NewsCommercial
Embraer cuts first metal part for E-Jet E2
Embraer has cut the first metal component for its E-Jet E2 family of regional jets at its new factory in Evora, Portugal. The wing stub forward pressure bulkhead is for the prototype of the E-190 E2, which is scheduled to fly in 2016. The part will be sent to São José dos Campos in Brazil to start the first aircraft assembly.The airframer established Evora as a centre of excellence for both metalic and composite parts manufacturing in 2008 and opened the factory in 2012.
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Mitsubishi Aircraft rolls out first MRJ
Mitsubishi Aircraft has rolled out its first flight test aircraft for the MRJ program, in good time ahead of its planned 2Q 2015 first flight. The Japanese airframer showcased aircraft 10001 before 500 guests comprising of government officials, suppliers, customers and journalists at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ Komaki South plant in Nagoya on 18 October. Mitsubishi also hosted a live webcast of the ceremony on its website.
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Rolls-Royce Warns Again On Profit
Rolls-Royce warned that deteriorating economic conditions meant its profit would not rise next year as previously forecast. Rolls said the market for its main aircraft engine business would strengthen but customers in the oil and gas, mining, construction, industrial and agricultural sectors were canceling or delaying orders. "The economic environment has deteriorated, and it has deteriorated quite quickly," chief executive John Rishton said. Wherever you look there were signs of economic slowdown such as the fall in oil and iron ore prices, an absence of growth in Europe and a slowdown in China, Rishton said.
LinkAirlines
American, United still bake cookies onboard
Sometimes you just need a chocolate chip cookie, but munching on such treats while hurtling through the air is sadly mostly a thing of the past. We've seen some airlines warming up cookies onboard as recently as 2012, but mergers and cutbacks mean these sweet bites are rarer than ever. Don't despair! A few airlines do still deliver cookies on select services: American Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Australia.
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Delta to retire fleet of Boeing 747s by 2017, CEO says
Delta Air Lines plans to retire its Boeing 747 fleet by 2017, according to CEO Richard Anderson. The 747 recently hit a production milestone of 1,500 planes produced.
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Delta brings back "Basic Economy" fare
Delta Air Lines plans to offer its "Basic Economy" fare once again after a hiatus of several months. "We saw from our customers that were very price-driven -- that there was certainly demand for this type of a product," Delta spokesman Paul Skrbec said. "It's part of looking at what can we bring to the market for that particular type of customer while, at the same time, giving them a very strong economy product as a whole."
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Lufthansa Cancels Flights Due To Pilots Strike
Lufthansa cancelled 1,450 flights after a pilots union called for a strike on Monday and Tuesday, after millions were left stranded by a weekend-long train drivers' stoppage. Lufthansa said late on Sunday more than 200,000 passengers and two thirds of its scheduled flights - short and medium-haul services, mostly within Europe - would be affected by the strike. Both the pilots' and train drivers' strikes hit at the start of a week-long, half-term holiday in nearly half of Germany's 16 federal states. "The Vereinigung Cockpit (pilots union) is trying to turn Germany into a standstill nation," the airline said.
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Ryanair Sees Plenty More Growth Within Europe
Ryanair's bid to become one of the world's biggest airlines will focus on higher-frequency routes and more domestic flights in core European markets rather than venturing further afield. Already Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers, selling over 80 million tickets last year, Ryanair is targeting 50 percent growth in passengers by 2019 and has placed orders for 380 new planes. Most growth will come from increasing capacity in core European markets such as Germany, Poland and the UK rather than breaking into new markets.
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United to offer reception lobby for elite flyers at SFO
United Airlines will unveil new check-in options tomorrow for its most frequent travelers at San Francisco International Airport, enabling faster movement from the curb to the gate. The airline will open a new reception lobby for members of its invitation-only Global Services program and a new check-in area for Premier members of its MileagePlus loyalty program. Located across from doors five and six, on the departures level of Terminal 3, the new Global Services reception lobby will also offer personalized check-in services to customers traveling in United Global First on long-haul international flights. At approximately 1,100 square feet, the glass-enclosed facility will offer five full-service check-in podiums, a seating area and front-of-line security lane access, featuring TSA PreCheck.
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Committee aims to streamline airline seat testing
A new effort by aircraft seat makers, vendors and jetmakers aims to reduce the lead time for airplane seats by streamlining testing and certification. A new industry committee aims to "help effect change for some of the certification requirements today," Thales Avionics Vice President of Product Management Lori Salazar.
LinkAirports
Charter flight of Boeing 787 visits Las Vegas airport
McCarran International Airport got its first up-close look at a Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet, the first airliner constructed primarily with fuel-efficient composite materials, when it arrived with a series of military charter flights at Terminal 3 this week. A LOT Polish Airlines charter arrived and departed three times Monday through Thursday. McCarran had no other details about the purpose of the flights, other than it arrived Monday from Warsaw, Poland, as a military charter transport and had back-and-forth trips to Europe later in the week. Boeing launched a new era of air travel with the twin-engine jet because it could fly greater distances with less fuel. Some analysts have called in the perfect aircraft for international travel to Las Vegas because of its moderate seat capacity — it’s configured to fly between 210 and 335 passengers — and a range that could reach China, Europe and South America.
LinkMilitary
US Air Force's shadowy space plane lands after 674 days in orbit
The US Air Force’s mysterious robotic space plane landed at Vandenberg AFB, California, on 17 October after nearly two years in orbit. Completion of the recent 674-day mission – the programme’s third ‑ extends the total time an X-37B orbital test vehicle (OTV) has spent outside the earth’s atmosphere to a total 1,367 days. The air force has built two examples of the reusable, unmanned spacecraft. OTV-3 was the longest the vehicle has yet spent in space at a time. Still, the air force has given precious few details about what the program is meant to achieve because the program remains classified.
LinkRegulatory
FAA urges cooperation on updates to air-traffic control
Federal Aviation Administration chief Michael Huerta exhorted government and industry stakeholders to work together to ensure completion of needed updates to the U.S. aircraft control system. "We will only realize the total benefits of our airspace system when we have an aviation industry that is engaged and is united around our priorities," he said.
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Aviation Quote
We are pleased we haven't got one on order. It's too big an aircraft.
— Willie Walsh, CEO British Airways, regards the A380. Reported in AW&ST, 21 November 2005.
On This Date
---In 1920... Flying his Nieuport Delage, Sadi Lecointe set a world speed record flying at 187.99-mph.
---In 1950…U.S, paratroops cut off supplies from Pyongyang, Korea.
---In 1953…a TWA Lockheed Constellation makes the first non-stop scheduled passenger flight across the United States.
---In 1969…Finnair introduces an inertial navigation system on its aircraft, becoming the first airline to dispense with the need for a navigator aboard.
---In 1970…A chartered Convair 240 carrying 26 people including members of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd runs out of fuel and crashes in a forest at Gillsburg, Mississippi. Among the six dead are three band members and a manager, and the rest of the band members are injured.
---In 1980…First dog fights of the Iran–Iraq War. An Iraqi Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is shot down by Iranian F-4 Phantoms.
---In 2010…Hamburg International ceases operations.
Daily Video
Editor’s Choice
Humor
b]Cuban girl's mother vs. a white girl's mother [/b]
A Cuban girl and a white girl were friends. The Cuban girl slept over the
white girl's house. It was 3 a.m., and they were still up. The white girl's mother came downstairs and said, "Honey, don't you think it's time for you to go to bed?"
The white girl responded, "Shut up Mother, I don't want to go to sleep!"
Her mother said," Okay, honey. You can go to bed later." The Cuban girl was very intrigued by what happened and decided to use that when she got home.
The next night the Cuban girl's mother said to the Cuban girl, "Chica, go to bed! It's late!" The Cuban girl shouted," Shut up Mami, I don't want to go to sleep!" The Cuban girl's mother took one look at her & raised her eyebrow...
The Cuban girl started to blink, looked around, and asked, "Where am I?"
A lady came over to the bed and answered,
"You're in the Intensive Care Unit, Sweetie."
Trivia
General Trivia
1. What is an aerial train?
2. The most common configuration for a twin-engine business jet is for an engine to be mounted on each side of the rear fuselage. What was the first twin-engine turbine airplane to be so configured?
3. What is it called when a) ice becomes water vapor without becoming water in the process, and b) water vapor becomes ice without becoming water in the process?
4. True or false; Supersonic airplanes generate three sonic booms.
5. The world's first radio-equipped air traffic control tower began operation in 1930 and served
A. Cleveland, Ohio.
B. Indianapolis, Indiana.
C. Newark, New Jersey.
D. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Aviation Quote
We are pleased we haven't got one on order. It's too big an aircraft.
— Willie Walsh, CEO British Airways, regards the A380. Reported in AW&ST, 21 November 2005.
