Major assembly of the first 787-9 is under way in Japan with the installation of door frames in a forward fuselage section. The lengthened Section 43 fuselage barrel is being built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) in Nagoya along with the aircraft’s keel beam, pressure bulkhead, wheel well bulkhead and wing fixed trailing edge.
Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS’s) low-cost division, Firefly, is preparing to bolster its turboprop fleet by the end of 2013. “Our current fleet is turboprop and it is normal for us to look along those lines . . . .We hope to see some deliveries commencing as early as before end of next year,” Firefly CEO Ignatius Ong tells Aviation Week.
Pinnacle Airlines’ pilots union is dismissing the carrier’s claim that pilot seniority is an extraordinary burden unmatched at rival regional operators.
The market for new commercial aircraft could be worth $4 trillion in the next 20 years, with the Asia-Pacific region providing the largest share of demand for new aircraft, Airbus predicts in a new forecast. The airframer says 35% of the 28,200 expected new aircraft will be ordered by 2031 and will come from the Asia-Pacific region. Europe and North America will account for 21% each, Airbus adds.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, clearly addressing concern that the British government is about to back the construction of a third runway at London Heathrow Airport, has announced a review of the country’s airport capacity that will defer any decision about new construction until after the 2015 general election.
U.S. cargo operator United Parcel Service (UPS) has deferred its takeover of TNT Express to early next year, citing a need to accommodate an ongoing review of the deal by the European Commission (EC). UPS had expected to complete the merger before the end of the year despite the EC’s review (Aviation Daily, Aug. 17). But the U.S. company now targets an early 2013 closure after the EC requested an additional 10 working days beyond the Dec. 20 deadline the commission previously set to reach its decision.
Lufthansa expects “very, very severe” consequences if a planned 24-hour strike by cabin crew goes ahead as planned on Friday. The airline says an eight-hour strike on Tuesday affected 51,000 passengers through flight cancellations and another 38,000 through delays. Lufthansa offers about 1,800 flights per day, 600 of which are operated by its regional partners and not affected by the dispute.
US Airways is sticking to its policy of not hedging any of its fuel needs because the carrier is confident it can pass fuel costs on to passengers, says President Scott Kirby. Speaking to analysts Sept. 5 at the Dalhman Rose & Co. transportation conference in New York, Kirby said the airline industry historically has done a poor job of passing through fuel costs, but this began to change with the financial crisis in 2009, which accelerated industry consolidation and forced airlines to do a better job of matching capacity with demand.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), citing a dozen incidents since 1993 involving large aircraft wingtip collisions during taxiing, is urging the FAA and the European Aviation Safety Agency to mandate anti-collision aids. These aids include cameras that enable pilots to see their aircraft’s wingtips from the flight deck without opening a cockpit window.
Yap Ong Heng, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), tells Aviation Week he expects the government by year-end will approve commercial operations on the third runway at Changi International Airport. Commercial operations are currently permitted on two runways at Changi, while the third runway is used only by the military.
Allegiant Air is looking at revenue-raising options that include fees for one-way flights and text messaging, as well as a debit-card discount or a fee for credit card usage, says Jude Bricker, senior VP-planning for airline parent company Allegiant Travel. Bricker, presenting Sept. 5 at the Dahlman Rose Annual Global Transportation Conference, said other options under consideration for the Las Vegas-based, low-fare carrier include a frequent flyer program and a fare club.
Boeing expects a boom in international services from China’s secondary cities in the next 20 years, and has shifted its sales forecast for the country accordingly. Chinese airlines will need to introduce 5,260 commercial aircraft worth $670 billion in the two decades to 2031, Boeing says in its new forecast. Of these new aircraft, about 75% will be used for capacity expansion, compared with the global average of about 60%, adds the U.S. airframer.
The FAA is calling for modifications to the tail strobe lights on more than 1,500 U.S.-registered Boeing 737s to prevent lightning strikes from damaging or potentially destroying the aircraft.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Durban - Johannesburg, August 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carriers: Durban - Johannesburg, August 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Daily Each Way Depts. Share ASKs (000) Share Seats/Dept.
Boeing’s latest sales passenger aircraft sales forecast now expects India’s air transport sector in the next 20 years to grow at a greater rate than China, long deemed the largest long-term market for new aircraft sales. Despite the financial turmoil currently faced by Indian operators, Boeing says the country’s commercial aviation fleet is likely to grow more than 4.5 times in size over the next 20 years, and expects Indian airlines to order as many as 1,450 aircraft worth a total of $175 billion by 2031.
London’s mayor sees British Prime Minister David Cameron’s replacement of Transport Minister Justine Greening with Patrick McLoughlin as the removal of internal opposition to a third runway at London Heathrow Airport. McLoughlin assumed the transport minister’s role Sept. 4 in a reshuffle that moved Greening to the Department of International Development. “There can be only one reason to move [Greening], and that is to expand Heathrow Airport,” says Mayor Boris Johnson, a long-time opponent of the third runway.
Boeing has delivered its first head-of-state Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) 747-8 with a sleeping loft that taps space aft of the upper deck hump and above the main cabin. Called Aeroloft, the 383-sq.-ft. (35-sq.-meter) modular unit was designed and built by Greenpoint Technologies of Kirkland, Wash., a long-time Boeing collaborator on interiors for non-airline and head-of-state customers. Boeing’s Global Transport & Executive Systems in Wichita completed the installation.
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Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) recently appointed president Ramon Ang wants to build a new airport for Manila, and is planning to present his plan to the government early next year. The new airport would occupy a 2,000-hectare (4,940-acre) site, Ang told reporters on the sidelines of PAL Holdings’ shareholder meeting. Ang declined to disclose the site of the planned airport, but says it is within a 15 min. drive of Manila’s Makati business district.
Singapore wants to develop expertise in air traffic management (ATM) that it can sell to other countries. To ensure Singapore has the intellectual capital, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is establishing a S$200 million ($160 million) fund that will provide grants and funding for research institutions involved in ATM. “We will invite like-minded and forward-looking partners, both local and foreign, to join us in this endeavor,” says Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew.
A “significant number” of flight attendants have shown interest in American Airlines’ voluntary buyout offer, which could eliminate the need for furloughs, a source close to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) tells Aviation Week. In the term sheets proposed in April, management had sought 1,200 furloughs, but AMR Corp. shied from quantifying its furlough needs in the contract offer the APFA recently ratified. Furloughs, if necessary, are contingent on how many flight attendants take the $40,000 “voluntary early out.”
