setting up a joint venture with Japan Airlines and Mitsubishi to form Jetstar Japan, and it would also launch a premium branded airline in Asia to tap the rising middle class.

Air Berlin (AB) is looking for strategic investors and has contacted Etihad Airways and Haikou-based HNA Group, parent of Hainan Airlines, the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung has reported. The financially troubled AB operates a codeshare agreement with HNA.

Boeing has implemented 10 initiatives that will eliminate 5.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide and 300,000 gallons of jet fuel used annually during the 777 delivery process. The first customer to benefit from all 10 initiatives is Air New Zealand, which took delivery of a 777-300ER earlier this month.

Lufthansa will launch 2X-daily Frankfurt-Moscow Vnukovo service from March 25, increasing weekly services between Germany and nine Russian destinations to 153.

Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) announced an expansion of its codeshare with Japan Airlines (JAL) under which its CX code will be placed on selected JAL service from Tokyo Haneda to Izumo, Miyazaki, Misawa, Matsuyama, Nagasaki, Oita, Tokushima and Ube; Tokyo Narita-Nagoya; and Sapporo-Nagoya.

Emirates SkyCargo launched weekly Boeing 747-400F Dubai-Lome-Kotoka-Frankfurt-DXB service.

Wow Air will launch operations June 1 from Reykjavík Keflavik to Copenhagen, Lyon, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart, Krakow, Warsaw, Alicante, Basel, Zurich and London Stansted.




AVIATION QUOTE

You don't think much of the individual, because you don't think you've hit him and you hope that he will bail out or something; it's the aeroplane you've hit . . . normally it was more of a game if you like, you were outwitting and shooting down another aircraft, you were simply hitting metal.

— Wing commander Pete Malam Brothers, RAF, 16 victories WWII. Imperial War Museum Sound 7462.



ON THIS DATE

November 30th

---In 1784... Jean-Pierre Blanchard makes the 1st scientific observations from above the earth in a hydrogen balloon over London.

---In 1905... The Aero Club of America is established in New York City.

---In 1907... Glenn Curtiss founds the Curtiss Aeroplane Company. It is the 1st US airplane manufacturing company.

---In 1908... La Compagnie Generale de Navigation Aérienne, the French Wright company, is organized.

---In 1979…First flight of the Piper Malibu.

---In 1986…First flight of the Fokker F100.



DAILY VIDEO





EDITOR’S CHOICE





HUMOR

Harley Rider, Little Girl and the Lion

A Harley rider is passing the zoo, when he sees a little girl Leaning into the lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents. The biker jumps off his bike, runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch. Whimpering from the pain, the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly.

A reporter has watched the whole event. The reporter says, "Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I saw a man do in my whole life."

The biker replies, "Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger, and acted as I felt right."

The reporter says, "Well, I'm a journalist from The New York Times, and tomorrow's paper will have this story on the front page... So, what do you do for a living and what political affiliation do you have?"

The biker replies, "I'm a U.S. Marine and a Republican." The following morning the biker buys The New York Times to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on the front page:

"U.S. MARINE ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH."



TRIVIA

Tail ID

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9.


10.


11.

1) Asiana
2) Air Pacific
3) Frontier
4) ?
5) America West
6) JAL
7) Malaysia Airlines
8. ANZ
9) Qantas
10) Horizon
11) ?

What he said ^^^ plus:

11 TACA

What they said, plus:

4. ABX

1) Asiana
2) Air Pacific
3) Frontier
4) ABX Air
5) America West
6) JAL
7) China Eastern
8. Air New Zealand
9) Qantas
10) Horizon
11) TACA

3. Frontier
4. ABX
5. America West
9. Qantas
10. Horizon
11. TACA

ANSWERS:

1. OZ, Asiaian Airlines
2. FJ, Air Pacific
3. F9, Frontier Airlines
4. GB, ABX Air
5. HP, America West
6. JL, Japan Air Lines
7. MU, China Eastern Airlines
8. NZ, Air New Zealand
9. QF, QANTAS Airways
10. QX, Horizon Air
11. TA, TACA Airlines