To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) April 12—SM4 Safety Seminar sponsored by Global and the Ohio Regional Business Aviation Association, Columbus, Ohio, email [email protected] April 14-18—46th International Aviation Snow Symposium, Buffalo, N.Y., www.snowsymposium.org April 16-19—Airports Council International-NA Operations & Technical Affairs Conference, Las Vegas, www.aci-na.org/conferences
Silver Airways placed its first Saab 340B+ into service after receiving FAA approval to operate the aircraft. The Saab, which entered service yesterday on the Fort Lauderdale-based airline’s Bahamas network, is the first of 12 340B+s purchased by Silver. CEO Darrell Richardson previously told Aviation Week he could add at least six more of the type in the next year as he builds his operation into what he plans to be the largest 340B+ carrier in North America.
Flight tests of the higher-thrust General Electric engine, standard for the stretched Boeing 787-9, indicate performance is on track to meet targeted fuel burn improvements for service entry on 787-8s early in 2013 and -9s in 2014.
The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) used the FIDAE air show in Santiago, Chile, to underscore its demand for the region’s governments to “make critical investments” in aviation infrastructure.
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After validating assumptions on the manufacturing cost and efficiency of laminar flow, Boeing is proceeding with a baseline design for the horizontal and vertical stabilizers on the 787-9. Boeing’s patented hybrid laminar flow control (HLFC) system will be the industry’s first use of a drag-reducing technology that works by sucking in the air flowing over the skin to keep the smoother boundary layer attached to more of the chord. The result is a delay in the transition from laminar to turbulent flow, which cuts drag.
Climate change is an issue of great concern to the European Union, and, although the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS) is a policy that could spark a trade row, tackling climate change and aviation’s share of greenhouse gas emissions is an imperative that neither airlines nor countries can ignore, says Christoph Franz, chairman of the executive board of Deutsche Lufthansa Group.
In a message that seems intended for the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT), airlines and federal lawmakers, the authority that runs Reagan Washington National Airport is warning that the facility cannot handle many more flights.
Rudiger Grube, formerly chairman of the EADS board of directors, could be back soon representing German interests. Currently CEO of Deutsche Bahn railways, Grube is rumored to be the top candidate for a position at the aerospace giant after the German government completes its acquisition of a 7.5% stake in the company through its development bank KfW. Grube was chairman until 2009, when he accepted the position at Deutsche Bahn.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of March 28, 2012• compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
An Aviation Week analysis finds nearly 90 airports in the continental U.S. where the largest aircraft used for scheduled service top out at 37 to 70 seats, with most of those topping out at 50 seats. That could make those airports vulnerable to losing service. A smaller number of airports appeared in Aviation Daily dated March 28.
Star Alliance yesterday formally accepted EVA Air’s application to become a member carrier, and the Taiwanese carrier signed a contract giving its commitment to work toward joining the alliance. EVA Chairman James Jeng says the airline will be working to comply with the conditions of membership, so it can be come a formal member before 2013. One of the main conditions for membership is getting its IT systems and processes in line with those of Star Alliance carriers.
Taiwan has ambitions to develop an aerospace park around its main international gateway, Taipei Taoyuan International Airport, but there are challenges ahead, namely that the Taoyuan County government, which is spearheading the initiative, has yet to secure the land needed to develop the aerospace park, named Aerotropolis.
Atlantic Airways, which recently took delivery of its first Airbus A319, will use the aircraft mainly on the Vagar, Faroe Islands, to Copenhagen route, which is currently served five times daily. The A319 is equipped with head-up guidance. and Atlantic, the national carrier of the Faroe Islands, plans to use the first European Required Navigation Performance approach procedures. Vagar Airport has a 1,700-meter runway (5,577 feet).
Hawker Beechcraft is working with lenders on a “comprehensive recapitalization” after receiving a temporary reprieve from making interest payments that were coming due; it also received about $120 million in financing. The additional liquidity will fund ongoing operations while the airframer works with lenders on long-term financing, the company says.
The government of Fiji has issued a decree that it says will force Qantas Airways to give up control of Fijian national carrier Air Pacific, although Qantas insists it does not have the degree of control alleged by the government.
Diehl Aerosystems says it is having more trouble than expected to integrate lavatory producer Dasell. Diehl bought the company last year and has since renamed it Diehl Service Modules. “Its state was more critical than expected when we bought it,” admits Diehl Aerosystems CEO Rainer von Borstel. “We have to massively restructure.” Dasell is also not where it should be in terms of delivery schedule adherence and quality, von Borstel said on the sidelines of the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg.
Jetstar Asia, Qantas Group's Singapore-based low-cost airline, has appointed Barathan Pasupathi as CEO. He succeeds Chong Phit Lian, who left on Feb. 1. Pasupathi was Jetstar Asia’s CFO from 2004 to 2007. He then left to join Jazeera Airways before returning to Singapore to be managing director of an oil trading company.
Iberia’s pilots plan to go on strike every Monday and Friday until mid-July to protest the launch of lower-cost affiliate Iberia Express. Flight crews represented by the Sepla union have staged strikes on 12 days since last year to express their opposition to the initiative. The latest round of labor-management talks collapsed.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. plans to improve the landing gear on the entire fleet of Sukhoi Superjet 100s following two incidents of Aeroflot-operated SSJ100s that revealed broken pods on the actuator of the landing gear bay door.
