NewsCommercial
BOC Aviation orders more 737 Max jets
Asian lessor BOC Aviation has ordered 13 Boeing 737 Max 8 re-engined jets. The leasing firm has confirmed the agreement but has given few other details.
LinkAirlines
All Gulf majors & Turkish affected by new US electronics carry-on ban
Etihad Airways, Emirates Airline, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines are among the carriers affected by a US government emergency order that bans passengers from keeping their personal electronic devices in their carry-on bags on flights to the US. The directive was prompted in part by a suicide bomber’s attack last year onboard a Somali airline that now operates just one aircraft.
Link
UK follows US electronic device ban but exempts UAE & Qatar
The UK government has banned large personal devices in the cabin on flights from six Middle East and North African countries, under restrictions that apply to all operators on those routes. The move, which affects inbound flights from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey, follows a similar sudden move by US authorities in the early hours of March 21.
Link
Air Madagascar selects Air Austral as preferred bidder
Reunion-based Air Austral has been selected as Air Madagascar’s preferred strategic partner over a rival short-listed bid from Star Alliance carrier Ethiopian Airlines. In an announcement issued March 15, Air Madagascar said its consultants had presented their final recommendations to the board after holding parallel negotiations with Air Austral and Ethiopian Airlines since February.
Link
American, Southwest, United lead by example on profit sharing
American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines have all recently provided generous profit-sharing payments to employees. Southwest has paid profit sharing for 43 consecutive years and its latest payout boosted employee wages by an average of 13%.
Link
American Airlines announces 26 new destinations
American will launch 26 new destinations this year from six of its hubs: Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas/Fort Worth and Phoenix.
Link
Condor, Alaska Airlines enter mileage partnership
Alaska Airlines announces its new global mileage plan partnership with Condor Airlines, on Monday. This partnership allows Alaska frequent flier members the ability to travel nonstop and accrual mileage to Europe, starting today. Previously, Alaska Airlines and Condor Airlines had an “interline agreement,” which allowed the two airlines to connect passengers between carriers, from Europe and North America. However, their earlier agreement excluded the new mileage partnership.
Link
Malindo Air named as 737 Max launch operator
Malaysian carrier Malindo Air will be the first carrier to put the Boeing 737 Max 8 into commercial service. The launch operator status was announced at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition, with the re-engined jet to first start on the Kuala Lumpur-Sinagpore route during the second quarter, and later to Bangkok Don Mueang and Guangzhou.
Link
NokScoot eyes North Asia for future expansion
NokScoot has identified North Asia as the next region it plans to grow into, but this will depend on the lifting of restrictions placed after ICAO issued a significant safety concern (SSC) on Thailand in 2015. Speaking to FlightGlobal at Routes Asia in Okinawa, NokScoot’s head of commercial Ng Ai-Ling says plans are underway to launch up to six charter flights to Tokyo Narita by 31 March.
Link
Missing Rex Saab 340 propeller located
Police have located the propeller that detached from the right-hand engine of a Regional Express Saab 340 that was enroute to Sydney on 17 March. The New South Wales Police says that one of its Air Wing helicopters spotted the propeller in bushland near Revesby, south-west of Sydney.
Link
Thai Airways reverses losses, posts $1.3 million 2016 net profit
Thai Airways International posted a net profit of THB46.8 million ($1.3 million) for 2016, a turnaround from the airline’s THB13 billion net loss in 2015. The airline began a self-described transformation in early 2015 to “stop [the] bleeding” and in 2016 instituted the second phase of its transformation plan concentrating on “proactive revenue boost, effective cost reduction, capability enhancement and service excellence provision,” according to Thai’s 2016 operational analysis.
Link
United sticks to plan on Cuba service
Now that all the hype about the return of scheduled commercial airline service between Cuba and the United States has subsided, United Airlines is proving to have been perhaps the smartest of all the U.S. carriers who applied to serve the island nation.
LinkAirports
Memphis, Tenn., embraces Southwest Airlines
The Memphis, Tenn., market has embraced Southwest since the carrier's arrival there in 2013. "Our product differentiators are hopefully what will set us apart, and that includes our people, as well as our no bag fees and no change fees," said Southwest's Dan Landson.
Link
Ten airports' flights affected by new US electronics restriction
US regulators have identified 10 airports which will be subjected to new security measures regarding commercial flights to the USA. The security measures will require all personal electronic devices larger than a mobile phone to be placed in checked baggage, and not carried into the cabin of aircraft.
Link
Finland Airport Dispute Settled
Finnish aviation services company Airpro and the union representing ground service workers have agreed a deal to settle their pay dispute. Finland’s National Conciliator Minna Helle chaired talks over the weekend and into Monday to resolve the dispute over pay and conditions between the the IAU Finnish Aviation Union and Airpro.
Link
Military
Russia developing unmanned Forpost-M
Russia is to develop a new unmanned air vehicle based on the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Searcher 2 that was built under licence by a local company. Dubbed Forpost-M, the design will carry some Russian-developed payloads and datalinks. Russian sources say that some local companies have already received work orders to supply the required systems, and indicate that the United Instrument Making Corporation Rostek will be the lead contractor.
Link
Leonardo fears US domestic politics will scupper T-X bid
As the battle for the US Air Force’s T-X trainer programme heats up, Italy’s Leonardo fears that its T-100 will be overlooked due to political considerations. The T-100 – a variant of the Aermacchi M-346 – faces opposition from a combined Boeing/Saab team, which is offering a clean-sheet design, and the Lockheed Martin/Korea Aerospace Industries T-50.
Link
MPA version of ATR 72-600 makes public debut
Leonardo's ATR 72MP is making its public debut at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) exhibition. A maritime patrol example operated by the Italian air force is appearing on static display at the show, receiving VIP visitors including Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Rome has received its first two from an eventual four examples of the ATR 72MP, which it designates the P-72A, and the type is on the verge of attaining initial operational capability status.
Link
Aviation Quote
The thing is, helicopters are different from planes. An airplane by it's nature wants to fly, and if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or by a deliberately incompetent pilot, it will fly. A helicopter does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a variety of forces and controls working in opposition to each other, and if there is any disturbance in this delicate balance the helicopter stops flying; immediately and disastrously. There is no such thing as a gliding helicopter.
This is why being a helicopter pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot, and why in generality, airplane pilots are open, clear-eyed, buoyant extroverts and helicopter pilots are brooding introspective anticipators of trouble. They know if something bad has not happened it is about to.
- Harry Reasoner, 1971.
Daily Video
Editor's Choice
Trivia
General Trivia
1. What is a deceleron?
2.When air traffic control advises pilots of other traffic, many pilots advise the controller that the traffic is not in sight using the colloquial and unofficial phrase "no joy." From where does this expression originate?
3. The Waco CG-4A glider was used during World War II (especially during the Normandy invasion) as a cargo and troop carrier. Why was it referred to as a "flying coffin"?
4. Almost all general aviation piston engines have a wet sump, a built-in oil reservoir, instead of an external or separate oil tank. How can you determine by looking at the oil dipstick of a wet-sump engine the minimum oil quantity with which the engine can be operated safely?
5. True or False, James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle was the first solo pilot to perform a blind takeoff and landing using only cockpit instruments and radio aids.
6. True or False, Two Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses took off from Hilo, Hawaii, on August 6, 1946, without anyone on board. Both landed safely at Muroc Dry Lake, California.
