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NEWS

AA flight attendants seek NMB release, threaten strike; ground workers say they're next
American Airlines faces a growing labor problem as talks with its flight attendants broke down late Wednesday, leading to a strike threat, while its ground workers set a Monday deadline to reach an accord before taking action that could lead to a work stoppage.
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Tajik carrier purchases two 737s
Somon Air of Tajikistan placed an order for two 737-900ERs worth $163 million at list prices, Boeing announced yesterday.
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Nizhny Novgorod, Hochtief partner in effort to modernize, expand airport
Nizhny Novgorod is an economic and industrial center that is Russia's fourth most populous city with nearly 1.5 million residents, but its airport handles only 300,000 passengers per year and is served by just one non-CIS airline (Lufthansa).
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Jetstar changes operating procedures after mishandled A320 flight
Australian low-cost carrier Jetstar has changed its flight operating procedures following a 2007 incident in which its pilots mishandled a go-around while trying to land at Melbourne Airport.
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Boeing reveals NewGen Tanker for KC-X contract

Boeing has revealed a 767-based NewGen Tanker to offer the US Air Force for the KC-X contract to build 179 tankers.
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Other News

Ryanair will open a base at Malta International in May with one 737. It will launch six new routes from the airport, boosting the total number of destinations to 19 and the number of weekly flights to more than 120. It plans to serve 800,000 passengers per year at MLA. New service will be to Billund, Bologna, Krakow, Marseille, Seville and Valencia.

Separately, Ryanair said it has presented Prague Ruzyne with a proposal to base six aircraft and operate 33 routes to "fill any void left by a collapse of CSA [Czech Airlines]." Last month CSA put its entire fleet up as collateral against bank loans required to maintain operations. The commitment would require PRG to reduce its "high airport charges to become more competitive with other, lower cost, destinations," Ryanair said.

Avianca, which finalized its merger with Grupo TACA last month, plans to continue growing with the acquisition of Quito-based Aerogal, CEO Fabio Villegas said. Speaking last week to journalists in the Ecuadoran capital, he said Avianca parent Synergy Aerospace intends to invest $7.2 million on an 80% stake in Aerogal while TACA parent Kingsland Holding will acquire the remaining 20%, Dow Jones reported. Government approval is pending. Villegas said Aerogal will take delivery of three new A320s in the second half of this year, increasing its overall fleet to 15 aircraft. Poder 360 reported that the sale could be completed by June and that Aerogal Chairwoman Gabriela Sommerfield said the Ecuadoran airline will maintain its brand.

This week Avianca said it posted a 2009 net profit of COP19 billion ($9.9 million), down 53.7% from the COP41 billion reported in 2008. Passenger numbers rose 4.5% to 6.9 million.

AirBaltic acquired full ownership of a cargo handling business at Riga International and will operate it under a new BalticCargo brand. It will offer "a full spectrum of cargo handling services of passenger aircraft and freighter aircraft, as well as cargo handling facilities," the airline said. "Latvia is currently the fastest-growing passenger aviation market in the EU. In our view, the cargo market has the potential to grow in a similar fasion, given Riga's favorable geographic location and the airport's expanding network of flights," airBaltic President and CEO Bertolt Flick said.

Air Berlin and pilots represented by Vereinigung Cockpit announced an agreement "to hold negotiations on unresolved issues of the framework collective agreement," forestalling the warning strikes the union threatened this week.

Atlas Air said it reached an agreement with Boeing to take over operation of the manufacturer's four 747-400 Dreamlifter freighters "toward the latter part of this year." Boeing uses the Dreamlifters to ferry major assemblies for production of 787s. It expects to deliver the first 787 to ANA in the fourth quarter and then begin ramping up Dreamliner production. Atlas and the manufacturer signed a nine-year contract under which the cargo carrier will operate the four Dreamlifters to support the 787 supply chain. Atlas said it "will receive contractually determined revenues for the operation of the Dreamlifter aircraft, with Boeing assuming responsibility for certain direct costs, including fuel." Boeing will maintain ownership of the aircraft. Value of the contract was not released.

European Low Fares Airline Assn.'s 11 members flew 162.5 million passengers in 2009, an 8.7% increase from 2008. Load factor averaged 82%. "These figures show clearly how ELFAA members are bucking the trend in the aviation sector when it comes to passenger numbers," Secretary-General John Hanlon said. "It also demonstrates beyond any doubt that the economic crisis need not be an excuse for airlines to go cap in hand to governments pleading for unjust cash injections." ELFAA said members also led the way in job creation, hiring an additional 3,000 permanent employees across Europe last year, a 12.5% increase. Members' traffic growth compared to the 5.8% decline to just below 326 million passengers reported by the Assn. of European Airlines, which brings together 36 network carriers. ELFAA comprises Blue Air, bmibaby, easyJet, Flybe, Jet2.com, Norwegian, Ryanair, SverigeFlyg, transavia.com, Vueling Airlines and Wizz Air.

Alliance among Air Berlin, Niki and S7 Airlines is "quiet" while the first two carriers await expanded traffic rights to Russia. "Without more traffic rights, we are not able to do much more in terms of cooperation," Niki President Niki Lauda said. The LCC hopes to double its Vienna-Moscow Domodedovo service to twice-daily and launch flights to St. Petersburg. The DME expansion was scheduled to take place over the summer, "but we have had to reschedule," Lauda said. He is hoping that Austrian Airlines will cede one of its frequencies to Niki as part of its merger with Lufthansa. Russian authorities continue to express concern about whether the merger compromises current bilateral agreements between Russia and Austria. Lufthansa Chief Officer-Group Airlines and Corporate Human Resources Stefan Lauer told Austria's Der Standard that "it would be nonsense to give up grandfathered traffic rights to Russia after so many years developing the market." Russia will have the final word, however. OS's rights expire at the conclusion of the winter schedule.

Qatar Airways took delivery of its 15th 777, a -300ER, and 80th overall aircraft, it said yesterday. It has 17 more on order. It is scheduled to launch service from Doha to Copenhagen (March 30), Ankara (April 5), Tokyo Narita (April 26) and Barcelona (June 7).

Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium will add a seventh A320 configured with 180 seats in May.

Boeing announced that Air China and Air China Cargo will expand their use of the Airplane Health Management system for inflight monitoring of 777s and 747-400s. New contract adds 42 in-service and on-order aircraft to the 117 737s already covered. CA currently operates 10 777-200s and 10 747-400s while CA Cargo flies seven 747-400Fs. CA was Boeing's first Chinese AHM customer.

GE Aviation and Air India announced an agreement under which the airline will provide MRO services on the GEnx-1B with technical support and training from the engine-maker. AI has 27 GEnx-1B-powered 787s on order with delivery expected to begin next year. "Air India envisages a state-of-the-art facility catering to GE90 and GEnx engines, including a new engine test facility," Chairman and MD Arvind Jadhav said.

Delta TechOps expanded its maintenance agreement with Sun Country Airlines to cover APU and component MRO services. Deal covers APUs on nine 737NGs for five years and extends an existing inventory supply and service contract covering SY's entire 737NG fleet through 2018.

TRAX USA said Gulf Air has signed up for the e3 version of its TRAX Maintenance software.



AVIATION QUOTE

I don't mind flying. I always pass out before the plane leaves the ground.
— Naomi Campbell, supermodel, 2000.



AEROSPACE TERM

Heavy Hydrogen

Duterium.



DAILY VIDEO





EDITOR’S CHOICE




HUMOR

Fighter Escort

A young guy in a two-engine fighter was flying escort for a B-52 and generally being a nuisance, acting like a hotdog, flying rolls around the lumbering old bomber. The hotdog said over the air, "Anything you can do, I can do better.”
The veteran bomber pilot answered, "Try this hot-shot."
The B-52 continued its flight, straight and level.
Perplexed, the hotdog asked, "So? What did you do?"
"I just shut down two engines, kid."



TRIVIA

Airport Diagrams

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9.


10.

6. is that Roswell?

10. Should be Edwards AFB

1. JAX
5. PIE

1. JAX (Jacksonville, FL)
2.
3.
4. ORF (Norfolk, VA)
5. PIE (St Pete/Clearwater, FL)
6. ROW (Roswell, NM)
7. SRQ (Sarasota/Bradenton, FL)
8. SYR (Syracuse, NY)
9.
10.

Lesson for today: When you know you'll spend most of the day on the road and want to do the Daily Trivia before leaving, don't spend time reading other threads first . At least there's the "save draft" option...

1. JAX Jacksonville
2. MHV Mojave Air & Space Port
3. NHK Patuxent River NAS
4. ORF Norfolk
5. PIE St. Petersburg-Clearwater
6. ROW Roswell Industrial
7. SRQ Sarasota-Bradenton
8. SYR Syracuse-Hancock
9. VCV Victorville Southern California
10. EDW Edwards AFB

DAL764 wrote:Lesson for today: When you know you'll spend most of the day on the road and want to do the Daily Trivia before leaving, don't spend time reading other threads first . At least there's the "save draft" option...

I was actually quite amazed that there were three of us that beat you to the punch today.....we'll enjoy our spoils while we can

Huh . . . I kept thinking #4 was BUF . . .

ANSWERS:
1. JAX, Jacksonville Int’l, Jacksonville, FL
2. MHV, Mojave, Mojave, CA
3. NHK, Patuxent River NAS, Trapnell Field, Patuxent River, MD
4. ORF, Norfolk Int’l, Norfolk, VA
5. PIE, St. Petersburg-Clearwater Int’l, St. Petersburg Clearwater, FL
6. ROW, Roswell International Air Center, Roswell, NM
7. SRQ, Sarasota/Bradenton Int’l, Sarasota, FL
8. SYR, Syracuse Hancock Int’l, Syracuse, NY
9. VCV, Victorville/Southern California Logistics, Victorville, CA
10. EDW, Edwards AFB, Edwards, CA