Airbus continues to play down the idea of a re-engined Airbus A330, but admits that there is some pressure building on the airline side. “Customers are coming to us” to talk about the possibility, says Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier. Air Asia X founder Tony Fernandez has been the most vocal supporter of such a project, although the airline just placed an order for 25 of the current A330-300s.
FAA was expected to file its response Jan. 10 to a lawsuit filed by the city of Santa Monica, Calif., seeking control over the destiny of Santa Monica Airport (SMO). If successful, the lawsuit could clear the city to close the general aviation airport in 2015.
The owner of London’s Heathrow Airport says that its investment plans are now at risk because of cuts in airport charges set by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The regulator is reducing passenger charges at the U.K.’s busiest airport in real terms by 1.5% per year between 2014 and 2019, a period known as Q6. The regulator says the move is good news for passengers and is a result of strengthening passenger traffic forecasts.
Top U.S. House and Senate appropriators are confident they can introduce an omnibus spending bill for fiscal 2014 this week, but they need more time for it to pass both chambers of Congress before the Jan. 15 deadline to keep the U.S. government running. In turn, they are pushing a short-term extension of stopgap funding, which continues 2013 appropriations, until Jan. 17. Congress has to pass at least a continuing resolution (CR) of 2013 spending by Jan. 15, the day the current CR expires.
A Jan. 8 story on Airbus misstated the death toll from the Alaska DeHavilland DHC-3T crash that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska.). Five people died in the accident.
Peter Fleiss, who has steered the Corporate Angel Network (CAN) for the past 14 years, is retiring effective Jan. 20. Former Flying Magazine Publisher Dick Koenig, who has served on the CAN board, will succeed Fleiss. Fleiss will take on the title of director emeritus and work with Koenig during the transition.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) latest round of general aviation safety alerts continues the concerted effort of the agency, along with FAA and industry stakeholders, to address a general aviation accident rate that has refused to decline in recent years.
1984 A team of 10 managers starts work on a business plan for a new airline based in Dubai. 1985 Emirates is formally launched with Maurice Flanagan at the top. He has $10 million and five months to get the airline off the ground. Sheikh Ahmed bin Said Al Makhtoum and Tim Clark join. On Oct. 25, EK600 takes off from Dubai to Karachi, Emirates' first scheduled flight. The airline also flies to Mumbai and New Delhi.
Norwegian Air Shuttle is taking another step in implementing its long-haul, low-cost international business model and will open crew bases in New York and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in the coming months as it expands its transatlantic route network using Boeing 787 aircraft.
After a seven-year investigation, Switzerland has fined 11 airlines 11 million Swiss francs (US$12.2 million) for air cargo price-fixing. The charges relate to the period between 2000 and 2005 and involve colluding on freight rates, fuel surcharges, war risk surcharges, customs clearance surcharges for the U.S. and surcharge commissioning. Air France-KLM Highest
Helicopter lessor Milestone Aviation Group continues to increase its access to capital by closing on an unsecured $200 million revolving line of credit, a move that enables it to continue to rapidly expand its customer base that now numbers more than two dozen operators.
U.S. business aircraft were involved in more accidents and more fatal accidents overall, even as the number of business jet accidents dropped in 2013, according to preliminary data released by safety expert Robert E. Breiling Associates, Inc. U.S. business jets and business turboprops combined for 49 accidents in 2013, up slightly from the 48 accidents in 2012. Fatal accidents more than doubled, from 11 in 2012 to 23 in 2013.
Arinc, teaming with the National Business Aviation Association and a number of flight planning providers, have been adding advanced passenger information capabilities to meet new Mexico requirements that recently took effect for both private and commercial operations.
Now it will be called Airbus Group, instead of European Aerospace, Defense and Space Co. (EADS), a name it used proudly for the last 13 years. This is a formidable rebranding initiative for a global 144,000-employee group headquartered in the Netherlands (for fiscal reasons only). The new title, which is scheduled to be ratified in May by the shareholders, has been in use since Jan. 1.
Textron's Scorpion two-seat advanced trainer is now in the flight-test phase. The company's public relations efforts remain minimal, although this is a valuable initiative, company-funded programs of such magnitude being a rare occurrence. But can an all-new military aircraft expect export success in the absence of domestic orders? Can Textron overcome such a handicap ? On the opposite side of the Atlantic, Dassault Aviation has not developed the Alpha Jet's long-overdue successor: Perhaps they should talk and jointly create a global product.
Wheels Up, the membership-based private aviation company founded last summer, remains “slightly ahead of plans” with 150 members signing on in its first few months of operation and finishing the year with nine aircraft in service, says founder and CEO Kenny Dichter. “We’re just getting started,” says Dichter, who believes the company is on pace to top 250 members shortly. “We are already flying missions and are aggressively building our fleet.”
