One sentence probably best sums up what makes Willie Walsh tick: “I guess the difference between me and many other airline CEOs is that I have the determination to tackle these issues and some others don't,” he told Aviation Week last year. When others pull back to avoid conflicts, he chooses to aggressively fight for what he believes is crucial. His remarkable success record bears out this particular style of corporate leadership.
Early CSeries flight-test results are supporting performance predictions, giving Bombardier confidence in its projections for the all-new narrowbody airliner, says Guy Hachey, president of the company’s aerospace business. “We are seeing in flight test that we will be able to back up our numbers,” he said today at Bombardier’s investor day in New York. “We feel good about our projections.”
As industry tackles areas like runway safety and inflight loss of control, which are seen as ripe for safety improvement, a working group is zeroing in on ways to minimize the most common contributor to airline accidents: inadequate flightpath monitoring.
Preliminary airline accident statistics from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for 2013 are cause for optimism, as accident numbers and fatalities declined and the air transport industry is addressing key trouble areas with a host of safety initiatives.
While a cyberattack is believed to be among the less-likely scenarios being considered by investigators for the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370, Boeing and the U.S. FAA have already initiated moves to prevent the hostile takeover of any 777 model by unauthorized access to critical systems and data networks from the passenger cabin.
Even as the Obama administration pushes to have the FAA fund itself with the traveler-paid Airport and Airway Trust Fund, the White House predicts the fund's balance will grow steadily over the next decade. White House budget documents lay out a road map to wean FAA from general-fund contributions. As of 2015, the FAA budget request would have the trust fund cover 93% of FAA's operations, as well as its Airport Improvement Program, facilities and equipment, and research, engineering and development accounts.
The date of the departure of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur was incorrectly stated in the March 17 edition (page 38). The aircraft veered from course and disappeared from most tracking screens on March 8.
Bombardier is marketing a 50-seat passenger/cargo combi version of the Q400 turboprop as it strives to extend the production life of its regional aircraft through the transition to full-rate output of the CSeries narrowbody aircraft. There are no sales yet for the 50-seat version, Bombardier Aerospace President Guy Hachey said at the company’s investors’ day in New York on March 20, but the company has its first customer for a new 86-seat configuration with a reduced seat pitch.
The new P-8, a linchpin of the U.S. Navy's low-profile maritime patrol force, has been pushed into the limelight from its traditional mission of submarine-hunting to join the massive search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared March 8.
The RTCA Special Committee 213 (SC 213), winner of Aviation Week's 2014 Avionics and Systems Laureate, is not so much a committee as it is a “Skunk Works” composed of the makers, users and regulators of advanced vision systems worldwide.
With no last-minute solution in sight, Lufthansa appears set to face a pilot strike in the coming weeks. Pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) said March 21 that its members have overwhelmingly voted in favor of a strike. The strike threat is immediate, but VC said it will announce its work stoppages 48 hr. in advance.
SpaceX delayed its third commercial cargo flight to the international space station (ISS) because of “payload contamination” problems in the unpressurized “trunk” of its Dragon spacecraft, but don't try to find out what those problems are. “We've had some issues with payload contamination that we will be addressing,” says Sam Scimemi, ISS program director at NASA headquarters, during a March 14 Space Transportation Association presentation. “We're going to have to assess that and replace some parts and get the rocket ready for launch again.
The hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has thrown a harsh light on the fragile nature of internal and cross-border relationships in Southeast Asia, as a lack of coordination hampered both detection of the flightpath and response to its disappearance.
The White House is projecting that the balance of the user-funded Airport and Airway Trust Fund will grow steadily over the next decade even as the Obama administration pushes to have it pay for nearly all of FAA’s activities.
Although Airbus remains publicly ambivalent about its willingness to develop a reengined A330, a growing sector of the market is voicing support for the move.
The British government is planning to propose new tax legislation that would increase fees on passengers who fly aboard large business aircraft that operate from U.K. airports. In a March 19 speech, Chancellor George Osborne notes, “private jets were not taxed at all under the previous government. Today they are, and I’m increasing the charge so they pay more.”
Air Berlin is quietly preparing a major announcement regarding its structure next week, and is trying to convince the German federal government that it doesn’t need to worry. The airline has been hinting in behind-the-scenes conversations that, whatever happens, it will retain its German air operator certificate and its current brand, several sources with knowledge of the matter say. A stock de-listing is understood to be one option, as is a further capital injection from another investor.
China Southern will open a service to Moscow as part of a build-up of operations at Wuhan, the large central Chinese city, where its chief rival is fellow SkyTeam alliance member China Eastern. Air China, meanwhile, is continuing its expansion at China Eastern’s main base, Shanghai, by announcing a service to Munich. The new routes are part of the Chinese airline industry’s wider push to increase international business, despite a long history of ceding most such services to foreign carriers.
Australian officials remain cautious about satellite images that may show debris from MH370, although the possibility is strong enough that they have focused the southern Indian Ocean search on the new finding.
Garuda Indonesia has been forced to again delay launching its proposed Jakarta-London route, owing to lack of available slots in the U.K. The airline originally planned to launch its Soekarno-Hatta Airport to Gatwick Airport route in the fourth quarter of 2013, but problems with the certification of the Soekarno-Hatta runway meant the route could not be flown economically.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of March 19, 2014, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
Leading U.S-based aircraft leasing company Air Lease reveals that it has been in early discussions with Airbus and Boeing on advanced future concepts for a 200- to 250-seat, small twin-aisle aircraft which would have trans-Atlantic range.
