NewsCommercial
Russian SSJ100s cleared to resume flights after fault identified
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft said it has identified a minor fault in the tail stabilizer of one SuperJet SSJ100 during inspections after Russian aviation authorities grounded the aircraft Dec. 24. In a statement issued Dec. 27, Sukhoi said there was a “defect in the stabilizer attachment bands on one aircraft” but the fault was not systemic and other all aircraft were able to resume flights after being inspected.
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BOC Aviation orders five A320s
Singapore-headquartered lessor BOC Aviation has placed a firm order for five more Airbus A320-200s, all scheduled for delivery in 2017. “BOC Aviation is ordering additional A320 aircraft to meet airline customer demand for this popular model. The A320's reliability and fuel-efficiency makes it one of the most widely used aircraft world-wide and it remains a core component of our fleet,” BOC Aviation vice-chairman and deputy managing director Wang Genshan said.
LinkAirlines
Gategroup Buys Servair Stake From Air France-KLM
Swiss catering company gategroup will buy 50 percent of Air France-KLM-owned Servair and assume management control from January 2017. Gategroup, owned by China’s HNA Group, will buy 50 percent of Servair minus one share for EUR€237.5 million (USD$250.2 million).
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Alaska Airlines keeps mileage-based reward program
Alaska Airlines will continue its use of a mileage-based loyalty program with the acquisition of Virgin America. "We have got to earn the loyalty of the Virgin America flyers," said Ryan Butz, Alaska's managing director of loyalty marketing. "The intent is to keep our MileagePlan as generous and aggressive as it is. We were going to do that independent of the Virgin America deal. But the trick now is to make sure Virgin America flyers understand [the value proposition]."
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Delta cancels Boeing 787 order
Delta Air Lines said Dec. 27 it had reached an agreement with Boeing to cancel an order for 18 Boeing 787s that the Atlanta-based airline assumed in 2008 as part of its merger with Northwest Airlines. Terms of the agreement were not released, but Delta said it would continue to take delivery of the 120 737-900ERs aircraft it has on order.
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Emirates defers deliveries of 12 Airbus A380s
Emirates Airline, which saw a steep drop in profit its latest financials, is deferring delivery of six Airbus A380s from 2017 to 2018 and postponing delivery of another six A380s from 2018 to 2019. Airbus announced the delivery deferrals in a press release Dec. 27, saying that agreements had been reached between Emirates and Rolls-Royce and between Emirates and Airbus.
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Emirates Resolves A380 Engine Issues With Rolls-Royce
Emirates said it has reached agreement with Rolls-Royce over an issue affecting Trent 900 engines for the airline’s Airbus A380 order. Emirates also confirmed it had taken delivery of its first Rolls-Royce-powered A380 with another two due before the end of the year.
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Interjet grounds half of SSJ100 fleet pending repairs
Mexican carrier Interjet has grounded 11 Sukhoi Superjet 100s with stabiliser defects pending repairs. The aircraft were grounded after inspections of the 22 SSJ100s in Interjet’s fleet were completed on 27 December, Mexico’s civil aviation authority says in a statement.
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Jet Airways 737 damaged after leaving runway in Goa
A Jet Airways Boeing 737 was seriously damaged and there were reports of passenger injuries after the aircraft left the runway as it prepared for take-off from Dabolim Airport in Goa, India, Dec. 27. There was no statement from the Mumbai-based airline, but the BBC reported there were 154 passengers onboard and at least 12 were hurt, although none of the injuries appeared to be life threatening.
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Korean Air cancels some flights because of pilot strike
Korean Air has issued a schedule of anticipated flight cancelations through Jan.10, 2017, because of strike action by its unionized pilots. The carrier says the impact on operations is minimal; the majority of domestic and international flights are running normally, as is mandated by government law.
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Qatar Airways finalizes stake in LATAM
LATAM Airlines Group and Qatar Airways have completed their transaction in which the Middle East airline has taken a 10% stake in the Latin America group. The deal, which sees Qatar Airways invest some $600 million through a capital increase in LATAM, was completed Dec. 28, LATAM announced. Both airlines are members of the oneworld global alliance.
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United seeks to build domestic business in 2017
United Airlines' strategy in 2017 will be to focus on its domestic flight operations, a move that will bring United more in line with other major US airlines when it comes to the split between domestic and international business. "United still wants to be a big international player, but that's a tougher market right now so they want to be bigger domestically, both because that's a good place to be and because they need it to properly feed the international market," said Seth Kaplan of Airline Weekly.
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WestJet to pursue more widebody aircraft following pilots’ approval
Canadian low-cost carrier (LCC) WestJet has been given the go-ahead from its pilots to acquire additional widebody aircraft. Calgary-based WestJet currently operates four Boeing 767-300s from destinations in Canada to Hawaii and London Gatwick. The carrier, which was founded in 1996 and operated an all-737 mainline fleet for most of its existence, has said its initial widebody, long-haul flights that began in January 2016 have been a success. As a result, WestJet has signaled its intention to acquire additional widebody aircraft to launch more long-haul routes.
LinkAirports
What is in-store for airport retail?
With retail currently accounting for around 30% of the non-aeronautical revenues made by airports worldwide, creating winning concessions strategies is essential, writes Pragma Consulting’s Alex Avery. The landscape in airport retail is constantly evolving as changes in consumer behaviour and retail strategy develop at significant pace.
Enhanced technology, sophisticated customer data and consumer demands – set against a context of challenging macro-economic conditions – have all combined to create this environment.
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Passengers doing their bit for the environment at three US gateways
The Good Traveler, San Diego International Airport’s carbon offset programme, has offset more than 11 million air miles of travel in just over one year. The programme allows passengers to purchase credits good for offsetting the carbon emissions produced during their trip.
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Newark opening hits Southwest at Washington National
Southwest Airlines lost three of its slot pairs at Ronald Reagan Washington National airport in October, following the lifting of restrictions at Newark Liberty International airport. The Dallas-based carrier returned the slots to United Airlines, which assumed control of them through its 2010 merger with Continental Airlines. Continental had traded the pairs with AirTran Airways in exchange for slots at the then newly slot-restricted Newark airport in 2009. Southwest acquired AirTran in 2010.
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Warsaw Chopin to introduce new 'Kiss & Fly' zone
Warsaw's Chopin Airport is to introduce a Kiss & Fly Zone outside the Departures Hall for motorists dropping off passengers. It claims that the launch of the Kiss & Fly zone on January 2 is the next step in the changing of the traffic flow at the airport. From January 2, drivers arriving at Departures will find barriers blocking off the first and second lanes closest to the terminal.
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Military
Flight recorder retrieved from military Tu-154 wreckage
Recovery teams have retrieved one of the flight recorders from the Tupolev Tu-154B which crashed in the Black Sea on 25 December. The device was located in the early morning by a remote-controlled vessel some 1.6km from shore, at a depth of 17m, says the Russian defense ministry.
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Trump's unfriendly fire threatens F-35
In regular installments of 144 characters or less, the incoming US president appears committed to publicly renegotiating the terms of major defence contracts. It was one thing for Donald Trump to take aim on Twitter at Boeing’s replacement for the Air Force One presidential fleet. Posh executive aircraft with billion-dollar price tags are popular targets as new heads of state take office: within a month of entering the White House in 2009, President Barack Obama made a similar, public critique of a presidential helicopter deal.
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USAF solicits final bids for $6.9 billion JSTARS deal
The US Air Force has launched the bidding phase in a $6.9 billion competition to select a replacement the Northrop Grumman E-8C JSTARS ground surveillance fleet with a business jet-class aircraft. The USAF issued the final draft of the request for proposals on 28 December to several bidding teams, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop. Including production options through Fiscal 2026, the JSTARS recapitalization contract calls for supplying 17 each of aircraft, surveillance radars, communications systems and battle management command and control suites.
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Aviation Quote
The emergencies you train for almost never happen. It's the one you can't train for that kills you.
- Ernest K. Gann, advice from the 'old pelican,' 'The Black Watch,' 1989.
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Trivia
WW2 Luftwaffe
1. The JU-87 "Stuka" was not a pretty site to look at, all the less so when it was hurtling towards you at an 80 degree angle, but it was not pleasant to hear either. It had a siren on its port landing gear. What was the nickname the crews gave this device?
The Horns of the Reich
The Trumpets of Jericho
The Sirens of Jericho
The Trumpets of Victory
2. This out-of-date bomber was used for high altitude reconnaissance by Germany for a short period of time after the Battle of Britain. Which was it?
Junkers 88P
Junkers 86R
Dornier 217N
Dornier 23R
3. Germany shortly before WW2 is commonly believed to have had little interest in long range heavy bombers, but in fact it had one of the largest supporters of long range bombers from the get-go. Who was he?
Ernst Udet
Ernhard Milch
Kurt Student
Walter Wever
4. Many medium bombers that Germany had were converted into night fighters when the need arose. Which of those was unpopular with its crews?
Junkers 188
Junkers 88
Dornier 217
Messerschmitt 110
5. The He-177 was a great aircraft when it worked. What was one of the things the RLM (Reichsluftministerie) did that caused the 177 to go from a great bomber to a great disaster?
Elimination of the evaporative cooling system
Demands that poor French engines power the He-177
Demands that the He-177 be built out of wood
Underpowered BMW 132 Bramo engines
6. Which one of the three German Battle of Britain bombers could carry the most tonnage, and which could carry the least over a short distance?
Junkers 88, Junkers 87
Junkers 88, Junkers 87
Dornier 215, Heinkel 111
Heinkel 111, Dornier 17
7. This is the only bomber in World War II to have a top speed of over 460mph, what was it?
Arado 234
Heinkel 111P
Arado 232
Junkers 388K
8. The Junkers 287 was the intended replacement for the aging Stuka in 1944. With forward swept wings, two Junkers 003 turbojets and something interesting captured from the Americans, the JU-287 would have been a formidable ground attack/bomber aircraft. What was the American "contribution"?
Landing gear taken off B-24's
Rockets of P-47 wing racks
Guns off of P-51D fighters
Norden bombsights off of B-17's
9. Ground attack was a field of bombers in which the Germans excelled. Convinced that more armor was necessary to protect the pilots of ground attack aircraft Henschel came up with the HS-129, what was its nickname?
armored Panzer destroyer
The flying tank
The flying armored car
the flying assault gun
10. The Germans had originally decided to build one carrier known as the Graf Zeppelin. What were the two types of aircraft that were designed to be based on the carrier?
Fi-282, Do-215
He-115B, Bf-110E
Fi-167, Ju-87C
Ju-87T, Bf-109L
USAF solicits final bids for $6.9 billion JSTARS deal
vikkyvik wrote:I don't know any answers, but Happy New Year and thanks for continuing to do this, Vic.
The other Vik
