NewsCommercial
Undersea Drone Hunt For MH370 May Take Two Months
An underwater drone sent to search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on the floor of the Indian Ocean could take up to two months to scour a 600 sq km area where the plane is believed to have sunk. The prediction coincided with the end to the abbreviated first mission by the Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle six hours into what was meant to be a 16-hour operation on Monday after it exceeded its 4.5 km (14,750 feet) depth limit and was automatically returned to the surface. The introduction of the undersea drone marks a new slower paced phase in the search for the Boeing 777. Authorities, who plan to scale back the air and surface search, are confident they know the approximate position of wreckage of the plane, 1,550 km (960 miles) northwest of Perth, and are moving ahead on the basis of four acoustic signals they believe were from its black box recorder locators.
Link
Lufthansa To Keep Restructuring Going After 2015
Lufthansa will continue with measures to cut costs and drive revenue even after its current restructuring, due to run only until 2015, has ended, its outgoing chief executive said. "We are looking at what will be done after 2015," Christoph Franz told journalists, just a couple of weeks before he hands over the reins of Germany's largest airline to Carsten Spohr. "Do we have enough plans?" Lufthansa has identified 4,000 different projects under the current Score program, which aims to increase operating profit by EUR€1.5 billion (USD$2.1 billion) in 2015 when compared with 2011. Measures range from big structural changes such as expanding its Germanwings low cost carrier to smaller measures suggested by employees, such as allowing customers to bid for business seats on Austrian Airlines in an auction process.
Link
China Southern Warns Of Q1 Losses On Weaker Yuan
China Southern Airlines has warned it will incur a net loss of between CNY300 million - CNY350 million yuan (USD$46 million - USD$56 million) in the first quarter due to foreign exchange losses. The airline said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Tuesday that a fall in the yuan had increased its costs, pushing it into the red in the first three months of the year. The warning makes China Southern the latest Chinese carrier to suffer from a fluctuating yuan, a phenomenon still novel in China where authorities for years ensured the currency experienced minimal daily volatility to protect local firms.
Link
MRJ takes shape as tail cone delivered
The MRJ regional jet appears to be taking shape, with parts of the aircraft being sent to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Komaki South plant for final assembly. In response to queries from Flightglobal, the airframer says the tail cone section of its first flight test aircraft has been delivered to the plant, while the tail wings are currently being manufactured. The airframer adds that its first Pratt & Whitney PW1200G geared turbofan engines are on track to be delivered in end April.
Link
Sunwing adds more 737-800s to AFI KLM E&M component contract
Canadian leisure carrier Sunwing has extended a component repair and overhaul contract with Air France Industries KLM Engineering and Maintenance for four new Boeing 737-800s. The agreement will include parts pooling and a parts kit based in Toronto. The carrier last renewed its contract with the AFI KLM E&M in 2011.
Link
US Airways Investigating Pornographic Tweet
US Airways is investigating a pornographic tweet sent on its Twitter account in response to a customer complaint about a flight delay. US Airways issued an apology on Monday immediately after deleting the tweeted photograph of a naked woman lying on a bed with a toy plane between her legs, said Davien Anderson, spokesman for US Airways. By Tuesday morning, the apology had been retweeted nearly 13,000 times and social media was flooded with jokes and gripes about the image. Anderson said US Airways, part of American Airlines Group, was investigating the mishap. So far it has determined that the photo was originally posted to its Twitter feed by another user, but was inadvertently included in its response to the customer.
Link
After 50-Year Wait, Sydney To Get Second Airport
Australia has approved a AUD$2.5 billion (USD$2.34 billion) project to build a long-awaited second airport for Sydney, likely boosting near-term investment and jobs in a bet that the city's air travel demand will grow enough to justify a surge in terminal capacity. Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the plan on Tuesday, saying he expects work at the Badgerys Creek site in Western Sydney to begin in 2016. The project will be funded mostly by the private sector, he said, with first flights expected in the mid-2020s. A second airport for Sydney was first proposed over 50 years ago, but became mired in political debate before Abbott promised to build one in last year's victorious election campaign. He was voted in on a ticket pledging he would be an "infrastructure prime minister", targeting infrastructure projects to revive economic growth that sagged as Australia's mining investment boom faded since 2012.
Link
Australia to start construction on second airport in Sydney in 2016
Australia's government has approved the construction of a second major airport in Sydney in an effort to create jobs and bolster an economy faltering with a fading mining-investment boom. A site at Badgerys Creek about 56 kilometers west of Sydney's business district has been selected and work designing a new airport able to grow over time would begin immediately, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Tuesday. Construction is expected to start in 2016, funded mainly by a private operator, he said. "We want to get cracking on this. This is a decision that has been shirked for too long," Mr. Abbott said from Canberra. Australians have for decades debated the need for a second airport serving the country's biggest city, but Mr. Abbott came to power last year billing himself as the "infrastructure prime minister" and said a decision on the airport would be made early in his term. Badgerys Creek was identified as a potential site in 1969 and about 1,700 hectares were acquired between 1986 and 1991, yet it has sat unused with successive governments unable to commit to the project.
Link
Southwest employees to get record profit-sharing payout
Southwest Airlines employees will receive a record profit-sharing payout in September, totaling $228 million, up 88% from a year earlier. In a recent interview, Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven said, "We're trying to give our employees a secure future with a lot of upside."
Link
American Airlines director: 'Our DNA is hospitality'
American Airlines is using the tools of design to boost not just its profile, but the idea of an airplane as a kind of hotel in the skies. "We're in the hospitality industry and these are our guests. We want to make them feel as though they're at home," says Steven Moo-Young, director of onboard product planning and design of onboard products. "Our DNA is hospitality." The airline's redesign will eventually encompass its entire fleet, turning galleys into "lobby bars" and creating mood with lighting and private space.
Link
Air Canada customers benefit from new 777 service on Montreal-Paris route
Air Canada is enjoying significant benefits from the deployment of five high-density, 458-seat Boeing 777-300ERs, says company CEO Calin Rovinescu. The carrier offers three classes on the aircraft, including a premium economy product. Montreal-Paris was one of the first routes where Air Canada deployed the new high-density widebodies that are pegged for markets featuring a higher volume of leisure travelers. Before the carrier deployed the new 777, the route was one of Air Canadaʼs worst performers, says Rovinescu. But now the new jets have allowed the airline to significantly improve its performance from Montreal to Paris. Rovinescu estimates the added seats on the new 777s offer a 21% reduction in unit costs compared to the airlineʼs existing 777s. The carrier also operates the new aircraft on service from Vancouver to Hong Kong and London. Presently Air Canada also operates less-dense Boeing 777-300ERs and 777-200LR jets.
Link
EU evaluates foreign ownership of EU airlines
The European Commission is evaluating European Union airlines with ownership stakes held by foreign companies. EU regulations require EU citizens to own 50% or more of EU airlines, and also to "effectively control" airline management. Delta Air Lines owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic, while Korean Air Lines owns a 44% stake in Czech Airlines. Etihad owns 29.21% of Airberlin and 33.3% of Darwin Airline, which now operates as Etihad Regional.
Link
Hawaiian Airlines, FAA to meet over plane inspection matter
The Federal Aviation Administration says Hawaiian Airlines went eight years without properly inspecting certain components of one of its planes used for commercial flights. The FAA said Monday it is suggesting a fine of nearly $548,000 for the Honolulu-based airline. Airline and FAA officials say the company asked for an informal meeting to discuss the matter. The agency says Hawaiian didn’t comply with a 2000 directive that established inspections of specific engine thrust reverser components. FAA officials say Hawaiian operated a Boeing 767-300 on more than 5,000 flights without complying with the directive.
Link
Zodiac seat design concept lets passengers face each other
Zodiac Aerospace has introduced an airline cabin seating design concept for short-haul flights that would place passengers face to face in a forwards-backwards-forwards configuration. Zodiac says the high-density seating design could accommodate as many as 250 passengers per plane at a 31-inch seating pitch. The design also includes seats that swivel up when passengers exit the chairs to allow better movement into and out of the aisle.
Link
How cell phones work in the sky
The lack of phone calls, texts or social media postings from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has raised a number of questions about how cell phones work on airplanes. A U.S. official told CNN a cell tower in Penang, Malaysia, detected the co-pilot's cell phone searching for service before the flight vanished. Here's a quick primer on how and when phones can make a connection from the air: How high in the air can a cell phone work? Despite the urgings of flight crews to turn off all phones or put them in airplane mode, cell phones can continue to work after a plane takes off, but only while in range of a cellular tower.
LinkMilitary
X-47B conducts night flight, named Collier Trophy winner
A Northrop Grumman X-47B unmanned air vehicle completed the type's first night flight on 10 April – the same day the UAV's development team won the Robert J Collier Trophy from the National Aeronautic Association. The aircraft, developed by Northrop as a demonstrator for the US Navy’s unmanned carrier-launched airborne surveillance and strike (UCLASS) programme, conducted the night flight at NAS Patuxent River in Maryland, according to a USN media release.
Link
US military aviation programs face $14.2B hit in long-term budget
Aircraft and aerial munition suppliers face a $14.2 billion hit over the next five years if the US Congress does not repeal mandatory budget cuts known as sequestration, warns a new report issued on 15 April by the Department of Defense (DOD). The report, entitled Estimated Impacts of Sequestration Level Funding, details how the automatic budget cuts enacted by Congress two years ago will target 16 aviation and munition programmes in development or production.
In absolute terms, the Lockheed Martin F-35 programme is expected to absorb the biggest fiscal hit. Sequestration cuts 17 fighters – including 15 F-35As and two F-35Cs – and $1.72 billion from the five-year budget plan, but that represents only 3.7% of programme’s $45.4 billion budget over the same period.
Link
Sikorsky clears CH-53K structures for first flight
Sikorsky has cleared the structural integrity of the CH-53K heavylift helicopter meets standards for first flight later this year. The static test article (STA) was subjected to a round of proof loading tests, in which the US Marine Corps’ future airframe is loaded 115% over maximum design loads. The tests are an encouraging indicator for the US military’s largest helicopter with a maximum take-off weight of 39,900kg (88,000lb), a 20% increase over the CH-53E Super Stallion it replaces.
Link
Aviation Quote
Never abandon the possibility of attack. Attack even from a position of inferiority, to disrupt the enemy's plans. This often results in improving one's own position.
— General Adolf Galland, Luftwaffe.
On This Date
---In 1867... Wilbur Wright born in Millville, Indiana.
---In 1912... Harriet Quimby, the first American woman pilot, lands after a solo flight across the English Channel from Dover to Calais, France.
---In 1941... Igor I. Sikorsky impressively demonstrates the capabilities of his VS-300 helicopter by hovering virtually motionless over Stratford (Connecticut) Airport for one hour, five minutes. Powered by a large, 90-hp engine, it sets a new helicopter record.
---In 1964…The first XAIM-47A air-to-air missile is fired from a YF-12. (Q)
---In 1970…Apollo 16 - USA Manned Lunar Lander (April 16-27, 1972) launched. Crew: John W. Young, Charles M. Duke, Jr., Thomas K. Mattingly II. Young and Duke landed on April 21, 1972, at the Descartes crater located at latitude 9°00' N and longitude 15°31' E. They deployed instruments, drove the lunar rover, and collected 94.7 kilograms of samples during a 71-hour surface stay.
---In 1973... The Florida State Senate votes unanimously to restore the name “Cape Canaveral” to the NASA establishment which was renamed “Cape Kennedy” shortly after the President’s assassination.
---In 1994…A Royal Navy Sea Harrier is shot down over Serbia by a SA-7 Grail. The pilot was later rescued.
Daily Video
Editor’s Choice
Humor
You Know You have been in Afghanistan 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
[b]Trivia
Trainer ID
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
