News
Luxembourg’s Strategic Airlines suspends operations
Luxembourg charter carrier Strategic Airlines (SH) has suspended operations after entering into administration. Luxembourg Civil Aviation directorate Frank Kraus said: “I can confirm the suspension of all air operations by Strategic Airlines, which is under administration procedure.” SH could not be reached for comment, but a Luxembourg District Court ruling confirmed the airline formally went into administration Oct. 4. It added the airline’s creditors must submit any claims by Oct. 22.
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Lufthansa Expands Germanwings To Fight LCCs
Lufthansa is transferring short-haul flights to its no-frills Germanwings airline as it battles to return to profit in Europe in the face of intense competition from budget rivals Ryanair and easyJet.
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American Extends Flight Schedule Cuts
American Airlines said it will cut back on passenger capacity until mid-November, extending reductions from September and October as it cancelled hundreds of flights, citing aircraft maintenance issues and pilots reporting sick.
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EU Accuses US Of Failing To Cut Boeing Aid
The European Union accused the United States on Thursday of ignoring a WTO ruling to stop subsidies to Boeing and asked the Geneva-based body to investigate, prolonging the world's largest trade dispute.
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Alaska Air Orders 50 Boeing 737s
Alaska Airlines on Thursday announced an order for 50 Boeing 737s, worth USD$5 billion at list prices.
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Back To Drawing Board For EADS, BAE
Europe's two biggest aerospace firms will go back to the drawing board to find new strategies after Germany stymied the world's biggest arms and aviation company merger.
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Northrop begins production of B-2 satcom upgrade
Northrop Grumman has started production of Increment 1 of the extremely high frequency (EHF) satellite communication upgrade for the US Air Force's B-2 Spirit stealth bomber-also built by the company. The USAF awarded a low rate initial production contract to Northrop on 28 September worth $108 million to build the initial upgrade. Increment 1 includes an integrated processing unit, a new high-capacity disk drive, and a network of fiber optic cable, which should allow the aircraft to perform advanced communications and weapons delivery missions in the future.
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USAF investigating potential JSTARS sabotage incident
The US Air Force is investigating a case of potential sabotage on two of its Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. "During scheduled depot maintenance, the contractor discovered severed wires on a JSTARS aircraft," the USAF says. "Subsequent inspections lead to findings of severed wires on one additional aircraft at the Lake Charles facility."
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Increased capacity boosts JetBlue's traffic 6.1%
JetBlue Airways traffic was up 6.1% in September as compared to the same period last year. The increase is attributed in part to an increase in the airline's capacity, which the airline has been actively expanding in recent months.
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Delta eyes New York market with added routes, landing spots
Delta Air Lines has added more than 100 daily flights at La Guardia Airport in New York, a move that it hopes will increase market share in the region. The airline this year acquired landing spots from US Airways. "We're trying to win New York. That's really what this expansion is about," said Gail Grimmett, a Delta executive.
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Analysis: An American Airlines-US Airways merger seems probable
American Airlines and US Airways Group have signed a nondisclosure agreement to exchange confidential financial information, which included terms to stop talking publicly about a merger. Speculation of a potential merger has grown. Potential outcomes of a hypothetical merger are laid out in this feature.
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AMR, American Airlines seek court approval for better debt deal
American Airlines and its parent company, AMR, have requested approval from a bankruptcy court judge for a plan to refinance $1.32 billion in high-interest debt with $1.5 billion in new debt with lower interest rates. If the deal is approved, AMR and its flagship airline expect savings to be "well in excess of $200 million,” according to their filed court motion.
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EU is preparing to enforce unified air space
European Union Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas is expected to give a speech today warning of legal action his department will take against member countries that are not compliant with the EU's Single European Sky program. The program was adopted by the EU and its members in recent years to create a more efficient air traffic management system, but not all air traffic management agencies have made the required changes.
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Other News
American Airlines (AA) said it is continuing to experience operational disruptions and will reduce its flight schedule through the first half of November by 1%. In a memo to AA managers regarding the carrier’s poor operational performance in recent weeks, blamed by the airline on pilot actions (ATW Daily News, Oct. 9), the company said it is canceling and delaying fewer flights but “we are not yet back to the [service] levels our customers deserve.” The slight schedule reduction will give AA the “flexibility to effectively plan and route our crews and planes, providing, where we can, backup aircraft.” The change in schedule will not affect US Thanksgiving and Christmas travel, AA said.
German automotive manufacturer Daimler is proceeding with its proposed sale of a large portion of EADS shares to the German government, following Wednesday’s collapse of merger talks between EADS and BAE Systems. Daimler holds 15% of EADS shares and has been in negotiation to sell half of these to the government since November 2011. It has already sold a further 7.5% of EADS shares to a banking consortium.
Armenian Armavia Airlines (U8), which is owned by local businessman Mikhail Baghdasarov, has been put up for sale. Baghdasarov told the Armenian website Panorama.am he was negotiating the company’s sale although he did not disclose details on possible buyers. However, Panorama.am reported he is considering potential buyers from Russia, Australia and Italy. Baghdasarov said there are no Armenian businessmen who could buy the airline. U8, which operates regular and charter international flights, has most of its network in Russia. The airline’s fleet includes two Airbus A320s, three Bombardier CRJ200LRs, one Yakovlev 42 and three Boeing 737-500s.
Ryanair (FR) said it is proposing “radical remedies” to allay competition concerns in its bid to take over Aer Lingus (EI). The European Commission (EC) is undertaking an investigation into the effects on competition if FR’s third bid to take over the Irish flag-carrier is allowed to proceed.
The European Commission is about to “raise serious doubts” about UPS’ €5.2 billion takeover of TNT Express, which is parent to TNT Airways, according to a report by the Financial Times. Citing sources, the FT said the Commission is wrapping up its investigation and will issue a statement of objections “as early as next week.” The Commission is concerned the deal will limit competition. UPS will have to offer concessions if it still wants the deal to proceed.
Embraer delivered 40 aircraft (27 E-Jets and 13 executive jets) in the third quarter compared to 46 (two ERJs; 26 E-Jets; 18 executive jets) in the year-ago quarter.
Atlas Air (5Y) has taken delivery of its sixth Boeing 747-8 freighter, which will be operated by Atlas Air in Polar Air Cargo Worldwide’s express network under an ACMI arrangement for the benefit of DHL Express. 5Y expects to receive one additional 747-8F in 2012 and two in the first half of 2013 for a total of nine.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft flew the first Superjet 100 to Venice for interiors installation, customization and painting at Superjet International facilities.
Nordisk Aviation won an order from Finnair to supply 55 kg UltraLite AKE cargo containers for widebody aircraft for delivery by end 2012.
Aviation Quote
In blossom today, then scattered:
Life is so like a delicate flower.
How can one expect the fragrance
To last forever?
— Vice Admiral Ohnishi, Kamikaze Special Attack Force
On This Date
---In 1976... The NASA/U.S. Army rotor systems research aircraft produced by Sikorsky as the S-72 makes its first flight.
---In 1997…Singer John Denver dies when the Rutan Long EZ he is piloting crashes into the Pacific Ocean off Pacific Grove, California.
---In 2010…Transafrik International Flight 662, operated by Lockheed L-100 Hercules 5X-TUC crashed into a mountain 19 miles (31 km) east of Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan, killing all eight crew.
Daily Video
Editor’s Choice
Humor
The Difference Between Airplanes and Women:
An airplane will kill you quick...A woman takes her time.
Airplanes like to do it inverted.
Airplanes can be turned on by a flick of a switch.
An airplane does not get mad if you 'touch and go.'
An airplane does not object to a preflight inspection.
Airplanes come with manuals.
Airplanes have strict weight and balance limits.
You can fly an airplane any time of the month.
Airplanes don't have parents.
Airplanes don't whine unless something is really wrong.
Airplanes don't care about how many other airplanes you have flown.
When flying, you and your airplane both arrive at the same time.
Airplanes don't mind if you look at other airplanes, or if you buy airplane magazines.
If your airplane is too loose, you can tighten it.
It's always OK to use tie downs on your airplane.
Trivia
Google Airports
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