News
Crashed Superjet was cleared below minimum safe altitude
Preliminary findings from the Sukhoi Superjet 100 crash inquiry show that the aircraft had been cleared to descend below the minimum safe altitude for the area. Sukhoi had intended to conduct a 30min demonstration flight from Halim to Pelabuhan Ratu at an altitude of 10,000ft. Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee states that air traffic control cleared the aircraft to depart runway 06 then, upon reaching 2,000ft, turn right to intercept the 200 radial from the Halim VOR beacon before climbing to 10,000ft.
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FAA Investigating US Airways Near-Collision
US officials said on Thursday they are investigating "miscommunication" this week that led three US Airways planes - two outbound and one inbound - to approach unacceptably close to each other over Washington's Reagan National Airport.
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JAL Changes Course Before USD$8 Bln IPO
Japan Airlines has given up on the idea of securing stable shareholders to hold at least 10 percent of its stock ahead of its listing because such a move would breach industry rules, Chairman Emeritus Kazuo Inamori said.
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Portugal Gives TAP Sale Go-Ahead
Portugal on Thursday gave the go-ahead to the long-planned sale of airline TAP, saying it would prefer a buyer who would maintain its status as the country's flag carrier.
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ETS Foes Move Towards Global Alternative
Seventeen countries opposed to the EU law that forces airlines to pay for the carbon they emit on flights to and from Europe reaffirmed they want to keep working on a multilateral framework under the United Nation's global aviation body, a senior US official said.
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Lufthansa Buoyed By Austrian Restructuring
Lufthansa posted second-quarter operating profit that beat consensus thanks to one-off effects from the restructuring of its troubled Austrian Airlines carrier.
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United celebrates rollout of 787
United Airlines celebrated the rollout of its first Boeing 787-8 in the special "swoop" livery at the manufacturer's Everett, Washington plant today. The Chicago-based carrier is the US launch customer of the type and will take delivery of the aircraft in September. The plane rolled out of the paint shop on 31 July. It is registration number N20904 and manufacturer's serial number 34824.
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Norway threatens to cancel NH90 helicopter order
Norway is threatening to cancel its order for NH Industries NH90 helicopters, as its frustrations mount with delivery delays. Oslo has eight of the NH90 maritime variant on order, configured for search and rescue operations for its coastguard. Deliveries were due to have been completed six years ago, but the nation has so far received just one of the type.
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El Al orders two more 737-900ERs
El Al Israel Airlines has finalized an order for two additional Boeing 737-900ERs, adding to a previously announced order in March 2011, bringing its total order of the type to six. The additional order is valued at $179.2 million at list prices. According to Boeing, the -900ER replaces the larger, single-aisle 757, which ceased production in 2004.
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SkyWest reaches deal with Delta to add 34 newer CRJs, retire 66 older CRJs
SkyWest Inc., the parent of St. George, Utah-based SkyWest Airlines and Atlanta-based ExpressJet Airlines, said it has “reached an understanding” with Delta Air Lines (DL) enabling it to take delivery 34 Bombardier CRJ700s/900s while removing 66 older CRJ200s from its fleet.
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American will consider options to be stronger carrier, AMR CEO says
Tom Horton, the CEO of AMR, says he has thought about a merger for several years. AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, filed for bankruptcy in November. "If US Airways, if any of the other alternatives, if the baseline plan, whatever it is ... we're going to look at what creates the most value for the owners," Horton said.
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US Airways pilots are concerned about merger
US Airways and the US Airline Pilots Association, which represents the carrier's 4,300 pilots, were scheduled to meet this week to discuss contracts. The pilots are concerned about the possibility of a merger. "They say that our flying would be protected until we get a common certificate, but that could be a year [after a merger]," said union spokesman James Ray.
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American will boost in-flight entertainment options in 2013
American Airlines plans to add new narrow-body jets to its fleet with pumped-up entertainment options. In 2013, American will introduce A321s and A319s with touch-screen monitors. All seats will also include a USB port to charge devices.
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TSA cracks down on criminal conduct by employees
Criminal incidents do not occur often among the Transportation Security Administration's 52,000 employees, TSA Deputy Administrator John Halinski said at a Homeland Security subcommittee hearing. Nevertheless, the TSA is working to improve its management of employees and hiring standards. It has also created an office dedicated to investigations and disciplining employees. "I'm not going to tolerate criminal conduct," Halinski said. "I give you my word."
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Chicago airport will sell $1.2B in bonds this month
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport plans to sell almost $1.2 billion in bonds this month, market sources say. The first sale, to be led by Barclays, will include $729 million in bonds. The second sale will be offered through Citigroup and will be composed of $443.3 million in bonds.
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Other News
Allegiant Travel Co., parent of Allegiant Air (G4), reported earnings of $25.2 million, more than doubling its year-ago net income of $11.9 million. Total operating revenue increased 15.3% to $231.2 million while expenses rose 5.3% to $189.3 million, producing an operating profit of $41.9 million, more than twice the $20.7 million operating profit in the year-ago quarter.
Japan Airlines (JAL) has reported a first-quarter net income of JPY26.9 billion ($343.5 million), more than twice the net income of JPY12.7 billion in the year-ago quarter. The company said strong yen and good demand lifted its balance sheet. JAL’s first reporting period for fiscal year 2012 runs from April 1-June 30.
Russian airlines carried 32 million passengers during the first half, a 17% increase over the year-ago period, Russian Federal Air Transport Agency/Rosaviatsia said in a statement. International passenger numbers rose 24.3% to 16.3 million passengers and domestic traffic increased 10.3% to 15.7 million. The total market share of Russia’s five biggest airlines increased to 64% from 57.7%. Russia’s biggest airline, Aeroflot, carried eight million passengers, up 27.2% over the year-ago period. St. Petersburg-based Rossiya reported carrying 1.9 million passengers, up 25.1%. Sibir, which is working under the S7 Airlines brand, follows with 2.7 million passengers, up 21%. Transaero Airlines reported 4.4 million, up 26.2%. UTair said it transported 3.6 million passengers, up 53.4%.
The Chinese government has raised domestic jet fuel prices 1.43% to CNY6,820 ($1,079) per ton as international fuel prices stabilize. Beijing has adjusted domestic jet fuel prices every month as costs fluctuate. Last month Beijing cut domestic fuel prices 9% to CNY6,724 per ton
Austrian Airlines (OS) is considering increasing its leisure operations on the long-haul segment. “There are many possibilities for OS, like the tourism incoming business from overseas,” OS CCO Karsten Benz said. “We need more courage in creating new business. The leisure market is one of them,” he said. One of the important overseas tourism markets for OS is Japan, which it serves with daily flights to Tokyo Narita. OS’s only long-haul leisure destination is the weekly seasonal Vienna-Male, Maldives flights.
Turkish Airlines has launched 4X-weekly Istanbul Ataturk-Nakhichevan-Gence Azerbaijan service.
Air Astana has increased Almaty-Urumqi services from 3X-weekly to daily.
Russian S7 Airlines will launch 3X-weekly Moscow-Verona Boeing 737-800 service Dec. 26.
Aviation Quote
It was war. We were defending our country. We had a strict code of honor: you didn't shoot down a cripple and you kept it a fair fight.
— Captain Wilfrid Reid 'Wop' May, RFC, 13 victories WWI.
On This Date
---In 1861... John La Mountain becomes the first balloonist to use boats for aerial operations in a military conflict. Using the Union tug Fanny, he ascends from its deck to a height of 2,000 ft. to conduct aerial reconnaissance of Confederate forces during America’s Civil War.
---In 1904... In a dirigible named California Arrow, Thomas Scott Baldwin carries out the first circular flight by an airship in America. Powered by a converted motorcycle engine, it is built and dispatched by Glenn Curtiss.
---In 1921... Lieutenant John A. Macready of the U.S. Army Air Corps finds a new use for airplanes when he sprays a patch of ground infested with caterpillars. This practice becomes known as crop dusting.
---In 1955... President Eisenhower signs the Civilian Airport Modernization Bill. The legislation establishes a long-term program of federal government aid toward the construction of airports in the United States.
---In 1975…The worst accident ever involving a Boeing 707 occurs in Morocco as a chartered Alia Royal Jordanian flight crashes on approach to Agadir-Inezgane Airport (AGA), killing all 188 on board. The plane, registration JY-AEE (formerly N797PA, Pan Am’s “Clipper Northwind”) had apparently strayed from its prescribed course as it began its descent, leading to its right wing and no. 4 engine hitting a ridge at approximately 2,500 feet.
---In 1981…in what would become a historical milestone in 20th century labor relations, roughly 13,000 of the 17,500 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) walk out from their jobs in America’s airport control towers in an attempt to cripple the nation’s transportation system and force the Federal government to accede to their contract demands. President Ronald Reagan would respond with a hardline stance, declaring their illegal strike a “peril to national safety” and ordering them back to work within 48 hours or face termination from their jobs. All but 1,300 controllers take a bet that the president is bluffing–and they lose–when on August 5th, Reagan fires the 11,345 controllers who continued to strike and permanently bans them from federal service. By replacing the fired controllers with non-union controllers, supervisors, and military controllers, as well as cutting in half the number of flights during peak periods, the FAA’s strike contingency plan would turn out to be a success. Public support for the fired controllers is low, as they had already been paid well above most Americans prior to the strike, and their contract demands would have earned them significantly more money while requiring they do less work. The union would be decertified a few months later.
---In 1994…Terrorists set off a bomb at Madras Airport (MAA), killing 32 people.
---In 1994…King Hussein of Jordan, a licensed pilot, flies his Lockheed L-1011 over Jerusalem, marking the first Jordanian overflight of Israeli airspace.
---In 2000…First flight of the Boeing 737-900.
---In 2007…First flight of the Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye.
Daily Video
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Humor
ATC
DFW Tower: "Lonestar 189, clear to land 18R, wind calm."
Lonestar: "Roger, cleared to land 18R."
Lonestar: "Tower, we hit something."
DFW Tower: YOU DID WHAT???
Lonestar: "We hit a small animal or something on the runway. Ya know, some sort of road kill or something."
DFW Tower: "UPS 31 HEAVY, be advised company that just landed ahead of you on runway 18R reports hitting some sort of roadkill."
UPS 31: "That's allright, we'll flatten it out a little bit for ya! Go ahead and call the gate Gourmet.
[/quote][/quote]Trivia
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mhodgson wrote:
7 - TUS/KTUS Tucson International
miamiair wrote:United celebrates rollout of 787
United Airlines celebrated the rollout of its first Boeing 787-8 in the special "swoop" livery
ShanwickOceanic wrote:Wow. I saw that nose and immediately thought it was the fail that is the BA pigeon livery:
