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Commercial

Inmarsat To Publish MH370's Final Flight Data
British satellite company Inmarsat said it will release all the data it used to determine the final path of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 to help reassure relatives that authorities are searching in the right location. Inmarsat said in a joint statement with Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) on Tuesday the data communication logs, or raw data, would be released along with an explanation of the analysis used to work out the route. The Boeing 777 with 239 passengers and crew disappeared on March 8 during a scheduled service between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, and is believed to have gone down in the Indian Ocean, off western Australia.
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AirAsia's Q1 Net Profit Rises 33 Percent
AirAsia's first-quarter profit rose 33 percent due to improved passenger numbers, foreign exchange gains and deferred taxes. Net profit for the three months ended March 31 climbed to MYR139.7 million ringgit (USD$43.48 million), from MYR104.8 million ringgit for the same period last year. The firm, run by entrepreneur Tony Fernandes, is Asia's biggest budget airline by passenger numbers. Its seat-load factor improved two percentage points to 81 percent in the first quarter while ancillary income per passenger rose by 7 percent. However, cash from operations declined to MYR78.8 million ringgit from MYR240.3 million last year as the company spent more money investing than it made from operations.
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Court Signals It Will Uphold German Air Travel Tax
Germany's constitutional court on Tuesday indicated the country's EUR€1 billion per year air travel tax would likely withstand a legal challenge brought by a regional state. The German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which owns the majority of loss-making regional airport Hahn, one hour's drive from Germany's main hub Frankfurt, had applied for a judicial review of the tax. After the levy was introduced in 2011, no-frills carrier Ryanair, which operates from small regional airports such as Hahn, cut the number of flights from Germany. A ruling is not expected for a few months but judge Michael Eichberger said in a court hearing that German lawmakers had acted "very craftily but also skillfully" when drafting the law.
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Airbus pushes for radical propulsion leap
Airbus is literally powering ahead with its vision of a hybrid-electric regional transport aircraft – by preparing to begin serious development of the radical propulsion system on a Munich testbed that will be fully functioning within two years. nd, chief technology officer Jean Botti declares, he wants to have a prototype of the E-Thrust concept flying in 10 years. The concept calls for all of the 70- to 80-seater’s propulsive thrust to come from six internally mounted electric fan engines skimming boundary layer air off the fuselage, with electric power coming from batteries and a gas turbine generator set. Further battery top-up will come from the power fans “windmilling” during a glide segment early in the descent phase.
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GE prepares to take on PT6A with new engines
GE Aviation plans to take on rival Pratt & Whitney’s market-leading PT6A with new engines in the 1,100-1,200 shaft horsepower and 1,800-2,000shp class, by developing a turboprop “centre of excellence” in Prague – the former Walter Aircraft Engines business it acquired in 2008. The new family of “advanced turboprop” engines will be based on the architecture of its new H80 family, itself developed from Walter’s M601. The H80 will power the Nextant King Air G90XT, a re-engined version of the King Air C90 with a Garmin flightdeck, which enters service later this year, and is already installed in the Thrush 510G crop-spraying aircraft. The slightly lower-thrust H75 derivative is available as a retrofit in the Aircraft Industries Let L410 utility transport.
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Pratt & Whitney increases thrust on PurePower geared turbofan
Pratt & Whitney is developing a PurePower geared turbofan engine with a higher thrust of up to 35,000lb, the company announced. Pratt says the PW1135G-JM engine will be used to power Airbus A321neo aircraft and is being targeted to customers that need increased performance at hot and high-altitude airports. "The engines higher thrust [allows] A321neo operators to fly routes of greater distance while carrying more passengers or larger payload when operating out of high-altitude airports," says the company in a media release.
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DLR looks to the future with LamAiR concept
At German aerospace research agency DLR, modern composite technology is finally catching up with a 1970s fast jet vision of the future – to slash airliner fuel burn by up to 13% by using forward-swept wings. As the name suggests, achieving laminar airflow over the wings is the key to the Laminar Aircraft Research, or LamAiR, project. The model at the agency’s display in ILA’s Space Pavilion is of what would be an Airbus A320-size aircraft, designed to cruise at the same Mach 0.78 but with 18% less aerodynamic drag owing to the natural laminar flow over the forward-sweeping wings.
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Emirates Could Buy More A380s If Airbus Upgrades
Emirates would be interested in buying more A380s if Airbus brought a revamped version of the superjumbo onto the market, much like it has done with the A320neo. Airbus chief executive Fabrice Bregier said on Monday that the A380 would have to evolve in order to meet the challenges presented by Boeing's 777X, but he did not provide further details. "We can just encourage Airbus to continue and speed up the possible improvements, especially the fuel efficiency and a neo version," Emirates Chief Commercial officer Thierry Antinori told Reuters news agency at the Berlin ILA Airshow on Tuesday.
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State-Owned Carriers A 'Game-Changer' Lufthansa CEO
Lufthansa is recovering from a pilot strike in April and views competition from state-owned carriers as one of its biggest challenges, its new chief executive said on Tuesday. Carsten Spohr, in Washington to attend a meeting with President Barack Obama and other executives about foreign investment in the United States, took over as head of Europe's largest airline by revenue earlier this month. "The biggest challenge for a chief executive of a European airline, just as for my counterparts in the United States, is running privatized companies in an industry where government-owned airlines are gaining more and more market share," Spohr told Reuters news agency. "That's the global game changer to our industry we need to find the right answers to."
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Southwest Airlines to expand Love Field service
Southwest Airlines announced its flight schedule for Love Field in Dallas after the Wright Amendment expires in October. "The ability to now fly nonstop on Southwest Airlines out of Love Field and to do it at great prices is really huge for Southwest and the city of Dallas," said Kevin Krone, chief marketing officer for the carrier.
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Analysis: Delta Air Lines shares continue to soar
Shares of Delta Air Lines should continue to rise as the carrier faces a rosy future, according to columnist Christian Lamarco. "Its international growth and Trainer refinery will increase margins, and its improvements to the customer experience will increase revenues," writes Lamarco.
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Southwest CEO: Transparency needed in airfares
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly called on Congress to pass an act that would allow airlines to show government taxes and fees separately from airfares. "We need those taxes to be up there [included in advertised fares] for everybody to see," said Kelly.
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Column: Commercial air travel has improved dramatically
George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com, says air travel has improved dramatically since he took his first transcontinental flight in 1964. Flying today is easier, cheaper and quieter than ever. He writes "commercial air travel is a much better product than it was even a few years ago."
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Westward-bound passengers make the most in-flight purchases
A review by GuestLogix, a firm that provides in-flight payment systems, found that from November to February, U.S. fliers spent the most on flights to Seattle, San Francisco and Las Vegas. "Ancillary revenue for the world's airline industry was the defining factor between a loss and profit," said Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorksCompany, which consults with the travel industry on extra revenue sources.
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Facebook, Twitter are important customer service platforms for airlines
In the highly competitive airline industry, U.S. carriers are turning to social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to further enhance customer service and to increase brand awareness to expand their customer base.
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Common-use lounges springing up at U.S. airports
Common-use airport lounges, which operate with no affiliation to a particular airline, are enjoying a surge in popularity at U.S. airports. Travelers can buy a day pass to the lounges, which offer amenities like showers, complimentary appetizers and drinks, comfortable seating and business facilities.
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Rotary Wing

Airbus Helicopters sees big growth in leasing, finance options
Airbus Helicopters has observed increasing interest from leasing firms and the finance in the large helicopter market. The last 24 months has seen a significant rise in the number of helicopter transactions that involve a lessor or financing solutions, says Derek Sharples, the helicopter maker’s managing director for Southeast Asia. “It is mainly focused on big helicopters at the upper end of the product range, such as the EC225 and (Sikorsky) S92,” says Sharples. He spoke at the company’s regional headquarters in Singapore.
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Military

IAE ships first KC-390 engines to Embraer
International Aero Engines has shipped to Embraer the first six V2500-E5 engines, which will power Embraer's KC-390 multi-role tanker and transport. IAE, which is majority owned by Pratt & Whitney, says the engines will be used for flight tests that will start in 2014. Embraer is scheduled to deliver the first certificated KC-390 to the Brazilian air force in 2016. P&W expects civilian certification of the engine will be achieved in the third quarter of this year. The engines were assembled at P&W's facility in Middletown, Connecticut, then shipped to parent company UTC's aerostructures plant in Foley, Alabama, for installation of nacelles, thrust reverses and other equipment, says Pratt.
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Corporate Aviation

Bombardier unveils Global 7000 cabin
Bombardier is ready to show customers the fruits of four years of research with the unveiling today of the 33.7m (111ft) cockpit and cabin mock-up for its latest Global 7000 business jet. “We’ve gone out, we’ve researched customers, we’ve talked to customers,” says Bassam Sabbagh, vice-president and general manager of the Global 7000/8000 programme. “Having it here and real, we’ll get a lot of feedback, and we’ll tweak things and improve them.” The interior of the Global 7000 – Bombardier’s largest business jet offering to date – is laid out with four “true” cabin zones, not counting
the lavatories, galley and storage sections, Sabbagh says.
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Race is on to deliver first BBJ 747-8
The race is on for the delivery of the first BBJ 747-8 head of state aircraft and Boeing Business Jets president Steve Taylor wants to be at the office in the front when the delivery happens sometimes in the next month. “At this point we don’t know which one will be first – but whichever it is I know I want to be flying it,” he said at the show. The handover – believed to be to either Qatar or Kuwait – will be a milestone for the American manufacturer which has seen a surge in its widebody orders. “Over the past eight years, Boeing Business Jets has distinguished itself in the VIP widebody market,” Taylor says. “We saw an opportunity in the business jet market for widebody ¬airplanes and now we are seeing it pay off.”
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Aviation Quote

You'll be bothered from time to time by storms, fog, snow. When you are, think of those who went through it before you, and say to yourself, 'What they could do, I can do.'

— Antoine de Saint Exup—ry, Wind, Sand, and Stars,'1939.

On This Date

---In 1878... Glenn Hammond Curtiss, pioneer of the first years of powered flight and rival of the Wright brothers, is born in Hammondsport, New York.

---In 1946... Royal Dutch Airlines, KLM, inaugurates a scheduled service to New York. It is the first European airline to open post-war flights to New York.

---In 1956…B-52 Stratofortress drops the US hydrogen bomb, a 3.75 MT device on (Bikini Atoll) Central Pacific, a first such air drop.

---In 1975…First flight of the Rutan VariEze N7EZ.

---In 1977... The Concorde makes a special trip from New York to Paris to mark the 50th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s historic flight on the same route in the Spirit of St. Louis; the airliner takes just 3 hours, 44 minutes, compared with Lindbergh’s time of 33 hours, 29 minutes.

Daily Video

Editor’s Choice

Humor

Engine Blew Up

While cruising at 40,000 feet, the airplane shuddered and Mr. Benson looked out the window. “Good lord!” he screamed, “One of the engines just blew up!”
Other passengers left their seats and came running over. Suddenly the aircraft was rocked by a second blast as yet another engine exploded on the other side. The passengers were in a panic now, and even the stewardesses couldn't maintain order.

Just then, standing tall and smiling confidently, the pilot strode from the cockpit and assured everyone that there was nothing to worry about. His words and his demeanor made most of the passengers feel better, and they sat down as the pilot calmly walked to the door of the aircraft. There, he grabbed several packages from under the seats and began handing them to the flight attendants. Each crew member attached the package to their backs.
“Say,” spoke up an alert passenger, “Aren't those parachutes?”

The pilot said they were. The passenger went on, “But I thought you said there was nothing to worry about?”

“There isn't,” replied the pilot as a third engine exploded. “We're going to get help.”

Trivia

Who am I?
Thanks to Queso for today’s trivia.

1. First flown in 2001, I am the longest airliner currently in production and I can seat 419 in my 2 class seating arrangement. Who am I?

2. I am very famous for the shark-toothed paint job that one group of my operators put onto my nose. Almost 14,000 of my type were built and operated by 28 different nations including the United States and the Soviet Union. I guest-starred in movies along side the likes of John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, and John Belushi. Who am I?

3. I am a 2-seat, rag-and-tube plane first sold in 1964 who loves to fly upside-down and do loops and spins! In fact, my name is my primary reason for flying, (roughly) spelled backwards! Who am I?

4. I have been the King of the Skies for over 30 years, maintaining an air-superiority for the 4 countries who operate my type with an unmatched 104-to-0 kill ratio. One of my type once had an in-flight collision with another aircraft and it's skillful pilot safely landed the aircraft in spite of missing the entire right wing! Who am I?

5. I was the first (and perhaps only) aircraft to have flown with an operating nuclear reactor aboard. I was so heavy the designers went through several landing gear designs to help spread my tremendous weight across the tarmac. In fact, my payload was almost as much as the empty weight of one of the aircraft I replaced! And even though there were several innovative features included in my design such as my "pusher" engines and propellers, I was replaced in service by much faster aircraft after just a few years. Who am I?

6. Developed from a fighter jet design originally planned for Switzerland, my name is sometimes used synonymously as "business jet". I set the standard for small jets with two engines at the rear and a T-tail. Sleek and quite beautiful for the early 1960's era in which I was introduced, I could carry my 2 crew and 6 passengers up to 1,500 miles at well over 500 mph and up to 41,000 feet. The Argentine Air Force even used a couple of my type during the Falklands Island War to act as decoy strike aircraft sent to attack British ships! Who am I?

7. Operated by a tire and rubber company, I am 192 feet long, 59.5 feet tall, and 50 feet wide. I have a cruising speed of 35 mph in calm wind and I carry 6 passengers. You may have seen me circling major sporting events, and two of my type played a major role in the movie "Black Sunday". Who am I?

8. 7,000 of my type earned our keep transporting and evacuating troops in the jungles of Vietnam. We've served with every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, several civilian branches of government, as well as being dependable and reliable money-makers for civilian businesses in jobs such as spraying crops, moving logs and carrying oil workers to and from offshore platforms. My design was also modified by making it much slimmer and lighter to produce one of the most successful gunships ever created and it was named after a snake, even though I share a name with a Baby. Who am I?

9. I am the only commercially successful supersonic passenger aircraft ever produced (thus far). Who am I?

10. I am most successful mass produced light aircraft in history. My type was first flown in 1955 and is still in production. As of 2008, more than 43,000 of my type had been built. I have seats for 4 people and can do a reasonable job of carrying them 600 nm at a speed of about 120 knots. My high wing, tricycle landing gear, and fixed-pitch prop design features and reasonable acquisition and operating cost make me a popular choice as a training aircraft as well. Who am I?