Flight Safety Information October 8, 2019 - No. 204 In This Issue Aerospace analyst says others deserve to join CEO in departing Boeing Southwest Pilots Sue Boeing Over Lost Wages During 737 MAX Grounding Incident: Vueling A320 at Barcelona on Oct 6th 2019, engine shut down in flight Incident: Azul E190 near Brasilia on Oct 6th 2019, cabin pressure problems Incident: Swiss A320 at Palma Mallorca on Oct 6th 2019, cargo door indication Incident: Delta MD88 at Savannah on Oct 3rd 2019, rejected takeoff due to engine failure Incident: Northern Cargo B763 at San Juan on Oct 4th 2019, touched down short of runway A United Airlines flight bound for Amsterdam made an emergency landing in Maine Man tries to sneak sword past security at Newark Airport Police removed a man from an American Airlines jet after he forced his way onboard Could Qantas Pilots Veto 20+ Hour Flights? FSF Announces Featured Speakers for Air Safety Summit Boeing 737 Max crash: Whistleblower complaint alleges corruption in Ethiopian Airlines Feds Could Ban Passengers on Vintage Aircraft Flights Following Deadly B-17 Crash Ukraine Air Alliance grounded after fatal An-12 crash Civil Aviation Authority grounds Air Panama flights after inspection Crashed plane still in river, and it's up to owner to get it out Colibri: Bizav Pilot Shortage Will Affect Bizjet Sales ANALYSIS: Singapore Airlines continues to dominate US flights Baylor's new flight school takes wing at Waco Regional Airport Airbus sold 41 jets in September, targets record fourth-quarter deliveries RESEARCH SURVEY Air Traffic Control Investigation from SCSI Aerospace analyst says others deserve to join CEO in departing Boeing Dennis Muilenburg has been CEO at the Boeing Co. since 2015. A Washington state-based aerospace analyst says that if Boeing Co. CEO Dennis Muilenburg deserves to lose his job over the Boeing troubles headlined by its 737 MAX, others deserve to be shown the door as well. Writing on his Leeham News website, Scott Hamilton cites a recent editorial from fellow analyst Ernest Arvai of AirInsight calling for Mulienburg's ouster amid the MAX crisis and other problems that, Arvai wrote, has swapped Boeing's (NYSE: BA) reputation for safety and quality with that of a company driven by share price and the bottom line. "Arvai makes many good points, but he doesn't go far enough," Hamilton wrote. If Muilenburg needs to go, Hamilton says, then so should Boeing CFO Greg Smith. And he doesn't stop there. "If these two deserve to go, so do the board of directors," Hamilton writes. "It's the board of directors who set the shareholders' value policy that Muilenburg carries out." The 737 MAX has been grounded since March following two deadly crashes of the jet in five months. Spirit AeroSystems Inc. (NYSE: SPR) is a critical supplier on the 737 program, building around 70 percent of the structure on the aircraft in Wichita. Boeing hopes upgrades to a flight control system believed to have been a factor in the crashes gives regulators the confidence to return the plane to service by the end of the year. But it still faces dozens of lawsuits from families of the 346 victims from the two crashes. The company has already reportedly settled some of those claims and announced last month that - separate from any litigation - that it would begin payments to victims' families from a $50 million fund. It also last month announced the creation of a new safety oversight organization and the implementation of other new safety-related procedures at the company. But there have been questions, even apart from Avrai's public call for ouster, as to where exactly the buck will stop at Boeing. The problem, Hamilton notes, is that many of the executives who oversaw the MAX's launch and development are already gone. The upgraded 737 was originally announced in 2011 under CEO Jim McNerney, who retired in 2015. Muilenburg, who had previously served as Boeing's president and COO, succeeded him in the CEO role at that time. Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes at the time the MAX was launched, retired in 2012. His successor, Ray Conner, retired in 2017, the same year the MAX entered service. Citing other executive departures, Hamilton writes that the remaining list of people with any authority over the MAX during its development whittles down to eight directors whose tenures stretch back far enough and Muilenburg, Smith - CFO since 2012 - and former general manager of the MAX program, Keith Leverkuhn, who is said to remain with the company in a different capacity. Boeing's website lists the following directors, each of whom is also directly cited by Hamilton, as having began their role on the board between 2004 and 2011: Mike Zafirovski, Ronald Williams, Susan Schwab, Edward Liddy, Lawrence Kellner, Adm. Edmund Giambastiani (Ret.), Arthur Collins and David Calhoun. Muilenburg became a member of the 13-person board in 2015. But even if the directors and executives deserve to go, "don't hold you're breath," Hamilton wrote, if you're expecting anyone to fall on the sword. "You can bet there won't be any immolation at Boeing," he said. A Boeing spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. https://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2019/10/07/aerospace-analyst-says-others- deserve-to-join-ceo.html?ana=yahoo&yptr=yahoo Back to Top Southwest Pilots Sue Boeing Over Lost Wages During 737 MAX Grounding The union representing Southwest Airlines pilots is suing Boeing over the grounding of the 737 MAX aircraft, which it alleges resulted in over $100 million in lost wages. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association announced the lawsuit, filed in the District Court of Dallas County, Texas, on Monday. In it, the union alleges Boeing misrepresented the safety of the 737 MAX aircraft to Southwest pilots. "SWAPA pilots agreed to fly the 737 MAX aircraft based on Boeing's representations that it was airworthy and essentially the same as the time-tested 737 aircraft that its pilots have flown for years. These representations were false," the union's statement reads. It continues: "Boeing's errors cost the lives of 346 people, damaged the critical bond between pilots and passengers, and reduced opportunities for air travel across the United States and around the world." SWAPA said that grounding caused the cancellation of 30,000 scheduled Southwest flights and wage losses of over $100 million for the airline's pilots. In a statement to Reuters, Boeing spokesman Chaz Bickers said he believed the lawsuit was "meritless." "While we value our long relationship with SWAPA, we believe this lawsuit is meritless and will vigorously defend against it," Bickers said. Southwest customers filed a lawsuit against the airline and Boeing in July, alleging the two companies colluded to hide a design defect in the jet. The claim also accused Southwest of defrauding its customers and regulators, as well as its own pilots and employees. SWAPA president Captain Jon Weaks said the pilots' greatest concern is "the safety of our passengers" in a statement on Monday. "We have to be able to trust Boeing to truthfully disclose the information we need to safely operate our aircraft," Weaks said. "In the case of the 737 MAX, that absolutely did not happen." https://www.yahoo.com/news/southwest-pilots-sue-boeing-233419817.html Back to Top Incident: Vueling A320 at Barcelona on Oct 6th 2019, engine shut down in flight A Vueling Airbus A320-200, registration EC-LVS performing flight VY-2131 from Barcelona,SP to Madrid,SP (Spain), was climbing out of Barcelona's runway 07R when streaks of flame were seen from the right hand engine (V2527). The crew stopped the climb at 2000 feet, shut the engine down and returned to Barcelona for a safe landing on runway 07L about 15 minutes after departure. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Barcelona about 27 hours after landing. The airline reported a technical problem prompted the return to Barcelona. http://avherald.com/h?article=4cdbf355&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Azul E190 near Brasilia on Oct 6th 2019, cabin pressure problems An Azul Linhas Aereas Embraer ERJ-190, registration PR-AZA performing flight AD-2642 from Goiania,GO to Palmas,TO (Brazil) with 6 people on board, was climbing out of Goiania when the crew stopped the climb at FL250 due to problems with the cabin pressure and decided to divert to Brasilia,DF (Brazil) where the aircraft landed safely. A replacement Embraer ERJ-195 registration PR-AUO reached Palmas with a delay of 10.5 hours. The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 26 hours landing. http://avherald.com/h?article=4cdbef36&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Swiss A320 at Palma Mallorca on Oct 6th 2019, cargo door indication A Swiss International Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration HB-IJL performing flight LX-2159 from Palma Mallorca,SP (Spain) to Zurich (Switzerland), was climbing out of Mallorca's runway 24R when the crew stopped the climb at 7000 feet due to a cargo door indication. The aircraft returned to Mallorca for a safe landing on runway 24L about 30 minutes after departure. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 90 minutes, then departed again and reached Zurich with a delay of about 2 hours. The airline confirmed a cargo door indication prompted the return to Palma Mallorca. http://avherald.com/h?article=4cdbe9a5&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Delta MD88 at Savannah on Oct 3rd 2019, rejected takeoff due to engine failure, debris set grass alight A Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-88, registration N974DL performing flight DL-1983 from Savannah,GA to Atlanta,GA (USA), was accelerating for takeoff from runway 10 when the crew rejected takeoff due to an engine failure (JT8D). The aircraft slowed safely. The FAA reported the aircraft aborted takeoff due to an engine failure, it appeared debris came loose setting the grass on fire. The damage is unknown, the occurrence was rated an incident. The occurrence aircraft returned to service after about 17 hours on the ground at Savannah. http://avherald.com/h?article=4cdbe68b&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Northern Cargo B763 at San Juan on Oct 4th 2019, touched down short of runway A Northern Air Cargo Boeing 767-300 freighter, registration N351CM performing flight NAC-802 from Miami,FL (USA) to San Juan (Puerto Rico), landed on San Juan's runway 10 but touched down ahead of the runway and collided with a number of approach lights at about 09:20L (13:20Z). The aircraft rolled out without further incident. The FAA reported the aircraft received unknown damage when it landed short "strking several landing lights". There were no injuries. The occurrence was rated an incident. The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground for about 24 hours, then returned to service. http://avherald.com/h?article=4cdbe3c7&opt=0 Back to Top A United Airlines flight bound for Amsterdam made an emergency landing in Maine (CNN)A United Airlines flight en route to Amsterdam from San Francisco made an emergency landing in Maine early Monday, an airline spokesman told CNN. The flight, carrying 197 passengers and 13 crew members, was diverted to Bangor, Maine, due to a cabin pressurization issue, according to United Airlines spokesman Jonathan Guerin. No injuries were reported and passengers disembarked normally after the plane landed at Bangor International Airport and taxied to a gate on its own power just after 1 a.m., Guerin told CNN. Oxygen masks were released due to the cabin pressure change but it is unclear whether passengers were told to use the masks. Passengers were given lodging in Bangor overnight, the airline said. They'll be redirected to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey where another flight will take them the rest of the way. They're expected to arrive in Amsterdam early Tuesday morning, according to a statement from the airline. https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/07/us/united-flight-diversion-bangor-maine/index.html Back to Top Man tries to sneak sword past security at Newark Airport A man who apparently is not the sharpest tool in the shed took a stab at trying to board a flight to São Paulo, Brazil, at Newark Airport carrying a sword on Friday. The TSA - which posted a photo of the long-handled knife in its leather scabbard - said the passenger told agents he thought he could carry the weapon past the checkpoint "because of its value," agency spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said on Twitter. "It was packed in a long box and was identified as a sword via X-ray machine. When opened, that was confirmed. Of course swords are weapons and as such they are prohibited past a TSA security checkpoint," Farbstein told The Post in an email. "The traveler was allowed to check the box with the sword with his airline so it flew with other checked baggage in the belly of the plane so that nobody had access to the weapon during the flight," she added. In her message on Twitter, Farbstein said: "Doesn't matter to TSA how much the weapon is worth. No weapons should be brought in the cabin of a plane." In August, screeners stopped a New Jersey woman after she placed a walking stick on a conveyor belt at the airport with a long dagger concealed inside, Farbstein said at the time. The Fort Lee woman said she got the stick from a friend and didn't know the sword was inside. "If you get a cane or walking stick as a gift, check for hidden knives and swords inside," the TSA rep said in a tweet. https://nypost.com/2019/10/07/man-tries-to-sneak-sword-past-security-at-newark- airport/ Back to Top Police removed a man from an American Airlines jet after he forced his way onboard The incident happened two days after a woman sneaked onto a Delta flight with no ticket A man ran past a gate agent, down a jet bridge and onto an American Airlines plane Monday morning at Miami International Airport, prompting police to remove him and do a full security sweep of the jet after removing all passengers. The man, who has not been identified, had a ticket for Flight 1060, which was going to Newark. But after 6 a.m., as the flight was boarding, he came into some kind of contact with airline employees. As workers approached him, the man took off running, according to Miami-Dade Police Detective Lee Cowart, a department spokesman. American Airlines spokeswoman Alexis Aran Coello said in an email that the passenger bypassed the gate agent as he ran by. "He fled into a jetway and onto a plane that was parked at the gate," Cowart said. A passenger on the plane, Ari Teman, told Local 10 News that the man was screaming that it was his plane and that he was the FBI. Deplaned, arrested @AmericanAir 1060 MIA-EWR pic.twitter.com/PzecReBPHx - Ari Teman (@AriTeman) October 7, 2019 "The business class passengers blocked him from getting further into the plane (probably so they could get upgraded to Executive Platinum but a good deed is still a good deed)," he wrote in a Facebook account. Airline workers called police; Cowart said they responded within a minute or two and took the man off the plane. Video that Teman posted showed him in handcuffs, facedown on the ground in the airport and surrounded by police. "The plane was subsequently searched for damage and contraband, firearms, explosives, et cetera, and the plane was searched and all clear," Cowart said. Police determined the man was "in crisis" and took him to a hospital under a Florida law that allows people to be temporarily detained for mental health evaluation. It was the second time in three days that unauthorized passengers got onto a plane. On Saturday, also in Florida, a woman somehow got onto a Delta flight at Orlando International Airport without a boarding pass. After the person who was supposed to be in her seat flagged the woman's presence to staffers, she was forced off the plane. The airline, Transportation Security Administration and local police are investigating that incident. https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2019/10/07/police-removed-man-an- american-airlines-jet-after-he-forced-his-way-onboard/ Back to Top Could Qantas Pilots Veto 20+ Hour Flights? As most of you are probably well aware, Qantas wants to fly nonstop from Sydney and Melbourne to New York and London. While it seems like good progress is being made, could the project possibly be killed before any planes are even ordered? Currently the world's longest flight is operated by Singapore Airlines' A350-900ULR, as the airline flies nonstop between Singapore and Newark. That flight covers a distance of over 9,500 miles and can take up to 18 hours. For quite a while Qantas has been talking about how they'd like to be able to fly nonstop from Melbourne and Sydney to London and New York. They call this goal "Project Sunrise." The catch is that currently no plane exists that can operate these 10,000+ mile, 20+ hour flights nonstop. Qantas has asked Airbus and Boeing to develop planes capable of operating these flights, and right now it's looking like Airbus is close to announcing the A350-1000ULR, which they say would meet Qantas' specifications. Qantas has said that they hope to decide on a plane for the project by the end of the year, and launch flights by 2022. Qantas will shortly even be operating some test flights from New York and London to Sydney, which they're doing with very lightly loaded and newly delivered 787-9s. Obviously there are lots of hurdles to overcome: Qantas needs to find the right plane (which they're close to doing it seems) They need regulatory approval for the plane and routes They need to get their employees onboard with this, because it requires new contracts The route needs to be financially viable Well, those last two points are proving to be a bit of a challenge, it seems. Could Qantas Pilots Block Project Sunrise? Qantas' CEO Alan Joyce is a crafty guy, especially when you look at how he has negotiated with unions in the past (including shutting down the airline in 2011). Last week while talking about Project Sunrise Joyce said that the airline could cancel the project unless their pilots agree to amended workplace employment conditions and a new enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA). I do think both sides see this as an opportunity to gain leverage: Pilots have expressed concern over safety and fatigue on these ultra long haul flights, and some pilots also have sour grapes following their 2015 contract negotiations Since this translates to growth (meaning more jobs for pilots), presumably management wants some concessions and an agreement that won't be too costly here Back in 2015, management and the union spent many months negotiating a new agreement, as the company was looking for a 30% improvement in "productivity" from pilots. The pilots union has already said that they think the timeline that Joyce wants for negotiating this new contract is "challenging," especially as Qantas is potentially looking at ordering planes within months. So really both sides have leverage here, the question is who will play their cards better. Read into this how you will, but it's also interesting to note that the New York to Sydney research flight will be operated by Qantas' (lower paid) London based flight attendants, and they'll be flying a very circuitous roster to make that happen. So we could also see issues with the flight attendants union. What Do Pilots Want From Qantas? AIPA, the union representing Qantas pilots, is "cautiously optimistic" about this new project. As a representative for the union explained a while back: "We think the value to Qantas and the strategic benefit goes beyond this pilot EBA negotiation. Obviously we are willing to negotiate and discuss how they feel our contract may assist, but the strategic benefit to Qantas is clear and transcends the pilot contract in itself. For the pilots in the operating seat after a 20-hour plus flight, if you are arriving in the northern hemisphere in bad weather clearly you are going to need peak performance. So the on-board rest will be vitally important." I don't think pilots will use this to necessarily directly request a pay increase, though there are a couple of other ways they could bargain: * Currently a long haul flight has at most four pilots (so that each can rest for nearly half the flight), though given the length of these flights, could we see them request 5-6 pilots instead? * On ultra long haul flights Qantas has one captain, one first officer, and two second officers, while other airlines might have two captains and two first officers (or some other combination). The benefit for Qantas is that the second officers are on a considerably lower pay scale, since the second officers aren't as experienced. Could we see the union negotiate that these flights need additional "senior" pilots, whether that comes in the form of two captains, all captains and first officers, or some other combination? Keep in mind that pilots typically can fly at most 1,000 hours per year, so we're talking about 80 hours per month. Assuming the aircraft type used for these routes is exclusively used for ultra long haul flights, the pilots will basically be operating two trips per month. Admittedly they're very long flights, but this will essentially be a part time job in terms of days off. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, as this is definitely something that needs to be figured out before Qantas places an order for a new plane. Bottom Line The prospect of Project Sunrise is exciting, though there are still quite a few hurdles for the airline to overcome. Pilots have some leverage here for sure, though at the same time Joyce is known to be a pretty tough negotiator. It will be interesting to see what kind of conditions management and the pilots union agree to for these flights. https://onemileatatime.com/qantas-pilots-longest-flight/ Back to Top FSF Announces Featured Speakers for Air Safety Summit The opening keynote address on Nov. 4 will be made by Chow Kok Wah, assistant honorary secretary of the Association of Aerospace Industries (Singapore). Flight Safety Foundation today unveiled its lineup of featured speakers for the 72nd annual International Air Safety Summit (IASS), scheduled for Nov. 4-6 in Taipei. The opening keynote address on Nov. 4 will be made by Chow Kok Wah, assistant honorary secretary of the Association of Aerospace Industries (Singapore). Chow has more than 30 years of experience in airline and engineering and maintenance operations, and has held numerous management, executive and board positions with Singapore Airlines and related companies and joint ventures. The opening session's featured speaker will be Prof. Temel Kotil, president and CEO of Turkish Aerospace. Kotil has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and experience in academia and industry. During his career, he also worked at Turkish Airlines, where he served in a variety roles. While at the airline, Kotil served on the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Board of Governors, as well as on the boards of Turkish Technic and Sun Express, among others. Robert A. Pearce, acting associate administrator of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Aeronautic research mission directorate, will kick off IASS on Nov. 5. At NASA, Pearce manages the agency's aeronautics research portfolio and guides its strategic direction, including research in advanced air vehicle concepts, airspace operations and safety, integrated aviation systems, and the nurturing and development of transformative concepts for aviation. Day 2's second featured speaker will be Cyriel Kronenburg, who is vice president of Aviation Services for Aireon, where he leads regulatory, marketing, product development, commercial data services and partner development activities. Kronenburg previously was global head of air traffic control charges at IATA, where he led global air traffic management efficiency campaigns. https://www.aviationpros.com/tools-equipment/safety-equipment/press- release/21109262/flight-safety-foundation-fsf-announces-featured-speakers-for-air- safety-summit Back to Top Boeing 737 Max crash: Whistleblower complaint alleges corruption in Ethiopian Airlines In this photo taken Sept. 24, 2019, Yonas Yeshanew, who resigned as Ethiopian Airline's chief engineer this summer and is seeking asylum in the U.S., poses with his company's identification card in the Seattle area. SEATTLE - Ethiopian Airlines' former chief engineer says in a whistleblower complaint filed with regulators that the carrier went into the maintenance records on a Boeing 737 Max jet a day after it crashed this year, a breach he contends was part of a pattern of corruption that included fabricating documents, signing off on shoddy repairs and even beating those who got out of line. Yonas Yeshanew, who resigned this summer and is seeking asylum in the U.S., said that while it is unclear what, if anything, in the records was altered, the decision to go into them at all when they should have been sealed reflects a government-owned airline with few boundaries and plenty to hide. "The brutal fact shall be exposed ... Ethiopian Airlines is pursuing the vision of expansion, growth and profitability by compromising safety," Yeshanew said in his report, which he gave to The Associated Press after sending it last month to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and other international air safety agencies. Yeshanew's criticism of Ethiopian's maintenance practices, backed by three other former employees who spoke to AP, makes him the latest voice urging investigators to take a closer look at potential human factors in the Max saga and not just focus on Boeing's faulty anti-stall system, which has been blamed in two crashes in four months. It's not a coincidence, he said, that Ethiopian saw one of its Max planes go down when many other airlines that fly the plane suffered no such tragedy. Yonas Yeshanew, who resigned as Ethiopian Airline's chief engineer this summer and is seeking asylum in the U.S., listens to a reporter's question during an interview in Seattle area. Days before campaign rally: Police union sells 'Cops for Trump' shirts in Minneapolis Airline denies allegations Ethiopian Airlines portrayed Yeshanew as a disgruntled former employee and categorically denied his allegations, which paint a blistering counterpoint to the perception of the airline as one of Africa's most successful companies and a source of national pride. Yeshanew alleged in his report and interviews with AP that Ethiopian is growing too fast and struggling to keep planes in the air now that it is carrying 11 million passengers a year, four times what it was handling a decade ago, including flights to Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington and Newark, New Jersey. He said mechanics are overworked and pressed to take shortcuts to get planes cleared for takeoff, while pilots are flying on too little rest and not enough training. And he produced an FAA audit from three years ago that found, among dozens of other problems, that nearly all of the 82 mechanics, inspectors and supervisors whose files were reviewed lacked the minimum requirements for doing their jobs. Yeshanew included emails showing he urged top executives for years to end a practice at the airline of signing off on maintenance and repair jobs that he asserts were done incompletely, incorrectly or not at all. He said he stepped up his efforts following the Oct. 29, 2018, crash of a Lion Air Boeing 737 Max in Indonesia that killed all 189 people on board. One email Yeshanew sent to CEO Tewolde Gebremariam urged him to "personally intervene" to stop mechanics from falsifying records. Those pleas were ignored, he said. And after the March 10, 2019, nosedive crash of an Ethiopian Boeing 737 Max outside Addis Ababa that killed all 157 people on board, Yeshanew said it was clear the mindset had not changed. Yeshanew said in an interview that on the day after the crash, Ethiopian's Chief Operating Officer Mesfin Tasew openly agonized that the airline could get blamed because of its maintenance "issues" and "violations," and he ordered that records on the downed Max plane be checked for "mistakes." "We pray to God that this will not point to our fault," Yeshanew quoted the COO as saying. In this March 11, 2019, file photo, wreckage is piled at the crash scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash outside Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Ethiopian Airlines' former chief engineer Yonas Yeshanew, who is seeking asylum in the U.S., says in a whistleblower complaint filed with regulators that the carrier went into maintenance records on a Boeing 737 Max jet after it crashed this year, a breach he contends was part of a pattern of corruption that included routinely signing off on shoddy repairs. A 'roll to the right' flight-control problem That same day, Yeshanew said in his report, someone logged into the computerized maintenance record-keeping system, specifically on the records from the downed plane that detailed a flight-control problem - "a roll to the right" - that pilots had reported three months earlier. Yeshanew included in his report a screenshot of a directory of the records related to the problem that showed a final entry that was time-stamped March 11. Yeshanew said he didn't know what was in the records previously or if they were changed, only that the records were left to say that tests had been done and the issue had been resolved. While he doubted that the flight-control problem brought the plane down, he said any changes to the records would call into question the actual condition of the airplane at the time of the crash as well as the integrity of the airline as a whole. Aviation experts say that after a crash, maintenance records - specifically, log books and task cards containing notes by pilots and fixes by mechanics - are required by international air safety regulators to be immediately sealed off, and any attempt to manipulate them is a serious violation tantamount to trampling on a crime scene. "If there is an accusation that you went into records, it means you're hiding something, you have something to hide," said John Goglia, a former member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and an expert in aircraft maintenance. In its response to AP, Ethiopian denied a history of tampering and shoddy maintenance, and denied its COO or anyone else ordered someone to change the maintenance records on the downed 737 Max. It said that as soon as the accident happened, those documents were sealed, stored in a secure place and delivered to Ethiopia's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. It added that while "a technician tried to see the aircraft records," its review found no data was changed or updated. 'False and baseless' Ethiopian is Africa's biggest airline, is profitable and is one of only a few on the continent that have passed the tests necessary to allow their planes to fly into Europe and North America, with a relatively good safety record. The company confirmed Yeshanew served as director of aircraft engineering and planning but said he was demoted because of a "serious weaknesses in leadership, discipline and poor integrity." "He is a disgruntled ex-employee who fabricated a false story about Ethiopian Airlines, partly to revenge for his demotion while working in Ethiopian, and partly to probably develop a case to secure asylum in the USA," the airline said in an email to AP. "We would like to confirm once more that all his allegations are false and baseless." Yeshanew and his attorney, Darryl Levitt, said that he was never demoted and, in fact, his steady rise through the ranks over a 12-year career at Ethiopian continued even into this year when he was tapped to oversee a new venture making aircraft parts and investigate two pilots who botched a landing in Uganda and nearly skidded into Lake Victoria. Yeshanew said his recommendations after that incident - fewer inexperienced pilots in cockpits and better training - went unheeded. Yeshanew also attached internal emails to the report that he contends show faulty paperwork and repairs, and investigations from parts suppliers that point to similar errors, including ones that led to two cockpit windows shattering in flight, a de-icing mechanism burning, and missing or incorrect bolts on key sensors. "I personally saw that many task cards are signed without even doing what is written in the instruction," Yeshanew wrote to COO Tasew in 2017. "Such violations may even result in a serious safety issue." Others have made similar claims. In 2015, an anonymous employee told an FAA safety hotline that mechanics often cleared planes for takeoff with "unresolved" mechanical issues. It was unclear if the complaint led to any action by the FAA or the airline. Three other former Ethiopian employees made such allegations to AP, including one who provided documents that he said show faulty repairs and paperwork errors stretching back years, and another who said mechanics felt they had no choice but to "pencil whip it" - industry jargon for signing off on repairs never done. "They would actually lie about it," said Franz Rasmussen, who flew for the airline for two years before leaving in 2016. "There was a philosophy: You can't ground an airplane - it's go, go, go." 'A reckless gamble': Four reasons critics decry Trump's 'impulsive' Syria withdrawal Yeshanew alleges a jail-like detention center Among the allegations in Yeshanew's report is that Ethiopian maintains a jail-like detention center on the grounds of its Addis Ababa headquarters that it used to interrogate, intimidate and sometimes beat up employees who got out of line. Yeshanew said he knows of at least two mechanics beaten up in the past three years after falling out of favor with the company, and he feared the same fate awaited him. Yeshanew said in the report and later interviews with AP that he was taken to the single-story, dirt-floored detention center in July on suspicion he was talking to news organizations, and after 10 hours of questioning was told he would be thrown into jail "like all the other persons before" him if he didn't keep quiet. He took that as a threat of torture. "If you are in jail, it means you'll be beaten, you will be tortured," he told AP. "There is no difference in the current political system of Ethiopia." Four days later, Yeshanew fled to the U.S. with this wife and two children and settled in the Seattle area. A former spokesman for the airline union, Bekele Dumecha, told AP that he met with more than a dozen workers over six years who had been beaten at the same detention center, including one of the alleged victims identified by Yeshanew. Dumecha said he saw that person an hour after he was released, bruised and staggering. "He couldn't walk properly," said Dumecha, who is now living in Minnesota and also seeking asylum. "He was mentally and physically destroyed." Human Rights Watch said in an April report that torture in jails and "unmarked detention centers" have long been a "serious and underreported problem" in Ethiopia, and its former researcher there said he personally interviewed three airline workers who alleged they were tortured by the government, the most recent three years ago. "It was all about ensuring the positive image of the company and the country is kept intact," said HRW researcher Felix Horne. "Many people who tried to speak out against government-controlled companies were inevitably thrown in prison and beaten up." In its statement, Ethiopian Airlines denied that a detention center for torture exists and offered to show an AP reporter around the grounds. But after AP sought such a tour this past week, Ethiopian officials said it would take several weeks to arrange. Yeshanew's allegations are the latest to cast a light on factors other than what has become the overriding focus of the Max crash investigations - a system on the plane called MCAS, for Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, that automatically pushes the plane's nose down when it is at risk of stalling. Preliminary reports indicate it misfired in both fatal crashes, with pilots losing control of the planes as they fought against it. Regulators have grounded nearly 400 737 Max planes while Boeing tries to fix the problem. Another whistleblower from Ethiopian, veteran pilot Bernd Kai von Hoesslin, told the AP in May that after Indonesia's Lion Air crash, he pleaded with Ethiopian's top executives to give pilots better training on the Max, predicting that if pilots are not sufficiently drilled on Boeing's protocols for how to disable the autopilot system in the event of a misfire, "it will be a crash for sure." Ethiopian has said the pilots followed all the steps Boeing laid out. But the preliminary report on the crash showed they deviated from the directives and made other mistakes, notably flying the plane at an unusually high speed and inexplicably reactivating the anti-stall system shortly after manually overriding it. Six minutes into the Max flight, the plane with passengers from nearly a dozen countries cratered into the ground about 40 miles from the airport. 'I have to reveal the truth' For the 39-year-old Yeshanew, the decision to become a whistleblower has come at a heavy price. He is leaving behind relatives and a job that he called "the dream of my life," one with prestige and a big enough salary for him to buy a three-story house. He is not sure of what kind of job he can get in the U.S., or if he will even be granted asylum. Ultimately, he said, he has dreams of returning to his native Ethiopia and even going back to work at Ethiopian Airlines. "I have to reveal the truth, the reality to the world, so that the airline will be fixed," he said, "because it can't continue like what it is doing now." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/10/07/ethiopian-airlines-whistleblower- alleges-corruption-after-737-crash/3898991002/ Back to Top Feds Could Ban Passengers on Vintage Aircraft Flights Following Deadly B-17 Crash In this photo taken June 2, 2018 photo, people look over the Nine-O-Nine, a Collings Foundation B-17 Flying Fortress, at McClellan Airport in Sacramento, Calif. A B-17 vintage World War II-era bomber plane crashed Oct. 2, 2019, just outside New England's second-busiest airport. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) Federal investigators will take a hard look at the possibility of restricting or banning rides for the public aboard World War II-era aircraft following the fiery crash of a restored B-17 "Flying Fortress" bomber in Connecticut last week that killed seven and injured eight. "That is something we will look at down the road," National Transportation Safety Board member Jennifer Homendy said when asked whether the owners of vintage aircraft should be permitted to keep taking paying customers up for brief flights at airshows and heritage events. "We're still at the very early stages of this investigation and we'll have to determine that at the appropriate time," Homendy said at an Oct. 4 news conference at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, where the B-17 crashed last Wednesday in an emergency landing attempt. The NTSB is expected to make a preliminary report on the crash later this month, but recommendations on what actions the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) should take to ensure the safety of vintage aircraft flights will likely not be made for several months. "Our mission is to determine what happened, why it happened and to prevent it from happening again," Homendy said. The B-17 that crashed was owned and operated by the Massachusetts-based Collings Foundation. The record of previous fatal accidents involving heritage flights of World War II-era bombers will play a part in the current investigation, she said. Since 1982, when the NTSB began tracking safety issues in the heritage flights, there have been a total of 21 accidents involving World War-II era bombers, resulting in 23 fatalities and one injury -- not counting the death toll last Tuesday, Homendy said. Three of the previous accidents involved B-17G bombers of the same type that crashed at the Bradley airport, Homendy said. Currently, there are 16 B-17s registered to fly in the U.S., including the one that crashed in Connecticut, according to the NTSB. "Every accident is different. We'll take a look at the history and make appropriate recommendations," Homendy said. In response to the tragedy, the Collings Foundation announced that it was "suspending its flight operations and the Wings of Freedom Tour for the remainder of the 2019 season." The various groups and foundations that seek to preserve and fly vintage aircraft profess safety as their primary concern in the display and flights of vintage aircraft that they see as a vital part of the nation's history. However, vintage aircraft owner and aviation attorney Michael Slack said the FAA should consider keeping passengers off them. "There's not a problem with these aircraft flying demonstrations and in tributes. We can continue to enjoy these aircraft from that perspective," said Slack, a former NASA engineer who owns a biplane P-6 Hawk military aircraft from the 1930s. But, he said, there's a "legitimate risk" in taking passengers aboard. "These airplanes were designed to do one thing -- deliver bombs and return. There was no incentive to create passenger-friendly aircraft," he said. Federal authorities, he added, should take "a serious look at simply ending taking up passengers" on heritage flights. "Most WWII aircraft are now 70-plus years old since they were manufactured and the pool of pilots with the skills to fly these planes diminishes daily," said Slack. "The maintenance on these aircraft also requires special skills and knowledge, and replacement parts are very difficult to find and are often fabricated." In addition, "vintage aircraft are not equipped with modern technology to prevent post- impact fires and fuel dispersal," he said. "When I fly my [P-6], I know I'm putting myself at some risk," Slack said. As a lawyer, Slack is currently representing a plaintiff in a civil suit against the owners of a vintage twin-prop C-47 Skytrain, the military version of the DC-3, that crashed and burned on takeoff in July 2018 in Burnet, Texas. The plaintiff suffered burns as a passenger on the C-47, Slack said. The vintage aircraft are exempt from the rules for commercial aircraft requiring the safety features that have been developed since World War II, according to the FAA. In a statement to Miitary.com, FAA officials said the vintage aircraft "are not eligible for sightseeing flights. They are only eligible for the 'Living History' Flights, which provide the passengers with an experience of what it was like to fly aboard these types of aircraft." "Living History Flight Experience (LHFE) exemptions provide operators relief from several FAA regulations, allowing exemption holders to carry passengers for compensation or hire in 'historically significant' aircraft holding a limited or experimental airworthiness certificate," the FAA said. The accidents involving vintage aircraft are not limited to bombers. In November 2018, a World War II-era P-51 Mustang fighter crashed into the parking lot of a housing complex in Fredericksburg, Texas. The pilot and a passenger, a World War II veteran, were killed, according to the NTSB. In September 2011, a P-51 Mustang participating in the Reno Air Races in Nevada crashed into the crowd, killing the pilot and 10 spectators and injuring 69. In statements last Friday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, said the focus of the investigation should be the safety of future of vintage aircraft flights and whether they should be permitted to carry passengers. The crash last Wednesday "has put this industry at an inflection point and the NTSB, plus the FAA, need to address the repeated and imminent dangers that have been demonstrated over the years," Blumenthal said. "These planes are a profoundly significant part of our history and they should be revered and preserved but respected with adequate safety standards if they are going to be flown, and that's why a broader examination and investigation is absolutely necessary here," he said. "Not to say these planes need to be grounded, but they do need to be inspected and maintained and repaired with a frequency and intensity that guarantees their air trustworthiness." At the news conference Homendy said the B-17, after the pilot reported an "issue with an engine," hit the approach lights about 1,000 feet from Runway 6 at Bradley International Airport while attempting to make an emergency landing. The aircraft knocked over about 30 approach lights on breakaway poles before skidding off the runway into a de-icing plant and catching fire, Homendy said. The B-17 that crashed in Connecticut had a crew of three and 10 passengers aboard. The pilot of the bomber, Ernest "Mac" McCauley, 75, of Long Beach, California, and the copilot, Michael Foster, 71, of Jacksonville, Florida, a retired Navy captain and naval aviator, were killed in the crash. Both McCauley and Foster were flying the B-17 under exemptions granted by the FAA. Commercial pilots must retire at age 65, but pilots of vintage aircraft can keep flying as long as their medical certificate, training and testing are current, according to the FAA. Homendy said McCauley had more than 7,300 hours flying B-17s and was believed to be the most experienced B-17 pilot in the U.S. The others killed in the crash were passengers: David Broderick, 56, of West Springfield, Massachusetts; Robert Rubner, 64, of Tolland, Connecticut; Gary Mazzone, 66, of Broad Brook, Connecticut; James Roberts, 48, of Ludlow, Massachusetts; and Robert Riddell, 59, of East Granby, Connecticut. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/10/07/feds-could-ban-passengers-vintage- aircraft-flights-following-deadly-b-17-crash.html Back to Top Ukraine Air Alliance grounded after fatal An-12 crash Ukrainian authorities have revoked the operating certificate of Ukraine Air Alliance, following a fatal landing accident involving an Antonov An-12 in Lviv. The state aviation administration says the order to "terminate" the certificate was effective from 5 October. It has not given a specific reason for the decision but it comes just after the 4 October accident which killed five of the eight occupants of the An-12. The aircraft came down short of the runway at Lviv as it prepared to make a refuelling stop en route from Vigo to Istanbul. Ukraine Air Alliance no longer appears on the state administration's register of operators, which was revised on 7 October. European Union Aviation Safety Agency third-country operator approval for the carrier has also been withdrawn, according to the agency's newly-updated register of authorised carriers. Ukrainian regulators have embarked on a technical assistance programme, in co- operation with ICAO, intended to improve certification and flight operations oversight within the country. https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/ukraine-air-alliance-grounded-after-fatal- an-12-cras-461303/ Back to Top Civil Aviation Authority grounds Air Panama flights after inspection Panama's Civil Aviation Authority temporarily grounded Air Panama's Fokker 50 fleet. (Photo via Air Panama. ) Panama's Civil Aviation Authority (AAC) on Saturday grounded Air Panama flights operated by the Fokker 50 turboprop, impacting travel throughout the Central American country. The temporary suspension came as a result of "certain investigations" of a regulatory nature, according to an AAC press release. The organization later allowed for the reactivation of one of the regional airline's Fokker 50 aircraft following a "thorough inspection of the engine maintenance program." "We are working with the AAC and providing the necessary information in order to reestablish service," a Saturday statement from Air Panama reads. Air Panama operates four Fokker 50 aircraft, according to Flightradar24. It uses them on several domestic routes and on its international flight between Panama City and Juan Santamaría International Airport near San José, Costa Rica. That flight operated normally on Sunday with a Fokker 50, according to Flightradar24, though several other Air Panama routes operated by the aircraft type were cancelled over the weekend. Air Panama is the country's largest domestic airline and has transported more than 4 million people, according to the carrier. The Fokker 50 is a regional turboprop that seats up to 56 passengers and can operate from airports with short or unpaved runways, according to the aircraft manufacturer. https://ticotimes.net/2019/10/07/civil-aviation-authority-grounds-air-panama-flights- after-inspection Back to Top Crashed plane still in river, and it's up to owner to get it out; NTSB investigating what caused incident An airplane that landed in the Susquehanna River on Friday, Oct. 4, is still submerged as of Monday morning. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash-landing of a Piper Malibu Mirage in the Susquehanna River near Middletown late Friday afternoon, as the aircraft was approaching Harrisburg International Airport to land. NTSB spokesman Terry Williams confirmed for the Press & Journal on Monday afternoon that the NTSB is investigating, with assistance from the Federal Aviation Administration. Williams said he expects NTSB to have more information to release on the accident this week. The six-seat single engine aircraft is still in the river, visible from Water Street off Route 441 in Londonderry Township just east of Middletown. Two people were in the aircraft but both were successfully rescued. One person had a minor injury and the other occupant was not injured, but both were taken by ambulance Friday to the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, said Tim Edwards, executive director of HIA. According to Edwards and FAA spokesman Jim Peters, it is up to the owner of the aircraft to get the aircraft out of the water. Edwards said the company that insures the aircraft for the owner "will be in charge of the recovery" of the airplane from the river. The aircraft had been in the river at least 36 hours as of Monday night. However, nothing is leaking from the airplane, John Repetz, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, told the Press & Journal. "There are no environmental impacts or concerns at this time," he said in an email. "DEP continues to monitor the situation and will become involved if necessary." Absent a deluge of rain beyond that in the immediate forecast, the airplane should not be going anywhere until it is retrieved by the owner, Edwards said. "It is caught on the rocks and the water is very shallow. It is kind of wedged in" which prevents it from drifting off, he said. The plane is registered with Barjack Aviation in Islamorada, Florida. The Press & Journal left a phone message with the apparent owner of the aircraft - whose identity has not been announced - but the apparent owner did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. Peters said that the FAA, which learned of the incident from the air traffic control tower at HIA, was at the scene Friday night and that an FAA representative went out on a boat to examine the aircraft. The FAA found "substantial damage" to the aircraft, leading the agency to determine that the incident was an accident. In the case of an aviation accident, the NTSB takes the lead role in the investigation, Peters said. The FAA will continue to investigate as well, "but we are doing it on behalf of the NTSB," Peters said. The NTSB is an independent federal agency that is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Transportation or with any of its agencies, including the FAA, according to the NTSB website. Under federal law, the NTSB is responsible for investigating and determining the probable cause of every civil aviation accident in the United States, as well as accidents involving certain public use aircraft, such as those owned by state and local governments, according to the NTSB website. Peters said that the full extent of the damage to the aircraft, such as damage to the underbelly, cannot be learned until the airplane is out of the water. However, the aircraft will require a "major repair" simply due to the fact that it has been submerged in the water, similar to a car or a truck that is damaged by being in a flood, Peters said. Edwards has been in the aviation field for 32 years, including time spent working at an airport in New Hampshire. He handled a few aircraft accidents while in New Hampshire, but none involving a water rescue such as this one. To his knowledge, this is a first for HIA, where Edwards has been executive director since November 2003. "Aviation is the safest form of travel. It's not all that surprising" that this has not happened here before, Edwards said. A pilot since 1978, Edwards said that pilots "practice emergency procedures all the time. It becomes kind of second nature as to what needs to be done in the event there is an engine failure," which officials believe is what happened in this case. Pilots every two years must undergo a bi-annual flight review under the supervision of a flight instructor, to make sure that pilots are still proficient in operating an aircraft. Proficiency in emergency procedures is part of that mandatory bi-annual evaluation, Edwards said. "There is alot of of safety training built into the pilot certification program. It's a significant part of your basic pilot training program," Edwards added. Edwards said he himself has never had an actual engine failure while piloting a plane, however "you practice engine-out procedures all the time." http://www.pressandjournal.com/stories/crashed-plane-still-in-river-and-its-up-to- owner-to-get-it-out-ntsb-investigating-what,66982 Back to Top Colibri: Bizav Pilot Shortage Will Affect Bizjet Sales Some 2,500 new business aviation pilots will be needed in the UK-and 98,000 globally- over the next 19 years to meet the growing demand to fly privately, said London-based business aircraft broker Colibri Aircraft. A shortage of pilots is creating operational challenges for current owners and risking the sale of some business jet types, it added. Thus, Colibri is advising against clients hiring only one full-time pilot and then relying on contract crew to fill the right seat. The broker is also warning that business aviation pilots are increasingly leaving the sector to fly for airlines, which offer more predictable schedules. According to Colibri, the commercial aviation sector's focus on recruiting business aviation pilots will intensify, because the world's passenger and freight aircraft fleet is set to more than double between now and 2038. Boeing's Pilot and Technician Outlook estimates that the world will need to find 645,000 new commercial pilots during this same period. "The business aviation sector is struggling to compete with airlines in recruiting pilots," said Colibri Aircraft managing director Oliver Stone. "This means commercial airlines are not only recruiting existing business aviation pilots, but they are also getting the pick of newly qualified pilots. This issue is increasingly impacting the sale of some private jets, and we expect it to continue." https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2019-10-07/colibri-bizav- pilot-shortage-will-affect-bizjet-sales Back to Top ANALYSIS: Singapore Airlines continues to dominate US flights Singapore Airlines (SIA) is the current title holder of the world's longest flight - the 19h Singapore-Newark - which has helped it reach near-monopoly status on the Singapore- USA market. The Star Alliance carrier has four non-stop, ultra-long-haul flights to the USA under its belt, along with Los Angeles, San Francisco, and most recently, Seattle. Ranging from 16h to 19h, these are some of the world's longest flights. Its only direct competition in the non-stop market is Star partner United Airlines on the San Francisco route using Boeing 787-9s. Cirium schedules data via FlightMaps Analytics SIA also flies one-stop services to Houston, New York JFK, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is now the sole carrier to do so, after Delta Air Lines ceased its Singapore connections from Narita in September. But history shows that this market dominance has not come easy - nor cheaply - for SIA. BACK IN TIME The carrier first launched Singapore-Newark and Singapore-Los Angeles in 2004, offering 117 premium economy and 64 business class seats on its Airbus A340-500s. Amid rising fuel costs and possibly to capture a bigger share of the business travel segment, SIA opted to reintroduce the service with 100 business class seats in June 2008. This turned out to be an ill-timed move, as companies cut back on corporate travel in the years after the global financial crisis. High oil prices also made it difficult to sustain the fuel-intensive four-engine A340-500s that flew the route. Introducing the non-stop services placed SIA ahead of its time, but business realities meant both services had to be ceased by the end of 2013. It was three years before SIA resumed flying non-stop to the USA, with a San Francisco service in October 2016. Fast-forward to 2018, where Singapore-Newark was relaunched to much fanfare, just as ultra-long-haul flights were gaining popularity due to the introduction of more fuel- efficient aircraft against the backdrop of much lower oil prices. All of SIA's non-stop US flights are now operated with the twin-engine A350-900, which is estimated to burn 25% less fuel than the A340-500s. The relaunched Singapore-Newark route, operated by the ULR variant, now offers 67 business class and 94 premium economy class seats, fewer seats than in 2004, but the split between classes reflects how air travel has become more accessible over time. And while SIA is certainly more aggressive than its US counterparts when it comes to brand marketing, it has not always been the first mover. Cirium schedules data shows that SIA's Singapore-San Francisco non-stop service began at least a quarter after United Airlines launched the same in June 2016. Likewise, SIA only started flying Singapore-Los Angeles non-stop in November 2018, after United ended a 13-month run in October 2018. After ending its non-stop Singapore-Los Angeles service, United doubled capacity on its non-stop Singapore-San Francisco route from November 2018. The following month, SIA increased capacity on the same route by one and a half times. "The [Singapore-USA] route is a niche which Singapore Airlines can most effectively fill, given its wide market access at the Singapore hub," says Peter Morris, chief economist at Ascend by Cirium. SIA also dominates connections out of Singapore, which from the US carriers' point of view, means difficulty in securing onward feed of traffic beyond Singapore. The distance and time taken to fly from the continental USA to Singapore requires a specific aircraft type and configuration, and US carriers are averse to developing bespoke fleets tied to specific destinations. In contrast, SIA has one of the youngest fleets in the world and procures aircraft according to its needs. Cirium fleets data shows that SIA had the largest A340-500 fleet among carriers, operating five of 28 jets ever delivered. Following its unsuccessful repositioning to 100% business class seats, the carrier soldiered on with the non-stop US routes until the retirement of its A340-500 fleet. Likewise, the carrier took delivery of its first 10 A350-900s in 2016, the same year it relaunched non-stop flights to the USA. It is in prime position to expand its reach in the non-stop sector, with 41 A350-900s in service - including seven -900ULRs - and 26 on order. Essentially, the US carriers view the Singapore-USA route quite differently. To serve their passengers, they are well-covered by a number of connecting points in areas such as Japan and Taiwan, where air service agreements for onward connections are more open, says Morris. This is further enhanced by their belief that their networks are competitive, and that the direct market for specific US airports is not big enough to justify a service. "Whereas the USA is a significant potential market for either connecting traffic via Singapore Airlines from Singapore or for Singapore residents, the Singapore market is tiny in comparison with China, Japan, Korea, etc., where their core business focus lies," says Morris. And while ultra-long-haul flights reduce travel time and cut out transfers, some passengers prefer shorter journeys. US passengers have access to many options in Japan or South Korea, which serve more points in their home country and add only 2-3h to their journey. As such, it may be a cheaper and quicker way to travel onward to their destination, rather than via the fixed points offered by SIA. BRAND POWER This further suggests that SIA's success in the Singapore-USA routes is firmly rooted in the Singapore market, and its continued dominance and success relies strongly on its brand equity, which extends through the wider Southeast Asia region. The carrier regularly refreshes its marketing campaigns to update its image and maintain top-of-mind awareness. This would explain how it was the most recognisable brand in Singapore for the fourth consecutive year in 2018, edging out lifestyle brands like messaging tool WhatsApp and video sharing website YouTube, according to YouGov's annual survey of public perception. Martin Roll, business and brand strategist, opines in a January report that SIA has contributed around 20% to the overall nation's brand equity - which he describes as brand positioning in the minds of its citizens, international stakeholders and global customers. "This is remarkable, as over 90% of the passengers on SIA never immigrate into Singapore but only use Singapore Changi Airport as a transit hub." With Delta leaving the market, Cirium's Morris does not expect any new entrants to fill the gap. While Singapore might allow another carrier from another nation to fly from Singapore potentially, US regulators are likely to adopt a more protectionist stance. Furthermore, the market is too small to allow multiple airlines to serve directly. It remains a useful niche market for SIA, he says, although it is far from carte blanche for the carrier. "By the nature of airline route network competition, if they raise prices too much, then passengers will use alternative routings or airlines." https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/analysis-singapore-airlines-continues-to- dominate-u-461302/ Back to Top Baylor's new flight school takes wing at Waco Regional Airport New planes and state-of-the-art flight simulators were on display Monday at the grand opening of the new Baylor University Flight Center, which is intended to take the university's aviation sciences program to a new altitude. Starting this fall, the Baylor Institute for Air Science is partnering with the private Universal Flight Concepts for the flight training school, located at the Texas Aero complex at Waco Regional Airport. The partnership with one of the world's largest flight training providers will expand flight and training opportunities for Baylor's aviation program, which has about about 80 students, officials said. "A lot of people came together to make this happen, but this is a great opportunity to benefit not only our students at the university, but also the nation with the huge pilot shortage we're facing," said Trey Cade, director of the Baylor Institute for Air Science, speaking to Baylor, city and business leaders gathered in a hangar Monday. Founded in 1991, the Baylor Institute for Aviation Sciences offers four-year degrees in aviation sciences and aviation administration. Baylor has partnered in the past with Texas State Technical College for flight training. "We still maintain that relationship, that relationship hasn't gone away, but we wanted to increase our capacity, to grow the program a little bit more," Cade said. Universal Flight Concepts will operate the new flight school, which has 14 new Tecnam aircraft and two Tecnam-specific flight simulators. Cade said the school has three models, the P2008 two-seater aircraft, P2010 four-seater, and the P2006t twin-engine plane which is used for multi-engine training. BU aero Baylor student Austin Saladna (right) and flight instructor Chuck Donley (left) prepare for a lesson. Gordon Jiroux, CEO of Universal Flight Concepts, started his career in helicopter training in the early 1980s, and by the 1990s, he oversaw one of the largest flight school providers in the world. "Several years ago I realized the industry needed some help in the fixed-wing world, so I decided to impart all the knowledge I gained in the helicopter industry," said to the crowd Monday. Cade said the school is paid for through students' flight fees and at no cost to Baylor. When registering, students pay a fee that covers the cost of using the planes during training. The Federal Aviation Administration sets a minimum number of flights, but students usually exceed that number before they can earn their license and the number of hours can vary. "The student gets charged a fee to pay for that flight course," Cade said. "Before, what we did was that flight fee was sent to TSTC to pay for the cost of flight training." Fees range from $12,705 to $22,770, on top of the roughly $47,644 per year students spend on tuition and fees for their bachelor of science in aviation sciences. "Over the last few years, we've definitely seen an increased interest in aviation, from more students wanting to come to Baylor to study aviation," Cade said. "Nationwide, there's been [increased interest] in aviation as a career as well, because we've kind of entered into a fairly serious pilot shortage." Commercial, national and regional airlines are all feeling the effects of the pilot shortage, he said. "By all estimates, this shortage of pilots we're experiencing now is only going to get worse over time," Cade said. Lewis Clements, who is in his third year of the program and has flown at multiple flight schools, said the program's new planes do make a difference. "They're definitely more complicated," Clements said. "They fly different, they act different." Garey Lillard, who just started his first semester, said the glass cockpits use a digital interface, while older planes still have analog controls. "Everything is on a computer screen," Lillard said. "It's really nice to learn how to read a digital flight display." Lillard said the flight school's resources make it easier for students to fast-track their way through their required flight hours. "I fly about five days a week," Lillard said. "So I'm going way faster in my flight training. After seven weeks, I have almost 30 hours. I have classmates flying in other places who have like four." https://www.wacotrib.com/news/higher_education/baylor-s-new-flight-school-takes- wing-at-waco-regional/article_9995fd0d-4327-5cd5-bdae-a5e79d3e038b.html Back to Top Airbus sold 41 jets in September, targets record fourth-quarter deliveries PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus sold 41 jets in September and processed cancellations for nine jets including five originally sold to Norwegian Air (NWC.OL), leaving the European firm ahead of Boeing Co (BA.N) in a relatively slow year for an industry distracted by safety and trade headlines. FILE PHOTO: Logo of Airbus is pictured at the aircraft builder's headquarters of Airbus in Colomiers near Toulouse, France, September 27, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau The European planemaker said it had won a total of 303 orders in the first nine months of the year, or 127 net new orders after cancellations. That remains well ahead of U.S. rival Boeing, whose sales have been hampered by the grounding of its fast-selling jet, the 737 MAX, in the wake of two accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Boeing registered sales of 145 aircraft up to end-August, the latest period for which data is available, or a net total of 55 after ordinary cancellations and a negative total of 85 after adjustments to historic orders deemed unlikely to materialize. Airbus posted new orders for 14 A220 and 10 A321neo planes to unnamed customers. Reuters reported last week it was close to a deal for around 12 A220 jets with Mexico's Interjet. The overall tally of Airbus orders by low-cost carrier Norwegian Air fell to 88 aircraft from 93 after the airline trimmed its A320neo order by five aircraft, a monthly Airbus table showed. Norwegian Air could not be reached for comment out of business hours. Airbus declined comment. Monday's update was the first since the United States announced tariffs of 10% on Airbus aircraft, while sparing aircraft assembled in the planemaker's Alabama plant. New business included confirmation of 12 more orders for the A330neo - an upgraded version of the A330 wide-body that is in a fierce battle against the Boeing 787 - from Malaysia's AirAsiaX. The move reflects part of a fleet review that involves scaling back the airline's earlier growth plans for the same model and switching focus to a long-range version of the A321. The long-haul arm of Asia's largest budget airline group, AirAsia X Bhd (AIRX.KL), had initially planned to order 34 more of the 250-300-seat A330neo jets, on top of 66 already on order. In August, the group reduced those plans to 12 more A330neos while agreeing to buy 30 newly launched 321XLRs. The latter part of the deal has not yet appeared in the Airbus order book. Three buyers opted to convert a total of 22 A320neo jets to the larger A321neo, which has been scoring wins in a segment of the market Boeing had hoped to address with a new design before the MAX was grounded in March, Airbus data showed. Discussion of the new Boeing jet has slowed while the MAX crisis continues. Deliveries of new Airbus aircraft rose 13.5% from a year earlier to 571 between January and September, Airbus data showed. That means it must top last year's record fourth- quarter handovers of 297 jets to reach its full-year goal of 880-890. Airbus has been hit by problems in ramping up output of the A321neo at a German plant as quickly as it hoped, though nine-month deliveries of the model are still up more than 50%. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbus-orders/airbus-sold-41-jets-in-september- targets-record-fourth-quarter-deliveries-idUSKBN1WM1YX Back to Top RESEARCH SURVEY Dear Part 141 Flight School Senior Staff, The Ohio State University's Center of Aviation is conducting a comparative analysis of Part 141 program models through its student capstone course. The goal of the study is to better improve factors such as instructor retention, aircraft utilization, and general program attraction. All Part 141 flight schools are encouraged to participate! This survey is meant for Part 141 aviation program staff who have knowledge of current pay rates, CFI benefits, and fleet utilization data. The data received from this survey will be shared with collaborators, upon request. Although any feedback received will aid us in our analysis, all questions are considered optional. We understand that not all data requested may be available to you. We estimate this survey will take 20 minutes or less to complete. For more information or assistance with this survey, please contact Noel Benford at Benford.15@osu.edu. Survey https://qtrial2019q3az1.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aVR6Y5B50Lu23qd Curt Lewis