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.
While Boeing 787-9 launch customer Air New Zealand will receive three of the new model this year, there will be a significant gap before its next wave of -9 deliveries. The airline is set to receive its first stretched version of the 787 in July. The next is expected a few months later, and the carrier will have three by the end of 2014. Other carriers are also due to receive 787-9s during this period, with All Nippon Airways likely to be the next to take its first delivery after Air New Zealand.
The global aerospace and defense sector should see revenue growth of 4-6% in calendar 2014, with high single-digit or low double-digit growth in commercial aerospace outpacing ongoing declines in defense, according to Deloitte’s 2014 Global Aerospace and Defense Industry Outlook.
The Monarch Group has selected Andrew Swaffield, managing director of International Airlines Group (IAG)’s loyalty program since 2006, as the new managing director of Monarch Airlines. Swaffield’s appointment precedes the expected announcement for an order for 60 new-technology narrowbody aircraft for the U.K. charter and scheduled airline. Monarch has been evaluating offers from Airbus, Boeing and Bombardier, and in December said it aims to finalize the order in the first quarter of this year.
In a move that worsens the plight of airlines suffering unexpectedly weak demand, the Chinese government has limited most of its employees to flying economy class. Air China is likely to suffer the most from the new rules, which are part of President Xi Jinping’s campaign against the relentless efforts of millions of Chinese bureaucrats to divert public funds to their own benefit.
The U.K.’s Bristow Group will shortly return its last Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) EC225s to operations, following the nine-month-long grounding of the type from hazardous environment operations during 2012 and 2013. The company began returning its EC225s to revenue operations in November, after offshore operators voluntarily halted flights following the ditchings of two Aberdeen-based aircraft belonging to Bond Offshore Helicopters and CHC in May and October 2012, respectively.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of January 8, 2013, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
Click here to view the pdf Largest 100 Worldwide Scheduled Airlines, January 15-21, 2014, Ranked By ASMs (Page 1 of 2) ASMs % Chg. % Chg. Seats Per Stage
Swiss carrier Darwin Airline, poised to launch as Etihad Regional next week, is seeking four turboprops to add to its existing fleet of nine Saab 2000s with the ATR 72 emerging as a likely choice. The aircraft will be used to launch 21 new routes and 18 new destinations by mid-2014, following Etihad Airways’ decision to take a 33.3% stake in the Lugano-based carrier.
KLM UK Engineering’s (KLMUKE) recent expansion into aircraft recycling gives the Air France-KLM conglomerate another cost-effective option for disposing of narrowbody aircraft and provides third-party revenue potential in both the scrapping and surplus parts arenas.
The NTSB says it will finish its detective work on the Boeing 787 lithium-ion batteries in March and will issue the final report and hold a public hearing this fall on the January 2013 Japan Airlines incident that spawned the investigation. A second battery failure led to the FAA’s grounding of the fleet one year ago this month. “Members of the investigative team have been conducting work in the United States, Japan, France, and Taiwan,” says the NTSB in its latest update on the investigation, released Wednesday.
Air Lituanica is seeking to secure lease arrangements for two Embraer E-Jets and is preparing to submit a new business plan to the Lithuanian civil aviation authority (CAA)—including details on its financial status—following a dispute and breakup with Estonian Air, which has hampered the new carrier’s expansion plans.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Oslo - Stavanger, December 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carriers: Oslo - Stavanger, December 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Daily Each Way Departures Share ASKs (000) Share Seats /Dept.
Turkish Airlines, which has just exercised options on another seven Airbus A321-200neos, will decide on whether to go ahead with the remaining options by 2015. Last March Turkish signed a contract for 25 A321ceos, four A320neo and 53 A321neos. The deal also included 35 A321neo options, seven of which have just been converted to firm orders for delivery in 2018. “We have firmed up for the first seven aircraft. For the remaining 28 aircraft the deadline is the end of 2014 and the end of 2015,” said a Turkish Airlines spokesman.
Morocco’s national airline Royal Air Maroc has signed a Global Maintenance Agreement (GMA) with ATR for its new fleet of ATR-600 aircraft, giving the OEM another boost in its efforts to gain share in the aftermarket. The contract covers the four ATR 72-600s already owned by the airline, which was the launch customer for the -600 series and announced an order for two ATR 42-600s and four of the larger ATR 72-600s plus options for two additional ATR 72-600s in 2009. It took delivery of the first aircraft in 2011.
