NewsAirlines
Alaska Air Group carried 8.1% more passengers in August
Scheduled passenger services provider Alaska Air Group, Inc. reported Wednesday operational results for the month of August for its subsidiaries, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. The group's combined traffic and capacity improved, while passenger load factor edged down from year. The operational results include flights operated by Alaska and those under capacity purchase agreements, including Horizon, SkyWest and PenAir.
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Alaska launches Baltimore-Seattle service
Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport is celebrating the addition of new service to Seattle. On Tuesday, Alaska Airlines is starting new service between BWI and Seattle. The airline is adding a daily nonstop flight from Seattle to Baltimore and a nonstop evening flight from Baltimore to Seattle.
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American Airlines secures aircraft financing
American Airlines Inc. said today that it priced $957 million in new airplane financing that’s expected to be issued on Sept. 16. The Fort Worth-based airline plans to use the financing proceeds to acquire equipment notes issued by the company and secured by five Airbus A319-112 aircraft delivered last year, seven Airbus A321-231 aircraft delivered this year and five Boeing 777-323ER aircraft delivered between 2012 and this year.
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Analysis: Delta in "solid financial position"
Shares of Delta Air Lines rose 3.4% in Tuesday trading as oil prices dropped, and TheStreet Ratings Team rated the shares as a buy. "The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its notable return on equity, attractive valuation levels, solid stock price performance, revenue growth and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures," said the ratings team.
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Malaysia Airlines Changes 'Bucket List' Campaign
Malaysia Airlines has changed the wording of an online contest called "My Ultimate Bucket List" after Internet users derided the campaign as insensitive following two disasters suffered by the airline this year that claimed 537 lives. A bucket list commonly refers to things one wants to do or see before dying. Nearing six months since the unexplained loss of flight MH370, the carrier launched the campaign asking Australian and New Zealand customers to describe in 500 words or less, "What and where would you like to tick off on your bucket list, and explain why?". The prize for 16 winners was an iPad or return tickets to Malaysia. Hit by plunging ticket sales after the March 8 disaster and the July 17 shooting down of another passenger jet over Ukraine, Malaysia Airlines has discounted fares on some routes and launched special offers to revive its business.
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Ryanair, Aegean Submit Proposals For Cyprus Air
Ryanair and Aegean were among companies that submitted non-binding proposals for the acquisition of Cyprus Airways. Marios Demetriades said "more than half" of the 15 parties that earlier made an initial expression of interest and signed a non-disclosure agreement had submitted non-binding business proposals by the time the deadline expired on Wednesday evening. "I would say the response is encouraging, but we have to assess the non-binding proposals to see what they contain," Demetriades said.
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Transaero pulls plug on order for 4 Boeing 787-8s
Russia’s Transaero has canceled its order for four Boeing 787-8s. The deal, which was finalized in April 2012, was valued at $744 million at list prices. First delivery was expected in 2014. The Moscow-based carrier plans to focus on its order for four 747-8I aircraft. The carrier also has four Airbus A380s on order. CEO Olga Pleshakova said the latter two aircraft types would replace older 747s and expand the carrier’s fleet from 2015.
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APFA to represent US Airways flight attendants
US Airways flight attendants agreed to be represented by the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents American Airlines flight attendants. The change in representation will occur once a joint contract is reached with American Airlines.
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Virgin Atlantic cuts several routes to focus on transatlantic
Virgin Atlantic will withdraw routes to Cape Town, Mumbai, Tokyo and Vancouver as part of a strengthened emphasis on transatlantic flights – but hints that it could resume the axed services if a new runway is built at London Heathrow airport. The UK carrier plans to stop flights to Mumbai and Toyko Narita on 31 January 2015, and says it will not renew seasonal services to Vancouver after October 2014 and to Cape Town as of 26 April. But the airline says that if Heathrow "gains its long overdue expansion, Virgin Atlantic would love to re-enter Tokyo, Cape Town, Mumbai and Vancouver". Chief executive Craig Kreeger has previously said he favours a third runway being built at Heathrow as a way of increasing capacity at London's airports.
LinkAirports
BWI adding terminal upgrades
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport is adding windows in the terminal and an outdoor observation deck, bar and restaurant so ticketed travelers can watch airplanes arrive and depart. "We're trying to bring the airfield into the terminal, so when you're in the terminal you can see the plane," said airport manager Paul Wiedefeld.
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Dallas airport bringing more retail options to Terminal D
Officials at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport are working to improve Terminal D, the entry point for international travelers, with more shopping and dining options. The terminal is undergoing renovations and improvements to existing facilities.
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London Gatwick airport beats its own world record again
Air traffic controllers at Gatwick airport handled a total of 906 movements on 29 August, breaking their own world record for air traffic management in a single day from a single runway. That equates to one take-off or landing every 63s. Gatwick’s airport air traffic services provider, NATS, claims to be the only operator in the world to have achieved more than 900 aircraft movements in a single day from a single runway – a feat it achieved four times this August. It set the previous record of 895 in 2008, and NATS says that it "has consistently set the benchmark for the number of movements from a single runway".
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Australian government to review business jet curfew exemptions
Australia’s government will start consultations with a view to reviewing the list of business jets that are allowed to operate during the curfew periods at Sydney and Adelaide airports, but has given no indication it will allow more commercial jets onto the list. Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss says that the last time that the aircraft permitted list was updated was in 2005, and since then newer and more quiet aircraft have become available but are not yet permitted to operate from the airport between the 11pm to 6am curfew.
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Dassault breaks ground on 5X and 8X completions facility in Little Rock
Dassault has broken ground on a major expansion and upgrade of its Little Rock facility in Arkansas that will be dedicated to Falcon 5X and 8X business jet completions. The large-cabin and ultra-long-range business jets are currently under development. The French airframer has allocated around $60 million to the project, which will add 23,225m2 (250,000ft2) of new production and completion space, bringing the total footprint of the 40-year-old Little Rock facility to more than 116,000m2. The cabinet, upholstery and headliner shops will also be refurbished and older hangars upgraded, says Dassault. This expansion follows a $20 million 10,780m2 upgrade in 2008 that added four new state-of-the-art paint bays, along with new production, design and warehouse space, to accommodate completions of the long-range Falcon 7X.
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Learjet leader post vacant amid Bombardier priority review
Bombardier’s Learjet division is without a leader after a corporate restructuring led to the removal of one executive and the transfer of another. Bombardier confirms that Ralph Acs has left the company as part of a broader restructuring. Meanwhile, Acs’ brief replacement as vice-president and general manager (GM) of Learjet, Jean Séguin, has moved to lead the newly-created aerostructures and engineering services division. Acs had served as the VP and GM of Learjet, ushering the re-engined and updated Learjet 70 and Learjet 75 models through development and into production. Acs also was responsible for the Learjet 85, a mid-sized private jet that entered flight-testing last March more than a year late due to unspecified issues with the composite structure. Bombardier continues to review timing for the entry-into-service of the Learjet 85, as part of a wider rethink of priorities with the Global 7000 and 8000 programs.
LinkMilitary
Boeing eyes Poland as first KC-46A export buyer
Boeing hopes that Poland will become the first export customer for the KC-46A Pegasus tanker it is developing for the US Air Force. Warsaw has issued a request for proposals seeking as many as four tankers to help it meet refuelling requirements as part of the NATO alliance, with a decision expected by the year end. Although the east European nation is also a member of the European Defence Agency, which has a separate requirement for eight tankers, Poland is keen to ensure its air force is not constrained by any decision taken by the EDA.
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Eurofighter pitches Typhoon as Polish Su-22, MiG-29 replacement
The Eurofighter consortium believes it has put itself at the front of the line to answer a nascent Polish requirement for combat aircraft, to replace an air force fleet of ageing Soviet-era types. Although a request for information has yet to be issued – and Eurofighter acknowledges that any contest may be years away – the company is keen to highlight the capability enhancements being introduced to the Typhoon. These include an active electronically scanned array radar and the integration of MBDA's Storm Shadow cruise missile and Brimstone 2 munitions. Speaking at the MSPO defence show in Kielce, Poland, Joe Parker, director of export at the Eurofighter consortium, says the platform would offer Warsaw a number of advantages, including possible workshare – although not final assembly work – and technology transfer.
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Assembly work begins on first Polish M-346
Early assembly work is under way on the first Alenia Aermacchi M-346 advanced/lead-in fighter trainer destined to be delivered to the Polish air force in November 2016, as part of a €280 million ($383 million) deal. Speaking at the MSPO defence show in Kielce, Poland, the Italian airframer says it ordered long lead-time items, such as the aircraft's Honeywell F124 engines, shortly after the order was confirmed in February 2014. Warsaw has ordered eight M-346s, plus associated simulators and other training equipment. However, Alenia Aermacchi says Poland is considering increasing its commitment to 12 aircraft, as it eyes the potential to train pilots from outside its borders at its Deblin air base.
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Pratt & Whitney sues supplier of titanium used in F-35 engines
The sole manufacturer of engines for the Lockheed F-35 Lightning II discovered in May 2013 that it had used substandard titanium alloy that might have been illegally purchased from Russia. Pratt & Whitney halted delivery of F135 engines that contained the suspect titanium and has subsequently sued the supplier, A&P Alloys, of West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Titanium is popular in aircraft manufacturing for its strength and light weight. In May 2013, P&W learned a majority of an order of 900 pieces of the metal was originally melted in Russia, according to the lawsuit filed on 29 August in the US District Court of Massachusetts. The discovery last year of conflicting documentation of the metal’s origin resulted in a “quality hold” on delivery of the F135 engine, the company says. The titanium was used to manufacture some parts used in engines made by Pratt & Whitney Canada.
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Aviation Quote
The worst sort of business is one that grows rapidly, requires significant capital to engender the growth, and then earns little or no money. Think airlines. Here a durable competitive advantage has proven elusive ever since the days of the Wright Brothers. Indeed, if a farsighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk, he would have done his successors a huge favor by shooting Orville down.
— Warren Buffett, annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, February 2008.
On This Date
---In 1888... Edward Hogan in Quebec makes the 1st parachute descents in Canada from a hot-air balloon.
--- In 1936... Louise Thaden becomes the 1st woman to win the prestigious coast-to-coast Bendix trophy race.
---In 1949…First flight of the Avro 707 VX784.
---In 1949…First flight of the Bristol Brabazon.
---In 1950…Captain Robert Wayne becomes the first pilot to be rescued from behind enemy lines by a helicopter.
---In 1992…A B-2 Spirit bomber drops a bomb for the first time.
---In 1998…First flight of the Boeing BBJ.
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Hardcore Family
• Your wife's two favorite shades of lipstick are light green and loam.
• You go to a barbecue and insist that your family feed in a tactical chow line at five meter intervals
• Before you hit the road on vacation you conduct rehearsals, back briefs, PCI, and cover your convoy checklist.
• Your children clear their hand receipt and housing before they go to college.
• Your wife has more jumps than most LTs in the company.
• Your kids call the yard their MWR area.
• You require your mechanic to replace the sandbags in your floorboard as a part of a tune-up.
• Your station wagon is equipped with blackout lights, OVE, OVM, and has to be properly dispatched.
• Your kids call their mother "Household 6."
• Your kids volunteer to pull air guard on the school bus.
• Your doorbell sounds off with the current challenge and password.
• Your house has sector sketches posted by every window.
• You give the command "Fix Bayonets" at Thanksgiving Dinner.
• Your kids show their meal cards at the kitchen door, except the oldest, who is on separate rations.
• You make your daughter sign out on pass on Prom Night.
• Your kindergartner calls recess "smoke break."
• Your wife calls foreplay "prepping the objective."
• Your wife conducts an AAR after sex.
• Your wife "takes a knee" in the checkout line at the Food Lion.
• You do your "back to school" shopping at the U.S. Cavalry store.
• Your kids call the tooth fairy "Slicky Boy."
• Your son fails the third grade but tells everyone he was a "phase three recycle."
• Your kids salute their grandparents.
• Your wife's "high-n-tight" is more squared away than your commander's.
• Your kids get a LES for their allowance.
• Your grandmother won "All American Week" and "Best Ranger."
• All your kids have names that start with AR, FM, TM, or DA Form.
• Your pick-up has your name stenciled on the windshield.
• Your kids are hand-receipt holders.
• Your older kids call the youngest one "Cherry."
• Your kids recite their ABCs phonetically.
• Your wife keeps Mermites in the China cabinet.
• You call your in-laws the "Slice Elements."
• Your dog's name is "Ranger."
• All your possessions are military issue.
• Your kids call their sandbox "NTC or CMTC"
• You have pull-up bars outside the kitchen door.
• Your daughter's first haircut was a flattop.
• Your kids pull fireguard.
• Your newborn's first words were "all OK Jumpmaster."
• The only channels you get are FOX, and ESPN.
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