Flight Safety Information [December 1, 2020] [No. 242] In This Issue : Rusty Pilots Making Flying Errors Is Next Aviation Headache : UPS Worldport Testing Too Few Pilots For COVID-19, Union Says : Mixed Messages For Would-Be Pilots : Study Finds Pilots’ Brains Work Differently : Police: Florida man arrested after carrying gun through airport checkpoint : Torqued: Safety culture matters more than ever in aviation : Norwegian Air Faces Key December Dates : Embry-Riddle Adds 17 New Aircraft to Fleet, More To Come in 2021 : Where Is Lufthansa Flying Its Boeing 747-8 Aircraft? : Atlas Ocean Voyages to offer private jet to its Antarctica cruises : A new design is almost ready for the KC-46′s most troubled system : Elon Musk says SpaceX's giant Starship rocket test will happen as early as Wednesday — but there's only a 1 in 3 chance it will land intact : SCSI: Flight Data Analysis and Electronic Systems Investigation Rusty Pilots Making Flying Errors Is Next Aviation Headache • Lion Air runway excursion report cites pilot proficiency issue • Almost a third of world’s passenger jets remain in storage On Sept. 15, an Indonesian flight carrying 307 passengers and 11 crew to the northern city of Medan momentarily veered off the runway after landing, sparking an investigation by the country’s transport safety regulator. It found the pilot had flown less than three hours in the previous 90 days. The first officer hadn’t flown at all since Feb. 1. The incident underlines an emerging risk from the coronavirus pandemic: pilots aren’t getting enough opportunity to fly because airlines have grounded planes and scaled back operations due to a slump in demand for air travel. In its preliminary report, Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee said the pandemic has made it harder to maintain pilot proficiency and flying experience. The Lion Air aircraft involved was an Airbus SE A330, one of 10 in the carrier’s fleet. Because Lion Air doesn’t have a simulator for the A330, its pilots are trained at third-party facilities in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Covid-19 travel restrictions have made those harder to access. “Regular flying keeps your mind in the cockpit,” said Mohan Ranganathan, an aviation safety consultant who was an adviser to India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation. “Being away from flying for such a long time brings in some complacency. Add loss of income, uncertainty about jobs or the future of the airline, that brings in additional stress. With an increase in stress levels, proficiency drops.” Analytics company Cirium says almost a third of the world’s passenger jets remain in storage -- parked in the center of Australia and the U.S.’s Mojave Desert. While there’s been a recovery in domestic travel in larger markets such as China, international traffic is way off pre-pandemic levels because of border restrictions and mandatory quarantine, a big deterrent to travelers. Thousands of pilots have been laid off or furloughed, and those still in work are flying a lot less because there’s so little demand. The return to the skies of Boeing Co.’s Max 737 could add another layer of complexity. The jet was grounded worldwide in March 2019 after two fatal crashes but was last month cleared by the U.S. FAA with an extensive package of fixes. “For some operators of the Max, depending on where they are and their operational status, the grounding may cause additional challenges,” said Shukor Yusof, founder of aviation consulting firm Endau Analytics in Malaysia. “However this is something that Boeing has already been working on and they have teams to help their customers throughout this process.” Pilot rustiness was also cited by Europe’s top aviation-safety official as a possible factor in the crash of a Pakistan International Airlines Corp. plane in Karachi in May that killed all but two of the 99 people on board. Nobody was injured in the Lion Air runway incident. “The pilots did not seem to be as fluent in the way they were conducting their flights as they should have,” European Union Aviation Safety Agency Executive Director Patrick Ky said in September regarding the PIA flight. “If you haven’t flown for three months, six months, you need to be retrained in some way in order to come back.” That concern is shared by others. At an event in October, Singapore’s central bank chief Ravi Menon spoke about the lingering effect Covid-19 will have on the aviation industry and pilots who haven’t flown for long periods. “It’s not like picking up after taking two months off. When you take two years off, it’s very different,” he said. In its preliminary report on the Lion Air incident, the Indonesian safety authority laid out the pilots’ experience, the approach of the plane, weather conditions and landing. The pilot in command was a 48-year-old Airbus A330 flight instructor with about 17,000 hours flying experience; the 46-year-old first officer, who’d been working as a captain for Thai Lion Air before relocating to Indonesia in March, had a similar amount of flying hours. On its approach, Flight 208 requested a change of runway due to stormy weather. At about 1,000 feet, the first officer handed control to the pilot. He then noticed that the plane was nearing the left edge of the runway and told the pilot to adjust. The right rudder pedal was applied after touching down but the left main landing gear went off the tarmac, breaking two runway lights. The report noted that Indonesia’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued a circular in May on testing pilot proficiency during the pandemic, with certain exemptions and extensions allowed due to limitations on flying time. However the circular didn’t provide detailed guidelines to airlines on how they should operate under these exemptions. A Lion Air spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment. In an interview with Bloomberg Television last week, the International Air Transport Association’s vice president for Asia Pacific, Conrad Clifford, said the industry group has been looking at creating special travel bubbles so pilots can access simulators to ensure they can remain current. “I’m glad to say that governments are doing something about this,” he said. Additionally, the International Civil Aviation Organization has called for flight crew to be recognized as key workers so they can use travel bubbles and access training facilities, including simulators so they can maintain certifications, experience and proficiency. Ian Cheng, senior vice president of flight operations at Scoot, Singapore Airlines Ltd.’s low-cost carrier, said its pilots are being kept engaged with simulator sessions and meetings to update on latest developments. “Because of the low amount of flying, it’s essential to keep proficiency levels up,” he said. According to Ranganathan, it will take about a month of regular flying for pilots to get their confidence and skill levels back, along with lots of training. “When you are not focused, decisions can get delayed,” he said. “Just a few seconds can make a difference between a safe flight or an accident.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-30/grounded-pilots-out-of-practice-spark-airline-safety-fears UPS Worldport Testing Too Few Pilots For COVID-19, Union Says The pilots’ union for UPS Worldport in Louisville claims the parcel service offers limited testing for COVID-19 even as a growing number of pilots contract the virus. Between the end of March and late October, UPS union members with the Independent Pilots Association reported 100 cases of COVID-19, but in the last month that number has doubled to 200, said Brian Gaudet, public affairs director with the Independent Pilots Association, which represents 3,000 UPS pilots. Despite a growing number of transmissions, Louisville’s UPS hub is only testing a small number of pilots flying out of Louisville on international flights, not inbound or domestic flights, he said. The Independent Pilots Association shared an email with WFPL News from UPS in November that explicitly states the company expanded testing to pilots only for outgoing international flights. To qualify, UPS employees had to be within 24 hours of an international trip, according to the email. Gaudet said Louisville residents should be concerned because of the number of flights coming and going from the city everyday. “There are 380 flights in and out of Louisville everyday. There is now testing available only for international pilots, but not inbound pilots who are coming in from flying from all points of America and the globe,” Gaudet said. UPS Worldport in Louisville is the largest automated package handling facility in the world, capable of handling more than two million packages per day. Gaudet said the union would like to see UPS pilots tested when they leave their homes and again when they return to ensure the health and safety of everyone. In addition, the union would like to see UPS offer more consistent contact tracing. As of now, Gaudet said, if a pilot tests positive, UPS isn’t consistently telling the other crew on the flight whether they should be in quarantine. In an emailed response from UPS, spokesman Mike Mangeot said the company discusses “exposure with other employees as part of our contact tracing process.” Mangeot said UPS does provide free, rapid-testing for pilots, but did not answer multiple follow-up questions about which pilots are tested. “As part of UPS’s culture of safety, we have gone to tremendous lengths to keep our pilots safe during the coronavirus pandemic. We have provided our pilots with free, rapid COVID-19 testing and expanded the availability of that testing,” Mangeot said in an email. UPS declined to confirm the number of positive COVID-19 cases at the Worldport citing medical privacy laws. However, other institutions including businesses and state governments have consistently disclosed similar information without violating medical privacy laws. In April, KYCIR spoke with UPS employees who said the city’s largest private employer violated health guidelines intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The holiday season would normally be the peak season for the parcel service, but Gaudet said pilots have been operating at holiday-peak levels for months because of pandemic-induced demand. “Our pilots are happy to do it, they are keeping commerce running for America and the world, but when they do that they are exposed in hotels, dining facilities, airplanes, airports to COVID-19,” he said. While UPS does consider its employees “essential workers” it doesn’t provide hazard pay, Mangeot said. The parcel service does offer paid leave for employees who have been diagnosed as positive with COVID-19 or require quarantine due to an exposure, he said. The company has also enhanced cleaning measures and provides pilots with facemasks, gloves, hand sanitizer and thermometers, Mangeot said. https://www.wkms.org/post/ups-worldport-testing-too-few-pilots-covid-19-union-says#stream/0 Mixed Messages For Would-Be Pilots CAE, the world’s leading simulator and training provider, has released a report that says out-of-work pilots who stick it out until the industry bounces back from the pandemic will have their pick of jobs, an optimistic view that stands out from the sour mood of those now living through it. The company says 260,000 pilots will be needed through the end of the decade and there’s going to be tens of thousands of openings and early as the end of 2021. CAE’s rosy predictions are contained in its regular 10-year forecast for pilot demand and it says the pandemic will actually improve pilot prospects if they can survive another year. A collision of circumstances, fueled only in part by the pandemic, are the basis for that forecast. “Many [pilots] have pivoted to other professions and might not want to resume their pilot careers,” CAE said. “On the one hand, airlines and operators have reduced the pilot workforce to offset the financial impact of the pandemic. On the other hand, data indicates that the industry will face significant challenges in the upcoming years to meet the demand for pilots.” Compounding the economic attrition is the fact that thousands of pilots riding the retirement age extensions granted a few years ago will be hanging up their stripes for good in the next two years and others aren’t far behind. “The percentage of pilots over the age of 50 continues to increase versus the total civil aviation industry pilot pool,” CAE said. “Currently, this pilot population age represents a disproportionally high rate.” Meanwhile some of those in the industry whose enlightened self-interest would normally make them cheerleaders for new pilots are apparently throwing in the towel. The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) has taken the unprecedented step of warning would-be pilots to find something else to do. The union issued a statement last week saying that with 10,000 pilots grounded in Europe, anyone starting flight training now will likely end up $150,000 in debt and with no job prospects. The release was punctuated by British Airways announcing it expected more job losses and route cancellations in November after the U.K. government banned leisure travel to curb virus transmission. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/mixed-messages-for-would-be-pilots/ Study Finds Pilots’ Brains Work Differently Medical science has now confirmed what your family and friends have been telling you since the first time you strapped in and maybe before that. Your brain works differently than that of non-flying folks and contrary to what those in your immediate bubble might think, that’s actually a good thing, well mostly. Chinese researchers have determined that the brains of pilots are wired differently to deal with the unique environment of the cockpit. The researchers determined that pilots’ brains have greater connections between the “central executive network,” which is the part of the brain that makes sense of various bits of information, and the parts of the brain supplying the raw data. That’s the good thing. It “might enable the network to have more diverse functions,” which helps put all the various inputs from instruments, the radio, the sight picture and others in the cockpit into coherence. “Pilots are always working in complex, dynamic environments. Flying is now not so much a ‘physical job,’ but a high-level cognitive activity,” the study said. “The pilot should be completely aware of all conditions in real time, and be ready to deal with various potential emergencies.” The tradeoff might have something to do with what your partner whispers in your ear at parties although he or she probably expresses it more colorfully than the scientific explanation. While the central executive network is synthesizing all that diverse data, there seems to be a decreased level of “internal connectivity.” That, said the researchers, is “associated with self-control and appraisal of threatening stimuli.” The study involved 14 flight instructors at the Civil Aviation Flight University of China and 12 first officers from Chinese airlines whose brains were watched in action on imaging equipment. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/study-finds-pilots-brains-work-differently/ Police: Florida man arrested after carrying gun through airport checkpoint RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Police say a man from Florida has been arrested after carrying a gun through the checkpoint at Richmond International Airport. On Nov. 28, the Transportation Security Administration officers detected a .380 caliber handgun and a magazine loaded with nine bullets among a Florida man’s belongings as they entered the security checkpoint X-ray machine at Richmond International Airport According to police, the man told officials that he knew that he had his handgun with him when he entered the checkpoint and that he originally wanted to place the gun in a checked bag, but claimed that he did not know where to find the Spirit Airlines check-in counter. Instead, he said he planned to carry his gun to the gate in hopes he might be able to check his gun upon boarding his flight. “Under no circumstances should anyone attempt to bring a handgun through a security checkpoint,” said Chuck Burke, TSA’s Federal Security Director for Richmond International Airport. “Claiming that you are not aware of the location of airline ticket counters is not an excuse. Every airport employee would have informed him of the location.” Police say the man faces a fine of up to $13,000. https://www.nbc12.com/2020/11/30/police-florida-man-arrested-after-carrying-gun-through-airport-checkpoint/ Torqued: Safety culture matters more than ever in aviation by John Goglia As I write, a number of events surrounding the wearing—or not wearing—of masks and social distancing, particularly at large indoor events, have dominated the news. Some occurred at nationally recognized landmarks but many occurred in various communities across the U.S. What these events had in common was that they resulted in many people becoming infected with the coronavirus, and they were termed “super spreader” events. Without getting into a political debate about masks—but to be clear, I wear them myself in line with CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19—I am interested in the various workplaces identified in media reports. Of particular interest to me were reports that employees who wanted to wear masks in some of these workplaces were discouraged or outright forbidden from doing so, putting their health and the health of others at risk. Of course, I don’t know the particulars of any given workplace situation but photos of some of these events made clear that wearing masks and social distancing were the exception and far from the rule. Reading about these events, my thoughts were with the employees working in these places. Those who wanted to wear masks but also wanted to keep their jobs were forced to choose between a safety precaution and a culture that downplayed that safety risk. And then there were likely those employees who may have misunderstood the safety risks because they weren’t required to take precautions. These scenarios are all too familiar in my experience in aviation, where protection of employees from the risk of injuries is not always taken as seriously as it should be, including by the employees themselves. A safety culture that focuses on preventing employee injuries has always been important in aviation, although sometimes given more lip service than actual practice. Unfortunately, some companies over the years have seemed to support safety practices in theory but not so much when it means taking a delay. For those of us who have worked in aviation for decades, we all knew places where safety—for the flying public and employees—was taken seriously and places where the “just get it done” attitude prevailed, even if we didn’t have a name for those attitudes. Even before safety management systems became the norm throughout aviation and the term “safety culture” gained prominence, there were places where a culture of protecting employees from injuries was standard practice and places where taking appropriate protective measures was more or less actively discouraged, especially when it affected the bottom line. Some commonly ignored safety precautions have more serious consequences on employees than others. For many years after we knew that exposure to aircraft engine noise on the ramp had long-term effects on employees, many employers refused to provide ear protection and, in cases where ear protectors were provided, many employees failed to wear them, perhaps not understanding the long-term consequences. Many supervisors allowed this practice to go unchallenged. The failure to enforce this particular safety precaution is one I and many of my coworkers from those years have lived to regret as our hearing reflects decades of unprotected exposure to engine and other loud airport noises. Even today, I occasionally see workers on the ramp without ear protection, although it is now more the exception than the rule of years past. As a mechanic, other safety precautions were also not always adhered to at places where I worked, such as wearing a safety harness when performing tasks at dangerous heights. In some places those harnesses weren’t even made available to employees and in other places, employees would regularly disregard those safety measures for expediency without fear that their supervisors would call them out on it. Often, if a mechanic was on the ramp and the safety gear was stored in a distant hangar, the decision would be made to forego the safety equipment. Supervisor attitudes in many of these places was to turn a blind eye as long as the airplane was fixed for an on-time departure. Making the schedule seemed to be all that mattered in some of these places, with unfortunate consequences at times. While exposure to noise without ear protection had no immediate consequences on employee health or safety, as the damage usually only occurs from exposure over time, some failures to use protective gear did have immediate serious consequences. On more than one occasion, I saw mechanics working on aircraft wings without taking proper safety precautions, slipping off and injuring themselves. While in my days on the ramp these were DC-9s with wings not that high off the ground, the people who fell off suffered a range of injuries, including broken bones. Using chemical cleaners—for example, to clean the landing gear—is another area where employees would often neglect to put on protective gear. It takes time, the gear makes you hot and sweaty, and often you can get away with not donning it without any negative consequences. But once in a while you would see the burnt red complexion of a mechanic who had gotten blowback on his face from the chemicals, and he would be lucky if he didn’t have lasting damage to his eyes. Today, as the aviation industry reels from the impacts of Covid-19, the pressure on employees to save time and money is greater than ever. But promoting a safety culture for the protection of employees, as well as passengers, is also more important than ever. Passengers are closely observing how compliant airline workers—gate agents, flight attendants, pilots, mechanics, and cleaners who board their aircraft—are with wearing masks, a simple practice to prevent the spread of the virus. And people are calling out on social media airlines and employees who don’t comply, complete with video evidence of whatever transgressions they record. Now is a good time to recommit to safety precautions for employees and promote a safety culture that protects employees, as well as passengers. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/blogs/torqued-safety-culture-matters-more-ever-aviation Norwegian Air Faces Key December Dates The fate of low cost airlines Norwegian will be influenced strongly by two key December dates. On December 7th the airline will hear whether it can gain full protection from creditors under Irish examinership legislation for its subsidiaries Norwegian Air International and Arctic Aircraft Assets. Parent company Norwegian Air Shuttle would also gain protection. Initial approval was granted in November and if the hearing is successful, the period could run for five months. The airline had received a cash injection from the Norwegian Government but was recently informed that it would not receive more funding, leading to it furloughing the vast majority of its staff and reducing operations to only six aircraft out of a fleet of 140. It was this that led it to seek protection under Irish examinership. On 15th December, the airline faces a court case with Boeing, from whom it is claiming $1bn in damages, including revenue losses from 18 737 Max aircraft which were not delivered as planned due to the grounding of that type. Success for Norwegian would add much needed liquidity. Boeing is seeking for the case to be dismissed. Long Struggle Even before the airline industry was hit by the covid-19 crisis, Norwegian had been struggling to strengthen its finances. Over the last couple of years the airline has been turning every stone to reduce costs and raise liquidity. Routes have been cut, aircraft sold, deliveries and leases cancelled. There have been negotiations with suppliers, debt has been converted to equity, payment of bond holders postponed and additional equity raised. Much progress had been made and prior to the covid-19 crisis, the airline was hopeful of returning to a sounder financial footing and profitability from 2021. Misfortune There is no disputing that Norwegian has faced misfortune from external factors over the last few years. Firstly, the airline suffered extended groundings of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft due to problems with the type’s Rolls Royce engines. The role out of Norwegian’s long haul low cost network was predicated on the efficiency and cost economics of the 787. With the need to ground a proportion of the fleet for a period extending to around two years, flights had to be cancelled causing lost revenues or the renting in of less efficient aircraft at considerable expense. On top of this challenge came the world wide grounding of the Boeing 737 Max. Norwegian had planned to use this aircraft to expand services including extending long haul operations to markets for which the 787 was too big. Delivered aircraft were grounded and planned deliveries halted. As both of these aircraft issues played out, the covid-19 crisis hit and the airline was almost entirely grounded for most of the summer period which is normally the time for peak revenue generation. Massive expansion Norwegian’s challenges do however go back before any of these external factors intervened. Over the last decade the airline expanded massively and in particular with the arrival of Boeing 787’s in 2014, moved into the long haul low cost market. This model has proved popular with customers but has proved elusive in delivering sustainable long term profitability for practitioners around the world. Air Asia X, an early adopter, has incurred heavy losses for much of its existence, Norwegian too has seen a mixture of losses and marginal profitability and several other airlines have failed completely. There are numerous challenges with the model, including a reliance on price sensitive low fare traffic, seasonality in demand and lack of connecting traffic to top up in off peak times. As Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary acknowledged in a recent interview with me, many elements that are critical to the success of short haul low cost, cannot be migrated to the long haul context. In Norwegian’s case it has also attempted a geographically diverse application of the model, operating out of several European bases to North and South America as well as Asia. This has added to costs, weakened market presence and created operational and reliability challenges. Added to this, Norwegian looked to the reduced operating costs and efficiency offered by the Boeing 787 to support viability, yet it had to commit to the high capital cost of investing in these new aircraft. As it has wrestled to shed costs and improve liquidity, long haul operations have been wound down to zero and many 787’s already in the fleet are being divested. If the airline succeeds in generating enough liquidity to stay in business, I would be extremely surprised if it were to return to any long haul operations. Pressure ratchets up in home market Even in its home market it now faces intense new competitive pressure. Leading low cost carrer Wizzair is in the process of establishing bases in Norway both in Oslo and Trondheim. Its initial focus is on domestic routes which have been historically profitable for Norwegian. As if this wasn’t enough, a new start up airline is planned led by Eric Braathen of the famous Norwegian aviation family and including former executives of Norwegian in the start up team. Options appear to be diminishing for Norwegian to find a level of sustainable business. With the winter season normally being challenging and even more so this year due to the covid-19 crisis, the ability of Norwegian to achieve full examinership protection and to raise significant additional liquidity is going to be critical to its future. https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnstrickland/2020/12/01/norwegian-airlines-faces-key-december-dates/?sh=3214fe55608a Embry-Riddle Adds 17 New Aircraft to Fleet, More To Come in 2021 As demand for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s top-rated collegiate professional Aviation programs continues to grow, the university is pleased to introduce 17 new aircraft to its training fleet. Since March 2020, 12 new Cessna 172 Nav III “SkyHawk” aircraft, from Textron Aviation, and three Diamond DA42 NG VI “Twin Star” aircraft, from Diamond Aircraft Industries (Canada), have been added to the fleet at Embry-Riddle’s Prescott Campus. At the Daytona Beach Campus, one new Diamond and one new Cessna were added during the same timeframe. With these additions, the Prescott Campus’ Department of Flight now houses a total of 45 aircraft. The Daytona Beach Flight Department’s fleet includes 63 Cessnas and 11 Diamonds. Embry-Riddle’s most recent major fleet replenishment was announced in 2019. The university replenishes its fleet – which is about the size of a regional airline, across both residential campuses – every seven years. There are more aircraft to come in 2020, to support growth in enrollment at Embry-Riddle. For fall 2020, the Prescott Campus welcomed 859 new undergraduate students – the largest incoming class in history, according to Dr. Jason Ruckert, vice president for enrollment management. The Daytona Beach Campus welcomed 1,731 new undergraduates – its second largest incoming class ever. Across both residential campuses, total overall enrollment, including both undergraduate and graduate students, hit 10,063, which was a record, Ruckert said. Flight instructors at the Prescott Campus showcase five of the 17 new aircraft Embry-Riddle added to its fleets this year, between the Arizona and Florida campuses. (Photos: Embry-Riddle) On the Prescott Campus, due to both program expansion and routine fleet replenishment, 19 new SkyHawks are also on order for delivery to the Prescott Campus in 2021. In the fall of 2018, the campus’ freshman class consisted of 155 students, with the Aeronautical Science degree program serving a total of 486 students. In the fall of 2020, the number of new freshmen entering the program grew to 289, and total program enrollment is now 728. “Our current planning horizon is to grow to 1,200 flight students within five years,” said Parker Northrup, Flight Department chair on the Prescott Campus. “Our primary goal with fleet replenishment is to provide sustained availability for student use.” In addition to the high reliability rate of the Cessna 172, these aircraft also ensure that the fleet meet the specifications of “Technically Advanced Aircraft” (TAA) designations, which the FAA adopted for meeting Commercial and Instructor certifications in 2018, Northrup noted. He added that at the conclusion of the current replenishment purchases, 100% of Embry-Riddle’s primary training fleet will be configured as TAA. In addition, they will also have the newest avionics available (Garmin G1000 Nxi). “We want to ensure that our students fly the most up-to-date aircraft with the most up-to-date avionics in the industry, so they are fully prepared for transition to modern commercial aircraft,” Northrup said. https://news.erau.edu/headlines/embry-riddle-adds-17-new-aircraft-to-fleet Where Is Lufthansa Flying Its Boeing 747-8 Aircraft? The global passenger Boeing 747 fleet has taken a massive hit as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one airline is remaining committed to operating the type. German carrier Lufthansa is operating around half of its 747-8 fleet, but where are the aircraft flying? COVID-19 hasn’t been kind on four-engined aircraft. While Air France has ended its relationship with the giant Airbus A380, Virgin retired its final Airbus A340s. Meanwhile, the population of the remaining Boeing 747s has been deeply impacted, with airlines such as KLM, British Airways, and Qantas all bidding farewell to their 747 fleets ahead of schedule. A major Boeing 747 operator As a result of the aviation industry’s changing dynamics, Lufthansa has been left as one of the largest passenger Boeing 747 aircraft operators. While the airline’s 747-400 fleet hasn’t flown since the crisis began, the story is different for its fleet of 19 747-8s. The airline has 19 747-8 aircraft. According to data from FlightRadar24.com eight aircraft appear to be actively flying for the German flag carrier. Lufthansa isn’t just using its newest aircraft like Emirates was when it brought back the Airbus A380. Indeed, three of its four newest aircraft haven’t flown since March. The aircraft not in use are parked across Frankfurt and Hamburg, with one aircraft in Xiamen in China. Where is the 747-8 flying? Lufthansa is utilizing its eight flying 747s on a range of five long-haul routes. Two of the routes, Bangkok and Shanghai, see the aircraft flying east from Frankfurt. Meanwhile, the aircraft are also departing to the west to fly to Mexico City, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires. On the route to Buenos Aires, Lufthansa is trialing economy class beds. This sees passengers in the economy cabin allowed to purchase empty rows of seats, with bedding provided. As such, it would appear that flights aren’t operating to capacity. What happened to Chicago and Los Angeles? The Boeing 747-8 had been operating Lufthansa flights to Chicago and Los Angeles. However, given the US travel ban on most originating from Europe, it seemed as though the capacity of the 747-8 wasn’t effectively utilized. Meanwhile, Lufthansa had a large number of Airbus A350s sitting grounded in Munich. According to the German flag carrier, the A350-900 has a fuel burn of 12% less than the 747-8. This means that the aircraft is a win-win for Lufthansa on such routes. As such, Lufthansa placed the A350-900 on flights to Chicago and Los Angeles. Firstly, it is not wasting capacity. However, it is also saving money with a lower fuel burn while cutting its emissions. The cost-saving aspect is of particular importance to airlines worldwide as they cope with a vast decrease in income while fixed costs remain. The Boeing 747-8 is currently planned to resume these routes in March 2021. https://simpleflying.com/lufthansa-boeing-747-8-destinations/ Atlas Ocean Voyages to offer private jet to its Antarctica cruises Atlas Ocean Voyages will provide private jet service to passengers on its 2021 and 2022 Antarctica itineraries, to bring them from Orlando to Ushuaia, Argentina. The start-up cruise brand, which will launch its first ship, the World Navigator, next year, said the "direct-to-ship" private charter will shorten travel time and eliminate layovers and scheduling complications. Passengers will be flown from one of 16 major U.S. and Canada gateways to Orlando, from where the wide-body jet will fly to Ushuaia. Atlas said the direct service trims off "at least a day's travel time" when flying from North America to the Argentine town located at the very tip of the country and the most common launch point from Antarctica sailings. Atlas, which bills itself as a "luxe-adventure" line, said Atlas-level service would begin on the private flight, with suite guests accommodated in business-class seating and all passengers given premium meals and unlimited beverages. "Our guests will enjoy Atlas' engaging and enjoyable ambience as soon as they board our private charter jet," said Atlas president Alberto Aliberti, who called the move part of the line's All Inclusive All the Way commitment, which included roundtrip air travel with all sailings. The Atlas jet will also take passengers back to Orlando at the end of the sailing. The World Navigator will offer 12 departures on nine-day itineraries to the Antarctic peninsula, starting Nov. 19. Two 12-day itineraries will offer a more extensive Antarctic expedition, including a Nov. 28 sailing to see the Antarctic solar eclipse. The ship will enter service in July and offer Holy Land, Black Sea and Mediterranean cruises as well as Caribbean and South America sailings, through mid-November. https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Atlas-Ocean-Voyages-to-offer-private-jet-to-its-Antarctica-cruises A new design is almost ready for the KC-46′s most troubled system WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force and Boeing have almost finalized a new design of the problem-plagued system that must be overhauled before the KC-46 tanker is ready for combat operations, the service’s acquisition executive said Nov. 24. Unlike legacy tankers, where boom operators look out a window and rely on line-of-sight visual cues to guide the refueling boom into a receiver aircraft, KC-46 boomers use a series of cameras and sensors called the Remote Vision System. After years of disagreements between the Air Force and KC-46 prime contractor Boeing about whether the current RVS met requirements, the parties in April agreed to replace the original system with a completely redesigned “RVS 2.0.” “We’ve completed nearly every aspect of the design except the actual projection method,” Will Roper, the Air Force’s assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said during a roundtable with reporters last week. The Air Force is considering two different options to project the images from the tanker’s rear camera system to the boom operators who sit at the front of the aircraft: a collimated mirror design, which uses a curved mirror to project a wide field of view to the user, and an LCD-type screen similar to modern televisions. Roper characterized the difference between the two methods as “a hyper-stereo system” that would deliver near-perfect optics versus “a more mature technology” with less risk. “Once they’ve selected that final projection method, the rest of the design is complete, so we’ll be ready to go ahead and start building a laboratory system,” Roper said. “Every component that we would install on the jet, we’ll just do that on the ground, and that would give us a lot of confidence that when we install the jet itself, that it will work as advertised.” The Air Force plans to buy at least 179 KC-46s, with the first tanker accepted by the service in January 2019. Boeing agreed to take total financial responsibility for developing the new RVS system, cutting the new design into the production line and modifying tankers already delivered to the Air Force. So far, the company has delivered more than 30 KC-46s to the service, which all must receive a retrofit service. As a short-term stopgap, Boeing offered an enhanced version of the current RVS system to the Air Force in order to bridge the gap before RVS 2.0 comes online in 2023 or 2024. If the service ultimately chose to move forward with the so-called RVS 1.5, Boeing could start incorporating those upgrades in the second half of 2021, according to Mike Hafer, the company’s KC-46 global sales lead, who spoke during a briefing in September. But Roper stressed that “it’s really 2.0 that has the lion’s share of our attention.” The Air Force completed its assessment of the enhanced system this fall. While there are “a few capabilities” that the service will cut into the baseline system, Roper said that none of the improvements are “earth-shattering” or have changed the Air Force’s view that a newly designed system is needed to meet requirements. https://www.yahoo.com/news/design-almost-ready-kc-46-193112720.html Elon Musk says SpaceX's giant Starship rocket test will happen as early as Wednesday — but there's only a 1 in 3 chance it will land intact SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Sunday the next Starship test will happen "no earlier than Wednesday." The spacecraft will fly 15 kilometres (50,000 feet) into the air. Previous prototypes have only made short hops of a few hundred metres. Musk said there was a lot that could go wrong, and gave the rocket a one-in-three chance of landing in one piece. This week, Elon Musk's space-exploration company SpaceX will take a big step forward in its quest to fly people to Mars. Musk tweeted on Sunday that SpaceX's enormous Starship spacecraft – which the company eventually wants to use to get humans to Mars – will undergo its first high altitude test as early as Wednesday. This follows a successful test firing of the current prototype's engines on November 24. On Sunday, a Twitter user highlighted an alert notice sent out to residents of Boca Chica village in southern Texas about SpaceX flight activities on Monday. In response, Musk replied: "Just a static fire tomorrow. Flight no earlier than Wednesday." According to Musk, in this week's test the rocket will fly 15 km (50,000 feet) into the air. Previous prototypes have made short hops a few hundred meters into the air. This test flight will be a big step in testing whether the design can withstand the rigors of spaceflight. Elon Musk said in a follow-up tweet on Wednesday that lots could go wrong in this first high-altitude test. "Lot of things need to go right," the billionaire said. When asked on Twitter what he thought the odds were of Starship landing in one piece, he said it was one in three. There are also more prototypes lined up to be tested should this one fail. SpaceX's Starship spacecraft is made up of two sections, the Super Heavy booster and the Starship rocket ship – which Musk claims will be able to carry 100 people to Mars at a time. The entire spacecraft stands at 120 metres (394 feet) tall. There's no specific day confirmed for next week, and as TechCrunch notes, test dates are subject to change. In October, Musk said SpaceX has a "fighting chance" of sending an uncrewed Starship rocket to Mars in 2024, two years later than previously hoped. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer said October 23 the Starship rocket system could help solve the problem of space junk. "It's quite possible that we could leverage Starship to go to some of these dead rocket bodies – other people's rockets, of course – basically, pick up some of this junk in outer space," she said. https://www.yahoo.com/news/spacexs-giant-starship-rocket-first-105913659.html Curt Lewis