Parts manufacturing and distribution specialist Wencor Group expanded its repair capabilities, purchasing Part 145 repair stations Absolute Aviation Services and Soundair Aviation Services, Wencor reports. Absolute, which also holds a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certificate, specializes in electronics and avionics. Soundair, which also has EASA and Civil Aviation Administration of China approvals, focuses on aircraft interior parts, ranging from cockpit lighting to ovens. Like Wencor, Soundair also develops PMA parts.
Click here to view the pdf NARROWBODY AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE NARROWBODY AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE REGION AverageAge AFRICA 18.9 CARIBBEAN 18.5 SOUTH AMERICA 16.1
Airports Consultants Council , Alexandria, Va., selected Angela Gittens, ACI World director general, as the recipient of its 2012 AC Aviation Award of Excellence.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Aug. 13-16—Airports Council International-North America, 2012 Public Safety & Security Fall Conference, Arlington, Va., www.aci-na.org/event/1753 Aug. 16—4th Annual BALA Summit, Business Aviation in Latin America, LABACE, Sao Paulo, Brazil, /www.aeropodium.com/cp/bala.html Aug. 18-22—54th NEC/AAAE Annual Conference, Providence, Rhode Island, www.necconference.org
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of August 8, 2012, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
Capt. David Bates, head of the Allied Pilots Association, which represents AMR Corp.’s American Airlines’ pilots, was asked to resign yesterday by the union’s board of directors. Bates’s resignation comes one day after union membership overwhelmingly rejected American’s “last, best and final” contract offer. Union leadership endorsed the deal in late June and as recently as this week, urged membership to vote to accept the deal. The contract offer included a 13.5% equity stake in American after it emerges from bankruptcy.
U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chief John Pistole says the agency is making progress on risk-based screening at airports to enhance security. Pistole touts the Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) Pilot program, a joint venture with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to address potential cargo security threats (Aviation Daily, Aug. 8).
Europe’s aerospace industry is making progress in developing the time-based flight profiles that will be essential components of the air traffic management system of the future. Long-range ATM plans call for aircraft to fly precise four-dimensional (4D) trajectories, with time being the fourth dimension. Participating in the 4D project are Airbus, Thales, Indra, Honeywell, Eurocontrol and a group of eight ATM providers including Sweden’s LFV and Denmark’s Naviair.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plans to roll out expedited screening for pilots and flight attendants to 31 airports by Nov. 1 as part of a continued shift toward a risk-based approach to security. The Known Crewmember (KCM) program will help TSA direct resources away from trusted populations that should not require physical screening at airports due to prior background checks and other assessments, says Doug Hofsass, associate administrator for risk-based security.
The FAA has temporarily suspended opposite direction operations at all commercial airports in the wake of a recent incident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) that brought three airplanes within close flying range.
Bombardier Aerospace commercial deliveries continue to lag, down by almost half so far this year as the company begins testing on the new CSeries line in preparation for first flight this year.
The FAA is working to create two permanent areas of Arctic airspace for research and commercial flights by unmanned aircraft, as directed by Congress in February in the agency’s reauthorization bill. “We have to create a type of airspace that does not fit any existing mold,” says Jim Williams, head of the FAA’s new unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) integration office.
An arbitrator’s decision late last month on a pilots union contract is giving Air Canada a lot more flexibility in how to manage its fleet, with potential consequences for decisions on shifting and ordering narrowbody aircraft and getting rid of Embraer aircraft or other regional jets. The arbitrator, compelled to select either management’s proposal or the union’s, selected management’s. One result of that decision, Air Canada executives say, is that it gives them more freedom on deciding the structure of the fleet.
The Delta Air Lines subsidiary that provides ground-handling services for regional carriers will shut down by year-end, falling victim to changes in the regional airline business and a competitor that outbid it for providing services to its parent company. The competitor is another Delta subsidiary.
U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators believe the breakdown of a General Electric GEnx-1B engine on a taxiing Boeing 787 July 28 stemmed from the failure of a fan mid-shaft.
After a two-year process, Aeronautical Engineers Inc. expects to receive an FAA supplemental type certificate in early October for Boeing MD-80 passenger-to-freight conversions. The Miami-based conversion company plans to make its test flight the first week in September but already has 15 MD-80 conversion orders on backlog, says Robert Convey, VP-sales and marketing.
Scandinavian Airlines’ downhill slide is continuing and the airline is responding with more staff cuts. CEO Rickard Gustafson said on Wednesday that “delivering productivity gains and cost savings will create redundancies that must be taken out.” The airline is in the process of eliminating about 300 administrative positions, adding to thousands of jobs cut in the past several years. SAS has not made a profit since 2007. Richardson did not specify how many additional positions will be taken out.
