The newly appointed head of India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation Prashant Sukul has scheduled a July 14 meeting with all major airlines to discuss safety issues arising from an audit conducted between November and January. The announcement comes after the government abruptly dismissed E.K. Bharat Bhushan as DGCA chief last week, although he had received a six-month extension by the cabinet’s Appointments Committee. The federal aviation ministry has refused to reveal why Bhushan was ousted.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) July 16-17—Airports Council International-North America 2012 Small Airports Conference, JW Marriott Hotel, Grand Rapids, Mich., www.aci-na.org/event/562 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
Rolls-Royce (R-R) has expanded its TotalCare support package for British Airways (BA) with the addition of Aircelle and Goodrich Corp. to provide nacelle maintenance services for the Airbus A380s and Boeing 787s due to enter the carrier’s fleet.
Canadian regional operator Jazz by early next year will replace its entire fleet of Bombardier CRJ100 jets with Q400 turboprops. In 2010, Jazz’s parent company Chorus Aviation placed an order for 15 Q400s to fulfill Air Canada’s requirement to replace some 50-seat jets with 74-seat turboprops. Now, with all of the 15 Q400s delivered, Chorus has exercised six of 15 options also contained in the 2010 order.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of July 11, 2012, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
United Airlines returned to the Boeing narrowbody fold yesterday with an order for 100 of the re-engined 737 MAX and 50 current model 737-900ERs. United President and CEO Jeffery Smisek says that “very extensive discussions” were held with Airbus and Boeing and that negotiations with Pratt & Whitney (P&W) and CFM for the powerplants have been under way for almost a year. The win reflects “what we believe to be the best airplane with the best engine with the best price,” he notes.
The European debt crisis, Southern European recession and the U.S. dollar’s appreciation against the euro are beginning to take their toll on U.S. exports, which is a bad sign for the near-term growth of U.S. international outbound business traffic, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Foundation says.
Taiwanese carrier TransAsia Airways’ July 11 order for eight ATR 72-600s plus one option signals that competition in Taiwan’s domestic market is about to intensify. TransAsia faces increased competition from EVA Airways’ Uni Air, which last year ordered 10 ATR 72-600s, the first of which will be delivered in September. Uni Air will use the ATRs to replace its fleet of Bombardier Dash 8-300s.
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A steep hike in aeronautical fees at one of the busiest airports in India is likely to dent domestic and international operations of the country’s airlines, which are already reeling from a severe cash crunch.
AeroTurbine, a subsidiary of International Lease Finance Corp., is adding logistics centers in Dubai, London, Los Angeles and Singapore to accommodate a spike in demand for integrated inventory and aftermarket services—from warehousing and logistics to managed parts repair and exchange programs.
Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier says component maturity for its A350 program is more important to the European airframer than a strict adherence to a final assembly schedule for the first A350 test aircraft. “We don’t want to rush to final assembly with incomplete wings,” he said during the Airbus wrap-up news conference at the Farnborough air show. “This will not happen with me as Airbus CEO. I have no intention of repeating past mistakes.”
U.S. regional operator SkyWest and Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. have reached an agreement in principle for 100 Mitsubishi Regional Jets (MRJs), and expect a definitive agreement in the coming weeks. The conditional order is an important boost for Mitsubishi, which in April announced a one-year program delay for the MRJ, pushing entry into service of the initial MRJ90 variant to mid-2015.
Finnair and GA Telesis are in talks that, if successful, would lead to the takeover of the airline’s Helsinki-based, third-party engine overhaul business by the Florida-based service provider.
Boeing is starting to equip a newly built 737-800 with a series of experimental fuel-saving technology features. The aircraft, on loan from American Airlines, flew for the first time in June and will be used as the company’s first “ecoDemonstrator.” The aircraft will demonstrate a series of new systems, propulsion and aerodynamic technologies aimed at potential fuel savings and efficiency gains.
Virgin Atlantic will leave any decision on joining a global alliance until “all the dust and pieces have settled” for service at London Heathrow Airport over the next 12-18 months. “There’s no drive right now to rush into an alliance,” CEO Steve Ridgway tells Aviation Week, although he notes that changes in the competitive environment have driven the airline, which historically has opposed an alliance membership, to give the possibility more serious consideration.
American Airlines CEO Thomas Horton has opened the door to potential mergers during the company’s Chapter 11 restructuring, marking a departure in his strategy to consider consolidation only after the process concludes. “We are approaching the point where we have greater clarity on our revenue outlook and cost structure and can begin to accelerate the plan for the new American,” Horton says in a letter to employees.
Russia’s United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) is conducting an initial study into the possible development of a 130- to 140-seat aircraft. According to UAC CEO Mikhail Pogosyan, such an aircraft would feature a composite wing and other advanced technical features, but he says it is too soon to detail a precise timetable for the project. The aircraft would fill the gap between the 100-seat Superjet 100 and the planned Irkut MS-21, which will offer 150-200 seats
