News
IAG May Look At American Airlines Stake
British Airways parent International Airlines Group (IAG) may consider taking a stake in its oneworld alliance partner American Airlines, a move that could block any takeover of American by IAG rival Delta.
Link
Kingfisher Posts Another Quarterly Loss
Kingfisher Airlines, which used to be India's second biggest carrier but is now struggling with crushing debt, has posted another quarterly loss and shed no light on any potential funding lifeline.
Link
Court Blocks Kenya Airways' Job Cuts Plan
A Kenyan court has temporarily stopped national carrier Kenya Airways from retrenching its employees until a suit brought by the workers' union challenging the layoffs is heard and determined.
Link
American pilots’ union president resigns
Allied Pilots Assn. (APA) president David Bates has resigned his post in the aftermath of American Airlines (AA) pilots’ rejection of a tentative labor pact he supported. Bates, a captain with the carrier, had told the 10,000 AA pilots represented by APA that voting for a labor accord agreed to with AA management, however imperfect, was a better alternative than leaving their fate up to a US bankruptcy court. But following Wednesday’s 61%-39% vote against the tentative agreement, the APA board requested the resignation of Bates, he told AA flight deck crew in a Thursday letter.
Link
American's Pilot Union Boss Backs A Merger
The new president of the American Airlines pilots' union, Keith Wilson, on Friday said he backs merging with a rival as the possible best path for the bankrupt air carrier.
Link
Finnair May Look To Airline Alliance - CEO
Finland's national carrier Finnair, mired in years of losses, could become a part of a bigger alliance or entity, its chief executive was quoted as saying.
Link
First in-flight weapon release for F-35
Lockheed Martin has hit a significant test milestone with the first in-flight weapon release from an F-35. Achieved on 8 August, the GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munition was released at an altitude of 4,000ft (1,220m) from the aircraft, BF-3, which was travelling at 400kt (740km/h) above an Atlantic test range.
Link
Italy's Wind Jet suspends all flights
Italian budget carrier Wind Jet risks a possible operating licence suspension by the country's civil aviation regulator after it suspended all of its services on 12 August and left hundreds of passengers stranded. Italy's civil aviation administration ENAC has since set up a crisis unit to facilitate the rerouting of affected passengers.
Link
Learjet 85 final assembly plant remains idle as fuselage checks continue
Bombardier has set up a final assembly line for the Learjet 85, but it remains idle while the first complete pressure fuselage continues validation testing, the airframer says in a second quarter financial update. Bombardier's second quarterly earnings report includes a detailed update on the Learjet 85 programme, which features a single-piece 9.75m-long (32ft) composite pressure fuselage including the nose and aft fuselage.
Link
Rework developed for flawed Trent 1000 gearboxes
Engineers have developed a rework procedure which resolves the problem of Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 gearboxes affected by a recent corrosion issue. The European Aviation Safety Agency had previously required replacement of the transfer gearboxes after corrosion was blamed for failure of the crown wheel gear.
Link
Lufthansa flight attendants consider possible strike action
Lufthansa (LH) flight attendants are warning they may take strike action if the carrier fails to make an improved wage offer. UFO, the union representing more than 12,000 of LH’s 18,000 flight attendants, said that after more than a year of negotiation, 97.5% of its members have indicated by a recent ballot that they would strike if an acceptable wage offer was not forthcoming next week.
Link
Carriers jostle for underperforming Delta Haneda slot
Delta Air Lines’ (DL) daily Detroit (DTW)-Tokyo Haneda (HND) service “has not performed as expected,” and the carrier has submitted a request to the US Dept. of Transportation (DOT) to transfer its DTW-HND slot pair to Seattle (SEA)-HND. United Airlines (UA) and Hawaiian Airlines (HA) have submitted filings opposing the motion.
Link
ALC 2Q, 1H revenues and profits soar
Air Lease Corp. (ALC) saw triple-digit percentage increases in its revenues and net income for the 2012 second quarter and first half. The US lessor posted second-quarter net income of $28 million, up 301% compared to a $7 million profit for the same period last year. Revenues were up 113% to $158 million. For the 2012 first half, ALC’s net income was up 440% to $55 million compared with $15.8 million for the 2011 first half. Revenues increased 124% to $290 million. Adjusted net income was $36.7 million for the quarter and $70.8 million for the first-half.
Link
Other News
Chinese carriers reported a collective net profit of CNY 6.4 billion ($1 billion) for July, up 7% compared with the net income of CNY 5.7 billion a year ago. According to CAAC, passenger boardings increased 9.6% while cargo traffic volume dipped 3.4%.
Air Mauritius (MK) reported a reduced fiscal first-quarter loss of €10.4 million ($12.8 million) for the three months ending 30 June 2012, a slight improvement from the €11.9 million loss recorded for the same period a year ago. The airline blamed difficult trading conditions caused by the economic crisis worldwide, but particularly in its main market, Europe, as well as high fuel prices, currency exchange rate volatility, and increased competitive pressures.
Air Malta (KM) has reported a slightly reduced operating loss of €30 million ($37 million) for its year ended Mar. 31, improved over a €34 million loss for the previous year. The airline said that two factors impacted its performance and that its operating loss excluding these would have been €21 million. The first was a 20% reduction in capacity (10% in 2011 and a further 10% in 2012) required by the European Commission for the airline to receive state aid from the Maltese government (ATW Daily News, June 28). The capacity reduction is part of a restructuring plan approved by the Commission, which translated into an estimated reduction in profitability during FY2012 of €4 million. The second was fuel prices, which increased 30% during the year, adding €17 million to the FY2012 fuel bill.
British Airways Engineering has expanded its capabilities to include three new training rooms at its Heathrow maintenance base. The EASA-approved classrooms will be used for Airbus A380 and A318/9/20/21 variants and Boeing 787 maintenance training.
Marana Aerospace Solutions has completed heavy maintenance and interior reconfiguration on a Boeing 777-200ER for TAAG Angola Airlines. The project was managed by Cascade Engineering Services.
SysAid Technologies was selected by Swissport to supply its ITSM solution for its US operations. The ITSM platform allows IT administrators to manage and maintain their help desks from the office or remotely, and will be used to manage Swissport’s internal IT department, including the help desk and asset management.
AirLiance Materials signed a long term agreement with Lufthansa Technik Airmotive Ireland (LTAI) to supply surplus material supporting the LTAI engine MRO requirements and to market and sell surplus parts, components and modules from LTAI’s MRO activities.
SR Technics received US FAA certification to provide MRO services on Airbus A320 family and Boeing 737NG aircraft types in Malta. The company opened its Malta facility in October 2010 servicing aircraft under its existing EASA approval.
FL Technics Training signed an agreement with Ukrainian carrier URGA to provide technical training courses for its maintenance and management staff.
Pattonair signed a contract with Airbus to supply nuts for Airbus aircraft.
Aviation Quote
The wingman is absolutely indispensable. I look after the wingman. The wingman looks after me. It's another set of eyes protecting you. That the defensive part. Offensively, it gives you a lot more firepower. We work together. We fight together. The wingman knows what his responsibilities are, and knows what mine are. Wars are not won by individuals. They're won by teams.
— Lt. Col. Francis S. "Gabby" Gabreski, USAF, 28 victories in WWII and 6.5 MiGs over Korea.
On This Date
---In 1824... The first aerial ascent by a Native American as a passenger, Chief Waschisabe, in Dupuis-Delcourt’s balloon “flotilla” takes place at Montjean, France.
--- In 1914... The first British airplane to reach French soil after mobilization is a BE2a, serial number 327, flown by Capt. F. F. Waldron and Air Mechanic Skerritt of No. 2 Sqdr. RFC commanded by Maj. C. J. Burke.
--- In 1976... The Bell Model 222, the first twin-engined light commercial helicopter, developed in the United States, makes its first flight, powered by the 650 SHP Avco Lycoming LTS 101-650C.
---In 1997…First flight of the A330-200.
Daily Video
Editor’s Choice
Humor
51 Days
A bartender is sitting behind the bar on a typical day, when the door bursts open and in come four exuberant Marines. They come to the bar and order five bottles of beer and ten glasses. They take their order over and sit down at a large table. The caps are popped, the glasses are filled and they begin toasting and chanting, "51 days, 51 days, 51 days!" Soon three more Marines arrive, take up their drinks and the chanting grows, "51 days, 51 days, 51 days!" Two more Marines show up and soon their voices are are joined in raising the roof, "51 days, 51 days, 51 days!" Finally the tenth Marine comes in with a picture under his arm, he walks over to the table, and sets the picture in the middle and the table erupts.
Up jump the others, they begin dancing around the table, exchanging high-fives, all the while chanting, "51 days, 51 days, 51 days!" The bartender can't contain his curiosity any longer, so he walks over to the table. There in the center is a beautifully framed child's puzzle of the cookie monster. When the frenzy dies down a little bit the bartender asks one of the Marines, "Whats all the chanting and celebration about?"
The Marine who brought in the picture pipes in, "Everyone thinks that Marines are dumb and they make fun of us. So, we decided to set the record straight. Ten of us got together, bought this puzzle and put it together. The side of the box said 2-4 years, but we put it together in 51 days."
Trivia
General Trivia
1. A pilot is cruising VFR at an altitude of more than 3,000 feet agl while maintaining a magnetic course of 150 degrees. Everything else being equal, most conflicting traffic will approach his airplane from
a. the right.
b. the left.
c. approximately straight ahead.
d. This cannot be determined from the information given.
2. When an airplane reaches its absolute ceiling,
a. VX is greater than VY.
b. VY is greater than VX.
c. VX is identical to VY.
d. the airplane is on the verge of a stall.
3. The current world speed record for a propeller-driven, piston-powered seaplane was established in 1931 and is
a. 298 mph.
b. 348 mph.
c. 398 mph.
d. 448 mph.
4. True or false; a major advantage of a nuclear-powered airplane is that it would have incredible range and endurance. The “N’ in the designation, “Convair NB-36 Peacemaker,” indicates that the enormous bomber had nuclear power.
5. True or false; Hermann Göring, Nazi Reichsmarschall and Commander of the German Luftwaffe during World War II, had a nephew who was a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Force and flew 48 bombing missions against Nazi Germany and occupied Europe.
6. True or false; the Wright Brothers’ first powered flight was first reported in a journal titled Gleanings in Bee Culture.
