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Commercial

Airbus to acquire digital flight ops solutions provider Navtech
Airbus has agreed to buy Navtech, a Canadian company specializing in flight operations tools such as electronic flight bags. Waterloo, Ontario-based Navtech generates around $42 million in annual revenue and employs about 250 people. According to the company, its product suite includes aeronautical charts, navigation data solutions and products to optimize flight planning, aircraft performance and crew planning. It has over 400 customers, including airlines.
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Boeing pays $12 million fine as part of safety settlement with FAA
Boeing has agreed to pay the US government $12 million as part of a safety compliance settlement with FAA that also includes a pledge by the manufacturer to improve its certification processes. FAA does not allege that “unsafe conditions” were created by Boeing, but the agency had initiated two safety compliance cases against Boeing and also had “11 other matters [with Boeing] that were opened during the last several years,” it said in a statement. The “comprehensive” settlement resolves all issues with Boeing, FAA said.
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Pratt & Whitney Delays Some Engine Deliveries - Report
Pratt & Whitney is suffering delays in the delivery of some of its latest generation of engines for narrow-body airliners. The Geared Turbofan engine is about to go into service with the Airbus A320neo, and is also earmarked for other aircraft projects including Bombardier's newly certified CSeries.
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Airlines

AirBaltic to finalize 20% privatization in January
AirBaltic will sign an investor agreement with German businessman Ralf Dieter Montag-Girmes in January, once it has “closed all matters related to its Bombardier CS300 order.” On Nov. 3, Latvia’s cabinet approved the sale a 20% stake in airBaltic to private investor Montag-Girmes for €52 million ($57 million) and agreed to invest a further €80 million in the airline directly.
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AirBridgeCargo to increase US-Asia connections
Russia’s AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) will focus on US-Asia connections in 2016. ABC intends to increase connectivity options via its Moscow hub to all US destinations from Asia. According to a carrier statement, ABC will expand and enhance its expansion by introducing additional frequencies in major markets. Also, the airline will continue investing in expanding its fleet.
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Air Canada announces breakthrough in union talks
Air Canada has announced a tentative contract with its cargo, airport ramp and technical maintenance workers. The draft agreement with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers will be in effect for a decade if ratified. "This new agreement with the IAMAW on collective agreement terms for 10 years is an important achievement that will support long-term and profitable growth at Air Canada and one that recognizes the important contribution of IAMAW members," said Air Canada President and CEO Calin Rovinescu.
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CAAC approves launch of AVIC Cargo Airlines
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has approved the launch of AVIC Cargo Airlines, paving the way for the Chinese manufacturer’s sale of its MA600 freighter. Formal operations are expected to launch next year. AVIC’s new cargo venture has a registered capital of CNY500 million ($77.14 million). AVIC subsidiary Joy Air holds a 45% stake with an investment of CNY225 million, while Guangzhou Dongling Industrial Investment Co. (CNY175 million) and Beijing Fuda Capital Management Co. (CNY100 million) holds a 35% and 20% stake, respectively.
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Fire-damaged BA 777 to be repaired
British Airways is to repair and return to service the Boeing 777-200ER badly damaged during an engine fire in Las Vegas. The aircraft is to undergo repairs at McCarran airport following the 8 September fire in the left-hand General Electric GE90 powerplant.
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Cebu Pacific set to expand into Russia, Taiwan and UAE
The Philippines Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has granted Filipino low-cost carrier (LCC) Cebu Pacific Air new schedule allocations to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Taiwan and Russia. The LCC, which is looking to further expand its international network, said it will now be able to launch seven more weekly flights from Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport to any destination in the UAE, in addition to its existing quota of daily flights between Manila and Dubai.
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JetBlue announces daily service connecting Fla., Puerto Rico
JetBlue Airways has announced plans to provide daily flights to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., beginning May 5. The carrier also announced more flights connecting Boston to Fort Lauderdale and Baltimore.
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Southwest To Pay USD$2.8 Mln To Settle Safety Allegations
Southwest Airlines has agreed to pay USD$2.8 million to settle a lawsuit involving allegations that it violated US Federal Aviation Administration safety regulations. The settlement requires operational changes by Southwest designed to enhance its oversight of third parties that perform maintenance on Southwest aircraft, the Justice Department said in a statement.
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Thai Receives All-Clear For EU Flights
Thai Airways has passed an audit by the European Aviation Safety Agency allowing it to continue to fly to the European Union. Thailand is under international scrutiny for its failure to tackle flaws in its commercial aviation standards.
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Tiger Airways shareholders express ‘concern’ on SIA offer
The Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) offer to owners for the outstanding 44.2% of shares in Tiger Airways has “raised concerns of minority shareholders,” says a Singapore-based investors group, the Securities Investors Association Singapore (SIAS).
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VLM takes over InterSky routes in Friedrichshafen
Belgian regional carrier VLM has taken over routes from Friedrichshafen Airport in south Germany after Austrian regional carrier InterSky ceased operations in early November. VLM will operate from Friedrichshafen each twice daily (during weekdays) to Berlin Tegel, Düsseldorf and Hamburg, on board 50-seat Fokker 50s.
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Airports

Jet Airways closes Brussels hub, transfers to Amsterdam
India’s Jet Airways, which recently announced a strategic codeshare program with SkyTeam alliance partners Delta Air Lines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, will close its hub in Brussels and move to Amsterdam Schiphol.
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Military

Australia considers three more Boeing CH-47F Chinooks
Australia has expressed interest in buying another three Boeing CH-47F “Chinook” heavy-lift rotorcraft, under an estimated $180 million deal that would bring the nation’s inventory to 10. The Royal Australian Army took delivery of seven new F-models this year, as its long-serving CH-47Ds are put out to pasture. A final delivery was made in August, and now the US government has approved the potential sale of another three aircraft.
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Embraer KC-390 to rival turboprops in Canadian FWSAR comp
Embraer will put forward an ambitious bid to replace Canada’s antiquated fixed-wing search-and-rescue fleets, offering its in-development KC-390 military transport for the role. The Brazilian manufacturer says the KC-390 is “ideally suited” for the mission, currently performed by six de Havilland Canada CC-115 Buffalo and 13 Lockheed Martin CC-130 Hercules aircraft.
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France orders seven more Tiger attack helicopters
France has ordered an additional seven Airbus Helicopters Tiger HAD attack rotorcraft, as part of a 2015 budget update. Deliveries of the helicopters will take place in 2017-18 and will bring the French army’s Tiger inventory to 67.
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Aviation Quote

We watch the liner in the distance glide out from the sheltered waters of the bay, Into the arms of ocean's vastness won. Enfolded in infinity of tide We lose it, and the last faint smoke line gray Merges into the sunset and is gone. Vanished from sight and lost, art thou, at sea, Swallowed in ocean's blue immensity? Ah, no. Though trackless be the deep, and wide, Thy pilot shall bring thee triumphantly Into the harbor on the other side.

— Edith E. McGee

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Trivia

General Trivia

1. What was probably the most unconventional means by which a fighter pilot attacked and downed an enemy aircraft?


2. What Japanese automobile manufacturer produced, had certified and marketed a post-WW2, single-engine, four-place, piston-powered airplane?


3. A fire truck pulls alongside and in front of a taxiing airplane that had just made an emergency landing. A firefighter steps off of the truck and makes a beckoning movement with his left hand and arm. What should a pilot do?


4. What famous American corporation is named after the aircraft carrier from which this company’s founder flew F6F Hellcats during WW2?


5. True or False, a minute of latitude in central Alabama is larger than a minute of longitude in central Mississippi?