NewsCommercial
Boeing outlook looks rosy through 2020
Boeing should continue to grow through the end of the decade as demand holds for commercial aircraft, according to the Trefis Team. "Looking ahead, this strong demand for new commercial airplanes should persist as airline profits are rising and demand for air travel is growing," writes the Trefis Team.
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Bombardier delays CS300 first flight
Bombardier has pushed back the first flight of its CS300 aircraft, due to unfavorable weather conditions in Mirabel. In a short statement, the Canadian aircraft manufacturer says first flight will no longer take place on 26 February, but adds that “we expect it will take place very soon”.
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Walsh all set to steer IAG to next opportunities
While the US legacy triumvirate have been making headlines about unfair competition from the Gulf carriers, Europe's leading airline group, IAG, has become part-owned by one of them. And that deal, whereby Qatar Airways acquired an almost 10% stake, comes as IAG is locked in its own acquisition campaign in Dublin. The events surrounding IAG over recent weeks underline its status as the leading legacy group in the European arena at the moment. Unlike its peers who are locked in battles to restructure their cost bases, IAG's management team is moving forward with the next phase of Willie Walsh's masterplan. Having got IAG's own house in order – or well on its way, at least – Walsh is now looking to his next opportunities.
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P&W reveals new aggressiveness in A320neo orders race
In a little over four years, Airbus has signed firm orders for more than 3,600 A320neo-family aircraft. Forty percent of those tail numbers – representing an astounding roughly 1,450 aircraft – remain up for grabs in the competitive engine duel between CFM International and Pratt & Whitney.
LinkAirlines
American, US Airways continue to soar following integration
According to a regulatory filing, American Airlines Group Inc. has completed "substantial progress" on its merger with US Airways. The two airlines merged in December 2013
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American Airlines partners with L.A. Clippers
Perhaps taking a page from its dreaded rivals in the Middle East, where airlines’ sponsorship of such sports-related ventures as English Premier League soccer and professional golf has proven lucrative, American Airlines this week signed to deal to become the Official Airline partner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association. The agreement comes on the heels of American’s deal with baseball’s Chicago Cubs, displacing archrival United as the Cubs’ main airline partner.
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Delta to enhance in-flight Wi-Fi
In 2016, Gogo will begin installing satellite-based Wi-Fi on Delta Air Lines planes that fly long routes in the U.S. and to Latin America and the Caribbean. The carrier also will upgrade air-to-ground Wi-Fi technology used on planes that fly short routes within the U.S.
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Emirates Urges US To Ignore Subsidy Claims
Emirates president Tim Clark has hit back at US airlines in an increasingly bitter subsidy spat and urged Washington to block their calls to renegotiate Open Skies agreements. Clark, in an interview with Reuters news agency, also urged the US government to think about the impact on its aerospace industry, which has been boosted in recent years by orders from the Gulf. He was responding to allegations of trade-distorting Gulf subsidies made by the three largest US airlines, Delta, American and United.
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Qantas Swings To First-Half Profit
Qantas on Thursday reported its best first-half profit in four years as its cost-cutting bore fruit and lower oil prices trimmed fuel expenses. Qantas said underlying profit before tax was AUD$367 million (USD$289 million). The result reflects a faster-than-anticipated recovery following last year's AUD$2.8 billion net loss. "We are meeting or exceeding all our targets as we build a sustainable future for Qantas," chief executive Alan Joyce said in a statement.
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Spirit Named 2015 Value Airline of the Year
Spirit Airlines has always claimed to be different than other airlines. The Ultra-Low Cost Carrier has now received a respected, independent endorsement that being different makes them one of the best. Air Transport World named Spirit as the Value Airline of the Year at its 41st Annual Industry Achievement Awards ceremony.
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Thai Airways Posts Wider Q4 Loss
Thai Airways posted a bigger fourth-quarter loss as a drop in passenger numbers after months of domestic political unrest hurt the national carrier. The airline posted a net loss of THB6.4 billion baht (USD$196 million) for October-December, compared with a net loss of THB5.7 billion in the same period a year earlier. A foreign exchange gain of THB3.2 billion baht in the quarter was wiped out by losses from fuel hedging.
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United Warns Pilots After Four Safety Incidents
United Airlines sent a safety warning to its pilots last month after one flight was in danger of crashing and another landed with lower fuel reserves than regulations require. United cited four recent "safety events and near-misses" in a January 9 bulletin to pilots, including an emergency in which pilots had to perform a pull-up maneuver to avoid crashing into the ground, a United spokesman confirmed.
LinkAirports
DIA to celebrate 20th anniversary on Saturday
When it opened back in 1995, Denver International Airport drew attention with its tented roof, high-tech (and famously flawed) baggage system, $7 million art collection and its location almost 25 miles northeast of downtown. The Colorado airport some think is visited regularly by UFOs and space aliens turns 20 this week (Feb. 28) and there's a year-long schedule of celebrations, commemorations, contests, giveaways, pop-up experiences and festivals planned.
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Las Vegas airport saw slight uptick in Jan. traffic
Passenger counts at McCarran International Airport started 2015 the way they left off in 2014 — with a slow and steady climb. The Clark County Aviation Department reported Thursday that 3.3 million passengers passed through McCarran’s gates in January, a 0.3 percent increase over the same month a year earlier. And the growth patterns continue to mimic 2014 with international traffic taking the lead and domestic traffic higher, but not significantly higher.
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Port Authority discusses long-haul flights at LaGuardia
Authorities at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are considering lifting a ban on flights longer than 1,500 miles from New York's LaGuardia Airport.
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San Diego airport debuts Airspace Lounge
San Diego International Airport opened its first common-use lounge Wednesday. Airspace Lounge, operated by Swissport, is free for elite American Express card members. All other passengers can pay a daily fee to use the amenities at the lounge.
LinkMilitary
RAAF A330 MRTT makes strong combat debut
As a Royal Australian Air Force Airbus A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) continues to support operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the service is placing a major emphasis on getting the type's long-delayed boom refuelling capability on-line. In a presentation at the Airbus chalet at the Avalon air show, Wg Cdr Warren MacDonald says RAAF KC-30As (as the type is designated in Australian service) have operated 1,300 hours in support of coalition forces, offloading about 3.5 million tonnes of fuel every month since September 2014.
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Aviation Quote
I live for that exhilarating moment when I'm in an airplane rushing down the runway and pull on the stick and feel lift under its wings. It's a magical feeling to climb toward the heavens, seeing objects and people on the ground grow smaller and more insignificant. You have left that world beneath you. You are inside the sky.
— Gordon 'Gordo' Cooper, Leap of Faith, 2000.
On This Date
---In 837 AD... 15th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
---In 1910...Clarence Leonard “Kelly” Johnson is born in Ishpeming Michigan.
---In 1920... Major Rudolph W. Schroeder of the US Army Air Service sets a new world altitude record when he flies to the height of 33,143 feet. During the flight over McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio he nearly loses his life when his oxygen system fails.
---In 1935... Latècoère’s giant seaplane Santos Dumont lands with a cargo of mail after a record flight of 53 hours 4 minutes from Natal, Brazil to Paris, with two stops en route.
---In 1942…J. S. Hey discovers radio emissions from Sun.
---In 1965... The world’s largest aircraft at the time, the Antonov An-22 Antei, makes its first flight. It is powered by four 15,000 EHP Kuznetsov NK-12 turboprop engines.
---In 1967…First delivery of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 to Eastern Airlines.
---In 1970…Hawker Siddeley begins buying back surplus Hawker Hunters from the Royal Air Force to remanufacture for new customers.
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