This week, the carrier filed an application with the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) to launch a one-stop service to Honolulu, and executives also said they are moving ahead with efforts to fly to an unnamed European destination.
WestJet’s decision to break in its Boeing 767s on the competitive Toronto-Calgary route could be more than just strategy to winning the ETOPS certification needed to operate overwater flights, analysts at Raymond James say. “If this increased frequency . . . is successful at attracting more passengers, especially in the corporate segment, it could become regular part of WestJet’s summer schedule as it transitions ‘sun destination’ capacity to the domestic market after the winter months,” a Raymond James research note says.
The flow of parked aircraft back into the fleet and potential deferrals should not disrupt the record backlogs at Airbus and Boeing, the lessor notes in “Aircraft Retirement and Storage Trends,” a study released late last month.
Most airline executives maintain that low oil prices are not a new normal but a temporary blip. This has led most airlines to say they will not be opening new markets or changing fleet and capacity plans despite oil being in the $50-per-barrel range.
“An examination of the flow of maintenance work among and between regions reveals that North America contracts more airframe maintenance to the rest of the world than it provides to other regions,” Cavok notes in is recently released 2015 MRO forecast.
NASA will work in partnership with five organizations to push the development of composite materials for improved aircraft performance under a new consortium established under the leadership of the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) in Hampton, Virginia.
In 2014, the average Spirit passenger paid $55.03 in fees, up by $1.19 from 2013, or about 2.2%. Non-ticket income per passenger jumped 4.8% in 2012-13, the year before last. Earlier year-over-year (YOY) increases, not surprisingly, were much greater.
The US Airways Dividend Miles program has been folded into the AAdvantage loyalty program, and as of March 28, members of both programs belong to American’s frequent-flier system.
Company management is expected to announce its first-flight date in the coming days. “We plan to start operations in two weeks,” an airline executive says.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] . (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Apr. 7—SpeedNews Aerospace Additive Manufacturing Briefing, Palos Verdes (Los Angeles), California, speednews.com/all/conference
Schiphol Group received offical authorization from the Dutch government to start developing Lelystad airport.The airport will be allowed to accommodate up to 45,000 aircraft movements annually and should be operational in 2018. Lelystad will handle LCCs and charter airlines. Schiphol believes the development of Lelystad as a twin gateway to Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) is imperative to support the growth of AMS as a major international transfer hub.
Having recently secured nonstop flights to San Francisco on United Airlines, Indianapolis International Airport is seeking new domestic routes to Seattle and Austin, but is not aggressively courting long-haul international service, its executive director said in an interview.
In addition to granting exemption-holders blanket authorization to fly under 200 ft. anywhere in the U.S. outside of restricted airspace, the FAA has relaxed its requirements for unmanned-aircraft-system (UAS) operators and streamlined the approval of petitions that are similar to exemptions previously granted.
The issue is linked to the aircraft’s lack of FAA certification. While this alone does not prevent U.S.-based repair stations from working on the SSJ, special approvals must be gained to make SSJ support possible, and not all systems suppliers have those approvals.
Data from the flight data recorder recovered from the wreckage of Germanwings Flight 9525 show that the co-pilot modified the aircraft’s speed after programming it to fly into the ground, aviation accident investigators have confirmed.
Air Canada’s statement came after an engineering consulting firm hired by PortsToronto released a preliminary study estimating that the proposed improvement project, which includes lengthening the airport’s runway, probably could not be completed until 2019.
Figeac Aero plans to add 65,000 sq. ft. to its existing building in northeast Wichita, and build another 90,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility on land to be acquired across the street from its current site, according to the City Council meeting agenda.
