To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) June 27—Flight Safety Golf Tournament, Centennial Golf Club, Carmel, New York June 27-28—Aviation Safety Management Systems Overview Workshop, ATC Vantage, Tampa, Fla., 727-410-4759, www.atcvantage.com/sms-workshop.html June 27-28—Airports Council International-NA Small Airports Conference, Cincinnati, www.aci-na.org/conferences/
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. 12—A&D Finance Europe, London Sept. 14-15—MRO for Aircraft & Engine Leasing, Dublin Sept. 26—Aircraft Composite Repair Management Forum, Zurich Sept. 27-29—MRO Europe 2011, Madrid Sept. 28—MRO Military Europe, Madrid Oct. 20-21—MRO IT, Chicago Oct. 24-26—A&D Programs, Phoenix
Spirit Airlines is nearly doubling its service out of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport because it sees an opening to stimulate traffic for consumers who want to visit friends and relatives or otherwise travel for leisure, an executive with the South Florida-based carrier says.
Anticipating Europe’s proposed 2013 lifting of the ban on liquids in passenger baggage, Safran Group's security unit Morpho has developed a product, XDi, based on advanced X-ray defraction, that identifies liquids inside containers and packed inside bags. XDi is expected to be ready for testing by European and American regulators by the end of this year. Morpho plans to make production models available by late 2012.
It would appear that Lufthansa Technik is moving toward harmonizing its nine base maintenance facilities. This means less variation in work performed at each facility. LHT Budapest CEO Elmar Lutter says the MRO group has already standardized information technology and some other processes. It has analyzed production checks for efficiencies, and, for example, has shared best practices for heavy checks on the Airbus A320, which has already yielded efficiency gains.
Pilot and air traffic controller professionalism, along with fatigue, are among the issues targeted by the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) “most-wanted” list for 2011.
The U.S. Senate has formed a Travel & Tourism Caucus for the first time in 25 years, being led by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Mark Begich (D-Ark.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.). All but Kirk sit on the Commerce Committee. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) and Sam Farr (D-Calif.) are the co-chair counterpoints in the House. The mission of both groups is to promote sensible policies to further travel to, from and within the U.S.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday unanimously agreed to extend the FAA reauthorization bill through July 22, providing Congress with less than one month to approve an agreement that has lingered unresolved since 2007. The action now moves to the Senate this week to extend it, as the current extension expires June 30.
The General Electric Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance is preparing to assemble the first of a lighter version of the GP7200 engine under a final wave of weight reduction efforts for the Airbus A380. The upgrade cuts overall weight per ship by 200 lb. The 50 lb. weight saving per engine is the last phase of a reduction program that overall has shaved 200 lb. off the GP7200 since it entered service in 2008. “We get an extra 50 lb. savings per engine with a new turbine exhaust case from Volvo Aero,” says Engine Alliance President Mary Ellen Jones.
Republic Airways appears to have gotten some sweeteners in exchange for its decision to order 80 A320NEO (new engine option) aircraft and select the CFM International LEAP engine to power them.
Tornado damage to Lambert St. Louis International Airport will cost $25-30 million to repair Terminal 1 and Concourse C, and the cost of total damage repair will likely be higher. The F-4 tornado struck two months ago, ripping off the roof of Concourse C and causing heavy damage to the main terminal (Aviation Daily, April 26). Concourse C remains closed and airlines have been relocated. Total damage costs will be calculated to consider the impact of business interruption and other collaterals, the airport says.
Just a few months after signing for four Airbus A380s, Tokyo-based Skymark Airlines has decided to exercise an option to buy two more of the aircraft, and more deals are in the offing as President Shinichi Nishikubo explains that “we need eight aircraft to fly to Europe and North America.” The aircraft will start being delivered in 2014. An engine choice is still pending for all of the A380s.
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has introduced an extension to the FAA reauthorization bill that will run through July 22. A vote on the extension is expected to take place in the House today. The deadline for the current bill is June 30, but the House will be on a district work period next week, giving the Senate one more week to approve the extension.
Five international airline associations are asking the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) for a six-month delay in all of the new passenger rights rules that will affect their member carriers.
U.S. lawmakers are calling for independent testing of new plans by LightSquared to limit the launch of its wireless broadband network to the lower of its two 10 MHz blocks of L-band spectrum to mitigate concerns of interference with GPS signals.
India’s GoAir says its order for 72 Airbus A320NEOs (new engine option) should allow for large expansion of its domestic routes. The $6.6 billion deal, at list price, was previously announced as a memorandum of understanding and now has been finalized. Deliveries should unfold between 2016-2020. The airline has 10 standard A320s in inventory and will add 10 more. “There is potential” for more, GoAir CEO Giordio de Roni says. An engine decision for the NEOs will be made in a few months. Financing also remains to be finalized.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) engineering staff met with Rolls-Royce and Boeing at the Paris air show on June 20 to make final preparations for the arrival of the first Boeing 787 in Japan on July 4 for service readiness tests. The aircraft will be flown between cities on four of ANA’s routes in southern Japan over a three-day period to simulate daily airline operations, and perform fit checks of ground equipment. The flights, which will include routes between Tokyo, Osaka, Kansai and Hiroshima, will emulate current domestic operations flown by Boeing 767-300s.
Boeing says concerted international government and industry cooperation is needed to avoid a crippling shortage of qualified pilots and technicians. Based on aircraft numbers from its commercial market outlook, the company predicts a need for 1.1 million air and ground crew by 2030. Of these, around 460,000 will be pilots and 650,000 technicians. Expressed in terms of annual recruitment, this represents training 22,000 new pilots and 22,500 technicians every year to support the industry’s predicted growth.
