NewsCommercial
Vallair eyes more A321s for conversion
Mature-aircraft trader and lessor Vallair, which is the launch customer for the first Airbus A321 passenger-to-freight conversion, is actively seeking more A321s to join eight that it already has slated for conversion.
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IATA: Hard Brexit could cause ‘significant disruption to air services’
IATA sees great risk of disruption to air travel in most of the scenarios conceivable for Brexit less than six months ahead of the March 29, 2019 UK exit from the European Union (EU). The global airline lobby group stated Oct. 24 that a hard Brexit—in which the EU and the UK do not reach an agreement on the terms and is becoming increasingly likely—“is likely to lead to significant disruption to air services.”
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Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ 3Q earnings up 34% despite 737 delays
Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) saw revenues slip slightly to just less than $15.3 billion as delivery volume fell 12 units, to 190. This was primarily because of 737 production delays that have since been largely rectified, executives said. The company reiterated its full-year commercial delivery target of 800-815 aircraft. Deliveries through Sept. 30 totaled 568, up 14 year-over-year (YOY).
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PICTURES: Epic sure it is finally set for E1000 approval
Epic Aircraft is confident that it is finally near to securing Federal Aviation Administration Part 23 certification for the E1000 factory-built version of its Pratt & Whitney PT6A-powered single after a lengthy test programme that began six years ago.
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EASA validates 737 Max 9 certification
European authorities have validated the type certificate for the Boeing 737 Max 9, eight months after US FAA approval.
The Max 9 is the second variant of the re-engined type to be cleared by both the FAA and the European Aviation Safety Agency.
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Pilatus approved to raise PC-24's MTOW
Pilatus has gained approval to increase the maximum take-off weight of its PC-24 business jet by nearly 300kg (660lb), according to European airworthiness documentation.
Contained in an 11 October revision to the PC-24's type certificate data sheet, filed with the European Aviation Safety Agency, the change lifts the type's MTOW to 8,300kg from 8,005kg.
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Airbus, AVIC in conductive composites pact
Airbus and AVIC will cooperate on research into multi-functional composite materials for aerospace applications.
The Airbus (Beijing) Engineering Centre (ABEC) and AVIC Composites Corporation will partner to develop what it describes as "electrically functionalization technologies" that can "improve the toughness, damage resistance and electrical conductivity of composite materials".
LinkAirlines
JetBlue posts $50 million 3Q profit as fares, ancillary revenues rise
New York-based LCC JetBlue Airways, reacting to a 37% year-over-year (YOY) increase in fuel prices, doubled down on its plan to “improve our earnings, particularly in the areas we can control,” CEO Robin Hayes said in a third-quarter earnings call Oct. 23.
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Hawaiian’s 3Q net income up 31%; A321neo deliveries ‘back on track’
Hawaiian Airlines reported a 3Q net profit of $93.5 million, up 31% compared to net profit of $71.6 million in the same period a year earlier.
Hawaiian CEO Peter Ingram described this as a “solid” performance, but still short of expectations mainly because of severe weather events in Hawaii and Japan that affected operations. Operating profit fell 31.5% to $115.8 million.
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Cathay Pacific data breach affects 9.4 million passengers
Cathay Pacific Airways has discovered an IT security breach to its information system, which contains passenger data of up to 9.4 million people.
The unauthorized access was uncovered during the airline’s “ongoing security processes,” the carrier announced Oct. 24.
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Small Planet Airlines Lithuania to restructure
Leisure operator Small Planet Airlines announced that its Lithuanian business—Small Planet Airlines UAB—has filed for restructuring under Lithuanian law, as a knock-on effect of debts at its German and Polish airlines that both hit financial difficulties this fall.
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BA works out the meaning of customer service
British Airways has announced a company-wide initiative to train and empower its staff to be more service orientated.
Some of the terminology BA is using in its press statement announcing the initiative is a little quaint; BA customer service agents are now “hosts” who should treat passengers like “their own family”.
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Thai Airways delays widebody retirements to ease capacity issues
Thai Airways is postponing retiring some of its oldest widebody aircraft to cover delays in its fleet acquisition plans and a capacity crunch caused by Boeing 787 groundings for unschedued engine maintenance.
The Thailand flag carrier had planned to retire its remaining Boeing 747-400s over the next few years, VP-alliances and commercial strategy Krittaphon Chantalitanon said.
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Ryanair, Spanish pilots’ union ink recognition agreement
Ryanair has signed a recognition agreement with the Spanish pilot union SEPLA to cover all its directly employed pilots in Spain, the Irish LCC said Oct. 24.
The Dublin-based carrier is in the process of getting agreements in place with unions, which it agreed to recognize in December 2017 after a flight cancellations crisis forced it to change a long-running policy of not negotiating with them.
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Vistara receives Rs20bn equity boost
Indian carrier VIstara has received a Rs20 billion ($273 million) equity injection from its two shareholders, Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons.
A filing dated 13 October with India's corporate affairs ministry shows that Tata made a Rs10.2 billion contribution to the carrier through subscribing to a new share issue, while SIA providing the remaining Rs9.8 blllion.
LinkAirports
Mexicans to decide fate of new international airport
Mexicans will vote Oct. 25 to decide the fate of the new Mexico International Airport (NAIM) project, which has come under fire from the country’s president-elect over construction costs and environmental impacts.
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Cork Airport to see increase in capacity by 24 per cent from Air France
Cork International Airport will see an increase in Air France routes to the continent after continued passenger growth.
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Hamad International Airport sees passenger growth in third quarter
Hamad International Airport (HIA) has welcomed a total of 9.68 million passengers and handled 57,031 aircraft movements in the third quarter of 2018, making this the busiest quarter of the year so far. HIA has also handled 538,551 tonnes of cargo in the third quarter of this year.
LinkMilitary
Saab voices opposition to UK Wedgetail buy
Rival producers of airborne early warning and control/battle management aircraft are stepping up their efforts to halt a non-competitive acquisition of the Boeing/Northrop Grumman E-7 Wedgetail system by the UK.
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Embraer KC-390 receives Brazilian type certification
Embraer's KC-390 transport has received a type certification from the Brazilian aviation authority, Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil.
A ceremony was held at Brasília Air Force Base to deliver the civil certificate of airworthiness to Embraer on 23 October.
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Aviation Quote
"Some people want to give money to their children, buy houses, go on a holiday—whatever it is that they want to invest in. This particular journey has been something that I wanted to do most of my life, but there was no real opportunity to do so."
- Sarah Brightman on spending (maybe) Fifty million US dollars on a ride to the ISS. Article in The Space Review, 6 April 2015.
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Trivia
Who Was The Pilot
1. The developer of the Spruce Goose as well as its pilot. Who was it?
John Glenn
Amelia Earhart
Howard Hughes
Charles Lindbergh
2. Who was the pilot of 'The Flyer'?
3. Who was the pilot of Freedom 7?
Gus Grissom
John Glenn
Wally Schirra
Alan Shephard
4. Who was the first pilot to break the sound barrier?
5. Who was the pilot (commander) of Apollo 13?
Tom Hanks
Buzz Aldrin
James Lovell
Neil Armstrong
