NewsAviation News
Solar Impulse 2 lands in Calif. after 62-hour Pacific crossing
Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard landed Solar Impulse 2 at Moffett Field in Mountain View, Calif., on Saturday after a 62-hour flight over the Pacific Ocean. "Arriving at the Golden Gate Bridge and thinking now it's a new era. Freedom is not about getting to a country, freedom is about being independent from fossil energy," Piccard said after landing.
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Alaska pilots to show off STOL skills at annual airshows
The 13th annual Valdez Fly-In and Air Show, scheduled for May 6-8 in Alaska, will again feature a competition that challenges pilots to show off their short takeoff and landing skills. The Valdez STOL competition has become so popular, it will also feature at the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture show in Oshkosh from July 25 to 31.
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Qatar Air Talks To Boeing After Airbus A320 Problems
Qatar Airways is speaking to Boeing about the possibility of securing substitute aircraft after further problems were discovered with the Airbus A320neo. The Gulf airline could walk away from between four and six aircraft orders that have yet to be delivered after problems affected the A320's hydraulics and software, Akbar al-Baker told reporters.
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Bombardier Says Iranian Sales Talks Progressing
Reports that Bombardier is involved in launching an airline in Iran are inaccurate, the Canadian plane maker said, although it confirmed it was in talks for sales as its executive chairman visited the country. Bombardier chairman Pierre Beaudoin led a delegation of company aviation and rail executives to Iran last week, but no deal has been reached yet on sales with Iranian customers, a company spokeswoman said.
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Airbus delivers first US-built A321 to JetBlue
Airbus has delivered the first aircraft built at its US manufacturing facility, an A321 designated for New York-based JetBlue Airways. The aircraft was produced at Airbus’s Mobile, Alabama A320 family final assembly plant. Airbus announced its commitment to build a single-aisle assembly line in Mobile, Alabama in 2012, and less than one year later, broke ground on the $600 million facility. The ceremonial inauguration of the plant came in September 2015. The JetBlue A321 had its first flight on March 21.
LinkAirlines
Air Nostrum still keen on Latin American growth post-Sol
Air Nostrum still sees investment opportunities in Latin America despite the collapse of Argentinian regional carrier Sol earlier this year. Discussing the market at the Routes Europe strategy summit today, the airline's network planner and scheduling director Miguel Oliver said: "We think there are more projects to go, not just in South America but also in Central America and more opportunities to export the model that we have here in Europe to South America and Central America."
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Airlines apply to DOT for daytime Haneda service
Four US airlines submitted applications to the Department of Transportation to offer daytime service to Tokyo's Haneda Airport. The US and Japan entered an agreement that allows for six new slots at Haneda, including five daytime slots and one nighttime slot.
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Alaska exec discusses benefits of Virgin America merger
Andrew Harrison, executive vice president and chief commercial officer with Alaska Airlines, discussed the upcoming merger with Virgin America. "And for us as a carrier who wants to be the premier carrier off the West Coast, a combined Alaska and Virgin America we believe provides a very powerful network, loyalty program, low fares, and low costs relative to their choices today off the West Coast," he said.
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Falko’s Trident Jet orders four more CRJ900s for lease to CityJet
Trident Jet (Jersey) Ltd., a sister company of UK-based lessor Falko Regional Aircraft, has ordered four more Bombardier CRJ900s for lease to Irish regional CityJet, in an order valued at $183.9 million, based on list prices. Bombardier also revealed that Trident Jet was the previously unidentified customer that signed a firm purchase agreement for eight CRJ900 aircraft and six options announced in October 2015.
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LOT seeking 'good, reliable' partner
LOT is still on the hunt for a "good, reliable" partner as part of efforts to privatise the Polish flag carrier, chief executive Rafal Milczarski confirmed today. Speaking at the Routes Europe strategy summit in Krakow, Milczarski said: "We don't need any partner: we need a good partner. An average or weak partner, we don't need."
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Qatar Airways In Talks To Buy Meridiana
Qatar Airways is in advanced negotiations to buy a 49 percent stake in Italian airline Meridiana, but a deal is dependent on restructuring and job cuts. The Middle East carrier is also considering taking a 25-49 percent stake in Morocco's Royal Air Maroc, although it was focused on the possible Meridiana acquisition for now, said chief executive Akbar al-Baker.
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Southwest would be interested in new 737 model, exec says
Mike Van de Ven, chief operating officer for Southwest Airlines, said the carrier would "absolutely" consider a new variant of the Boeing 737. Southwest's fleet is composed entirely of 737s.
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Volaris reports 1Q net up 96.7%
Ultra low-cost Mexican carrier Volaris reported 2016 first-quarter net income of MXP602 million ($34.4 million), up 96.7% from a MXP306 million profit in the year-ago period. The carrier reported increased passenger demand and lower fuel prices helped achieve the higher net numbers. “The strong passenger demand environment in the first quarter of 2016, supported by seasonality, continued fueling Volaris’ financial results and achieving record first-quarter margins,” Volaris CEO Enrique Beltranena said.
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Swedish interim accident report on West Atlantic crash meets controversy
Swedish accident investigators working to discover the cause of a crash of a Swedish West Atlantic Bombardier CRJ-200PF in January have defended the release of a transcript of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) tape. The aircraft, flying from the Norwegian capital, Oslo, to the northern city of Tromsø, crashed around 70 minutes into the Jan. 7 flight, just across the Swedish border. The pilot and co-pilot died in the accident.
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How airlines have deployed their 787s
Since its entry into service with All Nippon Airways in late 2011, airlines have clocked more than 100,000 revenue flights with Boeing 787 aircraft. Data from Flightglobal's schedules specialist Innovata shows that now 35 scheduled carriers are operating a combined totaled of 375 Dreamliners. These are deployed across some 368 intercontinental routes.
LinkAirports
Six German airports to be affected by Wednesday’s strikes
Six major German airports—including Frankfurt/Main, Munich, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund and Hannover—will be affected by German public services trade union Verdi strike on Wednesday, April 27. Verdi is calling for a 6% wage increase for its 2.14 million workers. The union said in a statement the strike will have a significant impact on operations and is expecting major flight cancellations.
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A4A rejects NYC proposal to hike airline taxes
Airlines for America opposes a plan by Scott Stringer, controller for New York City, to raise taxes on airlines and their customers. A4A said the plan would unnecessarily drive up the cost of flying. "We believe it's in New York City's interest to create a business climate that values aviation and encourages travel and tourism to the state -- not enacting unnecessary tax hikes that drive up the cost of flying for all New Yorkers," said Vaughn Jennings, a spokesman for A4A.
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United unveils portion of renovated lobby at LAX
United Airlines opened part of its renovated lobby last week at Los Angeles International Airport. The carrier is in the midst of a $500 million-plus renovation of Terminals 7 and 8.
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Military
Tigercat headed for new home
The Grumman F7F Tigercat sat out from under the hangar that houses it on Wednesday, polished to perfection and looking in tip-top condition as workers from a California-based aircraft restoration company inspected it. The plane is set to take off for its new home in the near future while replacement parts for the plane’s hydraulic system are ordered and brought in to the Ontario Municipal Airport, where the Tigercat is kept.
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USMC buys long-lead items for Sikorsky CH-53K production
The US government has made its first down payment for post-development, operational Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallions, with $25 million awarded to the Lockheed Martin-owned helicopter manufacturer last week for long-lead parts. The US Marine Corps plans to acquire 200 CH-53K super-heavy-lift helicopters to replace its war-weary fleet of E-model Super Stallions for the transport of troops and heavy cargo into battle.
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Australia seeks DOD's newest air-to-air missile, the AIM-120D
Australia could become the first foreign nation to buy the radar-guided Raytheon AIM-120D air-to-air missile under a $1.1 billion foreign military sales package approved by the US government this week. AIM-120D is the latest variant of Raytheon’s popular AMRAAM series, developed for the US Air Force and Navy. The networked, beyond-visual-range missile introduces satellite-aided navigation, a two-way datalink and new guidance software that “improves kinematic performance and weapon effectiveness”. It has greater range than the legacy variants and is optimized for high-angle off-boresight shots.
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Aviation Quote
The length of debate about a flight maneuver is always inversely proportional to the complexity of maneuver. Thus, if the flight maneuver is simple enough, debate approaches infinity.
— Robert Livingston, 'Flying The Aeronca.'
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