January 31, 2019 - No. 009 In This Issue QANTAS TO MOVE B717 HEAVY MAINTENANCE TO SINGAPORE Leading Aviation Service Provider AAR Corp Launches Campaign To Reverse Erosion Of Sector Workforce Pima hoping to expand aviation technician program with $20 million from Gov. Ducey Leading Aviation Engineering Companies Team Up to Form the Independent Aircraft Modifier Alliance Dubai Aviation City Corp launches new aerospace hub Hungarian Startup Develops Augmented Reality System for Streamlined Aircraft Inspections Magnetic MRO sets up a line maintenance station in Norway NATCA Wants Separate Funding Source for Aviation After Shutdown Global warming: New supersonic airplanes would be terrible for environment, study warns SpaceX just can't catch its rocket nosecones, no matter how hard it tries QANTAS TO MOVE B717 HEAVY MAINTENANCE TO SINGAPORE Qantas has upset its engineering union by quietly inking a deal to send its domestic fleet of 20 Boeing 717s to Singapore for heavy maintenance. The work was being done in Canberra by third-party maintenance provider Korr Aviation, which was awarded a four-year contract when the heavy maintenance operations were moved to the Australian capital amid some fanfare in 2015. That contract was due to expire in April and decision was made to go to tender for the ongoing maintenance. The competitive tender process was won ST Aerospace -a Singapore-based aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul provider with more than 8000 staff worldwide - with a start date of July 2019. But the decision has prompted a backlash from the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers' Association, which has criticized the move to maintain aircraft that do not operate outside Australia in Singapore. The union has accused the airline of putting profit before safety and of leaving contractors brought in four years ago to do the heavy maintenance work "high and dry" without consultation and redundancy payments. "Qantas are taking advantage of a broken workplace relations system that bypasses fairness in favour of corporate greed,'' ALAEA president Steve Purvinas said in a statement. Qantas argues ST Aerospace is approved by Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority and already does work for Qantas, Jetstar and Qantas Freight as well as other international airlines. It says the maintenance will be done with the oversight of Qantas Engineering and Cobham Aviation, which operates the 717s for the group's regional subsidiary, QantasLink. It also says the Canberra hangar, originally acquired from Impulse Airlines, will still do line maintenance on the 717s as well as its turboprop fleet and about 25 QantasLink engineers doing this work will remain employed. "We'll continue to do the majority of maintenance on our B717 aircraft in Canberra," a spokesman said. One of the problems, according to the Flying Kangaroo, is that the 717s only require heavy maintenance every two and a half years. This means there would be several periods over the next few years of no work for up to a month, a situation it says was not sustainable for the contractors. ST Aerospace, on the other hand, can adjust resources to match the program. Korr is working to identify internal redeployment opportunities and Qantas says it is willing to look at opportunities within the group if suitable positions are available. Qantas and Jetstar are the only airlines to conduct heavy maintenance in Australia, including on Airbus A330s and Boeing 737s, and the group still employs 3500 people. This is down from more than 4000 at the time it announced it was taking the 717 heavy maintenance to Canberra in 2015. The airline at that point had already axed hundreds of maintenance jobs as it consolidated its wider heavy maintenance operations in Brisbane, closing down facilities in Sydney and Victoria. https://www.airlineratings.com/news/qantas-move-b717-heavy-maintenance-singapore/ Back to Top Leading Aviation Service Provider AAR Corp Launches Campaign To Reverse Erosion Of Sector Workforce The global aviation industry is undergoing an unprecedented expansion that is expected to double the number of commercial aircraft in operation over the next 20 years. There has been much discussion in the industry about where all the pilots needed to fly those planes will come from. Much less attention is being given to an equally pressing workforce issue: training and credentialing hundreds of thousands of aircraft maintenance technicians and other support personnel so that the global fleet can be kept safe and ready to fly. Boeing estimates 189,000 new aviation technicians will be needed in North America alone to meet expected levels of demand through 2037, and that figure doesn't even include military demand. Workforce trends are not encouraging. Roughly 30% of the personnel providing aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul-MRO in industry shorthand-are expected to retire over the next several years. Meanwhile, recruiting of new workers to the field is lagging, in some cases creating bidding wars for talent. If these trends are not reversed, they will slow the expansion of air travel. Against that backdrop, I interviewed AAR Corporation CEO John Holmes on January 29 about what industry can do to improve the outlook for populating MRO facilities with more skilled personnel. AAR is the biggest independent MRO operator in the United States, employing 3,000 workers at five major MRO sites located mostly in the nation's industrial heartland. It also operates two large MRO sites in Canada, and has an overseas presence in more than a dozen countries. Holmes says "this workforce issue has become one of my top priorities," because it threatens to limit growth in an industry that has been expanding by leaps and bounds. He says that AAR (a contributor to my think tank) is paying more to attract talent, but industry needs to grow the pipeline of new recruits to the field. Holmes has introduced several initiatives under the banner of Eagle Pathways to bridge the gap in what the industry calls "middle skills." https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2019/01/30/leading-mro-operator-aar-corp- launches-campaign-to-reverse-erosion-of-sector-workforce/#b51862b10386 Back to Top Pima hoping to expand aviation technician program with $20 million from Gov. Ducey It's no secret that Pima County is a hub for the aerospace and defense sectors. With big companies like Raytheon, Sargent, Bombardier and Ascent, Pima Community College's Aviation Maintenance Technician program helps fill a growing demand for skilled workers in the industry. In fact, the demand is so high they can't keep up. Ian Roark, PCC's Vice President of Workforce Development, said business leaders from across Pima County and representatives from leading industry employers came to the college and said "Your program is great, we just need more of it." Gov. Doug Ducey recently proposed $20 million of state funds for the program in his fiscal year 2019-2020 budget plan. That plan still needs to go through review and editing by the state Legislature later this year. The college's aviation training program falls under the Federal Aviation Administration Part 147 program, which refers to the statues in FAA regulations that govern aviation technology programs. Roark quickly clarified that PCC does not certify for pilot training, as many assume when they hear "aviation." They instead train the technicians in the aerospace industry, specifically Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) technicians and related specialties. "Any time that you are flying commercial, or if you had the luxury to have a business jet of your own, an A&P is the individual who is making the necessary repairs or modifications to the aircraft whenever something could potentially go wrong," Roark said. "Some people refer to them as mechanics, but the skill set is really quite robust." A&Ps deal with everything from the structure of an aircraft to the engine, electrical systems and avionics. For about $10,000, anyone who can meet the basic entry-level requirements of the program (and may not even have knowledge of hand tools) can graduate and be ready for the FAA's certification exam in just 19 months. In addition to the 19-month main program, there is also a "Part 65" program where anyone who worked on aircraft in the military can come to Pima Community College, take a test to gauge their skill level, compare that to what is required by the FAA for licensure and complete an eight-week boot camp program to fill in their knowledge gap. "They can leave the military, come to Pima Community College and not have to go through the entire 19-month training and instead go through an eight week boot camp that prepares them to sit for the FAA licensure test," Roark said. PCC also offers the first part of the A&P training to high school students through a JTED program. Students from any of the participating high schools in Pima County, if selected, can receive training during night classes. When they graduate from high school, the students can transition months ahead into the main program, saving them money and time to enter the industry even earlier. The FAA regulates the number of students that can enter these types of programs at any given time. There are two or three cohorts annually, which make up about 125 students in the program each year. About 75 of those students graduate on an annual basis. The Part 65 program for veterans fluctuates, but began two and half years ago and has graduated 90 technicians. With the proposed $20 million, these programs could expand to serve 250 students and graduate 125 each year. The program has an 80 to 90 percent completion rate, and Roark said most of the students pass their certification exams. Pima's A&P program has a positive reputation among industry employers nationally who often express interest in hiring graduates as soon as they become certified. "Our desire, of course, is for them to get jobs locally and regionally, but it's a very competitive market," Roark said. "The A&P technician market in the United States and, in fact, the world is one of the most competitive labor markets that there are." The graduates often get jobs paying an average $55,000 annual salary, according to Roark. Most of those positions are guaranteed overtime, and former students often tell him they make $70,000, $80,000 or even upwards of $100,000 per year. "It doesn't take long after you get some traction in the industry and some additional skill sets and training, it's easy for somebody five to 10 years into the industry [to make] six figures," Roark said. "So as far as the return on the value for our students, for the community and for the industry, it is a top-notch program." All faculty in the program are required to have their FAA license and certifications, industry experience and meet the teaching qualifications of the college. The classes are held five days a week for five weeks at a time, with short breaks in between. Roark said the training is intentionally intense in order for students to master technical skills and meet certain requirements of the FAA. Strategic investment The $20 million PCC asked for would more than double the size and scope of the aviation program. The college currently has one large aircraft hangar located at the Tucson International Airport housing one of two Boeing 727 commercial airplanes, multiple classrooms and laboratories for riveting, composite materials and avionics. "The [money] will be used to expand the classrooms, the labs and include another hangar and therefore we will be able to double the output of students that graduate from the program," Roark said. It will also allow for an expansion of the Part 65 and JTED programs. Roark said it is clear there is a market for this type of training because there is already over a year's worth of students on a waiting list to get into the current program. Another factor facing the technical industry right now is the anticipated shortage in talent due to baby boomers retiring. Whenever the current technicians in aviation retire over the next decade, Roark said there will be almost a missing generation of workers. In order to make up for that gap, he believes this is the type of forward-thinking strategies that will ensure the viability of the aviation industry in Arizona. As part of an economic development strategy, Roark said the cities where talent is being produced is where businesses will expand and potentially relocate. By expanding the aviation program, PCC is signaling to employers they have the workforce necessary to make Tucson an even larger hub for aviation technology, education and training. $20 million is a lot of money in the funding-starved education field. Why is this a better option than distributing the money equally across the entire college? Roark said it makes better returns on investment for the taxpayers. "Our approach has been and will be to work directly with employers and our community partners to get very specific about the needs in these areas and then ask and make a well-formed proposal to those we are seeking funding form, including the state," he said. When the state government cut all funding to Pima Community College and the Maricopa Community College District four years ago, Roark said it was certainly not beneficial, but it gave the college an opportunity to reflect and reassess their mission as an institution. "Even prior to the cuts, [PCC Chancellor] Lee Lambert knew that the college really had a disconnect at the time with the needs of business and industry," Roark said. "From his arrival, and many changes since, we have been intensely focused on being attuned to our customers." Lambert, who has been chancellor since 2013, said he is a big proponent of strategic investments. "The highest return on investment for the taxpayers is jobs," he said. "We had a study done in this region on economic development, which showed that there are good jobs in this community tied to aviation. The investment in workforce education will lead to opportunities in jobs which will only improve our community in the long run." He believes $20 million for the aviation program will benefit the students who want a well-paying career as well as the industry's employers who need more skilled workers. It's an ecosystem, Lambert said, and PCC is doing its part to ensure the whole system benefits. Lambert said the $20 million is especially useful to the college because it takes a lot of resources to produce high-quality technical training programs. It costs much more to train someone to be an A&P than it does to train a traditional major because of the required laboratories, equipment, as well as maintenance and replacement of that equipment. "That's why these targeted investments come in handy," he said. "Tuition alone is not enough." https://www.tucsonlocalmedia.com/news/article_377f7c82-23eb-11e9-951b-3f5a10311e88.html Back to Top Leading Aviation Engineering Companies Team Up to Form the Independent Aircraft Modifier Alliance A group of significant players in the aviation industry are cooperating to form a new alliance in the field of aircraft modification. As leading companies in the retrofit industry, EAD Aerospace, Envoy Aerospace, Etihad Airways Engineering and Lufthansa Technik have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form the Independent Aircraft Modifier Alliance (IAMA). IAMA aims to encourage aircraft owners and operators to modify and modernise their fleets through high quality equipment and rigorous inspections, irrespective of which IAMA members provide the engineering services. Aircraft modifications, such as the installation of new cabins, connectivity solutions or avionics systems can be approved and documented through a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) offered by providers such as the IAMA members. The alliance addresses customer concerns with regard to documentation, data availability and a worldwide customer support network across different regulatory systems with various national authorities. The main objectives of the Independent Aircraft Modifier Alliance are to agree to common standards for the documentation and quality of Supplemental Type Certificates, to establish an open, secure documentation platform for airline customers and aircraft owners using STCs, and to inform the relevant public and expert communities about the advantages of STC approved solutions. Bernhard Randerath, Vice President Design, Engineering and Innovation of Etihad Airways Engineering said: "This alliance is a positive step towards addressing the challenges that customers face with STC solutions today. As the Middle East's largest MRO, we use OEM solutions, however, Etihad is renowned for innovation and applying our own STC modifications. We believe that OEMs will also benefit from becoming members of IAMA, which is open to all modification providers." "Our customers need seamless solutions and efficient support during implementation and most importantly service afterwards. STCs are a fast, cost efficient way to provide modifications, and IAMA is a promising approach to address the critical points of documentation simplicity and continued after-sales support." Thomas Rueckert, Head of Base Maintenance and Aircraft Modification at Lufthansa Technik, said: "We enable aircraft operators to decide objectively and independently on the best possible modification solution for their fleet - regardless of a specific provider. Safety,flexibility of solutions for implementation of customer requests, along with speed and efficiency are at the heart of our activities." "In addition, value retention and reliable life cycle support are essential factors for aircraft operators and owners. IAMA jointly develop transparent standards that will help our customers make the right decisions," adds Andreas Gherman, Head of the Design Organisation at Lufthansa Technik. Patrick Gindre, Sales Director of EAD Aerospace says: "The aftermarket modifier ecosystem needed a "home" to discuss our challenges, best practices and to improve our services by delivering a common message to the market. Together, we have the objective to shape the future of the STC in the aviation world." Romain Mbwang Seppoh, Head of Airworthiness at EAD Aerospace adds: "The retro fit market has specific challenges to be handled with customers and operators in terms of organisation and mandatory exchange of data. IAMA will be a collaborative and knowledgeable reference and voice to regulators and standardisation committees regarding how STCs efficiently fulfil these obligations. Being in the heart of the activity, IAMA tackle those challenges daily. The alliance will foster proportionate and adapted regulations, and jointly develop and provide the optimal tools to its members." "We are excited to be a part of IAMA," said Adrian Honer, partner andODA Lead Administrator at Envoy Aerospace, LLC. "The affiliation will provide our members with a significant voice to resolve issues that affect retrofit certification approvals. Our involvement in IAMA reflects our commitment to our customers, present and future, to be a leader in retrofit aircraft certification quality." Marilyn Feigl, partner and ODA Administrator at Envoy Aerospace adds:"Retrofit modifications on aircraft have unique challenges. IAMA will offer its members mentorship and counselling to deal with these challenges, especially when dealing with regulatory agencies and the industry at large. This will help raise the certification standards to ensure the highest quality STC products. "The launch meeting of the IAMA is scheduled for spring 2019. The Independent Aircraft Modifier Alliance is open to all market participants including aircraft manufacturers, airlines, suppliers and lessors. Founding members of the alliance believe that a strong and transparent retrofit market will benefit everyone. Members of the alliance work together to offer a transparent, distinct and independent market for aircraft retrofits, providing greater choice for operators and added value for the aviation industry. https://www.aviationpros.com/engines-components/press-release/21045029/leading-aviation- engineering-companies-team-up-to-form-the-independent-aircraft-modifier-alliance Back to Top Dubai Aviation City Corp launches new aerospace hub Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DACC) has announced the official launch of the Mohammed bin Rashid Aerospace Hub (formerly Aviation District) along with EZDubai, a 920,000-sq-m purpose- built e-commerce zone within Dubai South's Logistics District. The Mohammed bin Rashid Aerospace Hub is home to a five-star VIP Terminal facility which hosts some of the world's leading fixed base operators for private jets, including Falcon Aviation, Jetex and Jet Aviation, providing major business entities bespoke aviation services and seamless connectivity, and proximity advantages to the world's largest airport in the making, the Al Maktoum International Airport, said the statement from DACC. The launches were held in the presence of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and other senior officials. These latest developments demonstrate the pace of growth within Dubai's 145-sq-km flagship urban project, it stated. With a total of Dh17 billion ($4.6 billion) of government and private sector investments, the Mohammad bin Rashid Aerospace Hub is designed to create an effective value chain for the aerospace sector and increase the GDP contribution of advanced industries to the emirate's economic growth, said the statement. The 6.7-sq-km Aerospace Hub comprises the commercial strip, maintenance and technical support, business aviation, education and R&D (research and development). The Aerospace Hub has a dedicated education and R&D cluster aimed at building a comprehensive aviation campus where institutes can set up and optimise delivery of top-level learning programmes. It is also home to the E2 Event and Exhibition Centre, a dedicated exhibition zone and permanent home of the Dubai Airshow and the Emirates Flight Academy, it added. DACC and Dubai South executive chairman Khalifa Al Zaffin said: "It is an honour to unveil the hub in the presence of our leader Sheikh Mohammed, who continues to demonstrate his untiring support to the aviation sector and see his vision of growth and development and the future of Dubai turn into reality." "With the aviation industry as one of the key growth industries, it is only fitting to name this incredibly important hub in his honour. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Aerospace Hub remains committed to elevating Dubai as the region's aerospace capital by ensuring that we advance through excellence and deliver value that will benefit millions," stated Al Zaffin. Sheikh Mohammed also witnessed the launch of EZDubai which is set to unlock vast potentials in online commerce. It provides a range of logistics facilities and business solutions designed for start-ups, small and SMEs, innovation labs and incubation centres to support local, regional and trans-continental businesses serving both business-to-business and end consumers, said the company in its statement. With the massive growth of e-commerce in the GCC and Egypt expecting growth from $7 billion to $24 billion by 2022, EZDubai seeks to add a strong value to the sector by providing an efficient supply chain focused on structured regulatory framework, complete ecosystem, and the dual warehouse concept, it added. The new e-commerce hub has six dedicated areas providing a total in excess of 550,000 sq m of leasable area for e-commerce and similar businesses intended as Last Mile Centers, E-Fulfillment Centers, Repair & Return Centers, Supply Centers, Business Blocks (shared buildings), and Business Blocks for Regional Headquarters. Al Zaffin said: "EZDubai is a pioneering effort by Dubai South to provide the local and regional e- commerce sector with a competitive platform that will boost further growth through a suitable business environment equipped with a range of high-quality infrastructure and supported by a facilitative regulatory framework, thereby enabling them to deliver faster delivery of products and services." Dubai South is poised to become a smart and sustainable city, which will be preferred as the place to live, work and invest by at least one million people. As an economic platform, it is the home of leading world events such as Expo 2020 and the Dubai Airshow, expected to provide at least 500,000 jobs and become an important hub for global trade and commerce. "We are confident that initiating this project will pave the way not only for large fulfilment centres, but for small and medium enterprises to tap Dubai's leading model of economic development and contribute to the emirate's GDP," he added.-TradeArabia News Service http://www.tradearabia.com/news/CONS_350370.html Back to Top Hungarian Startup Develops Augmented Reality System for Streamlined Aircraft Inspections Hungarian startup AerinX is developing an augmented reality (AR) solution that it says could make the process of inspecting aircraft surfaces much simpler, faster and more precise. According to the company, the new system can reduce the time it takes to manually inspect an aircraft's surface from up to two hours to around 20 minutes, which would significantly save costs and reduce delays. "Our vision is to completely revolutionize the way aircraft skin inspection is carried out at the moment," explains Antal Bence Kiss, CEO, AerinX. "To achieve this, we are developing a smart inspection system which combines AR technology with modern picture processing, giving a decision-supporting tool in the hands of professionals. AerinX promises to reduce inspection time in case of AOG events, as well as line and heavy maintenance." The system, which began development in 2015, uses smart glasses to project all relevant technical information about an aircraft type-such as plate thickness at a given point or damage history-in 3D on the surface of the aircraft. This allows maintenance workers to determine the size and exact location of damage, which is automatically registered to AerinX's database so the inspection results can be investigated remotely. "We continuously build AerinX's database to include as many aircraft types and their maintenance manuals as possible," says Imre Hanyecz, CCO, AerinX. "We are able to extend and customize our database to the exact needs of our actual clients and partners." AerinX has tested a variety of different AR glasses and headsets and it is currently using the Microsoft HoloLens. "We constantly keep an eye on the market, as AR technology itself is undergoing rapid development, and we aim to always work with the best available equipment for our use case," explains Hanyecz. According to AerinX, the benefit of its system compared to similar AR technologies is that it intends to supplement current inspection processes rather than fully automate them, which means the system could be implemented into daily operations much sooner. Hanyecz adds that the AerinX system will serve as a "decision-making tool in the hands of the maintenance engineers" and build on their expertise during the inspection process. Hanyecz says the company has reached the stage of maturity where it can begin focusing on starting a limited number of strategic partnerships with airlines and MROs for testing and refining the system. AerinX recently began a strategic partnership with Aeroplex of Central Europe, one of the region's largest MROs, to implement the system in heavy and line maintenance processes. During this prototype testing phase, which AerinX estimates will take around six months, the two companies will work closely to refine and further develop the system's functionality in real life industry conditions. Hanyecz says the next phase of development-which is estimated to take another six months-will entail refining and testing AerinX's extended functionality. The company is currently working on getting venture capital investment support to help with development and market introduction of the technology in both the civil and defense aviation sectors. AerinX has received seed funding from Hungarian VC X-Ventures Gamma Capital Funds and is currently aiming to raise Series A round of funding to help launch the product in approximately 12 months' time. AerinX says it is still open to forming partnerships with industry players during its current phase of development and pricing information for the system has yet to be determined. https://www.mro-network.com/emerging-technology/hungarian-startup-develops-augmented- reality-system-streamlined-aircraft Back to Top Magnetic MRO sets up a line maintenance station in Norway Magnetic MRO, the Estonia-based, China-owned provider of aircraft technical care, has announced the launch of a new line maintenance station at Norway's Ørland airport (OLA). The new station will support the maintenance of Saab 340 turboprop aircraft that are operated by Scandinavian regional airline Air Leap. "We are delighted to re-start our Saab 340 line maintenance support [here] on a daily basis," says Andrei Tsurikov, Magnetic MRO's line maintenance manager. "With a new airline customer, we look forward to expanding our cooperation with [other] Scandinavian carriers, both in line maintenance and other maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services," he adds. The new Ørland airport line maintenance station, which was opened early in January, offers a range of support services including, but not limited to transit, daily and weekly checks, defect rectification and engineering support for Air Leap's twin-engined turboprop Saab 340s. Magnetic MRO now has seven line stations on its operational map in Europe. Its MRO capabilities cover a range of narrow-body aircraft types such as the Boeing 737CL/NG, the Embraer E170/190, the Bombardier CRJ900/1000 and the Airbus A320. In 2019, the company expects to add up to five new stations to its network. Magnetic MRO (formerly Air Maintenance Estonia) was acquired by China's Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation Technology in 2018. http://www.rusaviainsider.com/magnetic-mro-line-maintenance-station-norway/ Back to Top NATCA Wants Separate Funding Source for Aviation After Shutdown The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) wants stable, reliable funding for aviation to ensure that nothing like the 35-day government shutdown that just ended can ever hamstring it again - which might happen in less than three weeks. Speaking Tuesday at an Aero Club of Washington luncheon in downtown D.C., less than a week after significant delays at major airports helped spur lawmakers to temporarily end the partial government shutdown, NATCA President Paul Rinaldi called for the entire aviation industry to continue that pressure and demand stable funding that isn't beholden to bipartisan agreements. "Are we ready? Did that cut deep enough? Did it hurt your pocketbook enough?" Rinaldi asked assembled aviation stakeholders. While the NATCA is happy for the temporary end to the shutdown, Rinaldi expressed no confidence that another shutdown won't begin when the three-week resolution ends on February 15, leaving the industry worse off than before. "Every threat creates a massive amount of work for the agency and for us, because you don't know if they're going to shut down," Rinaldi said. Agencies have to determine who will be deemed "essential" during the partial shutdown and plan for the closure of significant projects and how to put them on hold. "Now [that the shutdown is over], are we going to start back up on Data Comm and things like that? Even if you wanted to, you couldn't," Rinaldi said. "Because you have the 15th right in front of you. You'd already have to be preparing to tear it down." Because of the looming threat of another shutdown, the government may as well still be closed for the purposes of these long-term projects until long-term funding is secured, Rinaldi said. And once that is the case, there will be such a difficult process getting the efforts back on track that the damage done is difficult to calculate right now. "The numbers are just preliminary," Rinaldi said. "The estimated cost of the shutdown is $11 billion, with $55 billion of lost economic growth to the [United States' growth domestic product (GDP).] Airlines have said $105 billion was lost. [The U.S. government] paid government workers $90 million a day to stay home." The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office calculated the $11 billion figure, though projects $8 billion to be recouped later in the year. The rest is lost. The $90 million per day - more than $2 billion, in aggregate - refers to the fact that President Trump and Congress passed an act guaranteeing federal employees back pay. Rinaldi said the NATCA does "not support any one reform model" but has demands of whatever approach is taken. "We have four core principles that we have lived by since 2012, when we realized that the appropriations process is broken - actually, I wouldn't say the appropriations process is broken as much as I would say Congress and the White House is broken," Rinaldi said. "They just refuse to get along." Those four goals are as follows: 1. To ensure that the front-line workforce and that workforce's relationship with the FAA and its employer are protected. 2. To ensure that the safety and efficiency of the airspace system is always the top priority. 3. To provide stable and predictable funding to support ATC services, including staffing, hiring, training, preventative maintenance and ongoing modernization. 4. To maintain an aviation system that continues to provide services to all the user segments. "Our current system does not meet any of those core principles," Rinaldi said. Though he refused to commit to anything beyond examining any proposals that come out of Congress, he did suggest the aviation industry funding its own rainy-day fund that can be used to keep it and its programs running safely and efficiently in the event of government appropriations problems. "With the airways, money is generated by movement of the airplanes," Rinaldi said. "Why try to remove the airplanes from the system, to restrict that? Use that as a funding stream for modernization [and other efforts.] There was $6.5 billion uncommitted [during the recent shutdown] that could have been used to keep aviation up and running." The FAA reported that civil aviation generated $1.6 trillion for the U.S. GDP and sustained nearly 11 million jobs as of 2014. Rinaldi suggested that aviation is too big a money-maker and too crucial an industry to be put out of commission by government infighting. He mentioned that veteran controllers made mistakes they had never before made because of the "distractions" that the shutdown introduced to the environment, and disasters were only averted because other controllers caught them before it was too late. The shutdown also halted the certification and introduction of new equipment, such as that which is intended to safeguard against incidents such as the near-miss at San Fransisco International Airportin 2017. "And now, there is a possibility that the agency won't be able to meet their 2020 mandate of ADS- B," Rinaldi said, referring to the FAA's requirement that aircraft be equipped with ADS-B equipment by 2020 to fly in American airspace. "The pressure and extra stress that this shutdown put into the national airspace system is intense," Rinaldi said. "The effects of the shutdown on all our technology and programs will be felt for years." He said that unpaid workers are expected to get two weeks' or so worth of pay in the coming week to tide them over until proper pay calculations are completed, but the fear of another shutdown is still real. While the end of the shutdown and the passage of the act ensuring worker payment rendered some parts of the NATCA's lawsuit against the U.S. government "moot," according to Rinaldi, some parts are still valid and he said that the union is in talks with its lawyers about how to proceed. One of the biggest worries for the NATCA concerns workers. The field is at a 30-year low in certified controllers and one-fifth of the workforce is at retirement age, Rinaldi said. He worries that the uncertainty and drain caused by the shutdown might push more to retire than would otherwise have considered it - and because training and certification processes were halted by the furlough, there is nobody to replace them. "If 20% of them go," Rinaldi said. "We will not be able to run the volume of traffic that we run today." https://www.aviationtoday.com/2019/01/30/natca-wants-separate-funding-source-for-aviation- after-shutdown/ Back to Top Global warming: New supersonic airplanes would be terrible for environment, study warns SAN FRANCISCO - At least three companies are hoping to bring supersonic airplanes back into the skies, but environmental groups worry their return could mean a big increase in greenhouse gasses from aviation. The issue is expected to come to the fore next week as international regulators meet in Canada beginning Monday to discuss environmental and noise standards for the newly-revived supersonic transport technology. The International Council on Clean Transportation released a study on the climate impacts of a creating a new commercial supersonic network Wednesday in anticipation of the meeting. Supersonic jets fly faster than the speed of sound and at higher altitudes. The jets could fly from Paris to New York in three and a half hours, less than half the eight hours a conventional commercial jet would take. British Airways and Air France ran Concorde supersonic service from 1976 until 2003, when it was discontinued in part because of low sales caused by the high cost of tickets, as well as concern over a 2000 accident that killed 113 people. Now at least three startups are working on bringing supersonic transportation back, including the commercially-focused Boom Supersonic and two others working on business jets, Spike Aerospace and Aerion Supersonic. The Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection of the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations group, will meet in Montreal to discuss standards for supersonic aircraft, which haven't flown commercially for 16 years. A concern among environmental groups is that supersonic jets burn much more fuel per passenger than conventional jets. The International Council on Clean Transportation estimates the new supersonic jets will consume as much as five to seven times as much fuel per passenger as subsonic aircraft on the same routes. That's partly because going faster requires more fuel and partly because the supersonic jets are expected to transport significantly fewer passengers per plane. The aviation industry has set a goal of reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by half in 2050 compared to 2005 levels, a level that's already expected to be difficult to meet, said Dan Rutherford, director of aviation programs at the International Council on Clean Transportation. "Adding these planes, which could be five to seven times as carbon intensive as comparable subsonic jets, on top of that just to save a few hours flying over the Atlantic seems problematic to me," he said. That's an issue as the world attempts to diminish the carbon dioxide it emits to stave off the worst effects of climate change. Boom Supersonic says it is working on making its supersonic flights sustainable and that its goal is making the fuel burn necessary for supersonic travel equivalent to business class on conventional aircraft. "We are committed to pushing the envelope to discover new ways to make supersonic travel environmentally and socially sustainable for generations to come," said Dan Mahoney, Boom spokesperson. Business class is between two to three times as emission intensive as economy class because the amount of energy required to fly a plane is divided among the people being flown. The more people, the more energy efficient. Business class seats fewer people, so it's less efficient. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/01/30/global-warming-supersonic-air-travel-could- mean-more-greenhouse-gases/2710086002/ Back to Top SpaceX just can't catch its rocket nosecones, no matter how hard it tries While you're watching SpaceX send rockets into space over and over again, it can be easy to forget that the company is really still just a startup. As such, it's still working out the kinks in its operations, and one of the kinks it just can't seem to iron out is its repeated failures to catch and reuse a portion of their rocket called the fairing. The fairing is a piece that forms the nosecone of the rocket, and it's not particularly cheap. SpaceX boss Elon Musk is determined to figure out a way to catch the nosecone before it slams into the ocean so that it can be reused at a later date, but in a newly-published video it's clear that SpaceX has once again come up short. As you can see in the video, the recovery test almost went perfectly, and was going quite smoothly until the very end. The nosecone just barely missed the net of SpaceX's recovery ship Mr. Steven, but this is hardly the first time. you can see it on Space.com here SpaceX has tried repeatedly to catch the fairing, only to be disappointed when something went wrong. Early tests were plagued by issues related to the chute, but lately it's been Mr. Steven's inability to correctly position itself that has led to failure. If this sounds familiar, well, it should. Just a couple of weeks ago SpaceX released a video that looked a whole lot like this one, with the nosecone narrowly missing the massive net and splashing down in the ocean. The ship seems to be lined up just right, but pushes a little too far forward and misses the epic catch. When SpaceX first began toying with the idea of catching the fairing it used a net that was considerably smaller than the one Mr. Steven is currently equipped with. It was thought that the much wider net would make things considerably easier, but the company has yet to prove that it's capable of reliably recovering the nosecone. Maybe next time! https://bgr.com/2019/01/30/spacex-fairing-recovery-video-failure/ Curt Lewis