NEWS
Space Shuttle Discovery makes final airborne salute as hitchhiker
The Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery (OV-103) made its last ever flight today to its final rest home at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum annex near Dulles Airport, Washington D.C. Attached to NASA's shuttle carrier aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-100, the combination made multiple low fly passes of the centre of Washington D.C, allowing spectators to get a final view of the historic aircraft.
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Iberia Cuts Pilot Pay In Productivity Push
Spanish airline Iberia said on Tuesday it was cutting the pay and conditions of its pilots to save EUR€62 million (USD$81 million) in salary costs, a move that could escalate tensions with striking staff.
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Quebec To Sue Air Canada Over Maintenance Ops
Quebec said on Tuesday it is suing Air Canada, arguing that the airline breached its legal obligation to keep a maintenance facility open in the Canadian province after the closure of a facility in Montreal.
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Alitalia To Appeal Rome-Milan Slot Ruling
Alitalia said it would appeal a ruling by Italy's antitrust authority that said it, along with its unit AirOne, was running a monopoly on the highly profitable Rome-Milan route and must give up some slots.
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Several Interested In TAP Airline Sale
Several international operators have expressed interest in the privatisation of Portuguese airline TAP, chief executive Fernando Pinto said on Tuesday.
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Turkish Air May Pull Out Of BH Airlines
Turkey's national carrier Turkish Airlines has said it might pull out from its joint venture with Bosnia's flag carrier BH Airlines, in which it holds a 49 percent stake, a Bosnian minister said on Tuesday.
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737 Max wingtips kept under wraps
Boeing is yet to settle on a wingtip configuration for the 737 Max despite having last week firmed up several key design attributes of its revamped narrowbody twinjet family. Current 737s are offered with Aviation Partners Boeing (APB)-supplied blended winglets, while the US Navy's 737-based P-8 features 777-style raked wingtips. Boeing's 737 Max chief project engineer and deputy programme manager Michael Teal says the manufacturer is "testing a possible revision to the wing tips on the Max" in the wind tunnel to "see if this new technology could further benefit the airplane".
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Pace of Afriqiyah A330 crash probe concerned EU
Libya's stalled investigation into the fatal Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330 accident at Tripoli has emerged as one of the concerns that led to the blocking of Libyan operations to Europe. Documentation accompanying the European air safety committee's latest blacklist revision shows that in February the Libyan authorities claimed the A330 accident inquiry had "encountered difficulties" and "not led to conclusions so far" - nearly two years after the May 2010 crash. The documentation states that the crash of flight 8U771, arriving from Johannesburg, as well as inspections of Afriqiyah Airways' aircraft and those of business jet operator United Aviation, prompted safety discussions between European and Libyan officials as far back as October 2010.
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Inmarsat changes Global Xpress equipment provider
Ten months after its $491 million acquisition of EMS Technologies—a connectivity solutions provider for mobile networking, mobile computers, and satellite communications—Honeywell has signed an exclusive agreement with Inmarsat valued at $2.8 billion over 20 years to develop, produce and distribute the onboard hardware for its Global Xpress connectivity network. Under terms, Honeywell will provide the external antenna, currently in two separate configurations—a tail-mount configuration primarily for business jets and a top fuselage-mount—as well as the satellite terminal equipment and other hardware.
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Cologne/Bonn facing night-flight ban for passenger aircraft
Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state government has implemented a night-flight ban for passenger aircraft at Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN) between midnight and 5 a.m. local time. Cargo flights are excluded. The decision affects around 6,000 aircraft movements annually. CGN CEO Michael Garvens said in a statement that the ban is without a legal basis, will damage the aviation market in NRW and put jobs in danger. He added that the airport would appeal the ban to Germany’s transport ministry.
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Porter Airlines operates Q400 biofuel flight
Porter Airlines (PD) on Tuesday conducted Canada’s first biofuel-powered revenue flight, operating a Bombardier Q400 between Toronto City Centre and Ottawa using a 50:50 blend of biofuel and Jet A1fuel in one of its engines.
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Southwest Airlines faces high fuel costs, analysts say
Southwest Airlines is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings on Thursday. Analysts expect the carrier to post earnings of 5 cents per share for the quarter. Southwest is facing higher fuel costs in 2012, which will hurt first-quarter profits, analysts say.
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American Air boss speaks softly, carries stick
AMR Corp Chief Executive Tom Horton may have a soft-spoken demeanor, but people who know him say he has a backbone of steel and will not flinch if he has to cut thousands of jobs to save the bankrupt American Airlines.
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Blog: AirTran Airways launches international service from Denver
AirTran Airways inaugurated international service from Denver with a flight to Mexico on Monday. AirTran will offer daily service to Cancun through July 7, and then will fly four times a week from Denver to the vacation destination through Aug. 12. "As we continue our integration of AirTran into Southwest, our customers will realize the benefits of our combined network, which is robust from Denver," said Bob Jordan, AirTran Airways president.
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Boeing production will not be disrupted by tornado, company says
Boeing said the company has enough of a cushion in its production system to absorb tornado-related delays in Wichita, Kan. Boeing and one of its suppliers shut down temporarily to assess damage from a tornado on Saturday. "Boeing typically has a cushion in its production system to account for potential disruptions," Larry Wilson of Boeing said.
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Export-Import Bank hurts competition, Delta CEO says
Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson said the Export-Import Bank of the United States hurts competition by providing low-interest loans for foreign airlines to purchase Boeing aircraft. "We spent $300 million to buy two wide-body airplanes to serve India, and a government-sponsored carrier comes in with Ex-Im Bank [support] and basically takes you out of the market because they're pricing $300 or $400 a ticket below you," Anderson said.
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Universities offer major in unmanned aerial vehicles
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, along with other universities, has created a major for students interested in unmanned aerial vehicles. "I don't care about flying the planes," said Russell Peters, a junior. "I just want to make the planes. And if we can get rid of the pilots, that's great."
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TSA PreCheck will expand to Seattle airport this month
Alaska Airlines frequent fliers who are pre-approved by the Transportation Security Administration will have access to expedited screening next week at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Members of expedited border-crossing programs are also eligible to participate in the PreCheck program. Alaska Airlines says it is working with the TSA to expand PreCheck to other airports it serves. "I really see the benefit of this as being one fewer annoying routine to have to go through at Sea-Tac," said Frank Catalano of Seattle, an Alaska Airlines MVP Gold customer.
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Unions ask lawmakers to withhold judgment on an American merger
Unions representing American Airline employees have asked lawmakers to hold off on comments about a possible merger. "[W]e respectfully request that all stakeholders of American Airlines -- including lawmakers and everyone else with a vested interest in the outcome of the restructuring -- withhold judgment about any industry consolidation that could involve our airline until all of the facts become known," said the unions in a joint statement.
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Los Angeles airport will add warning lights on runways for safety
Los Angeles International Airport plans to add more warning lights to runways, officials said. "This project means safer runways and peace of mind for our passengers and is an integral component of the modernization of LAX," said Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, which operates LAX.
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Other News
Garuda Indonesia (GA) and Auckland International (AKL) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore the reopening of direct service from Indonesia to AKL. According to the MOU, GA will launch flights to the airport when market conditions and aircraft availability make it feasible.
ANA’s 787 delivery flight partially powered by biofuel: The latest Boeing 787 to be received by All Nippon Airways (ANA) was partially powered on its delivery flight Tuesday by biofuel, marking the first time a Dreamliner has used alternative fuel. The flight from Everett, Wash., to Tokyo Haneda used a fuel mix partly derived from used cooking oil, and marked the first transpacific biofuel flight, according to Boeing.
Brazil’s GOL has received an $84.8 million loan guarantee from the US Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) to support the export of its engine maintenance services to Delta TechOps in Atlanta. Under a five-year contract signed in December 2010, GOL CFM56-7B engines will be shipped from Sao Paulo to Atlanta for heavy maintenance, covering up to 253 scheduled and unscheduled engine removals. The loan will fund the first two years of the contract.
Saab has won a contract extension from Airbus to continue to supply the A320-family composite ailerons for the life of the program. Based on the current A320 order backlog of 3,370 aircraft, the initial contract is valued at SEK701 million ($103.1 million).
LOT Polish Airlines will operate the Boeing 787 on its Chicago O’Hare-Warsaw route from January 2013.
AirBaltic will operate 5X-weekly Riga-Budapest seasonal Bombardier Q400 service for summer 2012.
Porter Airlines will launch 4X-weekly seasonal Toronto City Centre-Mont Tremblant service June 15-Sept. 16.
Eastern Airways has launched 6X-weekly Southampton-Brussels Jetstream 41 service.
Pilots Hail Bill to Advance One Level of Safety for Passenger and Cargo Airlines: Capt. Lee Moak, president of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), Int’l, issued the following statement on the introduction in the U.S. House of Representatives of the Safe Skies Act of 2012 (H.R. 4350). “The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l, hails the introduction of the Safe Skies Act of 2012 as serious action to enhance the safety of air transportation by ensuring that all-cargo airlines meet the same high safety standards as the passenger airlines with which they share airports and airspace. “Airline pilots strongly commend Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN) and Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) for their leadership in introducing this bill. If passed, the legislation would direct the U.S. Department of Transportation to apply the Federal Aviation Administration’s flight- and duty-time regulations and minimum rest requirements to all-cargo airline operations in the same way that the science-based regulations currently apply to passenger operations. “All airline pilots are human beings, and all airline operations should benefit from the same high safety standards. This bill would achieve what Congress intended when it passed the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Act of 2010 (P.L. 11-216), by mandating that the FAA’s regulations apply to all commercial airline pilots, regardless of whether they fly passengers or cargo. ALPA urges Congress to take up and pass the Cravaack-Bishop bill as swiftly as possible.”
JetBlue Airways, and Japan Airlines (JAL) today announced a codeshare agreement, expanding the current interline partnership between the carriers' two networks in Tokyo and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport as well as Boston's Logan International Airport. Customers looking to make a reservation, which will feature JAL's code on JetBlue-operated flights, can book starting tomorrow, April 18 for travel on or after April 22, 2012.
Precision Conversions, LLC is pleased to announce that the company has received an award to provide SF Airlines with further full 15-cargo position 757-200PCFs. SF Airlines, based in Shenzhen, China, currently operates Precision Conversions 757-200PCFs and has been steadily growing over the past several years. All of the 757-200PCF modifications will take place at the Taikoo Aircraft Engineering Co. Ltd. (TAECO) maintenance facility in Xiamen. TAECO has been a modification partner for Precision Conversions since 2009.
AVIATION QUOTE
Don't ever let an airplane take you someplace where your brain hasn't arrived at least a couple of minutes earlier.
— Anon.
ON THIS DATE
---In 1916... The first all-American air squadron in Europe is formed at the French spa town of Luxevil-les-Bains. Nieuport Squadron Nº 124, unofficially know as the "Escadrille Américaine" [American Squadron], is composed of volunteers who will be under the command of a French captain, Georges Thénault.
---In 1917... William E. Boeing’s Pacific Aero Products Company is renamed the “Boeing Airplane Company.”
---In 1942…Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle leads the first US attack on the Japanese mainland, leading a force of sixteen B-25 Mitchells flying from the USS Hornet against targets in and around Tokyo in what comes to be known as the "Doolittle Raid".
---In 1943…Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when T1-323, his Mitsubishi G4M, is ambushed by USAAF P-38 Lightnings over Bougainville.
---In 1950…First flight of the Convair XP5Y-1 BuNo 121455 - first turboprop-powered flying boat to fly.
---In 1952... The biggest jet bomber ever built, the Convair YB-60, makes a successful first flight at Carswell Air Force Base at Fort Worth, Texas.
---In 1955…Albert Einstein died in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
---In 1958... US Navy Lieutenant-Commander George Watkins flies from Edwards Air Base in California to a world record absolute altitude within the atmosphere of 76,932 feet in a Grumman F11F-1 Tiger.
---In 1967…Aeroflot and Japan Air Lines jointly inaugurate a Moscow-Tokyo service.
---In 1977…The Vickers Viscount becomes the first turboprop airliner to see 25 years in service.
---In 1980… Air Zimbabwe is formed.
---In 1986... Marcel Bloch, 94, dies. Under his professional name of Marcel Dassault he was the most famous of France’s airplane designers.
---In 1988… The U.S. Navy conducts Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian forces and facilities in the Persian Gulf. A-6E Intruders from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65) sink a speedboat, assist surface ships in sinking the frigate Sahand, and cripple the frigate Sabalan. Two Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force F-4 Phantom fighters approach the guided-missile cruiser USS Wainwright (CG-28), which damages one of them with a surface-to-air missile.
DAILY VIDEO
EDITOR’S CHOICE
HUMOR
You Know You have been in Iraq too long when. ...
• When mortars land near your compound and you roll over in bed and think "still way off, I got another 5 minutes"
• When you start humming with the Arabic song playing on the radio on the shuttle bus
• Every woman that reports to your unit starts looking attractive
• Every guy that reports to your unit starts looking attractive
• You walk an extra 6 blocks to eat at the KBR (contractor run) dining facility to have the exact same food they are serving in your dining facility because you think it tastes better
• You actually volunteer for convoy security duty because you still haven't seen the country yet
• You start picturing your wife in traditional Arab dress
• The contractors have more fire power than the military combat units. (This is true)
• You take the time to add your lines to this list
• You've spent $200 dollars at Haji mart on DVDs buying Basic Instinct, 9 and ½ weeks, and Body of Evidence just for the sex scenes
• You drink the water from the tap because you want to drop 20 pounds in two weeks
• Driving around in SUVs with weapons pointed out the windows and forcing cars off the road seems very normal to you
• You can put your body armor and helmet on in the dark in under 5 seconds
• When the organization you work for has changed its name more than 3 times
• When you can actually talk to people in the United States on a cell phone, yet you can't get people on their cell phone a block away
• When you actually spend more time writing e-mail about the dog in the compound versus how to conduct the fight in Najaf
• Your idea of a fun Thursday night is to go to the Palace pool to watch the State Department folks get drunk, naked and try to pick each other up
• When you actually get excited to get a package that contains 3 pair of socks, 12 bars of soap and a Victoria Secret Catalog
• When you start to enjoy the rocking of the trailer every time the MEDEVAC choppers fly over
• You memorized every episode from the 4th Season of Sex in the City
• You enjoy the audience commentary while watching a movie bought at Haji mart
• You see celebratory fire going over the compound at night and think, "wow the colors are so pretty" and want to fire back
• Your thinking of buying real estate in the green zone
• Your idea of sex is 20 minutes of Instant Messaging with your wife on the computer, OK, 10 minutes, who are you kidding?
• You wake up and think Baghdad, I am still in friggin Baghdad
• You make the new guy show you his count down timer just to make you feel better about your time you have left in country
• You're in the Army and you start saying Ooorah
• You're in the Marines and you start saying Hooah
• You're in the Navy and you realize you are in the middle of the desert, the exact opposite of being in the middle of the ocean, where one might normally find the Navy.
• You're in the Air Force, and you're on the plane home because an Air Force tour is too short to have been a long Iraq tour. Ignore this list, zoomie, you won't get it.
• You only notice the stench of Haji funk when its not there
• You plan on removing all trees and grass in your yard when you get home so it will look more natural
• You forget there are other colors than brown that can be found in places other than power point slides
• The temp drops down to 102 degrees and you shiver while reaching for your Gortex jacket
• You have noticed a change of season, from long, hot and dry to short, cold and wet.
• When you call home and your kids ask "Who is this?"
• You call home and your wife says hello Bill (your name is Sam)
• When you go on R&R, you duct tape your child to the roof of your car, hand him a pellet rifle, and assign him a sector of fire for the ride to "The Olive Garden."
• When you can comfortably shave and brush your teeth using bottled water, but don't mind showering in the "non-potable" local water.
• While on R&R, you look out the window and find Nature, which leads you to wonder who stole your sandbags.
• When some of the contractors wear their DCUs (Desert pattern camouflage uniform) more properly than some of your soldiers.
• When 12 hours is a short work day
• You go Battle Captains!
• When, During the BUA, "DIV asked MNSTC-I for the FRAGO that MNC-I was supposed to publish, but couldn't because MNF-I hadn't weighed in, since they were too inundated with MOD and MOI war-gaming the JCCs
within the ISF to square us away!" is a valid comment and generates no questions.
• When you start using words like G'day mate, Cheers, and Bloody hell as part of your normal vocabulary
• When you have your opinions printed in the STARS and STRIPES more than 3 times
• When the palace catches fire and instead of helping to put it out you grab a bag of marshmallows and start roasting
• When you step into any office and there are 6 colonels, 12 lieutenant colonels, 15 majors, and 8 captains supervising the work of 1 sergeant
• When you end every phone conversation with "Out"
• When you're ordered to get an air mission together on short notice because it's a "Hot priority" only to have the Major call back once he is in the air to ask "Does anyone know where I am going?"
• When the weapon buyback program has become so successful that you have issued the same AK-47 to the Iraqi army 3 times
• When you can actually tell the difference between the sound of an exploding car and an exploding mortar
• When on R & R you tell your wife that your weapon status is Red and your looking for the clearing barrel
• When on R&R you go to Church and wonder why no one is wearing body armor or carrying an automatic weapon to the service
• You see an indirect fire attack take out a generator and get angry at the enemy for not hitting the one that powers your computer
• You see an indirect fire attack take out an air conditioner and your vigor to fight is renewed
• You yell at the FNG for shouting incoming when the rounds don't impact close enough to hit your tent with dirt
• You know that you need to run inside immediately after any win of an Iraqi sports team to keep from being hit by celebratory fire
• You decide for that for shits and grins - lets take a run around Lost Lake at Camp Victory to see if we can get shot at by the sniper
• You never worry about oversleeping because if the morning call to prayers doesn't wake you, the daily 0430 mortar attack will (most mornings)
• The highlight of your shopping experience at the PX is to see that they got in a new shipment of Schick Tracer razor blades
• When you send out your laundry and your whites become grayer, your blacks become grayer and your DCU's become grayer - makes it easier to sort loads...
• You get offended by people wearing clean, pressed DCU's
• You decide that it is a better course of action to pull your blankets over your head than put on your body armor during a mortar attack - the woobee will save you and at least you are comfortable
• You make a contest out of seeing who can wear their uniform for more days before becoming entirely disgusted with themselves
• You wonder if the fish served at dinner really was carp caught out of the Tigris or Camp Victory's lake
• You find it completely acceptable to pick your nose while talking to a complete stranger or member of the opposite sex
• A rocket or a mortar really isn't a big deal until the crater it leaves is big enough to trip over in the dark on the way to the latrine
You go to a social gathering and intermittent gun fire or explosions don't even cause a pause in the conversation
TRIVIA
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