NAS Daily 31 OCT 19

airtrainer 31 Oct 19, 03:52

News

Commercial

Boeing engineer raised MCAS concerns in 2015
A Boeing engineer raised concerns about the reliance of a critical 737 MAX flight-control system on a single point of failure as early as December 2015, internal documents shared during a US House committee hearing show. Transportation Committee chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) presented a slide during the Oct. 30 hearing featuring an internal email message from an anonymous employee at Boeing’s Aero-Stability and Control Group.
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Airbus lowers 2019 delivery target; keeps profit guidance
Airbus is cutting back its delivery target by up to 30 aircraft as the manufacturer continues to struggle with restoring throughput at its Hamburg final assembly lines. The European manufacturer said Oct. 30 that it will deliver around 860 aircraft this year. The new target compares to its previous guidance of 880-890 aircraft.
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Russian state lessor to receive funds for aircraft purchases
The Russian government intends to provide a RUB4.9 billion ($76.6 million) subsidy to the State Transport Leasing Co. (STLC) for the acquisition of additional aircraft.
The state-owned lessor would receive the funds by year-end, according to draft legislation published by the government.
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Muilenburg tells lawmakers he will not resign as Boeing CEO
Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg says he has no plans to resign his post despite widespread speculation that his days atop the world's largest aerospace company are numbered due to the ever-deepening 737 Max crisis.
The Boeing chief told House lawmakers on 30 October that he does not intend to step down because he feels responsible to lead the company through the 737 Max troubles.
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A330-800 certification slips to 2020
Airbus has quietly pushed back A330-800 certification to next year, shifting the timeline for approval of the smaller A330neo variant.
Chief executive Guillaume Faury, speaking during a nine-month financial briefing on 30 October, said the A330-800's type certification would take place in "early 2020".
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Airlines

South Korean startup Air Premia orders five Boeing 787-9s
South Korean startup carrier Air Premia is already taking steps to grow its Boeing 787 fleet, even before the airline has operated its first scheduled service.
Air Premia said it has decided to order five 787-9s from Boeing, with the deal to be listed on the manufacturer’s orders and deliveries website when it is finalized.
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Spain’s Iberia to codeshare with China’s Hainan, Spring airlines
Spanish oneworld member Iberia will add 10 Chinese destinations via new codeshare arrangements with Hainan Airlines and Spring Airlines.
Starting Dec. 1, Iberia passengers can fly via Shanghai Pudong to Chongqing, Shenyang, Dalian and Changchun, as a result of a new codeshare agreement with Spring Airlines.
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European carriers Air Serbia, Finnair launch new codeshare
Air Serbia and Finnair have agreed a codeshare to expand the reach of their respective networks at the opposite ends of Europe to their home bases.
The agreement, which came into operation at the start of the northern hemisphere winter schedules on Oct. 27, sees Air Serbia place its JU code on flights operated by Finnair between Helsinki, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Oslo, Riga, Vilnius, Tartu and Tallinn.
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SIA, Malaysia Airlines expand partnership
Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) will deepen their partnership with a new agreement that includes expanded codeshare networks, joint marketing and shared revenue on flights between the two countries.
The Oct. 30 agreement, a follow-up of an MOU signed in June, also includes SIA subsidiaries SilkAir and LCC Scoot, and MAB subsidiary Firefly.
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Avianca transformation model includes GOL codeshare
Avianca Holdings plans to establish a codeshare agreement with Brazilian LCC GOL, a development coming a month after the Colombian carrier’s codeshare with Azul Brazilian Airlines was announced.
The move, announced by Avianca president and CEO Anko van der Werff at the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Brasilia, comes as Avianca streamlines its business from an accelerated growth model to one of profitability and competitiveness.
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Thomas Cook's Nordic airline renamed after investors swoop
Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia is to be rebranded as Sunclass Airlines after the collapsed tour operator Thomas Cook Group's Northern Europe division was acquired by a trio of investors.
The investors include Strawberry Group, the fund controlled by businessman Petter Stordalen, as well as Altor Funds and TDR Capital.
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Wizz shareholders approve A321XLR order
Central European budget carrier Wizz Air's shareholders have overwhelmingly voted in favour of its plans to purchase 20 Airbus A321XLR twinjets.
Wizz is one of three airlines set to benefit from a commitment to 50 of the long-range aircraft unveiled by investor Indigo Partners during the Paris air show in June.
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British Airways cuts Miami capacity over Trent 1000 issues
British Airways is cutting its winter frequencies to Miami because of ongoing issues with the Trent 1000 engines on its Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
Miami will be served by the airline an average of twice daily from London Heathrow between December and end-March 2020, down from three times daily in winter 2018/2019, according to Cirium’s schedule data and confirmed by the airline.
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Airports

Al Baker: Old Doha International to reopen for 2022 World Cup
Doha International Airport, which ceased commercial operations in 2014, will reopen to accommodate the additional traffic expected when Qatar hosts the 2022 World Cup, Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker said. “The reopening of Doha airport will deliver another 10 million passengers,” Al Baker told ATW on the sidelines of the Trinity Forum airport commercial revenue conference in Doha. “We are already activating.
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Gatwick trial targets 10% cut in boarding times
London Gatwick airport is conducting a trial to find the most efficient sequence to seat passengers, in a bid to reduce boarding times by 10%.
Modelling indicates that boarding passengers by methods such as back row to front and window seats first could result in significant time savings, says the airport.
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Ground broken on final element of Chicago airport runway extension
Multiple officials gathered to break ground on the extension of Runway 9R/27L at the O’Hare International Airport, the final component of the O’Hare Modernisation Programme (OMP) first approved in 2005. The project’s aim was to increase capacity, improve efficiency, and dramatically reduce system impact delays by re-configuring and balancing the airfield – system impact delays have decreased by 63 per cent since the project began and airfield operations are generally seeing an increase in predictability.
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Military

Lockheed Martin wins $25m contract for new F-35 anti-jamming GPS
Lockheed Martin won a $25 million contract to start engineering and manufacturing work on a new version of its GPS Spatial Temporal Anti-Jam Receiver (GSTAR) which will be installed in the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter.
The installation of the new anti-jam GPS is part of the most recent F-35 modernisation phase, called Block 4, says Lockheed Martin in a media release on 29 October.
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Aviation Quote

To affirm that the aeroplane is going to 'revolutionize' navel warfare of the future is to be guilty of the wildest exaggeration.

- Scientific American, 16 July 1910.