The National Transportation Safety Board will lose one of its longest-sitting members with the departure of Chairman Deborah Hersman on April 25. Hersman announced March 11 that she is leaving to become president of the National Safety Council.
Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet has ordered 42 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, worth $4.4 billion, as part of its plans to modernize the fleet and find a potential investor. The country’s second-largest low-cost airline by market share expects to start taking delivery of the aircraft from 2018. “We will fund the acquisition through the sale-and-leaseback mode,” says S.L. Narayanan, group chief financial officer at Sun Group, the parent company of SpiceJet, soon after signing the deal at the India Civil Aviation Airshow in the southern city of Hyderabad.
Saudi Arabian hybrid carrier flynas is considering a flotation and is hoping to renegotiate its firm order for 20 Airbus A320s, plus 18 options, in favor of either A330s or A350s.
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Group forecasts an improved business environment for 2014 following a tripling of its profit for 2013, helped by strong long-haul demand. The group says it added capacity and frequencies again late last year, after cutting these in 2012.
BUDGET NEWS: With the release of the Obama administration’s fiscal 2015 budget request last week, the Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s budget digest page is your one-stop source for news, data and analysis of programs and priorities as the request makes its way through Congress. AWIN subscribers can access the page at www.aviationweek.com/awin/USBudget2015.aspx
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Eurocontrol is about to begin the contracting process that will allow industry consortiums to provide air traffic management functions on a pan-European basis. The Centralized Services initiative has been at the planning stage until now, and Eurocontrol is taking the first steps toward making it a reality. The idea is that groups drawn from air navigation service providers (ANSPs), airports, airlines and manufacturers will bid to develop and operate some services, mainly involving the management of data.
Continuing talks with several GDS companies as part of its new strategy to widen its distribution policy and strengthen its position in the corporate travel market, Ryanair just concluded a first agreement with Travelport. Europe’s largest low-cost carrier, which now only sells through its own website, inked an agreement with Travelport to distribute its content worldwide, with fares and ancillary products made available in a “phased approach” from March 19.
BUDGET NEWS: With the release of the Obama administration’s fiscal 2015 budget request last week, the Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s budget digest page is your one-stop source for news, data and analysis of programs and priorities as the request makes its way through Congress. AWIN subscribers can access the page at www.aviationweek.com/awin/USBudget2015.aspx
Emirates has awarded Lufthansa Technik (LHT) and France’s Revima Group a 10-year contract to overhaul the landing gear of its Boeing 777-300ER fleet. The General Electric GE90-powered Boeing 777-300ER is the backbone of the Emirates fleet; the carrier currently has 92 of the type in operation with a further 60 on order, according to AWIN’s commercial fleets database.
Delta Air Lines plans to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for new longhaul aircraft that will replace all of the airline’s Boeing 747-400s and a significant part of the 767-300ER fleets. The RFP will go out before the end of the month and Delta could decide before the end of the year. Amongst other types, the airline is showing a strong interest in the proposed Airbus A330NEO.
Atlantic Airways will consider a future fleet plan as part of a strategy review during the spring, when it will again be a fully government-owned airline. The revised strategy is expected to be concluded before summer. Atlantic Airways is in a “strong position to continue to serve the Faroe Islands with a reliable and competitive product,” says CEO Jørgen Holme and, he adds, “We will continue to reinforce our work in order to meet our customers’ and owners’ expectations.”
While the vast majority of all aircraft accidents still occur in the landing phase, research shows that nearly all pilots who fly professionally ignore company policies regarding go-around procedures. Why pilots ignore the policies and decide to land is lesser known. But William Curtis of Canadian research firm Presage says, “No other single decision can have such an impact on the industry accident rate.”
While the ground network for the U.S. automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast ( ADS-B ) system is close to completion, the FAA still faces years of work to integrate ADS-B data into air traffic control operations.
LOS ANGELES — Following its recent decision to pursue large geared-turbofan designs for next-generation engines in the 2020s and beyond, Rolls-Royce has announced plans to expand its aerospace research and technology capabilities in Dahlewitz, Germany, with construction of a new testbed for power gearboxes.
BUDGET NEWS: With the release of the Obama administration’s fiscal 2015 budget request last week, the Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s budget digest page is your one-stop source for news, data and analysis of programs and priorities as the request makes its way through Congress. AWIN subscribers can access the page at www.aviationweek.com/awin/USBudget2015.aspx
U.S. major airlines, their operational statistics already battered by January’s winter weather, saw February’s figures hit comparably hard, operational summaries show.
Citing concerns of the potential ramifications on the safety of the national airspace system, FAA is appealing a National Transportation Safety Board administrative law judge’s decision to dismiss a proposed civil penalty for unauthorized use of an unmanned aircraft system. The judge’s determination puts the penalty on hold while the agency appeals the case to the full NTSB.
