Flight Safety Information October 25, 2016 - No. 210 In This Issue Bob Hoover, pilot who escaped POW camp by stealing a German plane, dies at 94 Marine Corps jet crashes in California desert; pilot safe A380 - Air Divert - Smoke in Cabin FAA Declares Steady Progress on NextGen ATC Modernization Delta now lets you track your luggage in real-time with its app Aircraft That Flew On Capitol Lawn To Be Destroyed Spirit CEO Hails Aircraft Maker Competition, Will Look at Bombardier CS-100 Qantas pilots fume over stricter uniform standards Airbus targets over 670 jet deliveries this year - CFO What's Behind JetBlue's Investment in a Small Jet Airline? Stop By and Visit At NBAA - BACE 2016 Bob Hoover, pilot who escaped POW camp by stealing a German plane, dies at 94 Legendary test and air-show pilot Bob Hoover in an undated photograph. (Bob Hoover Archives) Bob Hoover, a World War II fighter pilot who escaped a POW camp and flew to freedom by stealing a German airplane and who spent decades testing aircraft, thrilling spectators at air shows and training military aviators, died Oct. 25 at a hospital in Torrance, Calif. He was 94. The cause was congestive heart failure, said his daughter-in-law, Lynn Hoover. Mr. Hoover, who learned to fly as a teenager in Tennessee, was among the country's most revered pilots. The renowned World War II airman Gen. Jimmy Doolittle once called Mr. Hoover "the greatest stick-and-rudder man who ever lived." In 1947, Mr. Hoover was a test pilot flying alongside Chuck Yeager when Yeager broke the sound barrier. Mr. Hoover taught dive-bombing maneuvers to Air Force pilots during the Korean War. He flew more than 300 varieties of airplanes and knew virtually every significant figure in the history of aviation, from Orville Wright to Charles Lindbergh to Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to walk on the moon. During his decades as a stunt pilot, Mr. Hoover handled his plane so smoothly that he could pour a cup of tea while executing a 360-degree roll. One of the airplanes he used for aerobatics, a North American Rockwell Shrike Commander 500S, is housed in the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Bob Hoover at the National Air and Space Museum, where he received an award for lifetime achievement in 2007. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) "He had such an intuitive sense of how to fly an airplane," Dorothy S. Cochrane, a curator at the Air and Space Museum, said in an interview. "He had a stunning ability to be a part of the airplane and to figure out what was wrong and how to get out of it and recover. He just had that ability not only to do it himself but to communicate to others." As recently as last year, actor Harrison Ford credited lessons learned from Mr. Hoover with helping him survive a crash landing of a vintage airplane on a California golf course. During World War II, while based in North Africa and southern Europe, Mr. Hoover flew 58 missions as a fighter pilot with the Army Air Forces. On his 59th, on Feb. 9, 1944, he was shot down off the coast of southern France and was plucked from the sea by a German patrol boat. He spent 16 months in a German prison camp before he and a fellow American climbed the fence and fled into the nearby woods. With the war coming to an end, German civilians were more cooperative, and a farm woman gave Mr. Hoover and his fellow escapee a gun. "She said it would do us a lot more good than it did her, and she was right," Mr. Hoover later told the Los Angeles Daily News. He and his friend came upon a field with hundreds of damaged German warplanes. Mr. Hoover found one that had a full gas tank. When a German mechanic approached, Mr. Hoover's friend pulled the gun on him. Hoover with Chuck Yeager, left, on the 50th anniversary of the historic flight that broke the sound barrier. (Reuters/Reuters) "We told him unless he could get us airborne fast, we were going to kill him," Mr. Hoover recalled years later. The German plane's engine started, but Mr. Hoover's buddy refused to get aboard, vowing never to fly in another airplane. Instead, he took his chances on foot - and years later was reunited with Mr. Hoover. The stolen plane had a German cross painted on the side, and Mr. Hoover was fearful of being attacked by Allied forces as he flew along the coast of Germany toward the Netherlands. "I didn't have any maps or charts," he said in a 2007 interview with the publication Airport Journals. "I knew that if I turned west and followed the shoreline, I would be safe when I saw windmills." He landed in a field and was quickly surrounded by Dutch farmers with pitchforks. Soon afterward, a British army truck rolled up, and Mr. Hoover was taken to safety. Hailed as a hero, he noted that the prison camps were loosely guarded during the waning days of the war. "People made it sound like a great escape," he said, "but the guards had deserted us." Robert Anderson Hoover was born Jan. 24, 1922, in Nashville. His father was an office manager and bookkeeper. Mr. Hoover began taking flying lessons at 15 and joined the Tennessee Air National Guard at 18. After World War II, while serving in the newly formed Air Force, he was one of the test pilots in a project to break the sound barrier with the new Bell X-1 jet aircraft. When Yeager accomplished the feat in 1947, Mr. Hoover was flying the "chase plane" and took the first photographs of Yeager's faster-than-sound flight. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart and other decorations before leaving the military in 1948. He then became a test pilot for General Motors, North American Aviation and North American Rockwell. He lived for years in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., and appeared at air shows around the world, flying a yellow P-51 Mustang or his white-and-green Shrike. In Moscow in 1966, he was briefly detained because he outshone Soviet pilots while flying a Russian-built plane. In one of his most daring maneuvers, Mr. Hoover turned off the engines of his airplane and flew it like a glider, coming to a silent stop on the runway. After a 1989 accident, in which his airplane was filled with the wrong fuel, Mr. Hoover invented a new kind of nozzle to prevent such mistakes from happening again. His wife of 68 years, the former Colleen Humrickhouse, died in February. Survivors include two children, Anita Eley of Greeley, Colo., and Robert A. Hoover Jr. of El Segundo, Calif.; three grandchildren; and two great-grandsons. In 1994, federal officials threatened to ground Mr. Hoover for failing medical tests. The outpouring from flying fans was so great that he was reexamined, and his pilot's license was reinstated. He retired from aerobatics in his late 70s and piloted his last plane when he was 85. Filmmaker Kim Furst premiered a documentary about Mr. Hoover, "Flying the Feathered Edge," in 2014. Mr. Hoover published an autobiography, "Forever Flying," in 1996. In his book, Mr. Hoover wrote, "Hell, I would fly an old Dodge truck if they put wings on the side." Bob Hoover -- Engine-out Aerobatics https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/bob-hoover-pilot-who-escaped-pow-camp-by-stealing-a-german-plane- dies-at-94/2016/10/25/c3dfd16c-9ad2-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html Back to Top Marine Corps jet crashes in California desert; pilot safe A Marine Corps jet fighter crashed and burned Tuesday in the Southern California desert, but the pilot ejected safely, a spokesman said. The twin-engine F/A-18C Hornet crashed around 6 p.m. near the end of a training flight at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. "Initial reports say that he had touched down and after he touched down, he needed to eject," said First Lt. John P. Roberts, a Marine spokesman. The pilot appeared to have no major injuries, but he was taken to a local hospital as a precaution, Roberts said. "He's OK and doing well right now," he said. The aircraft burned, Roberts said. There was no immediate word on what caused the crash. The Hornet was assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 31 from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina, Roberts said. The sprawling air base, 140 miles east of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert, trains pilots from around the country. In July, another F/A-18C warplane went down during a training mission at the base, killing the pilot. In August, an F/A-18D made an emergency landing after a warning light alerted the pilot to a possible fire. The problem was traced to a seal failure that tripped on-board sensors. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article110506707.html#storylink=cpy Back to Top A380 - Air Divert - Smoke in Cabin Date: 25-OCT-2016 Time: 04:45 UTC Type: Airbus A380-841 Owner/operator: British Airways Registration: G-XLEB C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 400 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Unknown Location: Canadian Praries - Canada Phase: En route Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: SFO Destination airport: LHR Narrative: British Airways flight BA286 on Tuesday enroute from San Francisco, California to London, England diverted over Canada to Vancouver as 25 crew members and possibly 2 passengers became unwell. Initial reports indicated the sickness was due to smoke inhalation, but it has not yet been officially confirmed. At approximately 23:30 local time the A380 made an emergency landing at YVR. The victims were taken to area hospitals where they were treated and released. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=190921 Back to Top FAA Declares Steady Progress on NextGen ATC Modernization FAA Air Traffic Organization chief operating officer Teri Bristol addresses the ATCA conference on October 19. (Photo: Bill Carey) Top officials with Federal Aviation Administration say the agency is making progress toward the goals of its ambitious and long-running NextGen effort to modernize the ATC system. During a round of speeches at the recent Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA) conference, Administrator Michael Huerta also acknowledged that there is significant public resistance to redesigning airport arrival and departure routes to take advantage of performance- based navigation (PBN), considered one of the pillars of NextGen. "We're making great progress on many fronts," Teri Bristol, chief operating officer of the FAA Air Traffic Organization (ATO), said during a "State of the ATO" speech on October 19. "We're improving NAS [National Airspace System] performance, we're delivering benefits through NextGen, and we're integrating drones and rockets in the airspace system." The FAA is focused on "getting the message out, because if you listen to some of our critics you might not think we're making progress," she added. Working with the industry-government NextGen Advisory Committee, the FAA has identified priorities for modernization and developed an implementation plan to achieve them. It has completed 103 planned commitments and recently extended the approach through 2019, Bristol said. Under the Optimization of Airspace and Procedures in the Metroplex program, the agency has completed 11 projects designed to improve air traffic flows in regions containing multiple large and small airports by redesigning airspace and incorporating satellite- enabled PBN routes and procedures. In September, the agency released a 15-year strategy outlining its plan to make PBN the nation's primary means of navigation. In a separate speech, Huerta spoke of the public pushback over noise that has attended airspace redesign efforts incorporating new PBN routing. "We've very aggressively been rolling out performance-based navigation, and it has certainly made flights more efficient, which saves us money, saves carriers money and reduces pollution," he said. "And while more precise navigation paths have an effect of shrinking the noise footprint of aircraft...it does in many instances concentrate the noise over a smaller geographic area directly beneath those flight paths. As a result, we've gotten a few calls and letters, we've seen an increasing level of public debate, of political interest and litigation as it relates to the deployment of these procedures." The FAA has "stepped up its public engagement across the United States" in response to the reaction, Huerta added. Among other steps, the FAA recently completed automation system upgrades at 11 of its largest terminal radar approach control (Tracon) facilities. As of the ATCA conference, it had equipped 48 airport towers to provide text- based departure clearances to pilots under the Data Comm program, which FAA executives say is two years ahead of schedule. The Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM) program, which aims to facilitate "collaborative decisionmaking" on the airport surface through electronic data exchanges, will start rolling out to airports in 2019. And airlines have shared with the FAA their plans to equip 90 percent of the U.S. air carrier fleet with required automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) OUT signaling capability by the 2020 deadline, Bristol said. During a panel discussion, Robert Pappas, flight operations manager with the FAA's UAS Integration Office, reported that the newly formed Unmanned Aircraft Safety Team (UAST) was then holding its first meeting in Washington, D.C. Modeled on the Commercial Aviation Safety Team and the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee, the UAST is an industry-government group that will make recommendations to the agency on drone safety. It is internal to the FAA, Pappas explained, as compared to the new high-level Drone Advisory Committee that meets under the auspices of standards organization RTCA. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2016-10-24/faa-declares-steady-progress-nextgen-atc- modernization Back to Top Delta now lets you track your luggage in real-time with its app Delta Airlines is rolling out new technology they hope will bring a 99 percent success rate on luggage making it to the right destination One of the great, anxious mysteries of air travel has always been whether or not your luggage will make it to your destination. Now, one major airline is hoping to curtail that and take the drama out of wondering where, exactly, your bags are. Delta Airlines has finally rolled out a promised update to its app that pairs it with the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags that the company started using in April. The airline says it will replace the barcode method of tracking bags at 84 airports that Delta serves. The big deal with this technology, according to Delta, is that usage of the technology has shown 99.9 percent accuracy in terms of baggage making it to the correct destination. And there are other stop-gaps to ensure this accuracy. Belt-loaders across those 84 airports will use a red light/green light system to identify bags that are on the wrong belt. Additionally, when sensors indicate a bag is heading where it shouldn't, the belt will shut down and enable agents to locate and redirect that bag. And part of the new tracking service's functionality will allow travelers to use the Delta app to track their bags' journey on a map, in an effort to give travelers peace of mind. Previous iterations of the app had a text-based tracking app, but this update gives travelers the ability to physiclaly see the location of their baggage at the airport level. An example of the Delta app's new luggage tracker Later this year, the app will even include push notifications. It's a welcome innovation for an airline that is sometimes derided online with the quip, "Delta stands for 'Don't expect luggage to arrive.'" (Though the airline has ranked fairly well in recent years when it comes to lost or delayed luggage.) Bill Lentsch, Delta's senior vice president of airline operations and airport customer service, said in a press release, "From the moment our customers drop off their bag, we want them to know we're looking out for it every step of the way and working to take the stress out of flying one innovation at a time." It's only a matter of time before flyers start live-tweeting the exact whereabouts of their luggage. http://mashable.com/2016/10/25/delta-luggage-tracking/#IBxDvSHcMqqc Back to Top Aircraft That Flew On Capitol Lawn To Be Destroyed Authorities plan to destroy a helicopter-like aircraft that made headlines when its owner flew it on to the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in 2015 as a political protest. A U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman says the destruction of the gyrocopter likely will occur within weeks. The craft's former owner, Ruskin, Florida, resident Douglas Hughes, pleaded guilty to operating a gyrocopter without a license for his April 15, 2015, flight in the bare-bones aircraft to the Capitol's West Lawn. Hughes forfeited the aircraft as part of a plea deal. He was sentenced to four months in prison. Forfeited property can be sold, but Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said Monday in an e-mail Monday that "Its sale would not be appropriate considering its role in his irresponsible and unlawful act last year." In flying from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to the U.S. Capitol, Hughes violated airspace restrictions around the nation's capital - some of the most restricted airspace in the nation. Hughes said his stunt was a way to call attention to the influence of big money in politics and protest government corruption. A mailman at the time of his flight, he was carrying a letter for each member of Congress. He had a Postal Service logo on the tail of his aircraft. http://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/aircraft-flew-capitol-lawn-be-destroyed#stream/0 Back to Top Spirit CEO Hails Aircraft Maker Competition, Will Look at Bombardier CS-100 Spirit CEO Bob Fornaro says the airline needs new airplanes to keep its growth rate high and will look at the Bombardier C-100. Spirit Airlines (SAVE) CEO Bob Fornaro said the carrier will look at Bombardier's C Series for its next aircraft order. "Competition is good for consumers," Fornaro said Tuesday on the airline's third-quarter earnings call. "In this case, we're the consumer." Spirit operates an all-Airbus (EADSY) fleet of 89 aircraft, while Frontier, the other principal ultra-low-cost airline, operates an all Airbus fleet of about 65 aircraft and has orders for 101 more. Additionally, Allegiant (ALGT) recently ordered 12 Airbus A320s. "Look at North America and even South America, the true low-cost sector is largely Airbus," Fornaro said. "The other manufacturers are ultimately going to be pretty aggressive. "You have to weigh the opportunities of a new airplane, whatever incentives you are going to get, vs. the inefficiencies of getting a new fleet type," he said. Spirit is projecting capacity growth between 18.5% and 20% in 2017 and has aircraft deliveries scheduled through 2021. However, "without an additional order in 2019, our growth will start dropping below 10%," Fornaro said. "The right thing to do is see what the competition will make available to us. Airplane manufacturers ... are just as aggressive as we are in the carrier space." The C Series had been struggling, but in April Delta (DAL) placed a firm order for 75 of them. In July, aviation consulting firm Airsight issued a report which concluded that Bombardier and Embraer (ERJ) are in a position to "squeeze out Airbus and Boeing (BA) from the 100- to 150-seat market." United's (UAL) purchase of 65 Boeing 737-700s early this year showed that "the only way the big guys win is to cut prices," said co-author Addison Schonland. Bombardier welcomes Spirit's interest, spokeswoman Nathalie Siphengphet said Tuesday. "With over 100 days in service with Swiss, the CS100 performance is exceeding expectations and we are pleased that many airlines around the world are showing a growing interest for our C Series aircraft," Siphengphet said. https://www.thestreet.com/story/13866082/1/spirit-ceo-hails-aircraft-maker-competition-will-look-at-bombardier- cs-100.html Back to Top Qantas pilots fume over stricter uniform standards Handlebar moustaches, backpacks and chewing gum are out, while jackets are to be worn more regularly. That's the message to thousands of Qantas pilots in new guidelines about stricter uniform standards they need to meet to uphold their "image as a trusted, experienced ambassador of the Qantas brand". Uniform or costume? Here are the most stringent clothing and grooming rules Qantas flight crew must abide by. Pilots are fuming over the requirements for them to wear their new jackets more often such as when travelling to their aircraft unless it is more than 27 degrees or they are at airports in the tropics. "If full uniform [is] not worn, you should not be recognisable as a Qantas pilot [when travelling to or from work]," the guidelines state. The new uniforms will be required wearing for Qantas pilots from Thursday. The airline deems they won't be recognisable as Qantas pilots on their way to work if they are just wearing uniform pants and shirt. But jackets, hats, epaulettes and wings are considered recognisable. Until now, pilots say it has largely been at the discretion of a plane's captain about whether the flight crew had to wear a jacket. Qantas pilots were issued a 23-page guidebook last week, ahead of the requirement from Thursday for all of them to wear their new uniforms unveiled in April. While indicating a "general satisfaction with the new suit design", a survey of almost 1300 pilots by the Australian and International Pilots Association found a clear majority were critical of symbolic parts of the uniform such as the wing design, epaulettes and the badge on their new white hats. The white hats, replete with a badge featuring a kangaroo, have an air of Leonardo DiCaprio's Catch Me If You Can 2002 film about them. "The white cap is supposed to take us back to the days of flying boats but it's 2016, not the 1940s. We don't fly flying boats, we fly aeroplanes," one pilot said. "They don't call it a uniform, they call it a costume. The airline has since decided to make the wings out of metal instead of fabric, and enlarge the epaulettes. But it has drawn the line at the hat because it believed alterations would have too great an impact on the overall design and image. Qantas's new uniform guidelines give an insight into the lengths airlines go to project a clean-cut image to passengers and the wider public. Pilots must never "use a backpack or rucksack when in uniform", "chew gum or drink alcohol in uniform" or "smoke when in uniform in view of the public". In order to "wear it right", Qantas pilots have been told to button up their uniform jacket" and wear their hats when walking through an airport terminal. Earrings are allowed to be worn only by female pilots, and even then they "should be plain round pearl, silver, gold or diamond studs". "Wearing visible facial jewellery including the piercing of noses, eyebrows, tongues and mouths is not acceptable when in uniform," the guidelines state. And the criteria outlining grooming for men shows why the annual "Movember" fundraising event would be a tricky proposition for a Qantas pilot. While a moustache is permitted, the guidelines state that "the outline of the upper lip shall clearly be visible". "Long moustaches such as handlebar, horseshoe (or 'trucker') and similar styles are unacceptable," they say. Hair length "that falls onto eyebrows or shirt collar is not acceptable", and beards are not permitted while "sideburns should be below your earlobe in length". Like for most airlines, beards have been off limits for Qantas pilots for years, partly because of the potential for the seal on an oxygen mask to be broken by whiskers. Female pilots have been told that their hair should not fall past their shoulder, and their fringe "should be kept above the eyes". "Make-up should complement that individual, look natural and blend with the uniform," the guidelines say. "Brightly coloured or sparkly eyeshadow should not be worn." Australian and International Pilots Association president Nathan Safe said he did not believe the guidelines had been "particularly necessary". "They are obviously trying to align it with the practice of a lot of other airlines," he said. Qantas chief pilot Richard Tobiano said in a statement that standards were very important when it came to uniforms. "I know that our pilots are very proud and feel privileged to fly for Qantas and to wear the uniform, which not only looks fantastic but also pays tribute to the history of our airline and profession," he said. While they may be a bone of contention for Qantas pilots, the guidelines do offer some helpful hints for those who have always struggled in the wardrobe department. Among the tips is to "never hang your jacket on a wire hanger", nor hang a tie on a rack "as the lining will drop over time and cause wrinkles". http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-pilots-fume-over-stricter-uniform-standards-20161025- gs9w1h.html Back to Top Airbus targets over 670 jet deliveries this year - CFO PARIS, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Airbus expects to deliver more than 670 commercial jets this year, beating its restated official target of more than 650, Airbus Group Finance Director Harald Wilhelm said. He did not give a target for A320-family jets which dominate the European company's production volumes, but said the revamped A320neo model would make up just under 15 percent of narrow-body deliveries compared with earlier hopes of almost 20 percent. Speaking to reporters after posting weaker third-quarter earnings, Wilhelm also issued a warning to aerospace suppliers involved in consolidation that they should not let dealmaking divert attention from executing on contracts. He was responding to a $6.4 billion deal earlier this week for Rockwell Collins to buy B/E Aerospace, one of the largest makers of seats and cabin equipment, a sector which has been hit by repeated industrial delays. Industry executives say deliveries of A350 passenger jets have been delayed by shortages of cabin equipment. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/airbus-targets-over-670-jet-061609390.html Back to Top What's Behind JetBlue's Investment in a Small Jet Airline? JetBlue is investing in JetSuiteX, a public charter operator based in California. JetSuiteX Photo: JetSuiteX JetBlue's investment in JetSuiteX is probably not a game-changer. But it is unusual, and it will be interesting to see how the JetBlue/JetSuiteX partnership evolves. - Brian Sumers Can JetBlue Airways grow on the West Coast without sending more of its planes to California? That's a distinct possibility now that JetBlue has bought a piece of one of the nation's more unusual airlines. It's JetSuiteX, a small six-month old carrier that flies to only six West Coast airports, including Burbank Bob Hope, San Jose International and McClellan-Palomar Airport, near San Diego. JetSuiteX would be unremarkable, except for one major advantage. It is classified as a public charter airline, a favorable distinction because it means passengers on each regional jet do not need to clear security, allowing them to arrive only 30 minutes before departure. And because public charters can have no more than 30 seats, JetSuite's Embrarer E135s have seven fewer seats than the same planes had when they flew as American Eagle. Every passenger has plenty of legroom. In announcing the investment on Tuesday, JetBlue executives were coy about how much of JetSuite the airline owns, and they declined to give concrete plans for how the partnership with evolve. But presumably, the deal will open intriguing possibilities for JetBlue customers. It might be possible for passengers to fly from New York to Burbank on JetBlue, and then transfer to JetSuiteX for the short flight to San Jose. "We just see a a great opportunity on the West Coast in terms of offering customers a much more convenient alternative in terms of how to fly," JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said Tuesday on the carrier's third quarter earnings call. "We think the JetSuiteX model has plenty of potential to grow. It's very exciting when you can offer customers private jet type amenities at a commericial airfare from very convenient airports." The West Coast is now a point of emphasis for JetBlue, after the company lost on the bidding for Burlingame, California-based Virgin America earlier this year. JetBlue's main Western base is in Long Beach, California where it operates a small focus city. But a local noise ordinance limits how much it can grow there. "We are now working with the JetSuite team to put a commericial agreement in place that will allow JetBlue customers to continue to benefit from a very creative and disruptive travel option," Hayes said. "It's a small investment but can it grow? Of course. And we're going to work hard to really help the JetSuite team execute well in making this a much bigger proposition on the West Coast." JetSuiteX is led by Alex Wilcox, a JetBlue employee from 1998 to 2004. After serving as JetBlue's director for the Western United States, Wilcox founded JetSuite in 2008, and for eight years the company focused on the traditional private jet market, offering relatively cheap prices for jets that are a little less opulent than what the competition sells. It's still in that business, but the company is expanding into public charters, selling tickets on its website. Travelers can buy a one-way JetSuiteX ticket from Burbank to Las Vegas for $99, only slightly higher than Southwest Airlines charges on the same route. By next year, JetSuiteX expects to have 10 Embraer E135s. These used planes have fallen out of favor for the regional airlines operating as United Express, Delta Connection and American Eagle because they're cramped and not fuel efficient. But they're cheap on the used market, and Wilcox saw an opportunity, spending $1 million per plane on new seats, power outlets and WiFi. On the earnings call, JetBlue's Hayes said the carrier seeks to additional unique investments, both directly and through JetBlue Technology Ventures, its Silicon Valley-based venture capital subsidiary. "These are more current and more modern manifestations of what we have been doing for 16 years," Hayes said. "It is certainly not intended to poke anyone in the eye, but it is intended to make sure that we stay at the forefront. I think there's a lot of complacency out there that the airline industry can't get disrupted. But we disagree with that." https://skift.com/2016/10/25/whats-behind-jetblues-investment-in-a-small-jet-airline/ Back to Top Stop By and Visit At NBAA - BACE 2016 DATE November 1-3, 2016 LOCATION Booth 1482 Orange County Convention Center Orlando Executive Airport Orlando, FL Curt Lewis