Boeing's Albaugh meets with AMR's Arpey Jim Albaugh, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said he had a "good meeting" with Gerard Arpey, chairman and CEO at American Airlines' parent AMR Corp. Boeing is striving to keep American Airlines from buying planes from the aircraft manufacturer's largest competitor, Airbus. "They're a great customer and obviously we want to keep them," Albaugh said. Link
Analyst: Canadian demand appears to be suffering The two biggest carriers in Canada, WestJet and Air Canada, have reduced their airfares in a move that industry observers say could mean bargains this fall and winter. "Pricing power for Canada's airline industry appears to have reached its limit and demand is now starting to suffer," said Ben Cherniavsky, aviation analyst at Raymond James. Link
Boeing, All Nippon Airways complete week of Dreamliner tests Boeing said it has completed a week of testing the 787 Dreamliner with All Nippon Airways, the first customer scheduled to receive the new jet. The tests were designed to mimic the aircraft's actual operating conditions without passengers. "Giving our team a chance to work with the airplane prior to entry into service was very valuable," said Katsunori Shimazaki, corporate planning senior manager at ANA. "Our crews are excited to begin operating the first 787 revenue flights later this year." Link
Court rules regarding whether EPA delayed GHG emission finding A federal district court recently issued a ruling that could result in the airline industry being subjected to new air-pollution standards. The judge ruled "that he has the authority to hear the question the environmental groups have raised about whether [the] EPA has unduly delayed a finding on aircraft greenhouse gas emissions," said Steven Lott, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association. "Whether the judge will find that [the] EPA 'must formally determine in accordance with the Clean Air Act whether greenhouse gases from airplanes endanger human health' has yet to be seen." Link
TSA to trial 'trusted travelers' program at select US airports this fall US Transportation Security Administration said it will launch a pilot program this fall to test new airport screening strategies that aim, among other goals, to provide "trusted travelers with expedited screening." The program's establishment indicates that Administrator John Pistole is starting to follow through on his pronouncements earlier this year about making TSA "a truly risk-based, intelligence-driven organization.” Link
Finnair to conduct Amsterdam-Helsinki biofuel flights Finnair said it will operate a scheduled flight partially powered by biofuel between Amsterdam and Helsinki next week, and will ultimately operate at least three biofuel flights on the route. Link
Norwegian swings to $9.6 million second-quarter profit; leases additional 787 Norwegian Air Shuttle, which is not leaving any doubt about its long-haul ambitions, signed a LOI Thursday with International Lease Finance Corp. for one more new Boeing 787-8 to increase its future fleet of the type to six. It also confirmed that “negotiations for further aircraft will continue.” The additional 787 is expected be delivered in early 2014; it is the third ILFC-leased 787. Link
Hainan Airlines to raise $1.2 billion via share placement Hainan Airlines is expected to collect CNY8 billion ($1.24 billion) through the private placement of additional shares. It plans to use the funds to reduce its high debt ratio and expand its fleet. Link
Ameco Beijing plans merger with Air China Technics Air China plans to merge its maintenance arm, Air China Technics, with its MRO joint venture with Lufthansa, Ameco Beijing, to become a major global maintenance, repair and overhaul provider. The Chinese flag carrier has identified the MRO business as a central area of its future growth strategy and decided to establish a new maintenance company under its leadership to support its own fleet as well as attract more international third-party customers, a Chinese source close to the negotiations said. Link
Israel to issue trainer request by early August A request for proposals for the selection of an advanced jet trainer for the Israeli air force is expected to be released no later than the first week of August. Israel Defense Forces has started discussions over its next five-year procurement plan, and a source said that once the trainer selection gets a "line in the budget book" the RFP will be issued. Link
F-35 LRIP overrun value raised to $1.15B The F-35 programme office has confirmed the estimated cost overrun for the first 28 production jets is roughly $1.15 billion, and not $771 million as previously reported. The higher figure includes the roughly one-third share of the overrun absorbed by Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney. Link
Air Southwest to cease operations in September Plymouth-based Air Southwest has announced that it will cease operations by the end of September. The airline had previously planned to continue operations, despite the already announced closure of Plymouth City Airport. Link Discussion
Other News
SureJet will be the name of the merged operations of US regionals Atlantic Southeast Airlines and ExpressJet Holdings. Utah-based SkyWest Inc. last year acquired Houston-based ExpressJet and announced it would merge it with SkyWest's Atlanta-based subsidiary, ASA. ASA and ExpressJet aim to receive a single operating certificate from US FAA by year end, at which point the combined carrier will be branded as SureJet with headquarters in Atlanta.
AerCap Holdings had a busy second quarter in which it signed new lease agreements for 16 aircraft, delivered seven, purchased one Airbus A330 and one A320, and sold one A321 and one Boeing 737-400. It also inked contracts for the sale of another four aircraft from its owned portfolio (two A320s, one 737-300, one 757-200), and four aircraft from its managed portfolio (one 737-400, three 737-500s).
Boeing opened a new paint hangar near its Renton facility that it said will help it increase 737NG production capacity. The manufacturer plans to boost the production rate for the 737NG to 42 per month in the first half of 2014, up from 31.5 currently and planned increases to 35 per month in early 2012 and 38 monthly in the 2013 second quarter. The manufacturer has noted it will "build on average two 737s each workday and nearly 500 airplanes each year" from 2014.
MTU Maintenance Hanover was selected by Chilean carrier Sky Airline to provide a Total Engine Care package for its V2500s under a five-year exclusive agreement.
Turkish Technic signed a four-year total aircraft base maintenance services agreement, a total landing gear support agreement and a five-year total APU support agreement with SunExpress Deutschland covering its fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft. SunExpress Deutschland started operations in June with three 737-800s.
Hamilton Sundstrand reached a licensing agreement with Mubadala Aerospace's Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies enabling the MRO provider to service H&S systems on Boeing 787s.
AVIATION QUOTE
The best safety device is the pilot, who, deep down, regardless of the aircraft, retains a sense of fallibility and vulnerability. No system can ever substitute for that.
— Arnold Reiner, retired airline captain and a former director of flight safety at Pan Am, end of 'Pilots on Autopilot' op-ed, the 'New York Times,' 16 December 2009
ON THIS DATE
July 15th
--- In 1916... Timber merchant William E. Boeing forms a new aircraft company, the Pacific Aero Products Company.
--- In 1923... Dobrolet, the Soviet state airline, opens its first scheduled domestic service, between Moscow and Nizhniy Novgorod.
---In 1925... Dr. A. Hamilton Rice’s expedition to the Amazon to explore the headwaters of the Amazon, the first exploration by airplane, returns safely.
Three engineering students were gathered together discussing the possible designers of the human body.
One said, ``It was a mechanical engineer. Just look at all the joints.''
Another said, ``No, it was an electrical engineer. The nervous systems many thousands of electrical connections.''
The last said, ``Actually it was a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area?''
TRIVIA
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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. Bell 222 2. Fokker F-28 Fellowship 3. Grumman OV-1A Mohawk 4. Breguet Br-1050 Alize 5. Dassault Mirage IVA 6. General Dynamics F-111E “Aardvark” 7. Curtiss C-46 Commando 8. Boeing 707-300 9. Douglas F-4D Skyray 10. Consolidated P2Y3
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
