Flight Safety Information March 11, 2020 - No. 051 In This Issue Incident: Easyjet A320 near Malaga on Mar 9th 2020, lost two generators in flight Incident: American B763 at Philadelphia on Mar 9th 2020, geese bend AoA Ill-fated Ethiopian aircraft crashed at speed of 926km/hr Report: Drugs showing up more in pilots killed in crashes FAA to Helo Pilots: 'HOWI' the Weather? UK aviation industry rejects decision to leave EU Aviation Safety Agency NTSB's Sumwalt Sees Need for Level Field in Safety China announces measures to give aviation industry fillip WSU Tech, Textron Aviation announce new apprenticeship program Blasting Airplanes With Lasers Makes It Much Harder For Ice to Stick to Wings One small perk of the coronavirus outbreak: Faster airplane Wi-Fi First Graduate From American Airlines Cadet Academy Hired As Commercial Pilot European airlines could be forced to merge if the coronavirus crisis lasts much longer SpaceX CEO Elon Musk explains why we need a 'whole new architecture' for space travel Incident: Easyjet A320 near Malaga on Mar 9th 2020, lost two generators in flight An Easyjet Airbus A320-200, registration G-EZUA performing flight U2-2404 from Malaga,SP (Spain) to London Luton,EN (UK), was enroute at FL320 about 80nm south of Madrid,SP (Spain) when the crew decided to divert to Madrid due to the loss of two generators in flight. The aircraft entered a hold at FL170 for about 5 minutes and landed safely on Madrid's runway 32L about 30 minutes after leaving FL320. A replacement A320-200 registration G-EZGY reached Luton with a delay of 7 hours. The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground for about 23 hours, then positioned to Luton as flight U2-9005 and is now still on the ground in Luton about 10 hours after landing in Luton. A passenger reported the aircraft departed Malaga with a delay of an hour. They were told the aircraft had experienced electrical problems on the inbound flight from Luton to Malaga and was repaired. The departure was normal, but when enroute at FL320 the captain announced there were electrical problems again and they were diverting to Madrid. The aircraft landed safely, the passengers were kept on board while maintenance attempted to fix the problem. About 20 minutes later the captain announced the problem could not be fixed, the passengers needed to disembark. They had departed Malaga with two engines and three working generators, however, lost two generators while in flight. Being left with only one generator the crew diverted to Madrid. http://avherald.com/h?article=4d45652f&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: American B763 at Philadelphia on Mar 9th 2020, geese bend AoA An American Airlines Boeing 767-300, registration N397AN performing flight AA-2562 from Dallas Ft. Worth,TX to Philadelphia,PA (USA), was on approach to Philadelphia's runway 27R when the aircraft flew through a flock of geese. One of the geese struck the left Angle of Attack (AoA) sensor. The aircraft continued for a safe landing on runway 27R. The FAA reported: "AIRCRAFT STRUCK A FLOCK OF GEESE ON APPROACH CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE LEFT AOA SENSOR, PHILADELPHIA, PA." and stated the damage was unknown. The occurrence was rated an incident. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground about 29.5 hours after landing in Philadelphia. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL2562/history/20200309/1110Z/KDFW/KPHL http://avherald.com/h?article=4d454866&opt=0 Back to Top Ill-fated Ethiopian aircraft crashed at speed of 926km/hr In Summary • Ethiopian investigators have singled out faulty systems on Boeing 737 MAX as the leading cause of the crash, concentrating on the technical elements of the flight. • They have so far identified no issues with the airline or pilots' handling of the jet during its six-minute flight. On March 10, 2019, at 08:38, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, Boeing 737-8 Max, , took off from Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport bound for Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). On board were 157 passengers including its two pilots, Captain Yared Getachew, 29, and First Officer Ahmednur Mohammed Omar, 29. It also had five cabin crew, one in-flight security officer and 149 regular passengers. READY FOR TAKE-OFF At 08:36:12 the airplane lined up on the runway and a minute later, the flight's first officer, Mr Omar, reported to the control tower that they were ready for take-off. At 08:37:36, the air traffic control (ATC) issued take off clearance to ET-302. The pilots were then advised to contact radar. The take-off was normal, with the engines performing at the right speeds. ERROR IN SENSOR Shortly after lift-off, the left angle of attack, a sensor that helps to avoid an aerodynamic stall, became erroneous. The plane's airspeed and altitude values from the left air data system began deviating from the corresponding right side values. The left and right recorded values began deviating. At 08:39:30, the radar controller identified ET-302 and instructed it to climb 34,000 feet. At 8:39:51, the first faulty sensor activated, putting the aircraft on a nose-down for 9 seconds. The pilot flying it pulled to pitch up the airplane. NOSE DOWN At 8:40:22, the second automatic nose-down trim activated, pushing the plane again on a nose diving position. This saw the planes ground proximity warning system sound "Don't sink" for three seconds and "Pull up" also displayed on its flight display for another three seconds. At 08:40:43, the third nose-down activated sensor pushing the plane nose downwards. Seven seconds later, Captain Getachew told First Officer Omar, "Advise we would like to maintain one-four-thousand. We have flight control problem." Mr Omar complied and the request was approved by air traffic control. Following the approval of the ATC, the new target altitude of 14,000 feet was set but Captain Getachew was unable to maintain the flight path and requested to return back to Bole Airport. DESCENT RATE At 08:43:21, the nose-down trim activated was about 5 seconds. This now saw the plane pitch 40 degrees angle. At this point the plane's descent rate increased from 100 feet per minute to more than 5,000 feet per minute. At 08:43:36 the enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) sounded "Terrain... Terrain... Pull Up... Pull up..." At 08: 44, the aircraft hit the ground. All 157 people on board died. These details are part of a 130-page interim report released by the Ethiopian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau on Tuesday on the one-year anniversary of the ill-fated flight's crash. REPORT DETAILS For the first time, the report gives an inside look at what could have happened to Flight 302, leading to disaster. The report shows that the aircraft plummeted to the ground at great speeds of 500 feet per second, with its nose down 40 degrees. "At the end of the flight, computed airspeed values reached 926 kilometre per hour, pitch values were greater than 40 degrees nose down and descent rate values were greater than 33,000 feet per minute," the report said. "The aircraft impacted the terrain creating a crater approximately 10 meters deep, with a hole of about 28 meters width and 40 meters length. The damages to the aircraft are consistent with a high energy impact." FAULTY SYSTEMS In their findings, the Ethiopian investigators have singled out faulty systems on a Boeing 737 Max as the leading cause of the crash, concentrating on the technical elements of the flight. They have so far identified no issues with the airline or pilots' handling of the jet during its six-minute flight. The investigators have singled out inaccurate sensor readings which activated the MCAS (Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System) anti-stall system that pushed the plane down, a record four times, as the two pilots struggled to steady the jet. "Shortly after lift-off, the left and right recorded angle of attack (AOA) values deviated. The left AOA value were erroneous and reached 74.5 degrees while the right AOA reached a maximum value of 15.3 degrees. The difference between the left and the right AOA values was 59 degrees and remained as such until near the end of the recording," the report said. RECOMMENDATIONS As part of safety recommendations, the investigators, in the interim report, advise Boeing to have the design of MCAS changed to consider the use of data from both AOA and/or other independent systems for redundancy. The plane maker has not provided any reaction to the report, instead posting a short statement on its website extending its sympathies to the Ethiopian and Lion Air crash victims. "We mourn those whose lives were lost on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Lion Air Flight 610 and offer our deepest sympathies to their families and friends," Boeing said. GROUNDED The US Federal Aviation Administration, which has since grounded all 737 Max aircraft across the world, has instead taken a cautious approach to the interim report, noting that it will consult other reports, before making its final decision over the crash. "We believe it's important to have the full final report to evaluate it against other independent reports so that we might fully understand all of the factors - both mechanical and human - that played a role in this tragic loss of life," the US aviation agency said. So far Boeing has given Sh10 billion to 346 families of the Ethiopian and Indonesian Lion air that went down in 2018 "to provide assistance to communities and families affected by the crash". Out of this, half will go towards the Boeing Financial Assistance Fund which provides around Sh14.5 million per family. The Ethiopian crash came with serious ramifications in the aviation sector, which saw the grounding of all Boeing 737 Max aircraft, its bestselling jet. The plane maker is now working to return the jetliner to service by June this year, even though this still does not seem feasible. The grounding of the planes has cost Boeing more than USD700 billion, having lost more than 87 orders, and another USD100 billion in revenues as the fleet of 737 Max remains grounded. https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Ill-fated-Ethiopian-aircraft-crashed-at-speed-of-926km-hr/1056-5486410-kasdif/index.html Back to Top Report: Drugs showing up more in pilots killed in crashes More than one in four pilots involved in fatal crashes have drugs in their system, and the number is up slightly since researchers first studied the problem. The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that 28% of pilots who died in crashes between 2013 and 2017 and for whom there were toxicology results were found to have used at least one impairing drug. That included prescription, over-the-counter and illegal drugs. That was an increase over the 23% rate among pilots killed in plane crashes from 1990 to 2012. Results from the earlier period were published in a 2014 report. In both studies, researchers used information from a toxicology-lab database maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration and the safety board's accident records. The researchers did not determine whether the drugs were likely to have impaired a pilot at the time of the crash. In the most recent report, which covered 952 pilots, 97% were killed in crashes of private planes or "general aviation." The average age of the pilots was 56. Researchers saw increases in the presence of potentially impairing drugs, controlled substances and illegal drugs. Sedating antihistamines were the most frequently-found drug that could impair a pilot's ability, followed by pain relievers including opioids. The board said the research indicated that marijuana use is increasing, which it called a safety hazard that hasn't been effectively addressed. https://apnews.com/94f795955c29b371542589387a786818 Back to Top FAA to Helo Pilots: 'HOWI' the Weather? The FAA's Helicopter Operations Weather Information (HOWI) project is surveying the helicopter community to identify gaps and shortfalls associated with weather information. It's part of the agency's Weather Technology in the Cockpit program in conjunction with the Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety (PEGASAS) and Georgia Tech, Purdue University, and Florida Tech universities. The HOWI team aims to identify gaps and shortfalls that pertain to weather-information relevancy, availability, and barriers to effective use via a widely-distributed questionnaire to the rotorcraft community. The team seeks to identify not only the type of weather information available to pilots but also the sources available or used such as online, avionics, and dispatch; the relevancy of the information; how it's used in practice; and what additional information would be beneficial for missions, including air ambulance, search and rescue, law enforcement, observation, air tour, and air taxi. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/general-aviation/2020-03-10/faa-helo-pilots-howi-weather Back to Top UK aviation industry rejects decision to leave EU Aviation Safety Agency The UK aviation industry has hit back at plans to leave the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) by the end of the year, saying that the move posed a risk to highly skilled jobs in the UK. The calls come after US magazine Aviation Week reported that transport secretary Grant Shapps had confirmed that the UK would leave EASA, with the agency's powers reverting to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Read more: Global airlines could take $113bn hit from Covid-19, four times worse than past predictions Industry body ADS said that such a decision would be against the wishes of the industry, which might find it harder to attract investment without membership of the agency. ADS chief executive Paul Everitt said that "continued participation" in EASA was "the best option" to maintain the competitiveness of the UK's £36bn aviation industry: "It is essential that (the government) works with us to deliver a regime that does not put jobs at risk in an industry that employs 111,000 people in highly skilled roles across the UK", he added. British Airways owner IAG also said that it was "disappointed" by Shapps' decision, saying that the CAA "does not have the expertise required to operate as a world class safety and technical regulator". Sign up to City A.M.'s Midday Update newsletter, delivered to your inbox every lunchtime "The CAA will require fundamental restructuring from top to bottom which will take time. There is no way that it can be done by 31 December". Industry body Airlines UK agreed that while the industry had supported continued membership, it was important to avoid the UK "being a dumb follower of EU rules": "We urge that negotiations start as soon as possible on a Bilateral Air Safety Agreement with the EU, so that this can be concluded by the end of December. "Crucially, the starting point must be the current rule set for commercial aviation, which the CAA played such a key role in establishing". Tim Johnson, the CAA's directors, said that the regulator had been planning for this outcome since 2016's referendum, and that "there will be no immediate changes to aviation regulations at the end of this year, because of these preparations". According to ADS estimates, creating a UK safety authority to rival EASA would take at least 10 years, and cost £40m annually. The UK currently pays EASA £1m - £4m a year to be a member. A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: "We will maintain world-leading safety standards for industry, with the CAA taking over these responsibilities, and will continue to work with colleagues in the EU to establish a new regulatory relationship". https://www.cityam.com/uk-aviation-industry-rejects-decision-to-leave-eu-aviation-safety-agency/ Back to Top NTSB's Sumwalt Sees Need for Level Field in Safety As the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has heightened its focus on elevating Part 135 safety, Chairman Robert Sumwalt acknowledged the efforts of attendees at the recent Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) 2020 Air Charter Safety Symposium to improve safety but warned that any accident segment reflects upon the industry. "Thank you for what you are doing to raise the bar on aviation safety," he told attendees, adding that while Part 135 is on the NTSB's "Most Wanted" list of safety improvement, "The truth of the matter is...we are probably not targeting you." He noted the varied operations in the category and the different levels and approaches within Part 135 to safety. But Sumwalt added, "Unfortunately you get painted with a broader brush. Your neighbor's accident is really your accident. That's how the public sees it." He also pointed to the safety roundtable the NTSB held on Part 135 earlier last week, highlighting some of the key thoughts of industry to come out of it. Specifically, he noted concerns that some operators cannot gather enough data to have statistically relevant analysis. But Sumwalt asked, "Do you need to statistically analyze something before you say it's a problem. How about a one-off event?" Sumwalt also noted comments about the importance of having employee buy-in on safety management systems (SMS) and how some of the best intel is coming from the youngest pilots because they are learning SMS as part of their regular pilot training. Some expressed thoughts about a potential mandate for flight data monitoring (FDM), and Sumwalt agreed that the NTSB has recommended it. "It does not necessarily have to be a full FOQA program, but FDM in some sort of fashion can enhance safety." He further noted efforts of some operators that do everything possible to enhance safety, while others are not as diligent. That's why sometimes safety regulation is necessary, Sumwalt said. "From a safety perspective, we want you to be able to compete on a level playing field," he told attendees and questioned whether passengers should be informed of what safety equipment is and is not on an airplane or helicopter. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2020-03-10/ntsbs-sumwalt-sees-need-level-field-safety Back to Top China announces measures to give aviation industry fillip China has rolled out a raft of measures - from financial support to infrastructure investments - for the country's aviation industry, which has been hit by the coronavirus outbreak. In total, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced 16 measures, all of which are aimed at "promoting the stable development" of the sector. It did not disclose how much these measures, taken together, are expected to cost. In terms of financial support, the CAAC will provide subsidies to Chinese carriers, and provide additional funding support for international services. During this period, the CAAC is also waiving the civil aviation development funds that airlines have to pay. The CAAC will also reduce the airport parking and air control fees for all carriers. For Class 1 and 2 airports, take-off and landing charges will be cut by 10%, with parking fees waived. The fee reductions have already been put in place since 23 January, the CAAC notes, and will remain in force until further notice. China will also double down on infrastructure investment, with a target of CNY 100 billion ($14.4 billion) in fixed asset investment for the rest of the year. A key priority for the agency will be to support the resumption of infrastructure works, most of which were halted due to the outbreak. At the same time, CAAC will use the civil aviation development fund to "better support airlines in improving their safety capabilities". These include investing in security, flight monitoring, satellite navigation, and other areas. On the air transport management front, the CAAC will "optimise" the management of route and airline licensing. To this end, the administration will adjust its quota in line with market demand. It has extended the 2019/2020 winter schedule to 2 May, while suspending its routine assessment of an airline's on-time performance. The CAAC will also aim to simplify administrative procedures - and cut down processing time - for new route applications, as well as the reinstatement of suspended international routes. China's latest move comes days after it launched a funding scheme aimed at incentivising domestic and foreign airlines to continue or restore services. The reward scheme is split into a CNY0.0176 per seat kilometre reward for flights on routes served by multiple airlines, and a CNY0.0528 reward per seat kilometre for a route where the carrier is a sole operator. The policy implementation period covers 23 January to 30 June. China, which was the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, has seen international services slump in recent months. Many international carriers began suspending services to mainland China in late January and have since suspended flights through February and March, with several pushing these suspensions into April. Chinese carriers too have been forced to suspend or reduce services on their international networks. https://www.flightglobal.com/airlines/china-announces-measures-to-give-aviation-industry-fillip/137179.article Back to Top WSU Tech, Textron Aviation announce new apprenticeship program WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) A new apprenticeship program aims to further build up and benefit Wichita's aviation industry. The partnership between WSU Tech and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers is a grant-funded program geared toward finding the next generation of tooling technicians. Tooling is all about knowing and using the tools used to put aircraft together. It's a craft, educators and industry leaders say, is needed in the Wichita area. "It's important because these skills our beginning to leave our workplace," says WSU Tech President, Dr. Sheree Utash. At Textron Aviation, she says, 78 percent of the tooling employees are either currently eligible for retirement, or will be eligible over the next five years. Employees in the program receive full-time benefits and salary from Textron, which also covers costs at WSU Tech for them to earn tool associates degrees. Participants will split time between WSU Tech's campus and the Textron Aviation floor. The new program begins March 23 and the first class includes 15 employees. It's made possible thanks to a grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce. In Wichita for the partnership announcement Tuesday, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly says the first-of-its-kind program will benefit the State of Kansas and the region for years to come. https://www.kwch.com/content/news/WSU-Tech-Textron-Aviation-announce-new-apprenticeship-program-568684671.html Back to Top Blasting Airplanes With Lasers Makes It Much Harder For Ice to Stick to Wings If you've ever had to fly during the cold winter months you've probably already experienced the hassle of a delayed flight because the aircraft had to be blasted with deicer before take off. But annoying delays are just one of many issues ice build-up on a plane can cause, so researchers have come up with a better alternative that involves blasting planes with lasers instead of chemicals. Airlines and plane builders currently use multiple strategies to prevent snow and ice from building up on aircraft, which can affect the movements and functions of control surfaces, reduce the accuracy of important sensors, and even diminish a plane's aerodynamics which reduces fuel efficiency. The most obvious are the fleets of tanker trucks deployed at airports in the winter months that spray aircraft with chemicals such as antifreeze that helps prevent ice and frost from building up. Aside from flight delays, the de-icing process uses upwards of 600 liters of antifreeze to treat a large plane, and not all of it can be collected and recycled afterward. To keep an aircraft in flight ice-free, planes are equipped with heating systems in the wings that warm flight surfaces and melt away any frost build-up, but powering those systems requires extra fuel, and fuel is expensive. So researchers from Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS, aircraft manufacturer Airbus, and the Dresden University of Technology in Germany have co-developed a better way to keep planes free of ice and snow. It uses a technology called Direct Laser Interference Patterning (DLIP), where a laser is split into multiple beams that overlap each other creating complex etched patterns on a surface where the beams are focused. By adapting the DLIP technique to create three-dimensional structures at the microscopic level, the laser etching technique is able to turn an airplane's wing into a material with reduced surface area that ice simply has a hard time holding onto. As a result, after reaching a certain thickness and weight, built up ice simply falls off a wing all on its own. It could not only reduce the need for de-icing procedures at airports, but it could also remove the need for antifreeze and other chemical agents altogether. Waiting for ice to spontaneously fall off on its own isn't always an option, like when you're cruising along at 500+ miles per hour, 30,000 feet in the air. So additional testing by the researchers found that while it took over a minute for ice to melt off a wing surface with 60 watts of heat applied, the same material, treated with the laser etching process, saw ice completely vanish after just five seconds with the same amount of heat. Not only does it mean an aircraft could be cleared of ice much faster without the use of chemicals, but it also means that aircraft manufacturers could include smaller heating systems that were just as effective, but with drastically reduced fuel consumption. The new use for the DLIP technology isn't only useful for keeping aircraft safe and free of ice, it could be applied to everything from the blades on giant power-generating windmills, to the hulls of ships braving icy waters. The biggest benefit could be applying it to the windows of a car, making scraping them clean on a cold winter's morning as easy as wiping away raindrops-assuming, of course, that the etching process still lets you actually see through the glass. https://gizmodo.com/blasting-airplanes-with-lasers-makes-it-much-harder-for-1842247129 Back to Top One small perk of the coronavirus outbreak: Faster airplane Wi-Fi Fewer people on board means less competition for bandwidth. And once travel gets back to normal, the future might offer faster Wi-Fi service, for free. Reading this on a plane could be significantly less rage-inducing-if some upgrades to inflight Wi-Fi fulfill their promises of cheaper, faster, and more robust connectivity. But even if they don't, you'll probably find it more pleasant this year because of something the airlines can't control: how many people ground themselves to avoid the novel coronavirus. LESS COMPETITION Right here in 2020, inflight Wi-Fi will probably feel a lot zippier just because you'll have fewer people using it. As coronavirus fears lead to more canceled events, foregone trips, and emptier planes, those left on board will have more bandwidth to enjoy. The airlines, however, won't enjoy the experience as much, as multiple industry executives noted at a just-concluded aviation summit. "A lot of people are just staying home," said Indigo Partners founder William Franke at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Aviation Summit in Washington last week. Franke' s private-equity firm owns a controlling interest in Frontier Airlines and has stakes in other carriers overseas. He sees revenue shortfalls of 20 to 25% for U.S. airlines. Other airline executives also acknowledged difficult times at the conference. "We have reduced our schedule to a number of international markets-not because of safety, entirely because of demand," American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said. (American's pilot union also instructed crews to refuse to operate flights to China.) "The demand drops off to a point where it doesn't make sense to fly the airplane there and back." "There is a lot of anxiety," said Alaska Airlines CEO Bradley Tilden before noting what he called a recent outbreak of "some booking softness." Southwest CEO Gary Kelly was more direct in noting that the Dallas carrier had just warned investors that it expected its first-quarter revenue to drop by $200 million to $300 million: "A couple hundred million dollars in one quarter-which, when you think about it, is really one month-yeah, it gets your attention." MAKE IT SNAPPIER Longer term, in-flight Wi-Fi should benefit from some upgrades better suited to keep up with a plane full of people streaming, browsing, and otherwise sapping bandwidth from their seats. Almost all airborne connectivity today relies on satellites in geosynchronous orbits that keep them parked above one spot on the Earth's equator. That allows one satellite to cover a huge expanse, but also imposes a nontrivial lag on every online interaction-each bit of data must take a 44,000-mile round trip from the plane to the satellite and back. At the Chamber of Commerce event, another executive with an inflight-connectivity firm predicted less-laggy service from satellites in lower orbits. "Another key breakthrough technology is about bringing satellites closer to the Earth," said Giuseppe Ferraioli, vice president of aeronautical sales for the Americas at SES. "We have a new constellation that's going to be launched in two years." That Luxembourg-based firm's seven O3b mPower satellites, to be launched starting in 2021, will provide bandwidth from almost 5,000 miles up. Chicago-based Gogo plans to provide service from even closer in, relying on OneWeb's growing constellation of satellites in 745-mile orbits. "It's a snappier experience," Cobin said Thursday of the service that should launch in one and a half to two years. Upgrading to these new systems will cost airlines money, but they've already shown themselves willing to make such an investment. "Airlines have already shown a willingness to put up new technology if it means a more functional system," e-mailed Brett Snyder, an airline analyst who runs the Cranky Flier blog. "Delta and American have both replaced their old air-to-ground systems with satellite offerings." A third vendor of satellite connectivity, Viasat, is sticking with its existing geosynchronous-satellite architecture. "Latency's not an issue," said Don Buchman, who runs the commercial aviation business for that Carlsbad, California, firm. "The market's already said that"-as in, satellite Wi-Fi quickly won out over air-to-ground Wi-Fi with less latency but far less bandwidth. Instead, Viasat is emphasizing capacity: Its third generation of satellites, to be launched starting in 2021, will offer one trillion bits per second of bandwidth to a plane, up from 260 billion bits per second from today's satellites. MAKE IT FREE In the future, you might be happier with the inflight Wi-Fi you get for a reason unrelated to its speed: You might not have to pay for it. Among U.S. airlines, only JetBlue currently offers Wi-Fi for free. But it should have some company before too long. "We have multiple customers today that are giving full internet service away for free," Gogo chief strategy officer Jon Cobin said at the Aviation Summit. "More and more airlines you hear out there [are] very publicly talking about the intention to give the service away for free." Delta chief executive officer Ed Bastian, for example, mused about that possibility at the Skift Global Forum travel conference in New York in February, saying free Wi-Fi was the norm in most places on the ground, so the Atlanta-based airline would offer it at some point. On other airlines, free Wi-Fi exists for certain services beyond the apps and sites of the airlines themselves. Delta and Alaska, for example, allow free use of such messaging apps as WhatsApp inflight, while American Airlines began offering free Apple Music streaming last January. Southwest, meanwhile, provides free Wi-Fi to elite A-List Preferred members of its frequent-flyer program. United provides a different sort of no-money-down connectivity: It lets passengers pay with miles instead of dollars. The redemption rate there is bad, but for people without enough miles to get a flight anytime soon, MileagePlus miles can look like a free currency. Finally, T-Mobile subscribers get an hour of free Gogo connectivity on every domestic flight. https://www.fastcompany.com/90474235/one-small-perk-of-the-coronavirus-outbreak-faster-airplane-wi-fi Back to Top First Graduate From American Airlines Cadet Academy Hired As Commercial Pilot 26-year-old first to graduate from American Airlines Cadet Academy It's no secret that there's the concern of a pilot shortage due to many of them who will retire in the next fifteen years. That's why airlines like American are focusing on finding the next generation of pilots. It's no secret that there's the concern of a pilot shortage due to many of them who will retire in the next fifteen years. That's why airlines like American are focusing on finding the next generation of pilots. Tuesday morning, 24 pilots from different programs celebrated their new employment with Envoy, one of American Airlines largest wholly-owned carriers. "It's indescribable, there are no words that can describe the feeling that I have right now to even be here at Envoy," said Keith Taylor, a pilot recently hired by Envoy Air. "I think every pilot who initially starts training or who wants to be a pilot thinks about this day and that it's finally here." Taylor, 26, received special mention because he is the first graduate of American Airlines Cadet Academy. The program, which takes 36 months to complete started in 2018. According to their website, "The American Airlines Cadet Academy is an integrated flight training program that provides a clearly defined path to becoming a professional pilot. The goal of the program is to make flight training cost-effective, efficient, and more accessible." They're looking for passionate and qualified candidates like Taylor. "He's critical to our program of finding qualified pilots, and not only qualified but someone that just goes above and beyond and represents the type of diversity and inclusion that we want at American Airlines and he just stands out," said Capt. Ric Wilson, Vice President of Flight Operations for Envoy about Taylor. Taylor, who grew up in Washington D.C., studied Aviation and Political Science at Jacksonville University in Florida and later achieved a master's in business administration. He's also known for holding food drives, was class president in college and wants to give back to other cadets. "He's just such an inspiration to us all, he really empowers me, enriches me and makes everything better," said First Officer Nicolas Brice, one of Taylor's mentors. "I hope I'm going to be his subordinate and that he's going to be my boss one day, that's what I hope for, truly, I actually think he's destined for great and good things." When it comes to flying, Taylor has had a passion for it since he was young. "I think I was born with it because I feel like it was one of those things where I talked to God before I was born and was like, 'Hey make me a pilot, that's what I want to be!' said Taylor when asked about when he wanted to become a pilot. Taylor said he learned how to fly at 14, before he even learned how to drive. His dreams of becoming a commercial pilot are now true, since he's been hired by Envoy. "It's almost like going to the minor leagues for major baseball and now I'm in Triple-A and then next when I get to American that's when I finally make it into the major leagues, so it's definitely a good feeling," said Taylor about his employment. Roughly 75 percent of all pilots will retire over the next 15 years according to Capt. Wilson. "That's 15,000 pilots and we're replacing a lot of those, so it's important that we start the supply chain and make sure we have a good supply chain coming out of the universities or professional flight programs to fill those vacancies," said Wilson. The American Airlines Cadet Academy has more than 15,000 applications on file and more than 300 in the program. American says more than 30% of the cadets are women. https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/first-graduate-from-american-airlines-cadet-academy-hired-as-commercial-pilot/2328014/ Back to Top European airlines could be forced to merge if the coronavirus crisis lasts much longer European airlines could be forced to merge if the coronavirus crisis lasts much longer, according to a senior analyst. Mark Manduca, associate director of Europe, the Middle East and Africa research at Citi, said Europe's six biggest carriers were burning through cash at an "astonishing rate" as businesses and consumers cancel travel plans, which could hasten dealmaking in the industry. "The lack of visibility is unprecedented," Manduca said. "This is an industry that doesn't tolerate revenue shortfall. We could see consolidation start to take place as airlines struggle to cut costs fast enough to keep up with the fall in revenue." A three-month shutdown would inflate Air France-KLM's net debt to 7.7 times earnings, and increase Lufthansa's multiple to 12.4 times, Manduca estimated. Airlines globally are being pushed into emergency cost-cutting measures to protect profits amid plunging passenger numbers. These include grounding flights, cutting routes and implementing hiring freezes. The International Air Transport Association has said the industry could take a hit of up to $113 billion from the disruption. Air France-KLM AF, -4.89% on Tuesday became the latest to reveal the extent of the damage from the spreading virus as it reported a drop in group passenger numbers for February compared with a year ago. The Franco-Dutch carrier said the coming months will be "more impacted" given the expansion of Covid-19 in other parts of the world and the extension of capacity reduction. Shares in Air France-KLM, which have fallen 44% in the year to date, were trading up 5.10% at 11:45 a.m. GMT. Air France-KLM has substantial gross cash on its balance sheet (€3.7 billion at year-end) and €1.8 billion of committed facilities (combined, about 20% of revenues), although its financial position is not as strong as its peers, analysts at investment bank Liberum said. Business travel, the most lucrative part of the industry, has been severely hit as some of Europe's biggest companies ban or restrict travel for employees and major conferences are axed. Nestlé told more than 290,000 employees to suspend all international business travel until March 15, and requested that all domestic trips be skipped whenever possible for now. Last month, the cancellation of technology conference Mobile World Congress cost Barcelona an estimated $546 million in lost revenue. "There is going to be lasting damage done to the airline sector-consolidation in European short haul will accelerate," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at trading platform Markets.com. European airlines were already struggling with profitability before the coronavirus outbreak, as they grappled with rising fuel prices, excess capacity and intense competition from low-cost carriers. Compared with North American airlines, the European aviation sector is more fragmented and less profitable. However, attempts to build scale and cut costs through mergers have been impeded by political and regulatory obstacles. Of the roughly $7 billion of net profit that the European carriers made in 2019, the lion's share was held by the top six carriers. "In fact the bottom 35% of the European short-haul market broke even or lost money; a fairly sobering fact...and one can but ponder as to the state of these very same balance sheets," Manduca said. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-airlines-could-be-forced-to-merge-if-the-coronavirus-crisis-lasts-much-longer-2020-03-10?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo Back to Top SpaceX CEO Elon Musk explains why we need a 'whole new architecture' for space travel SpaceX hopes its Starships will fly more than any other spaceship. WASHINGTON - "Why does Soyuz still fly?" That was a question about Russia's workhorse spacecraft posed by SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk at this year's Satellite 2020 conference here. In a keynote conversation yesterday (March 9), Musk wondered aloud about the dangers of spaceflight stagnating in low Earth orbit, which he called the "local maximum." "I think we need to be very careful of getting stuck keeping a local maximum," Musk said. Low Earth orbit, which stretches about 300 to 1,200 miles above Earth's surface, already holds the International Space Station (ISS), as well as many satellites. He noted that NASA's space shuttle program, which operated from 1981 to 2011 and launched 135 missions, was "something that was really stuck in a local maximum for a long time," and never progressed past low Earth orbit. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets have also flown to the ISS several times, and the company's space capsule, Dragon, has as well - delivering cargo in an uncrewed version and once carrying a dummy astronaut. (The first Crew Dragon flight with astronauts is expected to launch later this year. However, the Dragon capsule is only "capable of taking a few people at what is still a very high cost to Earth orbit." To avoid the local maximum trap, the future of space transport needs "a whole new architecture, including reusable rockets. SpaceX's massive Starship rocket, which is intended to carry cargo and crew to Mars, was designed with this rapid reusability in mind. When fully functional, Musk said that Starship should be able to be relaunched within an hour of landing, with only nominal maintenance like refilling propellant. He envisions launching the massive spacecraft on three flights a day. Musk also touched on SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation that will bring high-speed internet all over the world. The upward of 30,000 satellites are scheduled to bring internet services to hard-to-reach communities that telecommunications companies can't provide with landlines or cell towers. It could also bring in about $30 billion in revenue, Musk said. SpaceX launched its first 60 satellites in May 2019 and currently has 300 satellites in orbit, making it the biggest satellite constellation in history. However, the scientific community has warned that such a surge in satellite numbers could overwhelm the night sky, damaging astronomical observations and even change how the public sees the night sky with just their eyes. But Musk insisted that Starlink will have zero impact on scientific observations. He said that now that those initial 60 satellites are stable in their orbits, "I'd be impressed if somebody can actually tell me where all of them are. I mean it can't be that big of a deal." "I am confident that we will not cause any impact whatsoever to astronomical discoveries," Musk added. "Zero, that's my prediction. We will take corrective action if it's above zero." After a smattering of nervous laughter from the crowd, the SpaceX CEO backtracked and said that the company is "actually working with senior members of the science community and astronomers to minimize the potential for reflection of the satellites," to make sure observations aren't affected. https://www.space.com/elon-musk-spacex-starship-new-spaceflight-architecture.html Curt Lewis