Boeing Under Pressure To Lift 737 Output Ray Conner, chief executive of Boeing's commercial aircraft business, said the plane maker is feeling "incredible pressure" to increase the production rate of the 737, another signal the company is poised to announce further rate increases beyond current targets. "There's incredible pressure to go higher" in rate, said Conner at a news conference in New York to announce an order for 100 737 MAX from Ryanair. "We still see tremendous demand across the board, way beyond 47 a month," Conner said, referring to the target of producing 47 737s a month, starting in 2017. Boeing currently produces 42 737s a month at its factory in Washington state, using fuselage sections produced by Spirit Aerosystems in Kansas. Link
London helicopter crash report criticises construction regulations A helicopter pilot died because the AgustaWestland AW109E he was flying hit a crane on a building under construction beside the river Thames in London while it was partially obscured by cloud, according to the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch. The AAIB report also concludes the designated helicopter route above the river at that point had been rendered non-viable under certain circumstances by the construction of this building and another facing it across the river, but that none of the authorities appeared to have noticed this. Link
Ebola Spreading, Many More Cases Soon - WHO Liberia, the country worst hit by West Africa's Ebola epidemic, should see thousands of new cases in coming weeks as the virus spreads exponentially, the WHO said on Monday. The epidemic, the worst since the disease was discovered in 1976, has killed 2,100 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria and has spread to Senegal. The World Health Organization believes it will take six to nine months to contain and may infect up to 20,000 people. In Liberia, the disease has already killed 1,089 people - more than half of all deaths reported since March in this regional epidemic. "Transmission of the Ebola virus in Liberia is already intense and the number of new cases is increasing exponentially," the UN agency said in a statement. "The number of new cases is moving far faster than the capacity to manage them in Ebola-specific treatment centers." Link
Airlines
Satisfaction on the rise for Delta customers Delta Air Lines has improved its ratings for customer satisfaction, according to a recent survey by Airfarewatchdog. Delta also reduced the number of flight cancellations and increased its on-time arrivals. Link
Ryanair orders up to 200 197-seat 737 Max jets Irish budget carrier Ryanair is ordering up to 200 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, which will be configured with a higher-density seat layout unveiled by the airframer earlier this year. Ryanair is ordering 100 firm aircraft and placing options on another 100, the carrier says. The jets will be fitted with 197 seats. The airline will take delivery of the jets – branded as the ‘Max 200’ – from 2019 to 2024. Link
Southwest Airlines announces new "Heart" livery Southwest Airlines revealed a new "Heart" livery today at a news conference. The carrier last changed its livery in January 2001, and has since acquired AirTran Airways. "With all these exciting changes happening, we thought it was time for a new visual expression of our brand -- one that marries our past to our present and sets the course for where we're headed in the future," said Southwest CEO Gary Kelly in a statement. Link
UPS unveils plan for smoother holiday deliveries UPS released details of a plan to ensure on-time holiday deliveries in 2014. This year, the package delivery company will operate its full delivery network on the day after Thanksgiving. Last year, UPS only operated its air delivery on that date. Link
Airports
Dubai To Spend USD$32 Billion On Airport Expansion Dubai will spend USD$32 billion on expanding its second airport to handle over 200 million people annually next decade, roughly three times the current level of passenger traffic through the emirate. The expansion could allow Emirate to shift its operations to the new facility by the mid-2020s, airport officials said. That might prompt other international airline operations in Dubai to follow suit because of business ties to the Emirates group. Al Maktoum Airport began accepting passengers in October last year and currently has a capacity of only about 5 million people per year. It opened some four years later than originally planned after a financial crisis forced Dubai to revise some of its mega-projects. Link
London Airport Re-Opens After Suspicious Item Destroyed British police said London Luton Airport had reopened after they carried out a controlled explosion of a suspicious item which forced the airport to be evacuated on Monday afternoon. All flights to the airport 35 miles north of London, the country's sixth biggest, were suspended and roads leading to the airport were closed, after concerns were raised about the item when it went through a security search. Bomb disposal experts were called in and a controlled explosion was carried out. Link
Military
Greek air force investigates cause of A-7 crash The Greek air force is investigating the cause of a non-fatal accident involving one of its Vought A-7 Corsairs, just weeks before the type’s retirement from use. During the incident on 26 August, the pilot of the single-engined strike aircraft ejected near Komotini in northern Greece, and escaped injury. The air force says the factors behind the incident – which happened while the aircraft was involved in a mock dogfight with another A-7 – are under investigation. Assigned to the 116th Fighter Wing, the pair had taken off from Araxos air base. Link
Pakistan receives last upgraded F-16s Turkish Aerospace Industries has delivered its last four modernised Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs to the Pakistan air force, concluding a “Peace Drive 2” program signed in 2009. A total of 41 aircraft have undergone avionics and structural modernisation activity at TAI’s Kazan/Ankara facilities since work started in 2010. This involved the replacement of more than 1,300 parts, with each aircraft taking around six months to update. The company also provided training for Pakistan air force personnel. Link
Glimmers of hope for South Africa's underfunded air force Declining budgets have stunted many air arms over the past decade, but few have been affected so badly by a lack of funding as the South African Air Force (SAAF). There are glimmers of financial hope on the horizon, but much depends on South Africa’s legislators approving a defence review that has been stalled in the parliamentary process for more than a year. By 2013, around half of the SAAF’s front line force of 26 Saab Gripens – 17 single-seat Gripen Cs and nine two-seater Ds – had been placed in storage. An estimated six to 10 were available for flight, but a shortage of pilots meant only around six were capable of being flown on any one day. Similarly, last year its fleet of 30 AgustaWestland A109LUH light utility helicopters was almost totally grounded. The service found the type vastly more complex to operate than the 1960s-vintage Sud Alouette IIIs it had previously fielded. Link
UK's second aircraft carrier will enter service UK Prime Minister David Cameron has announced the Ministry of Defence will bring its second aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, into service – a reversal of a decision made in 2010. In the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) released in 2010 the government said it would mothball the second carrier, but this decision has been reversed in an effort to “project power globally”, Cameron said at the 2014 NATO summit in Newport, Wales. Link
Corporate
Cessna clinches US FAA certification for CJ3+ Cessna has secured US Federal Aviation Administration certification for its Citation CJ3+. The airframer hopes the type will help invigorate the embattled light business jet sector, in which it is the dominant player with six types in its stable. Approval of the seven-seat twinjet comes six months after its launch. The type is one of a quartet of revamped designs delivered by the airframer over the past 12 months. These include the light-cabin Citation M2 – derived from the out-of-production CJ1, the midsize Sovereign+ – a revamp of the 10-year-old Sovereign, and the high-speed X+ – an upgraded version of the 14-year-old Citation X. Link
Aviation Quote
As of 1992, in fact—though the picture would have improved since then—the money that had been made since the dawn of aviation by all of this country's airline companies was zero. Absolutely zero.
---In 1830... Charles Durant, America's 1st great balloonist, makes his 1st U.S. ascent at Castle Garden, New York. He stays in the air for two hours, landing at South Amboy, New Jersey. His skill and enthusiasm inspire a passion for ballooning in America.
--- In 1911... The 1st mail carried by air in the United Kingdom is delivered. The mail contains messages for King George V and other members of the British royal family.
---In 1944…The sole completed McDonnell XP-67 Bat prototype is destroyed by an engine fire, prompting USAAF leaders to declare the aircraft redundant and cancel the program a week later.
---In 1980… Island Air, a Hawaiian airline, started operations.
---In 1999…Afriqiyah Airways formed.
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Humor
WHY I WANT TO BE A PILOT
When I grow up I want to be a pilot because it's a fun job and easy to do. That's why there are so many pilots flying around these days. Pilots don't need much school. They just have to learn to read numbers so they can read their instruments.
I guess they should be able to read a road map, too. Pilots should be brave to they won't get scared it it's foggy and they can't see, or if a wing or motor falls off.
Pilots have to have good eyes to see through the clouds, and they can't be afraid of thunder or lightning because they are much closer to them than we are.
The salary pilots make is another thing I like. They make more money than they know what to do with. This is because most people think that flying a plane is dangerous, except pilots don't because they know how easy it is. I hope I don't get airsick because I get carsick and if I get airsick, I couldn't be a pilot and then I would have to go to work.
— purported to have been written by a fifth grade student at Jefferson School, Beaufort, SC. It was first published in the South Carolina Aviation News.
And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen
