You are at netAirspace : Forum : Air and Space Forums : netAirspace Daily News

News

LATAM brings in leased 747-400 as grounded 787 engines are inspected
Santiago-based LATAM has added a fifth leased aircraft—a Boeing 747-400—to fill in for grounded 787s as they are taken out of service for newly mandated Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 inspections.
Link

SIA subsidiaries Scoot, SilkAir boost group operations
Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) subsidiaries Scoot and SilkAir are helping to increase the group’s overall operational performance as the carriers enjoy surging passenger demand. LCC unit Scoot is growing at a rapid pace, but traffic gains are more than matching its expansion. The subsidiary achieved traffic growth of 20.9% in March, with capacity increasing 10.8%. This caused load factor to rise 7.5 points to 89.2%. SIA said Scoot’s load factor was up in all regions it serves.
Link

Austrian Airlines unveils new livery
Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines will reveal a new branding May 15 when it rolls out its sixth Boeing 777-200ER in recognition of the carrier’s 60th anniversary. Austrian began operations on March 31, 1958. The first 777 to feature the new livery is currently in Hong Kong, where it is being modified and adapted to Austrian standards; it should arrive in Vienna in May. The former Aeromexico aircraft is on lease from Irish lessor AerCap.
Link

Air France-KLM CEO consults with staff to end strikes
Air France-KLM CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac launched a new consultation with Air France staff, putting his own job on the line in a bid to put an end to an “impasse” of ongoing strikes and pay disputes at the French airline, which it says has cost an estimated €220 million ($270 million) to date. Air France workers have been holding a series of walkouts in recent weeks over pay, with unions arguing that salaries have been frozen since 2011 and pay offers should reflect missed inflation over that time.
Link

IAG-Norwegian deal raises competition concerns for Barcelona El Prat
The Catalan Competition Authority (ACCO) said the International Airlines Group’s (IAG) possible purchase of Norwegian Air Shuttle would have to be analyzed in depth because it could involve risks for competition at Barcelona’s El Prat Airport. IAG revealed April 12 it had acquired a 4.61% stake in the low-cost, long-haul carrier, a step it said could eventually lead to an offer for a full takeover.
Link

Drukair orders one A320neo
Bhutan's Drukair has signed a purchase agreement for a single Airbus A320neo. The aircraft will be powered by CFM International CFM Leap-1A26E1 engines, which Airbus says will be optimised for the high altitude operations of the airline from its Paro base.
Link

Garuda shareholders clear way for $750m bond issuance
Garuda Indonesia's shareholders have approved a planned a $750 million global bond issuance. The approval was granted during its 19 April during a joint annual and extraordinary general meeting, which was required as the issuance represents nearly 80% of its equity.
Link

Boeing delivers first 737-800BCF to West Atlantic
Boeing has delivered the first 737-800BCF, within three years of the program's launch. The converted freighter was handed over to programme partner GECAS on 19 April at a dedicated ceremony at East Midlands airport in the UK.
Link

United plans premium economy launch in 2019
United Airlines plans to launch its new premium economy class in early 2019, as it dribbles out details on the new product. Sales of Premium Plus, the Chicago-based carrier's name for the product, will begin in the fourth quarter or in early 2019, for a first quarter 2019 launch, said Andrew Nocella, chief commercial officer of United, during an earnings call on 18 April.
Link

State Department clears $1.2 billion sale of Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawks to Mexico
The US State Department cleared the possible sale of eight Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopters to Mexico for $1.2 billion on 19 April. The order also includes spare engines, radios and navigation equipment. Weapons and targeting equipment also included in the possible purchase are 1,000 SSQ-36/53/62 sonobuoys; 10 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles; 38 Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System II rockets; 30 Mk-54 lightweight hybrid torpedoes; 12 M-240D machine guns; and 12 GAU-21 machine guns.
Link

USAF eyes more orders as B-21 finishes preliminary design review
Northrop Grumman has finished preliminary design review of the B-21 Raider stealth bomber. The heavy bomber is now moving towards a critical design review, says Lt Gen Arnold Bunch, the air force's military deputy for acquisition during an 18 April Senate Armed Services hearing. Critical design review is the next step before assembly of the first aircraft can begin.
Link

Aviation Quote

Mountains should be abolished. At least that'd stop all those aeroplanes bumping into every other peak . . . It's just happened . . . in Nepal . . . Kathmandu . . . I was reading the story in the paper. Here . . . look."

- Hergé, in The Adventures of Tin Tin in Tibet, 1960.

On This Day

Click Here

Daily Video

Editor's Choice

Trivia

General Knowledge

1. When a US Army Air Corps pilot earned their wings in WW2, the center of the wings contained a shield. Some wings contained a star(Command or Senior pilot), a "G"(a Glider pilot), or an "L"(a Liaison pilot). What pilot wings contained a diamond?

2. True or False, a tandem airplane has two seats, one behind the other.

3. In 1943, the RAF's 617 Squadron flew Avro Lancaster bombers exactly 60 feet over three reservoirs at night before dropping "bouncing bombs" to destroy three German dams that were protected by torpedo nets. Altimeters were not sufficiently accurate, and there were no radio altimeters at that time. How did these pilots, "The Dam Busters" level off and maintain the required sixty foot height?

4. Estimate within ten knots the highest surface winds ever recorded anywhere (and not associated with a hurricane or tornado).

5. What biplane was produced in the greatest numbers?

6. Class A airspace begins at Flight Level 180. Flight into that airspace requires that a pilot have an instrument rating, that the airplane be IFR equipped and first receive an appropriate ATC clearance. How may a VFR-only pilot fly at FL240 without meeting any of these requirements and without special permission?