US FAA yesterday issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking significantly expanding its icing certification standards for transport category aircraft. The NPRM "includes a new requirement that manufacturers show airplanes can operate safely in freezing drizzle or freezing rain, conditions that constitute an icing environment known as 'supercooled large drops.'" It is intended to respond to the previously little understood icing phenomenon that led to the loss of an American Eagle ATR 72 near Roselawn, Ind., in 1994.
Second-generation jet biofuel derived from nonfood sources such as jatropha, camelina and algae is technologically feasible and has been proven in flight, but financing production of large enough quantities to power airline operations on any significant scale remains a formidable obstacle, according to experts who spoke last week at ATW's Eco-Aviation Conference in Washington.
Singapore Airlines flew 6.65 billion RPKs in May, up 12.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 0.5% to 8.89 billion ASKs and load factor rose 7.9 points to 74.8%. AirBaltic transported 295,809 passengers in May, a 29% increase year-over-year. Load factor rose 3 points to 69%.
A US federal judge on Friday rejected the US Air Transport Assn.'s lawsuit seeking to overturn the National Mediation Board's decision last month to change air and rail union voting rules, allowing a new rule that is likely to ease the path to unionization to go into effect July 1.
Lufthansa Cargo announced today that in line with the IATA eFreight initiative, it no longer requires on-board master airway bills or other documents identified under the scope of IATA e-Freight for shipments out of Dubai to its Frankfurt and Munich hubs, or transiting these hubs to other eFreight-capable destinations.
US Air Transport Assn. on Friday welcomed the agreement between House of Representatives and Senate negotiators that could enable massive financial reform legislation, versions of which passed in both houses of Congress, to move forward to the White House for US President Barack Obama's signature. Both chambers are expected to vote on a unified bill this week.
The EU Emissions Trading Scheme likely will "not go away," warned experts at ATW's Eco-Aviation Conference in Washington yesterday. Lufthansa Consulting Executive VP Thilo Schmid said preparing for aviation's inclusion in the ETS in 2012 is proving to be a "real challenge" for some airlines. He noted that while many carriers have accepted the ETS, some are hoping "it will go away" and may not be ready in 2012. He encouraged airlines to prepare for tracking, reporting and verifying CO2 emissions as early as possible.
US FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt announced yesterday at ATW's Eco-Aviation Conference that the agency has awarded $125 million to five companies to "develop and demonstrate technologies that will reduce commercial jet fuel consumption, emissions and noise."
Lufthansa Technik and Volvo Aero signed a cooperation agreement aimed at jointly developing "new repair methods for mainly structural parts of large commercial aircraft engines," LHT said. Both companies will cooperate in the certification processes, the repair services and the marketing and sales activities for the partnership. Repairs will be made at Volvo Aero's facilities in Trollhattan and at LHT's facilities in Hamburg.
Virgin Atlantic Airways Flight VS001's 300 passengers sat stranded on the tarmac for almost 5 hr. Tuesday night at Bradley International in Hartford, Conn., to which the London-Newark flight was diverted owing to bad weather. The aircraft landed at BDL at 8:20 p.m. and did not deplane until around 1 a.m. Passengers allegedly were without food, water or air conditioning for much of the time, according to multiple media reports. The Associated Press reported that at least three people were taken away by ambulance. Passengers were bused to Newark yesterday morning.
The UK government decided to postpone a decision to replace the country's current Air Passenger Duty with a "per plane duty." The new coalition government had indicated in its manifesto that it would swap the APD, which is scheduled to increase further in November, for an aircraft-based tax ( ATW Daily News, May 17), but the change is not part of the government's emergency budget measures for 2010 announced this week.
Boeing is planning to fly a 787 to next month's Farnborough Airshow before returning it to the US to continue with the flight test program that recently passed the 1,000-hr. mark. While the manufacturer has yet to make a formal announcement, ATW understands that planning is well advanced to fly the first flight test aircraft, ZA001, to the UK on Sunday July 18 to participate in the show. It will return to the US on July 19 or 20.
The Assn. of European Airlines called on European transport ministers, who are meeting in Brussels today, to endorse the organization's "New European Approach" to volcanic ash-cloud management.
US airline passenger revenue soared 21% in May compared to May 2009 based on data provided by a sample of its member carriers, the Air Transport Assn. reported. It marked the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year improvement and the strongest gain in 2010. May passenger numbers rose 2% year-over-year while average yield jumped 17%. International passenger revenue grew 36%, led by a 51% gain in transpacific markets.
