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Boeing to hold the course on 737 Max 7, exec says
Boeing is facing a drop in demand for its 737-700 and 737 Max 7 models, which both have fewer seats than larger variants of the 737. However, Boeing plans to keep its manufacturing schedule for the Max 7. "It's clear to us there is a place for the Max 7," said Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for Boeing. "It's something that's not going away."
LinkAirlines
TSA PreCheck now available to Air Canada passengers
Air Canada passengers traveling in the U.S. can now receive electronic boarding passes, allowing them access to expedited security screening through the Transportation Security Administration's PreCheck program.
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Alaska to offer daily Baltimore-L.A. flight in Sept.
Alaska Airlines is boosting its service at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, adding a new route to Los Angeles. The daily nonstop flight is scheduled to begin Sept. 9. Flights will depart Los Angeles International Airport at 10:10 p.m. with a 6:15 a.m. arrival the next day at BWI.
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Panasonic live TV and wi-fi to debut on ANA's 787-9
With Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) on 5 May to launch international services with its newly arrived Boeing 787-9s, passengers will be able to benefit from the latest Panasonic in-flight entertainment and connectivity system. The line-up includes its live television product, eXTV, which grants passengers the opportunity to view a host of live channels during their flight, including NHK World Premium, CNN and Sport 24.
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Delta hires fashion designer to revamp uniforms
Delta Air Lines has hired fashion designer Zac Posen to redesign its employee uniforms. Posen, the creative director of Brooks Brothers, is charged with bringing "American glamour back to flying."
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Germanwings Copilot Briefly Refused Medical Certificate In US
US authorities temporarily refused a private pilot's medical certificate in 2010 to the Germanwings Copilot, the pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a Germanwings plane last month, according to documents released by the Federal Aviation Administration. Voice and data recordings from the Germanwings flight on March 24 show the Germanwings Copilot locked the captain out of the cockpit and set the plane on course to crash into the French Alps, killing all 150 on board.
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JetBlue shows Cleveland rocks with new service from Boston
JetBlue Airways celebrated its first flight from Boston to Cleveland on Thursday with music from an Elvis impersonator on departure and the Cleveland Orchestra on arrival. JetBlue took over gate C4 in concourse C at the Cleveland Hopkins airport, which gives the carrier "enormous capacity to grow," said Ricky Smith, director of the airport.
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Shares of JetBlue Airways rise on Credit Suisse upgrade
JetBlue Airways Corp.'s stock JBLU, +5.02% climbed 1.1% in morning trade, bucking a selloff in the broader market, after Credit Suisse upgraded the air carrier on expectations that improving margins and upcoming catalysts could drive further outperformance.
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Malaysia Air To Sell Long-Haul Jets - Report
Malaysia Airlines is planning to sell off some of its aircraft as part of its restructuring efforts, aviation news website Flightglobal reported. After two air disasters and years of losses, the national carrier was taken private last year by Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah under a government bailout.
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Southwest luvs Pittsburgh, celebrates 10 years of service
Southwest Airlines will mark a decade of service in Pittsburgh on May 4. In 2005, Southwest offered 10 daily departures, which has grown to 32 daily departures this year. Dave Harvey, senior director of network planning for the carrier, said Southwest is considering Pittsburgh as a focus city.
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TAP Pilot Strike Effect Limited So Far
Portugal's state-owned flag carrier TAP said that 75 percent of scheduled flights had operated on the first morning of a 10-day strike by pilots. The airline had cancelled 38 out of a total of 156 scheduled flights by noon on Friday, a TAP spokeswoman said. But a spokesman for the pilots' union told the state news agency Lusa that participation in the strike would rise in the next few days. The strike comes at the start of the main tourism season and just before a May 15 deadline for bids to buy a majority stake in what is now a wholly state-owned company.
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United flies lost dog home to La. for free
United Airlines picked up the airfare to return Sam, a Yorkshire terrier, to his family in Louisiana from Iowa. An animal control officer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, found Sam, who had been missing since 2011. Sam flew home in first class on Wednesday courtesy of United.
LinkAirports
Sprint users to receive free Wi-Fi at 35 airports through Boingo deal
When faced with wasting precious data allotments, many travelers submit to paying for WiFi on the go. But Sprint customers will find their wallets staying a bit fatter with new, free access to Boingo Wireless hotspots in 35 U.S. airports, starting today. Sprint and Boingo announced their deal today, without disclosing financial details of the arrangement. Customers will be able to automatically connect to WiFi networks at a slew of airports, the companies said in a press release today, without dinging their data allowances.
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Regulatory
Lawmakers look to end random assignments to TSA PreCheck
Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., and Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., have proposed a bill that would prohibit the Transportation Security Administration from allowing travelers who have not submitted to background checks to receive expedited airport screening.
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Aviation Quote
The three worst things to hear in the cockpit:
The second officer says, "Oh shit!"
The first officer says, "I have an idea!"
The captain say, "Hey, watch this!"
— anon.
On This Date
---In 1911... The U.S. War Department approves a suggestion that S.C.No.1 (the Wright Flyer accepted by the Army August 2, 1909) be put at the disposal of the Smithsonian Institution for exhibition purposes following refurbishment.
---In 1924... The first helicopter flight in a closed circle is made in France by Etienne Oehmichen’s helicopter No.2. The previous month, it established a world record by flying 1,182 feet (360 meters).
---In 1936…Amy Johnson sets a speed record of 3 days, 6 hours and 26 minutes on a flight from England to South Africa in a Percival Gull Six (G-ADZO).
---In 1942…The Battle of the Coral Sea is fought between US Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carriers. It is the first battle between aircraft carriers in history and the first naval battle in history in which the opposing warships do not sight one another.
---In 1949…The Canadian Blue Devils aerobatic team is formed. Their fleet of RCAF de Havilland Vampire jets would grow to 6 before being disbanded after just over one year when the aircraft type was retired and the team disbanded, although they did perform one more time in August of 1951.
---In 1949…The “Superga Air Disaster”, a crash of a Fiat G212CP (I-ELCE) carrying the Torino A.C. football (soccer) after a game in Lisbon, takes place. Low clouds force them to descend to fly visually and collide with a hill near Turin, Italy. All 31 occupants perish.
---In 1959…First flight of the Pilatus PC-6.
---In 1967…The Lunar Orbiter 4 launches on a 180-day mission to take photographs of The Moon for research purposes. It would take over 500 photos before striking the surface.
---In 1972… Second series of three SR-71 HABU flights launched at Kadena. At 14:16, 14:18 and 15:22. These missions were coordinated sorties to lay down sonic booms over the Hanoi Hilton POW camp. These flight were designed to show solidarity with the prisoners.
---In 1972…An Aeroflot Yakalov Yak-40 (CCCP-87778) crashes due to windshear at Bratsk, Russia, killing all 18 onboard.
---In 1982…Argentinian Navy Super Étendard aircraft fatally damage the British destroyer Sheffield with an Exocet missile southeast of the Falkland Islands. Sheffield sinks on May 10.
---In 1982… The British lose their first Sea Harrier of the Falklands War, shot down by ground fire during a bombing raid over Goose Green. The pilot is killed.
---In 1989… Magellan, USA Venus Orbiter, launched. Magellan was released into Earth's orbit from a space shuttle and then injected into a transfer orbit to Venus by an upper stage. Its primary mission was to map Venus using synthetic aperture radar. The surface of Venus is obscured by thick clouds of carbon dioxide that makes the surface invisible to optical instruments. It arrived at Venus on August 10, 1990. Its radar imaging system was able to produce images at 300 meters/pixel resolution.
---In 2002…EAS Airlines Flight 4226, a BAC-111 (5N-ESF) on a flight from Kano to Lagos, Nigeria, crashes half a mile away from the airport. Both engines fail due to the ingestion of dust and soil after the pilot overshoots the runway on its takeoff roll. A school, 23 houses and a mosque are destroyed, with fatalities including 71 of the 77 people on the aircraft and an additional 78 on the ground.
---In 2003…Frontier Airlines increases service to Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Portland, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. Their regional operation Frontier JetExpress also adds regional jet service to Boise, Oklahoma City and Tucson, while discontinuing service to Oakland.
---In 2004…Air France and KLM merge.
---In 2004…US Airways becomes the 15th member of the airline coalition Star Alliance.
---In 2006…Hawaiian Airlines announces service to the mainland destinations of San Diego, Seattle and Portland with their four additional Boeing 767-300 airliners.
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Editor’s Choice
Trivia
General Trivia
1. The classic de Havilland DHC–2 Beaver is a large, single-engine, high-wing bush plane made in Canada. Why are its three fuel tanks (forward, center, and aft) in the fuselage below the cabin floor instead of in the wings?
2. A piano is optional equipment on both the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A380. What was the first passenger aircraft to have a piano for in-flight entertainment?
3. What is wrong with the following transmission from NorCal Approach Control? “November One-Four-Seven-Mike-Oscar is cleared for the Sacramento ILS approach to Runway One-Six-Right. Report passing Jarnu to Capitol Tower on One-Two-Five-Point-Seven.” (Knowledge of this airport or its approach is not needed to answer the question.)
4. A pilot is flying a typical light twin-engine, piston-powered airplane that is equipped for flight into known icing conditions. What aircraft item represents the greatest drain on electrical power in such an aircraft?
5. Each of the 50 states has an official bird, an official flower, and so forth, but only two have official aircraft. What are those states, and what are their official aircraft?
6. Of what aeronautical significance was the New York socialite, Mrs. Waldo Polk?
7. What is meant by the term hot refueling?
8. There is an airport that has a single runway designated as Runway 02G in one direction and Runway 20G in the other. What is the significance of the letter G in each of these runway numbers?
miamiair wrote:Regulatory
Lawmakers look to end random assignments to TSA PreCheck
Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., and Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., have proposed a bill that would prohibit the Transportation Security Administration from allowing travelers who have not submitted to background checks to receive expedited airport screening.
Link
