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NEWS

US, EU agree formally to cooperate on satellite ATC
The European Commission and US FAA Friday in Madrid signed a memorandum of cooperation regarding "civil aviation research and development" with a specific emphasis on jointly pursuing modernized ATC systems.
Link

Aer Lingus says financial performance solid despite volcanic ash
Aer Lingus is "encouraged" by its financial performance in the first five months of the year but remains "cautious" about its full-year performanceowing to concerns about the broader economic environment, Chairman Colm Barrington told shareholders Friday at the airline's AGM.
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JAL/American and ANA/UA/CO file ATI applications in Japan
Japan Airlines and American Airlines applied Friday to the Japanese Transport Ministry for antitrust immunity to operate as if they are one airline for commercial purposes on flights between North America and Asia, while ANA, United Airlines and Continental Airlines filed a similar application for ATI with the ministry.
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China's airlines continue strong year, post $180 million May profit
China's airlines reported collective net income of CNY1.23 billion ($180 million) for the month of May owing to continuing domestic economic growth, according to CAAC.
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KC-390 Engine Choice Proves Complicated

The upheaval in the narrowbody commercial engine market currently playing out is having ripple effects in the military domain and complicating Embraer’s efforts to pick a powerplant for its KC-390 tanker/transport.
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SkyCargo 777 tests new Dubai Al-Maktoum Airport

Emirates' freight division SkyCargo has performed the first operational flight into Dubai's Al-Maktoum International Airport, ahead of its formal opening on 27 June.
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Berlin DC-3 crash: Early evidence of engine failure
Preliminary evidence indicates that the German-operated Douglas DC-3 which crashed at Berlin Schonefeld today suffered a failure in its left engine after take-off.
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Discussion


Other News

Calgary-based WestJet announced Friday that it cut its full-price fares by an average of 25% across its entire 68-city North American and Caribbean network. The successful LCC, which has an estimated 35%-40% share of the Canadian domestic market, said the introduction of "everyday value fares" will result in lower fares across its entire schedule up to 330 days ahead of departure.

"Feedback from our guests shows that they are frustrated at the unpredictability of fares with seat sales only available up to a few months in advance," said Executive VP-Strategy and Planning Hugh Dunleavy. "WestJet is listening and has responded by providing [customers] the opportunity to book great prices across the entire schedule." Last-minute travelers, or those traveling during peak travel periods such as during the Christmas holiday period, will find "significantly reduced fares," he said. WestJet earned C$13.8 million ($13.5 million) in the 2010 first quarter—its 20th consecutive quarter of profitability.

United Airlines launched its first-ever service to Africa over the weekend with a 767 flying from Washington Dulles to Accra. The service between the US and Ghanian capitals will be daily. "With the addition of service to Accra, United now offers customers nonstop service to points on six continents," Senior VP-Worldwide Sales and Marketing Jeff Foland said.

The first 737NG to be sold for parting out has been acquired by CT Aerospace, according to IBA Group. The aircraft, a 737-600, is only 11 years old, having been produced in 1999. It formerly was owned by FlyGlobespan, which ceased operating and entered administration in December 2009. It recently had been returned off lease from Midwest Airlines in Egypt. PricewaterhouseCoopers, joint administrators of the FlyGlobespan Group of Companies, appointed IBA Group in February 2010 as advisers and to manage and exclusively remarket the aircraft.

Honeywell signed a contract with Tiger Airways to provide a full suite of safety avionics including its IntuVue 3-D weather radar for the carrier's 50 new A320s. The aircraft are expected to be delivered starting in late 2010 and continuing through 2015. Honeywell's full suite will include an Air Data Inertial Reference Unit, Flight Management System, next-generation Aircraft Collision and Avoidance System, Flight Data Recorder, Cockpit Voice Recorder and Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System.

Swiss International Air Lines took delivery of its seventh A330-300 last week. The carrier expects its last two A330-300s on order for delivery to arrive in August and December respectively. The aircraft are replacing Swiss's A330-200s.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air have ramped-up their baggage service guarantee, shortening customer wait time from 25 min. to 20 min. If baggage does not reach the claim area within 20 min. of a flight parking at the gate, customers will have their choice of 2,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles or $20 off a future flight. The carriers will also start charging customers $20 for each of the first three checked bags, representing a $5 increase for the first checked bag, a $5 decrease for the second and a $30 decrease for the third. They have cut the cost of the fourth through 10th checked bags from $100 per bag to $50.

AirTran Airways last week opened a new System Operations Control Center in Orlando, a 16,000-sq.-ft. facility that will run 24 hr. a day, 365 days a year. The command center employs dispatchers, aircraft routers, air traffic control network planners, maintenance operations controllers, passenger movement planners, flight followers, crew planners, crew schedulers and duty managers.

Wataniya Airways named Joe Ghazal director-marketing and Mahmoud Al Azzam director-international sales.

TAP Portugal appointed Aviareps as its general sales agent in Ukraine.

Lufthansa Systems said Croatia Airlines has received operational approval from the Croatian Aviation Safety Authority to fly using its paperless Lido/FlightBag solution.

United Airlines announced it has introduced Zune inflight audio onboard its entire fleet, offering passengers complementary channels and pre-programmed playlists. It will continue to offer "From the Flight Deck" audio, which allows passengers to listen in on live communication between the flight deck and ATC.

Discover the World Marketing was chosen by SAS to serve as its international marketing representative in Brazil, Mexico and South Africa.

RBS Aviation Capital delivered one 737-800 to Air Berlin on June 16 and one A320 to TAM on June 14 under sale/leaseback transactions.

Rossiya Airlines successfully passed its second IATA Operational Safety Audit.



AVIATION QUOTE

"Why fly? Simple. I'm not happy unless there's some room between me and the ground."

- Richard Bach, A Gift of Wings, 1974



AEROSPACE TERM

Impact Fusion

The conversion of the kinetic energy of a fast moving, initially stationary, macroparticle projectile into the internal energy of fusile material using a particle accelerator. Impact fusion is generally an inertial confinement fusion concept.



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HUMOR

Why Must I Speak English?

A Pan Am 727 flight waiting for start clearance in Munich overheard the following:

Lufthansa (in German): "Ground, what is our start clearance time?"

Ground (in English): "If you want an answer you must speak in English."

Lufthansa (in English): "I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?"

Unknown voice from another plane (in a beautiful British accent): "Because you lost the bloody war."



TRIVIA

General Trivia

1. How was milkweed used to save pilots and crewmembers during World War II?

2. While in the traffic pattern, you overhear a pilot "requesting the option." The controller tells this pilot that he is "cleared for the option." This means that the pilot may execute his choice of five maneuvers. What are they?

3. What was so unusual about the first fighter aircraft used by the Israeli Air Force?

4. To what does the north pole of a magnetic compass point?
A. The north magnetic pole
B. The south magnetic pole
C. The geographic South Pole
D. None of the above

5. The world's first man-carrying airplane powered by jet propulsion flew in
A. October 1910.
B. November 1920.
C. December 1930.
D. January 1940.

1. How was milkweed used to save pilots and crewmembers during World War II?

Stranded crewmembers were nourished by the milk and relaxed by the weed.

2. While in the traffic pattern, you overhear a pilot "requesting the option." The controller tells this pilot that he is "cleared for the option." This means that the pilot may execute his choice of five maneuvers. What are they?

Pass, punt, kick, option run, call timeout

3. What was so unusual about the first fighter aircraft used by the Israeli Air Force?

They used it to fire at the USS Liberty

4. To what does the north pole of a magnetic compass point?

A. The north magnetic pole

5. The world's first man-carrying airplane powered by jet propulsion flew in

D. January 1940.

1. Milkweed floss was used as a substitute for kapok in life jackets.

3. They used german aircraft?

UPDATE

Tanker decision expected in November
A top Air Force official says the Pentagon will make its award in the $35 billion competition for a new aerial refueling by mid-November. Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford briefed reporters on Friday, after some press reports that the award date was being pushed back. Boeing and EADS are preparing bids for a July 9 submission deadline, and the Pentagon has said it would expedite its evaluation process in order to stick with its original target date for awarding the contract.
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Competitors hope Eurocopter's missteps will open opportunities
Some errors by Eurocopter on key programs have raised hopes among foreign rivals that they may have a fighting chance to win some orders from the German military. The country's military is in the market for 30 maritime helicopters for its navy and about 19 German air force search-and-rescue rotorcraft, and while Sikorsky and AgustaWestland see potential, Eurocopter argues that use of its fleet will provide a commonality that the others cannot match.
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Air Force rejects Pentagon's higher F-35 cost estimate in negotiations
In negotiating for the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, the U.S. Air Force is rejecting the Pentagon's latest cost estimates of $92 million per jet and is instead sticking to a much lower baseline price. Lockheed Martin has argued that the Pentagon's initial offer for the latest batch of jets was 40% below the Pentagon's 2009 cost estimate for the program.
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Boeing closing in on 787 certification goal
Just over six months since its maiden flight, the Boeing 787 has logged about 1,000 hours in the sky, and company officials are pushing hard to keep testing on track to allow first deliveries by year's end. Jim Albaugh, Boeing's president of commercial airplanes, estimates that each of the five test aircraft will need to log 90 hours of flight time per month in order to hit delivery goals. A sixth 787 is slated to join the test fleet later this month, and one of the test planes will fly over the North Pole in July, en route to the Farnborough International Air Show.
Link

Some pilots raise concerns about cockpit oxygen masks
As the FAA looks into a possible fire hazard affecting hundreds of Boeing Co. jets, pilots are complaining that the current design of cockpit safety systems could make it impossible to respond to a windshield blaze. For nearly three years, pilots have complained that the hoses on their oxygen masks are too short, requiring them to remove the mask in order to access fire-safety equipment of 757 and 767 aircraft. The FAA says it is "looking into the issue" as part of its investigation into windshield heating elements known to have caused smoke or fire in 29 incidents worldwide from early 2001 through April 2008. Boeing had no immediate comment on the design of cockpit oxygen masks, but an FAA spokeswoman says modifying the system with longer hoses could cause a whole new set of safety concerns.
Link

U.S., EU commit to cooperation on ATC upgrade
The European Commission hailed "a major achievement" on Friday after the U.S. and Europe signed a memorandum of cooperation on modernizing their air traffic control systems. "Harmonization is the key to the future of air travel over the North Atlantic," said the FAA's Hank Krakowski. "This agreement allows us to work together to give the airlines a seamless transition between our airspaces."
Link

John Glenn: NASA space shuttles are in taxpayers' best interest
A decision to continue to fly the space shuttle fleet beyond its scheduled retirement date in November would be the best use of taxpayer dollars, since the U.S. would spend nearly as much buying seats on Russia's shuttle for rides to and from the International Space Station, according to former astronaut John Glenn. In an eight-page open letter released this week, Glenn, who served as a U.S. senator from 1975 to 1999, asked: "Why terminate a perfectly good system that has been made more safe and reliable through its many years of development?"
Link

ANSWERS:
1. More than 11 million pounds of hollow, air-filled milkweed floss was used to provide buoyancy and replace kapok in life jackets and life belts.

2. He may execute a touch-and-go landing, a missed approach, a low approach, a stop-and-go landing, or a full-stop landing.

3. In 1948 and 1949, the Israeli Air Force had 125 Avia S199 Mezeks, Czechoslovakian derivations of the Luftwaffe's Messerschmitt Me 109. It must have seemed strange to see the Star of David emblazoned on a German fighter.

4. (d) Compass poles do not point to anything. The magnetized needle aligns with the local line of magnetic flux. If a compass actually pointed to a magnetic pole, isogonal lines on charts would conform to a regular geometric pattern instead of wandering the way they do.

5. (a) Romanian Henri Coanda's turbopropulseur had a four-cylinder, 1,000-rpm engine that drove a geared centrifugal air compressor at 4,000 rpm. Compressor and engine exhaust entered chambers where fuel was added and burned. The result was 450 pounds of thrust, more power than would have been available from the 50-horsepower engine and a propeller.