NEWS
Lufthansa 747-8I flies to Frankfurt
Lufthansa’s (LH) first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental flew to its permanent home base in Frankfurt Airport (FRA) Tuesday. During the roll-in ceremony at FRA, LH CEO Christoph Franz said the fourth-generation 747 would begin scheduled services June 1 with services from Frankfurt to Washington Dulles. Other destination cities to follow include Chicago O’Hare, Los Angeles, New Delhi and Bangalore.
Link
Boeing bullish on 747-8I prospects
Boeing believes entry into revenue service of Lufthansa's first 747-8I on 1 June will help convince many wavering potential customers to place orders for the new jumbo. Launch customer Lufthansa on 1 May flew the 1,443rd 747 built at Everett to its new home base in Frankfurt. The aircraft is the first of five expected 747-8I deliveries to the airline this year, to be followed by five per year over the next three years to complete the 20-aircraft deal.
Link
P&W begins MRJ GTF flight tests
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp.’s decision in April to delay the MRJ program by more than a year has not yet affected Pratt & Whitney’s schedule to develop the PW1200G geared turbofan (GTF) powerplant for the aircraft, evidenced by the start of engine flight testing this week on Pratt’s flying test bed 747SP.
Link
New winglet technology likely last major 737 MAX design change
Boeing’s newly announced winglet technology is expected to be the last major change to the 737 MAX before the aircraft design is finalized, the program’s chief engineer said Wednesday. Boeing revealed it was incorporating a new, all-Boeing developed winglet into the 737 MAX design that should give the aircraft up to a 1.5% fuel-burn improvement on top of the 10%-12% improvement that the new-engine MAX is expected to provide over today’s newest 737s.
Link
Indra buys Park Air Systems Norway for €42 million
Spanish IT company Indra has bought air traffic management systems company Park Air Systems Norway for €42 million ($55.6 million). Park Air Systems Norway’s global consolidation into Indra, expected this month, increases Indra’s 2012 revenues growth target from 6.5%-7.5% to 8%-9%, with all other targets remaining unchanged.
Link
Danish Airline Cimber Sterling Files For Bankruptcy
Danish airline Cimber Sterling has declared bankruptcy after its owners decided not to continue their financial support of the company.
Link
Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia Drop Share Swap
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and budget carrier AirAsia have called off a proposed USD$364 million share swap, according to a statement filed to Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday.
Link
Lufthansa Posts Q1 Loss On Fuel Costs
Lufthansa said high fuel costs triggered a bigger than expected first-quarter loss and forecast it might only hit its profit target if costs from a new restructuring plan were excluded.
Link
Spirit grows revenues as network expands
Spirit Airlines' revenue climbed 29.6% from last year's first quarter as capacity growth in Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles, plus an increase in average non-ticket revenues, helped make it one of the fastest-growing domestic carriers. Average per-passenger revenue from ancillary fees broke $50 in what Spirit says is a first for the industry.
Link
FAA progress report tracks NextGen goals
The Federal Aviation Administration released a progress report on NextGen implementation. According to the report, released in March, more than 300 ADS-B ground stations were installed by the end of 2011. Performance-based navigation also continues to expand, and 49 new GPS Rnav routes were established in 2011.
Link
Boeing to buy used Airbus A340s as part of China deal
Boeing has struck a deal with China Eastern to buy five of carrier's Airbus A340 jets. The agreement is part of a deal to sell 20 Boeing 777s to China Eastern. "In general it is fair to say that at times we do take airplanes in trade, including occasionally non-Boeing airplanes, as part of our orders transactions," said a Boeing spokesman.
Link
Regional airline industry improves safety record
The regional airline industry has not had a fatal accident since 2009. "Aviation safety is a shared responsibility, and no one thing can prevent an accident, but the results [speak for] themselves," said Roger Cohen, president of the Regional Airline Association. In the U.S., regional airlines fly 49% of scheduled passenger service.
Link
Congress is unlikely to intervene in future mergers, analysts say
Congress will probably stand on the sidelines during any possible airline mergers, analysts say. "The government can't even handle airport security without screwing it up. And trying to tell airlines where they should fly, where every politician wants it to go so they can get votes?" asked aviation consultant Michael Boyd.
Link
Delta swaps jets for routes from Minneapolis airport
Delta Air Lines has replaced Airbuses with Boeing or McDonnell Douglas jets on many routes from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Some passengers have complained about the swap because of the older age of some of the aircraft. "We always work to deploy the most efficient aircraft to each route, which is critical to the success of our hub at MSP," said Delta spokesman Trebor Banstetter.
Link
United working to reinstate premium economy availability in GDSs
After United Airlines and Continental Airlines moved to a single reservations system in March, GDS users were unable to book premium economy seats on United. The seats offer up to 5 additional inches of legroom.
Link
Flydubai To Add Destinations, Planes
Budget carrier flydubai plans to add up to five destinations in 2012, and increase ticket prices due to higher fuel costs as it stays on track to earn its first profit this year, its CEO said.
Link
Passengers Numbers Up, Cargo Flat In March
International air cargo traffic rose just 0.1 per cent in March over the figure for the same month last year, but passenger traffic was up by 9.6 percent, the airline industry body IATA said on Wednesday.
Link
Other News
The Chinese government has cut domestic jet fuel prices to CNY7,932 ($1,257) per ton, down 1.6% from CNY8,061 per ton international fuel prices keep fluctuating. This is the second time the Chinese government has reduced domestic jet fuel prices this year. Beijing cut domestic fuel prices 3.8% to CNY7,360 per ton in January from CNY7,653 per ton in December. The Chinese government has raised fuel prices three times this year.
Qantas Group’s new low-cost subsidiary (LCC) Jetstar Japan (GK) has taken delivery of its first Airbus A320, as the Japanese LCC prepares to launch domestic services July 3, several months ahead of schedule (ATW Daily News, Feb. 10). “The first aircraft will arrive by the end of this week and the next two in July,” an Airbus official said. The all-economy aircraft can carry 180 passengers.
Aerostar, the Romanian aerospace company, will double its MRO capacity with the imminent opening of a new hangar. The company, which holds Part 145 approvals for the Boeing 737, Airbus A320 and BAe 146/Avro RJ families, will open the new 5,000 sq. m. facility at its Bacau base in northeast Romania within the next few weeks, according to Aerostar director aviation MRO Ovidiu Buhai.
AeroTurbine (ILFC) was selected by Moog to provide global logistics support for its total support and asset support programs on the Airbus A350XWB and Boeing 787, 747-800. The contract includes 24/7/365 warehousing to support Moog's global pool support customers.
Strata Manufacturing (Mubadala Aerospace) has a 10-year direct contract from Boeing for producing commercial composite aerostructures for the Boeing 777 and 787. The two also announced an agreement to position Strata to be a future supplier of the vertical fin for the 787.
Parker Aerospace has extended its manufacturing support contract with the Offshore Group for five years. Parker Aerospace has a 37,714 sq. ft. production facility in Guaymas, Sonora for the manufacture and assembly of aerospace equipment, including wire harness assemblies, brake components and valves.
Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners’ Turkish Engine Center has delivered its 100th overhauled CFM56 engine to Turkish Airlines.
Monarch, the leading scheduled leisure airline, will operate new flights from Manchester to Verona airport from 2nd May 2012 with fares, including taxes, starting from £27 one way (£64.98 return).
Deutsche Lufthansa (LHA.DE), Germany's biggest airline, announced plans to slash 3,500 administrative jobs around the world as it tries to return to profitability. "We can only safeguard jobs for the long term and create new openings if we reorganize the administrative functions and accept job losses now," Chief Executive Christoph Franz said in a statement on Thursday.
Lockheed Martin leadership delivered today the 195th and last F-22 Raptor to U.S. Air Force leadership in a ceremony at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics site here. With this delivery, the U.S. Air Force now possesses the world's only 5th generation stealth fighter aircraft fleet in the world.
AVIATION QUOTE
Don't believe other people, prove it for yourself.
Stick to what you have proved believable.
Don't be overawed by other more senior people.
Don't ignore the feelings in your bones.
— David P. Davies, former Chief Test Pilot of the British Air Registration Board (now the CAA). Quoted in the preface to the second edition of Design of the Aeroplane, 2001.
ON THIS DATE
---In 1907... The Wright brothers are elected honorary members of the Vienna Aviation Club, Austria.
---In 1923... U.S. Air Service Fokker T-2 pilots Lts. Oakley G. Kelly and John A. Macready complete the first non-stop flight across the United States in 26 hours, 50 minutes, 38.4 seconds from Roosevelt Field, Long Island to Wickenburg, Arizona.
---In 1952... The first landing at the North Pole is made by Americans Lt. Col. William P. Benedict and Lt. Col. J. O. Fletcher on a ski-and-wheel equipped Air Force Douglas C-47.
---In 1961… First silo launching of an ICBM, a USAF Titan at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
---In 1976... Pan Am’s 747SP Clipper Liberty Bell returns after a world record for a round-the-world flight of 1 day, 22 hours, 26 minutes: it took off on May 1 and refueled in Delhi and Tokyo.
---In 1977…First flight of the Bell Model 301 NASA702.
DAILY VIDEO
EDITOR’S CHOICE
HUMOR
What Does That Shirt Say?
An Army guy is sitting at a bar wearing a shirt that says "Marines suck".
Sure enough, two marines walk up.
One of the Marines says, "WHAT DOES THAT SHIRT SAY!?!?!?!"
So the Army guy responds, "thats the first thing I hate about Marines, they cant read."
The other Marine growles, "What did you say!?!"
The Army guy responds, "Thats the second thing I hate about Marines, they cant hear."
Then the first Marine demands that they take this outside.
Two minutes later the Army guy walks back into the bar unharmed. The bartender askes what happened to the two Marines.
The army guy responds, "Thats the third thing I hate about Marines, they bring knives to gunfights."
TRIVIA
Airliners
1. Which company built the ill-fated Comet?
Hawker Siddeley
De Havilland
Handley Page
Vickers
2. Which of the following does not belong?
DC-5
DC-6
DC-4
DC-7
3. Who was primarily responsible for the design and development of the Constellation?
Juan Trippe
Malcolm Loughhead (Lockheed)
Howard Hughes
Glenn Martin
4. Which Convair model was the company's last entry in the commercial airliner market?
990
240
880
340
5. Which passenger plane was never used as Air Force One?
Douglas DC-7
Lockheed Constellation
Douglas DC-6
Boeing 707
6. Which of the following is not a jumbo jet?
Boeing 747
McDonnell Douglas MD-82
Lockheed L-1011
Douglas DC-10
7. What was the designation of the four-engine jet airliner being produced by Airbus prior to the A380?
A350
A321
A320
A340
8. Before Boeing introduced its long-haul 747-400 series, a smaller version of the 747 was built that had a range of almost 7,000 miles. What was the designation of this popular 'mini-jumbo'?
747-250
747-SB
747-SP
747-200
9. During the 1950s turboprop aircraft made up a large portion of the commercial airliner fleet. Which of the following was not a turboprop?
Lockheed Electra II
Bristol Britannia
Vickers Viscount
Martin 404
10. In the romantic era of the Clippers, Pan Am bought flying boats from Martin, Sikorsky and Boeing. What was the designation of the airplane built by Boeing for service in the fabled Clipper fleet?
307
247
377
314
