Click here to view the pdf Aircraft Operating Costs, 12 Months Ended December 2012, Turboprops and Regional Jets (Sorted By Seats Per Departure) Cost Per Block Hour
The FAA plans to canvas the federal government, industry and academia to study the potential impact that cybersecurity issues may have on aircraft certification and operations.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) July 11—National Business Aviation Association, Business Aviation Regional Forum, Denver, Colo., 703-783-9000, www.nbaa.org July 18-19—Airline Operational Efficiency & Cost Management Workshop, IATA Training Facilities, Beijing, PRC, www.iata.org/events/Pages/efficiency-workshop.aspx
The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Committees last week made substantially different recommendations for the fiscal 2014 FAA budget, clearing bills that are nearly $1 billion apart in funding. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill 22-8 that calls for an increase in the FAA’s funding over fiscal 2013 levels to $15.9 billion. This would include increased funding for safety inspectors and NextGen investments. At the same time, the House approved 28-20 a bill that would cut the agency's funding to $15 billion.
Vietnamese low-cost carrier VietJet has signed a memorandum of understanding with Thai Cessna Grand Caravan operator Kan Air to establish Thai VietJet Air, a joint venture operation in Bangkok. Kan Air’s owner, Thailand’s Kannithi Group, will own 51% of the new airline and the remaining 49% will be held by VietJet’s owner, Vietnamese conglomerate Sovico. The partners say Thai VietJet Air will be a low-cost carrier operating Airbus A320s, the same aircraft type as VietJet, on domestic and short-haul international routes from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Aviation Week’s latest Top Performing Airlines (TPA) study shows that an increasing number of carriers are in a healthier financial position as the industry downturn eases. This change in momentum means many contrasting dynamics are evident. Carriers from much-touted developing regions are generally struggling to exit the malaise. Small, niche carriers still have an advantage, but large airlines are starting to perform better. And fortunes are certainly mixed for the newly-merged mega-carriers.
As clearly indicated by the $4.7 billion in new widebody engine deals announced at the Paris air show, Rolls-Royce continues to bank heavily on the higher-value big-engine market. With around half of this newly signed business tied up in aftermarket support and sales of existing products, the company is stepping up its wide-ranging campaign to plow back technology from the latest-generation large turbofans into the rest of the in-service Trent family.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of June 26, 2013, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
Australian safety regulators have issued a final report on the Qantas Airways Airbus A380 engine failure and emergency landing on Nov. 4, 2010, including more details about the incident and a review of manufacturing failings at engine-maker Rolls-Royce.
The U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) fined Delta Air Lines $750,000 after concluding that, for the second time in four years, the carrier violated rules regarding passengers who are bumped from flights. But Delta can offset $425,000 of the fine by investing that money in portable tablets and other improvements to its denied boarding system.
British Airways (BA) yesterday marked the delivery of its first Boeing 787-8 by revealing the first long-haul routes intended for the twinjet. The inaugural international flight is scheduled for Sept. 1, when BA will deploy the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered aircraft on a daily service between London Heathrow Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport. The second 787 route will follow Oct. 1, when the airline places the -8 into service between Heathrow and Newark Liberty International Airport.
When Sebastian Mikosz resigned as CEO of LOT Polish Airlines almost three years ago, the airline appeared to be beyond rescue. Mikosz was fed up with politicians and union leaders interfering in what he believed was a necessary deep restructuring. But now he is back and not only plans to turn around the airline, but finally to sell it.
Jakarta-based MRO provider GMF AeroAsia has become Airbus’s approved maintenance training provider in Indonesia. Airbus says the five-year strategic partnership agreement “is aimed at developing the maintenance training capabilities locally in Indonesia, based on respective strengths and assets of GMF and Airbus.”
Air Pacific today will be rebranded Fiji Airways, a name granted the carrier in the 1950s. The rebranding effort is part of a restructuring plan started in 2010 that includes the replacement of Boeing 747s with three Airbus A330s. The restructuring is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
Aviation Week NextGen Ahead Air Transportation Modernization Conference September 9-11, 2013 Washington, D.C. Re-Defining NextGen: Setting Priorities • Implementing Capabilities • Delivering Benefits Join industry experts including airlines, government agencies and leading technology providers as they answer: What’s next after sequestration?
The Asian Aviation Training Center (AATC) in Bangkok is expanding its Airbus capabilities. L-3 Link Simulation and Training, which purchased AATC in August 2012 from Thales Group’s civil aviation simulation and training business, says the facility now offers a A330 full-flight simulator, an A320/A330 aircrew procedures training device and a pushback and towing training simulator.
Bombardier has pushed back first flight of the CSeries by up to a month to allow for additional software upgrades and ground testing. The first flight-test vehicle (FTV1) is now planned to fly “by the end of July”. This is the second slippage, and follows postponement of first flight to the end of June from December 2012 because of delays in final assembly and system testing for the all-new narrowbody. The latest delay follows completion of ground vibration tests “as well as software updates and corresponding tests,” Bombardier says.
The future of an efficient aviation aftermarket depends on fast, accurate, inexpensive data transfer. That means electronic messaging in standard, machine-readable formats. The industry is making progress, with major airlines and OEMs leading the way. The best small companies are adapting, and many more will need to do so.
