An escalating fare war between Brazil’s two dominant carriers, GOL and TAM, has sent walk-up fares down 70-80% in that nation’s 10 largest markets since late August, according to a new JP Morgan analysis. GOL’s walk-up fare on the Rio-Sao Paulo route—the busiest in Latin America—has declined to 135 reals ($75) each way from 439 reals ($244). And with no restrictions other than a round-trip purchase requirement, the discounts are being snapped up by business travelers who normally would pay higher fares.
Regulations may mandate duty-time limits for aviation maintenance technicians, but they cannot fully mitigate the risks of fatigue. Education raises awareness, and human-factors training programs at airlines and independent maintenance organizations are now placing increased emphasis on fatigue and its consequences. The FAA dedicates an entire module to fatigue management in its Operator’s Manual for Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance.
Interrelated technology improvements—all involving advanced radar designs—are driving U.S. defense budget changes and program delays in Fiscal 2011 and beyond.
All three contenders for Brazil’s fighter competition had until Sept. 21 to submit revised proposals, with the air force expecting to complete its technical evaluation by the end of October. The Boeing F/A-18E/F, Dassault Rafale and the Saab Gripen NG are all being considered. The competition has been thrown into disarray by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s pronouncement in favor of the Rafale earlier this month.
Financial problems affecting the world’s airlines may have brought the influx of aircraft orders close to a stall, but some airframers see their long-term prospects as remaining at near pre-downturn levels.
Hawker Beechcraft has teamed with Lockheed Martin to offer the AT-6 derivative of its T-6 Texan II turboprop trainer for the U.S. Air Force’s Light Attack Armed Reconnaissance (LAAR) requirement, if it becomes a formal program. Lockheed Martin will integrate its mission system for the upgraded A-10C into the AT-6, which will be powered by an uprated Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68/10 engine producing 1,600 shp. compared with 1,100 shp. in the T-6.
I found the article “Help Wanted” (AW&ST Aug. 24/31, p. 58) to be most interesting but deficient with respect to the shortage of acquisition personnel.
The Airbus board has given the go-ahead to upgrade A320-family aircraft with winglets. The feature should be on aircraft that come to market by the end of 2012, says John Leahy, chief operating officer for customers. Airbus is still looking at two design options, Leahy says. The upgrade could deliver around 4% fuel-burn savings on long-range flights, Leahy believes, although details will depend on the design implementation. Leahy prefers putting winglets on the A321 first. Airbus plans to provide the feature for new-build narrowbodies and as a retrofit option.
Tantalizing early results from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) indicate hydrogen could exist in more areas of the south polar region of the Moon than thought. Following two months of checkout and calibration, LRO formally began its one-year mapping mission more than a week ahead of schedule, on Sept. 8, in a polar orbit 31 mi. above the lunar surface. Its suite of seven instruments will build a complete atlas of the Moon in unprecedented detail, scouting out lunar resources, radiation levels and possible landing sites for robotic and human explorers.
American Airlines plans to reshuffle its network next year to concentrate even more strongly on its core markets, and is also placing new orders for Bombardier CRJ700s that will almost double the size of this fleet.
William DeCota, aviation director for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, died Sept. 11 of an undisclosed illness. He was 52. DeCota was a voice on major airport issues throughout his career, including initiatives to reduce flight delays and modernize aviation facilities and systems throughout the U.S. He joined the Port Authority in 1982 as a financial analyst and was named aviation director in 1999.
Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg says the Canadian satcom operator has until the end of October to exercise an option to secure capacity on ViaSat-1, an 80-100-Gbps. Ka-band satellite to be orbited by ViaSat in 2011. Goldberg notes that the broadband market in both Canada and the U.S. is strong and there is little unused Ka-band capacity available. Telesat supplies Ka-band capacity from its Anik F3 satellite to WildBlue, which is also mulling use of ViaSat-1, and is providing ViaSat-1’s orbital slot.
Sea Launch’s next mission, a Land Launch flight set for November, concerns ILS 15 (Sept. 14, p. 32). Like other Sea Launch/Land Launch rockets, it will be equipped with a Breeze Block DM upper stage.
Dublin Aerospace, a new start-up MRO, plans to open this month on the site vacated by SR Technics at Dublin Airport. “We knew SR Technics had given up trying to sell the company as a going concern and was starting to sell-off their assets and tooling. So we put a group of investors together and created a business plan which, we felt, would make this business relevant in the current environment,” said Connor McCarthy, executive chairman of Dublin Aerospace.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has tested an MQ-1 Predator carrying two disposable, 60-lb. Finder mini-UAVs. This UAV-on-UAV program was funded by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and Defense Threat Reduction Agency. An MQ-1 can carry two Finders or a Finder and a Hellfire missile. The Army’s Warrior and Air Force’s MQ-9 Reaper can carry mixes of multiple Finders and Hellfires. General Atomics is developing the Avenger, which is expected to enter service after 2015, as its candidate for the U.S.
Struggling Sea Launch says it has received letters of support from satellite operators DirecTV, Eutelsat, Intelsat, SkyPerfect JSAT of Japan and Telesat, promising launch business. The company hopes the letters will help convince the U.S. Bankruptcy Court handling its Chapter 11 proceedings that it has a viable recovery plan.
Norman Augustine tells of his experience when he “was deemed unqualified to teach eighth-grade math” in his state. Perhaps my experience will add to the need for a change in mindset on the part of high-school administrators. Several years ago, I was at a meeting with the president of the Los Angeles teachers’ union. He was bemoaning the fact that a large percentage of high-school seniors were unable to pass the Algebra I requirement for graduation.
Abu Dhabi Airports Co. this month rolled out free WiFi and Internet access throughout Abu Dhabi International Airport. Sixty-five touch-screen walk-up kiosks are now available—50 in Terminal 3 join the 15 launched in Terminal 1 in 2008. Passengers will have 20 min. of free Internet access per session.
LOT Polish Airlines last week added to its fleet an Embraer 175—the 600th produced in the “E-Jet” family of four 70-122-seat aircraft—the Embraer 170, 175, 190 and 195. The new aircraft, which will seat 82 people in one-class configuration, joins 10 Embraer 170s and six 175s now in service. The carrier expects delivery of 11 additional 175s under an order placed in January 2008. In that same contract, the airline, which was launch customer for the Embraer 170 in March 2004, holds two options for the 175 and 10 purchase rights.
We should not have waited for the Air France Flight 447 crash to suspect something might be fundamentally wrong with the exclusive dependency on air speed indication (ASI) by the auto-pilot (AP)/flight director (FD) system.
The European Aviation Safety Agency this week will hold its first meeting with stakeholders on the contentious issue of crew flight time limitations, as the agency sets out to add regulation of flight operations to its roles in setting aviation rules for the European Union.
South Korea will focus on developing a Generation-4.5 fighter under a proposed program that previously aimed at an equivalent of the fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35. The government is due to decide in November whether to proceed with the program, called KFX, which industrialists hope will meet the air force’s distant F-XX fighter requirement for the 2020s. Lockheed Martin and Boeing are battling for another prize called F-X Phase III, under which the air force proposes to buy 60 fighters next decade.
Top Pentagon civilians are still trying to ensure that the General Electric/Rolls-Royce alternative F136 Joint Strike Fighter engine is dead. After the failure of a Pratt & Whitney F135 test engine, officials hurry to say it does not change their preference for a single engine program. Says Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s press aide, Geoff Morrell: “The mishap . . . is unfortunate, but not unexpected. [Gates] is not satisfied at this moment with how Pratt & Whitney is handling this. Reputations are at stake.
MyAir, the Italian low-fare carrier that had its air operator certificate revoked because of its weak financial position, could resume flights in December. A group of investors is considering injecting capital into the carrier, although several hurdles have to be overcome in bankruptcy proceedings. A hearing in the bankruptcy proceedings is planned for Oct. 3.
While the FAA is likely to propose new flight- and duty-time regulations for pilots by year-end, flight attendants will have to be satisfied with taking part in new field research for now. There still is no scientific data that conclusively shows passenger safety is compromised by fatigued flight attendants. The FAA’s rulemaking committee was directed by the agency not to include flight attendants, according to the Air Transport Assn.’s (ATA) vice president of communications, David Castleveter.
