NewsCommercial
Boeing outpaces Airbus in first 9 months of 2014
Airbus delivered 443 aircraft for the first nine months of the year. Meanwhile, Boeing delivered 528 aircraft during the same time period. Airbus received net orders for 791 aircraft from January through September, while Boeing received net orders for 1,000 aircraft.
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US To Review Travel Screening For Ebola
The US administration is not considering a ban on visitors from countries most affected by the Ebola virus outbreak but is reviewing possible additional passenger screening measures. "A travel ban is not something that we're currently considering," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at a daily briefing. "We feel good about the measures that are already in place." But Earnest, speaking shortly before President Barack Obama was expected to receive an update on the outbreak in West Africa, added that the administration is not ruling out changes to screening procedures aimed at trying to identify potentially sick travellers.
LinkAirlines
AA CEO: Transatlantic demand continues to grow
Doug Parker, the chairman and CEO of American Airlines, said he sees continued growth in demand for transatlantic flights. "More [capacity] has been added in the last year or two years than demand has grown but demand has grown, and we foresee demand continuing to grow," Parker said.
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Air Canada Reaches Tentative Deal With Pilots
Air Canada has reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with its pilots' union, 1-1/2 years ahead of the end of the current contract at Canada's largest airline. Air Canada said the new 10-year deal, which is subject to ratification by about 3,000 pilots, will allow it to accelerate its growth plans. The airline has been pushing expansion of international flights and of Rouge, its low-cost carrier. A spokesman for Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA), the largest professional pilots union in Canada, said it had been approached by the carrier to begin early negotiations for a new contract.
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Alaska orders 10 more Boeing 737-900ERs
Alaska Airlines announced it has ordered 10 additional Boeing 737-900ERs. One aircraft will be delivered this week, and the rest of the order will be delivered over the next three years. "We're doubling down on our strength in Seattle," said Brad Tilden, CEO of Alaska Air Group.
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China Airlines takes delivery of first 777-300ER
China Airlines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 777-300ER as part of its long-haul fleet renewal plan. The Taiwanese flag carrier's -300ER is fitted with 359 seats in a three-class configuration. There are 40 seats in business class, 62 in premium economy and 256 in economy. The aircraft is also equipped with the Panasonic eX3 in-flight entertainment system.
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Delta could sue Dallas over airport gates, attorney says
An attorney for Delta Air Lines Inc. threatened to sue the city of Dallas unless it takes “immediate action to implement a short-term solution” that keeps the Atlanta-based airline flying from Dallas Love Field. In a nine-page letter to Dallas aviation director Mark Duebner, attorney Kenneth Quinn demanded that the city find room for Delta, which has been flying from Love Field since 2008. It flies five daily nonstops to Atlanta and had planned to add more flights after the Wright amendment expires Oct. 13. Earlier this week, the city told Delta that it would have to leave Love Field come Oct. 13 because there was no space to accommodate it.
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Virgin Atlantic axes loss-making carrier Little Red
Virgin Atlantic is to scrap its domestic UK short-haul operation, Little Red, in September next year after it proved unprofitable. Little Red has been serving Manchester, Edinburgh and Aberdeen from London Heathrow but the carrier’s load factors have consistently been poor. Over the first year its launch in March 2013 the carrier was achieving peak loads only in the mid-40s, as it struggled against the domestic presence of British Airways.
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Airfare remains a bargain for consumers
Airfares have remained stable despite a spate of airline mergers that industry watchers feared would result in higher ticket prices.
LinkAirports
Dallas airports get facelifts before end of Wright Amendment
Dallas Love Field and Dallas Love Field have both remodeled in preparation for the end of the Wright Amendment on Oct. 13. "The airport of the future really needs to be more than just a place where you walk off one plane and get on another," said Byford Treanor, vice president of customer service for DFW. The end of the amendment will allow long-haul domestic flights out of Love Field.
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New Orleans airport to close runway for electrical work
Louis Armstrong International Airport is alerting neighbors that electrical work on the airfield will produce changes in flight frequency in October and early November. It's part of a $12 million project that includes replacing the lighting along the runways, according to a statement from the airport. The north-south runway will be closed until Oct. 12, the announcement said, meaning flights will use the east-west runway and neighbors east of the airport might notice an increase in air traffic.
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Thailand To Go Ahead With USD$1.9 Bln Airport Expansion
Thailand's military government is go ahead with a THB62 billion baht (USD$1.9 billion) expansion plan at Bangkok's main Suvarnabhumi airport. Thailand will also build a third runway worth THB19 billion baht at the airport and plans to build another three provincial airports, transport minister Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong told reporters. "The second-phase expansion of Suvarnabhumi airport will have to be done quickly to meet increasing numbers of tourists," he said. A committee will be set up to look into project details before presenting them to cabinet for approval, he added.
LinkMilitary
A400M performs maximum-capacity airdrop
Airbus has demonstrated one of the A400M’s key contractual requirements, with an aircraft from the manufacturer’s “Grizzly” development fleet having performed a maximum-capacity airdrop. “In tests conducted at Cazaux, France, the aircraft dropped 24 1t container deliver systems in a single pass,” says Airbus Defence & Space. Loaded in two rows in the A400M’s cargo hold, these were released by gravity, says the company, which has distributed an image of the activity taken by France's DGA defence procurement agency.
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Australia debuts armed Super Hornets over Iraq
Royal Australian Air Force combat aircraft have performed their first operational mission over Iraq, the nation’s Department of Defence has confirmed. A pair of Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets took off from their forward operating base in the Middle East on 5 October for the combat debut, armed with Boeing JDAM-series GPS-guided bombs, Raytheon Paveway-series laser-guided bombs and air-to-air missiles.
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US Navy orders Gulfstream jet for test-range surveillance
The US Navy announced on 6 October its will purchase a Gulfstream G550 modified to carry the conformal airborne early warning system (CAEW). A request for proposals for a range support aircraft (RSA) was initially released in March 2013, resulting in the non-competitive contract award to Gulfstream because “no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements,” the document reads. The Navy will take delivery no later than the end of fiscal 2017.
LinkRegulatory
FAA comments on control center incident
Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Michael Huerta says the agency doesn't have technology in place to seamlessly take over air traffic control functions from an inoperable regional facility. "The current backup plan for the agency is to get everyone on the ground safe and get them to their destinations safe," he said.
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Opinion: Wright amendment no longer needed
Mitchell Schnurman of the Dallas Morning News writes that the Wright amendment is no longer needed. The amendment's restrictions at Love Field are being lifted, paving the way for fierce competition between the region's two hometown carriers: Southwest Airlines and American Airlines.
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Aviation Quote
It's a great day for TWA.
— William Compton, President Trans World Airlines Inc., on the day that U.S. District Judge Sue L. Robinson approved American Airlines' $200 million emergency financing plan, and cleared the way for the sale of America's longest-flying airline, 27 January, 2001. AMR soon laid off almost every former TWA employee.
On This Date
---In 1909... Glenn Curtiss becomes the 1st American to hold an FAI airplane certificate.
---In 1919…KLM is founded.
---In 1963…First flight of the Learjet 23 prototype, the very first Learjet built.
--In 1993…Air France is formed.
---In 1995…First flight of the Learjet 45.
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Humor
Trivia
Aircraft Parts Scramble
Note: Some may be two or three words…
1. AYRALVTO
2. EAKBLUHD
3. XNOLZHAUEZTSE (2Words)
4. NOIGRIT
5. NHSERSA
6. VNESOTINCADRDSTEEP (3Words)
7. BNRUNCAER (2Words)
8. APEMEEGNN
9. OACLCAUUTMR
10. IGNOCLW
--In 1993…Air France is formed.
