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Take a tour of the all-new Airbus A350XWB
Airbus is showing off its newest passenger plane, the A350XWB, to potential customers around the world. CNN reports that the plane is exceptionally quiet, and features include flat floors thanks to IFE fiber optics; LED lighting with custom color permutations; and lower cabin pressure that may help passengers fight off jet lag.
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Bombardier looks to China, structures for growth
With its star commercial aircraft still grounded and once-promising partnerships with Russian industry less certain, Bombardier will shift attention to its neglected aerostructures business to drive revenue growth while continuing to attempt to unlock the Chinese market and return the CSeries to flight. Second quarter earnings announced by Bombardier’s aerospace division paint a mixed picture. Revenues have increased year-over-year from $2.3 to $2.5 billion. Operating earnings also have improved by 0.9 percentage points compared to last year, but remain below expectations at $141 million, or 5.6% of revenues.
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Bombardier may query P&W on CSeries engine fix
Bombardier may seek more information before accepting Pratt & Whitney's proposed solution to the engine malfunction that has kept the CSeries flight test fleet grounded for two months, executives say. The aircraft manufacturer is still evaluating P&W's proposed fix for the oil system failure that damaged the PW1500G engine and the fuselage of FTV-1 during a 29 May ground test, says Bombardier chief executive Pierre Beaudoin.
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BA crew autopsies show organophosphate poisoning
Sustained exposure to organophosphates (OP) from contaminated cabin air contributed to the death of a 43-year-old British Airways pilot, a group of medical experts believe. The findings are likely to increase pressure on the industry to take the issue of sustained crew exposure to engine bleed air more seriously. Airlines and governments have previously dismissed suggestions that bleed air can be a factor behind flightcrew falling ill. The pilot, senior first officer Richard Westgate, started flying professionally in 1996 and worked for various airlines before joining BA in 2007. He died in December 2012 after years of increasingly serious symptoms of sickness that went undiagnosed in the UK, despite reference to 15 different medical consultants.
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China Lifts ATC Measures Over Military Exercises
China will lift on Friday air traffic control measures imposed to allow military exercises which have caused major delays and flight cancellations. Flights in the country's eastern, central and southern regions will return to normal once the restrictions are lifted, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said in a statement posted on its website late on Thursday. The Public Security Bureau had said flights could still be affected until mid-August. Xinhua said military exercises will continue in coastal areas in the southeast after the air control restrictions are lifted. Hundreds of flights have been delayed or cancelled since July 20 due to the air traffic controls.
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Movie trailer released for "Aviation: The Invisible Highway"
Aviation is going through a tough year with the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 and the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, as well as the recent crashes of Air Alergie flight AH5017 and TransAsia Airways flight GE222. To a much less serious degree, the state of aviation is plagued by complaints and general dissatisfaction with the boarding and flight experience. In the midst of both catastrophe and confusion, it can be difficult to appreciate the technical innovations that characterize air travel today, and to appreciate the fact that it can convey people around the world in a matter of hours using a a system that almost always safely delivers its passengers to their intended destinations.
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International Experts Reach MH17 Crash Site
The OSCE said its monitors, accompanied by Dutch and Australian experts, reached the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, two weeks after the plane came down. "OSCE... monitors reach MH17 crash site for first time in almost week, accompanied by four Dutch, Australian experts. Used new route to access," the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe posted on Twitter.
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Nigeria Starts Airport Screening For Ebola
Nigeria's civil aviation authority (NCAA) said on Thursday it had started temperature screening passengers arriving from places at risk from Ebola and had suspended pan-African airline Asky for bringing the first case to Lagos. Ebola has been blamed for 729 deaths in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, according to the World Health Organization. One died in Lagos, a crowded city of 21 million people with some of Africa's worst sanitation and health care. "Screening and monitoring is being done at all major international airports. It entails checking passengers' temperatures with a hand-held machine," NCAA spokesman Sam Adurogboye said, adding this meant for any journey that passed through Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone.
LinkAirlines
ANA firms order for 30 A320neo-family jets
Japan's ANA Holdings has firmed its agreement for 30 Airbus A320neo jets, and will become the first operator of the type in the country. Deliveries of the new fleet, comprising 23 A321neo and seven A320neo aircraft, will begin in 2016.
The re-engined jets will provide "maximum flexibility and improved fuel efficiency", says ANA president Shinichiro Ito.
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Delta enhances rewards program for corporate customers
Delta Air Lines has made several changes to its corporate-customer rewards program, SkyBonus. The changes increase reward opportunities for flights on its premium service from New York to the West Coast and swapping region-specific awards with a more flexible system-wide redemption offering.
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Hawaiian Airlines creates role to oversee Honolulu hub
Hawaiian Airlines has named Linda Srabian as managing director, Honolulu hub. The position was created to oversee customer service and other operations at the Honolulu International Airport. "Linda's position was created to help develop and align our operational growth strategy with our long-term business goals," said Huy Vo, senior specialist, public relations at the carrier.
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IAG to firm eight A350s and take eight A330s for Iberia
International Airlines Group is exercising options on eight Airbus A350-900 and will also obtain eight A330-200s for Spanish carrier Iberia. They will be delivered from 2015-20, says IAG. The aircraft will be used to replace 16 Airbus A340s within the airline’s long-haul fleet. IAG had already secured commercial terms for the A350s under a broader long-haul order disclosed last year.
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JetBlue to expand Caribbean service from JFK
JetBlue Airways announced it will begin service between New York and Curaçao, an island located in the southern Caribbean Ocean off the northern coast of Venezuela, on December 2. The service will operate twice a week, using Airbus A320 aircraft. Flights will depart New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and will arrive at Curaçao International Airport at 2:30 p.m. From Curaçao, flights will depart at 3:30 p.m., also on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and arrive in New York at 7:14 p.m.
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Lufthansa's Q2 Profit Falls On Lower Fares, Strikes
Lufthansa reported a lower second-quarter profit as ticket prices fell on North American, Asian and European routes and it lost business due to a strike by pilots. Lufthansa's second-quarter operating profit was EUR€359 million (USD$480.9 million), down from EUR€431 million the previous year. Second quarter sales were down 2.1 percent at EUR€6.3 billion (USD$8.43 billion). "We are not happy with the second quarter... We have a lot of catching up to do in the summer," Chief Financial Officer Simone Menne said on a results news conference call.
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United uses humor to spread message in safety video
United Airlines is taking a humorous approach to its latest safety video, which also promotes the carrier's global network. "We're working on being the world's most friendly airline," said Mark Krolick, managing director of marketing and product development at the carrier. "That goes into everything we do -- including the safety video."
LinkMilitary
USAF debates future fighter requirement
The next generation of weapons technology that replaces the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35 may not be a single-seater or even a fighter, but the end result should have a larger magazine, according to the retiring head of the US Air Force’s Air Combat Command (ACC). Bringing to light at least five years of internal discussions about a so-called “sixth-generation fighter”, Gen Mike Hostage’s remarks on 30 July at an event hosted by the Air Force Association (AFA) illustrates the rapidly evolving nature of the air dominance mission.
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Aviation Quote
The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.
— Epicurus
On This Date
---In 1907... The Aeronautical Division of the US Army Signal Corps is created. Their goal is, “to study the flying machine and the possibility of adapting it to military purposes.”
---In 1916... The first issue of America’s most influential and long-running aircraft magazine appears at a price of 5 cents. Called Aviation and Aeronautical Engineering, it is ancestor of Aviation Week & Space Technology and is published twice a month.
---In 1929... Dr. Hugo Eckener commands the first airship flight to circumnavigate the globe when the flight leaves Friedrichshafen, Germany. Graf Zeppelin arrives back at Friedrichshafen on September 4, having logged 21,000 mi. in 12 days, 12 hours, 20 minutes flying time.
---In 1941…The United States embargoes the sale of aviation fuel to Japan.
---In 1941…First flight of the Grumman TBF Avenger.
---In 1946... British European Airways (BEA) is established under the Civil Aviation Act of 1946, which makes the entire British air transport industry nationalized.
---In 1946…Scandinavian Air System (SAS) is founded.
---In 1951…Japan Airlines founded.
---In 1956…First flight of the Aeritalia G.91.
---In 1966…First flight of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30.
---In 1972…Delta Air Lines absorbs Northeast Airlines.
---In 1977… Francis Gary Powers dies in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles. (Q)
---In 1981…First flight of the Lockheed TR-1 Dragonlady.
---In 1983…America West Airlines commences operations.
---In 1997…Boeing and McDonnell Douglas complete merger forming The Boeing Company.
Daily Video
Editor’s Choice
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.
Trivia
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