NewsCommercial
Boeing outpaces Airbus with Jan. deliveries
Boeing delivered 50 commercial aircraft in January, outpacing rival Airbus with 36 deliveries during the month. Boeing delivered 35 787s in January, while Airbus delivered 30 A320s.
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Northeast braces for another winter storm
It's the winter that won't die in Boston. Yet another snowstorm pounded the city on Monday, forcing two days of school closings, slickening the morning commute and testing the patience even of hardy New Englanders. Boston, which was pounded by a blizzard two weeks ago and a second storm last week, hit a total of 61.6 inches for the past 30 days — breaking a record set from Jan. 9 to Feb. 7, 1978, said Sam Champion, a forecaster and anchor for The Weather Channel.
LinkAirlines
American exercises options for 24 CRJ900s
American Airlines has exercised options for 24 Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen aircraft with deliveries beginning this November. The 76-seat regional jets will be operated by the mainline carrier’s subsidiary PSA Airlines and bring the regional carrier’s fleet of the type to 54 aircraft when deliveries are complete in August 2016. “We are pleased to add these new aircraft to our growing fleet and see the award as a reflection of American’s continued confidence in PSA to provide friendly, reliable and cost-effective regional services for American’s customers,” says Dion Flannery, president of Dayton-based PSA, in a statement.
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American Lowers Forecast, Citing Fuel Costs
American Airlines has lowered its forecast for first-quarter profit margins due to the recent rise in oil prices. The carrier said it expected a pretax margin of 12 percent to 14 percent, down from its earlier forecast of 13 percent to 15 percent. The estimates exclude special items. Global oil prices have risen by more than 21 percent in the past two weeks, pushing estimated fuel costs for the quarter to between USD$1.81 and USD$1.86 per gallon, up from American Airlines' prior forecast of USD$1.71 to USD$1.76.
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Icelandair, JetBlue announce codeshare agreement
Icelandair and JetBlue Airways have announced a codeshare agreement on routes that include European destinations of Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Helsinki and Stockholm, and Boston, Newark, Orlando and Seattle in the U.S.
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JetBlue, Virgin America offer in-flight education experience
JetBlue Airways and Virgin America recently began offering travelers unique ways to educate themselves during flights. JetBlue last year began streaming lectures from elite colleges. It also offers video cooking lessons. Meanwhile, Virgin America will offer a series of lectures from leading professors starting this month.
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Southwest improved on-time performance in Jan.
Southwest Airlines reported a 78.9% on-time arrival rate for January, an improvement from December 2014. Last year, Southwest took steps to revamp its flight scheduling for better on-time performance.
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TransAsia Pilots Tested On Dealing With Engine Failure
TransAsia Airways' pilots are being tested on how they handle an engine failure and subsequent emergency, days after the fatal crash of one of the airline's ATR 72-600s, an official from the country's aviation regulator said. Initial data from the flight recorders indicates the plane lost power in one engine just after take-off from Taipei's Songshan airport, Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council (ASC) said on Friday. The crew then shut down the other engine, which was working, and attempted to restart it shortly before the aircraft crashed into a river killing at least 40 people.
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United Says Q1 Fuel Cost To Be Higher Than Expected
United Continental said it expects to pay more per gallon of fuel in the first quarter than it had previously forecast as a recent rise in oil prices chips away at airlines' energy savings. The Chicago-based airline estimated it will pay on average between USD$2.10 and USD$2.15 per gallon of fuel for the first quarter of 2015, including the impact of taxes and cash-settled hedges. This revises its guidance from last month that had estimated United would pay between USD$1.96 and USD$2.01 per gallon for the quarter.
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United invites MileagePlus members to beta test website
United Airlines plans to launch a website as early as this summer that is a "rebuild from the ground up," said Scott Wilson, vice president of merchandising and e-commerce at the carrier. This month, 4,000 MileagePlus members will serve as beta testers for the website.
LinkAirports
Atlanta proposes recycling facility at airport
The City of Atlanta is proposing a 30-acre energy park at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The facility would recycle waste from the airport, as well as waste from the department of public works.
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Hamburg Airport Shut Terminal Due To Strike
Hamburg airport temporarily closed a terminal building on Monday morning after a strike by security staff caused overcrowding. The airport said police closed the doors for two hours after queues of up to five hours for security checks built up. "Passengers have little chance of making their flights today," a spokeswoman said, adding the building was re-opened shortly before 10:00 local time. The 24 hour strike was called by the Verdi union as it tries to increase pressure over stalled wage negotiations in three German federal states.
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Updates planned for Minneapolis-St. Paul airport
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport officials on Friday outlined improvements planned for the facility. Three gates will be added at Terminal 2, an employee parking area at Terminal 1 will be opened up to travelers and security checkpoints at Terminal 1 will be combined to form just two checkpoints. Bids will be opened for concessions at Terminal 1.
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Okla. airport considers minimum revenue guarantee
Tulsa International Airport is exploring a new option to attract additional air service, and Director Jeff Mulder it's something that competitors already have in place. The Tulsa International Airport and the Tulsa Regional Chamber are looking into the possibility of setting up a Minimum Revenue Guarantee (MRG) program to help attract new air service to the community. MRGs are driven by community members' funds and travel preferences. They provide a financial safety net for air carriers that may be hesitant to start new service in a community because of financial risks.
LinkMilitary
Germany calls a halt to NH90 flights over safety fears
Germany has slapped a self-imposed temporary grounding order on its army’s fleet of NH Industries (NHI) NH90 helicopters following the discovery of a “design flaw” with the aircraft’s electrical system. Berlin says that all routine flights of its 10.6t rotorcraft have been “temporarily suspended” after Airbus Helicopters, which assembles the German troop transport helicopters at its Donauwörth facility, identified a fault with the NH90’s overhead control panel. The airframer’s recommendation follows a 19 June incident involving a TTH variant in Termez, Uzbekistan when the helicopter (TGEA18) was forced to make an emergency landing after an engine failure and subsequent shutdown of a large number of its electrical systems.
LinkGeneral Aviation
70th anniversary of V-E Day to be marked by WWII-era aircraft flyover
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day on May 8, dozens of vintage aircraft will take off from Culpeper Regional Airport in Virginia to fly to Washington, D.C., and back. The flight is planned as part of the three-day Arsenal of Democracy celebration in Washington. A flyover of the aircraft is scheduled to take place during a ceremony at the National World War II Memorial.
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Russian company patents lightweight GA ejection seat
NPP Zvezda, a Russian company well known for aviation and space life support systems in its homeland, has patented a lightweight ejection seat for general aviation aircraft. In-flight escape from light aircraft is difficult, slow and risky, and as a result most do not routinely carry parachutes, relying instead on the pilot making a successful forced landing. The reason the ejection seat – standard fit in military strike aircraft and fighters – is not used in general aviation is the unit’s complexity, high price and weight.
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Aviation Quote
The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their grueling travels across trackless lands in prehistoric times, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air.
— Wilbur Wright
On This Date
---In 1720... Edmund Halley appointed 2nd Astronomer Royal of England.
---In 1923... An experimental night flight arrives to Le Bourget, France, from Croydon, England. The pilot has given his position by radio and used the aviation light beacons to make his approach.
---In 1941…Britain uses paratroopers for the first time in an attack on Tragino, Italy.
---In 1952…Maj George A. Davis Jr is killed while attacking a group of 12 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s that were about to attack other US aircraft over Korea for which he is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
---In 1962... American U-2 pilot Gary Powers, shot down and arrested in the U.S.S.R. in May 1960, is released in exchange for Soviet spy Colonel Rudolf Abel.
---In 1967…First flight of the Dornier Do 31.
---In 1986…Air Atlanta Icelandic is formed.
---In 1993…McDonnell Douglas delivers its 10,000th aircraft, a US Navy F/A-18 Hornet.
---In 1995…The first prototype of Antonov’s new An-70 large prop-powered transporter is destroyed after a mid-air collision with an An-72 chase plane. All seven aboard are killed in the crash.
---In 1995…Two Peruvian Sukhoi Su-22Ms are shot down by a pair of Ecuadorian Mirage F.1JAs. Almost simultaneously, a Peruvian Cessna A-37B is also shot down by an Ecuadorian Kfir C.2.
---In 1997…Comet Shoemaker-Holt 2 Closest Approach to Earth (1.9245 AU).
---In 1997…Soyuz TM-25 launches to the MIR.
---In 2009…The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 collide in orbit 490 miles above Siberia at a speed of 26,170 mph.
---In 2011…Manx2 Flight 7100 from Belfast, operated by Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner EC-ITP leased from Flightline BCN of Barcelona, overturns on its third attempt to land at Cork, Ireland in fog, killing six and injuring six.
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Editor’s Choice
Trivia
Japan Airlines Destination Scramble
1. OAKFAUK
2. ASREPADN
3. AHSRIHMOI
4. OULHOLUN
5. GNKAAASI
6. AIUMMB
7. NMOUAE
8. ORSPOPA
9. EAVURVOCN
10. NAEXIM
airtrainer wrote:1. OAKFAUK - FUKUOKA
miamiair wrote:1. FUK, FUKOAKA, Japan
vikkyvik wrote:miamiair wrote:1. FUK, FUKOAKA, Japan
Unless that's some alternative spelling I don't know, I think you mean Fukuoka.
