Flight Safety Information January 7, 2014 - No. 007 In This Issue Aspen airport remains closed after private jet crash American cancels 750 flights Monday, jet fuel supplies frozen in Chicago Ethiopia: U.S. FAA Audits Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority DGCA mandates voice recorders for small aircraft and helicopters (India) FAA air safety data analytics program years away from predictive capability Cebu Pacific hiring foreign pilots to fly its Airbus A330s Pilot support surges for GA protection bill Flying got much safer in 2013 Think ARGUS PROS Boeing Jet Deliveries Rise Nearly 8% PIA to send back profitable 'wet lease' aircraft Boeing Receives Full Order From Flydubai For 86 New Aircraft Costing $8.8 Billion For The First Time, Aviation Classes Take Off For Elementary Kids In North Texas Aspen airport remains closed after private jet crash ASPEN, Colo. -The Aspen-Pitkin County Airport remained closed Monday night and there was no timetable for when it would reopen following the crash of a private jet Sunday. The wreckage of the plane remained on the runway as officials from the National Transportation Safety Board began their investigation Monday. The copilot of the 22-seat Bombardier Challenger 600 was killed. He's identified as Emilio Carranza Brabata, 54, of Mexico. Two other men on the plane, Miguel Angel Henriquez and Moises Carranza Brabata, also of Mexico were injured and in St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction Monday. All three men are pilots and they were the only people on board. The survivors have moderate to severe traumatic injuries. Buses carried about 200 stranded passengers from Aspen to Denver International Airport Monday. The first four outbound flights from Aspen were canceled Tuesday. Buses were scheduled to leave for Denver at 7:00, 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. The plane burst into flames when it crashed while landing Sunday afternoon according to the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office. The pilot of the twin-engine jet earlier reported high winds during a previous attempt to land, according to a recording of the air traffic control radio transmission. The crash occurred about 12:23 p.m. as they came in for another try. "Missed approach, N115WF. 33 knots of tail wind," the pilot is heard saying a few minutes before the crash. The aircraft flipped over on impact and became fully engulfed in flames, police said. According to the flight tracking website Flightaware.com, the aircraft was on a flight from Tucson, Ariz. "Right now, we have no indication that there was anything wrong prior to landing. However, we do have investigators on scene," PCSO spokesman Alex Burchetta said. Multiple witnesses tweeted about seeing the accident. Celebrities Kevin Nealon and LeAnn Rimes Cibrian were both apparently in the area. Many pilots consider the airport a challenging destination due to the surrounding mountains. A private jet crash at the airport in 2001 killed all 18 people aboard. http://kwgn.com/2014/01/05/aspen-private-jet-crash-kills-one-shuts-down-airport/ Back to Top American cancels 750 flights Monday, jet fuel supplies frozen in Chicago It may not be snowing or icing over at American Airlines' hub airports on Monday but extreme cold temperatures have forced the airline to cancel over 750 flights. "Fuel and glycol supplies are frozen - at [Chicago O'Hare] and other airports in the Midwest and Northeast. Additionally, our employees are only able to be out on the ramp for a few minutes at a time because wind chills are as low as 45 below zero at some airports," said American spokesman Matt Miller. The airline said it will have minimal operations at its Chicago hub and at other cities in the Midwest and Northeast. More cancellations for its mainline and regional operations are expected as the bitter cold continues through Tuesday. American said it is allowing customers affected by the weather to rebook their flights without penalty. The company's travel policy can be found here. At Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, 41 departures have been canceled, according to aviation website FlightStats.com. The airport is also reporting 105 delays for departures because of weather in other parts of the country. http://blogs.star-telegram.com/sky_talk/2014/01/american-cancels-750-flights-monday- jet-fuel-supplies-frozen-in-chicago.html#storylink=cpy Back to Top Ethiopia: U.S. FAA Audits Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) conducted International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) on the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA). An FAA team of experts lead by John Barbagallo, chief inspector, came to Addis Ababa recently to audit the ECAA. The experts spent five days assessing the authority's working procedures and the qualifications of experts of the authority. FAA grants permits to airlines of a country to fly to the US if the regulatory body of that country qualify the FAA audits. Ethiopian Airlines started flying to the US in 1998 after ECAA was certified by the FAA as category 1. There are three categories of permits. Category 1 means passing the audit without a remark. Countries in the category 1 list comply with the International Civil Aviation Organization's operational safety standards. Category 2 permit will enable airlines to fly with restrictions. The deficits should be rectified within a specific period. Airlines based in the countries listed in Category 3 will not be able to fly to the US. If the regulatory body of a country fails to meet the requirements of FAA, all carriers based in that country will not be able to fly to the US. At a stakeholders' consultative meeting held yesterday at ECAA, director general of the authority, Wossenyeleh Hunegnaw (Col.), said that all professionals of the authority have been working hard to qualify for FAA's permit before the arrival of the team of experts. Wossenyeleh said the authority has been preparing for a long time. "We were engaged in preparing for the FAA audit for a long time. All of us were working day and night and on the weekends. We were not even able to handle other cases including evaluating new applications for air operators' certificate," Wossenyeleh told participants. Five FAA inspectors evaluated all the working procedures of the ECAA and the qualifications of the authority. According to Wossenyeleh FAA's checklist comprises of thousands of items but the most critical ones are-the existence of legislation, organizational structure, regulation, skilled man power, operation manuals, operators certification, surveillance (follow ups), and enforcement. After the experts conducted the assessment last August they identified 36 findings. Most of the problems are related to the availability of certified personnel. They gave ECAA two months to rectify the deficiencies. "It was a thorough investigation," Wossenyeleh said. According to Wossenyeleh with the support of the Ethiopian government the authority worked hard to fill the gaps. "The government provided us with all the support we required. Our government showed that it is really committed to the development of aviation in the country," Wossenyeleh said. According to him the authority rectified most of the findings. The authority was unable to hire inspector pilots due to budget constraints. The salary of a pilot in the market is more than 100,000 birr a month and it was impossible to hire one with the existing civil servants' salary scale. After listening to ECAA's explanation the government allowed the authority to hire pilots with especial payment arrangements. Accordingly, ECAA hired six pilots that inspect operators' aircraft. Wossenyeleh said ECAA now has pilots who can inspect Boeing B737, B757, B767, B777 and B787 aircraft adding that the authority has adequate number of other inspectors. FAA's experts last month came back to Addis Ababa to check the progress the ECAA made on filling the identified gaps. Wossenyeleh said the experts were satisfied with the effort made by the authority and the government to fill the identified gaps. Wossenyeleh will leave for the US today to meet officials of the FAA. Officials of the FAA will tell Wossenyeleh the result of the assessment on Monday. An official letter will soon be sent to the authority. If ECAA secures category 1 like it did in 1998, the national flag carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, will continue serving the existing route (Washington DC) and other new routes without any limitations. If the authority gets category 2 Ethiopian cannot open new route in the US. And every Ethiopian aircraft will be subjected to FAA's inspection. However, ECAA will have six month to rectify the shortcomings and restore its category 1 license. Category 3 or "C" means that no airline from Ethiopia will be able to fly to the US. The ECAA may announce the result next week. Reliable sources told The Reporter that ECAA has successfully passed FAA's flight safety assessment and met the International Civil Aviation Organization's safety standards. Sources said ECAA is rated category 1; however, they said FAA did not yet officially inform ECAA. Zimbabwe, Ghana, Swaziland, Indonesia, Uruguay are some of the countries that fall under category 2. Countries in this Category do not meet the ICAO aviation safety standards. According to the FAA's official website the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) established the International Aviation Safely Assessment (IASA) program through public policy in August of 1992. FAA's foreign assessment program focuses on a country's ability, not the individual air carrier, to adhere to international standards and recommended practices for aircraft operations and maintenance established by the United Nation's Technical Agency for Aviation, ICAO. The Ethiopian Airlines maintenance and engineering department is certified by FAA. Few airlines in Africa are certified by FAA. FAA regularly inspects Ethiopian MRO (maintenance repair and overhaul) facility. At the stakeholders and collaborators meeting held yesterday private operators commended the effort made by ECAA to improve its performance and the service it renders to customers. In a similar previous forums private operators used to present a long list of complaints on the working procedures of the ECAA. In an unprecedented manner the private operators showered officials of the ECAA with compliments. The private operators, however, demanded that ECAA should lift the restrictions imposed on the type of aircraft private operators use. ECAA's regulation prohibits private operators not to use a passenger aircraft with more than 50 seats. The ECAA does not grant permits for private operators to operate domestic flight service. Wossenyeleh said these were policy issues that cannot be addressed in the consultative meeting. "This is not something that we can address in this meeting. It is a policy issue. ECAA and the Ministry of Transport have prepared a national air transport policy. These issues, I believe, will be addressed in the new national air transport policy. The ministry will invite international air transport professionals to comment on the draft policy next week. You will also be invited to comment on the draft policy soon. Finally, the Ministry of Transport will present it to the government for endorsement." There were 28 private airlines registered by ECAA in Ethiopia. However, most of the airlines which do not have a single aircraft were not operational and were inactive. The authority recently annulled 21 licenses. According to ECAA, only seven of the private operators are operational. http://allafrica.com/stories/201401060658.html?page=1 Back to Top DGCA mandates voice recorders for small aircraft and helicopters (India) During recent safety audits, DGCA had discovered that a large number of turbine-powered planes and helicopters, including turboprops (turbine-powered propeller aircraft), were not fitted with CVRs. Seeking to curb the practice of small aircraft and helicopters operating in the country without cockpit voice recorders, aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has made it mandatory for all their operators to fit their machines with black boxes by the year-end. The latest amendment to the Civil Aviation Rule (CAR) also makes it mandatory that all aircraft being imported or leased from now onwards should be fitted with Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVRs) or black boxes and Cockpit Audio Recording System (CARS), sources in the Civil Aviation Ministry said. During recent safety audits, DGCA had discovered that a large number of turbine-powered planes and helicopters, including turboprops (turbine-powered propeller aircraft), were not fitted with CVRs. Two audits of the DGCA by its US counterpart, Federal Aviation Administration, last year had also pointed towards the deficiency. Rule 57 of the Aircraft Rules 1937 requires that every aircraft should be fitted and equipped with instruments and equipment, including radio apparatus and special equipment as may be specified. A specific CAR on the fitting of CVRs and CARS, introduced in 2012, was amended to make it mandatory for all operators to have these instruments on board the planes or choppers, including those to be imported or leased, by December 31, this year. The objective of the amendment is to ensure the recording of the aural environment on the flight deck during flight time. http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/dgca-mandates-voice-recorders-for-small- aircraft-and-helicopters/article5545802.ece Back to Top FAA air safety data analytics program years away from predictive capability The Federal Aviation Administration still has work ahead of it before it can turn a database of aviation safety data into an tool capable of making predictive analytics, says the Transportation Department office of inspector general. Since 2007, the FAA has operated the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing system, using as data sources programs including voluntary efforts that allow carriers to submit anonymized flight data generated during aircraft operation or aviation employees to report safety violations without fear of reprisal. The ASIAS system has grown to where now 44 carriers participate in it, and the FAA has begun scouring the data to identify risk trends and used it to make data models of the national airspace, the DOT OIG says in a newly released Dec. 18 report. Sign up for our FREE newsletter for more news like this sent to your inbox! But, "several years of work remain before ASIAS becomes the predictive tool FAA envisions," auditors say, adding that close coordination between safety and air traffic organizations will be essential for the agency to realize its goal. The agency may also have to address data quality and standardization challenges, auditors say, although their resolution may exceed the FAA's direct power. For example, one data source--the Flight Operational Quality Assurance program that collects de-identified flight recorder data--has problems with data transmission, sensor failures and collection. Representatives from one U.S. carrier told auditors that FOQA captures only 60 to 75 percent of the flight recorder data generated last month, "due to the lack of maintenance personnel available to download FOQA data." It's a problem that only carriers can resolve, auditors acknowledge--although they say note that the FAA has said it would try by this year to have reduced the time it takes to incorporate FOQA data from new ASIAS members in a bid to make the benefits of participation more readily apparent. The voluntary air safety violation program known as the Aviation Safety Action Program also has problems as a data source, auditors say, stating that carriers submit reports inconsistently categorized and that the most critical information in the report narratives "can be difficult to extract and aggregate." The FAA and MITRE are actively working to address those problems, auditors say, including through creation of an ASAP taxonomy and automatic classification of reports. For more: - download the report, AV-2014-017 (.pdf) http://www.fiercegovernmentit.com/story/faa-air-safety-data-analytics-program-years- away-predictive-capability/2014-01-05 Back to Top Cebu Pacific hiring foreign pilots to fly its Airbus A330s MANILA, Philippines - Cebu Pacific, hard-pressed to find suitable local candidates, is hiring another batch of foreign pilots to fly its present and coming Airbus A330 long-range planes. The Gokongwei airline has tapped two aviation recruitment companies, Ryan Aviation and Contractair, to screen candidates for captain and first officer positions for immediate hiring. Cebu Pacific currently has 45 foreign pilots on regular positions, less than ten percent of its flight crew, said an airline official who asked not to be identified by name. Cebu Pacific has been employing foreign pilots since 2011, when the budget carrier embarked on a major expansion, having flown more than 10 million passengers the year before. The hirings have also cascaded down into the A320 fleet for local and regional routes, with Contractair advertising for an undetermined number of A320 captains for "immediate" and "permanent" deployment. The foreign pilots, who expect to receive the same compensation and benefits as the locals, will be posted in Manila, Cebu, Clark, Iloilo and Kalibo. According to the industry grapevine, a Cebu Pacific A320 captain, whether Filipino or foreign, takes home about $8,000 a month in gross income. Asked why foreign pilots would relocate to the Philippines if their pay package would be similar to the locals, the airline official said, "The opportunity to work with Cebu Pacific is attractive to both Filipino and foreign pilots because we provide opportunities for transition training to another aircraft type; and for first officers, upgrade training for captaincy as CEB expands its fleet." To address pilot shortage, Cebu Pacific opened in late 2012 the Philippine Academy for Pilot Training in partnership with the Canadian global leader CAE. The pilot school in Clark has two Airbus flight simulators that can train up to 1,400 pilots a year. After training, the graduates still need to bulk up on actual flying time, in the case of an A320 captain, a minimum of 3,000 hours, with 1,000 hours of that on an A320 to qualify for a Cebu Pacific position. Demand for pilots in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to increase at a healthy clip over the next 15 years. Aircraft-maker Airbus forecasts that more than 34 percent, or 9,160 of total global airplane orders until 2030 are destined for the Asia-Pacific region. Cebu Pacific itself will take delivery between now and 2021 four more Airbus A330, thirty A321neo and fourteen A320. http://www.eturbonews.com/41405/cebu-pacific-hiring-foreign-pilots-fly-its-airbus-a330s Back to Top Pilot support surges for GA protection bill Pilot Richard Smith supports the driver's license medical bill introduced in Congress.On one day during each medical-certificate cycle, Richard Smith, a 40,500-hour pilot, spends about a half hour undergoing an aviation medical examination that determines if he is fit to fly. Then comes the rest of the cycle. "The rest of the time it's up to you to decide whether you're fit to fly. That's the way I've done it," he said in a phone interview. Smith, of Seneca, Pa., said he couldn't be more enthusiastic about the introduction in Congress of H.R. 3708, the General Aviation Pilot Protection Act, submitted by House General Aviation Caucus member Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) and GA Caucus Co-Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.). The newly introduced bill would allow pilots to use a driver's license medical standard to fly VFR, not for compensation, in aircraft that weigh up to 6,000 pounds and have up to six seats. Smith, a corporate pilot for 37 years, former FBO operator, flight instructor, and owner of a prize 1937 Clip Wing Monocoupe, wants fellow pilots to be ready to make the bill's case to their elected representatives-especially those unfamiliar with general aviation. Help them understand that a fitness-for-flight self-assessment is "what you do, I do, what every pilot does," he said. Smith, 72, makes the proposal's case as a pilot who was honored in 2007 by the National Business Aviation Association with a Pilot Safety Award upon his retirement after 27,250 or more accident-free hours flying business aircraft. He holds seven type ratings: five for Cessna Citation jets and two for larger members of the Beech King Air series of turboprops. He described how, as a chief pilot in corporate cockpits, he always ensured that situational awareness included a frank self-assessment by each crewmember, and an appropriate division of the flight workload. As a flight instructor, Smith said, he emphasizes to his students the concept of a self- assessment-putting it right up there in importance with the other essential preflight responsibilities. "I tell my primary students: preflight the airplane, preflight the weather. Look at the windsock, visibility, clouds. The last thing I'd say is, 'Did you preflight yourself? Did you get a good night's sleep last night? Did you take any over-the-counter drugs?'" 'My responsibility' Comments have flowed in to AOPA in support of the bill following its recent announcement. One pilot who contacted AOPA wrote that he has had to "jump through hoops" to maintain medical certification after hospitalization to remove a kidney stone. But what all the hoop-jumping boiled down to was the pilot taking responsibility for making sound fitness-for-flight decisions. The FAA "said if I have a re-occurrence it was my responsibility not to fly," he said. "Who would want to fly at that time? The whole key to this is, 'It is my responsibility.'" "I believe this will be an excellent change, and look forward to doing whatever I can to help push it through," the pilot wrote in an email to AOPA. In an interview with AOPA Editor in Chief Tom Haines, Rokita, said he was encouraged by initial response to the proposal aimed at "rolling back the red tape and reducing the cost to our flying." Rokita said House supporters would work first to build "a long and healthy sponsorship list" for the measure. After winning House passage, supporters would replicate the process in the Senate in hopes of having the legislation passed and signed by the end of 2014. Responding to the large number of member inquiries about how to help win passage for the measure, AOPA is advising pilots to wait until Congress returns from January recess before launching coordinated action. In the interim, AOPA will update members on the issue in the weekly AOPA ePilot newsletter, and on AOPA Online. The association has also provided answers to these frequently asked questions about the General Aviation Pilot Protection Act. http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2014/January/06/Pilot-support-surges- for-GA-protection-bill.aspx Back to Top Flying got much safer in 2013 THE YEAR 2013 was a very safe year for commercial aviation, Aviation Safety Network data show. By far the safest year by number of fatalities and the second safest year by number of accidents. Over the year 2013 the Aviation Safety Network recorded a total of 29 fatal airliner accidents, resulting in a record low 265 fatalities. Consequently, the number of fatalities is significantly lower than the ten-year average of 720 fatalities. The worst accident last year happened on November 17 when a Tatarstan Airlines Boeing 737 crashed while on approach to Kazan, Russia, killing 50. The number of accidents involving passenger flights was just below average with sixteen accidents as compared to the ten-year average of 17,4 accidents. The low number of accidents comes as no surprise, according to ASN President Harro Ranter: "Since 1997 the average number of airliner accidents has shown a steady and persistent decline, probably for a great deal thanks to the continuing safety-driven efforts by international aviation organisations such as ICAO, IATA, Flight Safety Foundation and the aviation industry." Three out of 29 accident airplanes (10%) were operated by airlines on the E.U. "black list" as opposed to three out of 23 (13%) the year before. Africa still is the least safe continent, accounting for one-fifth of all fatal airliner accidents while the continent only accounts for approximately three percent of all world aircraft departures. This is also reflected by the fact that, on average, African nations score 4.6 on a scale of 10 in aviation safety audits performed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Additionally, the airlines of fourteen African nations are not allowed to fly into the E.U. Three countries are banned in the U.S. Statistics are based on a selection of worldwide fatal accidents involving civil aircraft with a minimum capacity of 14 passengers. The Aviation Safety Network is an independent organisation located in the Netherlands. Founded in 1996. The figures have been compiled using the airliner accident database of the Aviation Safety Network, using information from authoritative and official sources. http://www.newsroompanama.com/panama/6987-flying-got-nucg-safer-in-2013.html Back to Top Back to Top Boeing Jet Deliveries Rise Nearly 8% Aerospace Giant Beats Its Previous Record Boeing Co. BA said it set a new company record for jetliner deliveries last year, as surging demand from airlines pushed the U.S. plane maker's production to its highest level since before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The 648 jets Boeing delivered in 2013 beat the company's most recent forecast of 635 to 645 jets, and topped the company's previous record of 620 aircraft delivered in 1999, following its merger with McDonnell Douglas Corp. Last year's delivery tally, which was up nearly 8% from 601 jets in 2012, likely means Boeing surpassed rival Airbus Group as the world's largest jet maker for the second straight year. Airbus, however, appears set to beat Boeing in net orders for 2013. The 2001 terrorist attacks hammered the global airline industry, which also suffered as a result of the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome and the global economic downturn that started in 2008. In recent years, air travel has recovered, U.S. carriers have found new economic strength after a series of big mergers, and airlines in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America have rapidly expanded their fleets. Boeing is benefiting from particularly strong demand for fuel-efficient aircraft, like its 787 Dreamliner, pent up after years of production delays. Boeing said Monday that its 2013 deliveries included 65 Dreamliners, up from 46 a year earlier. The surge came even though the company had delivered just one Dreamliner through the first four months of the year, when the aircraft was grounded globally after burning lithium-ion batteries were found aboard two of the advanced jets. Last year's deliveries also included 440 of Boeing's next-generation 737 jets, compared with 415 in 2012. That number is expected to rise again in 2014. Boeing ended 2013 with a record unfilled backlog of orders for 5,080 aircraft, production of which will stretch into the 2020s. The company booked a total of 1,531 new commercial orders last year, also a company record. Subtracting canceled orders, Boeing gained a net 1,355 orders. Airbus has yet to report its year-end figures. In its most recent update at the end of November, the European aircraft maker reported having booked 1,314 net orders for new jets in 2013. Based on that total, plus the 98 firm orders announced in December, Airbus appears poised to best Boeing in bookings. Airbus has said it expected to deliver 620 commercial aircraft for the year. Boeing's stock rose 79 cents Monday to close at $138.41.The shares gained more than 80% in 2013. Boeing expects to release financial results for the fourth quarter and year on Jan. 29. Boeing's 2013 order tally was bolstered by launches of two new twin-aisle aircraft, its stretched 787-10 and updated long-range 777X, which earned combined orders and commitments for more than 400 jets from 10 customers. In its final update for the year, the company added orders for 282 new jets, including seven 747-8 jumbo jets, which have faced limited demand as the air-freighter market has struggled and airlines have opted for smaller twin-engine, long-range jets. Boeing also added 164 new single-aisle 737s from unidentified customers, a sign of continued demand ahead of another planned production increase later this year to 42 jets a month from 38 a month. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303933104579304450386504082 Back to Top PIA to send back profitable 'wet lease' aircraft LAHORE: Despite its 'successful and profitable' experience of acquiring four aircraft on 'wet lease', the PIA management has decided not to retain them after April, under pressure from within the company. Now it will acquire another five on 'dry lease' once the wet lease expires. Under wet lease agreements, pilots, cabin crew, maintenance and insurance are also provided by the airline with which the PIA enters into such an agreement. Dry lease means the leaser provides only the aircraft. The PIA had acquired last month four aircraft on wet lease -- two each from Turkish and Czech Republic airlines. All the four planes operating on international, Gulf, India, Bangladesh and domestic routes are earning profits unlike other PIA operations. Besides, there are no complaints of delays, a routine with other PIA flights. PIA officials told Dawn on Monday that the company's pilots did not like the management's decision to accept "foreign pilots" because it highlighted their own poor performance and put immense pressure on the board to scrap wet lease contracts and go back to dry lease contracts. While flight delays are a routine matter for the PIA, which has caused a loss of Rs180 billion over time, its pilots have recently come into public focus because of their (mis)behaviour and failure to adhere to the flying standards. One of its pilots was recently arrested and jailed for nine months in London. Another pilot refused to fly until the company ordered breakfast of his choice and yet another offloaded a member of the cabin crew when she refused to dust off the cockpit on his order. The PIA had to rush to acquire four 189-seater 737-800 planes on wet lease because of acute shortage of aircraft to run its operations. Of the 34 planes the company owns, nine have been grounded. The PIA used to operate 150 flights a day on domestic and international routes during its days that has now come down to 80 to 90. With the induction of the four aircraft on wet lease the number of flights went up to 105-110. A pilot told this reporter that wet lease was a financial burden on the PIA, which was already in a financial mess. "The PIA Pilots Association has suggested acquisition of aircraft on 'damp lease' - partly wet, partly dry," he said. PIA spokesman Mashhood Tajwar says acquisition of aircraft on wet lease is a short-term solution. "Dry lease is a permanent solution if the airline is facing shortage of aircraft. We cannot brand our airline if we get aircraft on wet lease... (with) its all foreign outlook. We cannot have foreign pilots for a long time. We have the required skill and manpower. What we need is aircraft." http://www.dawn.com/news/1078882/pia-to-send-back-profitable-wet-lease-aircraft Back to Top Boeing Receives Full Order From Flydubai For 86 New Aircraft Costing $8.8 Billion Boeing 737 MAX ACG A computer rendering of a Boeing 737 MAX in the colors of Aviation Capital Group Boeing Low-cost airline Flydubai has finalized an order for 75 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and 11 next-generation 737-800s, valued at $8.8 billion at list prices. The airlines also retains the right to purchase 25 more 737 MAXs. The original order was announced at the Dubai Airshow in 2013, making it Boeing's single biggest order from the Middle East for a single-aisle plane. "2013 has been a tremendous year for Flydubai. We have launched 16 new routes, delivered profitability in just three years of operation and launched our business class service. The confirmed order for 75 737 MAXs and 11 next-generation 737-800s signifies the maturing of the airline and the strength of our business model as well as support(ing) Flydubai's ambitious growth," said FlyDubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith. Development of the 737 MAX is on schedule; the first flight is due to take place in 2016, with customer deliveries expected one year later. So far, Boeing has received 1,700 orders for the aircraft, which uses 14 percent less fuel than previous models. The deliveries mean that Flydubai remains a Boeing-only airline. http://www.ibtimes.com/boeing-receives-full-order-flydubai-86-new-aircraft-costing-88- billion-1528782 Back to Top For The First Time, Aviation Classes Take Off For Elementary Kids In North Texas Sammie Perez went through the aviation program at Dallas' Skyline High North Texas aviation classes reach new heights today as elementary students study flight science for the first time in North Texas. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports on the soaring trend of classroom aviation that can develop technology and math skills, and help launch careers. Some area high schools offer aviation courses that cover aeronautical engineering and aviation administration to piloting skills. But now, 14 DISD schools will offer such classes to 4th and 5th graders. Jim Thompson hopes they inspire students the way he was inspired decades ago. "It changed the way I thought about things and the way that I learned things. It taught me about judgment, risk," says Thompson. The successful investor has flown his own plane for 31 years. With his wife, he formed the Blue Sky Foundation, which is helping to fund this elementary program. "Sometimes the images that form in your imagination as a young person can stay with you your whole life. I think that's about the time I got bit by the aviation bug." Sammie Perez got bit by the bug in 3rd or 4th grade. "You know I was probably 8 or 9 years old," says Perez. "My brother joined the Navy working on F-18 fighters. I would always see pictures of him working on multi-million dollar jets and like, wow that's really cool. But I didn't exactly know what I wanted to do still, until about middle school." Perez went through Skyline Magnet High School's aviation program, graduated, then got into aeronautics school. Now 21, he soon expects to be certified as a flight instructor. He would have loved elementary aviation classes. "If I had gone through this program when I was in 5th or 6th grade, that definitely would have helped out in the long run," says Perez. "If you can space out your training and start earlier, it's more beneficial to the student." The curriculum comes from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where Erron Sagen has taught 3rd graders aviation for a dozen years. "The value is that carrot that can drive an interest," Sagen says, "but more important we're teaching them how to think like scientists, experiment, how to bring in data, see what the world is like." Some North Texas high schools pursue the same concepts. McKinney ISD has its own flight simulator where students can learning piloting skills. Dunbar High School in Fort Worth has a donated propeller plane and eventually will get a 20,000 square foot hangar for more planes and a jet engine, according to Dennis Dunkins. "They've got to learn how to think," Dunkins says. "And how to be able to overcome some difficulties." Dunkins helped set up Fort Worth's magnet program. He stands in front of the donated Cessna students will re-assemble and says you never know how that hands-on experience will pay off. As an example, he brings up Apollo 13, and says the astronauts' experience brought them home. "When that chip exploded out in space," Dunkins says, "it wasn't just the ground crew. It was those in space who had to do things by their previous training. That's what these young people are here learning how to do, things by their training." Dunbar High has about 30 students in its 4-year aviation program. Dallas rolls out its 4th and 5th grade aviation curriculum to more than 600 students this month. http://keranews.org/post/first-time-aviation-classes-take-elementary-kids-north-texas Curt Lewis