Flight Safety Information November 30, 2010 - No. 245 In This Issue Lufthansa to become first airline to use biofuel on a passenger flight Southwest Airlines jetliner returns to Oakland airport after pilot discovers engine problem Airline trade group names new president and CEO Lufthansa Cargo Needs More Aircraft To Keep Up With Demand Lufthansa to become first airline to use biofuel on a passenger flight Lufthansa is launching the world's first scheduled commercial passenger flights using biofuel in the first half of 2011, with an IAE- V2500-powered Airbus A321. In April 2011, LH will begin a six-month trial with an A321 on scheduled commercial flights on the Hamburg-Frankfurt-Hamburg route. Pending certification, one of the aircraft's engines will use a 50- 50 mix of biofuel and traditional kerosene. The primary purpose of the project is to conduct a long-term trial to study the effect of biofuel on engine maintenance and engine life. The daily flights are part of the 'burnFair' project to study the long- term impact of sustainable biofuels on aircraft performance. Airbus' role is to provide technical assistance and to monitor the fuel properties. The biofuel will be supplied by Finland-based Neste Oil, a fuel refining and marketing company that has cooperated with Lufthansa for many years, LH said. Certification of its biofuel is expected in March 2011. LH Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber said that during the six months trial, LH will save around 1,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions. "Lufthansa will be the world's first airline to utilize bio-fuel in flight operations within the framework of a long-term trial. This is a further consistent step in a proven sustainability strategy, which Lufthansa has for many years successfully pursued and implemented," he said. The project will cost LH an estimated €6.6 million ($8.74 million). http://atwonline.com/ Back to Top Southwest Airlines jetliner returns to Oakland airport after pilot discovers engine problem OAKLAND -- A Southwest Airlines pilot discovered an engine problem 25 minutes into a flight today, declared an emergency and returned to Oakland International Airport, an airport spokeswoman said. No one was injured. Southwest Airlines flight 3066, which was headed to Las Vegas, landed in Oakland without incident about 4:35 p.m. The Boeing 737 left the Oakland airport at 3:55 p.m. At 4:20 p.m., about 2,000 feet up in the air, one of the engines made a loud noise that caused the pilots to decide, as a precaution, to turn back, said Southwest Airlines spokesman Paul Flaningan. The noise did not change the engine's function, and engineers did not immediately know what was wrong when with the engine was examined on the ground, Flaningan said. The plane was pulled from service and the 114 passengers on board were expected to be delayed about two hours as the airline brought in a replacement plane. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16737082 Back to Top Airline trade group names new president and CEO WASHINGTON (AP) - A trade group for the major U.S. airlines on Monday named a Citigroup lobbyist and former White House official as its new president and CEO. The Air Transport Association of America said Nicholas E. Calio will take over the top job at the group on Jan. 1. Calio leads the government-affairs division at Citigroup. Before taking that job in 2003, he was the assistant to the president for legislative affairs and chief liaison to Congress for Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. Calio, 57, will replace James May, 64, another veteran lobbyist who has led the airline group for eight years. May said he left on his own, but he added that the trade group's board "was looking to bring in some fresh blood." Calio will take the helm of a group with a big wish list in Washington. It is seeking lower taxes on air travel, billions for a new national air traffic-control system, and the ability to work more closely with foreign airlines. It opposes government subsidies that help Boeing Co. and Airbus sell planes to foreign airlines, and it opposes efforts to tax greenhouse gas emissions from jets. The group's member airlines are also chafing under more vigorous regulation by the Federal Aviation Administration, including some proposed fined in the millions of dollars for alleged safety violations. Calio's current employer, Citigroup, was hit hard by the credit crisis two years ago. It received $45 billion in federal bailout money, some of which was converted to stock, yet the bank continued to lobby the government, which now owns a minority stake in Citigroup. In the first nine months of this year, Calio's Citigroup operation reported spending $4.1 million lobbying the federal government. In the same time, the Air Transport Association spent $3.4 million, according to filings with Congress. Although he worked for two Republican presidents, Calio has cultivated a reputation for working with members of both major parties. He recruited fellow former Bush White House lobbyists to Citigroup but also hired a former senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Between White House stints, Calio formed a Washington lobbying firm with Democrat Lawrence O'Brien III. Before that, he was a lobbyist for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. The outgoing CEO, May, joined the trade group in 2003 after holding executive jobs at the National Association of Broadcasters, PepsiCo Inc. and the Grocery Manufacturers of America. May said in an interview that he was proud of the airlines' safety record during his tenure. The major U.S. airlines have gone several years without an accident involving passenger fatalities, although smaller jets flown for regional affiliates of Continental, Delta and US Airways have suffered deadly accidents. "The FAA needs to do its job," May said, but added that if regulators get too stringent it could discourage airlines from self-reporting potential safety issues before they become problems. Back to Top Lufthansa Cargo Needs More Aircraft To Keep Up With Demand FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)--German flagship carrier Deutsche Lufthansa's (LHA.XE) cargo unit Lufthansa Cargo AG is planning to expand its fleet to keep up with an expected increase in demand for cargo flights in the coming years, the company said late Monday. "We need the equivalent of six MD11F aircraft by 2015 to grow with the market with the market," said board member Alexander Otto. Otto will ask for the board for authorization to increase the fleet in the coming year, he said. Otto said that the board is very confident on the development of demand for cargo services. "We see enormous growth potential," he said. Within the group, Lufthansa Cargo expects an average growth of transport volume of 5% from 2012 to 2015. Long term, the Lufthansa unit expects average annual growth of 4.6% a year from 2012 to 2026. Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC