Arpey: Eagle spin-off would be good for regional, mainline An independent American Eagle could bid on regional flying for other airlines, boosting its own revenue while increasing "competitive feed" at American Airlines, according to AMR CEO Gerard Arpey. "The Readers' Digest version about why we might want to have a separate ownership is we want (American Eagle) and their employees to be able to have as much success in the market as they possibly can have," Arpey told a group of business journalists, explaining why the company is considering a sale or spin-off of its regional unit. Link
Column: American's unique approach to maintenance American Airlines is unique among U.S. carriers in handling the vast majority of its maintenance in-house, but that's a distinction that provides little competitive advantage, because no airline will question the safety of another airline. "So American is in a box," writes columnist Mitchell Schnurman. "It spends far more on maintenance and believes that the investment matters, but there's only so much that it dares say about it." Link
FedEx founder: US airlines still lead, but industry taken for granted FedEx founder Frederick Smith and Delta CEO Richard Anderson keynoted an aviation summit and commented that airlines and airports are hubs of economic activity and that the U.S. is still the leader in aviation. However, Smith added that aviation "has reached a point where it is a bit taken for granted." At a different conference panel, Anderson sparred with ACI-NA President Greg Principato over financial and control issues. Principato claimed that airlines want to limit competition and control airports. "Rents and landing fees have a tremendous effect on our cost structure. We're always looking to find the most efficient providers of high quality services," Anderson said. "Airports are monopolists. You can't decide to not go to that airport if you want to go to Hartford. They're municipal monopolies. We're always doing our best to keep rates and charges below inflation." Link
GPS industry worries about "jamming" from broadband network GPS makers are "seething" over the Federal Communications Commission's preliminary approval for a ground-based mobile broadband network that could interfere with GPS receivers. The plan envisions a network of 40,000 ground stations across the U.S., and one expert says each ground station would put out signals about 1 billion times more powerful than a GPS signal. According to one estimate, the stronger broadband signal could jam GPS receivers in an aircraft 12 miles in the air. Link
New generation of large jets may complicate airport logistics, safety A collision on the tarmac this week between an Airbus A380 and a smaller regional jet highlights the difficulties airports face in handling a new generation of super-sized airliners, according to some safety experts. The task of managing traffic on the ground at busy airports is "extremely complex, highly visual, and the workload can become almost superhuman," says Bill Voss of the Flight Safety Foundation, and it is complicated still further by superjumbos like the A380, which require special rules that can run for several dozen pages. In Monday's incident at New York's JFK, the left wing of an A380 clipped the tail of a commuter jet, spinning the smaller plane 90 degrees on the wet pavement. No injuries were reported, and federal officials are investigating the incident. Link
FAA, air traffic controllers at odds over naps The union representing air traffic controllers says "controlled napping" can enhance workers' alertness and improve safety, but the FAA disagrees and is worried that groggy controllers waking from a nap could put passengers in danger. The issue has become more pressing in light of recent cases of controllers sleeping on the job. Link
American sues Travelport, Orbitz for antitrust violations American Airlines charged Travelport with violations of federal antitrust laws in a new lawsuit filed against the GDS company and Orbitz in a US federal court in Fort Worth. American said Travelport exerts “monopoly power” over airlines because it effectively controls access to many of the end users of American’s products and services. Link
Air Canada hopes third time is charm with new LCC plan In what would be its third such effort, Air Canada plans to launch a separate low-cost carrier that could eventually comprise as many as 50 aircraft. A letter outlining the plan, obtained by The Globe and Mail and other Canadian newspapers, was sent this week by the airline to the Air Canada Pilots Assn. as part of ongoing labor negotiations. AC previously ventured into the low-fare airline-within-an-airline segment with Tango, which launched in November 2001, and Zip, a Western Canada-based carrier that started services in 2002 with the aim of competing directly against Calgary-based WestJet. Both efforts were abandoned, although AC ultimately turned Tango into a fare class on mainline flights, leading to AC's groundbreaking ala carte fare product that begat fare unbundling and ancillary products across the industry. Link
EC Transport VP seeks accommodation on US-EU aeropolitical divides Although the US and EU remain apart on several key aeropolitical issues such as foreign ownership, airport security and the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme, European Commission VP Transport Siim Kallas expressed optimism that the divide can and will be bridged. "The US and EU should not clash about [these] issues," he told media in Washington on Thursday. "They are 60% of world aviation and it would be very ridiculous and unfortunate and detrimental for our businesses on both sides." Link
FAA studying Boeing manufacturing techniques after Southwest 737 rupture US FAA officials are taking a close look at Boeing's manufacturing techniques after the fuselage of a Southwest Airlines 737-300 ruptured over Arizona on 1 April, prompting decompression and an emergency landing in Yuma. Speaking at the MRO Americas conference in Miami, FAA administrator Randy Babbitt said: "People have leaped to the conclusion that it was fatigue. The airplane didn't have that many cycles on it so we're looking at other things. The manufacturing techniques. Boeing is very interested too. This is not good for anybody's business." Link
Other News
A Japan Airlines 737-800 en route from Tokyo Haneda landed Wednesday at Sendai Airport around 8 a.m. local time, marking the resumption of commercial services at SDJ for the first time since it was inundated on March 11 by the earthquake-triggered tsunami.
Italy’s civil aviation administration ENAC last month revoked the Air Operator’s Certificate of ItAli Airlines, citing the carrier’s continuing critical financial situation. ItAli was the first Western carrier to place an order in 2007 for 10 firm Sukhoi Superjet 100s and a further 10 options. The order was taken off Sukhoi’s order book earlier this year. The Rome Ciampino-based airline operated five MD-80s, and its executive flight division Mustfly had one Cessna Citation and five Citation Mustangs.
Turkish airlines will need to add 480 aircraft valued at $50.5 billion over the next 18 years to accommodate projected increases in traffic demand, Airbus said. According to reports by Hürriyet Daily News and Agence France Press, Airbus VP-Europe, Asia and the Pacific Chris Buckley presented the manufacturer's forecast in Istanbul, where he noted that "Turkey's air traffic has grown fast and this will continue." He pointed out that Turkish domestic traffic has quadrupled in the last seven years.
Rockwell Collins was selected by Ethiopian Airlines to provide its second-generation dPAVES high-definition digital overhead audio/video IFE systems for 10 Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Mxi Technologies announced LAN Airlines completed enterprise-wide implementation of its Maintenix Software.
OnAir announced Air New Zealand has expanded its inflight connectivity service to an additional two aircraft. The service allows ANZ passengers to use mobile phones for onboard calls, text messaging, email and mobile data. Two aircraft currently offer the service on “selected domestic routes,” and the two additional aircraft will be deployed by the end of this year.
IFE Services was selected by Omni Air International to provide entertainment content for the inflight entertainment systems running on its fleet of Boeing 767s, 757s and DC-10s. Boeing 777s will be added later this year.
AVIATION QUOTE
I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit.
— General Chuck Yeager, 'Yeager, An Autobiography.'
ON THIS DATE
April 14th
• In 1900... The spectacular Paris International Exhibition opens. Clement Ader’s Avion III is one of the exhibits.
• In 1906... In Dayton, Ohio, the Wrights send letters to the German, Italian, Japanese and Russian ministers of war offering to sell their airplane.
• In 1926... France and Germany sign an air treaty in Paris; since 1923, the Germans had seized 15 airplanes of the French-based airline CFRNA (now CIDNA) which were forced to land on German soil.
DAILY VIDEO
EDITOR’S CHOICE
HUMOR
Communication
You are the chief airplane washer at the company hangar and you: (1) Hook high pressure hose up to the soap suds machine. (2) Turn the machine "on". (3) Receive an important call and have to leave work to go home. (4) As you depart for home, you yell to Don, your assistant, "Don, turn it off." (5) Assistant Don thinks he hears, "Don't turn it off." He shrugs, and leaves the area right after you. As with any occupation, make sure personnel have a clear understanding of what you are communicating! This actually happened. See the picture of the consequences
TRIVIA
Tail ID
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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
1 Garuda 24 Cebu Pacific 6 Astraeus (Ed Force One)
I like 10, whatever it is.
CO777ER wrote:Stumped. What's the story behind #6?
That's an Astraeus 757, which just happens to be Iron Maiden's tour aircraft. Singer Bruce Dickinson's also a 757 pilot for Astraeus.
Last edited by ShanwickOceanic/forum/images/avatars/gallery/first/user55/8.pngoffline on 14 Apr 11, 15:37, edited 1 time in total.
Reason:Screwed up the numbering
My friend and I applied for airline jobs in Australia, but they didn't Qantas.
1. GA, Garuda Indonesia 2. GA, Garuda Indonesia 3. HJA, Air Haiti 4. 5J, Cebu Pacific 5. EU, Ecuatoriana 6. 5W, Air Astraeus 7. BG, Biman Bangladesh Airlines 8. FY, Firefly 9. EAE, AECA Cargo 10. DG, South East Asian Airlines
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
