To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) July 23-29—Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture, Oshkosh, Wis., www.airventure.org 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
Hawker Beechcraft Corp. (HBC) is beginning exclusive negotiations to sell most of the company to Superior Aviation Beijing after receiving approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. HBC on July 10 formally applied for clearance to begin the negotiations after receiving a $1.79 billion proposal from the Chinese company for the U.S. manufacturer’s commercial businesses.
The privatization of Puerto Rico’s San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (LMM) is awaiting FAA approval, which, if granted, would mark the first transition of a U.S. airport from government to private control. The deal awarding Aerostar Airport Holdings a 40-year contract to manage LMM is being reviewed by the FAA and will be finalized after the agency awards a Part 139 operating certificate, says the government of Puerto Rico. A timeline for the approval was not disclosed.
You can now register online for Aviation Week events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or contact: Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) Sept. 20-21 —Aviation Week MRO IT Conference & Showcase, Hyatt Regency Miami, Miami, Fla. Oct. 9—Aviation Week Aircraft Composite Repair Management Forum, Amsterdam RAI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Oct. 9—Aviation Week MRO IT Europe, Amsterdam RAI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Indian startup Air Mantra, which is part of charter operator Religare Voyages Ltd., is scheduled to launch July 23 with daily flights between Amritsar and Chandigarh, cities in the country’s north. The first airline to be launched in the country in the last five years, Air Mantra will start with a fleet of two 17-seat Beechcraft 1900Ds previously operated on charter service. But Religare Voyages CEO Sandeep Bhatt says the airline intends to add larger turboprops, with ATRs and Bombardier Q400s likely candidates.
Philippine carrier Cebu Pacific Air is transforming domestic secondary cities into international gateways to relieve congestion at Manila International Airport.
MedAtlantica, which owns bankrupt Mexicana de Aviacion, and Bancomext, the carrier's largest creditor, are in talks with four lessors about possible sale-leaseback deals for the nine aircraft once owned by the airline, a source close to the airline tells Aviation Week.
The two leading U.S. aviation trade groups are calling on regulators to rely on new technology, operations and infrastructure to reduce the industry’s emissions before turning to market-based measures (MBMs).
United Airlines has included 160 options in the Boeing narrowbody order placed last week and, separately, has received compensation from the airframer for delivery delays of 787s on order. The 100 737 MAXs and the 60 737-900ERs join the firm orders for 100 737-9s and 50 737-900ERs, United says in a docket filed late Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The FAA needs to streamline its aircraft certification process if the U.S. hopes to stay competitive in a global marketplace, industry leaders told a congressional hearing. Officials representing Boeing, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) said the sluggishness of the FAA’s approval of new products hinders domestic growth as competition increases worldwide.
The 30 Airbus A321s that JetBlue Airways begins receiving late next year will be used primarily to take advantage of seasonal traffic peaks on routes where it operates lower-capacity A320s, such as winter flying to Florida and the Caribbean, the airline’s director of network planning tells Aviation Week. The aircraft also could be used to boost summer capacity on transcontinental routes, John Checketts notes, and in markets where JetBlue currently offers three to seven flights a day with the smaller jets, such as New York-San Juan.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of July 18, 2012, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
US Airways CEO Doug Parker, who has been on a press tour promoting his plan to merge with American Airlines, pitched the proposal to an even more important audience July 19 in Washington: AMR Corp. CEO Thomas Horton. It is believed to be the first time Parker has addressed the merger proposal in person with Horton. “No substantial progress was made,” a US Airways spokesman said of the meeting.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is strengthening the vetting process of its foreign flight training program after a government audit uncovered undocumented aliens among the student body, as well as individuals who had failed to provide requisite background information. This change follows the release of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found “weaknesses existing in the vetting process and in DHS’s [Department of Homeland Security’s] process for identifying flight students who may be in the U.S. illegally.”
GE Aviation and LAN Airlines are proving that advanced satellite-based approaches can link directly to precision landing and autoland systems, enhancing the effectiveness of these technologies and enabling landings in a greater range of visibility conditions.
Contract air traffic control towers are more cost-effective and appear as safe as those operated by the FAA, but the agency’s watchdog still recommends additional measures to improve oversight.
U.S. airlines still are struggling to fully recover their operating profits and margins on transatlantic services, which in recent years were hit by the recession, higher fuel prices and overcapacity. The combined financial results for all U.S. passenger and cargo carrier transatlantic services fell back into negative territory last year, based on quarterly financial data by region that the carriers are required to file with the U.S. Transportation Department.
Airline industry consolidation in the near term will continue to be regional, but changes to foreign ownership laws are necessary to allow capital to flow across borders and make the airline industry truly competitive, says International Airlines Group CEO Willie Walsh.
