Flight Safety Information August 18, 2016 - No. 162 In This Issue FAA Moves Toward Five-knot Speed Adjustments for Flow China to restrict North Korea's Air Koryo after emergency landing Hawaiian Airlines flight en route to South Korea diverted due to suspicious behavior NTSB: Heart Problem Likely Led to Plane Crash That Killed 4 When the Pilot Is a Mom: Accommodating New Motherhood at 30,000 Feet Airline Pilots Pump The Brakes On Plans To Speed Up Flights China-based airlines are putting up lots of cash to recruit foreign pilots Detroit Metropolitan Airport to get FAA NextGen improvements to boost on-time flights 787 launch customer ANA keeps coming back for more AirAsia India to expand to 20 aircraft 'at the earliest' PHOTO OF THE DAY GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY Watch..."The Crash Detectives Book Trailer"...on YouTube ISASI 2016, Reykjavik, Iceland...17 to 20 October, 2016 (ISASI) DFW Regional Chapter (DFRC) Summer Meeting, September 8, 2016 FAA Moves Toward Five-knot Speed Adjustments for Flow The FAA released guidance clearing the way for the use of five-knot increments in speed adjustments, rather than 10 knots. The guidance, the agency said, is part of its effort to increase its performance-based navigation activities. "To support deployed and planned NextGen capabilities, it is necessary to allow for the use five-knot increment speed," it said. NBAA noted that the change might initially "give some business aviation pilots pause," but is designed to help make the airspace more efficient, as the FAA moves from distance- based separation to time-based metering of air traffic. Rich Boll, chairman of NBAA's ATC, Airspace and Flight Technologies Working Group, noted that that the change enables controllers to more precisely tune aircraft speeds and lead to more direct routing. Aircraft may be slowed sooner, but flight time will be less with the change in speed adjustments, Boll said. NBAA anticipates the change initially will be more noticeable on approaches, but eventually will be used throughout the National Airspace System. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2016-08-16/faa-moves- toward-five-knot-speed-adjustments-flow Back to Top China to restrict North Korea's Air Koryo after emergency landing North Korea's Air Koryo still flies many Soviet-era planes Chinese authorities will limit the operations of North Korean airline Air Koryo, after a Beijing-bound flight made an emergency landing last month. The flight from Pyongyang had to land in the North-eastern Chinese city of Shenyang because of smoke in the cabin. No one was injured in the incident. China's Civil Aviation Administration announced "relevant measures to limit operations" without giving any details. The state-owned airline was also told to improve training and maintenance. Most of Air Koryo's international flights are to China, with a few scheduled flights to Russia. "China has become a little bit more active recently in naming and shaming airlines that make mistakes," Greg Waldron of Flightglobal told the BBC. "And we've noticed a recent pick up in that." "The North Korean airline would likely be a very resource-deprived airline, operating a number of older airplanes. And often, that older equipment is difficult to maintain. By international standards it would not be a great airline." If you want to visit Pyongyang, Air Koryo is your best bet to get there The Chinese aviation regulator did not give any details on the measures it would impose but Mr Waldron thinks it's unlikely there would be a ban on flights or even a fine for the North Korean carrier. "It's really hard to say exactly what they could do. Anything between North Korea and China is very difficult because it's always also political." The world's 'one star' carrier? Britain-based airline ratings website Skytrax lists the carrier as the world's only "one star" airline, though its rating does not measure safety standards. Though by no means a tourist airline, Air Koryo is the main way that visitors to North Korea can enter the country. Simon Cockerell of Beijing-based Koryo Tours, a leading independent tour agency focusing on North Korea, told the BBC that he doubts the new development would have an impact on tourism. "Our guests are generally happy with the airline. They mostly fly at least one route with Air Koryo, some also take the train on the way in or out. They do some research and then aren't put off by that Skytrax ranking which has nothing at all to do with safety standards." The plane force to make an emergency landing was a Tupolev 204 Air Koryo is North Korea's only airline and was established in 1950. The airline has only a small fleet, mostly consisting of Russian-built Tupolev and Ukrainian Antonov aircraft, for its international flights. The service from Pyongyang to Beijing uses a Russian Tupolev Tu-204, a medium-range jet airliner that can carry about 140 passengers. "The oldest planes they are using on international routes are from 2008," Mr Cockerell explains. "For their Antonov planes built in Ukraine for instance they have Ukrainian technicians doing the maintenance." On domestic routes however, older Soviet-era aircraft are still used, some of which are so old that aviation enthusiasts can book specialised tours to experience flying in aircrafts dating back to the early days of the Cold War. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37114638 Back to Top Hawaiian Airlines flight en route to South Korea diverted due to suspicious behavior A passenger on board a Hawaiian Airlines flight heading to South Korea has been arrested after flight attendants reported suspicious behavior. The plane, flight #459, departed Honolulu International Airport around 2:45 p.m. and was on its way to Seoul's Incheon International Airport when it turned around three hours into the flight. It returned back to Honolulu International Airport around 8:35 p.m. The plane was met with law enforcement officials upon landing safely. None of the 286 passengers were harmed. One of those passengers was detained for questioning by law enforcement officials. The remaining passengers will be departing for South Korea on board a different Hawaiian Airlines aircraft. http://khon2.com/2016/08/17/hawaiian-airlines-flight-en-route-to-south-korea-diverted- due-to-suspicious-behavior/ Back to Top NTSB: Heart Problem Likely Led to Plane Crash That Killed 4 The National Transportation Safety Board says a fiery plane crash that killed four people last year in the Adirondack Mountains likely happened because the pilot was affected or incapacitated by a heart problem. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports ( http://on.rocne.ws/2bcGrkC ) the NTSB concluded the probable cause of the crash was the pilot's loss of airplane control following an "acute cardiac event." The NTSB says that could have been angina, a heart attack, or arrhythmia. An autopsy found 67-year-old pilot Raymond Shortino had heart disease, with a 70 percent to 80 percent blockage in both coronary arteries. The Rochester man's single-engine plane went down after taking off from Adirondack Regional Airport last August. The crash also killed Shortino's 66-year-old wife Sharon, and Harvey and Sharon Stoler, both 68, of Penfield, outside Rochester. --- This story has been corrected to include additional heart problems that the NTSB found could have affected the pilot, not just a heart attack. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ntsb-pilots-heart-attack-led-plane-crash-killed- 41451204 **************** Date: 07-AUG-2015 Time: 17:50LT Type: Piper PA-46-500TP Meridian Owner/operator: Majestic Air LLC Registration: N819TB C/n / msn: 4697117 Fatalities: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: NW of Adirondack Regional Airport (KSLK), Saranac Lake, NY - United States of America Phase: Initial climb Nature: Private Departure airport: Adirondack Rgnl (KSLK) Destination airport: Greater Rochester Intl (KROC) Narrative: The aircraft impacted wooded terrain near Lake Clear northwest of Adirondack Regional Airport (KSLK), Saranac Lake, New York. The airplane was destroyed by the impact with terrain and the post-impact fire. The four occupants onboard the aircraft received fatal injuries. The airplane was based at ROC and flew uneventfully to SLK earlier during the day of the accident. During the return flight, a witness, who was an airport employee, heard the pilot announce on the common traffic advisory frequency that the airplane was departing on runway 5. No further communications were received from the accident airplane and there were no eye witnesses to the accident. Due to smoke from a postcrash fire, which was observed by pilots in another airplane, the accident airplane was subsequently located about 1830 in a wooded area approximately .5 mile northwest of the departure end of runway 5. The airplane came to rest upright against several trees, oriented about a magnetic heading of 020 degrees. The beginning of a debris path was observed with several freshly cut tree branches. Red lens fragments from the left wing navigation light were embedded in one of the tree branches, consistent with a left-wing-low, nose-down impact. The debris path extended on a course about 195 degrees for 60 feet to the main wreckage, which had been partially consumed by the postcrash fire. August 2016, NTSB report: "the pilot's loss of airplane control during takeoff, which resulted from his impairment or incapacitation due to an acute cardiac event." An autopsy performed on the pilot, uncovered evidence of significant heart disease. The 67-year-old Rochester man suffered from 70 percent to 80 percent blockage of both coronary arteries, according to the NTSB report. The report also said there was no evidence of a previous heart attack. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=178404 Back to Top When the Pilot Is a Mom: Accommodating New Motherhood at 30,000 Feet First Officer Brandy Beck, a pilot for Frontier Airlines, at home with her children in Denver this month. Credit Theo Stroomer for The New York Times Boarding a flight can feel like stepping into a time capsule - men typically fly the plane, while most flight attendants are still women. Which is why a female pilot from Delta Air Lines did something dramatic at a union meeting recently. Standing before her male colleagues, the captain unbuttoned her uniform, strapped a breast pump over the white undershirt she wore underneath, and began to demonstrate the apparatus. As the machine made its typical "chug, chug, chug" noise, attendees squirmed in their seats, looked at their feet and shuffled papers. It was the latest episode in what has proved to be a difficult workplace issue to solve: how to accommodate commercial airline pilots who are balancing new motherhood. It is a question that some employers have answered by creating leave policies or lactation rooms. But the flight deck of a jumbo jet isn't a typical workplace. Pilots are exempt from a provision in the Affordable Care Act requiring employers to accommodate new mothers. At 30,000 feet, the issue touches not only on pilot privacy, but also aircraft safety. At Delta, a group of women pilots have banded together through a private Facebook page and have approached their union with formal proposals for paid maternity leave - unheard-of at the major airlines - because they say they would like to stay home to breast-feed their babies. At Frontier Airlines, four female pilots are suing the company for discrimination, seeking the option of temporary assignments on the ground while pregnant or nursing. While their proposals differ, all say they aim for one thing: to avoid situations in which pilots have been leaving the cockpit in midflight for as long as 20 minutes, the amount of time often required to pump breast milk. Kathy McCullough in 1983, when she flew for Northwest Airlines. She now advocates on behalf of pilots to Delta management. Credit Kathrine McCullough Ms. McCullough with her daughter Darcie on a flight to Japan in 1993. Credit Working Mothers Magazine "The airlines have maternity policies that are archaic," said Kathy McCullough, 61, a retired captain for Northwest Airlines, which merged with Delta in 2008, who has advocated on behalf of the pilots to Delta management. "I am so glad that they're stepping forward and taking a stand." One reason for the lack of rules is that women make up only about 4 percent of the nation's 159,000 certified airline pilots - a number that has been slow to rise over the past decade or so. There were no female pilots at the biggest airlines until 1973, when American Airlines hired the first, Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo. In a reminder of how times have changed, that news was reported in The Los Angeles Times under the headline, "Airline Pilot to Fly by Seat of Panties." "Airline jobs were really reserved for men," said Captain Caputo, 67, who became something of a minor celebrity when American hired her. She has been retired from the airline for about 18 years. "When we started, there were no maternity leaves, because there were no female pilots." More than 40 years later, the major carriers still haven't resolved this issue. They set their policies for pilots based on the collective bargaining agreements negotiated by the unions. But women of childbearing age account for just a sliver of union membership, so maternity leave and breast-feeding policies have not been at the top of union agendas. Plus, some members oppose the proposals, citing the costs. One local union leader told several women in an email: "Having a child is a personal choice and asking the rest of us to fund your choice will be a difficult sell to the pilot group." The leader declined to be interviewed for this article; the union said he was not an authorized spokesman. Delta's female pilots still hope to win over a majority of their colleagues. They argue that without paid leave, they're faced with a choice to either stay home to breast-feed their babies or earn income for their families. Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo of American Airlines in June 1973, when she became the first female pilot at a major carrier. Credit United Press International Captain Caputo this month at her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Credit Emon Hassan for The New York Times Female pilots can begin to lose wages months before a baby is born. Most contracts at major airlines force pregnant pilots to stop flying eight to 14 weeks before a baby's due date. After the push by Delta's pilots this summer, the airline changed its policy this month. Delta now allows them to fly, with their doctor's approval, until the end of pregnancy if they so choose. Morgan Durrant, a spokesman for Delta, pointed out that once they stop flying, women can use accrued sick days or apply for disability benefits to partially cover their lost wages. Otherwise, the leave is unpaid. Once a baby is born, the major airlines typically don't offer paid maternity leave or alternative ground assignments for breast-feeding mothers. Some carriers, including United Airlines and Alaska Airlines, do offer female pilots up to one year of unpaid leave. Until recently, Delta did not offer such a policy, but the airline has added one year of unpaid leave to the pilot contract. Temporary ground assignments, which were proposed by the pilots at Frontier, could work as an alternative for some who live near company headquarters. But as many as one in five pilots resides at least 750 miles from work. Photo Ms. Beck with her daughter Sienna, 5, and her son Dawson. Credit Theo Stroomer for The New York Times Consider what it took for First Officer Brandy Beck, a 41-year-old Frontier Airlines pilot, to pump breast milk. Once the plane was at cruising altitude and in autopilot mode, she would seek the agreement of her captain to take a break. In keeping with Frontier policy, the remaining pilot was required to put on an oxygen mask. Next a flight attendant - to prevent passengers from approaching the lavatory - would barricade the aisle with a beverage cart. Then the attendant would join the captain in the cockpit, in keeping with rules that require at least two people in an airline cockpit at all times. Only then could Ms. Beck slip into the lavatory for a 20-minute pumping session. "It's by far not my favorite place to make my child's next meal," Ms. Beck said. "But it's a sacrifice I knew I would have to accept because I came back to work." Ms. Beck's home in Denver. She described a complicated process for her to pump breast milk while on the job. Credit Theo Stroomer for The New York Times Ms. Beck said that after nearly 20 years in the aviation industry, she assumed she could keep her job and nurse her baby. "I guess it never came to light in my mind that I couldn't do both," she said. Frontier's management has argued that extended breaks from the cockpit raise safety issues. The company has not offered an in-flight alternative for breast pumping, however, or made available temporary jobs on the ground. "While there are many workplaces that might allow for nursing mothers to express breast milk during a break from work activities, the duties of a commercial airline pilot present unique circumstances," a Frontier spokesman, Jim Faulkner, said in a statement. The Federal Aviation Administration has issued no official rules for pilots who pump in- flight. But Alison Duquette, a spokeswoman for the agency, said that "leaving the flight deck for 20 minutes would not be acceptable" under most circumstances. A lactating mother often needs to pump breast milk every three to four hours. When she cannot do so, painful pressure can build up in her chest, accompanied by a risk of infection. "It's incredibly distracting and painful," said Ms. Beck, "like when you need to go to the bathroom and can't." In a few instances at Delta, according to several of the airline's women pilots, their colleagues had to pump breast milk in the cockpit. The pumps need electricity, and in some older planes, the only plugs available are on the flight deck. The Delta female pilots are seeking a leave policy that would let mothers stay home for six months with pay to breast-feed newborns, and up to two years of unpaid leave. Pilots can earn a base salary of $200,000 and more in later years. But young pilots often start at low wages as flight instructors, crop dusters, or flying charter or tourism flights, and don't reach the major carriers until their early 30s, a time when they may be planning families. As a result, one Delta pilot said, it is not uncommon for several women in a class of new pilots to be pregnant after a standard yearlong period of probation flying. Ten female Delta pilots agreed to speak to The New York Times on the condition of anonymity, for fear of alienating their employer or the male union members they hope will take up their cause. The union, through a spokeswoman, Kelly Regus, declined to comment on "the substance of internal union discussions." Mr. Durrant, the Delta spokesman, noted that the airline had updated some of its policies, and he said it would continue to examine its maternity and paternity leave programs. "Balancing the demands of a career and raising a family present challenges for all working parents, but we recognize there are unique challenges presented for our female pilots as their children are born," Mr. Durrant said in an emailed statement. It has been difficult for the women to compare notes about workplace issues. There are so few of them, they rarely see or fly with one another. That changed with a private Facebook group known as FAST - Female Aviators Sticking Together - that has grown quickly over the past year. It now has nearly 6,000 members. There are also spinoffs like DAMP, or Delta Air Lines Mommy Pilots. The woman who delivered the breast pump demonstration in June did so on behalf of about 100 pilots in that Facebook group. And the Delta and Frontier pilots know they are pressing an issue that still plagues a group long dominated by women: flight attendants. This year, a flight attendant for Endeavor Air, a regional airline owned by Delta, filed a discrimination complaint with the New York City Commission on Human Rights, claiming the airline failed to provide reasonable breaks or private places to pump breast milk in her workplace. The commission is investigating. Mr. Durrant, the Delta spokesman, said Endeavor had worked to accommodate the employee and "has gone to great lengths to provide reasonable accommodations for breast-feeding employees." Joanna L. Grossman, an expert on labor law and gender issues, said the pilots are fighting a complex battle. "This is part of breaking down the cockpit door - that's the glass ceiling here," said Ms. Grossman, a professor at the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "How do you make a job work when it was designed without you in mind?" http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/business/when-the-captain-is-mom- accommodating-new-motherhood-at-30000-feet.html?_r=0 Back to Top Airline Pilots Pump The Brakes On Plans To Speed Up Flights An American Airlines Airbus A319 airplane takes off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va. The U.S. Department of Transportation released a statistic on Wednesday that should surprise no one who flies: In the first six months of the year, nearly 1 in every 5 flights was delayed. Flights can be delayed for reasons ranging from bad weather to mechanical problems, but airlines know delays are a problem. Sarah, a corporate training professional based in Texas, is a frequent flier and writes the travel blog Road Warriorette. (She didn't want her last name used because her employer doesn't know about her blog.) Sarah recalls one flight to Charlotte, N.C., that was already delayed an hour and a half. "We took off. We hit a bird and had to turn around and come back," Sarah remembers. "At that point, they were like, 'Sorry guys, but your pilots and crew are timing out and so we're gonna have to wait another two hours for a new crew to come in.' " To prevent fatigue, the FAA limits how long pilots can work. So, if your plane can't make it to its destination before the pilots reach their limit, it doesn't take off. The flight is delayed until another flight crew can be found. Timing out is one of the more common reasons for flight delays and can frustrate even the Road Warriorette. "We were supposed to arrive in Charlotte at 11 p.m.," Sarah remembers. "We arrived at 4 a.m., which is later, especially when you have to be at the office at 8." To reduce those kinds of delays, American Airlines wants its pilots to fly faster, taxi faster and take other steps to reduce flight times so they don't time out. In an email message to employees last month, American COO Robert Isom told dispatchers and pilots to "utilize speed up flight plans to reduce delays involving crew duty times." What exactly are "speed up flight plans," then? "It's flight plans that are submitted to us that have speeds which in some cases reach near the aircraft limitation or are not prudent in areas that contain turbulence," says Capt. Dennis Tajer, an American pilot and a spokesman for the pilots union. Tajer calls it "pilot pushing," and he says in the process, the airline is thinning the margin of safety. "Coming off of normal flight plans just to accommodate an overscheduled airline to avoid an FAA legal limitation from happening is not a part of the safety culture that our pilots are obligated and committed to maintaining," he says. Pilots do have the final say over flight plans, and Tajer says passengers should know that they will reject efforts by the airline to speed up if pilots feel it is not safe. "We are the checks and balances," Tajer says. "We're on that airplane with them and we've got your back, so nothing's gonna change on that." And that's the way even frequent flier Sarah prefers it. "I trust my pilots to do the safest thing," Sarah says. "Safety is first to me. I would rather arrive late and even have an overnight delay rather than fly unsafely through turbulence." American Airlines would not comment on air for this story, but a spokesman said in a statement, "safety and regulatory compliance are always the first and foremost consideration in every decision" the company makes. The statement calls American's pilots "the best in the business," and it goes on to point out that the speed-up flight plan is a "common practice of expediting the flight when appropriate, usually by flying the aircraft a little faster." After all, we've all heard those pilot announcements after a late departure, saying we're going to make up a little time in the air. But American says it's always done within FAA regulations and with the agreement of the captain. Dean DeBiase, who is on the faculty at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and has worked with airlines on efficiencies, says over the past decade, American and other airlines have cut costs, raised fees and crammed more seats into planes. "So now they have capacities at the right level, fuel costs are down, let's invest a little more to bring our customer service stats up," DeBiase says. And DeBiase says with airline profits now flying high, airlines want to tackle one of their customers' biggest complaints, on-time performance. "Why don't I spend a little extra money on fuel so I reduce the number of cancellations and delays - and one of the ingredients in that is, yeah, I might have a crew that could make this flight if we turned it around quicker and got it off to Chicago," DeBiase says. But DeBiase says such a push for efficiency is a balancing act. Especially in a large and recently merged airline like American - which merged with US Airways in 2013 - change can be unsettling, for employees and customers alike. http://www.npr.org/2016/08/17/490272380/airline-pilots-pump-the-brakes-on-plans-to- speed-up-flights Back to Top China-based airlines are putting up lots of cash to recruit foreign pilots China Southern Airlines China is promising big paychecks in an effort to lure experienced foreign pilots to the country to meet skyrocketing air-travel demand. As the world's fastest-growing aviation market, the number of commercial planes in China will triple to 7,210 - up from 2,570 last year - by the year 2034, according to a press release issued by Boeing last August. The country will need to hire 100 pilots per week over that period, according to a Bloomberg report published on Wednesday. "When we ask an airline, 'How many pilots do you need?,' they say, 'Oh, we can take as many as you bring.' It's almost unlimited," said David Ross, the president of Las Vegas- based recruiting company, Wasinc International. Ross's company serves more than a dozen of China's mainland carriers, including Chengdu Airlines and Qingdao Airlines. Those startup carriers are barely known outside of China, but they have emerged amid the nation's booming aviation market. Chinese airlines are paying as much as five times more than some Asia rivals for new hires, and startup airlines are paying about 50 percent more than what some senior captains earn at Delta Air Lines, Bloomberg noted. Hainan Airlines Crew members stand in front of a plane of Hainan Airlines. China Stringer Network/Reuters Ross said a month's pay for one pilot he placed at Beijing Capital Airlines was $80,000. By comparison, some US regional airlines still offer first-year salaries at or below $25,000, according to a March 2016 release from the Air Line Pilots Association, International. "They can't attract people through any other means," Liz Loveridge, a recruiter at Rishworth Aviation in Auckland, told Bloomberg. "They think money's the only answer.'' Besides money, geographical and cultural proximity make China especially attractive for Korean pilots - making Korea, now the biggest source of foreign captains who are recruited to China. "It's much better than flying in Korea," Captain Park Kil-Jae,the first Korean pilot to join a Chinese airline, told South China Morning Post. He has been flying A320s for Shanghai- based Spring Airlines for 10 years. "If I want to go back I could. But I am very happy here now," said Park, who speaks basic Mandarin now. "I feel I have turned half Chinese." http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-airlines-put-up-lots-of-cash-to-recruit-foreign- pilots-2016-8?r=UK&IR=T Back to Top Detroit Metropolitan Airport to get FAA NextGen improvements to boost on-time flights Photo by Wayne County Airport Authority Detroit Metropolitan Airport handled 33 million passengers last year and had 380,000 flights. Airports in the Detroit-Cleveland region are to get satellite-based air traffic control upgrades aimed at boosting on-time arrivals and saving fuel. The Federal Aviation Administration's Next Generation Air Transportation System, known as NextGen, will replace ground-based radar and radio communications with GPS systems at a cost of $29 billion between 2013 and 2030. The cost is estimated to be split $14 billion for the FAA and $15 billion for aircraft operators. The goal of NextGen is to use the modern satellite technology to create greater efficiencies with aircraft routes that will save time and fuel, potentially increase passenger and cargo capacity, while reducing delays, improving safety and cutting carbon emissions. It also reduces voice communication between pilots and air traffic controllers and increases data communications. The FAA said it expects NextGen to deliver $147.4 billion in benefits nationwide through 2030 for the users of the National Airspace System, such as airports and airlines. For example, NextGen airspace improvements in Houston have helped reduce distances flown by 648,000 nautical miles annually, based on flight plans, saving up to 3 million gallons of fuel and reducing carbon emissions by as much as 31,000 metric tons per year, the FAA said. The Detroit-Cleveland NextGen work is expected to be finished by mid-2018. A cost breakdown for the region's NextGen work wasn't immediately available. Barry Cooper, the FAA's regional administrator for the Great Lakes region, was scheduled Wednesday to brief the Wayne County Airport Authority that oversees Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Willow Run airports about the NextGen plan. Local elected officials such as mayors from communities near the airport were also invited, and Cooper said the local Congressional offices have been briefed. More than 90 percent of aircraft using Detroit Metro already are equipped to handle NextGen technology, Cooper said. Most of the project locally will be to ensure air corridors are properly aligned and most efficient, and the chief benefit passengers will enjoy is more on-time flights. In an interview with Crain's prior to Wednesday's WCAA meeting, he called the NextGen work at Detroit Metro "cleaning up the highways in the sky." Redesigning any local air corridors primarily will affect higher altitudes, but also could affect incoming flight paths and elevations, Cooper said. However, Metro's runway orientation precludes any radical changes. Metro has noise abatement agreements made with communities the FAA must honor, he said. "We're obligated to adhere to those agreements, too," Cooper said. Cooper gave a similar briefing Tuesday in Cleveland. The regions are linked by the FAA under the term metroplex and includes 22 airports. Oakland County International Airport in Pontiac and Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport in Detroit are among them, but aren't targeted for infrastructure work. Instead, they're affected by how any air routes at Metro are altered. Detroit Metro is the FAA's local NextGen focus because it's by far the largest: It had 33 million passengers last year via 380,000 flights. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. is the largest career at Metro with about 500 daily flights. Detroit isn't among the FAA's worst congested airports such as Washington, D.C., that was targeted for the initial NextGen work. FAA officials said Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth's airports have completed their NextGen improvements, and Detroit-Cleveland is among eight regions in various stages of rollout. Other regions include south Florida; Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Denver; Phoenix; Las Vegas; and southern and northern California. Locally, the preliminary design and environmental work have begun, Cooper said, and dates for community education and input meetings beginning in mid-September will be announced soon. http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20160817/NEWS/160819863/detroit-metropolitan- airport-to-get-faa-nextgen-improvements-to-boost Back to Top 787 launch customer ANA keeps coming back for more All Nippon Airways celebrates the delivery of the airline's 50th 787 Dreamliner. This is a 787-9 delivered on August 17 at Boeing's delivery center in Everett. (Mike Siegel/The Seattle Times) Less than five years after Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) took delivery of the first 787 Dreamliner, the airline on Wednesday accepted its 50th. While Boeing last week cited "softness" in the widebody-jet market and lowered expectations about near-term demand for the 787, ANA's milestone allowed the jet maker to celebrate the success of the Dreamliner in passenger service. Hideki Kunugi, senior vice president of ANA Americas, said the airplane's fuel efficiency - 20 percent better than the 767 it replaced - is today saving the airline about $98 million per year. "The 787 plays a vital role" in the airline's plans to expand its international network, he said. The economics of the midsize, long-range jet have allowed ANA to open up long-haul routes not only to giant hubs like New York and Los Angeles but also to mid-size cities. Hence its nonstop flights from Tokyo to Düsseldorf, Germany, and Brussels, as well as Seattle and San Jose, Calif. "Without the Dreamliner, Seattle and San Jose would not be possible," Kunugi said. To get to this point, ANA suffered through a turbulent early ride. After working closely with Boeing on the design of the airplane, then giving the jet maker its launch order in 2004, ANA got its first delivery in September 2011 - three years and four months late. Just over a year after the jet entered service, a main battery started smoking aboard one of ANA's planes in flight, and the airline endured with all other 787 operators the grounding of the entire Dreamliner fleet for more than three months. But the battery problem was fixed, and Boeing has now delivered 447 Dreamliners to 39 airlines. Opening new routes ANA now flies the 787 on 40 percent of its international routes, and it plans to open more routes to previously unserved destinations. In September, it will introduce the 787 between Tokyo and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Next February, it will fly the jet nonstop between Tokyo an Mexico City, which on the northbound leg takes more than 14 hours. Kunuga said the opening up of Mexico City "is only possible thanks to the 787, which can operate such long-haul routes with greater comfort and efficiency than any other aircraft." The airline sees this route as "a first very important step" to expanding connections to Central and South America. Last week, Boeing Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith - citing the marked lack of orders in the widebody-jet market recently - for the first time publicly admitted that Boeing may not increase the 787 production rate from its current 12 jets per month to the planned 14 per month toward the end of the decade. At the delivery ceremony Wednesday, Boeing's senior vice president of sales for northeast Asia, Ihssane Mounir, said that despite the general softness in demand, China remains a bright spot that offers hope of buoyant future sales. "China will continue to drive the demand," he said. "I'm not seeing any signs of weakness whatsoever." ANA has 33 more Dreamliners on order, including three of the largest model, the 787-10, which is scheduled to enter service in 2018. It anticipates 40 percent growth in revenue from its international routes during the next four years, in an expansion leading up to and preparing for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. The plane delivered to ANA on Wednesday is the 787-9 that Boeing test pilots flew last month in the daily aerial displays at the Farnborough Air Show in England. http://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/787-launch-customer-ana- keeps-coming-back-for-more/ Back to Top AirAsia India to expand to 20 aircraft 'at the earliest' Plans to add a seventh A320 jet to its fleet and bring Hyderabad into its network of destinations by September AirAsia India, owned jointly by Tata Sons and Malaysia's AirAsia Bhd, is expanding its fleet to 20 aircraft, which would allow it to fly abroad. It board of directors approved new funding into the airline this month. "We are at seven aircraft and want to get to 20 at the earliest. We are not going to stop at 20," said Amar Abrol, chief executive officer at AirAsia India, on Wednesday. "The board has approved multiple millions of dollars for this growth." Air Asia will induct its seventh aircraft by September, expecting to serve more routes connecting Bengaluru, its base, to Hyderabad, Goa and Guwahati. The company, said Abrol, was showing gross profit since April, due to higher passenger loads on its routes. In June, the government liberalised a decades-old policy that had restricted an airline from plying on routes out of the country till they'd completed at least five years and had a fleet of 20 aircraft. Now, the only condition airlines such as AirAsia India is to operate a fleet of 20 planes that will allow them to fly on lucrative overseas routes, where they gain benefit of lower fuel and foreign exchange gains. AirAsia India has seen turbulent times since it started service in 2014. It had to fight larger rivals such as Indigo in many routes, while restricting growth plans due to over regulations in the Indian civil aviation sector. The company saw its chief executive Mitu Chandilya quit earlier this year. In March, Tata Sons bought over the 9.94 per cent stake of Arun Bhatia's Telestra Tradeplace Pvt Ltd to wrest majority control in the budget airline it started two years ago with AirAsia, owned by airline tycoon Tony Fernandes. At the same time, it brought in Abrol, a former American Express executive who was heading TPaay Asia, a mobile wallet owned by Air Asia in Malaysia, to run the fledgling airline. Abrol says AirAsia India has secured " multiple millions of dollars" in fresh investment in the airline that could help expand fleet and run services into newer towns across India. "Our model is to create opportunity in routes that never existed," says Abrol, adding that "only 70 million of India's 330 million fly and there is opportunity for everyone". AirAsia India runs the modern Airbus 320 Neo, which offers fuel efficiency and says that there are 330 city pairs that the aircraft can fly, offering it enough head room for growth. The airline has carried over 3 million passengers and owns a 2.2 per cent marketshare against rivals such as Spicejet, Go Air and Indigo in the budget carrier segment. The company says that it generates 10-12 per cent of ticket bookings through its promotional offers for routes across India. http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/airasia-india-to-expand-to-20- aircraft-at-the-earliest-116081701097_1.html Back to Top PHOTO OF THE DAY The 302ft-long Airlander 10 Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY Dear Colleagues, My name is Hamed Aljahwari, and I am a student from City University London. I would like to take few minutes of your time to answer the following questions. The survey is addressing helicopter Engineers and helicopter Operators in the Middle East. This survey is approved by the Ethics Committee of City University London and is only intended to support my research. Please follow the link below to complete the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/72GN8RM The impacts of operating helicopters in harsh environment Survey www.surveymonkey.com Thank you, Hamed Aljahwari Back to Top Watch "The Crash Detectives Book Trailer" on YouTube http://christinenegroni.com/books/the-crash-detectives/ Back to Top The International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) will hold their 47th annual seminar at the Grand Hotel Reykjavik, Iceland, from October 17- 20, 2016 Up to date program details, links to the registration program and the hotel can be found at www.esasi.eu/isasi-2016 or www.isasi.org Dates to Remember Cut off date for the seminar rate at the hotel is September 10, 2016. Reservations made after that date will not be guaranteed the seminar rate. Cut off date for the early registration fee is September 25, 2016. We look forward to seeing you in Iceland Back to Top RSVP by contacting Erin Carroll, DFRC President by September 1 Email: erin.carroll@wnco.com or Telephone: (214) 792-5089 Curt Lewis