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NEWS

Countries offer proposal on resolving A400M funding problem
In an effort to prevent a stoppage of work on the A400M military transport plane, the seven countries that have ordered the plane have submitted a proposal to Airbus parent company EADS on how to cover the extra costs in its manufacturing. The parties have been in disagreement in recent months over how to resolve the shortfall in funding the A400M plane, and details of the plan are not being disclosed.
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Experts: Snow-related cancellations show impact of tarmac-delay rule
Last week's weather-related cancellations of some 15,000 flights show that airlines are shifting their policies to avoid stiff penalties for tarmac delays, according to some industry watchers. Under a Transportation Department rule that goes into effect April 29, airlines could have been fined $27,500 for every passenger stranded on the tarmac for more than three hours by the huge winter storm. Experts say the rule has led to an increase in cancellations. "You're not going to get penalized for tarmac delays if you don't fly the flight," notes Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor John Hansman.
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Virgin appeals to Europe to block AA/BA tie-up
The CEO of Virgin Atlantic Airways said Monday that "it's down to Europe now" to block a trans-Atlantic joint venture by American Airlines and British Airways after U.S. regulators gave their preliminary blessing to the tie-up. "It's not over yet," CEO Steve Ridgway vowed, noting that the "oneworld" partners would control about 50% of the slots at London Heathrow. "We aren't against alliances at all and, who knows, one day we may well join one," he said.
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Cold in Florida delays shuttle launch
A lengthy cold spell on Florida's Space Coast has delayed NASA's next shuttle launch into April. The Discovery launch was scheduled for March 18, but with low temperatures delaying the movement of the shuttle to outfit it with two solid rocket boosters, it will be unlikely that NASA can launch the shuttle as scheduled.
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Royal Jordanian returns to black despite recession
Royal Jordanian posted a JOD28.6 million ($40.1 million) profit last year, reversed from a JOD24.7 million deficit in 2008, as a drop in fuel costs and "capacity management" helped the carrier weather the global recession and its impact on demand.
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IATA: Premium travel grows in December for first time since May 2008
IATA reported that the number of premium passengers on international flights grew 1.7% year-over-year in December 2009, the first year-over-year rise in premium travel since May 2008.
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Slight slip in full-year profit doesn't halt growth at Air Arabia
Air Arabia posted a AED452.2 million ($123.1 million) profit in 2009, down 11.3% from the AED509.7 million reported the prior year, as it continued to grow despite what it called "an enormously challenging period."
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Amadeus 'unbundles' optional services from airlines' core distribution contracts
Amadeus has formalized a change in the way it draws up airline contracts, replacing the Participating Carrier Agreement with a Global Distribution Agreement, covering core GDS services, and an Optional Services Agreement.
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Boeing Targets Indian Market
Boeing is looking further ahead in the Indian defense procurement and development market as it now enters the third and final phase of field trials for the proposed F/A-18IN for India’s 126 Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition.
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Crashed Ethiopian 737's missing CVR section found

Recovery personnel at the scene of last month's Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 crash have retrieved a crucial missing section of the jet's cockpit-voice recorder.
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Five US carriers seek Haneda slots
American, Continental, Delta, United and Hawaiian Airlines have all applied for four available slots for US carriers at Tokyo's Haneda airport.
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Other News

Lufthansa Cargo will cut more than 400 jobs and has extended reduced work hours for ground staff imposed in March 2009 through Feb. 28, 2011. "We suffered steep losses in revenue and tonnage last year, the worst in the history of Lufthansa Cargo," a spokesperson told Bloomberg News. "When you see that kind of drop, capacity has to be adjusted accordingly." LHC added that the job cuts, equivalent to around 10% of its workforce, would be achieved entirely through voluntary early retirement and severance programs.

Meanwhile, it said reduced hours for its 2,600 ground staff would be extended but the reduction would be lowered to 20% from 25%. It added that full hours may be reinstated before next Feb. 28 and that it is "cautiously optimistic" it can lower the reduction rate further later this year. Peter Gerber, executive board member responsible for finance and human resources, said, "The crisis is not yet over. The latest positive developments in our traffic figures still reflect a significant drop in cargo volume compared with the pre-crisis period. It will take still some time to return to the level we achieved in 2007 or 2008. Overall, the global airfreight industry has lost four years of growth due to the crisis."

Niki is expecting to announce a capital increase Thursday in order to strengthen its position against primary competitor Austrian Airlines, and Air Berlin said yesterday that it is "in advanced negotiations" regarding an increase of its 24% stake in the Austrian LCC. Local media reports suggested that new capital could come from either AB or a new investor and that AB is considering raising its stake to as much as 49%. Niki CEO Otmar Lenz said he could not comment when contacted. President Niki Lauda is expected to address media Thursday when the carrier announces its 2009 results. Its passenger boardings rose 28.6% last year to 2.6 million. AB said no agreement with Niki has been reached and the German airline's board has not approved any additional investment. The board is scheduled to meet today.

British Airways announced that in conjunction with Washington-based Solena Group it will establish a "sustainable jet-fuel plant" to convert "waste biomass" to "low-carbon fuel to power part of its fleet from 2014." It said the plant would be a first in Europe. It did not set a date for when the plant will be operational. "The new fuel will be derived from waste biomass and manufactured in a state-of-the-art facility that can convert a variety of waste materials, destined for landfill, into aviation fuel," it said. "The self-contained plant, likely to be sited in east London, will convert 500,000 tonnes of waste per year into 16 million gal. of green jet fuel through a process that offers lifecycle greenhouse gas savings of up to 95% compared to fossil fuel derived jet kerosene." It said the volume of fuel produced would be "more than twice the amount required to make all of British Airways' flights at nearby London City Airport carbon-neutral."

BA said it signed a letter of intent to purchase "all the fuel produced by the plant," which will be built by Solena. Four sites are "under consideration" for the facility, which BA said will employ up to 1,200. CEO Willie Walsh said, "We believe it will lead to the production of a real sustainable alternative to jet kerosene. We are absolutely determined to reduce our impact on climate change and are proud to lead the way on aviation's environmental initiatives."

Jazeera Airways announced the purchase of Sahaab Aircraft Leasing for KWD25.6 million ($88.3 million), a transaction the carrier said will offer "a platform to pursue strategic vertical integration initiatives lined up for 2010 and 2011 that include an airline acquisition and access to global leasing markets." Sahaab currently owns nine A320s that Jazeera operates under a sale-and-leaseback deal and has firm orders with Airbus that will see its owned A320 fleet increase to at least 38 units by 2016. Sahaab posted a KWD2.2 million profit last year and anticipates a KWD4.6 million surplus in 2010. The airline said a third-quarter rights issue to existing shareholders will fund the purchase.

Air Jamaica will reduce its fleet to six aircraft (one A319, four A320s and one A321) from nine and suspend Montego Bay-Orlando International and St. George's-New York JFK service on March 9 and flights from MBJ and Kingston to Chicago O'Hare, Curacao, Havana and Nassau on April 12. President and CEO Bruce Nobles said the cutbacks are "necessary as we seek to meet our financial obligations." JM then will operate 161 weekly flights, including service from Jamaica to Baltimore, Philadelphia, Toronto, Fort Lauderdale and JFK. The Jamaican government continues to try to divest the airline.

Midex Airlines, an Al Ain-based cargo carrier, said it plans to take delivery of two 747-200Fs on March 30 and four 747-400Fs later this year. It currently operates six A300-200Fs and three 747-200Fs, according to its website. It also announced the appointment of George Ibrahim as COO.

World Airways will operate a 747-400F for Asiana Airlines from Feb. 23 through 2010.

United Airlines applied to the US Dept. of Transportation for the right to fly between San Francisco and Tokyo Haneda with a 777-200 and Continental Airlines applied for the right to operate a Newark-HND 777 service and a Guam-HND 757-400 service. Hawaiian Airlines applied for Honolulu-HND authority. Four pairs of slots at HND are available to US carriers under the new bilateral air services agreement with Japan.

American Airlines will resume service to Port-au-Prince on Feb. 19. A flight from Miami that morning will be the first commercial service to the country since the Jan. 12 earthquake, AA said. It will offer twice-daily MIA flights as well as a daily Fort Lauderdale frequency and a four-times-weekly service from New York JFK. American Eagle will launch daily ATR 72 flights from PAP to San Juan, Santo Domingo and Santiago, Dominican Republic, on March 12.

Southwest Airlines will launch five-times-daily Boston-Philadelphia service on June 27.

Jet Airways will launch daily Mumbai-Johannesburg service on April 14 aboard an A330-200.

Cathay Pacific Airways said it plans to launch a thrice-weekly Hong Kong-Moscow A340-300 service this summer, pending regulatory approval. It currently codeshares on Aeroflot's flight from Sheremetyevo.

Rossiya transported 2.9 million passengers in 2009, down 15.3% from the prior year, owing largely to the spinoff of its Moscow branch and its concentration on operations in St. Petersburg. It flew 6.09 billion RPKs last year. Rossiya is scheduled to be merged into Aeroflot, along with five other smaller airlines, this year.

United Airlines said January consolidated passenger RASM increased an estimated 9.5%-11.5% year-over-year. It flew 8.77 billion consolidated RPMs, a 2.4% increase, while ASMs were cut 2% to 11.17 billion. Load factor rose 3.4 points to 78.5%.

Continental Airlines said January estimated consolidated RASM fell 1%-2% from the year-ago month while estimated mainline RASM was down 2.5%-3.5%. It flew 6.98 billion consolidated RPMs last month, up 8.5% year-over-year, against a 2.8% increase in capacity to 9.04 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 4 points to 77.2%.

Southwest Airlines said January passenger RASM increased an estimated 14%-15% from the year-ago month. It flew 5.5 billion RPMs, up 7.1%, against a 6.7% cut in capacity to 7.62 billion ASMs. Load factor soared 9.3 points to 72.1%.

JetBlue Airways said January passenger RASM fell 2% from the year-ago month. It flew 2.11 billion RPMs, up 9.1%, while ASMs climbed 8.9% to 2.84 billion. Load factor increased 0.1 point to 74.1%.

AirTran Airways flew 1.36 billion RPMs in January, up 6.8% year-over-year, against an 8.6% lift in capacity to 1.88 billion ASMs. Load factor fell 1.2 points to 72%.

Jet Airways transported 750,631 domestic passengers in January, up 25.9% year-over-year, while load factor rose 13.6 points to 73.6%. International passenger numbers climbed 29.6% to 364,041 with a 13.5-point lift in load factor to 84.9%. Its JetLite low-cost subsidiary transported 294,823 passengers, up 12.8%, and load factor increased 10.7 points to 75.1%.

Sky Express, based at Moscow Vnukovo, received its IOSA certificate.

[b]Lufthansa Systems announced the release of its Integrated Commercial Platform, which it said combines and integrates products from the NetLine and ProfitLine suites. LHS said the ICP is "completely modular."

Aircell named Centennial Communications CEO Michael Small president and CEO. Former Chairman Ron LeMay took over those roles last July and now will return to his previous position.

AirBridgeCargo Airlines promoted VP-Marketing and Strategic Business Development Tatyana Arslanova to executive president.



AVIATION QUOTE

I don't care what you cover the seats with as long as you cover them with a--holes.

— Eddie Rickenbacker, CEO Eastern Airlines, to the designers proudly showing off the seat cover designs for the first turboprop airliner to be operated in the U.S. (the Lockhead Electra).



AEROSPACE TERM

Heat Flux

The thermal intensity indicated by the amount of energy transmitted per unit area.



DAILY VIDEO





EDITOR’S CHOICE





HUMOR

A Scotsman, American, and an Irishman

A Scotsman, American, and an Irishman are in a bar.

The Scotsman says, "Aye, this is a nice bar, but where I'm from, back in Glasgow, there's a better one. At MacDougal's, you buy a drink, you buy another drink, and MacDougal himself will buy your third drink!"

The others agree that sounds like a good place.

Then the American says, "Yeah, hat's a nice bar, but where I come from, there's a better one. Over in Brooklyn, there's this place, Vinny's. At Vinny's, you buy a drink, Vinny buys you a drink. You buy another drink, Vinny buys you another drink."

Everyone agrees that sounds like a great bar.

Then the Irishman says, "You think that's great? Where I come from in Dublin, there's this place called Murphy's. At Murphy's, they buy you your first drink, they buy you your second drink, they buy you your third drink, and then, they take you in the back and get you laid!"

"Wow!" say the other two. "That's fantastic! Did that actually happen to you?"

"Not yet," replies the Irish guy, "but it's happened to me sister!"



TRIVIA

Given Names

1. McDonnell Douglas F-4C
A. Phantom
B. Phantom II
C. Rhino
D. Marauder

2. Republic F-105
A. Thunder Streak
B. Thunder Jet
C. Thunder Bomber
D. Thunder Chief

3. Lockheed F-104
A. Starfighter
B. Night Fighter
C. Thunder Jet
D. Lightning

4. North American F-100
A. Sabre
B. Saber II
C. Super Saber
D. Super Comet

5. Lockheed P-3C
A. Neptune
B. Poseidon
C. Orion
D. Osiris

6. Convair F-106
A. Delta Dagger
B. Delta Dart
C. Delta Arrow
D. Delta Spear

7. Grumman F-6F
A. Wildcat
B. Hellcat
C. Bearcat
D. Tigercat

8. North American P-61
A. Black Mamba
B. Black Widow
C. Brown Recluse
D. Tarantula

9. Douglas A-20
A. Havoc
B. Invader
C. Marauder
D. Liberator

10. Bell UH-1
A. Huey
B. Cobra
C. Cheyenne
D. Iroquois

Without looking, so probably a few mistakes here:

1 B
2 D
3 A
4 C
5 C
6 A
7 A
8 B
9 C
10 A

1. McDonnell Douglas F-4C
B. Phantom II

2. Republic F-105
D. Thunder Chief

3. Lockheed F-104
A. Starfighter

4. North American F-100
C. Super Saber

5. Lockheed P-3C
C. Orion

6. Convair F-106
B. Delta Dart

7. Grumman F-6F
B. Hellcat

8. North American P-61
B. Black Widow

9. Douglas A-20
A. Havoc

10. Bell UH-1
A. Huey

JLAmber wrote:1. McDonnell Douglas F-4C
B. Phantom II

2. Republic F-105
D. Thunder Chief

3. Lockheed F-104
A. Starfighter

4. North American F-100
C. Super Saber

5. Lockheed P-3C
C. Orion

6. Convair F-106
B. Delta Dart

7. Grumman F-6F
B. Hellcat

8. North American P-61
B. Black Widow

9. Douglas A-20
A. Havoc

10. Bell UH-1
A. Huey

What he said, except for #10.

Bell UH-1 Iroquois

halls120 wrote:

JLAmber wrote:1. McDonnell Douglas F-4C
B. Phantom II

2. Republic F-105
D. Thunder Chief

3. Lockheed F-104
A. Starfighter

4. North American F-100
C. Super Saber

5. Lockheed P-3C
C. Orion

6. Convair F-106
B. Delta Dart

7. Grumman F-6F
B. Hellcat

8. North American P-61
B. Black Widow

9. Douglas A-20
A. Havoc

10. Bell UH-1
A. Huey

What he said, except for #10.

Bell UH-1 Iroquois

'Cept we never called 'em Iroquois . . . we always called 'em Hueys.

"Here comes the Huey" rolls off the tongue a lot easier . .

How is Iroquois pronounced? I've often wondered.

JLAmber wrote:How is Iroquois pronounced? I've often wondered.

The Iroquois (pronounced /ˈɪrəkwɔɪ/), also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse",[1] are an indigenous people of North America.

Wiki Link

miamiair wrote:(pronounced /ˈɪrəkwɔɪ/)

Does that mean "ear-uh-koy" ??

Answers:
1. B. McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II
2. D. Republic F-105 Thunder Chief
3. A. Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
4. C. North American F-100 Super Saber
5. C. Lockheed P-3C Orion
6. B. Convair F-106 Delta Dart
7. B. Grumman F-6F Hellcat
8. B. North American P-61 Black Widow
9. A. Douglas A-20Havoc
10. D. Bell UH-1 Iroquois, remember given names; it is commonly called the Huey.