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Spirit Q1 finances hammered by Max grounding and pandemic
Spirit AeroSystems posted a $163 million first-quarter loss and warned of an uncertain future as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing Boeing 737 Max grounding hit hard.
The first-quarter loss compares to a profit of $163 million in the same period last year.
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Germany’s Airbus suppliers ‘face ruin’, warns trade association
The head of Germany’s BDLI aerospace trade body is warning that many of the country’s smaller suppliers could go out of business unless Airbus can maintain at least half its pre-crisis output over the next two years.
Germany’s sector has thrived on the back of Airbus’s commercial growth, with around a third of its production in the country, but Volker Thum, managing director of BDLI, says that is now threatened by the coronavirus outbreak.
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Gulfstream Reports Layoffs, LAS Service Center Closure
Despite cost-cutting measures intended to blunt challenges stemming from the pandemic, Gulfstream Aerospace said today it will have to take stronger actions, including layoffs and the closure of its Las Vegas service center.
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De Havilland Canada Begins Phased Return to Work
Workers at De Havilland Canada began returning to work on Monday after the company reopened its Dash 8-400 plant in Toronto. The first phase of the resumption of operations saw 100 employees return to work, concentrating on pre-flight activities and deliveries.
LinkAirlines
GOL Reports That April Passenger Numbers Haven’t Fallen
Today, Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes shared that its aircraft were almost as full last month as they were a year ago. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak rocking the aviation industry, the Brazilian outfit’s planes were 80 percent occupied on average during April, compared with 81 percent in the same month last year.
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Qatar Airways to make ‘substantial’ job cuts
Qatar Airways is to axe a “substantial number” of jobs as the global aviation industry faces a “grim” global outlook with no foreseeable improvement, the airline’s chief executive has told employees.
In a 4 May letter to cabin crew, Akbar Al Baker writes: “The truth is, we simply cannot sustain the current staff numbers and will need to make a substantial number of jobs redundant – inclusive of cabin crew.”
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Lufthansa aims for autumn restart ‘at the earliest’
Lufthansa Group will remain grounded throughout the summer and does not expect a new market “balance” to be found until 2023, chief executive Carsten Spohr will tell the company’s annual general meeting on 5 May, in a speech pre-released on its website.
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Argentina Merges Aerolineas & Austral Into One Airline
This week, the Argentinian government announced the fusion of State carriers Aerolíneas Argentinas and Austral. Previously, both airlines belonged to the same group, and their fusion could be a done deal by the end of the year. But not everybody is happy. Let’s investigate further.
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South African Airways May Not Be Liquidated After All
South Africa’s government does not want South African Airways (SAA) to be liquidated. The state-owned carrier has been heading towards a collapse amid the global health crisis. However, today’s news means that there could be a twist of fate for the airline.
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Southwest Urges TSA To Check Passengers Temperatures
Southwest Airlines has expressed its views today that passengers should be subject to a temperature check before boarding aircraft. But it wants the TSA to introduce this as a requirement, something it is not yet ready to do.
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Air Canada To Enforce Temperature Checks From All Passengers
Air Canada will become the first airline in the Americas to require passengers to undertake temperature checks. From May 15th, all passengers will have an infra-red test before they can board a flight. This comes as part of wider changes being introduced to keep passengers and crew safe, as all airlines look at ways to increase flying safely.
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Montenegro Airlines Doesn’t Expect To Fly Before June
Montenegro Airlines has extended its planned flight suspension until 15th May, but it does not expect to start commercial operations again until June. The Montenegrin flag carrier said it is on a mission to bring as many tourists to Montenegro this year as possible.
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American Airlines CEO Defends United Airlines Workers
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker has publicly denounced United Airlines for flouting the conditions set down by the US government for airlines to receive financial aid from the CARES package. United is due to receive a $5 billion loan from the government. However, it was expected that airlines would use the money to guarantee staff salaries and benefits.
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Turkish Airlines Eyes Gradual Flight Resumption From June
Turkish Airlines is planning to bring its commercial traffic back to the skies, as the airline has drafted a flight plan for the coming three months. It will begin with a 60% capacity to domestic destinations and international flights to 22 destinations in 19 countries in June.
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Ethiopian Airlines May Rescue And Create New Airlines All Over Africa
Africa’s largest carrier Ethiopian Airlines has publicly stated it is ready to rescue other struggling airlines and to restart talks on the revival of South African Airways. CEO Tewolde GebreMariam wants to rescue Air Mauritius, even while Ethiopian tackles its own struggles as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
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Qatar Airways Aims To Resume Flights To 52 Destinations By Start Of June
Qatar Airways today revealed its plans to resume flights in a phased approach following the aviation industry’s biggest-ever slump. The staged reintroduction will see up to 52 destinations resumed by the end of May.
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Chilling Images: Singapore Airlines’ A380s Stored In The Desert
An Alice Springs photographer has captured images of parked jets at the Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage facility in Alice Springs, Australia. The global airline crisis has proved a boon for the desert facility. In a matter of months, it has seen the planes parked there increase from eight to 24, with more expected to arrive soon.
LinkAirports
Heathrow to trial technologies that reduce COVID-19 transmission
Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye, has informed the House of Commons Transport Committee that the airport is to trial technologies and processes which could form the basis of a Common International Standard for health screening at airports.
LinkMilitary
Bronco II light attack aircraft returns with Leidos bid for US Special Ops Armed Overwatch
Leidos is leading a team that is putting forward the Bronco II light attack aircraft as an option for the US Special Operations Command’s (SOCOM’s) Armed Overwatch programme.
The company is to serve as the aircraft’s prime contractor, it says on 4 May. The US subsidiary of South Africa’s Paramount Group, which designed the Bronco II aircraft, as well as MRO and training provider Vertex Aerospace, will serve as subcontractors on the team.
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M-346FA Gets Rafael's Advanced Targeting, Recon Systems
Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has announced that its Litening-5 and RecceLite podded systems are to equip the Leonardo M-346FA light fighter/attack aircraft in the first integration of fifth-generation podded electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) systems to the aircraft. Guy Oren, v-p and head of the company's electro-optical systems directorate, remarked that “This new cooperation with Leonardo opens new markets to integrate our advanced systems to additional light, cost-effective platforms, based on our vast experience and integration legacy in all domains.”
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Aviation Quote
The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be? —it is the same the angels breathe.
- Mark Twain, Roughing It, Chapter XXII, 1886.
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Trivia
General Trivia
1. “I apparently was the first to pilot a heavier-than-air aircraft in controlled flight. I also was first to use the term, ‘aero plane,’ and even wrote a small book with that title. I died following a crash in an aircraft of my design, and my last words were, ‘How is the machine?’ Who am I?”
2. True or False? A pilot is about to land an airplane with the right landing-gear leg and nosewheel extended but with the left landing-gear leg stuck in its well. The ailerons are equipped with conventional trim tabs that are controllable from the cockpit. During landing and rollout, the right aileron tab should be deflected fully downward.
3. Why did some airmen training at Midland, Texas, during World War II have a higher incidence of black eyes than airmen training elsewhere?
4. How can you tell the difference between a U.S. Naval aviator and a traditional Naval officer who does not fly simply by looking at their feet?
5. A pilot wants to fly a perfectly rectangular pattern while in the left traffic pattern for Runway 36 when the wind is strong and from the northeast. This requires that the radius of all turns be the same with respect to the ground. Assuming a constant airspeed throughout the pattern, the most steeply banked turn will be required when turning from
a. base to final.
b. crosswind to downwind.
c. downwind to base.
d. upwind to crosswind.
6. True or False: Most of the American aircraft that took off from Oahu during the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor were shot down.
7. True or False: It is legal for a VFR-only pilot to fly extended distances in a small airplane above a solid undercast with no more than the instruments required for VFR flight.
8. Who was the first woman in the United States to become a licensed glider pilot?
