Flight Safety Information April 10, 2019 - No. 073 In This Issue Airlines have completely stopped ordering the 737 Max Boeing shareholders sue over 737 MAX crashes, disclosures Incident: Delta B712 at Austin on Apr 8th 2019, burst tyre on departure Incident: Cathay Dragon A333 at Kaohsiung on Apr 8th 2019, smoking engine Incident: Asiana A320 at Gwangju on Apr 9th 2019, nose gear tilted by 90 degrees on landing Incident: Ryanair B738 at Tenerife on Apr 7th 2019, first officer incapacitated Incident: Lufthansa B748 near Frankfurt on Apr 8th 2019, cargo smoke indication Incident: British Airways B773 enroute on Apr 7th 2019, some passenger oxygen masks accidentally deployed Beechcraft C90 King Air - Landing Gear Collapse (Tenn.) Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II - Missing (Japan) FAA to award first drone airline licence in the next month - official JAPANESE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS FACE THE SAME ALCOHOL BANS AS PILOTS EASA to order Trent 1000 TEN checks over blade deterioration Real-time tracking trial begins over the North Atlantic World Business Aviation fleet continues to grow JetBlue appears to be gearing up to announce service across the Atlantic Turkish Airlines takes on Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways Etihad seeks $600M to finance new aircraft Air Force may be better off trying to keep pilots than hiring more GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY Fly Safely | Fly With AvSax MITRE - SMS Course - June 2019 Call for Nominations For 2019 Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award Airlines have completely stopped ordering the 737 Max New York (CNN Business)Airlines are holding off on orders for Boeing's 737 Max - the latest sign of how deeply the company's best-selling jet has been thrown into crisis. Boeing (BA) released data Tuesday that showed only 10 of the planes were ordered in the first two months of 2019. There were no orders in March, the month that a 737 Max jet flown by Ethiopian Airlines pilots crashed in that country, killing everyone aboard. It was the second fatal crash involving a Max in recent months. That small number compares to 112 orders for the plane in the first quarter of 2018. At that time, Southwest Airlines (LUV) had ordered 40 of the jets, while Ryanair ordered 25. Orders for Boeing's other commercial jets actually increased slightly. The company sold 85 other commercial jets last quarter, compared to 68 a year earlier. But the sales data for the Max gives the clearest picture yet of how much scrutiny of that model could be hurting Boeing's bottom line. Investigators are still probing the cause of the Ethiopian crash, as well as the other Max crash involving a Lion Air jet last October. The two accidents killed 346 people in all, and eventually prompted the grounding of all 737 Max planes last month. Boeing also halted deliveries and announced last week that it was scaling back production of the 737 Max. The focus of the crash investigations is the plane's automatic safety system, for which Boeing says it is developing a software fix. The fatal crashes are not the only cause of the sales drop, said Richard Aboulafia, aerospace analyst for the Teal Group. He attributed much of the change to the massive number of orders for the next generation of single-aisle jets that both Boeing and rival Airbus had previously booked. Airbus actually had worse first quarter orders for its A320, its 737 Max competitor. "This is the mother of all frontloaded markets," said Aboulafia. Boeing has orders for 5,000 of the 737 Max jets on its books already. So far only one airline, Indonesia's Garuda, has outright canceled an order for 50 of the 737 Max jets since the grounding. Boeing also said Tuesday that all 737 deliveries in the first quarter fell by a third, to 89 from 132 a year ago. But most of that drop was caused by the reduced production and delivery of the older version of the 737 jet that Boeing is still building for some customers. Deliveries of the the older 737 jets fell by 66% to 32. Deliveries of the 737 Max increased by 54% compared to a year ago to 57, even with a two-week halt. That's because Boeing spent most of 2017 ramping up production of the Max. https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/09/business/boeing-737-max-deliveries/index.html Back to Top Boeing shareholders sue over 737 MAX crashes, disclosures FILE PHOTO: A Boeing 737 MAX 8 takes off during a flight test in Renton, Washington, January 29, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Redmond/File Photo (Reuters) - Boeing Co's legal troubles grew on Tuesday as a new lawsuit accused the company of defrauding shareholders by concealing safety deficiencies in its 737 MAX planes before two fatal crashes led to their worldwide grounding. The proposed class action filed in Chicago federal court seeks damages for alleged securities fraud violations, after Boeing's market value tumbled by $34 billion (£26 billion) within two weeks of the March 10 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX. Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg and Chief Financial Officer Gregory Smith were also named as defendants. Boeing spokesman Charles Bickers had no immediate comment. According to the complaint, Boeing "effectively put profitability and growth ahead of airplane safety and honesty" by rushing the 737 MAX to market to compete with Airbus SE, while leaving out "extra" or "optional" features designed to prevent the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes. It also said Boeing's statements about its growth prospects and the 737 MAX were undermined by its alleged conflict of interest from retaining broad authority from federal regulators to assess the plane's safety. Richard Seeks, the lead plaintiff, said Boeing's compromises began to emerge after the Ethiopian Airlines crash killed all 157 onboard, five months after the Lion Air crash killed 189. Seeks said he bought 300 Boeing shares in early March, and sold them at a loss within the last two weeks. The lawsuit seeks damages for Boeing stock investors from Jan. 8 to March 21. Shareholders often file lawsuits accusing companies of securities fraud for concealing material negative information that causes the stock price to decline upon becoming public. Chicago-based Boeing faces many other lawsuits over the crashes, including by victims' families and by participants in its employee retirement plans. Boeing said on Tuesday that aircraft orders in the first quarter fell to 95 from 180 a year earlier, with no orders for the 737 MAX following the worldwide grounding. On April 5, it said it planned to cut monthly 737 production to 42 planes from 52, and was making progress on a 737 MAX software update to prevent further accidents. The case is Seeks v Boeing Co et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, No. 19-02394. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/boeing-shareholders-sue-over-737-235326698.html Back to Top Incident: Delta B712 at Austin on Apr 8th 2019, burst tyre on departure A Delta Airlines Boeing 717-200, registration N971AT performing flight DL-2867 from Austin,TX to Minneapolis,MN (USA), was in the initial climb out of Austin's runway 35L when the crew stopped the climb at 3000 feet due to a burst tyre. The aircraft returned to Austin for a safe landing on runway 35L about 80 minutes after departure. A replacement Boeing 717-200 registration N608AT reached Minneapolis with a delay of about 4 hours. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2867/history/20190409/0009Z/KAUS/KMSP http://avherald.com/h?article=4c67a2ee&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Cathay Dragon A333 at Kaohsiung on Apr 8th 2019, smoking engine A Cathay Dragon Airbus A330-300, registration B-LBG performing flight KA-451 from Kaohsiung (Taiwan) to Hong Kong (China) with 317 passengers and 13 crew, was in the initial climb out of Kaohsiung's runway 09 when tower reported seeing the right hand engine (Trent 772) trailing smoke. The crew stopped the climb at 3000 feet and returned to Kaohsiung for a safe landing on runway 09 about 30 minutes after departure. The airline is working to dispatch a replacement aircraft. The occurrence aircraft was still on the ground in Kaohsiung about 13.5 hours after landing back. On Apr 9th 2019 Taiwan's CAA reported there had been no foreign object impact (bird strike), the fan blades were entirely intact and undamaged. The engine emitted a bang and sparks as result of an internal mechanical failure and stalled. Taiwanese media had reported initially the engine had ingested birds. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c66c96d&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Asiana A320 at Gwangju on Apr 9th 2019, nose gear tilted by 90 degrees on landing An Asiana Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration HL7772 performing flight OZ-8703 from Seoul Gimpo to Gwangju (South Korea) with 111 people on board, performed a normal approach and landed on Gwangju's runway 04R, however, the nose gear rotated by 90 degrees causing the tyres and part of the nose wheels to be ground down until the aircraft came to a stop on the runway. The aircraft was disabled on the runway. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c679be6&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Ryanair B738 at Tenerife on Apr 7th 2019, first officer incapacitated A Ryanair Boeing 737-800, registration EI-EMA performing flight FR-654 from Tenerife Sur Reina Sofia,CI (Spain) to Glasgow Prestwick,SC (UK), was climbing out of Tenerife's runway 07 when the the captain stopped the climb at FL250 after the first officer had become ill and became incapacitated. The captain returned the aircraft to Tenerife Sur Sofia Reina for a safe landing on runway 07 about 45 minutes after departure. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 2 hours, then departed again with a replacement first officer and reached Prestwick with a delay of 2:40 hours. The airline reported the first officer became ill shortly after departure, the captain returned the aircraft to Tenerife where medical services took care of the first officer. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c67955e&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Lufthansa B748 near Frankfurt on Apr 8th 2019, cargo smoke indication A Lufthansa Boeing 747-8, registration D-ABYU performing flight LH-506 from Frankfurt/Main (Germany) to Sao Paulo Guarulhos,SP (Brazil) with 284 passengers, was enroute at FL310 about 300nm southwest of Frankfurt and about 20nm west of Lyon (France) when the crew decided to return to Frankfurt reporting a cargo smoke indication. The aircraft maintained FL310 for the return until top of descent and landed safely on Frankfurt's runway 25C about 105 minutes after departure. The airline reported a technical problem prompted the return, the passengers were taken to hotels and are going to travel to Sao Paulo the following day. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c677b39&opt=0 Back to Top Back to Top Incident: British Airways B773 enroute on Apr 7th 2019, some passenger oxygen masks accidentally deployed, lights and IFE out A British Airways Boeing 777-300, registration G-STBC performing flight BA-16 from Singapore (Singapore) to London Heathrow,EN (UK), was enroute at FL300 about 3.5 hours into the flight, when the cabin lights went out, th inflight entertainment system stopped working and a number of passenger oxygen masks were released. The crew descended the aircraft to FL280. About 3 minutes later cabin crew announced it was a false alarm due to a technical problem, that could be resolved by rebooting the computer. The crew climbed the aircraft to FL320 and continued to London doing normal step climbs reaching FL360. The aircraft landed safely in London about 8:45 hours later. The airline reported they opened an investigation after a number of passenger oxygen masks were accidentally deployed. The occurrence aircraft returned to service after about 15 hours on the ground in London. http://avherald.com/h?article=4c677e8c&opt=0 Back to Top Beechcraft C90 King Air - Landing Gear Collapse (Tenn.) Date: 09-APR-2019 Time: 11:15 Type: Beechcraft C90 King Air Owner/operator: Central Virginia Aviation Inc Registration: N25DL C/n / msn: LJ-716 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Unknown Location: McGhee Tyson Airport (KTYS/TYS), Alcoa, TN - United States of America Phase: Landing Nature: Private Departure airport: Panama City-Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, FL (ECP/KECP) Destination airport: McGhee Tyson Airport (KTYS/TYS) Narrative: The aircraft sustained a landing gear collapse on landing and slid from the runway. There were no injuries. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=223835 Back to Top Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II - Missing (Japan) Date: 09-APR-2019 Time: 19:27 LT Type: Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Owner/operator: Japan Air Self-Defense Force Registration: 79-8705 C/n / msn: AX-05 Fatalities: Fatalities: / Occupants: 1 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Pacific, 135 km E of Misawa Air Base (RJSM/MSJ) - Japan Phase: En route Nature: Military Departure airport: Misawa Air Base (RJSM/MSJ) Destination airport: Misawa Air Base (RJSM/MSJ) Narrative: The F-35A went missing over sea while it was engaged in training with three other F-35A jets. Some debris from the stealth fighter, including the tail, has been found a day after. The ocean is 1500m deep at that point. The fate of the pilot is still unknown. The aircraft had been in the air for 28 minutes when contact was lost. The pilot had 3,200 hours of flight time, with 60 hours on the F-35. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=223829 Back to Top FAA to award first drone airline licence in the next month - official * Commercial package delivery operations require airline licence * Only application to date is from Wing, unit of Google's parent * Wing got nod for commercial deliveries in Australia on Tuesday SINGAPORE, April 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects to award the first licence to operate a drone airline in the next month, an official at the regulator said on Wednesday. The agency decided last year that large-scale commercial package delivery operations by drones would need to meet the same safety and economic certification standards as other licensed U.S. airlines. "In the next month we expect to announce we will have our first ... air carrier certificate for operating a drone airline," FAA Office of Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Executive Director Jay Merkle said at a conference in Singapore. "That is a major accomplishment for us and our partner." He declined to name the partner, but to date, the only air carrier certificate application for a drone carrier listed on a U.S. government website has come from Wing Aviation LLC, a subsidiary of Google's parent, Alphabet Inc. https://www.reuters.com/article/aviation-drones/faa-to-award-first-drone-airline-licence-in-the-next-month-official-idUSL3N21S1GY Back to Top JAPANESE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS FACE THE SAME ALCOHOL BANS AS PILOTS Flight attendants in Japan face the same strict rules on alcohol consumption as pilots after airlines have been hit by a series of alcohol-related incidents. Japan's Ministry for Land, Infrastructure, and Tourism said Tuesday that flight attendants would be prohibited from drinking booze within eight hours of flying. They could also face further mandatory breath testing while on duty and would be relieved of duty even if a low level of alcohol was detected, Kyodo News reported. Mandatory breath testing will also apply to engineers inspecting planes before departure and flight operations managers. Japan Airlines last year announced it would introduce new breathalyzer systems at overseas airports after one of its pilots was arrested in October at Heathrow Airport for being nine times over the legal limit. The pilot had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.189 when the legal limit for a pilot in the UK is 0.02. He was jailed for 10 months. At that stage, there had been 19 cases since August 2017 where Japan Airlines pilots had failed the company's alcohol tests. The new breathalyzers were accompanied at JAL by provisional rules preventing pilots from drinking 24 hours before flying. Competitor All Nippon Airways also introduced new, more accurate breathalyzers. Pilots had been previously prohibited from drinking eight hours before a flight but the rules had not been enforced by airlines. There was also no regulation that set a legal limit on blood alcohol level. An expert panel was set up after the incident to address the issue and look at policies in other countries. https://www.airlineratings.com/news/japanese-flight-attendants-face-alcohol-bans-pilots/ Back to Top EASA to order Trent 1000 TEN checks over blade deterioration Rolls-Royce is to advise Boeing 787 customers of an accelerated inspection regime for Trent 1000 TEN engines, after the discovery of premature blade deterioration on some powerplants. The Trent 1000 TEN is the latest version of the powerplant - with around 180 in service - and had not been affected by durability concerns on earlier variants of the engine. But Singapore Airlines recently withdrew some of its TEN-powered Boeing 787-10s from service for checks on high-pressure turbine blades. Rolls-Royce says it is responding to the "earlier than anticipated" deterioration of high-pressure turbine blades in a "small population" of the TEN engine, and has agreed an inspection regime with airworthiness authorities. It has already advised airlines that the blades would have a limited life cycle, and the company is testing an enhanced version of the blade which will be introduced to the fleet in early 2020. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency is to detail the agreed inspection programme, based on a service bulletin, in an airworthiness directive. "This new accelerated inspection regime is designed to allow us to confirm the health of the Trent 1000 TEN fleet over the next few months," says Rolls-Royce. The manufacturer states that it has examined a number of TEN engines which have logged a higher frequency of flights at the "upper end" of the powerplant's operating range. "A small number of these engines have needed to have their [high-pressure turbine] blades replaced earlier than scheduled," the company acknowledges. It adds that the inspections will "improve our understanding" of the deterioration phenomenon, pointing out that it is a "known issue" but is "occurring faster than we expected in some engines". "We sincerely regret the disruption this accelerated inspection regime will cause and we are doing everything we can to support our customers," says Rolls-Royce civil aerospace president Chris Cholerton. The company's financial guidance on the in-service cash costs of the Trent 1000 for 2019 and 2020 is unchanged. Rolls-Royce stresses that the inspections for the TEN are not related to the durability issues which have affected its earlier Package B and C versions of the Trent 1000, which the company is already working to address. Monitoring of the Package B and C engines has turned up a number of durability issues, including sulphidation on intermediate-pressure turbine blades caused by air pollutants. This led Rolls-Royce to develop a new blade design with an improved protective coating. But the company also found durability issues with high-pressure turbine blades, and a new design emerged in October last year to rectify the problem. Improvements were also necessary for intermediate-pressure compressor rotor blades which were vulnerable to possible cracking under certain vibration conditions. Rolls-Royce says a redesigned compressor blade is starting to be installed following approval. Rolls-Royce says it expects the number of aircraft affected by the Package B and C inspection and maintenance programmes to reduce gradually over the course of this year. https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/easa-to-order-trent-1000-ten-checks-over-blade-deter-457364/ Back to Top Real-time tracking trial begins over the North Atlantic For the first time, air traffic controllers now have real-time data on the position of planes anywhere in the world, including previously unsurveilled airspace. Effective of the 2 April 2019, Aireon, the first ever real-time, global air traffic surveillance system, is fully operational and in trial over the North Atlantic. This announcement marks a historic milestone for the aviation industry - ushering in a new era of safety and efficiency that will revolutionise the way people fly. Aireon's space-based automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) system provides real-time air traffic surveillance and tracking to 100 per cent of ADS-B equipped aircraft on the planet. Prior to Aireon's system coming online, traditional ground-based surveillance covered just 30 per cent of the globe, meaning civil aviation authorities, commercial carriers and related industry stakeholders relied upon position updates from aircraft every 10-14 minutes to track aircraft outside of radar coverage, not the real-time updates that the Aireon service provides. Don Thoma, Aireon CEO, said: "For the first time in history, we can surveil all ADS-B-equipped aircraft anywhere on Earth. Our air transportation system has operated with a safe but less than efficient system in the 70 per cent of the world that does not have real-time surveillance. With the launch of our space-based ADS-B service, Aireon now provides a real-time solution to that challenge; one that will radically optimise flight safety and efficiency. The aviation industry has now joined the rest of the 21st century where real-time connectivity is relied upon for doing business." The Aireon system is expected to reduce overall flight safety risks by approximately 76 per cent in the North Atlantic according to a joint analysis by NAV CANADA and NATS - the first air navigation service providers (ANSPs) to use the system. Improved visibility and control over previously unsurveilled airspace - especially across oceanic regions - will allow airlines to fly routes at optimal speeds and levels, delivering expected cost savings of up to US$300 per transatlantic flight, plus reducing carbon dioxide emissions by two tonnes per flight, based on an analysis conducted by NATS and ICAO. Use of the Aireon system over the Atlantic allows for air traffic controllers to trial the reduction of aircraft in-trail separation distances from 40 nautical miles (nm) to just as little as 14nm, making the airspace more flexible, predictable and able to accommodate the immense growth predicted in the coming years. Neil Wilson, President and CEO of NAV CANADA, said: "To know the position, speed and altitude of every ADS-B equipped aircraft in oceanic airspace - in real-time - is a transformational change to how our controllers manage air traffic. The Aireon system provides an immediate boost to aviation safety and airlines will benefit from more fuel-efficient routings and flight levels. Over 95 per cent of the North Atlantic traffic is already ADS-B equipped so the fuel savings, along with the reduced carbon dioxide emissions will be attained very quickly." Regulations mandating ADS-B equipage on aircraft have already been implemented throughout the world, going into effect in the United States in January 2020 and in Europe in June 2020. Other countries are in the process of drafting mandates for implementation over the next few years. Martin Rolfe, NATS CEO, said: "The trial in the North Atlantic, the busiest oceanic airspace in the world, with over 500,000 flights every year and a forecast 800,000 flights per year by 2030, will demonstrate to the entire aviation industry, that global, space-based ADS-B can revolutionise the service that we provide to our customers and the travelling public by transforming the way we perform air traffic management over remote regions." Eight years in the making, Aireon's ADS-B payloads are hosted on the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation - the final deployment of which took place on the 11 January 2019. After receiving control of the final six ADS-B payloads from Iridium on the 7 February 2019, Aireon completed payload testing, validation and calibration stages prior to launching the full system into operation to support current ANSP customers. Thoma concluded: "Improved safety and cost savings for all aviation stakeholders is just a start. The revolutionary impact of the real-time location data and historical tracking information of Aireon's space-based ADS-B data will create innovations that we have not even imagined. The opportunities for comprehensive and continuous benefits for the whole aviation community are at our fingertips. We would not be able to achieve this without our dedicated investors, NAV CANADA, Iridium Communications, NATS, Enav, The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and Naviair, and our partners and launch customers. This is a great day for us all." https://www.internationalairportreview.com/news/84485/real-time-tracking-trial/ Back to Top World Business Aviation fleet continues to grow Consulting agency AVDATA / JetNet has released another annual report on the number of business jets (jet and turboprop) operating worldwide. The data on aircraft entered in national registries were taken as a basis. However, this approach does not allow to show the real picture of the number of aircraft belonging to citizens of specific countries. Practically in all large countries (Russia is not an exception), there is a practice of setting up aircraft in offshore registers or in registers of other states. And it can be a significant proportion of the park. The report is based on data on business jets and aircraft converted to VIP-options. At the same time, the report does not include aircraft serving the first persons of the states and state bodies. The United States continues to steadily lead in the total number of business jets. As of January 2019, their number was 21,339 aircrafts. Brazil (1 539), Mexico (1 414), Canada (1 359), Venezuela (765), Germany (750), Australia (628), Great Britain (502), France (450) , and closes TOP 10 China (447). In general, the picture for Europe as of January 1, 2019 remained almost unchanged compared to the same period last year in the ranking. Germany with 750 aircraft tops the rating, followed by the United Kingdom (502), France (450), Switzerland (256), Russia (195), Austria (193), Italy (170), Spain (149), Malta (133) and Portugal (121). The three leaders in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia (177), Turkey (165) and the United Arab Emirates (140). China (447) remains the leader in Southeast Asia, followed by Japan (262) and India (253). In Africa, the troika is as follows: South Africa (416), Kenya (131) and Nigeria (100). South America is represented by Brazil (1539), Venezuela (765) and Argentina (350). Well, in Australia and Oceania, everything is simple: Australia (528), New Zealand (78) and Papua New Guinea (25). Recall that this rating includes only aircraft entered into national aviation registries. According to independent analysts, the fleet of aircraft affiliated with Russian private owners and companies is just over 500 aircraft and varies between 490-515 business jets. https://beam.land/aviation/world-business-aviation-fleet-continues-to-grow-2113 Back to Top JetBlue appears to be gearing up to announce service across the Atlantic KEY POINTS • JetBlue has been mulling service across the Atlantic for about three years. • The low-cost airline has said its premium Mint class could "disrupt" business travel from the U.S. to Europe. • JetBlue has scheduled an "all-hands" meeting in New York on Wednesday. A JetBlue Airways Corp. Airbus A321 plane taxis outside of Terminal 5 at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, July 12, 2017. JetBlue Airways appears to be gearing up to announce plans for its first service across the Atlantic as soon as Wednesday, an expansion that the New York-based carrier views an an opportunity to undercut entrenched rivals with its cheaper business-class service. The low-cost airline is scheduled to hold an "all hands" meeting with staff at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport along with "viewing parties" at some of its main hubs around the U.S. on Wednesday afternoon, according to a company invitation obtained by CNBC. A save-the-date email announcing the April 10 event featured a background pattern similar to upholstery on London's subway. Buttons featuring JetBlue's logo and iconic London sights of Big Ben and the London Eye were sent to JetBlue offices, according to one employee. The company's shares jumped by about 4% in after-hours trading on the news. JetBlue may add service to London but its plans could include other routes to European cities from its New York and Boston hubs, important business travel markets. JetBlue declined to confirm whether it would make an announcement Wednesday but said in a statement, "Potential routes to Europe could provide us an opportunity to grow our focus cities of Boston and New York as we consider the best use of our aircraft from a margin perspective in those cities." JetBlue's European debut would pit the low-cost carrier against large international airlines like Delta, American, United and their European partners who dominate trans-Atlantic air travel. More than three-quarters of trans-Atlantic capacity last year was operated by airline in the largest alliances between carriers, according to consulting firm ICF. A key part of JetBlue's strategy breaking open their hold on service Europe would be its popular Mint business class, which features lie-flat seats and some suites with sliding doors as well as premium meals. "When we think about trans-Atlantic, we do think we can disrupt largely around a Mint-like product because we've been so successful on flying to the West Coast with Mint," Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue's president and COO said last September. The trans-Atlantic market, "especially in the premium category, suffers from the same lack of competition and high fares that [transcontinental] routes in the U.S. saw before JetBlue introduced Mint," JetBlue's statement said Tuesday. A long-range variant of the Airbus A321 plane would likely be used to help JetBlue fly across the Atlantic and the airline said it would make a decision on that plane this year. In addition to its domestic network, JetBlue also currently serves the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and northern South America. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/09/jetblue-appears-to-be-gearing-up-to-announce-service-across-the-atlantic.html Back to Top Turkish Airlines takes on Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways A new mega-airport poses the biggest threat yet to the Gulf carriers AIRPORT MEGAPROJECTS are ten a penny these days. China is building Beijing Daxing International Airport, a new hub airport near its capital, with a total capacity up to 100m passengers a year. Construction has begun on a vast new airport for Dubai, which its government hopes will eventually draw 130m flyers annually. Abu Dhabi and Qatar plan to erect cavernous new terminals. Yet perhaps none is as ambitious as Istanbul's New Airport, on Europe's eastern fringe in Turkey. It became fully operational on April 6th and aims not just to impress visitors but also help the country's flag carrier, Turkish Airlines, wrest the skies from its successful Gulf rivals. It is easy to dismiss the endeavour as a white elephant erected by Turkey's sultan-like president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Everything about it is huge. Turkish, which is by far the new airport's biggest user, had to move 10,000 pieces of equipment weighing over 47,000 tonnes 40km (25 miles) from its old home at Ataturk airport. In less than five years a forested valley the size of Manhattan has been transformed into a facility with enough room for 3,000 flights a day carrying 90m passengers a year. That could make it one of the world's largest airports by international passenger numbers. If all goes to plan, by 2028 the airport will have six runways and capacity for 200m flyers a year. Its $11bn price tag, too, is gargantuan, especially when Turkey's economy is shrinking and inflation tops 20%. Delays and cost overruns forced the grand opening to be postponed by six months. In the rush to get the airport finished at least 52 builders have died, sparking protests. Foreign airline executives see more than a prestige project, however. Compared with many of those in the Gulf, this one presents a sounder business case, thinks Mark Martin, an aviation consultant based in Dubai. Turkish is growing at an annual rate of 30%, unlike its Gulf rivals, whose expansion has stalled or gone into reverse (see chart). While it was fast running out of room at Ataturk airport, the threat it posed was limited. No longer. Over the past decade the Gulf's three biggest carriers-Emirates of Dubai, Etihad of Abu Dhabi and Qatar Airways-redefined air travel. Most international carriers transport passengers to and from the airlines' home countries. Emirates, Etihad and Qatar used their "super-connector" home bases as a place where flyers changed planes en route elsewhere. The focus on higher-margin long-haul routes allowed them to charge less for superior service, luring passengers away from hub airports in America and Europe, and from the Western airlines that use them. Now they risk being disrupted in turn by Turkish. The new airport is designed to turn Turkish into a fully fledged super-connecting airline. Fees that airlines, including Turkish, are charged for every passenger favour those in transit over those who start or end their journey there. Kadri Samsunlu, chairman of IGA, the new airport's operator, also says that its shopping areas were designed to be more attractive even than Dubai's and Qatar's. The falling value of Turkey's currency has also proved beneficial. Analysts at CAPA, an aviation consultancy, calculate that Turkish earns 14% of its revenue in Turkish lira, but incurs 26% of its expenses in the currency. A weaker lira therefore lets it undercut rivals in the Gulf, which do not enjoy a similar advantage. Finally, Istanbul is helped by its proximity to Europe. Turkish can use smaller narrowbody aeroplanes, which are cheaper to operate, on its routes to Europe, unlike the Gulf carriers that have to use bigger, more expensive widebody jets that are great for long-haul flights but less efficient for middling distances. Smaller aircraft, including long-haul ones, allow it to offer more flights to most destinations each day. Business travellers are willing to pay a premium for such flexibility. The Gulf carriers are not giving up without a fight. In February Emirates cancelled most of its remaining orders for the A380 super-jumbo, the world's biggest passenger plane, in favour of smaller models. Sir Tim Clark, the president of Emirates, hopes that a partnership with flydubai, another Emirati airline that only flies narrowbody jets, will help it to preserve market share. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Gulf carriers are reciprocating Turkish's earlier compliments. https://www.economist.com/business/2019/04/09/turkish-airlines-takes-on-emirates-etihad-and-qatar-airways Back to Top Etihad seeks $600M to finance new aircraft After canceling orders of dozens of planes, Etihad Airways is now reportedly looking to raise $600 million to help finance the remainings of its orders. Etihad Airways is seeking a $600 million loan to help finance aircraft orders, Bloomberg reported on April 7, 2019. According to the publication, the Abu Dhabi based carrier is reaching out to banks to help make initial payments for new aircraft. This is not the first time Etihad is believed to be seeking financial help with its aircraft orders. In June 2018, Reuters reported that the carrier was sending requests to banks to secure its Boeing orders worth $1 billion. The Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has sent requests to banks in order to secure the funding of its Boeing orders. The concerned aircraft are worth $1 billion, according to Reuters banking sources. Etihad Airways has previously trimmed off its seizable aircraft orders, but even after cancellations, it still holds orders for 86 to 113 new aircraft, Boeing and Airbus books show. The Gulf carrier has 46 aircraft on order with Airbus, as of March 2019. 40 Airbus A350-900s and 2 A350-1000s previously ordered by the airline were removed from the European manufacturer order log in February 2019, keeping only 20 Airbus A350-1000s and 26 A321neos. With Boeing, the carrier had agreements for a total of 67 aircraft through February 2019. However, these 67 aircraft include 25 777Xs. Etihad placed this order back in November 2013, but later, in June 2018, news emerged that it was looking to cancel it in total or in part. Etihad is also still taking deliveries of its two Boeing 787 orders. In total, they expect a total of 120 aircraft of 787-9 and 787-10 variations. The airline has so far received 53, leaving more than half of these orders unfilled. The 787-9 order was placed in 2008 for a total of 41 aircraft. So far, 24 planes were delivered, leaving 17 in the manufacturer's backlog. In 2013, Etihad also placed an order for 30 787-10 aircraft, of which it has so far received 5. For the past three years, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier has been posting billions in losses, that have accumulated to $4.67 billion so far. In 2018, the airline lost $1.28 billion, shows its financial report published on March 14, 2019. The latest results are better than the year before when the carrier lost $1.52 billion and its operational performance improved by 15% against 7% in 2017. https://www.aerotime.aero/aerotime.team/22540-etihad-seeks-600m-to-finance-new-aircraft Back to Top Air Force may be better off trying to keep pilots than hiring more Retaining pilots in the Air Force is more cost efficient than hiring and training new ones, according to a new report from the RAND Corporation. The report found that increasing incentive pay and bonuses to retain pilots could save the military money compared to expanding the training pipeline. RAND said the cost of training a fighter pilot ranges from $5.6 million to nearly $11 million. The Air Force is currently facing a pilot shortage and is looking for a better way to retain mid-career pilots. (RAND Corporation) https://federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-newscast/2019/04/air-force-may-be-better-off-trying-to-keep-pilots-than-hiring-more/ Back to Top SpaceX's Falcon Heavy will now fly on Wednesday, hopefully If you were eagerly anticipating the second-ever launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket this past weekend, you were sorely disappointed when the company was forced to delay the launch. We had a feeling that might happen, and the launch was pushed back to today, Tuesday, April 9th, but now yet another delay has pushed it back even further. SpaceX now says that Falcon Heavy will likely launch tomorrow, Wednesday, April 10th. Today's would-be launch was scrubbed due to inclement weather, but Wednesday's forecast is looking a lot more favorable, and we might finally get to see SpaceX's mega-rocket take flight for a second time. According to SpaceX, the forecast for today showed just a slight chance that the rocket would be able to take off as planned, with only a 30 percent likelihood of favorable conditions. Wednesday, on the other hand, is currently 80 percent likely to have favorable launch conditions. This might be the second flight for SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket but it's still a major "first" for the company in a number of ways. The maiden Falcon Heavy flight was essentially a test launch, with even Elon Musk saying that he wasn't sure how things were going to go. This time around SpaceX has a paying customer to please. In its first-ever commercial launch, Falcon Heavy will deliver the Arabsat-6A into orbit, marking a new business milestone for the company and further cementing it as the leader in commercial spaceflight. As is the case with many of SpaceX's launches, the flighty skyward is only half the fun. The company's reusable rockets will make their way back down to Earth for soft landings that will allow them to be used again. In Falcon Heavy's first flight, both side boosters made successful landings but the central core booster splashed down in the ocean instead of being caught by SpaceX's drone ship. We'll see if they have better luck this time around. The launch is currently scheduled for 6:35 p.m. EST, and it will be streamed live online. https://www.yahoo.com/news/spacex-falcon-heavy-now-fly-184847363.html Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY Dear Aviation Colleague, My name is Catherine Troyer, and I am a graduate student in aviation management working with graduate student Alyssa Harvey and Professor Brian Dillman at the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology at Purdue University. We are seeking your input on reference usage for studying flight maneuvers in this survey. Loss of control in flight is one of the main causes of aviation accidents. This survey is part of a research project which explores the connection between the flight training process and preventing loss of control accidents. We expect that the results obtained from this study will be used to advise the FAA of possible changes to the Commercial Airmen Certification Standards and other training resources and improve the safety of general aviation for future generations. The first part of the survey asks demographic questions, most of which are optional. The second part of the survey asks questions pertaining to the use of references when learning or teaching flight maneuvers. Please consider taking this survey if you are working towards or have already obtained your FAA Commercial Pilot's Certificate, are a Certified Flight Instructor of commercial students under the Federal Aviation Administration, develop training resources for a flight school, or help write government publications. The survey should take under 15 minutes to complete and consists of 12 to 15 questions. Once you begin the survey, you can stop at any point and continue where you left off later. We will report results in aggregate. This survey is part of a Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility, and Sustainability (PEGASAS) Center of Excellence research project evaluating resources for flight certification preparation. You are under no obligation to participate in this survey. If you do participate you may stop at any time and for any reason. Your answers on the survey are anonymous and cannot be used in any way for identification. Any results we report will be in aggregate. You must be at least 18 years old to participate in this survey. Thank you for your time and cooperation. Your responses are greatly appreciated and will help contribute to general aviation safety. If you have any questions regarding the survey, feel free to contact the researchers troyer5@purdue.edu, amharvey@purdue.edu, or dillman@purdue.edu. Survey Link: https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a3qMKc22QbSnWHH Back to Top Back to Top Back to Top Call for Nominations For 2019 Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2019 Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award, honoring a leader in global aviation safety. The Award will be presented during the 72nd Annual International Air Safety Summit, taking place Nov 4-6 in Taipei, Taiwan. Presented since 1956, the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award recognizes notable achievement in the field of civil or military aviation safety in method, design, invention, study or other improvement. The Award's recipient is selected for a "significant individual or group effort contributing to improving aviation safety, with emphasis on original contributions," and a "significant individual or group effort performed above and beyond normal responsibilities." Mechanics, engineers and others outside of top administrative or research positions should be especially considered. The contribution need not be recent, especially if the nominee has not received adequate recognition. Nominations that were not selected as past winners of the Award can be submitted one additional time for consideration. Please note that self-nominations will not be considered. The Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award's story dates back 74 years. On April 14, 1945, after visiting family in Pittsburgh, Laura Taber Barbour was aboard a Pennsylvania Central Airlines DC-3 when it crashed into the rugged terrain of Cheat Mountain near Morgantown, West Virginia. All passengers and crew were killed. In the years following, her husband, Dr. Clifford E. Barbour and son, Clifford E. Barbour, Jr., established the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award in her honor. The Award Board, composed of leaders in the field of aviation, meets each year to conduct a final review of nominees and selection of the current year's recipient. Please help us honor this year's most deserving recipient. Nominations, including a 1-2-page narrative, can be submitted via the Laura Taber Barbour Foundation website at http://ltbaward.org/the-award/nomination-form/. Nominations will be accepted until May 10, 2019. For more information, including a complete history of Award recipients, see www.ltbaward.org. ABOUT THE LAURA TABER BARBOUR AIR SAFETY AWARD: The Award was established in 1956 through early association with the Flight Safety Foundation and from its founding has enjoyed a rich history of Award Board members, nominees and Award recipients. In 2013, the non-profit Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Foundation was formed from members of the Award Board, the aviation community and the Barbour family. As the foundation plans to broaden the scope of its intent, with great purpose, the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award will continue to spotlight those champions who pioneer breakthroughs in flight safety. CONTACT: Philip Barbour, 205-939-1700, 205-617-9007 Curt Lewis