NAS Daily 23 MAR 11

miamiair (netAirspace FAA) 23 Mar 11, 08:51

NEWS

JetBlue chief says oil prices are manageable this time around
Even with oil prices above $100 a barrel, the airline industry is "much more smart and disciplined to deal with this rising cost of energy," according to JetBlue CEO David Barger. "I think we're very well positioned to really tackle oil at this price or higher," Barger said of his company, thanks to "a strong balance sheet, a hedging program and a young fleet." Barger said airlines have been "rational" with capacity increases, while noting that "consumers are also sharing in the cost of higher oil at the pumps."
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American defends direct connect strategy at industry conference
Supporters and critics debated American Airlines' "direct connect" strategy at a recent conference, with both sides agreeing that change will not come easily. Bill Brindle, a corporate travel specialist, argued that direct connect "takes us back to square one again, back to reinventing GDSs once more." The system will also be difficult to scale globally, he said. But Cory Garner, American's director of distribution strategy, noted that the technology has been in use for at least five years, and that many online travel agencies have already embraced it. "[T]here are people out there who are happy with the status quo, but it is prohibitively expensive for the airlines," he noted.
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Program tracks travelers by using their WiFi signals
In the next few weeks, Copenhagen International Airport will start using a program capable of tracking travelers' movements based on their Wi-Fi-emitting devices. They will use the information to direct passenger flow and improve the airport's design, among other things. Meanwhile, technology company SITA, which designed the program, hopes that it is eventually used by other airports. "All airports are struggling with the same question -- how to get the passenger to the boarding gate while having a pleasant journey," said Dave Bakker, senior vice president for SITA Global Services.
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Delta lowers capacity, including short-term 15%-20% Japan cut
Delta Air Lines said Tuesday it is cutting Japan capacity by 15%-20% through at least May, including immediately dropping flights from Detroit and Los Angeles to Tokyo Haneda. The carrier's second-half 2011 system capacity will be down 2% compared to the year-ago period as it lowers capacity "four [percentage] points from where we are today" through the remainder of 2011, President Ed Bastian said.
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EU slot coordinators to show ‘flexibility’ in applying ‘use it or lose it’ rules
The European Airport Coordinators Assn. on Tuesday said its member slot coordinators view the recent disruption to air services to Japan and the Middle East/North Africa region “sympathetically” and vowed to show “flexibility” in applying the “use it or lose it” rules in light of the flight disruptions to those parts of the world.
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Southwest CEO: 'Anxious' for narrowbody replacement solution
Southwest Airlines is "anxious to have some answers this year" regarding a narrowbody replacement, Chairman, President and CEO Gary Kelly said Tuesday at the JP Morgan Aviation, Transportation and Defense Conference in New York, available via webcast.
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Kayak to become transactional site in deal with Travelocity Partner Network
Kayak, the travel meta search company, is moving closer to becoming an online travel agency through a new deal with Travelocity. Under the agreement, Travelocity Partner Network will power Kayak's new hotel booking engine. The deal will for the first time enable bookings on the Kayak site, which previously referred all transactional activity to is partner supplier sites.
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GEnx-1B ETOPS certification on schedule despite turbine cracks
General Electric has passed 2,000 cycles on its GEnx-1B extended operations (ETOPS) certification for Boeing's 787 and remains on track for completion in April, despite losing more than a month of testing after micro-cracks were discovered in one of the engine's high pressure (HP) turbine blades. The cracks were discovered in January during a scheduled boroscope inspection as the engine passed 1,500 of its 3,000 ETOPS cycle testing.
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747-8 Intercontinental moves into flight test
With its 747-8 Intercontinental first flight complete, Boeing has now begun the just-over 600 flight hour process of certifying the new 467-passenger jet, the largest in the company's history.
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GA is focus of FAA safety blitz
A persistently high fatal accident rate for general aviation has spurred the US Federal Aviation Administration to take outreach action on certain segments of the sector. During the month of April, the agency plans to hold nearly 100 safety stand-down events across the US to get pilots to focus on professionalism, pre-flight actions, avoiding instrument conditions in cruise flight and avoiding stalls due to airspeed mismanagement.
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An-225 recruited for tsunami relief effort
Ukraine's giant Antonov An-225 transport has joined the earthquake and tsunami relief effort in Japan after being chartered to ship supplies and medical equipment to the stricken area. Charter broker Air Partner's office in Paris enlisted the six-engined freighter - the world's largest operational aircraft - to carry aid from the French city of Chateauroux to Tokyo Narita.
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Other News

Boeing and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne announced the creation of the Sustainable Biomass Consortium, a “research initiative focused on increasing collaboration between voluntary standards and regulatory requirements for biomass used to create jet fuel and bioenergy for other sectors.” The consortium also will “seek to lower overall sustainability certification costs,” Boeing said.

United Continental Holdings said Tuesday that subsidiary Continental Airlines has signed a letter of intent with LiveTV to offer inflight Wi-Fi via Ka-band beginning next year. It plans to offer the service on more than 200 Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft operating domestically and equipped with DirecTV satellite-television. Passengers will have access to onboard connectivity and more than 95 channels of live television, UCH said.

Organizers of the 49th Paris Air Show, taking place June 20-26, said exhibition space for the biannual event has been sold out for five months and predicted this year's edition will have a modern feel with free high-speed Wi-Fi available and an area dedicated to alternative fuels.

Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority is revoking the operating license of Sun D'Or International Airlines as of April 1, owing to noncompliance with international aviation standards. Tel Aviv-based Sun d’Or is a wholly subsidiary of El Al Israel Airlines and operates to mainly holiday destinations in Europe using three Boeing 757-200s. It was established in 1977as El Al Charter Services and rebranded as Sun D'Or in 1981. “Sun D'Or is currently operating without a full administrative and operational framework as required of every other airline and is relying fully on the infrastructure of parent company El Al,” CAA said in a statement. It added that it had informed the airline over a year ago that it failed to meet aviation standards and that it tried to “repair the faults but the CAA remained unconvinced.” Apparently, the decision follows discussions with delegations from the European Commission, which expressed “reservations about the company's operations” and considered placing operating restrictions on its flights.

Ryanair has temporarily suspended operations at Trapani from March 21 “for an indefinite period and until at least March 28” as the airport is closed to all civilian air traffic owing to the ongoing military action in Libya. The LCC consequently switched its TPS operations to Palermo Airport, 35 mi. (56 km.) from Trapani. Ryanair operates to/from 42 domestic and European destinations from TPS.

Etihad Airways will launch daily Airbus A320 Abu Dhabi-Male service Nov. 1.

Qatar Airways announced it will transfer its Alexandria flights from El-Nozha to Borg El Arab for "operational reasons," effective March 27. It operates a daily service from Doha.

Porter Airlines will increase seasonal twice-weekly Toronto City-Mont Tremblant service to four-times-weekly June 16-Sept. 18.

EasyJet said it will end its routes to Helsinki Vantaa, citing a lack in demand. The British no-frills carrier made the statement on its Facebook page on Friday. Flights from Manchester to HEL will stop June 13, flights to/from London Gatwick June 22 and to/from Paris Charles de Gaulle July 7.

AVIATION QUOTE

Accuracy means something to me. It's vital to my sense of values. I've learned not to trust people who are inaccurate. Every aviator knows that if mechanics are inaccurate, aircraft crash. If pilots are inaccurate, they get lost—sometimes killed. In my profession life itself depends on accuracy.

— Charles A. Lindbergh, 'The Spirit of St. Louis,' 1953.

ON THIS DATE

March 23rd

• In 1903... The Wright brothers file a patent request for a powered flying machine based on the second (modified) version of their 1902 glider successfully tested at Kill Devil Hill.

• In 1908... French industrialist Lazare Weiller signs a contract with the Wrights establishing a Wright airplane company in France, on condition that the brothers make two demonstration flights covering 50 km (31.1 miles) within a hour’s flying time. They will receive FF500, 000 and half the founders’ share.

• In 1921... Lieutenant Arthur Hamilton sets a new world record when he jumps by parachute from 24,400 feet.

• In 1932... Flying a Bleriot 110, French aviators Lucien Bossoutrot and Maurice Rossi take off for a record closed-circuit distance of 6,587.442 miles at Oran, Algeria.

• In 1948... Test pilot Gp. Capt. John Cunningham sets a new Federal Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) ratified world altitude record of 18,118 m (59446 ft.) during tests with the third production D. H. 100 Vampire (serial no. TG278).

DAILY VIDEO

EDITOR’S CHOICE

HUMOR

Death Of An Engineer

An engineer dies and reports to the pearly gates. St. Peter checks his dossier and says, "Ah, you're an engineer -- you're in the wrong place."

So the engineer reports to the gates of hell and is let in. Pretty soon, the engineer gets dissatisfied with the level of comfort in hell, and starts designing and building improvements.

After a while, they've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and the engineer is a pretty popular guy.

One day God calls Satan up on the telephone and says with a sneer, "So..how's it going down there in hell?"

Satan replies, "Hey, things are going great. We've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and there's no telling what this engineer is going to come up with next."

God replies, "What???? You've got an engineer?? That's a mistake -- he should never have gotten down there; send him up here."

Satan says, "No way.? I like having an engineer on the staff, and I'm keeping him."

God says, "Send him back or I'll sue."

Satan laughs uproariously and answers, "Yeah right, and just where are you going to get a lawyer?"

TRIVIA

Aircraft ID

WW2 Luftwaffe

1.

10.

11.

12.

And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen

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