NewsCommercial
Leap-powered A320neo resumes tests after upgrade
Airbus has resumed testing of the CFM International Leap-powered A320neo, after a break to upgrade the powerplants and on-board equipment. The airframer currently has a single aircraft with Leap-1A engines in the development fleet but had temporarily halted tests with the type. Airbus says the aircraft has been undergoing a “short pause” for maintenance to prepare the aircraft for the hot-weather and high-altitude test phase.
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Boeing forecast indicates surge in global travel demand over the next 20 years
Airlines across the globe will need to hire 558,000 new pilots over the next two decades to keep pace with surging travel demand and a $5.6 trillion jet shopping spree, according to a Boeing Co. forecast. That works out to about 28,000 new aviators a year, Boeing Flight Services Vice President Sherry Carbary said. Asia-Pacific countries probably will account for about 40 percent of the total, Boeing said Monday in its annual pilot and technician outlook. While a growing middle class is poised to send the region past North America as the top aircraft market, carriers in China and elsewhere may have to work hard to fill vacancies because private pilots are much rarer than in the U.S.
LinkAirlines
JetBlue donates book vending machines to D.C. neighborhood to boost literacy
JetBlue and Random House have partnered to place book vending machines in three neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., in an effort to boost literacy. Through its Soar With Reading initiative, JetBlue has already donated more than $1.25 million worth of books since 2010, but this is the first time the company has deployed the vending machines.
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Germanwings Crash Families Call For Apology
The families of 18 school children and teachers killed in the Germanwings crash have called for an apology from Lufthansa, saying their children might still be alive if the airline's doctors had paid more attention to the pilot's health. The children and their teachers were returning to Germany from an exchange trip in Spain when the Barcelona-Düsseldorf flight was deliberately brought down by the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, on March 24.
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Avolon Delivers a Boeing 737-800 to Hainan Airlines
Avolon, the international aircraft leasing company, announces the delivery of a Boeing 737-800 aircraft to Hainan Airlines. Today’s delivery is Avolon’s second aircraft on lease to Hainan Airlines.
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Lufthansa Flight Has Near-Miss With Drone
A Lufthansa plane with 108 passengers on board nearly collided with a drone as it approached Warsaw's main airport on Monday afternoon, the airline said. The drone came within 100 meters (330 feet) of the Embraer plane when the Munich to Warsaw flight was at a height of about 760 meters, the airline and the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) said.
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South Korean Carriers To Resume Suspended Flights
Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines, which cut back flight schedules after an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea, said they will resume normal operations in early August. South Korea's MERS outbreak was the largest outside Saudi Arabia, with 186 infections and 36 deaths, prompting thousands of tourists to cancel visits to the country. No new MERS cases have been reported since July 4.
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Southwest passengers enjoy magical pre-flight experience
Inclement weather turned delightful for a plane full of Southwest passengers, when magician Alan Drew stepped up to provide pre-flight entertainment. Drew is a long-time fan of the airline and often referenced it in his shows.
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Airlines utilize baggage technology to enhance the travel experience
U.S. carriers are utilizing baggage technologies to enhance the overall travel experience. "Passengers have expressed interest in having more control over their entire travel experience, and as such airlines are implementing baggage self-tagging, which enables passengers to either print their baggage tag from a kiosk at the airport, or in some cases at home even before arriving at the airport," said A4A spokeswoman Melanie Hinton.
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Airlines roll out beacon-enabled apps
Airlines are beginning to roll out beacon-enabled applications to enable passengers with greater connectivity. These beacons will be scattered throughout airports and will sync with passengers' smartphones to help guide them to their gate, update them with flight information, or provide access to duty-free shopping
LinkAirports
Fla. airport sees bump in June traffic
Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Meyers saw a 0.6% increase in passenger traffic in June. Year-to-date the airport has seen an increase of 4.4% in passenger traffic.
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Sea-Tac center runway is under reconstruction
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is getting a major revamp to its central runway. More than 300,000 square yards of existing runway is being torn up, ground down, and recycled into sub-base for a new runway plus taxiways and shoulders.
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Military
RAF to take early delivery of UK's second Rivet Joint
The Royal Air Force’s ability to conduct signals intelligence missions will receive a boost in September, when its second RC-135W Rivet Joint/Airseeker aircraft will be delivered. “The first Airseeker is currently employed on operations, alongside a variety of other RAF units, in the fight against ISIL in the skies over Iraq and Syria,” the Ministry of Defence says. The Boeing 707-based surveillance asset provides “support to combat identification and targeting operations”, it adds.
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US Navy shifting its most modern aircraft to the Pacific
The US Navy will extend its air arm in the Asia-Pacific region over the coming five years with the first deployment of the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton unmanned maritime patrol aircraft to Guam in 2017 and an increased presence of other newly developed flying assets like the Boeing P-8A Poseidon and Northrop MQ-8C Fire Scout. The increased emphasis on the Pacific theatre will also see the latest upgraded Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets deployed to the region, backed by Northrop E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes for airborne command and control and Boeing EA-18G Growlers for standoff electronic attack.
LinkSpace
SpaceX disaster 'looks like structural failure'
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets will be grounded until at least September, as the company continues to study the cause of its 29 June launch failure. Preliminary assessment of a vast quantity of telemetry data from that flight, which was carrying supplies to the International Space Station, indicate failure of a strut supporting a second-stage helium tank, which resulted in over-pressure and destruction of the stage. The helium is cooled to cryogenic temperature and used to maintain liquid oxygen tank pressure as that gas is depleted during burn.
LinkGeneral Aviation
Mooney plans M10 certification in 2017
Mooney plans to certificate the three-seat M10 piston single in 2017, releasing its first new aircraft to market since new Chinese owners revived the Texas manufacturer in 2014. The company first unveiled the diesel-powered M10T and the speedier M10J at the Zhuhai air show last year. Mooney last week completed a one-month series of wind-tunnel tests on a one-fifth scale model at Wichita State University, says chief executive Jerry Chen, adding the results were “satisfactory”.
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Piper slightly delays M600 certification
Piper will slightly delay receiving certification of the six-seat M600 from the US Federal Aviation Administration to the first quarter of 2016. An earlier plan to receive a type certificate by the end of the year would have omitted flight into known icing, but the new schedule allows the Florida-based manufacturer to begin deliveries with a fully capable M600 early next year, says Piper chief executive Simon Caldecott.
LinkAviation 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.Daily Video
Editor’s ChoiceTrivia
Airport Jumble
Unscramble and enter the ICAO code.
1. lsohpihc
2. trwhoaeh
3. anogl
4. dnnkeye
5. ciernssp lnaujai
6. zeiaez
7. ranait
8. jaarbsa
9. incuomfii
10. uloutose-balagcn
vikkyvik wrote:No good with ICAO codes, but....
), either way ????
