Debate over a potential $1 trillion government-wide budget reduction next year has largely focused on the defense industry. But during congressional testimony last week, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, raised a raft of questions when he said the FAA’s operations division could be in line for “significant” reductions under the penalty known as sequestration.
October 9, 2012 Amsterdam, The Netherlands Repair in New Generation Aircraft: Challenges and OpportunitiesLightweight composites will soon rival metals as the primary material for airframes. Are you prepared? This event will highlight the latest developments, challenges and best practices in aircraft composite repair and maintenance technology. It will allow all of the key industry players to discuss best practices and share experiences. Register now! www.aviationweek.com/events/composites
Pressure is mounting on the U.S. Senate to bring a bill that would prohibit airlines from participating in the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS) to the floor for a vote. The Senate Commerce Committee approved the amended bill, introduced last year by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and co-sponsored by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has not said if he will bring it up for a vote by the full chamber.
A J Walter Aviation has signed a purchase agreement to buy Aveos’s former component maintenance business and plans to establish the insolvent Canadian company’s Montreal facility as its new component maintenance, repair and overhaul headquarters.
Meetings in Washington to discuss the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS) concluded this week without a declaration of opposition or a formal complaint to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), but participants weighed ways to implement ICAO’s 2010 resolution on greenhouse gas emissions.
Mexico’s Interjet is taking a “calculated risk” with its new daily Mexico City-New York John F. Kennedy International Airport flight, but the carrier expects it to pay off, CEO Jose Luis Garza Alvarez tells Aviation Week. The route is restricted by the Mexico-U.S. air agreement to two U.S. and two Mexican carriers. Bankrupt Mexicana de Aviacion holds the route authority for the flight, but the Mexican and U.S. governments granted Interjet temporary rights until Mexicana returns to service, now expected in September.
Stronger second-quarter deliveries and order cancellations led to a nearly $1.8 billion drop in Embraer’s backlog, but company executives say they are comfortable with the existing backlog and their mix of orders and have no plans to readjust production schedules. The company began the second quarter, ended June 30, with a $14.7 billion backlog, which slid to $12.9 billion by the end of the period. This represents a further drop from the $15.8 billion recorded at the end of the same 2011 quarter.
Click here to view the pdf Aircraft Operating Costs and Statistics, 12 Months Ended December 2011, Jet Aircraft Pages 9 and 10 of 11 777 Manufacturer: Boeing
The European Commission’s (EC) aviation occurrence data collection and analysis effort is growing in both size and capability, with more occurrences being entered into the system and more meaningful reports being produced as a result. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) provides an update on the project, known as the European Central Repository for occurrences (ECR), in its just-released 2011 Annual Safety Review. The database now includes some 625,000 occurrences after gaining slightly more than 200,000 in 2011, up from 140,000 added in 2010.
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport says it has been planning for the eventuality that Delta Air Lines would shutter its Comair regional subsidiary. “This is very unfortunate, but it is something we had anticipated happening,” a spokeswoman for the Kenton County Airport Board says, referring to Comair’s shutdown. “We had planned for this for years.” Delta plans to cease Comair’s operations on Sept. 29.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of August 1, 2012, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
Lease rates for used Airbus A319 aircraft have bottomed out and will start to rise slowly over the next 12 months, predicts the CEO of BBAM, which manages and services Fly Leasing’s fleet. Steven Zissis also says he already is seeing a slight increase in lease rates for used A320 aircraft with improved demand and “a more normal level” of supply.
Eleven years ago, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary famously predicted that one day most or all of the airline’s fares would drop to zero because the low-cost carrier would be raking in so much ancillary revenue from other flight and non-flight products and services.
The "FAA would face significant cuts in operations” under a budget penalty known as sequestration, Jeffrey Zients, the acting director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, told lawmakers during an Aug. 1 House Armed Services Committeee hearing on the defense budget. Congress passed the law that would require the penalty into law one year ago, on the premise that a $1 trillion across-the-government budget cut would be so painful that it would force lawmakers to agree on an even larger deficit reduction package.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Okinawa - Tokyo Haneda, July 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carriers: Okinawa - Tokyo Haneda, July 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Daily Each Way Depts. Share ASKs (000) Share Seats/Dept.
The use of Embraer 190 aircraft in pro-rate operations at Frontier Airlines is inconsistent with Republic Airways’ goal to convert its branded-airline subsidiary into an “ultra-low-cost carrier,” Republic CEO Bryan Bedford says, which is why the regional carrier is returning two of the 99-seat jets to lessors this fall and selling five under a tentative deal with US Airways.
In a move reflective of the difficulties U.S. airlines continue to have with their long-sought service to Tokyo’s close-in Haneda International Airport, particularly from cities in the eastern U.S., Delta Air Lines is asking for U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) permission to move its Detroit-Haneda service to Seattle. Furthermore, American Airlines told the DOT it does not object to Delta’s request—as long as it is given similar leeway to move its service from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport.
NASA hopes to make the first flight of the reconfigured Boeing X-48C hybrid wing body demonstrator this week, possibly on Aug. 3. Fayette Collier, NASA environmentally responsible aviation project manager, says flight testing is imminent. The X-48C is a heavily modified, twin-engine version of the baseline three-engine X-48B, and has been rebuilt to evaluate the handling characteristics of a low-noise design.
Philippine carrier ZestAir is withdrawing from all turboprop routes, a sign it may be phasing out its Xian Aircraft MA60s. Brian Hogan, the airline’s chief executive adviser, says ZestAir in the coming weeks will decide whether to discard the Chinese-built aircraft. The airline states on its website that turboprop services will end about Oct. 28 and that it will no longer take bookings on its MA60s after that date.
JetBlue Airways says it has amended its E-190 acquisition agreement with Embraer to give the carrier until July 31, 2013, to decide whether to amend the deal to include a new E-190 variant—if the aircraft manufacturer develops one.
