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Commercial

Air France-KLM CEO de Juniac to become IATA director general
Air France-KLM Group chairman and CEO Alexandre de Juniac is set to replace the retiring Tony Tyler as IATA’s DG and CEO after a unanimous recommendation by the IATA board of governors. The board’s recommendation will be up for confirmation at the IATA AGM in Dublin taking place June 1-3. Following an expected confirmation at the AGM, de Juniac “will take up duties as the head of the association after a short handover period,” IATA said in a statement.
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ATR lightens up with titanium seat option
ATR operators now have the option of saving up to 300kg over current -600 cabin layouts, by choosing a titanium seat. A buyer-furnished equipment (BFE) agreement deal signed today at Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg between the turboprop maker and French seat maker Expliseat will give ATR customers access to the new seats before year-end on aircraft produced by ATR.
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How premium economy fits on London-New York
The route between London and New York has been one of the busiest and most capacity-heavy international markets in the world. While there are other city pairs with a greater number of flights and seats, London-New York remains as important as ever. That is underlined by continued market development under which the big network carrier services from either side of the Atlantic have been supplemented by services across the spectrum. That ranges from British Airways' Airbus A318-operated all-premium New York JFK service from London City airport, to, more recently, the introduction of flights from London Gatwick to JFK by low-cost carrier Norwegian.
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Airlines

Aer Lingus eyes short-haul connectivity
Ireland flag carrier Aer Lingus is looking at connectivity for its short-haul fleet, after equipping its Airbus A330s with both Wi-Fi and mobile. “It is a project we are working on,” Aer Lingus director of marketing and guest experience Michelle Lee told ATW on the sidelines of the Passenger Experience Conference in Hamburg. “We are looking at the market to see what’s available and what the trends are.”
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Air Canada CEO: Short timeline for CSeries order
Air Canada plans to finalize its order for 45 Bombardier CSeries aircraft soon, according to CEO Calin Rovinescu. "We're looking at a fairly short timeframe, like in the next weeks," he said. "It's not going to be a long, drawn-out affair."
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Air France Allows Female Crew To Avoid Tehran Flights
Air France said it would allow female cabin crew and pilots to opt out of flying routes to Tehran after some staff said they did not want to be forced to cover their hair when in Iran. Air France is preparing to restart flights to Tehran from April 17 after an eight-year pause due to sanctions.
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Air Astana 767s get GX
Air Astana has signed an Aircraft Interiors Expo deal with Rockwell Collins to install Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) Ka-band satellite-based broadband connectivity service across its fleet of Boeing 767s. Installations will begin on the first of three 767s in September, with the other two set to follow in March and September 2017. Economy- and business-class passengers will be able to use their laptops, tablets and smartphones in flight to surf the Internet, check their email and use instant messaging applications.
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Five factors determining whether Alaska keeps Virgin America’s A320s
If a computer program designed a Boeing vs. Airbus test case, it likely couldn’t come up with a better scenario than the proposed Alaska Airlines-Virgin America merger. Both airlines (excepting Alaska regional affiliate Horizon Air’s fleet) are all-narrowbody aircraft operators with North America-only networks and both have signed up for next-generation, re-engined narrowbodies. These two airlines’ management teams, faced with very similar aircraft needs, have made opposite choices: Seattle-based Alaska operates all Boeing 737s and San Francisco-based Virgin America operates all Airbus A320 family aircraft. Alaska has 37 737 MAX aircraft on order and Virgin America has 40 A320neo family aircraft on order.
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American Airlines employee to receive national award
The Manufacturing Institute will award Tulsa, Okla., resident Stacey Brown with its 2016 STEP Ahead Award. Brown, a senior manager at a maintenance base for American Airlines, will fly to Washington, D.C., to receive the national award for women in science, technology, engineering and production.
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Batik Air 737 hits TransNusa ATR on takeoff at Jakarta
An Indonesian Batik Air Boeing 737-800 on takeoff run at Jakarta’s Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport collided with an empty TransNusa Air Services ATR 42-600 on April 3, causing severe damage and fires on both aircraft. The Batik Air aircraft, registration PK-LBS, was taking off en route for Ujung Padang, carrying 49 passengers and seven crew. The TransNusa ATR, registration PK-TNJ, was on apron movement being towed by an airside tractor.
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JetBlue Mint could be destined for trans-Atlantic
Blogger Shannon McMahon suggests that JetBlue Airways could be preparing for trans-Atlantic flights with the debut of its Mint premium service. "Mint seats would certainly suit long-haul journeys to Europe and beyond," McMahon writes. "The premium-class seats are the longest fully lie-flat seat currently available in the U.S. domestic market."
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Lufthansa To Restart Some Brussels Flights
Lufthansa will restart some flights to Brussels airport this week, after the airport's partial reopening on Sunday following the suicide bomb attack that badly damaged its departure hall and killed 16 people last month. Lufthansa said two flights each from Frankfurt and Munich would operate on Tuesday, increasing to four departures from each of its hubs on Wednesday and Thursday.
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Southwest celebrates spring with DIY class
Southwest Porch in New York City is sponsoring a free class on how to create flower crowns on Wednesday. "Decorated with beautiful blooms, these headdresses are a great accessory for spring," writes Alyssa Eliasen on the Southwest blog.
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Virgin America key to Alaska's California ambitions
Alaska Air Group sees its planned acquisition of Virgin America as a means to gain a substantial foothold in California and to acquire valuable gates and slots at several of the nation’s most constrained airports. The deal will also enable Alaska, whose network is largely constrained to the Pacific Northwest, to expand eastward and begin flying highly-competitive transcontinental routes.
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Airports

Flights resume at Brussels Airport
Air traffic at Brussels Airport is increasing gradually, two weeks after suicide bombers blew themselves up in its departure hall, killing 16 people and injuring dozens. Passengers and their luggage are now being processed through new check-in procedures, before entering the airport, in temporary structures.
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Military

Kuwait places order for 28 Typhoons
Kuwait has confirmed its order for 28 Tranche 3 Eurofighter Typhoons, making the Middle Eastern nation the eighth customer for the type. The governments of Italy and Kuwait on 5 April finalised the contract, which will see the aircraft assembled at the Turin facility of Eurofighter partner company Finmeccanica, the commercial lead for the consortium on the deal.
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Pakistan orders nine more Bell AH-1Z gunships
Bell Helicopter has been put on contract to build nine more AH-1Z Viper gunship helicopters for Pakistan, as part of a larger foreign military sales package for up to 15 helicopters and 1,000 Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire-series missiles that was approved last April. Islamabad ordered its first batch of armed, twin-engine “Zulu Cobras” under that deal in August, as part of a larger US Marine Corps order for 19 AH-1Zs. It furnished an undisclosed number of AH-1Zs powered by GE Aviation T700-401C powerplants for $58 million, likely three.
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Aviation Quote

Between the amateur and the professional . . . there is a difference not only in degree but in kind. The skillful man is, within the function of his skill, a different psychological organization. . . . A tennis player or a watchmaker or an airplane pilot is an automatism but he is also criticism and wisdom.

— Bernard De Voto

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Trivia

[b] TRIVIA

1. What popular and well-known US general aviation airport has fewer original residents in the community after which the airport is named than can be carried aboard many of the airplanes that land there?

2. WW1 fighter airplanes had open cockpits. What are three reasons that pilots of those airplanes didn’t want glass canopies even though the technology to make them was available?

3. In weather reports, what is the difference between SKC and CLR?

4. What was the fastest (in level flight), operational American fighter of World War II?

5. What is the only U.S. military turbofan airplane that may be flown using all of its thrust reversers in flight?

6. The landing gear of the space shuttle is not extended until immediately before touchdown. What means are used to ensure that the gear extends in time?