NewsCommercial
Ash-detection tested on Israeli enhanced-vision system
Israel’s Elbit Systems has carried out a ground trial of its enhanced-vision system modified to detect volcanic ash. The company’s ClearVision product is intended to provide warning of ash from a distance of 100km.
Link
Airbus lists initial weight variants for A330neo
Airbus documentation has detailed five initial weight variants for both the re-engined A330-900 and A330-800. The airframer has released details in airport compatibility and planning tables covering the Rolls-Royce Trent 7000-powered jets.
Link
Intelsat 33e satellite enters service
The Intelsat 33e satellite has successfully completed in-orbit testing and entered service on Jan. 29, providing enterprise-grade connectivity for aviation. Intelsat 33e is the second of seven EpicNG satellites, which will provide high-throughput C- and Ku-band aeronautical connectivity for Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
LinkAirlines
All BA Passengers To Fly Despite February 5-7 Strike
British Airways said that all passengers will be able to fly to their destinations on February 5, 6 and 7, despite a strike by its mixed fleet cabin crew. All London Gatwick and London City flights will operate as normal, plus all long-haul London Heathrow flights. Some Heathrow short-haul flights will be ‘merged’, with passengers affected by the cancellations contacted about switching to earlier or later flights.
Link
Delta, American swap gates at LAX in ramp-up to terminal upgrades
Delta Air Lines swapped four gates with American Airlines at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Jan. 31, the first visible element of Delta’s infrastructure upgrade at LAX. Atlanta-based Delta is moving temporarily to Terminal 6 (T6) gates 60-63; Dallas/Fort Worth-based American Airlines will acquire four gates in T5 as part of the swap. Delta, LAX operator Los Angeles World Airports and the city of Los Angeles co-announced in July 2016 a seven-year $1.9 billion infrastructure project to modernize, upgrade and connect LAX’s T2 and T3 terminals, and build a secure connector to the north side of the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT).
Link
JetBlue surprises NYC subway commuters with trip to Jamaica
JetBlue, in partnership with the Jamaica Tourist Board, surprised 15 New York subway commuters with trips to Montego Bay.
Link
LOT Polish Airlines to lease three Boeing 787-9s
LOT Polish Airlines will lease three Boeing 787-9s from US-based Aviation Capital Group to further develop its long-haul fleet. The Polish flag carrier will take delivery of the first aircraft in March 2018, which will be used on trunk routes from Warsaw to New York JFK and Chicago O’Hare. The 294-passenger 787-9s—LOT’s largest aircraft—will be configured for three classes, featuring 24 seats in business, 21 in premium and 249 in economy class. The new aircraft will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.
Link
Lufthansa, Pilots Pay Talks Fail
Talks between Lufthansa and pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit have ended without agreement. The talks, which were due to be completed by the end of January, have been led by mediator Gunter Pleuger, who will now submit a conciliation recommendation to the parties by February 10.
Link
Ryanair expands in Italy and Spain
This winter, Irish low-cost carrier (LCC) Ryanair will expand by 10% at Barcelona, 12% in Madrid and 54% at Milan Malpensa, as it continues an aggressive growth strategy. Detailing plans for winter 2017-18, Ryanair said it was adding six routes from Barcelona (two seasonal), 11 from Madrid (eight seasonal) and seven from Milan Malpensa, as well as additional frequencies.
Link
UPS 2016 profit falls 29%; cites pension charge and product shift
United Parcel Service (UPS) reported a 2016 net profit of $3.4 billion, down 29.2% from net income of $4.8 billion in 2015, on a 4.4% year-over-year rise in revenue to $60.9 billion. UPS noted that it recorded a non-cash after-tax mark-to-market pension charge of $1.7 billion in the 2016 fourth quarter, which significantly affected its net profit and largely drove the year-over-year earnings decline.
LinkAirports
$65 million upgrade planned for Buffalo, N.Y., airport
Construction will begin soon on a $65 million renovation at New York's Buffalo Niagara International Airport. The planned improvements will be completed in 2019 and include state of the art baggage carousels, as well as one more; and plans for walkways to be built.
Link
Airlines to use larger planes, more seats at Fla. airport for summer travel
Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport executive Richard McConnell said the airport could see a nearly 17% increase in available seats this summer as airlines upgrade to larger aircraft on flights to and from the facility. Starting in June, Southwest Airlines will add direct Saturday flights to Chicago and Austin, Texas.
Link
Pulkovo airport added 15 destinations in 2016
Russia’s Pulkovo International Airport added 15 new destinations in 2016, comprising six domestic and nine international routes. Croatia Airlines launched flights from Zagreb and Air Serbia began Belgrade-Saint Petersburg service. Yekaterinburg-based Ural Airlines started flights to Georgian capital Tbilisi, while Saint Petersburg-based Rossiya Airlines launched Rimini service.
Link
Military
MV-22 crash lands during SEAL raid in Yemen
A US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey crash landed during a 29 January raid on an alleged terrorist compound in Yemen this week, injuring three service members. One US Navy SEAL died of wounds sustained from a firefight at the compound, according to the office of the secretary of defense. Although the raid marks one of the first casualties under the Trump administration, the operation had been planned for months, OSD reports.
Link
India's LCA program keeps on fighting
India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) fighter program has had a long and checkered history. The process from first flight of a technology demonstrator to service entry, in July 2016, took 15 years. The “Tejas” received government approval in 2016 for another 83 airplanes specified to the Mk1A standard, adding to 40 earlier orders for the Mk1 version. But the program received a public rebuke recently, when the new chief admiral Sunil Lanba said the LCA Navy version does not meet requirements, and the service wants a new carrier-borne fighter by 2021-2022.
LinkRegulatory
Chao wins confirmation as US transportation secretary
The US Senate has overwhelmingly confirmed Elaine Chao to be the new US transportation secretary. By a 93-6 vote, the Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s choice to run the Department of Transportation (DOT). Chao, who was formerly the labor secretary in President George W. Bush’s administration from 2001-2009 and the deputy transportation secretary from 1989-1991, is expected to play a key role in Trump’s plan to invest in US infrastructure.
Link
Netherlands Ends US Pre-Clearance Talks
The Dutch government has ended talks with the United States over passenger pre-clearance at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. The decision was made after US President Trump signed an executive order putting a temporary halt to travel from seven Muslim countries.
Link
Aviation Quote
I belong to a group of men who fly alone. There is only one seat in the cockpit of a fighter airplane. There is no space alotted for another pilot to tune the radios in the weather or make the calls to air traffic control centers or to help with the emergency procedures or to call off the airspeed down final approach. There is no one else to break the solitude of a long cross-country flight. There is no one else to make decisions.
I do everything myself, from engine start to engine shutdown. In a war, I will face alone the missiles and the flak and the small-arms fire over the front lines.
If I die, I will die alone.
- Richard Bach, Stranger to the Ground, 1963.
Daily Video
Editor's Choice
Trivia
General Trivia
1. A British pilot holds the world record for having flown the most different types of aircraft, 487. He also holds the world record for having made the greatest number of carrier landings, 2,407. Unfortunately, not enough pilots know this remarkable pilot's name. What is it?
2. A pilot knows the maximum cruise speed and climb performance of his airplane when flown at maximum gross weight. He is curious to know, however , how this performance could be affected if the gross weight by 25 percent. How can her determine this during flight without actually overloading the airplane?
3. What is the largest, heaviest, most-powerful, piston-engined airplane ever produced?
4. A pilot over the 48 conterminous states flies along a parallel of latitude until he reaches his destination, which is 10degrees of longitude east of his departure point. If the time of sunset at the departure airport is 0020 UTC, what is the time of sunset at the destination airport?
5. True or False, each of two major US airlines have had well-publicized, major accidents involving the same type of airliner on the same day?
6. A most inspiring radio report was transmitted by a World War 2liaison pilot on 23 FEB 45. He transmitted matter-of-factly, "Target Area One Two Three Peter. One flag. Red, white and blue." Where was this target area?
