The Airbus A380 wing "ruptured" during ultimate load testing this week, just before reaching the desired structural benchmark. In what was the final of about 12 static tests, the wing was gradually being exposed to up to 1.5 times its limit load. Just before reaching the ultimate load level, the wing failed symmetrically on both sides, with the break occurring between the two engines. The limit load is the maximum strain an aircraft should encounter in flight, with ultimate load representing a 50% safety margin.
The FAA's Air Traffic Organization is achieving its goal of reducing its unit costs -- despite higher employee salaries -- and helping airlines increase fuel efficiency, ATO head Russell Chew said this week. ATO cut its labor cost per controlled flight by 1.5% in Fiscal Year 2005, Chew said at the Jane's Maastricht Air Traffic Control conference. ATO absorbed a 5% wage increase, although productivity for controllers and first-line supervisors rose 3%. Productivity was up 4% in terminal facilities and 2% in en route centers.
All Nippon Airways on April 11 plans to start operating of its new Boeing 777-300ERs on its Tokyo-San Francisco route. The new aircraft has new first- and business-class seats, as well as a different menu. The plane also has a new Premium Economy class with 20% more seat pitch than economy class. All passengers have access to the Internet through the Connexion by Boeing service. The 777-300ER is currently serving ANA's New York-Tokyo and Los Angeles-Tokyo routes, with the Washington-Tokyo starting in July. -SL
FAA proposed mandating installation of upgraded flight management computer system software on McDonnell-Douglas (Boeing) MD-10s/MD-11s. The new rule would supersede an existing one requiring flight manual revisions and would add MD-10s to the applicability list. FAA estimated cost is $130 per aircraft for 117 U.S.-registered aircraft.
Sister carriers Caribbean Sun Airlines and Caribbean Star tapped Decision Strategies to determine if the airlines should expand outside the Caribbean. The companies are looking at technology, route structures, marketing and distribution. Former Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) President Skip Barnette took the helm of Caribbean Sun and Star last year before Delta sold ASA to SkyWest. Airline affiliate Caribbean Aircraft Leasing has ordered four Bombardier Q300 turboprops. -LR
America West won two-year exemptions from the U.S. Transportation Dept. for scheduled service from the U.S. to points in Spain, Ireland and the U.K. The exemptions cover service from the U.S. to the co-terminal points of Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca via the Azores and Lisbon; via intermediate points to Dublin/Shannon and via intermediate points to the U.K., excluding Heathrow and Gatwick.
Republic Airways Holdings managed to grow its profits for the fourth quarter despite encountering what the company's CEO dubbed as "costs headwinds" of about $2 million. Net income reached $15.9 million, compared with $14.8 million for the last three months of 2004. Including a one-time non-cash gain of $2.5 million related to a settlement reached with aircraft lessors on turboprop leases, net income for the quarter was $18.5 million.
Low-fare carrier SkyEurope will set up a base in Prague -- its fifth systemwide -- in April, the company said this week. Sky Europe will launch seven routes from the Czech capital, including Amsterdam, Paris and Rome. SkyEurope is based in Bratislava, Slovakia, and has additional bases in Budapest, Warsaw and Krakow.
Sensis Corp. this week announced it has won a contract to supply its surface surveillance and tracking system to India's New Delhi Airport. The Advanced-Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS) system will give controllers at the airport increased visibility on runways, taxiways and apron areas, and will also reduce fog delays in the winter. A-SMGCS has been commissioned by FAA and is being deployed to 35 U.S. airports.
Gary Halbert was appointed as the new General Counsel of the National Transportation Safety Board, replacing Richard Battoochi, who retired in January. Halbert spent 27 years the in U.S. Air Force and most recently was director-executive issues at the Air Force headquarters.
USA 3000 won exemptions from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to operate scheduled seasonal service from Milwaukee to Puerto Vallarta and from St. Louis to San Jose del Cabo (DAILY, Dec. 13, 2005). Both flights are slated to launch in December [OST-2005-23278].
Air France yesterday moved to new location at Philadelphia Airport to streamline its operations at the facility. Air France passengers departing from Philadelphia will use international Terminal A-West to check in and board flights to Paris.
Pratt & Whitney said it will rake in more customers this year for its new CFM parts program as the Pratt-built parts for the engines make their debut early next year. The engine manufacturer has decided to build and supply parts for another powerplant -- the CFM International CFM56-3. P&W said it would offer parts for other CFM models based on demand. The first round of offerings should be available in January 2007.
EasyJet is planning to grow capacity at Glasgow by 19% after adding four new flights by the beginning of July. Daily flights to Berlin Schoenefeld start May 3, followed by weekly flights to Palma May 20. Daily flights to Alicante and Malaga start July 7. The carrier also plans to convert Glasgow to an all-Airbus base this summer.
Shuttle America applied to the U.S. Transportation Dept. for blanket authority that will let it put All Nippon Airways' code on Shuttle America's United Express flights. The carriers intend to launch the code share on March 6, with the Star Alliance member's NH code appearing on Shuttle America's flights to points in the U.S. and Canada.
Allegiant Air yesterday signed a broad marketing partnership with one the top online gambling companies that will lead to six aircraft getting a complete makeover as part of the aggressive advertising campaign.
FAA this week named Dr. Frederick Tilton as the agency's new federal air surgeon, replacing Dr. Jon Jordan, who retired last month. Tilton was the deputy federal air surgeon for the past six years. He will oversee the Office of Aerospace Medicine's work force of more than 400 doctors, research scientists, nurses and research workers, including those at the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute in Oklahoma City. He will also oversee the 5,000 private physicians who administer FAA medical examinations as designated medical examiners.
The U.K. and Spanish air traffic control organizations yesterday signed a deal creating a joint-venture company that will develop a new version of Spain's ATC system for use by both nations. The Spanish ATC system is known as SACTA, and the new company will be called SACTA ATM. The company is jointly owned by the U.K.'s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and Spain's Aena. The two organizations believe this is the first time two ATC providers have collaborated in a commercial joint venture like this.
Miami-based Latin American Airline Association (AITAL) reports passenger traffic for its member airlines increased 12.1% in 2005, reaching 119.5 billion revenue passenger kilometers . Capacity increased 8.1% to 168.3 billion available seat kilometers, while the passenger load factor jumped 2.5 percentage-points to 71%. AITAL member airlines carried 75.9 million passengers in 2005, up 14.4% from 2004, when 66.4 million passengers were carried. Cargo traffic also improved -- freight-tonne kilometers increased 3.2% from 2004.
