Flight Safety Information October 1, 2020 - No. 199 In This Issue :: Incident: Azimut SU95 at Ufa on Sep 29th 2020, bird strike :: Antonov An-2 - Accident (Armenia) :: Top FAA official flies revamped grounded Boeing 737 MAX: ‘We're in the home stretch’ :: She tried to board a flight without shoes. Then came the meltdown, airline says :: Coffee spills in the cockpit can be dangerous. The solution is some plastic, for now :: Wheels Up Launches Aircraft Management Group :: Diversifying the flight deck: Less than 1% of US pilots are Black women :: Airline Cargo Divisions Finally Gain A Little R-E-S-P-E-C-T :: US military eyes nuclear thermal rocket for missions in Earth-moon space Incident: Azimut SU95 at Ufa on Sep 29th 2020, bird strike An Azimut Sukhoi Superjet 100-95, registration RA-89096 performing flight A4-322 from Ufa to Krasnodar (Russia), was climbing out of Ufa when the aircraft received a bird strike prompting the crew to return to Ufa for a safe landing. Ufa Airport reported the aircraft returned due to a technical malfunction and landed within 3 minutes after departure. The flight was cancelled, the passengers were rebooked onto other flights. http://avherald.com/h?article=4dd3b600&opt=0 Antonov An-2 - Accident (Armenia) Date:Monday 28 September 2020Type: Antonov An-2Operator:Registration:registration unknownC/n / msn:First flight:Crew:Fatalities: / Occupants:Passengers:Fatalities: / Occupants:Total:Fatalities: / Occupants:Aircraft damage:DestroyedAircraft fate:Written off (damaged beyond repair)Location:near Martuni ( Armenia)Phase:Unknown (UNK)Nature:MilitaryDeparture airport:?Destination airport:?Narrative: In the military conflict between Armenia and Azerbijan concerning Nagorno-Karabakh, an Antonov An-2 is said to have been shot down. Armenia claims the aircraft was Azerbaijani, while Azerbaijan refuted these claims. The An-2 is said to be operational at the Azerbaijani border guards. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20200928-0 Top FAA official flies revamped grounded Boeing 737 MAX: ‘We're in the home stretch’ FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said he would fly a Boeing 737 MAX jet before it was recertified in the U.S. SEATTLE — The head of the Federal Aviation Administration conducted a test flight of Boeing’s revamped 737 MAX jetliner on Wednesday as the agency considers whether to allow the plane to return to flight after two deadly crashes. FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson, a pilot who flew for the military and Delta Air Lines, sat in the captain’s seat during a two-hour flight. An FAA spokesman said Boeing pilots were also on the plane when it took off from King County International Airport. Dickson and Deputy Administrator Dan Elwell, the FAA's top two officials, addressed media questions Wednesday morning about the flight and where the FAA stands as several more milestones remain to be worked through before the 18-month-old grounding is lifted. During the press conference, Dickson said he wanted to be clear that his test flight Wednesday was separate from the official certification process underway by the FAA. Last year, Dickson said he would personally fly the 737 MAX and not sign off on its return until he was “comfortable putting his family on it.” Dickson said Wednesday he took the same training that the Joint Operations Evaluation Board recently looked at during their work at the London Gatwick Airport, followed by a session in a 737 MAX simulator. “It was important to me to experience firsthand the training and the handling of the aircraft so I can have the most complete understanding possible as we move forward with this process,” said Dickson. The crew put the jet through repeated changes in direction, speed and altitude as it headed east over the Cascade Range into central Washington state, according to data from tracking site Flightradar24.com. "I like what I saw [during the flight], said Dickson. "Its been a constructive week. That doesn't mean I don't have some debrief items for the Boeing team and FAA team. I have some observations that I'm going to share with them. That's going to be incorporated into the process going forward.” The MAX has been grounded since March 2019 following two deadly crashes. The crashes have been blamed on an automated anti-stall system that pushed the noses of the planes down based on faulty readings from sensors. Boeing hopes to win FAA approval later this year for changes it has made to flight-control software and computers. “Not a day goes by that I and my colleagues don't think about the victims and their families and our solemn responsibility to get this right,” Dickson said Wednesday. The FAA won't approve passenger service for the 737 MAX until the known safety issues that played a role in the two deadly crashes have been "adequately addressed." “We're in the home stretch, but that doesn't mean we're going to take shortcuts to get it done by a certain date,” said Dickson. In Washington, the House Transportation Committee approved legislation to change the way the FAA certifies new planes, including the agency’s reliance on employees of Boeing and other aircraft makers to perform key safety analysis. The bill would not eliminate the FAA’s use of private-sector employees to review their own companies’ planes – lawmakers believe it would be too expensive for FAA to do the work, and that the aerospace companies have more technical expertise. Instead, the bill would give FAA approval over picking private-sector employees who perform safety analysis and allow civil penalties for companies that interfere with their work. Boeing whistleblowers complained of pressure to approve systems on the MAX. The bill would also require plane manufacturers to tell the FAA, airlines and pilots about automated systems that can alter a plane’s path. Top FAA officials and most pilots did not know about the anti-stall system on the MAX, called MCAS, until after the first crash, in October 2018 in Indonesia. Less than five months later, another MAX crashed in Ethiopia. In all, 346 people died. "Safety has to be the primary role for the FAA, and that's one of the concerns we had in our investigative report, that Boeing and the FAA were too close, and that needs to be separated,” said Rep. Rick Larsen, the Washington state Democrat who is chair of the Aviation Subcommittee. “Those crashes were the inevitable culmination of stunning acts of omissions within Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration,” said committee Chairman Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., a staunch defender of the FAA, said the agency represents “the gold standard” in aviation regulation but the crashes show the need for improvement. The committee approved the bill by what appeared to be a unanimous voice vote. Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Mich., left the meeting after complaining that lawmakers had only one day to read the bill, which he called an “absurd” rush for such a complex, technical subject. The measure, based on recommendations from U.S. and international regulators and safety investigators, goes next to the full House. Its fate is uncertain, however. A similar bill was pulled from consideration in a Senate committee on Sept. 16, and Congress is rushing to adjourn so that lawmakers can go home and campaign for re-election. https://www.king5.com/article/tech/science/aerospace/boeing/boeing-737-max-test-flight-faa-stephen-dickson/281-9be0a501-a174-49b6-9800-bca40f150a0b She tried to board a flight without shoes. Then came the meltdown, airline says Another day, another public meltdown. But this latest melee wasn’t over masks. Two people were arrested at Miami International Airport on Sunday evening after they began fighting with a representative from American Airlines at the gate. A bystander’s cellphone video of the incident shows one of the suspects, 23-year-old Brittney Mohammadi, jumping over the ticket counter in an aggressive fashion. You see her straddle the desk and try to attack the AA employee, then lose her footing and fall. Mohammadi’s travel companion, identified by police as 26-year-old Manuel Arteaga, is seen yelling at airport cops ranting and pacing frantically about the gate area. The problem reportedly began when the female passenger tried to get on Flight 1061 to Los Angeles without shoes. “After being informed of our policy, the customers became irate and one attempted to strike an American team member at the gate,” AA spokeswoman Laura Masvidal told the Miami Herald on Wednesday. “Violence of any kind is not tolerated by American Airlines. We thank the Miami-Dade Police Department for their quick action to ensure the safety of our customers and team members.” She had a meltdown at a Florida airport. Then she coughed on a cop, report says The two were escorted off the property by cops, but once outside by the airport exit, began to get combative, video provided to Local 10 News shows. They scuffled with officers and one cop is seen falling to the ground. The California woman later told WSVN that she forgot to put her shoes back on after going through the TSA checkpoint. “You know what? I don’t go to the airport that often,” she said, adding she takes “100% responsibility” for what occurred. The two admitted that they were drinking tequila at the Voodoo Lounge in Miami Beach before their aborted trip. They were transported to Miami-Dade County Jail. https://www.yahoo.com/news/she-tried-board-flight-without-195237022.html Coffee spills in the cockpit can be dangerous. The solution is some plastic, for now New York (CNN Business)It's a legend immortalized in the 1964 flick "Fate is the Hunter": An airline pilot is enjoying a coffee and accidentally spills the piping-hot liquid on the cockpit's crucial electronic components. It's not just Hollywood, however. Years of public documents show that spills can have terrifying — if non-fatal — consequences in the air. In the film, the spillage led to a fiery crash. In real life, no such fumble has been linked to death — but it has forced pilots to divert flights for emergency landings. In two cases over the past year, beverages spilled in the cockpit of an Airbus A350 aircraft have caused the shutdown of one of the aircraft's engines, which pilots were then unable to restart. In January 2011, a Boeing 777 made an emergency landing in Canada after a spilled coffee triggered a false hijack warning. In February 2019, an Airbus A330 was grounded after a pilot's radio was taken offline by a spilled beverage, and local news outlets reported the fried electronics caused a plume of smoke severe enough to hospitalize a few people on the aircraft for smoke inhalation. But the two recent A350 incidents that caused engine shutdowns are perhaps the most extreme examples of what has long been parodied and feared by those who pilot aircraft and ride in their cabins. It prompted European regulators to warn earlier this year that wayward liquids could have caused both of the A350's engines to fail, "possibly resulting in a forced landing with consequent damage to the aeroplane and injury to occupants." The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, or EASA, temporarily barred A350 pilots from having beverages near the cockpit's control panel and required Airbus to investigate and propose a fix for the issue. Airbus unveiled a stopgap solution over the summer: The company designed a waterproof slipcover that should be fitted over the center console, shielding the electronic components during flight. Though, it would have to be removed during "critical flight phases," such as take off and landing, according to the EASA. The agency is also proposing a new order that would require Airbus to replace engine control panels with new, liquid-resistant panels on all A350 aircraft by the end of May 2021, an agency spokesperson told CNN Business earlier this month. "While it is not common for pilots to spill liquids in the cockpit, it is recognised that such spillages do happen and so aircraft cockpits are designed to be liquid resistant," the EASA spokesperson said via email. "However cockpits cannot be completely liquid proof, and spillages when they happen often cause unexpected systems failures." In a separate statement, Airbus said only that these "incidents have been investigated, there is a fix, customers are informed, and implementation is underway." Coffee spills have not been linked to more severe issues, such as the software glitches on Boeing 737 aircraft that caused two crashes that took the lives of 346 people. (Boeing is still awaiting government approval to fly the aircraft again after it was grounded worldwide in March 2019.) But it's also unclear exactly how often and how threatening issues linked to spilled beverages in aircraft cockpits can be. The US Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to CNN Business that it "does not maintain a separate database that tracks coffee spills on aircraft control panels," but the agency also said that aircraft manufacturers already design cockpit electronics to be as spill-resistant as possible. Airbus did not respond to further inquiry, and Boeing declined to comment. Aircraft safety experts, including the nonprofit Flight Safety Foundation, also declined to comment for this story. Still, some safety experts have suggested the decades-old problem of spilled beverages could be tempered with somewhat straightforward solutions. Sandy Murdock, a legal counsel for JDA Aviation, which works as a go-between for aircraft manufacturers and regulators, said in an April blog post that the A350 incidents might have been avoided if pilots had a better cupholders or just access to spill-proof coffee mugs. Murdock also expressed opposition to the idea that pilots shouldn't be allowed to handle drinks around electronic components. After all, he wrote, sleep-deprived pilots often need a caffeine kick to help them stay alert in the air. https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/30/business/coffee-spill-aircraft-cockpit-airbus/index.html FAA chief not ready to re-approve Boeing 737 Max Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Chief Steve Dickson conducted a nearly two-hour evaluation flight at the controls of a Boeing 737 MAX on Wednesday (September 30), a milestone for the jet to win approval to resume flying after two fatal crashes. Dickson, a former military and commercial pilot, and other FAA and Boeing pilots landed shortly before 11 a.m. local time (1800 GMT) at King County International Airport - also known as Boeing Field - in the Seattle area. "I like what I saw on the flight," Dickson told a news conference afterwards, but said he was not ready to give the jet a clean bill of health, with FAA reviews still ongoing."We are not to the point yet where we have completed the process," Dickson said. Dickson also told reporters he had completed the revised pilot training protocols and a session in a flight simulator. The flight was a key part of the U.S. planemaker's long-delayed quest to persuade the FAA to lift a March 2019 grounding order triggered by 737 MAX crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia that killed 346 people within a five-month period. The accidents plunged Boeing into its worst-ever crisis, strained its relationship with the FAA, threw into question the U.S. regulator's position as the standard-bearer for global aviation safety and prompted bipartisan calls in Congress to overhaul how the FAA certifies new airplanes. Dickson said; "The FAA and I in particular, will not approve the plane for return to passenger service until I'm satisfied that we've adequately addressed all of the known safety issues that played a role in the tragic loss of 346 lives aboard Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. Not a day goes by that I and my colleagues don't think about the victims and their families." https://www.yahoo.com/news/faa-chief-not-ready-approve-220113025.html Wheels Up Launches Aircraft Management Group The private aviation company now offers an innovative approach to aircraft management with bespoke programs tailored to fit the unique needs of whole aircraft owners NEW YORK, Sept. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wheels Up, the leading brand in private aviation, has launched Wheels Up Aircraft Management, a new group formed through the strategic integration of recently acquired Delta Private Jets and Gama Aviation Signature and creates one of the largest and most efficient aircraft management platforms available today. Wheels Up Aircraft Management now offers existing and prospective aircraft owners, and aircraft brokers, flexible management solutions that are customized for individuals owning a single plane or businesses with a fleet. This fully tailored program brings with it the economies of scale and charter demand provided by the size and scope of Wheels Up. Wheels Up Aircraft Management includes a full suite of management services backed by over 35 years of private aviation and management experience fusing the historical operational excellence of Delta Private Jets and Gama Aviation Signature. The offering includes the following solutions to fit the unique needs of each client: • Full Management – For owners who are the primary user of the aircraft (Part 91) or for owners who want the option to tap into Wheels Up's flight demand to generate charter revenue (Part 135). • Select Access – For individuals and flight departments who wish to partner with Wheels Up to gain savings by leveraging the Company's purchasing power. • Charter Select – For owners and corporations who wish to place their aircraft on the Wheels Up certificate for the purpose of generating charter revenue to offset operating costs. • Maintenance Management – For owners who only require maintenance oversight and coordination or brokers who need aircraft maintained while they are on the market. • "With our acquisitions of Delta Private Jets and Gama Aviation Signature, we gained a dedicated team of experts who are in position to lead Wheels Up Aircraft Management and deliver a best in class, bespoke service to our members and new clients," said Kenny Dichter, Founder and CEO of Wheels Up. "Our collective expertise and attention to detail combined with the extensive size, scale, and network of resources at Wheels Up lay the foundation for a unique infrastructure, delivering the most stringent safety standards, operational excellence, unrivaled cost efficiencies, and new revenue streams as we propel the brand forward." "The knowledge and expertise that we've brought together from Delta Private Jets, Gama Aviation Signature, and Wheels Up sets a new standard for management rooted in asset management, transparency, service and delivery," said Tom Connelly, CEO of Gama Aviation Signature and Senior Advisor at Wheels Up. "I am thrilled to be working with a world class sales team led by our Executive Vice President of Sales, Deron Brown, and service team led by Senior Vice President of Client Management, KC Ihlefeld, as we provide continuity to our existing clients and develop new and lasting relationships with our owners and partners, and look forward to expanding the business together." Each Wheels Up Aircraft Management client agreement can receive a Wheels Up Core Membership, which provides guaranteed access to the King Air 350i, as available access to the Citation Excel/XLS and Citation X and guaranteed access to over 1,250 safety vetted and verified partner operator jets across 4 different cabin sizes. Core Members also enjoy real-time aircraft availability with real-time dynamic pricing that is backed by capped hourly rates on 300 or more days a year. The launch of Wheels Up Aircraft Management follows the recent announcement of Safe Passage ™, an enhanced safety and health program for Wheels Up employees, members, customers and partners, with expanded guidelines in response to COVID-19 and today's ongoing public health concerns. The aircraft management group will operate out of Shelton, CT; Teterboro, NJ; West Palm Beach, FL; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; San Jose, CA; and Van Nuys, CA. Please reach out to aircraftmanagement@wheelsup.com or visit www.wheelsup.com/aircraft-management to learn more. About Wheels Up Wheels Up is the leading brand in private aviation that delivers a total aviation solution. Created and led by renowned entrepreneur Kenny Dichter, the company offers three membership options—Connect, Core, and Business—that significantly reduces the cost to fly privately, and provides its 9,000+ members with unparalleled safety, service, flexibility, and quality. Wheels Up gives members access to one of the world's largest owned and managed fleets of private aircraft, totaling over 300 planes—as well as the Program Fleet, which includes over 1,250 Wheels Up safety-vetted and verified partner aircraft in the Light, Midsize, Super-Mid, and Large-Cabin Categories. Many of these options can be booked instantly. Connect Members receive access to all aircraft on an as-available basis. For Core and Business Members, access is guaranteed on the King Air 350i, as available on the Citation Excel/XLS and Citation X, and guaranteed at the category level on the Program Fleet. Core and Business Members enjoy aircraft availability with real-time dynamic pricing backed by capped hourly rates for time flown only, up to 365 days a year and with as little as 24 hours' notice. Popular features such as Shared Flights, empty-leg Hot Flights, Shuttles, and The Community, an online platform of members-only forums to facilitate flight sharing, enable members to further reduce their cost of flying private. Through a groundbreaking partnership with Delta Air Lines, members have unique access and exclusive cross-platform benefits. Signature events and benefits from among the world's preeminent lifestyle brands make up the company's Wheels Down program. To learn more about Wheels Up, go to Wheelsup.com. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wheels-up-launches-aircraft-management-group-301142033.html Diversifying the flight deck: Less than 1% of US pilots are Black women "Sometimes they don't think women should be flying, let alone a woman of color." Victoria Wentt can't drive a car, but she can fly a plane. The 16-year-old from Rockville, Maryland, has yet to obtain her driver's license, but she is well on her way to getting into the cockpit of a commercial airliner. Wentt is the first person in her family to pursue a career in aviation, and is studying Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association's High School Aviation STEM curriculum. She has already received a scholarship to attend flight school, but as a young, Black female she has struggled to identify a role model in the aviation industry. "You don't see them often," Wentt said. "It's a very rare sight. But I hope to be one of them.
" Currently there are less than 150 professional Black women pilots in the U.S. that hold airline transport pilot, commercial, military or certificated flight instructor certificates. These women make up less than 1% of all professional pilots in the U.S. and some have made it their mission to diversify the flight deck -- founding the nonprofit organization Sisters of the Skies. Sisters of the Skies, which tracks the numbers of Black female pilots, was created to inspire young girls of color to take an interest in aviation and mentor girls like Wentt, pairing them up with Black, female pilots who have already earned their wings. 'I made it thanks to you' Monique Grayson, 33, knew she wanted to be a pilot when she took her first commercial flight from Detroit to San Francisco at 11 years old. "I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that we were going to defy gravity for four hours," Grayson recalled. Excelling in math and science, she got a full ride to Western Michigan University and was the first in her family to go to college. Now Grayson is a first officer -- flying the Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 for Delta Air Lines. Representation makes a heck of a difference in deciding what people can and cannot do," Grayson said. Sisters of the Skies (SOS) says their mission is to "develop pathways and partnerships to increase the number of black women in the professional pilot career field." On top of the financial burden, Grayson said the biggest hurdle she faced throughout her journey to become a pilot was the fact that she didn't have anyone to speak with who could relate to her experiences or give her advice. Many other female pilots of color echoed that sentiment. "I felt like I was on an island on my own when I was going through flight training," said Joi Schweitzer, a fellow Sisters of the Skies member and pilot. Schweitzer was working on her instrument rating when she met Capt. Stephanie Grant, who would later be a part of the first all-female African American flight crew in the U.S. and serve on the Board of Directors for Sisters of the Skies. "She actually encouraged me to stay the journey because it's hard work," Schweitzer said. "Years later we ended up seeing each other again. She embraced me, and I said, 'I'm here. I made it, thanks to you.' So it's very important that we have mentorship and that we inspire the next generation of aviators." 'You shouldn't be here' When the pilots walked into a training or a ground school, they were often the only woman of color in the room. "You can feel like an impostor," Schweitzer said. "I try to have a mentality that, you know, just be yourself. Be you. That's all you can do. You're professional. You're competent. You deserve to be sitting there just as much as the next person." But many of these women were met with scrutiny and doubt when they shared their dreams of flying with others. "You go through with society telling you that this isn't your career, 'You shouldn't be here,'" Grayson said. Sisters of the Skies (SOS) says their mission is to "develop pathways and partnerships to increase the number of black women in the professional pilot career field." In college one of Grayson's male classmates told her "she might as well join the circus" after she introduced herself as a student in the aviation program. "Sometimes they don't think women should be flying, let alone a woman of color," said Grant, who didn't meet another Black female pilot until she was in her thirties. "So we have to go in -- just as, I would say, even more prepared to prove that we can do it. Nobody gave us this position." Even now, the pilots explained it is "almost the norm" for them to be mistaken for flight attendants. "'People say 'Oh, you're the actual pilot?,'" Alexis Brown, a pilot and Sisters of the Skies member, shared. "Like, you did the takeoff and the landing?'" 'Now that they see it, they can be it' At Sisters of the Skies outreach events, young girls get to suit up in pilot gear, manipulate the flight controls, talk to air traffic control, plan their own flight and even fly in a jet. "I want to make sure that in life little girls know that now that they see it they can be it," Grant said. Schweitzer believes there are so few women of color that are pilots because "a lot of young girls aren't exposed to it." An instructor from Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) teaches Sisters of the Skies members Ruth and Victoria about different aspects of a plane. Sisters of the Skies' mission is to "develop pathways and partnerships to increase the number of black women in the professional pilot career field." "These girls come in and they're really shy," Grayson explained. "And then after the day ends, they're bursting with energy and have a thousand and one questions. And then the even better part of it is, you get the emails that say, 'Oh my gosh, my daughter participated in your event, and look, she's doing her first solo,' or, 'My daughter came to your event, and she's so interested in flying we're looking at flight schools.'" Grayson's advice for younger girls is to not "let the limitations that either you put on yourself or society puts on you dictate what you're supposed to do in life." "The sky is not even the limit," Grayson said with a smile. 'It's gotta bounce back, right?' As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on the airline industry, Sisters of the Skies' call for more representation is more pressing than ever with at least eight Black female pilots facing layoffs in October. The organization is trying to encourage young girls like Wentt to pursue a career in aviation despite looming job cuts. "Hey, you know, you can't walk to Europe," Grant joked. "So it's gotta bounce back, right?" Grant and many other Sisters of the Skies pilots have not flown since March and April as airlines cut back on flights due to declining demand. "We check on each other all the time," Grant said. "It's a tough time for everybody, not just our industry." They all insist their "sisterhood" is stronger than ever. "I may not even know the other Black female pilot that's rolling her bag down the jet-way or just in the concourse," Grant said. "But when we see each other there's a synergy. We go and we hug. Because we already know it's not many of us." https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/diversifying-flight-deck-us-pilots-black-women/story?id=72880810 Airline Cargo Divisions Finally Gain A Little R-E-S-P-E-C-T Air cargo is the cash cow for many passenger airlines during the coronavirus pandemic, an unusual result of decimated travel demand forcing passenger networks to shut down and carriers repurposing airplanes for cargo-only service. Other than cargo and loyalty programs, airline revenues are extremely weak as the industry racks up tens of billions of dollars in losses. Air France-KLM (OTC: AFLYY), Grupo Aeromexico (OTC: GRPAQ), IAG Group/British Airways and Korean Air significantly exceeded last year's cargo revenues in the second quarter. Air Canada (OTC: ACDVF) cargo revenue surpassed passenger revenue for the first time ever. And at United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: UAL) cargo sales jumped by more than a third and represented more than a quarter of the company's total revenue. Prior to the crisis, cargo revenues represented about 12% of total airline revenues, a share that declined the past decade and is under 5% for mainline U.S. carriers. This year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates cargo revenue worldwide will reach a near-record and more than double to 26% of the industry's total revenue. That performance has led to new found respect for cargo divisions in the corporate suite after historically being viewed as a byproduct of passenger operations. And they will continue to play an outsize role in operations while passenger business rebuilds. But don't expect airlines to buy all-cargo planes or rebalance their strategic mix, airfreight analysts and airline industry officials say. The real money still is in flying people. "If cargo isn't on the radar screen of every CEO, it is going to be as they figure out how their airline looks post-crisis. We know the environment is going to be really different. But with all of that adversity can come opportunity," said Neel Jones Shah, global head of airfreight at Flexport, a third-party cross-border logistics provider. "Cargo is going to have a bigger seat at the table and be more involved in network planning decisions, particularly at belly-only carriers." That will be particularly true in the next couple of years as airlines decide which grounded routes to restart, largely based on whether cargo can make them profitable, airfreight executives said. International passenger demand is 88% below last year's levels and will be slow to improve compared to domestic travel, according to industry analysts. Meanwhile, worldwide airfreight volumes are expected to rebound to 95% of pre-COVID levels in 2021 as the global economy improves, the IATA estimates. At United Airlines, which is operating about 1,100 cargo-only flights per month, international cargo serves as a base on which it can add passengers in key markets when it makes financial sense, United Cargo President Jan Krems said in an interview. "Instead of flying nothing at all and then starting to fly with 20 or 30 passengers" the airline can build off its cargo network. "In the past that would be the other way around," he said. United has not removed seats from any planes to add space for more cargo, as some airlines have done, relying instead on its traditional cargo hold and sometimes securing boxes on passenger seats. Krems, a veteran air cargo executive, has had more of a voice during six years at United than many of his colleagues at other airlines. Cargo will no longer play second fiddle in operational decisions, experts agree. Jones Shah, a former cargo chief at Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE: DAL), said cargo volumes and revenue will determine which cities get service first as airlines reopen their passenger networks. "It's going to be potentially the tail wagging the dog a little bit in terms of how operations are restarted and which routes get higher priority," he said. "Because at the end of the day, cargo is going to be a super important part of maintaining positive cash flow as operations start back." That's already the case at Air Canada and Swiss International Air Lines. Air Canada is operating flights to Hong Kong despite low passenger demand because interest in cargo is strong in that market, CEO Calin Rovinescu said during the company's quarterly earnings call with analysts July 31. "You have a series of completely different drivers for establishing what we're trying to do now." SWISS's reintroduction of long-haul passenger service to Boston, Johannesburg and Dubai is made possible by high demand for cargo transportation, spokesman Marco Lipp said. International airlines generally have placed greater emphasis on cargo because they focus on long-haul, cross-border business, whereas U.S. carriers tend to think of domestic travel as their main market. And cargo divisions at true combination carriers such as Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific and Korean have long occupied an important place in the organizational hierarchy because they operate freighter fleets too. Cargo revenues at United and other airlines sharply increased despite a large drop in volume because scarcity has pushed cargo rates much higher. Passenger aircraft normally provide more than 50% of global cargo capacity. Early in the pandemic when there was panic buying of personal protective equipment from China, spot rates were as much as five times higher than during typical shipping peaks. That pricing power will determine how long cargo divisions maintain clout, said Jesse Cohen, a Chicago-based air cargo consultant who previously held sales management positions at United Cargo and Etihad Airways. "I do think cargo will be consulted more on route potential. As long as the rates stay good and demand stays high, cargo contribution should be good and that should give cargo more influence," he said. "If we get back to whatever normal is, and rates fall with a more normal up-and-down range for air cargo, I can see cargo's contribution slipping over time. Long term, it will revert to where fewer cargo flights will make the difference. But I do think in the next several years, airline cargo departments will be consulted more for what they can do and whether we should fly a route, how we should fly it, and what equipment to use." Freighter prospects The recent attention on cargo doesn't mean airlines are interested in acquiring freighters or converting older 767s or 777s into freighters. Krems said freighters pose too much risk. "To have dedicated freighter capacity is very scary because our world is so opportunistic" and volatile, he told FreightWaves. United's fleet of widebody aircraft are essentially mini-freighters, Krems said. A Boeing 777-300, for example, can haul [66,000 to 76,000 pounds] of freight. And, he added, shippers that use temperature-controlled, expedited or other premium products, like the frequency of scheduled passenger flights over irregular, or weekly service, available from all-cargo carriers. United charters freighters from Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAWW), Deutsche Lufthansa AG (OTC: DLAKY) and other airlines to meet short-term needs, "but to own your own freighters is very dangerous if markets are going down," Krems said. The airfreight capacity crunch would be much worse without airlines dedicating some idle aircraft to cargo service. "I'm glad the airlines stepped out of their comfort zone" and began offering temporary passenger freighters for charter and scheduled service, Jones Shah said. https://www.yahoo.com/news/airline-cargo-divisions-finally-gain-142056111.html US military eyes nuclear thermal rocket for missions in Earth-moon space DARPA awarded a $14 million task order to help make it happen. The U.S. military aims to get a nuclear thermal rocket up and running, to boost its ability to monitor the goings-on in Earth-moon space. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) just awarded a $14 million task order to Gryphon Technologies, a company in Washington, D.C., that provides engineering and technical solutions to national security organizations. The money will support DARPA's Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program, whose main goal is to demonstrate a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system in Earth orbit. NTP systems use fission reactors to heat propellants such as hydrogen to extreme temperatures, then eject the gas through nozzles to create thrust. This tech boasts a thrust-to-weight ratio about 10,000 times higher than that of electric propulsion systems and a specific impulse, or propellant efficiency, two to five times that of traditional chemical rockets, DARPA officials wrote in a description of the DRACO program. Such improvements in propulsion technology are needed for "maintaining space domain awareness in cislunar space — the volume of space between the Earth and the moon," the DRACO description reads. Gryphon will work to help make this vision a reality, using the newly awarded $14 million. "We are proud to support DRACO and the development and demonstration of NTP, a significant technological advancement in efforts to achieve cislunar space awareness," Gryphon CEO P.J. Braden said in a statement. DARPA is not alone in seeing great promise in NTP systems. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has lauded the technology's potential for crewed Mars exploration, for example, noting that NTP-powered spacecraft could get astronauts to the Red Planet in just three to four months — about half the time needed with traditional chemical rockets. "That is absolutely a game-changer for what NASA is trying to achieve," Bridenstine said during a meeting of the National Space Council last year. (NASA is working to get astronauts to the Red Planet in the 2030s.) "That gives us an opportunity to really protect life, when we talk about the radiation dose when we travel between Earth and Mars." https://www.space.com/darpa-nuclear-thermal-rocket-for-moon-contract Curt Lewis