NewsCommercial
Boeing blames delivery schedule for Delta A350 deal
Boeing attributes the loss of a 50-aircraft Delta Air Lines order announced on 20 November to a lack of available delivery slots. “Boeing competed for the order with the 787-9, but we did not have enough 787 positions available in the timeframe that met Delta’s requirement,” Boeing says in a statement. Delta instead ordered 25 Airbus A350-900s and 25 A330-900s, with deliveries beginning in 2017 for the former and 2019 for the latter.
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Boeing Says No Plans For Longer Range 737 MAX
Boeing said it has no plans to extend the range of the 737 MAX 9 in response to Airbus's move to offer a longer range version of its A321. "We are very happy with where the MAX 9 sits and feel the competition is simply doing things to catch up with it," Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing at Boeing commercial planes said. Last month, Airbus said it would add fuel tanks to the A321neo to increase its range, targeting a market niche left open by the out-of-production Boeing 757. Airbus said the plane's range would be about 100 nautical miles more than that of the 757-200W. The market for these single-aisle aircraft is crucial for both companies, as it will account for nearly 70 percent of new aircraft deliveries worth some USD$2.5 trillion over the next 20 years, according to Boeing estimates.
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Air Wisconsin nearing deal with Delta for 26 CRJ200s
Air Wisconsin has reached an agreement in principal to operate 26 Bombardier CRJ200s for Delta Air Lines beginning in 2015. The first 50-seat aircraft will likely enter service as Delta Connection in January 2015 with all 26 operating by the end of 2015, the Appleton, Wisconsin-based regional carrier confirms. “Air Wisconsin is very pleased to have reached an agreement in principle to join the Delta Connection family,” it says. The 26 aircraft are coming from Atlanta-based Delta’s wholly-owned subsidiary Endeavor Air, the mainline carrier confirms.
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Pilots union faces Friday deadline for American proposal
The Allied Pilots Association told its members Wednesday that American Airlines has set a Friday deadline to agree generally with American’s proposed contract to cover pilots at American and US Airways. Otherwise, the airline will ask for binding arbitration, members were told. That’s the next step laid out in a memo of understanding between American and APA if there’s no consensual agreement. The union doesn’t have to have a tentative agreement wrapped up. However, in a Wednesday evening hotline, APA told members that further talks have to be based on the company’s last offer, not the union’s.
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Azul reveals international product
Brazil’s Azul has unveiled more details of its product on its new international flights, which begin on 1 December to the USA. The airline will begin service from Viracopos-Campinas to Fort Lauderdale from 1 December and Orlando from 15 December with Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
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Delta buys 50 Airbus widebodies in long-range fleet expansion
According to sources, Delta Air Lines has reportedly ordered 25 Airbus A350-900 planes and 25 A330-900s, which carry a total list price of $13 billion.
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Delta to expand flights to Alaska cities from Seattle
Delta Air Lines plans to add service to two cities in Alaska from Seattle. Delta will offer once-a-day service starting in May to Ketchikan and Sitka. "The State of Alaska is an important element to our hub in Seattle," said Mike Madeiros, a vice president at Delta.
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Ethiopian To 'Take Advantage' Of Intra-African Routes
Ethiopian Airlines hopes a decision to open up intra-African aviation routes will be fully implemented in 2015. Many African states adopted the Yamoussoukro Decision in 1999 to open intra-African aviation routes but so far the decision has not been implemented by governments, meaning air travel between countries in Africa largely remains restricted. "The hubs that we see today in South Africa, Kenya, and Abuja are not developing as well as they should because inter-Africa traffic is still restricted," Tewolde Gebremariam, chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines, told the CAPA World Aviation Summit in Antwerp. He said he hoped a meeting between heads of state in January 2015 would deliver progress.
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Gulf airlines attack European protectionism
Gulf airlines have upped their attack on European countries who allegedy restrict access to their main airports to featherbed national carriers. Speaking at a panel discussion at the Arab Air Carriers Association Organisation annual meeting in Dubai, outspoken Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker accused Air France and Lufthansa of “stirring a protectionist approach” by Paris and Berlin. “Europe is much worse than the US when it comes to protectionism,” he says. “We have plenty of evidence to prove it.” He says an unwillingness by pilots and other employees to accept reform means these carriers are increasingly “inefficient” compared with Gulf rivals. He adds: “Their costs are skyrocketing and the unions are to be blamed.” Al Baker says there are “no problems” with access to the UK – British Airways is a fellow member of Oneworld. “The problems are in the Netherlands, France, Germany and elsewhere,” he says.
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Hawaiian Airlines gives cause to celebrate
An editorial in the Garden Island in Hawaii says more than eight years of service by Hawaiian Airlines is cause for celebration, as the airlines has helped boost tourism to the islands. "We've come a very long way since 1929, and being able to celebrate 85 years of continuous service is an exceptional achievement in itself for Hawaiian Airlines," said Mark Dunkerley, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines.
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Kuwait Airways To Buy 10 Boeing 777-300ERs
Kuwait Airways will buy 10 Boeing 777-300ERs, in a deal worth USD$3.3 billion at list price. The carrier will take delivery of the aircraft from November 2016. The 777s are to upgrade the airline's fleet and help launch new routes, Rasha al-Roumi, chairwoman and managing director of Kuwait Airways said in a statement by Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
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Southwest plans to expand service in 2015Southwest Airlines is forecasting solid unit revenue growth in CY2015 as it joins the rest of its US airline peers in growing capacity year-on-year. The airline projects a 6% expansion in supply largely driven by increasing stage length as it capitalises on the lifting of long haul flight restrictions from its Dallas Love Field headquarters. The airline believes it can drive unit revenue growth in CY2015 at the same rate as its projected capacity increase while decreasing unit costs between 1% and 2%.
LinkAirports
FBI, FAA Investigating Drones Near JFK Runways
Three commercial pilots reported seeing drones, some flying as high as 3,000 feet, near their landing approaches at New York's John F Kennedy Airport. The FBI and the FAA said they were looking into the reports, the most recent of which came on Wednesday at 1:50 pm local time. The pilot of JetBlue flight B6842 from Savannah, Georgia, noticed an unmanned craft about two miles from the runway, the FAA said in a statement. "We are aware of it and are looking into it with our partners," FBI spokesman Chris Sinos said. Pilots of two other passenger planes reported seeing a drone flying at altitudes of between 2,000-3,000 feet on their final approach to the airport just after 8 pm on Sunday, the FAA statement said.
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Oslo Airport inks deal for regular biofuel deliveries
The Oslo Airport will become the first airport with regular deliveries of biofuel in 2015. Three carriers have signed an agreement, along with the airport operator, with Statoil Aviation to provide the biofuel.
LinkMilitary
Brazil begins flight training on Gripen
The first two Brazilian pilots to undergo training for the Saab Gripen NG multirole fighter have completed their first flight on the type: a 50min training sortie conducted over the Baltic Sea on 19 November. Capt Gustavo de Oliveira Santos and Capt Ramon Pascotto Fórneas – former Northrop F-5 and Dassault Mirage 2000 pilots – of the Brazilian air force have been training in Sweden at Satenas air base, where all Gripen training takes place, according to a statement from the service. They flew the Gripen D variant and were accompanied by Swedish air force pilots. After take-off, an ascent was made to 35,000ft in 1.5min, before manoeuvres were carried out in order to meet the training schedule set by the Swedish air force.
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France confirms A330 tanker selection
Paris has confirmed its selection of the Airbus A330 multirole tanker transport (MRTT), with 12 of the type to replace its Boeing C/KC-135s from late this decade. Announced on 20 November, the development will lead to the French air force receiving a first A330 MRTT in 2018 and a second in 2019, says Airbus Defence & Space. The remaining examples will follow “at a rate of one or two per year”, it adds. “The contract agreed between the French [DGA] procurement agency and Airbus Defence & Space is now ready for official award,” the company says.
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Aviation Quote
We have clearance, Clarence. Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor?
— Cockpit crew in the movie Airplane.
On This Date
---In 1783... The 1st free or untethered human flight takes place when Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier flies as high as 500 feet and travels 5 miles over Paris in a Montgolfier hot-air balloon.
---In 1981…Aeroflot is banned from flying to the United States, after an earlier Aeroflot flight that overflew American military installations, straying from its supposed flight path.
---In 1989… British Airways Boeing 747 narrowly misses crashing into the Penta hotel near Heathrow Airport.
Daily Video
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Humor
Flying That Damned Airplane
A fighter pilot goes to a bar after a good days flying. Whilst there he meets a young, attractive and available lady. She is charmed by his tales of aerial combat, high speed flight, and death defying feats. The inevitable happens and they slip away to somewhere more comfortable for an evening’s intimate entertainment.
Much later that night the pilot drives home to his long suffering wife. On the way he puts on his oxygen mask and draws the straps up as tight as they will go. When he gets home he removes the mask and bravely enters the house. Immediately he tells the wife exactly and honestly what he has been up to that evening.
She replies: "Do not lie to me, I can see you have been flying that damned airplane yet again."
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Delta already does fly Juneau. Seasonally.ANCFlyer wrote:"Delta Air Lines plans to add service to two cities in Alaska from Seattle. Delta will offer once-a-day service starting in May to Ketchikan and Sitka."
Why?
Why not Juneau, Alaska's capital city?
Regardless, this'll piss off AS . . .
