NewsCSeries ready to fly The Bombardier CSeries is almost ready to fly. A six-week battery of critical software tests that began in late March revealed no show-stoppers. The machinists in the company's final assembly plant outside Montreal handed over the first CS100 to the flight test team by mid-May. Its first flight still remains on track for late June - just as Bombardier promised when the milestone event was delayed by six months last November. "We are resolutely focused on holding the inaugural flight of the CS100 by the end of June," says Bombardier chief executive Pierre Beaudoin. In the interim, the CSeries has made progress on several fronts. While unveiling the first CS100 to the public on 7 March, Bombardier revealed a redesign for the CS300 that raises the standard seat-count to 135 and up to 160 seats in a high-density layout, broadening the small narrowbody's appeal to the growing ranks of low-cost carriers.
LinkIFC finalises CSeries order in ‘landmark’ deal Russian lessor Ilyushin Finance (IFC) has finalised a nearly two-year-old agreement to acquire 32 Bombardier CSeries jets with options for 10 more. The deal raises Bombardier's firm order backlog for the CSeries to 177 jets and marks the largest acquisition by the Moscow-based lessor of Western aircraft. "This is a landmark order for Bombardier Aerospace and its CSeries aircraft, as well as for this premier Russian leasing company," Mike Arcamone, president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, says in a statement.
LinkAirbus names A350 flight-test crew Airbus has named the six crew who will carry out the first flight of the A350-900, a group led by chief test pilot Peter Chandler. Chandler, who was closely linked to the testing of the Airbus A380, will be joined by project test pilot Guy Magrin, a French former squadron leader and ex-A320 and A330 pilot. The MSN1 crew will also comprise project test-flight engineer Pascal Verneau, who supported development testing of the A380 and A340-600.
LinkGulf Air Ordered Up To 16 Bombardier CSeriesBombardier announced on Tuesday that Gulf Air is the previously undisclosed airline that ordered up to 16 of its new CSeries airliners. The order by the national carrier of Bahrain for 10 of the 110-seat CS100 aircraft with options for another six, had been announced in June 2011, the company said. Industry anticipation is building ahead of the CSeries' first flight at the end of this month. The new family of narrow-body, twin-engine, medium-range jets is the company's challenge to industry leaders Boeing and Airbus.
LinkAirlines Push New Booking PlatformThe airline industry is set to allow consumers to see more details of what they are booking using a new online reservation platform, a project that poses a threat to many travel technology firms working with older systems. Almost two thirds of global ticket sales are made via travel agents, online travel agencies and travel management companies rather than the airlines themselves. While many airline websites can show customers content such as no-frills or bundled offers, travel agents cannot access the same information and services in most cases because of outdated software that uses a computer language developed 40 years ago.
LinkIATA Carbon Proposal May Help Save UN DealA proposal agreed this week by major airlines could rescue UN efforts for a deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the aviation sector, but the industry still needs to lean on governments for the plan to move ahead, industry observers said. Following its annual meeting in South Africa, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it will ask governments to create a system through which airlines would offset any increase in emissions after 2020 by buying carbon credits from projects that reduce emissions in other sectors. The proposal is meant to give governments that are parties to the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) a blueprint for a global agreement.
LinkQatar Air Will Not Be 787-10X Launch CustomerQatar Airways will not be a launch customer for Boeing's next passenger jet, a stretched version of its 787 Dreamliner, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Qatar Airways, one of the world's fastest growing carriers, has expressed interest in the 323-seat 787-10X, prompting speculation that it would be among the first batch of buyers. "We like launching aircraft but not every aircraft. We are not a supermarket," chief executive Akbar Al Baker told Reuters. Launch customers usually get favorable pricing to kickstart new projects, though the fanfare of launch is not without risk because early aircraft tend to be heavier and require closer attention in order to ensure reliability.
LinkBoeing intelligence aircraft makes first flightBoeing's enhanced medium altitude reconnaissance and surveillance system (EMARSS), a heavily modified Beechcraft King Air 350ER, has conducted its first flight. The flight, from Beechcraft's facility in Wichita, Kansas, lasted 4h and checked various systems, not including the sophisticated sensor suite.
LinkAirbus Military boss mulls future medium transport offering With his company within weeks of delivering its first A400M under a European project for 170 of the type, Airbus Military chief executive Domingo Ureña-Raso has for the first time hinted openly at a potential future development programme for a smaller transport aircraft. To provide the air forces of Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK - plus first export customer Malaysia - with a tactical airlifter capable of carrying a maximum payload of 37t, the A400M has been designed to occupy a niche between the USA's smaller Lockheed Martin C-130J and larger Boeing C-17.
LinkBlog: JetBlue achieves growth through adding capacityJetBlue Airways is expanding its capacity to serve markets outside of New York and Florida. The carrier has expanded to Boston, the Caribbean and Latin America. "This has reduced its vulnerability to system delays or storms impacting operations in the Northeast," writes a blogger on SeekingAlpha.
LinkAmerican, Citigroup to continue credit card partnershipAmerican Airlines has agreed to keep Citigroup Inc. as its credit card partner for the carrier's loyalty and mileage program. "We look forward to continuing our productive relationship with American and serving our shared customers during this exciting phase of growth," said Emily Collins, a Citigroup spokeswoman.
LinkJuly 12 set for shareholders vote on AA-US Airways mergerAMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, is scheduled for a bankruptcy judge to hear its disclosure statement on Tuesday, and shareholders are scheduled to vote on the merger on July 12. Questions about the merged carrier remain. "[W]hat will the airplanes look like a year from now? Who will be on Parker's team?" asks columnist Terry Maxon.
LinkDelta reports 0.5% rise for per-seat revenue in MayDelta Air Lines announced its per-seat revenue rose 0.5% in May as traffic increased 1.4% for the month. Separately, Delta CEO Richard Anderson was named as chairman of the International Air Transport Association for a one-year appointment.
LinkFedEx to retire 86 aircraftFedEx plans to retire 86 older aircraft earlier than planned to cut costs. "With the planned acquisition of new aircraft and projected slower economic growth than previously forecast, FedEx Express is lowering maintenance costs by aggressively parking and retiring aircraft," said David Bronczek, CEO of FedEx Express.
LinkAirlines consider orders for wide-body aircraftAirlines across the world are looking into purchases of wide-body aircraft from Boeing or Airbus as profits increase for carriers. Deutsche Lufthansa, Japan Airlines and South African Airways are considering orders. "I genuinely believe we're an industry that for the first time will start exceeding our cost of capital," said Willie Walsh, CEO of British Airways owner IAG.
LinkUnited offers subscription for baggage fees, economy-plus seatingUnited Continental Holdings will offer annual subscriptions for economy-plus seating and baggage fees. United said it is the only carrier in the U.S. to offer an annual subscription. The subscription for economy-plus seating starts at $499, while the subscription for baggage fees starts at $349.
LinkAlaska Airlines adds support for PassbookAlaska Airlines has updated its mobile applications and mobile website to allow boarding passes to be saved to Passbook. "While we've enabled electronic boarding passes for some time through our own native apps, support for Passbook will offer our customers additional mobile functionality guaranteed to make the travel experience even easier," said Curtis Kopf, vice president of customer innovation at Alaska Airlines.
LinkAlaska Airlines paints Boeing 737-800 with design from high school studentAn Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800 airplane painted with a design depicting the “Spirit of the Islands” by a Kaiser High School student arrived at Honolulu International Airport on Monday, and was greeted by the airline’s CEO. Alaska Airlines President and CEO Brad Tilden stood by grand prize winner Aaron Nee as they watched the airplane taxi up to the gate after arriving from Seattle. Tilden flew to Honolulu from the company’s headquarters in Seattle Sunday night to participate in the airplane unveiling ceremony.
LinkNYC residents protest FAA effort to reroute departures from LGAJanet McEneaney, like many of the 2.3 million residents of New York’s borough of Queens, has put up with the intermittent roar of jet engines her entire life. Last year was different. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration began testing a new departure route from LaGuardia Airport eliminating the lazy left turns over a several-mile-wide swath of the borough in favor of a direct route to save fuel, cut emissions and reduce delays. That’s when McEneaney, a 62-year-old lawyer and grandmother, noticed the new path went over her Bayside home. “It started at 6 a.m. and it went continuously until midnight every day,” she said. “It was so pronounced and noticeable that you could not talk in your house.” Airports and neighborhoods near them have long been adversaries over noise, with disagreements fought and resolved locally. This time, a protest movement organized by McEneaney has grown to 360 members and won over two U.S. lawmakers, setting up a clash of environmental priorities that threatens to further stall the FAA’s $42 billion rebuild of the national air-traffic control system.
Link 
