Safety, Ops & Regulation

FAA issued a long-anticipated final rule Wednesday on pilot flight time, duty and rest that imposes tighter restrictions on airlines and flight deck

FAA issued a long-anticipated final rule Wednesday on pilot flight time, duty and rest that imposes tighter restrictions on airlines and flight deck crew, though it also softened some of the provisions contained in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) released on pilot fatigue 15 months ago.

Turkish Technic has signed contracts with Yakutia Airlines, which includes a maintenance service agreement to cover one C check on a Boeing 737-800 and a painting service agreement to cover one -800 tail painting. SR Technics inked five-year contracts with Philippine Airlines for repair cycle management, which covers its fleet of 33 Airbus aircraft and for engine maintenance, covering 21 CFM56-5Cs.

Russian authorities withdrew the air operators certificate (AOC) for Makhachkala-based Dagestan Airlines (N2).

A rare computer glitch has been blamed for the 2008 turbulence incident that injured 119 passengers and crew on Qantas (QF) Airbus A330 flight 72 from Singapore to Perth ( ATW Daily News, Oct. 7, 2008).

The European Commission (EC) last week raided the premises of Brussels Airlines (SN) and TAP Portugal (TP) in Belgium and Portugal, as part of its investigation to verify whether the carriers’ codeshare agreements are in breach of EU antitrust rules.

Qantas (QF) and the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Assn. (ALAEA) have reached an agreement, bringing to a close one of the most bitter disputes in Australian aviation history.

Four Chinese carriers—Air China (CA), China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines—are planning to file a lawsuit against the European Union European Trading Scheme (EU ETS), scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

The Russian Ministry of Transport has proposed legislation allowing carriers to receive government subsidies for the leasing of regional aircraft.

A surge in mining becomes a boon for regional carriers in Western Australia.

New technology tools help airports and airlines become smarter about reducing tarmac delays.

The FAA is proposing a $777,000 civil penalty against Horizon Air Industries (QX) for allegedly operating 32 Bombardier Dash-8-400 turboprops on 49,870 flights between Oct. 19, 2009 and March 17, 2010 when the aircraft were not in compliance with federal aviation regulations.

Global airline safety performance has improved in all regions this year, except Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, according to IATA.

Sustaining an LCC in Russia is precarious business, and things just became even more bleak.

Brazil’s Council for Economic Defense (CADE) has approved the merger between Chile’s LAN Airlines and Brazil’s TAM in a unanimous vote.

US airlines may not be growing, but their discipline means they are earning money.

Flight disruptions, natural or man-made, are getting easier to manage with new IT tools.

Air New Zealand (NZ) has signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with Australia-based Licella Pty Ltd to examine developing and marketing a process to convert woody biomass into sustainable aviation biofuel in New Zealand. Licella has developed a process that uses a Catalytic Hydro Thermal Reactor (Cat-HTR), which converts woody materials and other biomass into a high-quality, bio-crude oil in a one-step process.

News from Travel Technology Update: Travelport executives have been saying for some time that the GDS model is evolving: Agency incentives will still be a part of it, but the technology that Travelport provides will become more important to agencies’ success.

US civil aircraft sales will total $49.68 billion in 2011, up 3.1% year-over-year, and rise another 4.1% in 2012 to $51.71 billion, the US Aerospace Industries Assn. (AIA) said Wednesday in releasing its annual forecast.

Bahrain's national carrier, Gulf Air, was honored with a Sliver award at the Inflight Sales Person of the Year event held in London.

CAE doubled the size of its LAN Airlines training center for pilots and cabin crew. The six-bay, $40 million facility has two simulators for the Airbus A320, two for the Boeing 767-300ER, as well as a 3D flat-panel integrated procedures trainer for training on the Airbus A320 and A340. With this expansion, the center is able to train 4,500 pilots and 3,000 cabin crew per year.

Emirates Airline (EK) has begun to outfit its Airbus A380 aircraft with OnAir Wi-Fi Internet connectivity. The new Wi-Fi service will initially launch on 11 of its 19 A380s in service, though the system is scheduled to be installed across its entire fleet of 71 A380s on order. The airline began trialing the service on certain A380 flights last year ( ATW Daily News, July 21, 2010).

Governments may target the aviation industry to support the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which was set in motion at the17th Conference of the Parties ( COP17) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ( ATW Daily News, Dec. 13).

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