All three North Sea oil and gas helicopter operators have halted operations of the AS332L2 Super Puma helicopter as investigators begin their probe into why a CHC-operated Super Puma ditched into the sea just minutes before its planned landing in the Shetland Islands, resulting in the deaths of four passengers.
JetBlue Airways, seeking to break ground in an area that’s growing in importance as a key to improving safety, has implemented a purpose-built training module for both pilots and instructors on how to develop better pilot monitoring skills.
The regulatory battle over a new Jetstar low-cost carrier (LCC) in Hong Kong has begun, with Cathay Pacific signaling that it will use the public comment process to oppose setting up the airline. Jetstar Hong Kong’s application for an air transport license was listed in the local government gazette on Aug. 23, which starts the initial public comment period and gives the carrier a timeline for approval. The LCC is a joint venture between Australia-based Jetstar group, China Eastern Airlines, and Hong Kong’s Shun Tak Holdings.
Finnair is embarking on a streamlining of its top management structure and will eliminate the position of senior vice president for customer service in September. Current senior vice president for Customer Service Anssi Komulainen will leave Finnair on Aug. 31 and step down as a member of Finnair’s executive and management boards. The airline says it will not recruit a successor for Komulainen, which means that there will be one less member on the executive board.
France’s accident investigation agency, BEA, is calling for a wide range of safety improvements to aircraft design and pilot training to help reduce accidents occurring as a result of go-arounds. The recommendations cap a 13-year study that initially analyzed 10 accident or incident reports and six pilot narratives involving “airplane state awareness during go-around” (Asaga). The BEA followed the research with surveys of nearly 1,000 pilots and 13 full-flight simulator sessions with pilots on the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330.
The FAA today is scheduled to propose rudder pedal assembly inspections on more than 500 U.S.-registered Bombardier 50-seat regional jets to prevent a key part cracking from repeated use when pilots set the parking brake. The draft order, based on a Transport Canada (TC) directive issued in May, focuses on the assembly’s pedal tubes. TC said it received two reports of in-service pedal tube fractures at the connecting rod attachment point. In both cases, the cracked tubes were on the pilot’s side of the cockpit.
Autonomy and low-carbon propulsion are two areas likely to receive greater emphasis at NASA as it embarks upon its new strategy for aeronautics research. The new strategy aligns civil aeronautics research under six thrusts: safe, efficient growth in operations, low-boom supersonic and ultra-efficient subsonic commercial aircraft, low-carbon propulsion, real-time system-wide safety assurance and assured autonomy.
Click here to view the pdf Nonstop Passengers Per Day Each Way: Chicago O’Hare - Toronto Pearson Nonstop Passengers Per Day Each Way: Chicago O’Hare - Toronto Pearson United Air Canada Others
Air Baltic will expand required navigation performance with authorization required (RNP AR) approaches at Riga International Airport in Latvia with its Bombardier Q400 aircraft. The airline last week conducted initial flight tests as part of the Amber (Arrival Modernization for Better Efficiency in Riga) project, which aims to demonstrate the efficiency and environmental benefits of satellite-guided approaches for turboprops. The Amber test comprised five new approach trajectories.
The implementation of required navigation performance with authorization required (RNP AR) has led to increased operational reliability and regularity for Faroe Islands’ Atlantic Airways. The national carrier of the remote North Atlantic archipelago, which is a self-governing territory of Denmark, last year was the first European operator to introduce the satellite-based approach and takeoff system to the most accurate level—0.1 of a nautical mile—aboard a new Airbus A319.
Boeing officials say that they are not out of the precision timing and navigation business, despite having lost the $1.8 billion, winner-take-all development contract for the next generation of GPS satellites to Lockheed Martin five years ago.
African start-up Fastjet is planning to reduce its payroll in an effort to adjust staffing levels to demand. The budget carrier tells Aviation Week that “it is reducing its headcount in Tanzania,” and that it currently has a “small number of surplus staff” in certain core operational areas. Fastjet employs 166 people in Tanzania. The airline did not reveal how many of these positions will be eliminated, but local reports say the reduction will affect around 12% of its employees.
European Aerospace Raw Materials & Manufacturers Supply Chain Conference September 16, 2013 Hotel Palladia, Toulouse, France A half-day Conference to be held in conjunction with SpeedNews 14th Annual Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference in Toulouse SpeedNews 14th Annual Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference In Toulouse September 16-18, 2013 Hotel Palladia, Toulouse, France SpeedNews
The long-predicted consolidation of the aviation used-parts business appears to be finally happening, or at least accelerating significantly. The case for consolidating aircraft aftermarkets, both in repair work and in supply chain provision, always has been strong. The logic is that bigger, more diversified companies can provide more comprehensive services to airlines that want to outsource functions that others can expedite more efficiently. But several factors have slowed integration.
Introducing the Aero 100 Airfare Benchmark Index Designed for anyone with risk on the future level of airfares – for example Airlines, Banks/Credit Card Companies, Corporate Travel Managers, etc. The Aero 100 Airfare Benchmark Index tracks daily airfares within the domestic airline market. The Aero 100 delivers financial risk mitigation and protection against constant fluctuation of airline ticket prices by providing the price settling mechanism for Commodity Futures Contracts.
Mexican carrier Interjet has formally unveiled its first Sukhoi Superjet 100, one of two Russian regional jets it plans to place into domestic service next month. The carrier during an unveiling ceremony late last week at its maintenance hangar in Toluca, Mexico, said the SSJ100 will allow it to greatly expand connectivity in the Mexican domestic market.
