The FAA, going beyond NTSB recommendations, is giving Boeing 757 and 767 operators five years to modify their aircraft to prevent inadvertent battery depletion when a particular backup power mode is activated.
Skyrocketing numbers of narrowbody aircraft orders have turned attention to Southeast Asia—and its burgeoning low-cost carriers (LCCs), in particular. Twenty-seven percent of the world’s narrowbody aircraft—half the global fleet—are operated in the Asia-Pacific region, estimated Lufthansa Technik Philippines in the first quarter of fiscal 2013. More than 37% of the total commercial fleet will soon be based there, many of them in service with low-cost carriers, it also projects.
The FAA last week codified a long-underway fix to Boeing 737 seat track attachment joints that cause cracking in related parts and compromise crashworthiness standards. The airworthiness directive (AD 2013-24-13) mandates repairs contained in a series of Boeing service bulletins issued during the last decade. The issue affects all 737s, including an estimated 1,280 on the U.S. registry, though many carriers have accomplished the work.
Spirit AeroSystems is “deep” into the process of selling its Tulsa, Okla. production facility, a move that should mean significant bottom-line improvement as the supplier shifts focus to growing airliner programs and tackles issues uncovered in a sweeping strategic review, say analysts at Canaccord Genuity.
Although Qantas Airways’ dire earnings predictions have triggered a damaging credit downgrade, it appears that it has not spurred the Australian government into bailout mode. Qantas has been lobbying the government for some form of financial or regulatory assistance. However, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has indicated that direct government subsidies or loan guarantees are unlikely.
Chinese investigators credit Airbus’s envelope protection system in averting the crash of a Sichuan Airlines Airbus A319 when the crew tried to land during a September 2010 thunderstorm at Sunan Shuofang International Airport in Wuxi. According a recently published report by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the automatic protection system, which commands full nose-down elevator control for high angle-of-attack (AOA) conditions, “saved the plane from the stall condition.”
The owner of a new airline to be based in eastern China will order 30 Bombardier Q400s with the aim of setting up a regional network for the province of Jiangsu. The carrier, Sutong Airlines, will begin operations in 2015 with an all-Q400 fleet, says Bombardier, announcing the signature of a letter of intent for the order. No options are mentioned.
The transfer of 34 slots at LaGuardia Airport in New York from American Airlines to Southwest Airlines and Virgin America will further diversify one of the more competitive U.S. large hubs, government data suggest. U.S. Department of Transportation data show that the top five carriers by market share for the 12 months ended Aug. 31 controlled about 59% of the market—one of the lowest figures among U.S. large hubs.
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The FAA is allowing early adoption of its newly revised airworthiness approval tag, clearing up confusion among field offices that were prohibiting the new form’s use until the mandated retiring of the current form in early 2014. The agency earlier this year finalized changes to the 8130-3 form, which—depending on the circumstance—is required for domestic airworthiness approval, export approval or return-to-service approval of engines and aircraft parts.
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The current battle over East China Sea airspace shows the need for even greater cooperation between U.S. and Chinese military forces and officials, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says. “I would focus on one particular area . . . that is developing a stronger military-to-military relationship between the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] and the United States,” Hagel said Dec. 5. “We have been working at that—both sides.”
House lawmakers continue to move quickly to ensure that the FAA conducts a formal rulemaking if it plans to require sleep apnea testing and treatment for pilots and controllers. The full House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Dec. 4 approved a bill by voice vote calling for such a rulemaking. The bill, H.R.3578, was cleared by the committee less than two weeks after it was introduced by House aviation subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.).
Qantas Airways has announced plans for drastic cost-cutting—including 1,000 job losses—in a move that significantly raises the stakes in the carrier’s quest for government assistance.
Lufthansa says an oil overfill of a newly replaced engine on one of its Airbus A380s is the likely cause of a serious cabin fume event on Nov. 29. “We believe that surplus oil got into the cabin through the bleed air system,” Chief Pilot Werner Knorr says in an internal memorandum obtained by Aviation Week. The incident happened on Flight LH592 from Frankfurt Airport to O R Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, and involved the aircraft with registration D-AIME.
