miamiair/forum/images/avatars/gallery/first/user54/1.pngoffline(netAirspace FAA) 13 Mar 13, 09:24
News
FAA approves Boeing's 787 battery solution The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved Boeing's proposal to fix battery issues on the 787 Dreamliner, allowing the airframer to conduct limited test flights on two aircraft even as a safety investigation continues. Boeing would be required to conduct "extensive testing and analysis to demonstrate compliance" with safety regulations, says the FAA today, almost two months after it grounded the 787 fleet on 16 January. "This comprehensive series of tests will show us whether the proposed battery improvements will work as designed," says US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "We won't allow the plane to return to service unless we're satisfied that the new design ensures the safety of the aircraft and its passengers." Boeing's proposal involves three layers of protection to prevent overheating in the lithium-ion batteries that power the 787's auxiliary power unit: improved separation between the battery cells, installing ceramic-plated spacers between each of the cells and the addition of a containment and venting system so smoke cannot enter the passenger cabin. Link Link Link
Ryanair said to seal deal for 200 737s Irish budget carrier Ryanair is not commenting on a report that it is set to announce a long-awaited order for up to 200 Boeing 737s on 17 March. The report, carried by the Irish Independent, does not cite sources. But it suggests the order will be confirmed by US president Barack Obama and prime minister Enda Kenny at the White House on St Patrick's Day. A spokeswoman for the airline says it does not comment on rumour or speculation. Link
Snow Disrupts Flights Across Northwestern Europe An overnight snowstorm in northwestern Europe forced the closure of Frankfurt Airport and flight delays in Paris and Brussels. Take-offs and landings at Frankfurt were halted at noon on Tuesday for two hours to clear snow from the runways. Airlines, including Lufthansa, cancelled about 700 flights of a daily total of 1,200 as the airport was only partially reopened in the afternoon. In France, a Tunisair plane slid off the runway on landing at Orly airport, forcing the closure of a runway at Paris's second hub while 140 passengers were evacuated. Link
Air Canada Gets Extension On Pension Cap Air Canada on Tuesday won an extension of the cap on its special payments to erase its pension fund deficit, but will have to make higher payments than it originally requested. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in a statement the airline, which had sought to limit its special payments to CAD$150 million (USD$145.6 million) a year for 10 years, would have to pay at least that amount annually but would also have to make sure it put in CAD$1.4 billion over seven years. Link
Court Revives United Wheelchair Lawsuit An appeals court on Tuesday revived a lawsuit against United Airlines that was brought by a woman who claimed she was not promptly provided a wheelchair in an airport when she asked for one. The opinion, from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, said federal law did not pre-empt the woman's personal injury claims under state law. In an email, United spokeswoman Jennifer Dohm said the airline "is strongly committed to providing equal treatment and quality service to our disabled customers." Link
Lessor says demand for 787 remains strong The grounding of the Boeing 787 is lifting demand for Airbus A330s and Boeing 767s, according to Jeffrey Knittel, CIT Aerospace president-transportation finance. Briefing media at the ISTAT Americas 2013 conference in Orlando Tuesday, Knittel said the 787 issues made it a “difficult time” for Boeing and the entire industry, but he said he was confident of the OEM’s proposed solution for the lithium ion battery problem and he said the fix would be permanent and ensure long-time operation of the aircraft. CIT Aerospace has 10 787-8s on order and is expecting its first delivery in late 2014. Knittel said there was a very real demand for the aircraft in the market and CIT is considering accelerating its delivery positions forward. Link
Appraisers see aircraft base values returning Current market values of aircraft are expected to return to base values by 2015, AVITAS said Tuesday. Speaking as a panelist at the ISTAT 2013 Americas conference in Orlando, AVITAS VP valuation Doug Kelly said, “We originally forecast values to come back in 2014, but have since revised our expectations to 2015 due to current market factors.” Kelly went on to say that values were then expected to peak in 2017/2018 before the next recession. He stressed that this formula was not the same for every aircraft type, but works as a whole. Link
IATA takes on NDC critics as it seeks DOT approval IATA filed an application with the US Transportation Dept. for approval of Resolution 787, the agreement that establishes the framework for its New Distribution Capability (NDC). IATA said that under the “Provisions for Conduct of IATA Traffic Conferences,” it is required to file with the department all resolutions and agreements coming out of its various conferences. It said that “while a case could be made that IATA already held the authority to proceed with the development of this standard under an already approved resolution, IATA decided in the interest of transparency to file Resolution 787, which would also give interested parties the right to comment.” Link
Other News
Demand for US Export-Import Bank funding is significantly down as airlines are able to find alternative financing solutions, according to a senior Ex-Im Bank executive. Ex-Im Bank VP Transportation Division Robert Morin told ISTAT Americas 2013 attendees in Orlando Tuesday that fiscal 2012—which ran from Oct. 1, 2011 to Sept. 20, 2012—was a high water mark in terms of aircraft funding. The government agency provided commercial aircraft financing of around $11.5 billion. A large proportion of Ex-Im Bank’s portfolio is loans and guarantees to ensure financing for sales of new US aircraft to foreign airlines, so the majority of the Bank’s loan guarantees go to Boeing customers.
United treasurer sees American Airlines-US Airways merger as positive: The planned merger of American Airlines and US Airways will be good for the industry, United Airlines’ treasurer said Tuesday. Speaking as a panelist at the ISTAT 2013 Americas conference in Orlando, United senior VP, finance and treasurer Gerry Laderman said, “We think that the US-American merger is also good for the industry. It creates a more stable industry and as a result is very healthy and positive.” The merger would create the third US “mega” airline group after the Delta Air Lines-Northwest Airlines and United-Continental Airlines mergers. US Airways VP and treasurer Tom Weir, who was on the same panel, said he could not speak about the AA-US Air merger specifically, but in general “I think consolidation has been a very important component of the capacity discipline we have seen come into the US market and one of the key ingredients of stabilization of US airline economic performance.” Canadian low-cost carrier WestJet EVP and CFO Vito Culmone, another panelist, said he would not be surprised to see more airline joint ventures and more relaxing of airline ownership rules. “We are moving more and more towards a global industry and it will be very interesting to see how that unfolds over the next decade,” he said.
European antitrust regulators are evaluating whether Cyprus Airways illegally received more than €100 million ($130 million) in public support. In the meantime, the European Commission has barred the Cypriot government from providing any further public support to the airline without prior approval while it assesses whether a €31.3 million capital increase and €73 million rescue aid loan fall outside of European law. Earlier this year, the Cypriot State contributed €31.3 million to a capital increase, while “private participation was minimal,” according to the Commission. This could break rules where government owners must act in the same manner as a private investor.
German regional Rostock Airways will launch operations in August, Rostock-Laage Airport announced at the ITB tourism fair in Berlin. Andreas Blass has been named the managing director. Blass has launched several airline startups, including HLX.com and Uruguay’s BQB Lineas Aereas. Fleet details should be announced in May. Routes are still being determined, but most likely will be to Frankfurt, Munich and Copenhagen. Rostock-Laage Airport, a former Air Force base, became a civil airport in 1993.
Oleg Tinkov, the Russian tycoon, hopes to launch a new low-cost carrier (LCC), Tinkoff Airlines, according to his social network posts. “We will lease 200 new Boeing 737s and settle the price twice lower than Aeroflot on the domestic flights,” Tinkov posted. He said he will reveal his business plan in April. Russia’s two LCCs—Sky Express and Avianova—left the market due to financial and management issues. Some experts say the LCC could be successful as the Russian market grows nearly 15% annually, although skeptics say the number of people using air transport in Russia is still very small—from 4 to 10 million out of 140 million people. However, the number of passengers is growing because these people fly more frequently every year.
Aegean Airlines will begin to sell ancillary products through Sabre. The carrier will sell pre-paid baggage through Sabre using the electronic miscellaneous document. "It is important that modern airlines maximize revenues generated by the sale of ancillary services,” Aegean Airlines MD Dimitris Gerogiannis said. “Sabre’s global reach into the travel industry community allows us to do so by putting our fares and the pre-paid baggage option on agency desktops around the world.” Sabre-connected agents will be able to view the discounted pre-paid baggage option at the shopping and pricing stage of a fare search, to book the ancillary products in the same way they would book base airfare.
Southwest Airlines will launch daily Des Moines-Las Vegas service; daily Jacksonville-Chicago service; daily Atlanta-San Diego service; daily Nashville-Pittsburgh service and 2X-daily Fort Lauderdale-San Juan service Sept. 29. It will also restart seasonal daily Jacksonville-Las Vegas service as well as seasonal daily service from Orlando to Indianapolis and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
AirTran will add seasonal Orlando-Houston Hobby service; Orlando-New Orleans service; Fort Myers-Columbus service; and Fort Lauderdale-Pittsburgh service.
Cathay Pacific Airways will increase Hong Kong service to Toronto (7X-weekly to 10X-weekly) and Los Angeles (17X-weekly to 20X-weekly) March 31. It will also add 3X-weekly flights to Hong Kong-Bangkok service June 28.
Virgin Australia will deploy one Airbus A330 on two of its three weekly Brisbane-Perth services May 15.
Aviation Quote
About aerobatics: It's like having sex and being in a car wreck at the same time.
Anonymous
On This Date
---In 1910... The first airplane flight in Switzerland is made by German Capt. P. Englehardt who takes off in a Wright Flyer from a frozen lake in St. Moritz.
---In 1922…The first attempt at crossing the South Atlantic by flight is made by Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral in a Fairey III. They needed to use three of the aircraft to complete the trip from Lisbon to Rio de Janerio.
---In 1928... The first Canadian woman to obtain a pilot’s license, Miss Eileen M. Vollick, passes her flight test in Hamilton, Ontario on Curtiss aircraft.
---In 1945... U. S. interest in flight is so popular that courses in aviation are being taught at this point in 14,000 of America’s 25,686 high schools.
---In 1945… An Avro Lancaster of No. 617 Squadron RAF drops the first 22,000 lb (9,980 kg) Grand Slam bomb.
---In 1951... The Australian airline Qantas begins a survey flight from Rose Bay, Sydney to Valparaiso, Chile with a Catalina (VH - ASA).
---In 1954…A BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) Lockheed L-749A (G-ALAM) crashes in Kallang Singapore, killing 33 of the 40 on-board. Pilot fatigue is blamed for the aircraft falling short of the runway and striking a concrete wall.
---In 1967…South African Airways Flight 406, a Vickers Viscount 818 (ZS-CVA) crashes into the sea while on approach to East London, South Africa. The Captain suffers a fatal heart attack and the First Officer is unable to regain control of the aircraft. All 25 on the aircraft perish.
---In 1969…Apollo 9 ends after a 10-day test of the Lunar Module in Earth’s lower orbit.
---In 1974…Sierra Pacific Airlines Flight 806 strays off course and collides with terrain in Bishop, California. All 36 aboard perish on the Convair CV-440 (N4819C).
---In 1997…An Iranian Air Force Lockheed C-130 crashes in Mashhad, Iran after reporting an engine failure.
Here are some basic descriptions of what may happen if airplanes had different operating systems running them.
DOS: Everybody pushes it till it glides, then jumps on and lets it coast till it skids, then jumps off, pushes, jumps back on, etc.
DOS with QEMM: Same as DOS, but with more leg room for pushing.
Macintosh: All the flight attendants, captains and baggage handlers look the same, act the same and talk the same. Every time you ask a question, you are told you don't need to know, don't want to know and everything will be done for you without your knowing, so just shut up.
OS/2: To get on board, you have to have your ticket stamped 10 different times by standing in 10 different lines. Then you fill out a form asking how you want your seating arranged--with the look and feel of an ocean liner, a passenger train or a bus. If you get on board and off the ground, you will have a wonderful trip, except when the rudder and flaps freeze, in which case you have time to say your prayers before you crash.
Windows: Colorful airport terminal, friendly flight attendants, easy access to a plane, and an uneventful takeoff. Then, all in a sudden, boom! You blow up without any warning whatsoever.
NT: The terminal and flight attendants all look like those the Windows plane uses, but the process of checking in and going through security is a nightmare. Once aboard, those passengers with first class tickets can go anywhere they want and arrive in half the time, while the vast majority of passengers with coach tickets can't even get aboard.
Unix: Everyone brings one piece of the plane. Then they go on the runway and piece it together, all the while arguing about what kind of plane they're building.
CAIRO: The airplane is distributed among 47 different hangars in 13 airports scattered over 8 states, 4 Canadian provinces, and a remote mountain hideaway in Nicaragua. But you don't need to know where the airplane is or who it belongs to in order to fly it. Actually, you don't fly the airplane itself; you fly a simulation that behaves just like the real thing except that you don't go anywhere. But that's okay, because when the world is at your fingertips you never need to leave home.
And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen
airtrainer/forum/images/avatars/gallery/first/user1788/1.pngoffline13 Mar 13, 14:09
