NewsCommercial
Why the MRJ should be at Le Bourget
Mitsubishi Aircraft’s new president has surprised many an industry watcher by unveiling a plan to bring the company’s troubled MRJ90 to the Paris air show in June. Revealing that the Japanese airframer wants to call on one of its current flight-test assets from the Moses Lake site in Washington state, Hisakazu Mizutani says a debut appearance at the year’s main industry gathering at Le Bourget would “give a lot of confidence to people around the world”.
Link
Honeywell has seen no major surprises in C919 development
Honeywell says that its work on the Comac C919 programme has been typical of a major aircraft development program. The company has work packages on four key subsystems: air data and inertial reference, wheels and brakes, flight control electronics (fly-by-wire), and will also produce the jet's auxiliary power unit.
Link
Embraer posts $44.4 million 1Q net profit, cites jet delivery decline
Embraer reported a consolidated first-quarter 2017 net profit of $44.4 million, down 58.1% from the Brazilian manufacturer’s $106 million net profit in 1Q 2016. The company recorded $1.03 billion in consolidated first-quarter revenue, down 21.6% from $1.3 billion in the year-ago quarter. Operating expenses declined 16.8% year-over-year (YOY) to $871.8 million. Gross profit for the quarter totaled $154.5 million, down 40.9% from $261.3 million in 1Q 2016.
LinkAirlines
Alitalia to file for extraordinary administration
Alitalia is to file for extraordinary administration following a meeting of the beleaguered airline's shareholders. The decision follows the rejection of a restructuring proposal by workers last month.
Link
Link
New Cyprus Airways names first destinations
Startup carrier Cyprus Airways, which will launch operations in June, has confirmed its first routes as Heraklion and Rhodes in Greece and Tel Aviv, Israel. The Larnaca-based carrier—w[hich will use a one-class, 144-seat Airbus A319 on the services—has not disclosed frequencies, but said it would reveal two additional destinations over the next few weeks.
Link
Etihad expresses dismay at Alitalia situation
Etihad Airways said May 2 it had “done all it could” to preserve Alitalia, but that “fundamental and far-reaching restructuring” was now essential for the Italian airline to survive in some form. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad is a 49% shareholder in Alitalia and was seen as a “white knight” when the Italian flag carrier seemed close to collapse in 2014.
Link
Flybe places two Embraer 195s with Stobart Air
UK regional carrier Flybe has signed a “combined commercial arrangement,” placing two Embraer E195s with Irish regional Stobart Air. The aircraft will be Stobart Air’s first jets, joining its existing fleet of 13 ATR 72-600s, two ATR 72-500s and two ATR 42-300s.
Link
Hawaiian Airlines excels at filling premium seats
Hawaiian Airlines is an industry leader when it comes to filling seats in first class, with a paid load factor surpassing 90%. Most passengers buying premium seats are booking in advance, though about one seat per flight is filled through the Bid Up upgrade program.
Link
Royal Jordanian posts net loss in 2016
Royal Jordanian reported a 2016 net loss of JD24.6 million ($34.5 million), a sharp reversal from 2015’s net profit of JD16 million. The Jordanian national carrier cited hefty provisions for foreign exchange losses for the negative results. Royal Jordanian also was affected by reduced yields over the year, as competition led to lower ticket prices.
Link
WestJet orders up to 20 Boeing 787-9s
Calgary-based WestJet has agreed to buy up to 20 Boeing 787-9s. The order includes commitments for 10 787-9s to be delivered between the first quarter of 2019 and December 2021, with options for an additional 10 aircraft to be delivered between 2020 and 2024. The Canadian LLC also announced it has selected General Electric’s GEnx-1B engine for the 787.
LinkAirports
Australian Government To Build Second Sydney Airport
The Australian government said it will develop a second airport for Sydney after the operator of the existing airport passed up its right to build the new airport. Sydney Airport Holdings, the operator of Sydney’s Kingsford Smith airport, has the right of first refusal to build the new airport at Badgerys Creek, west of the city, but said it “has not accepted the offer in the Notice of Intention (NOI) to develop and operate the Western Sydney Airport (WSA).”
Link
Military
Boeing puzzles over UH-1N replacement requirements
Boeing and Leonardo Helicopters, along with their rotorcraft competitors, are baffled by the US Air Force’s requirements for the UH-1N Huey replacement programme but are pressing ahead with a bid based on the MH-139, a militarised version of the commercial AW139 medium-twin.
Link
NATO puts Baltic air defences to the test
NATO staged the two-day "Ramstein Alloy 4" exercise in late April over Lithuania, giving locally deployed air forces the opportunity to practise quick reaction alert procedures and boost interoperability. During the activity, fighters from the two nations currently providing Baltic Air Policing services for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania worked together. This involved Lockheed Martin F-16s from the Royal Netherlands Air Force, flown from Šiauliai air base in Lithuania, and German air force Eurofighter Typhoons deployed to Ämari, Estonia.
Link
US approves anti-radiation weapons for Australian Growlers
The US State Department has approved the sale of 110 anti-radiation missiles to Australia, which will arm its Boeing EA-18G Growler Aircraft. The package includes 70 Raytheon AGM-88B High Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) and 40 AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles (AARGM), says the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in a filing.
Link
Twin-seat JF-17B takes maiden flight
The two-seat variant of the Chengdu/Pakistan Aeronautical Complex JF-17 Thunder fighter has conducted its first flight. Reports and images on Chinese defence sites indicate that the jet conducted its maiden sortie on 27 April at 11:04 a.m. from Chengdu.
Link
New Zealand requests details about P-8A Poseidon
The US State Department has approved the possible sale of four Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to New Zealand. The deal is estimated at $1.46 billion, says the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) in a statement. It follows a request from New Zealand about the Poseidon.
LinkRegulatory
US lawmakers grill airline execs on customer service
Angry lawmakers vented their frustration at US airline executives during a congressional hearing on airline customer service Tuesday, threatening to legislate if airlines don’t step up their game. United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz was among those who testified at the May 2 House transportation and infrastructure committee hearing, which was prompted by the April 9 incident when a passenger on a United Express aircraft was forcibly removed from the aircraft to make way for a crew member.
Link
Aviation Quote
Once the command of the air is obtained by one of the contended armies, the war must become a conflict between a seeing host and one that is blind.
- H. G. Wells, Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress Upon Human Life, 1902.
Daily Video
Editor's Choice
Trivia
Space Shuttle
1.
What United States president signed an order that officially began the space shuttle project?
A. John F. Kennedy
B. Richard M. Nixon
C. Jimmy Carter
2. What year was the first space shuttle mission launched?
A. 1977
B. 1979
C. 1981
3. What shuttle was used to repair the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993?
A. Challenger
B. Discovery
C. Endeavour
4. How many successful U.S. shuttle missions had taken place before Challenger disintegrated into a ball of fire in 1986?
A. 9
B. 24
C. 99
5. What was the first shuttle to be launched following the Challenger disaster?
A. Atlantis
B. Discovery
C. Endeavour
6. What was the first shuttle to dock with Russia's Mir space station?
A. Atlantis
B. Columbia
C. Enterprise
7. Which Space Shuttle was the only abort to orbit?
A. Challenger
B. Discovery
C. Columbia
