Jazeera Airways cancels orders for 25 A320s Kuwait's Jazeera Airways dealt a blow to Airbus last week, canceling 25 of the 40 A320s it ordered in 2007. Chairman Marwan Boodai said in a statement that the decision was driven by "the overcapacity we've seen in the market in 2009 and 2010, when we saw close to half the seats offered by our peers on the routes we operated were being flown empty." He added that the carrier "might revisit this decision in the future as Airbus introduces new A320 models to the market," likely a reference to the re-engined A320neo. Link
Austrian to implement additional cost-cutting initiatives Austrian Airlines said additional cost-cutting measures will be necessary owing to escalating expenses driven by the Japanese nuclear crisis, unrest in North Africa, rising fuel costs and stiff competition on many of its main routes. OS predicted that the various issues will add €30 million ($42.9 million) in costs to its 2011 ledger. Link
Air India presents restructuring plan to bankers, looks to cut $900 million in yearly costs Air India Chairman and MD Arvind Jadhav met with a consortium of Indian bankers on Friday to present a turnaround plan aimed at making the struggling carrier "operationally profitable by 2015." Link
NTSB: No actual smoke in United A320 incident US National Transportation Safety Board said the United Airlines Airbus A320 that exited a New Orleans runway when making an emergency landing on April 4 did not experience smoke in the cockpit but rather an apparently false automated smoke warning followed by system disruptions. Link
Airbus watching A380 schedule closely after quake Airbus is confident it will meet its delivery forecast of some 25 A380s this year despite the Japanese earthquake which has further complicated the juggling process aimed at ensuring enough Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines are available. Turbine parts for the Trent 900 for the A380 - as well as the Trent 700 and other aero engines - are produced at Japanese corporation IHI's Soma plant. Link
France starts recovery phase for crashed AF447 French investigators have confirmed they will launch a fifth phase in the search for flight AF447 after the discovery of wreckage from the Air France Airbus A330. The vessel Alucia, whose on-board team located the wreckage during the fourth phase of an extensive search effort, is to leave the mid-Atlantic crash site tomorrow and return to the Brazilian port of Suape. Link
Israel's Iron Dome system foils first rocket attack Israel's Rafael-produced Iron Dome mobile defense system has achieved its first live intercept against a short-range rocket launched from the Gaza Strip. The newly installed equipment destroyed a BM-21 Grad 122mm rocket launched in the direction of Ashqelon on 7 April, around three days after it had been deployed near the Israeli city. Link
UPS to fit vision system after fatal 747 fire Seven months after its fatal Boeing 747-400F fire, freight operator UPS is to fit a system to its fleet which enables pilots to see their cockpit instruments in the event of smoke. The Emergency Vision Assurance System essentially comprises an inflatable transparent bubble, pressurized with filtered cockpit air, which overlays the instrument panel and provides a smoke-free viewing window. Link
Other News
ITA Software said it “will begin work immediately” to close its acquisition by Google following US Dept. of Justice approval of the transaction on Friday. Google announced its intention to acquire ITA for $700 million in cash in July.
US-China open skies and antitrust immunized joint ventures between US and Chinese carriers cannot occur until Washington loosens its visa restrictions on Chinese citizens traveling to the US, Air China VP and GM North America Zhihang Chi said Thursday.
All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines will operate relief flights to Sendai Airport starting Wednesday, more than a month after the airport was inundated by water following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan's northeast. The badly damaged airport has been closed to commercial flights.
US FAA proposed a $350,000 civil penalty against Republic Airways Holdings subsidiary Lynx Aviation for allegedly operating a Q400 "when it was not in compliance with federal aviation regulations."
GOL reached a 39.8% domestic market share in February, slightly surpassing previous Brazilian market leader TAM for the first time since GOL launched in January 2001. TAM posted a 39.6% market share in February.
Turkish Airlines launched four-times-weekly Istanbul Ataturk-Valencia service, its third destination in Spain. It will begin thrice-weekly service to Malaga on April 27.
Emirates will launch daily Boeing 777-300ER Dubai-Rio de Janeiro-Buenos Aires service Jan. 3, 2012.
Ryanair will launch twice-weekly London Stansted-Corfu service in July.
American Eagle Airlines launched daily Miami-La Romana ERJ-145 service.
FlyNiki will operate weekly Vienna-Shannon service beginning May 28 until September.
AirBaltic will launch weekly Boeing 737 Riga-Bari service June 4.
AVIATION QUOTE
To be alone in the air at night is to be very much alone indeed. . . cut off from everything and everyone . . . nothing is 'familiar' any longer . . . . I think that unfamiliarity is the most difficult thing to face; one feels rather like Alice in Wonderland after she has nibbled the toadstool that made her grow smaller — and like Alice, one hopes that the process will stop while there is still something left!
— Pauline Gower
ON THIS DATE
April 11th
• In 1908... Delagrange flies 12,878 feet in six minutes, 30 seconds in his Voisin-Delagrange Nº 2 in Paris.
• In 1911... The U.S. Army sets up its first permanent flying school at College Park, Maryland.
• In 1934... Comdr. Renato Donati of the Italian Regia Aeronautica sets a new world altitude record by flying a much modified Caproni Ca. 113 biplane to a height of 47,352 ft. The same aircraft is also used by the Contessa Carina Negrone in 1935 to set a new altitude record for women of 39,402 ft.
DAILY VIDEO
EDITOR’S CHOICE
HUMOR
BA Captains In Heaven
A British Airways mechanic passes away...
Upon being met at the Pearly Gates, he is asked by St. Peter what is his most heartfelt desire. "To NEVER be around any BA captains!" was his emphatic response.
A few weeks later, while relaxing in the Angel's lounge who should walk in but a British Airways captain in all his regalia. Furious, the mechanic marches off to find St. Peter to complain.
St. Peter calms the man by saying, "There are no BA captains in Heaven. That was God... he just likes to pretend that he's one."
TRIVIA
General Trivia
1. The Wright brothers could have made their famous powered flight on December 13, 1903. Why did they not attempt to make history on that date?
2. Group Capt. Douglas Bader was a World War II fighter ace in England’s Royal Air Force. Why could he endure greater G loads than most other pilots?
3. How is it possible for a pilot to be an instrument flight instructor (CFII) and yet not have an instrument rating shown on his pilot certificate?
4. Peter Pitot passes Waypoint A while heading due south toward Waypoint B at a groundspeed of 150 knots. His friend, Wanda Wingnut, simultaneously passes Waypoint B while heading north toward Waypoint A at a groundspeed of 100 knots. If the waypoints are 1,200 nm apart, how many miles north of Waypoint B will the aircraft pass each other?
5. Michigan-based Aeroquip was founded in 1940 by Peter F. Hurst, who held patents for high-pressure aviation plumbing and made an immense contribution to the U.S. war effort. Why was he not allowed to enter his factory during World War II?
6. In June 1959, Max Conrad did what seemed impossible by flying alone and nonstop from _______ to _______ in a Piper Comanche 250.
7. How did Bell XP–59A test pilots at Edwards Air Force Base in 1942 attempt to conceal that they were flying the prototype of America’s first jet fighter?
8. From reader Dan Stroud: What did astronaut Dick Gordon do during a spacewalk that no other astronaut had done before or has done since?
9. The first B–17 Flying Fortress to complete a 25-mission tour with the 8th Air Force in England during World War II was a. Black Jack b. Hell’s Angels c. Liberty Belle d. Memphis Belle
10. The most difficult type of cockpit door to close in flight is one that is _______ and situated _______ the wing. a. curved, above b. curved, below c. flat, above d. flat,
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
ANSWERS: 1. December 13, 1903, was a Sunday, and the brothers would not fly on the Sabbath out of respect for their father, Bishop Wright.
2. Pilots black out when pulling high G loads because blood is forced from the upper body downward thus draining blood from the brain. Bader had no legs—he did have artificial legs—so that blood remained in his upper body when maneuvering. (Bader’s biography, Reach for the Sky, is inspirational.)
3. The pilot has an airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate, which means that he has an instrument rating even though not explicitly stated.
4. 480 nm (or 720 nm south of Waypoint A). To solve this problem, consider that each aircraft will spend the same time en route to the rendezvous point.
5. Hurst was a German national and considered a security risk. He was granted U.S. citizenship in 1945.
6. Casablanca, Morocco, to Los Angeles—in 58.6 hours.
7. They smoked cigars and wore gorilla masks and derby hats. It was hoped that other pilots would be reluctant to report seeing an airplane without a propeller being piloted in such an outrageous way. When parked, a dummy propeller was attached to the nose to conceal that the XP–59A was a jet.
8. He fell asleep and was awakened by a call from Mission Control.
9. (b) Hell’s Angels was first (by six days), but Memphis Belle became more famous because it was first to complete 25 missions and return to the United States.
10. (a) A curved door has “camber” and creates more outward-pulling “lift” than does a flat door; an over-wing door experiences more airspeed to generate an outward pull than one beneath a wing (everything else being equal).
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
