CommercialEtihad unveils cabin plans for A380 and 787Gulf carrier Etihad Airways has today unveiled plans to include nine first-class apartments and a three-room "residence" on its Airbus A380 which enters service at year-end. The innovation forms part of a wide-ranging premium product development revealed today in Abu Dhabi. This will be rolled out on the airline's new A380s and Boeing 787s, which also start to arrive at the end of this year.
LinkGovernments Pledge Not To Give Up On MH370 SearchAustralia, China and Malaysia pledged on Monday not to give up searching for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that disappeared almost two months ago, despite lingering questions about how to proceed and who will pay. No trace of flight MH370 has been found since it vanished on a scheduled service from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, despite the most intensive search in commercial aviation history. With the air and surface search now halted, a new search phase costing around AUD$60 million (USD$55 million) will begin after existing visual and sonar search data is analyzed and a contractor is found to lease the sophisticated equipment needed, officials said after meeting in Canberra.
LinkU-2 Plane In Area On Day Of ATC DelaysA Pentagon spokesman said on Monday that a U-2 spy plane flew over Southern California on a day last week when an air traffic control facility in the area suffered a major software problem, but he could not say whether the two events were related. The Federal Aviation Administration has said it was investigating a "flight plan processing issue" that led several airports in the region to halt takeoffs and forced airlines to delay or cancel dozens of flights last Wednesday. NBC News has reported that computers at the LA Air Route Traffic Control Center in Palmdale, were overloaded when they tried to track the U-2, a Cold War-era spy plane still in use by the US military. "I can tell you that there was a U-2 operating in the area in accordance with all FAA regulations. It filed a flight plan. It was conducting a training operation," Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Monday.
LinkLATAM Airlines To Spend USD$12.2 Bln On PlanesLatin America's largest carrier, LATAM Airlines plans to invest USD$12.2 billion by 2020 on 166 new planes. LATAM, which was created via a tie-up of Chile's LAN and Brazil's TAM in 2012, will add Boeing 787 Dreamliners and Airbus A320s and A350s, among others, to its fleet.
LinkRecaro Eyes Assets As B/E Aerospace Explores SaleGerman aircraft seating maker Recaro is looking at buying assets from B/E Aerospace after the US company announced a surprise review that could lead to a shakeup of the USD$3 billion cabins industry. Florida-based B/E Aerospace on Sunday postponed Monday's investor meeting and said it has hired Citigroup to explore options, including a possible sale, merger or spinoff of the company or selected businesses. The statement came less than two weeks after the company reported a record quarter for new orders amid rising demand for wide-bodied jets, and said it was looking at two potential aerospace acquisitions and had completed a third.
LinkThree-Day London Transport Strike SuspendedUnion leaders called off a three-day strike by London underground train staff hours before it was due to start on Monday, sparing millions of commuters a second week of travel disruption. The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, whose members staged a 48-hour stoppage in the capital last week in a dispute over ticket office closures and job cuts, said it had called off the walkout following last-minute talks with transport bosses. The RMT's acting General Secretary Mick Cash said they had made "significant progress" on the issues in dispute. "As a result of that progress... we are able to suspend the action due to commence this evening and further talks around the fundamental issues of cuts to jobs, services and safety will now take place," he said in a statement.
LinkAmerican Airlines CIO discusses deploying mobile devicesMaya Leibman, the chief information officer for American Airlines, said mobile technology is lending a hand to employees across the carrier. "We provide mobile devices to every major work group to help them do their jobs," said Leibman. For example, American flight attendants use Samsung Note devices while American pilots use Apple iPads.
LinkUnited innovates at Boston LoganUnited Airlines has consolidated operations to a new concourse in Terminal B at Boston's Logan Airport. "It was a great opportunity to bring together operations from A and C into a single location, and to leverage technology we've been testing in other locations (to make) the entire experience from the lobby to boarding aircraft a customer-friendly, efficient experience," said Jimmy Samartzis, vice president of customer experience for United.
LinkDelta Air Lines hires AP editor to head communicationsDelta Air Lines has hired Kevin Shinkle, a global business editor for the Associated Press, to run its corporate communications. Shinkle has "shown an ability and willingness to embrace technology to evolve business practices for success in today's world," said Delta CEO Richard Anderson. Shinkle will assume his new role as chief communications officer on Wednesday.
LinkFAA to adjust O'Hare flight patterns Close calls in the sky near U.S. airports are prompting new procedures at O’Hare International Airport, but the safety efforts carry downsides for both air travelers and residents living under flight paths, aviation officials said Friday. Air-traffic changes implemented April 15 to reduce the risk of mid-air collisions at O’Hare mean more jet noise for suburbs immediately west and southwest of the airport, as well as Chicago neighborhoods east of O’Hare, according to flight information that Chicago and the Federal Aviation Administration presented to the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission. In addition, a switch to using only two departure runways instead of three under the new FAA rules is reducing O’Hare’s flight capacity and could lead to delays during busy travel hours, officials said.
LinkBoeing will participate in data enhancement efforts Boeing expressed its support for the growing effort across the global aviation industry to support aircraft tracking in the wake of the incident involving the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200 operated by Malaysia Airlines between Malaysia and China, went missing from Air Traffic Controller (ATC) radar on March 8 leading to a multinational search that still has not been able to locate the aircraft. Boeing is serving as a technical advisor to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
"Boeing will participate in and support the effort to find effective and efficient ways to enhance global tracking of airplanes," the airframe manufacturer said in a statement.
LinkFormer House transportation chair Oberstar dies at 79 Former Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., whose influence over transportation and public works policy spanned nearly 50 years, died Saturday at age 79. Oberstar served as a staffer and later administrator of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation from 1963 through 1974, when he was elected to Congress and became a member of the committee. He became chair of the committee in 2007 and held that position until he lost his bid for a 19th term in 2010.
LinkDenver airport sees 21% increase in international trafficInternational passenger traffic soared 21% in March to a new monthly record for Denver International Airport. During March, 229,860 international travelers passed through the airport. Meanwhile, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas also set a new record for monthly passenger traffic for March, with 942,825 total passengers for the month
LinkTaxes, fees drive up the cost of international travelIt costs more to travel internationally partly due to government fees, taxes and other costs. In fact, fees for a round trip between London and New York City could add up to about $218, according to a United Airlines spokesman. Low-cost carriers also haven't taken off out of the U.S. because many do not have the jets that are equipped for long-haul flights.
LinkDallas/Fort Worth Airport aims for Beijing flights It’s all about China at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport these days. With American Airlines scheduled to begin flights to Hong Kong and Shanghai in June, local leaders are already talking about where they want to fly next, and they’ve set their sights on Beijing. At a University of Texas at Arlington symposium last week celebrating the airport’s 40th anniversary, American chief executive Doug Parker and DFW chief executive Sean Donohue both talked about future flights to the Chinese capital. “We would like to see even more flights to the region over time,” Parker said, adding that he expects the daily flights to Hong Kong and Shanghai to do well. “We’d like to fly to Beijing.”
LinkColumn: An airplane armrest built for two I'm not a violent man. Short, self-doubting gingers tend not to be the fiercest of creatures. But if you are sitting next to me on a plane I will absolutely fight you for the armrest. Mind you, when I say "fight," I mean "create a mental checklist of things I would do to you in the event that I suddenly ceased to be a short, self-doubting ginger."
So, you're safe.
Link 
