Flight Safety Information June 17, 2016 - No. 119 In This Issue Second flight recorder on crashed Egyptair flight retrieved Flight-data recorder retrieved from crashed EgyptAir A320 EgyptAir Cockpit Voice Recorder Found Voice recorder could solve mystery of doomed EgyptAir flight EgyptAir Flight 804: Cockpit voice recorder found damaged Norway Searches For 737 Stuck-Elevator Incidents Airplane black boxes, explained Aviation: Commission updates EU air safety list -Iran and Africa make progress Iran Air A320 clearance followed airworthiness progress Search for MH370 thousands of kilometres off target Kenya: Five Airlines Express Interest in Buying Majority Shares in KQ Years After United Merger, Flight Attendants Work for Two Airlines. Amended bill may open door for upgrade of A-10 aircraft wings Envoy Air pilots union says new bonuses not enough to attract recruits 2016 FAA Asia-Pacific Flight Standards Meeting July 19-21 69th annual International Air Safety Summit (IASS) 2016...November...14-16, 2016. ARGUS Charter Operator Flash Survey PhD Research Survey (I) PhD Research Survey (II) Second flight recorder on crashed Egyptair flight retrieved CAIRO (Reuters) - A second flight recorder with information on crashed EgyptAir Flight MS804 has been retrieved, Egyptian investigators said on Friday. An Egyptian committee investigating last month's crash into the eastern Mediterranean Sea made the announcement a day after search teams found the cockpit voice recorder in a breakthrough for investigators seeking to explain what caused the plane to go down, killing all 66 people on board. http://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2016/06/17/second-flight-recorder-on-crashed-egyptair-flight- retrieved-n2179894 Back to Top Flight-data recorder retrieved from crashed EgyptAir A320 Recovery personnel have retrieved a second flight recorder from the wreck of the EgyptAir Airbus A320 in the Mediterranean Sea. The flight-data recorder has been recovered by the Deep Ocean Search vessel John Lethbridge. It had already lifted the cockpit-voice recorder of the A320 which came down on 19 May during a service from Paris to Cairo. The Egyptian civil aviation ministry says the flight-data recorder's memory module is among the components lifted. It will be transferred to the technical commission for data download and analysis, the ministry says. The cockpit-voice recorder had already been found. None of the 66 occupants of flight MS804 survived after the aircraft crashed into the sea off the northern coast of Egypt. www.flightglobal.com Back to Top EgyptAir Cockpit Voice Recorder Found, Investigators Say Search teams have been looking for the downed plane since it crashed with 66 people on board. EgyptAir flight MS804 went down over the Mediterranean last month with 66 people on board. CAIRO, June 16 (Reuters) - The cockpit voice recorder from crashed EgyptAir flight MS804 has been found by search teams who were forced to salvage the device over several stages as it was damaged, the Egyptian investigation committee said on Thursday. A specialist vessel owned by Mauritius-based Deep Ocean Search had, however, been able to recover the memory unit, it said in a statement. "The vessel's equipment was able to salvage the part that contains the memory unit, which is considered the most important part of the recording device," the statement said. Egypt's public prosecutor was informed and ordered that the recovered device, one of two so-called black boxes on the plane, be handed over to the Egyptian investigating team for analysis. The device is now being transferred from the vessel, John Lethbridge, to the coastal city of Alexandria where representatives from the public prosecution and investigators are waiting to receive it, the statement said. EgyptAir flight MS804 crashed into the Mediterranean early on May 19, killing all 66 people on board. Since then, search teams have been working against the clock to recover the black box flight recorders which are crucial to explaining what caused the Airbus A320 to crash. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/egyptair-crash-found_us_5762a5bbe4b05e4be860f4b3 Back to Top Voice recorder could solve mystery of doomed EgyptAir flight Egyptian authorities announced that searchers have spotted the wreckage of EgyptAir Flight 804 in the Mediterranean. Officials are still working to determine what caused the plane, carrying 66 people, to crash. The damaged cockpit voice recorder recovered Thursday from doomed EgyptAir Flight 804 could provide enough information to determine if an act of terrorism caused the crash that killed 66 people last month, a former U.S. crash investigator said. Egypt's investigation committee said in a statement Thursday that a specially equipped ship salvaged "the part (of the recorder) that contains the memory unit, which is considered the most important part of the recording device." The Cairo-bound Airbus 320 crashed in the Mediterranean Sea on May 19, more than three hours after leaving Paris. Al Diehl, a former investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the voice recorder can provide clues on what happened to the plane and what the crew tried to do to prevent the disaster. "It should allow them to answer most of the basic questions about whether this was a fire, explosion, mechanical issue or an act of terrorism," Diehl said. "The voice recorder will basically take you inside the mind of pilots." The voices could narrate what the problem was and reveal the stress level the pilots faced. The recorder also captures all sorts of noises that can help decipher what happened to a plane. Analyzing the sounds can offer clues such as a click when an instrument is adjusted or even the sound of the engines. The voice recorder and a separate data recorder are the black boxes - actually orange - carried in commercial aircraft. There was no immediate word on the fate of the data recorder. The data recorder is still important to recover because it describes how the plane was functioning. Besides mechanical functions such as how the engines were running, it will include details such as whether there was a rapid decompression. "In general terms, the data recorder tells you what happened, but the voice recorder tells you why it happened," Diehl said. Searchers spotted the plane's wreckage Wednesday, just days before the 30-day lifespan expires on the batteries for the emergency signals emitted from the boxes. The voice recorder was being taken by ship to the Egyptian city of Alexandria, where specialists will analyze the box's contents. The cause of the crash remains a mystery, although Egyptian officials said last week they would soon release a report on their findings thus far. The search for the plane gained traction about two weeks ago, when the French ship LaPlace detected pings from one of the plane's recorders. The Egyptian government contracted with Mauritius-based Deep Ocean Search to send the ship John Lethbridge to the scene with a remote-controlled underwater vehicle capable of scouring the sea floor nearly 2 miles deep. The Comanche 6000 vehicle uses video cameras and limbs to sample and recover objects. On Wednesday, the Lethbridge "identified several main locations of the wreckage" and the first images of the wreckage were provided to the investigation committee. Searchers planned to map the wreckage's distribution on the seabed. U.S. crash investigators say it can take days to produce a transcript from a voice recorder because investigators want to ensure accuracy and listen for every clue possible. Recorders are dried slowly and deliberately in a vacuum oven. The voice recorder typically captures several channels for the captain, the co-pilot and a general cockpit microphone. The voice recorder is crucial in the EgyptAir investigation because the crew didn't issue any distress calls before the crash. An automated system onboard the plane sent messages that smoke was detected in several locations on the jet during its final minutes. The flight-data recorder collects more than 1,000 streams of information about how the aircraft is functioning, such as how the engines are running and alignment of wing controls. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/06/16/black-box-doomed-egyptair-flight-found- egypt/85974260/ Back to Top EgyptAir Flight 804: Cockpit voice recorder found damaged Egypt: Recorder's memory unit found despite damage to cockpit voice recorder (CNN)The cockpit voice recorder for EgyptAir Flight 804 has been found but is damaged, an Egyptian investigative committee said Thursday, a day after the government said it found the wreckage of the ill- fated flight. "The device was damaged and the retrieval process was conducted in several stages," the committee said in a statement. It said a vessel used equipment to pick up the memory unit, which is considered the recorder's most important part. The Airbus A320, which had 66 people aboard, crashed May 19 in the Mediterranean Sea on a flight from Paris to Cairo. Authorities have been searching for wreckage and the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders for insight into what happened. The cockpit voice recorder is one of the so-called black boxes for which searchers have been looking. It captures sounds on the flight deck that can include conversations between pilots, warning alarms from the aircraft and background noise. By listening to the ambient sounds in a cockpit before a crash, experts can determine if a stall took place and estimate the speed at which the plane was traveling. The recorder is being transferred to Alexandria, Egypt, for the investigation, the statement said. The wreckage the government said it found Wednesday had been strewn across several places. Officials did not specify the size or the location of the parts. Searching for other 'black box' Searchers haven't found the other "black box," the flight data recorder, which gathers 25 hours of technical data from the airplane's sensors, recording several thousand distinct pieces of information. Among the details investigators could uncover is information about the plane's air speed, altitude, engine performance and wing positions. Conflicting reports over final moments Two weeks ago, a French naval vessel detected underwater signals from one of Flight 804's black boxes, investigators said. Specialized locator equipment on board the French vessel La Place detected signals from the seabed in the Mediterranean, the investigative committee said. The director of the BEA, France's air accident investigation agency, later confirmed the signals were from one of the plane's recorders. "The signal of a beacon from a flight recorder could be detected. ... The detection of this signal is a first step," said BEA Director Remy Jouty in a statement. The John Lethbridge, a vessel contracted by Egypt for the search, recovered the cockpit voice recorder. Once the other black box is found, it will be brought to Egypt, a civil aviation ministry official told CNN. That standard procedure, the official said, is similar to what happened in November with recorders from Metrojet Flight 9268, which crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Data recorders have been fixtures on commercial flights around the world for decades. http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/16/middleeast/egyptair-wreckage-found/ Back to Top Norway Searches For 737 Stuck-Elevator Incidents The Accident Investigation Board Norway (AIB) is studying incidents in which pilots flying Boeing 737s for several Scandinavian airlines had to use larger-than-normal control yoke forces to unstick their aircrafts' elevators. The action follows two stuck-elevator investigations. One involved a Norwegian Air 737-800 that came close to stalling on approach into Finland's Kittila airport in December 2012. The other, which involved a Scandinavian Airlines 737-600 on short final to Oslo in March 2015, was tied to deicing fluid that had entered the tail section during preflight activities, and froze at altitude. "[The] AIB is aware that in recent years, there has been a greater number of incidents involving the Boeing where it has been necessary to use larger forces on the elevator controls than normal," the Norwegian board said. In its final report on the Oslo incident, the AIB found that the captain had to apply approximately 130 lbs. of force to "break [the elevator] loose" when he attempted to pull up the nose when flaring the aircraft for landing. Typically, pilots use 27-36 lbs. of force on the yoke to flare the aircraft, the AIB said. Based on flight-recorder data, the AIB said the elevator became free when the aircraft was 6 ft. above the runway, and the aircraft landed normally with no damage or injuries. The incident occurred on the same day that the AIB published its final report on the 2012 stuck-elevator incident. The board issued several recommendations in the report to address the problem, and said the issue could potentially affect all 737 models. It included a recommendation for Boeing to perform a new risk assessment on 737 controls, and urged the FAA and EASA to ensure that Boeing performs the assessment and addresses any certification concerns. Boeing did not agree to a new risk assessment, but did make two procedural changes. One change involves how elevator trim is set before deicing operations start. The other instructs deicing teams to apply deicing fluid from the front to the back of the elevator, and to avoid pointing the spray into the opening in the tail. As of April, the AIB indicated it had not received responses from FAA or EASA. As part of an investigation, the AIB performed simulations of the new Boeing procedures. It found that fluid penetration into the tail was reduced, but some still entered. The stuck elevator survey will be mainly based on flight data recorder information from approximately 800,000 flights made by Boeing 737NGs flying for Norwegian Air Shuttle, Norwegian Air Norway and Scandinavian Airlines System, the AIB said. www.aviationweek.com Back to Top Airplane black boxes, explained by Joss Fong Every time a commercial airplane crashes, news outlets detail the search for the "black box," the data recorder that often holds the best evidence of what happened to the plane. But how do they work? And why are they called "black boxes" when they are decidedly orange? Immediately following an airplane crash anywhere in US territory, the National Transportation Safety Board dispatches a team of investigators to survey the wreckage, gather information from the airline and from air traffic control, and retrieve the plane's so-called "black boxes." These flight recorders - one stores cockpit audio recordings, the other stores airplane instrument data - are sent to NTSB's lab in Washington, DC, for analysis. There, officials listen to what are sometimes the pilots' final, panicked moments of life. They interpret not only what the pilots were saying before the crash but also any snaps, bangs, and alarms captured by the cockpit area microphone. By combining those audio clues with data from the plane's instruments and sensors, as well as evidence from the scene, investigators can usually determine the cause of the crash, even in cases with no surviving witnesses. http://www.vox.com/2016/6/16/11950068/airplane-black-box Back to Top Aviation: Commission updates EU air safety list -Iran and Africa make progress Brussels, 16 June 2016 Today the European Commission updated the EU Air Safety List, the list of airlines that do not meet international safety standards, and are therefore subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union. Today the European Commission updated the EU Air Safety List, the list of airlines that do not meet international safety standards, and are therefore subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union. The EU Air Safety List seeks to ensure the highest level of air safety for European citizens, which is a top priority of the Aviation Strategy adopted in December 2015. The EU Air Safety List is one of the Union's main instruments to meet that objective. Following today's update, all airlines certified in Zambia are cleared from the list, along with Air Madagascar and three airlines certified in Indonesia (Citilink, Lion Air and Batik Air). In addition most aircraft of Iran Air are allowed to resume operations to the EU. EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said: "Aviation safety is my top priority and today's update illustrates our continuous efforts to offer the highest level of air safety to European citizens. I am happy to say that after seven years of work and extensive European technical assistance, we were able to clear all Zambian air carriers from the list. Following my visit to Iran in April, a technical assessment was successfully carried out in May. Based on this I am happy to announce that we are now also able to allow most aircraft from Iran Air back into European skies." The EU Air Safety List not only helps to maintain high levels of safety in the EU, but it also helps affected countries to improve their levels of safety, in order for them to eventually be taken off the list. In addition, the Air Safety List has become a major preventive tool, as it motivates countries with safety problems to act upon them before a ban under the Air Safety List would become necessary. Following today's update, a total of 216 airlines are banned from EU skies: 214 airlines certified in 19 states[1], due to a lack of safety oversight by the aviation authorities from these states. Two individual airlines, based on safety concerns: Iraqi Airways (Iraq) and Blue Wing Airlines (Suriname). An additional six airlines are subject to operational restrictions and can only fly to the EU with specific aircraft types: Afrijet and Nouvelle Air Affaires SN2AG (Gabon), Air Koryo (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), Air Service Comores (the Comoros), Iran Air (Iran) and TAAG Angola Airlines (Angola). Background information Today's update of the Air Safety List is based on the unanimous opinion of the safety experts from the Member States who met from 31 May to 2 June within the EU Air Safety Committee (ASC). This Committee is chaired by the European Commission with the support of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Assessment is made against international safety standards, and notably the standards promulgated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). As part of the Aviation Strategy presented in December 2015, the Commission announced its intention to evaluate Regulation (EC) No 2111/2005 which establishes the Air Safety List. This evaluation will assess the most efficient ways to further improve the protection of passengers against unsafe air carriers. One such way is to work with aviation authorities worldwide to raise global safety standards. With the support of the European Commission, EASA is therefore implementing technical cooperation projects with partner countries and regions. One example is the SIASA project (Supporting the improvement of air safety in Sub-Saharan Africa). Through this project, EASA works with Sub-Saharan African countries and regional organisations to raise common safety standards, enhance safety oversight and reinforce expertise. More information on technical cooperation projects is available here. For more information: List of airlines banned within the EU Importance of aviation for the European economy EASA Technical Cooperation Projects [1]Afghanistan, Angola (with the exception of one airline which operates under restrictions and conditions), Benin, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon (with the exception of 2 airlines which operate under restrictions and conditions), Indonesia (with the exception of 7 airlines), Kazakhstan (with the exception of Air Astana), the Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Libya, Mozambique, Nepal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone and Sudan. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-2176_en.htm Back to Top Iran Air A320 clearance followed airworthiness progress Improvement to Iran Air's flight-data analysis programme and better airworthiness management of the Airbus A320 fleet helped to ease European blacklist restrictions on the carrier. Iran Air has been cleared to restart A320 services to Europe after a technical assessment in May this year - in which the European Aviation Safety Agency participated - found that the carrier had progressed in addressing safety concerns. The continued airworthiness management of the A320 fleet has improved and is "now at the same standard" as that for the carrier's Airbus A300s and A310s, says European Commission documentation detailing the blacklist revision. As a result of the May assessment, Iran Air has developed a corrective action plan which focuses on improving flight-data analysis and introducing better software to support its safety-management system. Iran Air and the country's Civil Aviation Organisation detailed the plan to the European air safety committee at the beginning of June. The carrier explained to the committee its plans for renewing and expanding its fleet, with both current and new aircraft types. "According to [the Iranian] presentation, a comprehensive management-of-change project is set up with a dedicated project team, to proactively identify, manage and mitigate any safety risks that come with the introduction of a new aircraft type," says the documentation. The assessment in May determined that the CAO was a "well-structured" authority with a "comprehensive" and frequently-updated regulatory system. "There is no lack of ability and willingness on the part of the [authority] to address safety deficiencies," it says, adding that Iranian actions have included legislation to ensure adequate resources and independence for the Civil Aviation Organisation's safety oversight role. Iran Air's safety-management system has progressed positively, the assessment found, but could benefit from additional improvements - particularly in effectively applying procedures and further integrating safety-management and quality-management functions. European authorities still have concerns about the airworthiness management of the Fokker 100 and Boeing 747 fleets, and Iran Air is still barred from operating these types to Europe. www.flightglobal.com Back to Top Search for MH370 thousands of kilometres off target: Australian aviation expert * Suspected MH370 cabin debris found on island in Mauritius * Possible MH370 debris found in South Africa Bangkok: An Australian aviation expert says he is convinced MH370 crashed into the sea west of the Malaysian mainland without proper control by the pilots who were incapacitated by a catastrophic event on board the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777. A pilot searches for debris from MH370 in the Indian Ocean in the weeks after it disappeared. Desmond Ross, a commercial pilot with 25 years experience as an aviation and defence industry manager, told Fairfax Media that his "gut feeling and experience" tells him the southern Indian Ocean search has been conducted in the wrong area, thousands of kilometres from the crash site. "I have said since day one that the aircraft was not under full control and was flying on a course set on the flight management system but with incapacitated pilots unable to make changes," he said. "The aircraft descended to a low altitude because the pilots had set an emergency descent when a catastrophic event occurred on the aircraft, but they had been unable to complete their manoeuvre due to incapacitation." The aircraft carrying 239 people inexplicably altered course from its scheduled flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing while flying over the South China Sea in the early hours of March 8, 2014, turning back to fly across Malaysia. Investigators say turning the plane around would have required typing a complicated code input into a flight management system, indicating either foul play or an event that caused the pilots to lose consciousness after they had done it. Captain Ross, who conducted a review of Kuala Lumpur's international airport in 2005, said the search area was based on the "relatively flimsy science" of calculations by the British company Inmarsat, which the company itself said were not guaranteed to be accurate. The search area was based on calculations using automatic "pings" to Inmarsat's satellite via a ground station and the aircraft after it vanished. Captain Ross said people seem to have forgotten the reports of eyewitnesses on an oil rig and yacht seeing a flaming object in the sky on the night of the disappearance, in an area west of Malaysia. MH370 search map "The scientific theory could not allow these reports and they were discarded," he said. New Zealander Mike McKay told authorities he saw what he believed to be a burning plane at high altitude when he was working on an oil rig off the Vietnamese coast on the night of the disappearance. "I believe I saw the Malaysian Airlines plane come down," he said. A woman sailing a yacht between India and Australia in early March 2014 also told authorities she saw a plane surrounded by bright orange lights and with a tail of black smoke pass above her. Captain Ross pointed to reports that six Swiss people who were on board a cruise liner travelling between Perth and Singapore on March 12 2014 saw debris in the sea including life jackets, food trays, papers and pieces of polystyrene. He dismissed the argument by pundits that some aircraft parts that have been discovered on the beaches of Mozambique, Reunion Island and other east African locations prove the accuracy of the Indian Ocean search area. "Well now - isn't it also true that these same parts may have come from somewhere much closer? How about a crash site to the west of Malaysia?" The first debris confirmed to be from MH370 was a control panel called a flaperon that washed up on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion in July 2015. Other debris that almost certainly came from plane washed up in Mozambique in December 2015 and February this year. In March, a section of an engine bearing a Rolls Royce logo washed up in Mossell Bay South Africa and the same month a fragment of an interior door panel was found on Rodrigues Island, Mauritius. Captain Ross dismissed as "rubbish" the theory that a suicidal Malaysian pilot did a circuit around his home island before flying on for more than seven hours to ditch the plane in the Indian Ocean. "The home island was beside a highly sensitive international '5 eyes' surveillance facility and the major Penang air force base, the home of the Royal Malaysian Air Force, and it is highly unlikely that the Malaysian military would have allowed such loitering of an unidentified aircraft in their airspace," he said. "If it did, it shows their lack of interest in security or their incompetence in following unidentified traffic." Investigators said in a report released in March last year there were "no behavioural signs of social isolation, change in interests or habits, self-neglect, drug or alcohol abuse of the captain, first officer and the cabin crew." The report said investigators found nothing in the backgrounds of the plane's captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah or more junior pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid to suggest they would deliberately crash the plane. Captain Ross said he is concerned about speculation that the plane "glided" from its cruise altitude further on a southerly course than thought when the engines quit before going into the water. "We have already been told that military radar showed it descending to about 10,000 feet when it turned back toward Malaysia and the Gulf of Thailand," he said. "If that was the case it would be burning much more fuel than normal at a low altitude because jet engines are efficient at high altitude but not low altitude," he said. "Therefore simple logic is that if the aircraft was at or close to 10,000 feet it would have run out of fuel much earlier and glided a much shorter distance." Captain Ross said there is no evidence the plane climbed back to its normal cruise altitude around 35,000 feet. "I think people are over-thinking this thing and confusing themselves with complicated mathematics which are not guaranteed by anyone," he said. The possibility a pilot or crew member hijacked the plane has been one of the most plausible theories about what happened to the plane. Captain Ross said he firmly believes that whatever search funds remain should be used to search the area between Malaysia and the location of the aircraft parts that have been discovered. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/world/search-for-mh370-thousands-of-kilometres-off-target-australian- aviation-expert-20160616-gpkn7g.html Back to Top Kenya: Five Airlines Express Interest in Buying Majority Shares in KQ Brussels - Five airlines have expressed interest in buying majority shares in the cash-strapped national carrier Kenya Airways. Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia yesterday said the proposals by the airlines would be studied. In the meantime, he said the government would restructure the airline to turn around its fortunes before bids to buy it could be considered. "It is true there are firms from the Middle East and America that have expressed interest in Kenya Airways. None of these has firmed up interest so I cannot give you details," he said during an interview in Brussels. Mr Macharia is accompanying President Kenyatta, who is attending the EU development day meeting, which ends today. The Cabinet Secretary was careful on the effects of any formal announcement about the airlines buying off KQ. "Kenya Airways is a publicly listed company, which means there could be sudden interest in its shares," he said. Aviation sources say Qatar Airways is one of those that have expressed interest in KQ because it wants to use the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport hub to solidify its operations in Africa. Others said to have expressed interest in the national carrier are Abu Dhabis's Etihad Airlines, Oman Air and US-based Omni Air. Alarm bells started ringing in the aviation industry in March, 2015 when KQ announced a loss of Sh28 billion. This marked the beginning of efforts by its directors and the government to stem off the turbulence facing the airline. As part of revenue-raising and cost-cutting measures, the airline sold its early morning landing slot at London's Heathrow Airport for Sh7.5 billion to Oman Air. The proceeds were shared with its partners Air France and Dutch KLM. http://allafrica.com/stories/201606170149.html Back to Top Years After United Merger, Flight Attendants Work for Two Airlines United Airlines flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, outside Newark Liberty International Airport on Thursday. Credit Richard Perry/The New York Times Despite the name on its airplanes, United Airlines is anything but fully unified. More than five years after United merged with Continental, the combined carrier's 24,000 flight attendants are still operating as if the company were running two airlines. That disconnect has made scheduling crews and flight routes more complicated and has contributed to operational challenges, including flight delays. Now, after three years of negotiations, the airline and its flight attendants seem to be near an agreement that could integrate the work force. United management and the Association of Flight Attendants, the union representing the airline's cabin workers, are scheduled to meet for four days in Chicago next week in what both parties hope is a final mediation session. A new contract would unify all the flight attendants on issues like health care plans, wages and scheduling. "We feel optimistic," said Sara Nelson, the union's international president and a United flight attendant for 20 years. Still, the union has sought to keep up the pressure. It has staged demonstrations outside major airports eight times over the last year, including informational pickets on Thursday from Newark to Hong Kong. United said it was committed to getting the flight attendants a new contract. While United's pilots, dispatchers and machinists have all reached new agreements with the company, the flight attendants have operated under separate contracts. That has meant pre-merger United flight attendants working exclusively on legacy United planes, and the former Continental flight attendants on Continental planes. New hires and new airplanes are also divided between the two. Since the merger in October 2010, about 6 percent of United flights have been delayed because of complications within the airline's control, like crew scheduling or maintenance problems, according to the Department of Transportation. But in 2009, that number was 4 percent. The chief executive, Oscar Munoz, returned to his job in March after a lengthy absence during which he had a heart transplant, and industry analysts are watching for the airline to turn a corner. On-time rates started inching up earlier this year, which is one indication of improvement, said Craig Jenks, president of Airline/Aircraft Projects, an airline consulting firm in New York. "Investors are keeping their fingers crossed that positive change is happening at United, and that comprises both employee morale and customer issues," Mr. Jenks said. But in other areas, the company is still struggling. United has reported declines in passenger revenue for every seat-mile, a key metric in the industry. The airline blames a strong dollar, which has contributed to weak demand in international markets, and low oil prices, which have reduced revenue from fuel surcharges and curbed traffic in Houston, an energy center that is one of United's largest hubs. James Compton, United's chief revenue officer, said in April that the passenger revenue for every seat- mile could decline another 6.5 to 8.5 percent year over year in the second quarter, which ends in June, after falling for several quarters. That is a gloomier revenue forecast than those of the two larger United States carriers by revenue, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. Both employee morale and customer satisfaction have suffered. In a survey by Skytrax, an air travel research group, passengers have given United a grade of 3 out of 10, compared with grades of 5 for Delta and 6 for Southwest. Lufthansa, the German airline, received a 7. Labor peace is at the top of Mr. Munoz's agenda. He was named to the post last fall after the previous chief, Jeffery A. Smisek, resigned in the face of a corruption investigation related to the company's dealings with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In April, United reached an agreement with its 30,000 on-the-ground airport workers, represented by the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers. Those workers will receive a 30 percent pay raise over the next five years. While the flight attendants are also pushing for a raise, United rejected their initial compensation plan, saying the proposal was "significantly more costly than at American and Delta and would have a negative impact on United's ability to operate the airline." The Association of Flight Attendants negotiated a 6 percent pay increase for American Airlines Group flight attendants earlier this year. Under that contract, American will adjust its pay scale once United reaches a deal with its flight attendants. Ms. Nelson said she hoped the provision would lead to higher wages throughout the industry. One provision that is not an issue in these negotiations is employee seniority, a point of contention for pilots in recent airline mergers because it factors into how pilots and flight attendants can be scheduled on their preferred routes. In United's case, the flight attendants agreed early on to base seniority on the original hire date, without regard to whether the employee worked for pre-merger United or Continental. United also has yet to strike a deal with its 9,000 mechanics, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. It is scheduled to meet with that group later this month. On his first official day back on the job in March, Mr. Munoz met with the major unions, and the change from the previous leadership was like "night and day," said Ms. Nelson, the flight attendants' leader. She added, "Once he was engaged and pressing for an agreement, there was movement at the table." http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/business/years-after-united-merger-flight-attendants-work-for-two- airlines.html Back to Top Amended bill may open door for upgrade of A-10 aircraft wings A-10 Thunderbolt jets at the Selfridge base were deployed to southwest Asia to support anti-ISIS efforts for much of 2015. Defense contractors could submit bids by next week on a new contract to supply more than 100 sets of new A-10 aircraft wings, with help from a new $100 million that cleared the House on Thursday. An amended version of the U.S. Department of Defense appropriations bill for fiscal 2017 passed the House 282-138, largely along party lines, with a new appropriation to supply wing upgrades to the A-10 fleet at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township and elsewhere. Proposals are due Monday from contractor businesses interested in a possible five-year U.S. Air Force contract to supply up to 10-25 new sets of A-10 wings per year for its A-10 fleet. Chicago-based Boeing Co. has had a re-winging contract since December 2007 for the Air Force and Air National Guard to supply replacement wing assemblies for at least 173 of the roughly 300 A-10s still in service by 2017. The new contract under consideration presumably supplements the Boeing wing production. A recent amendment to the new appropriations bill adds funding to maintain and upgrade A-10s, including $100 million for wing upgrades. The bill now advances to the Senate. "The A-10, without question, provides the best close air support in combat throughout the world," U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, vice-chair of the Committee on Homeland Security and a co- sponsor of the amendment with wing funding. "(A) a vote for this critical defense funding legislation is a vote to give the brave heroes who put themselves in harm's way for our freedom and liberty the support they and their families have more than earned." Selfridge's 107th Fighter Squadron has now completed two combat deployments since it began flying the A-10 in 2008, including last year against ISIS in Southwest Asia. The new bill also includes a provision freezing any use of defense funds from divesting or retiring the A-10 fleet, which members of Congress have added annually in recent years - but Defense Secretary Ash Carter said earlier this year he expects the Pentagon to keep flying the aircraft through 2022. Selfridge hosts 21 A-10s in Macomb County, and the Michigan Air National Guard has said the aircraft directly supports about 180 full-time jobs and almost 300 part-time jobs at the base. http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20160616/NEWS/160619830/amended-bill-may-open-door-for- upgrade-of-a-10-aircraft-wings Back to Top Envoy Air pilots union says new bonuses not enough to attract recruits * Union president says signing bonuses aren't enough to attract new hires * Regional carrier owned by American Airlines announced $15,000 signing bonuses earlier this week * Schedules and quality of life are also important to new pilots, union says Envoy Air gave a tour of its new Embraer 175 plane at DFW Airport in December. It's not just about the money for new pilots. Envoy Air pilot union leader Sam Pool said the new $15,000 signing bonuses announced earlier this week are not enough to attract new pilots to the regional carrier owned by American Airlines. "While we appreciate every additional dollar in our member's pockets, changing the tiered recruitment bonus to a straight $15,000 is minor change and falls short of what is necessary for true success," Pool said in a message to Envoy Air pilots. Regional carriers have faced a severe pilot shortage as new federal rules increased the number of hours required for a pilot to fly a commercial jet and as mandatory pilot retirement ages have forced hundreds of mainline pilots to retire, creating job openings for regional pilots to move to carriers like American or Delta Air Lines. "Today's recruits are increasingly savvy and are shopping around for the airline that offers the best mix of compensation, schedules, and quality of life; in these areas Envoy continues to fall short," said Pool, who is the chairman of the Envoy Air master executive council with the Air Line Pilots Association. "The compensation provided by Envoy - and indeed the entire regional industry in general - falls short of what is necessary to attract the next generation into the profession." Through its current pilot contract, Envoy Air offers pilots a guaranteed path to be eventually hired on at American Airlines. "We project that a pilot hired at Envoy today will upgrade to Envoy Captain in two and a half years," said Envoy Air vice president of flight operations Ric Wilson when the announcement was made on Monday. "And with our flow-through program to the mainline, he or she can enter training at American Airlines in less than six years from hire." http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/aviation/sky-talk-blog/article84173757.html#storylink=cpy Back to Top The deadline is fast approaching to reserve your hotel room for the 2016 FAA Asia-Pacific Flight Standards Meeting July 19-21 at the Westin City Center Hotel in Washington, DC. A special discounted rate of $174/night (exclusive of taxes) has been reserved for conference participants. This rate includes daily breakfast for one person. Click here to reserve your room now! To receive this special rate, you must reserve your room by June 18(subject to availability). Still haven't registered to attend the conference? Please visit the conference website to get the latest information and to register: www.regonline.com/2016-AsiaPacificFlightStandardsMeeting. The deadline to register for the conference is Wednesday, June 29. Questions? Email us at ConferenceSupport@sidemgroup.com. Back to Top 69th annual International Air Safety Summit (IASS) 2016 November 14-16, 2016 Organized by Flight Safety Foundation and hosted by Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates http://flightsafety.org/meeting/iass-2016 Back to Top ARGUS Charter Operator Flash Survey Dear Air Charter Operators, We are asking for your help in collecting some quick metrics to assess revenue vs. non-revenue flight activity within the charter industry. This is a very short one-question survey that will take less than a minute of your time! Survey Link: http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07ecqh07moiomz0q4d/start Back to Top PhD Research Survey (I) Cranfield University Research: Do you or have you worked in aerospace design, manufacturing, or test engineering? My name is Steve Daniels, PhD researcher at Cranfield University, and ground crew for Lightning T-5 XS458. As part of my PhD, I am investigating how many aircraft design professionals have had some form of flying experience, and what effect this may have. If you currently work, or have previously worked in aerospace design, manufacturing, or test engineering (e.g: Conceptual Design, Aerospace Engineering Consultancy, Structural Engineering, Systems/Sub- Assembly Engineering, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Tooling Design, Flight Testing) I'd be grateful if you could spare some time to complete the survey by following the link below. If you know of anyone working in these areas who might also be interested, please share the link: https://cranfielduniversity.eu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_82LinCFK4OdpEJn This research has been approved by the University's ethics committee, and will not record sensitive personal or commercial data. If you have any queries or comments, I welcome any contact at - s.daniels@cranfield.ac.uk Back to Top PhD Research Survey (II) Survey Link: https://cranfielduniversity.eu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_d4IlfWhuMW3RgRn Curt Lewis