Flight Safety Information - December 6, 2022 No. 234 In This Issue : Incident: United A319 at New York on Dec 3rd 2022, rejected takeoff due to engine problem : Incident: PIA B773 near Karachi on Dec 4th 2022, "backup rear air turbine" fault : Incident: ANZ A320 at Auckland on Dec 5th 2022, gear problem on departure : Private Jet Makes Emergency Landing At Long Beach Airport : AIR FORCE REPORT: OKLAHOMA F-16 WAS STILL "FLYABLE" PRIOR TO PILOT'S EJECTION IN LOUISIANA CRASH : IBAC and Unmanned Safety Institute launch Auditor RPAS Accreditation Course – Now open for enrollment : IATA: The Netherlands' Aviation Regulation Is Completely Out Of Control : Spirit Airlines looking to hire 200+ flight attendants in Southern California hiring event : Capital A Won't Merge AirAsia's Airlines After All : How Much Electricity Will Electric Airplanes Need, & How Much Will It Cost? : Embraer Unveils Plans for Hybrid Electric, Hydrogen Electric Aircraft : Empire Adds Boeing BBJ to Fleet, Bringing Roster to 20 Aircraft : Top Six Airline Trends For 2023 Include Safety Threats And More Buzz Around United : Cathay Pacific Signs Agreement To Train Cadet Pilots In Phoenix : New Heat Treatment Makes It Possible to 3D Print Blades for Jet Engines, Gas Turbines : LOT’s Embraer jet fleet reaches 41 aircraft : FAA Document Fraud Case Ends with Prison Time : Join SCSI for a free 30-minute course on Risk Management : Positions Available: Flight Operations Quality Assurance Analyst Incident: United A319 at New York on Dec 3rd 2022, rejected takeoff due to engine problem A United Airbus A319-100, registration N876UA performing flight UA-2624 from New York La Guardia,NY to Denver,CO (USA), was accelerating for takeoff from La Guardia's runway 13 when the crew rejected takeoff at low speed (about 80 knots over ground) due to a problem with the left hand engine (V2524). The aircraft slowed safely and returned to the apron. A passenger reported there was a slight bang followed by immediate braking. The flight was delayed by about 15 hours, then cancelled. The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground in New York for about 24 hours before returning to service. https://avherald.com/h?article=501f5e4b&opt=0 Incident: PIA B773 near Karachi on Dec 4th 2022, "backup rear air turbine" fault A PIA Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 777-300, registration AP-BHV performing flight PK-741 from Islamabad (Pakistan) to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), was enroute at FL340 about 260nm north of Karachi (Pakistan) when the crew decided to divert to Karachi due to a technical problem. The aircraft landed safely on Karachi's runway 25L about 50 minutes later. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 10 hours, then continued the flight and reached Jeddah with a delay of about 11 hours. Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority reported engineers found a "fault in the aircraft's backup system rear air turbine". https://avherald.com/h?article=501f5c7a&opt=0 Incident: ANZ A320 at Auckland on Dec 5th 2022, gear problem on departure An ANZ Air New Zealand Airbus A320-200, registration ZK-OXJ performing flight NZ-677 from Auckland to Dunedin (New Zealand), was climbing out of Auckland's runway 23L when the crew stopped the climb at FL120 due to problems with the landing gear. The aircraft returned to Auckland for a safe landing on runway 23L about 40 minutes after departure. The airline reported the aircraft suffered an "engineering" problem. The passengers were rebooked onto other flights. A passenger reported they were told a problem with the landing gear prompted the return. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Auckland about 7 hours after landing back. https://avherald.com/h?article=501f1c1d&opt=0 Private Jet Makes Emergency Landing At Long Beach Airport The flight was headed to Honolulu when the plane experienced engine failure, according to a Long beach Airport spokesperson. A private jet made an emergency landing at Long Beach Airport after experiencing engine failure Monday morning, according to airport officials. LONG BEACH, CA — A private jet made an emergency landing at Long Beach Airport after experiencing engine failure Monday morning, according to airport officials. At 8:32 on Dec. 5 the airport dispatch received a message from a Dassault Falcon 900EX with about 10 people on board about the issue. The flight departed from San Diego at 7:11 a.m. and was headed to Honolulu, according to the flight tracking website flightradar24. The jet was able to land at the Long Beach Airport without incident and nobody on board was injured, officials said. The Long Beach Fire Department was on the scene to provide aid, but it was unneeded according to officials. https://patch.com/california/longbeach-ca/private-jet-makes-emergency-landing-long-beach-airport AIR FORCE REPORT: OKLAHOMA F-16 WAS STILL "FLYABLE" PRIOR TO PILOT'S EJECTION IN LOUISIANA CRASH TULSA, Okla. - A report by the U.S. Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation Board blames the pilot for crashing an Oklahoma National Guard F-16 in a Louisiana field earlier this year. The report reveals new details about the crash, which happened in March. The Air Force report said the first training event started at 10:43 a.m. on March 23rd, with two F-16s in the air, which took off from Houston. Fourteen minutes later, the report said Maj. Alexander Drummond had ejected from his jet, and it crashed in a Louisiana field. But the investigation found the jet could have kept flying, had Drummond stayed in. The jet is worth about $27 million. Part of the investigation involved the Accident Investigation Board completing over 25 flight simulations at the Tulsa Air National Guard training center, to understand what a past pilot would have experienced. “The flight simulations confirmed…The MA [mishap aircraft] was still in a flyable state, prior to ejection," the report said. The 30-page report said the problems started when the two pilots diverted from their training plans, and did something no one was expecting. The other pilot, who was considered "senior" to Drummond, directed them to intercept a civilian plane, which was doing its own training, the report said. Aside from not coordinating with anyone what they were doing, the report said the airmen got too close to the private plane, and were going too slow. The investigation found that while Drummond was flying away from the private plane to rejoin with the other F-16 pilot, he hit the wrong switch in the cockpit. The report said this caused the aircraft to “shudder,” which was “unanticipated” for Drummond, but the report said it was "normal." Four seconds later, the report said Drummond then decided to eject. He landed in a tree. The report said a nearby Black Hawk Unit that was preparing to do its own training came over to rescue Drummond, who had minor injuries. Attorney General-elect Gentner Drummond declined to acknowledge the reports' findings about his son, but instead said in a statement, "As a father, my primary concern has always been my son’s safety and well-being. I have thanked God many times for protecting Alexander on that dangerous day. Hugging him when he arrived back in town after the crash is a memory I will cherish forever. This incident should be a reminder that when our loved ones serve in the military, they put their lives on the line each day. As an American, I thank my son for his service and I salute him and each service-member for their commitment to fighting for our freedom.” The 138th Fighter Wing declined to comment, but the Oklahoma National Guard said in an email, “Both pilots mentioned in the report remain in flight status. Any potential disciplinary action will be conducted internally upon a thorough review of the Accident Investigation Board report. These are generally not releasable per regulation. While the jet has not yet been replaced, the 138th Fighter Wing remains strongly committed to serving in our nation's defense.” While neither pilot is named in the report, it is clear based on previous reporting on Drummond’s crash who the report is referring to. https://www.news9.com/story/638e7e99760cfc071c9d0bcf/air-force-report:-oklahoma-f16-was-still-flyable-prior-to-pilots-ejection-in-louisiana-crash- IBAC and Unmanned Safety Institute launch Auditor RPAS Accreditation Course – Now open for enrollment Montreal – The International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) and Unmanned Safety Institute (USI) have opened enrollment to the new International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) Training course. What is International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)? As part of the RPAS auditor accreditation process, qualified IS-BAO auditors wanting to expand their qualifications within the rapidly growing RPAS segment are required to successfully complete the new USI online course that is now available at https://usi.matrixlms.com/ibac. As the recognized leader in UAS flight safety solutions, training, and certifications, USI has tailored this course to provide auditors RPAS training necessary to perform audits on operators of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems in primary non-complex, Visual Line of Sight Operations. Subsequent courses and requirements are in development for large-scale global adoption of commercial regulations for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) regulations. “Professionally trained and credentialed auditors are critical to the assessment of new and existing RPAS programmes,” commented IS-BAO Programme Director Andrew Karas. “We announced our partnership with Unmanned Safety Institute earlier this year for this auditor course credential because of their leadership and seven years experience in educating, training, and supporting RPAS organizations.” Josh Olds, USI’s President and CEO said, “IBAC’s IS-BAO and IS-BAH programs have undoubtedly added significant value to Business Aviation’s outstanding safety record over the past 20 years. Their keen recognition of RPAS as an extension of Business Aviation and their commitment to adapt the IS-BAO programme to evolving RPAS operations is bolstering a safer airspace internationally for future innovation.” In addition, USI and IBAC look forward to expanding this educational program to UAS program managers looking to increase their understanding of safe operations and evolve their company safety culture. About International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) IBAC represents the interests of business aviation worldwide. IBAC is a non-profit, international trade association with official observer status at the International Civil Aviation Organization, the UN Specialized Agency for aviation matters, in Montreal, Canada. IBAC promotes and manages the industry-leading standards for best safety practices through its International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAOTM); International Standard for Business Aviation Handling (IS-BAHTM); Safety Management Tool Kit; SMS eLearning training; and Aircrew Identification Card. Recently introduced in partnership with CTX, the IBAC Carbon Credit Exchange provides the business aviation community a reliable resource for real-time offsetting to reduce its carbon footprint. More details at www.ibac.org Contact: Marj Rose, comms@ibac.org About Unmanned Safety Institute Unmanned Safety Institute (USI) is the industry’s most widely recognized leader in flight safety solutions for individuals, academia and organizations focused on integrating and operating UAS for civil or commercial purposes. Unmanned Safety Institute provides UAS flight safety training and certification to operational standards based on the adoption and modification of time-honored aviation safety practices. With more than 300 instructors and over 15,000 USI Certifications awarded around the world, USI works with large commercial enterprises and nearly 500 schools in all 50 states. USI is the global leader in commercial and academic UAS training and certification, delivering the most highly regarded training program of its kind. Programs include the Small UAS & Advanced Safety Certifications, Visual Line of Sight Systems Operations™ (VSO) and Professional Remote Operator™ (PRO) certifications and Unmanned Connect™ workforce development initiative. USI’s training and certification programs are endorsed by major aviation insurance providers, widely utilized in current BVLOS operations, and implemented nationwide as a workforce pathway program from secondary or post-secondary to the career field to align skillsets to industry pay scales. Discover more at www.UnmannedSafetyInstitute.org. Contact: Stephanie Holland, stephanie.holland@unmanned-safety.org https://www.suasnews.com/2022/12/ibac-and-unmanned-safety-institute-launch-auditor-rpas-accreditation-course-now-open-for-enrollment/ IATA: The Netherlands' Aviation Regulation Is Completely Out Of Control IATA’s deputy director general has blasted the Netherlands for unilateral decision-making and mismanagement of its major airport. As the mouthpiece of the global aviation industry, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) keeps a close eye on regulators and policymakers around the world. Most of the time, regulators and governments are keen to work with the association and only implement major changes in full consultation with IATA’s experts. However, some situations don’t work this way, and that can leave IATA scrambling to understand the impacts unilateral decision-making will have on aviation. One such case has arisen with the aviation regulations being applied in the Netherlands, an issue that was a hot topic at today’s IATA Global Media Days event. Speaking at the event, Conrad Clifford, SVP & Deputy Director General at IATA, said of the Netherlands, “This is a country where the regulation is completely out of control.” He went on to explain why. What’s going on in the Netherlands? In the summer of 2022, the Dutch government announced a proposed limitation on aircraft movements at the major international Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. That in itself wasn’t unprecedented. Heathrow made a similar move to cap outgoing passenger traffic to cope with high demand and low staffing. But Heathrow’s cap was temporary and was lifted at the start of November. Schiphol’s cap, reducing aircraft movements from 500,000 to 440,000, is set to come in next year and will be permanent. Although the Dutch ambition to reduce noise and NOx emissions is a worthy cause, Clifford condemned the lack of discussion with the industry before announcing this sweeping change. “This came without any warning or consultation. The government has reluctantly agreed to a consultation based on the ICAO approach, but since the decision has already been taken, it's not clear what the consultation will achieve." A post-decision consultation is barely a consultation at all. IATA is calling for the decision to be reversed and for a scientific, evidence-backed approach to be taken before such a drastic change is made. Clifford added, No assessment has been made the economic and social damage the cuts will cause and the government hasn't presented any up to date data to explain the benefits of NOx and noise. It's essential that the Dutch government start again with a public consultation based on accurate data and with a full economic and environmental assessment.” Double Dutch trouble It’s not only airport movements that are giving IATA a Netherlands-shaped headache. From January 2st, 2023, the nation is implementing a new ticket tax which will triple the current levy. Departures from Dutch airports will be hit with a passenger tax of approximately $29, significantly higher than the current departure tax of $8. The tax will be applied to Schiphol, as well as Eindhoven, Groningen, Lelystad, Maastricht, Rotterdam, and Enschede. Clifford noted the massive impact this would have on aviation in the Netherlands. He said, “Our economics team estimates this will impact approximately 4.8 billion euros in GDP (approximately $5 billion) and will cost 62,000 jobs. Needless to say, this will damage the dynamism of the Dutch economy and its international influence which depends hugely on global connectivity. And one example we're already seeing of the damage this is done is Corendon, which has already announced it will expand in Brussels, not Amsterdam.” Clifford noted that any tax increase by the Dutch government should be funneled off to make aviation more sustainable if it is truly going to be branded an environmental tax. This could be in supporting research and development of new technology, production of sustainable aviation fuels, or otherwise. At present, the tax is just another government tax and will disappear into government coffers with other taxation. The IATA deputy director also highlighted the problems for airlines that the mismanagement of airports like Schiphol has caused. Arbitrary and very last-minute flight cuts left many passengers in the lurch, while airlines were left to compensate the disrupted passengers under EU 261 regulations. Clifford described this as a ‘failing in the system’ and said that, “Where delays are caused by airports or ANSP inability to deliver declared capacity we need to see a regulation that hold airports and ANSPs responsible for EU261 fines.” https://simpleflying.com/iata-netherlands-aviation-regulation-out-of-control/ Spirit Airlines looking to hire 200+ flight attendants in Southern California hiring event If you’re looking to start a career in the aviation world, Spirit Airlines is waiting for your resume. The company is holding a hiring event in Anaheim on Tuesday with a goal of hiring more than 200 flight attendants to support its crew base in Las Vegas. The hiring event will take place at the Hilton Anaheim at 777 W. Convention Way from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The budget airline is expanding in the western part of the country and has a tall order to fill out its staff. This year alone, new flights launched between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, Reno, and Albuquerque, among other destinations. Locally, Spirit offers flights from LAX, Hollywood Burbank Airport and John Wayne Airport. The hiring event comes amid a nationwide shortage of plane crewmembers across many airlines. The bulk of the shortage has affected pilots, but gate agents and flight attendants are also in high demand. Pilots require rigorous training and education that can’t be accelerated organically, but the Federal Government has kept a close eye on complimentary staff shortages. Earlier this year, United States Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urged airlines to fill vacancies among non-pilot employees, including flight attendants and gate agents. Dulna Aubourg, Director of Talent Acquisition at Spirit Airlines, said the hiring event is the perfect opportunity for someone who “dreams about traveling and is looking for an exciting career.” Those interested in applying will need to apply in advance on the event site, bring a printed resume, as well as a valid form of government-issued photo identification. Applicants must also be proficient in English, the airline added. If hired, training will begin in January, Spirit says. https://ktla.com/news/local-news/spirit-airlines-looking-to-hire-200-flight-attendants-in-southern-california-hiring-event/ Capital A Won't Merge AirAsia's Airlines After All AirAsia X will be renamed AirAsia Aviation Group, and will take ownership of the six other airlines. After weeks of discussing and making headlines about the merger of all of AirAsia's airline businesses into one new entity, Capital A's Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernades has announced that there will be no merger. Instead, all airline businesses will be injected and listed as one existing structure but will continue to operate separately. The merger we all thought was happening... For quite a while now, Capital A's aviation companies - which include AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Thailand, AirAsia Philippines, AirAsia Indonesia, and AirAsia X - have been in a financial predicament. Through discussions and analysis, Capital A decided to merge its airlines with AirAsia X in an effort to avert a potential stock market delisting. During the filing made almost a week ago, Capital A mentioned that AirAsia X would acquire the AirAsia arms serving Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines to form a new consolidated aviation group known as AirAsia Aviation. Capital A and AirAsia X were to submit their business restructuring plan, including the airline consolidation, by January 2023. The restructuring plan was scheduled to be implemented by July of next year. It has turned out to be a different kind of merger... This was the plan that everyone had expected. However, in quite a surprising turn of events, Capital A's Tony Fernandes, who also happens to be the former Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Malaysia, said there would be no merger happening. The airlines under Capital A would instead be under AirAsia X's listing status on the stock market. As for AirAsia X, the low-cost long-haul carrier will be renamed AirAsia Aviation Group and will own the six different airlines. Fernandes explained: "There's no merger. We're just injecting AirAsia Group airlines into AirAsia X's listing status. It's just like the International Airlines Group (IAG). IAG owns British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus. So, AirAsia Aviation Group will own AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Thailand, AirAsia Indonesia, AirAsia Philippines, AirAsia X Malaysia, and Thai AirAsia X." So, what will the operations be like if AirAsia X becomes AirAsia Aviation Group that owns six airlines? Concerning this, Fernandes reassures that each of these six airlines' short- and medium-haul flight operations will continue to operate individually as usual, even under one single entity. The future plans for AirAsia Aviation Group... While the six airlines will continue to operate separately, Fernandes hints that the AirAsia Aviation Group will have approximately 225 aircraft operated by each carrier after the consolidation. And moving forward, the aviation company will receive new Airbus A321 aircraft. However, it is unsure if the new additions will come from AirAsia's order book, which currently consists of about 326 of the Airbus narrowbody. Overall, it will be interesting to witness the eventual path that AirAsia Aviation Group will take. In some respects, the aviation company will be similar to IAG with the intake of international airlines, albeit they all hail from a similar name. The other difference is that IAG consists of a varied mix of national and low-cost carriers, whereas AirAsia Aviation Group will only consist of low-cost carriers. Will AirAsia Aviation Group take in other airlines in the future, or will it remain purely for these six airlines? And it would also be curious to see if, down the flight path, the aviation company will branch out a cargo division, but only time will tell. For now, it seems AirAsia Aviation Group will likely be started from July onwards next year. https://simpleflying.com/capital-a-no-airasia-merger-planned/ How Much Electricity Will Electric Airplanes Need, & How Much Will It Cost? How much electricity will be required for electric aviation and how much will it cost? Over the past few years I’ve been assessing the decarbonization of aviation, in large part because it’s a hard target of high economic merit, and to a certain degree because there is so much overhyped nonsense in the space. Tens of billions of dollars of venture capital and retail investor money has been funneled through SPACs into electric vertical takeoff (EVTOL) and landing aircraft and urban air mobility (UAM) schemes that claim to be electrifying aviation, as an obvious example. That’s not going to happen for a couple of decades, and to nowhere near the scale imagined by even the most conservative of the startups in the space. What is going to happen is slow electrification, including hybrid drive systems, of the bottom end of the fixed wing conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL/ECTOL) market. What is going to happen is the return of regional air mobility (RAM) that activates the thousands of poorly utilized smaller airports with electric, increasingly autonomous and digitally air traffic controlled aircraft, something I lay out in my maturation projection through 2040 for the technologies and regulatory approvals. Companies like XWing, whose product lead Kevin Antcliff, formerly of NASA, I’ve spoken with several times, are taking lead on autonomy, as an example. I sit on the Advisory Board of ELECTRON Aviation, which is building a 4-passenger, single-pilot plane with a range sufficient to get from the UK to the Netherlands as an air taxi, or carry 500 kg of freight between airports. Heart Aerospace, whose founder and CEO Anders Forslund I spoke with a year ago, is currently building a 30-passenger hybrid passenger plane, having realized that its 19-passenger fully electric model wouldn’t hit the right business sweet spot. Eviation just flew its 9-passenger, fully electric Alice plane, and orders have passed $2 billion. Another stealth business I’m working with is building another small ECTOL for a specific market that has thousands of smaller planes in operation today. There are thousands of 50-96 passenger turboprop planes flying scheduled routes which are aging out right now. The average age of the De Havilland Dash 8s operating globally is 24.8 years, and with the average operational hours of just under 1,600 per year, that’s bumping up against the very expensive 40,000 hour airframe inspection requirement. Air Canada’s current small fleet is only an average of 10 years old, but it has retired a lot of Dash 8s as well. Those planes aren’t cheap. The propellers alone can run over $100,000, as I found in discussions with another startup which had asked me to join their board. I declined that one, as I have many requests where I don’t see solid decarbonization alignment, the conditions for success for the firm, any path for me to deliver value, or an ability to effectively influence them. The bottom end of the aviation market, in other words, is big enough for big business models and will be the first to electrify, as I project in my aviation demand curves through 2100. But this begs the questions, which were put to me in different ways by two different collaborators: how much electricity will be required for electric aviation and how much will it cost? First, John Hilgers of ClearSkies reached out. His business model is interesting. He’s a long-term airport technology delivery professional, and in the past few years has extended his technology offerings to include solar farms. Under the USA’s FAA Voluntary Airport Low Emissions Program (VALE), airports can get a significant amount of funding to build solar on the must-be-flat verges of their strips or on buildings or over parkades, taking advantage of the land area and providing clean electricity to supplement their core businesses. Over 100 airports in the USA have solar now, and airports globally have solar farms as well, with Edmonton’s international airport having 120 MW and Groningen in the Netherlands having 20 MW, as examples of two airports I have a connection to. A while ago he asked me if I knew of had done any projections of aviation energy demands compared to solar farm opportunities on airports. It remains on my list to build a model of this, extending my projection model to consider how much electricity could be locally generated for aviation, how much would have to flow into the airport from the grid, and what would be the balance over time. The regulatory regime airports operate under allow them to sell electricity to aircraft operators without becoming a utility, at least in the USA, which is a somewhat surprising advantage. The supply chain complexities of aviation fueling become remarkably simplified when it is electrons flowing into airplanes instead of Jet A-1. Right now, carriers operating out of multiple airports have contracts with major aviation fuel providers such as BP and Gazprom (luckily, not that many outside of Russia, I found after investigating their deliveries recently), they provide likely volumes per their schedules, then they update them closer to the flight, then they update them the day before and finally the pilot themselves does the final calculation of the specific amount to fill and does an explicit signoff and handoff of the fueling person. That process has been remarkably slow to automate, with the journey somewhat laid out in this Allplane podcast, and accelerated by COVID-19 of course, among other things eliminating the fueling lead visiting the captain in the cockpit with a clipboard. Technologies and approaches discussed in the podcast were leading edge circa 2000, which I know, as I ran development for startups based on them then, which is eons ago in internet years. But electricity doesn’t require a global supply chain and global contracts. It just requires enough local electrons, something which can be generated across broad but kind of local regions and transmitted and distributed to airports to add to plane batteries. The airport might buy power purchase agreements (PPA) or virtual PPAs for its own reasons, but what’s relevant is how much energy can get into planes in a reasonably quick period of time. Right now power delivery through chargers is scaling up rapidly, and ground freight and water freight charging systems are pushing the envelope quickly, so aviation will not have a problem at smaller scales initially or larger scales later. Let’s take the example of the Eviation Alice 9-passenger aircraft, as it’s mid-way between the ELECTRON and the initial Heart ES-19. It has a 900 kWh battery, 9-15 cars’ worth, and will fly 250 nautical miles (460 km) with some left over for divert and reserve. Flights in this class are likely an average of 210 nautical miles, and with divert and reserve of perhaps 200 nautical miles, the battery will likely stay in the 40% to 90% most of the time, which is is good for battery life. Let’s assume 30% to 90% fill-up at the airport, or 540 kWh. For one plane, that’s just not a problem for the average airport. LAX uses about 155,000 MWh annually just for airport purposes, or about 425 MW per day. That means fueling up an Alice once would add about 0.1% of its daily consumption. Helsinki’s smaller airport uses about 54,000 MWh annually, meaning an Alice would suck back about 0.4% of the average day’s electricity. Note that airports typically use natural gas boilers for heating, sometimes with co-generation units for electricity as well, so this is not all of the energy consumed in airport operations, just the electricity. Airports will fully electrify everything soon enough, so the MWh available will increase. Helsinki is coincidentally a good example, as Stockholm is almost exactly the 210 nautical miles away I suggested. Finnair alone operates three flights on the route a day most days of the week, and a few extra flights on some days, with other airlines providing more options. Note that the Alice can’t replace the Airbus 320 that flies this route with potentially 170 passengers, but let’s round up the flights a bit to fill in the gaps for business travelers to perhaps 20 Alice flights a day with a few planes. That would bump the electricity requirements up to around 10.8 MWh per day at each airport, or about 2.5% of the airport’s daily consumption. Adding electric aviation isn’t going to be a drain on an airport’s electricity supply initially, and we’re a long way from displacing the Airbus A321 with fully electric, perhaps 40 years. It’s going to be a bigger percentage for smaller airports, and Helsinki isn’t tiny with 21.8 million passengers annually, but the scale isn’t particularly a problem. It also puts solar on airports into perspective. For example, Edmonton’s airport (YEG) had 8.2 million annual passengers in 2019, making it about a third of Helsinki’s scale, and has a 120 MW solar farm that will generate in the range of 210 GWh per year according to NREL’s PVWatts calculator, dwarfing the airport’s own requirements. That varies widely through the year of course, with July seeing about 0.9 GWh per day and December seeing about 0.25 GWh per day. The large majority of the scheduled flights from the airport, 10-16 to each destination every day, are to Calgary (300 km), Vancouver (800 km) and Toronto (2,700 km), all of which I’ve flown multiple times. The runner-ups are a much smaller number per day to warm places, unsurprisingly, followed by occasional flights to other places. Let’s use the Airbus A321 with 200 seats as a comparison, as modern jets are remarkably efficient. It burns about 4,400 liters of fuel per 1000 km, all else being equal. Modern jet engines run at 55% efficiency — which is astounding, by the way — but only do that at 30,000 feet altitude at optimal cruising speed. Assuming taxiing, takeoff, and landing take an efficiency toll, we’ll assume 50% efficiency of conversion of jet fuel into useful energy. Jet A has about 34.69 MJ/liter. Like electric cars, electric airplanes are more efficient, with conservative bottom end projections at 85%. At an average of 14 flights to each destination per day, the average MWh required for the large majority of flights is about 440, or 0.44 GWh. Keen-eyed observers will note that on sunny days in June, it’s probable that all flights out of the airport would easily be powered by the solar array with net electricity flowing to the grid, while in December, it will have to add a few hundred MWh from the grid. As it normally consumes about 50 MWh per day, the connections would have to be increased, but that’s true regardless as it has to deliver the electricity from its solar farm to the grid somehow. On the year, that’s perhaps 160 GWh, which the same keen-eyed observers will note is less than the 210 GWh the airport’s solar panels will provide. Tack on the likely 18 GWh or so of airport electricity requirements for the year and the airport still has 32 GWh left over. You can run the entire fleet of ground service vehicles with that, and provide all of the airport heating as well, replacing the 4.2 MW of natural gas co-gen plants doing the job today. Over the year, Edmonton’s solar farm is probably sufficient to power all flights out of Edmonton, the entire airport, ground fleets within the airport, and to be a regional trucking and car fleet refueling center. Not that it would for decades, as in my projection it’s only about 2070 that ranges in large passenger aircraft will get up to transcontinental distances, and SAF biofuels will be doing the heavy lifting at the top end for decades after that as airframes age out. That’s insufficient, by the way, to power aviation with green hydrogen from the same solar farm. Solar panels to hydrogen electrolysis to vapor elimination to compression to storage to liquification to plane to boil-off to engines would be much lower efficiency, likely a quarter of more direct use of the electricity, and so the panels that are sufficient for all aviation Edmonton currently sees would only fuel perhaps a quarter of it, even if hydrogen aviation were going to be a thing. But then there’s the next question, which a stealth founder of another firm put to me recently: how much will electricity cost as an aviation fuel? That’s a lot harder to answer, as retail and commercial electricity prices are highly divergent from wholesale prices due to a variety of policy factors. It’s an interesting question as to how it will play out. For example, Germany has among the lowest wholesale electricity rates in Europe, yet famously among the highest commercial and industrial rates, $300 / MWh and higher recently. This was intentionally done by them as a policy to drive efficiency in energy usage throughout their economy, and when I did the math, amounted to almost exactly the same extra costs as applied to gasoline and diesel (although not Jet A-1). Clearly as grids decarbonize, promoting efficiency of electricity through high prices becomes counter-productive. That suggests about $160 to fill up the Alice in Germany. The USA, also famously, has virtually no taxation beyond the basics on its fossil fuels, and at least in the area of aviation, isn’t adding carbon pricing or efficiency driving taxes to them. Its average Transportation sector electricity charges were $102.00 per MWh in 2021, so it would cost about $55 to fill up the Alice. In Canada, industrial rates per MWh vary broadly, from about $45-60 / MWh for very low carbon, legacy hydro electricity in Quebec and BC, to $150 / MWh for very high carbon, more fossil fuel generated electricity in Alberta and Saskatchewan. That’s a range of $24 – $81 for a fill-up for the Alice. Assuming the 540 KWh for the Alice, and reversing to liters of Jet A instead, we would need about 140 liters to fly the same distance if it were an internal combustion plane, all else being equal, and using a high 40% efficiency factor. At the current average price of Jet A per liter of $0.80, that would come out to a price of around $112. As can be seen, Germany’s $150 would make electrifying aviation unlikely, the USA’s $55 would make it a no brainer, while Canada’s rates vary from good to very good for electric planes. Coincidentally, green California has among the highest electricity rates in the USA, obviously a policy failure, and its $156.30 per MWh would turn into $84 to fill up the Alice, still a deal. Then you have the interesting world of airports. They will be able to sell the electricity themselves directly to airplane operators without having to establish themselves as a utility, at least in the USA, per Hilgers. And they’ll want to make a profit on the service. They might receive electricity tax breaks, but if not, they will certainly get incentives of various types to build their own big solar plants and at least some storage. How will the airport price electricity it manufactures itself? Good question. What can be said is that a lot of the drivers of the price variances for electricity will go away as we move to lots of renewables, broadly connected with HVDC, with a fair amount of storage on the grid. Then the efficiency drivers will be purely economic, not environmental, and as such lower addons in places like Germany are likely. Secondarily, as we get rid of fueling costs, then shortages and variances and price wars will become a much less common thing. Third, as we interconnect more and more grids with HVDC, markets and competition will do their thing to bring costs and prices down. And if we wisely build lots of 125 year+ lifespan pumped hydro storage, then amortizing capital costs will eventually get to zero, so only operational costs will be relevant. My take is that the world will trend toward a fairly flat situation globally of retail prices of $40-$50 / MWH in 2020 dollars by 2100, but that there will be lots of geographic and temporal price spikes until then. The spreadsheet jockeys who figure out where to refuel, how much, whether to deadhead, and which routes to favor economically won’t be going away — they’ll be doing even more complex models. But let’s take a look back into the history of aviation fuel pricing. The reason that Europe is only just starting to price carbon on jet fuel, and why other jurisdictions barely tax it, is because aviation is considered an economic development good. As a result, they artificially constrained the price of aviation fuel to accelerate the adoption of it as national and jurisdictional policies. We can certainly argue whether that was a great idea given the outsized role aviation plays in global warming, but that’s a precedent worth considering. What if airports as a matter of policy were allowed to exclude electricity used to fuel electric airplanes from various taxes and adders? Given the major efficiency and climate advantages of electrification for all industrial and large consumer segments, what if that were true for all industrial and large commercial electricity rates as a matter of policy, as rates on burnable fuels go up and up, either due to carbon pricing or simply more expensive SAF biofuels? How much would that incentivize the shift to electric aviation? I think a lot, and think that national and international aviation policies should be supporting it. https://cleantechnica.com/2022/12/05/how-much-electricity-will-electric-airplanes-need-how-much-will-it-cost/ Embraer Unveils Plans for Hybrid Electric, Hydrogen Electric Aircraft The aircraft maker revealed the two aircraft concepts as part of its bid to attain net-zero emissions by 2050. Embraer Unveils Plans for Hybrid Electric, Hydrogen Electric Aircraft The E19-HE's range is 500 nm, and carbon emissions would be slashed 90 percent with SAF, and by 30 percent with jet-A1, Embraer said. Embraer unveiled two new concepts for hybrid electric and hydrogen electric aircraft Monday, which the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer says is part of its plan to attain net-zero emissions by 2050. The aircraft concepts are part of Embraer’s Energia sustainability initiative launched last year, and include new propulsion technology on smaller aircraft. “Guided by the company’s 50 year technical expertise, external inputs from airlines, and joint studies with engine OEMs, these two approaches to net-zero offer a technically realistic and economically feasible pathway to net-zero,” the company said in a statement. Last year, Embraer began studying four aircraft concepts that featured new technology and used renewable energy. Since that time, the company has evaluated different architectures and propulsion systems, according to Arjan Meijer, president and CEO for Embraer Commercial Aviation. “I believe we have set bold but realistic goals for these concepts to come to market,” Meijer said. Energia Hybrid E19-HE, E30-HE Among the concepts Embraer is exploring is the Energia Hybrid E19-HE and E30-HE, the 19-seat and 30-seat variants. According to the company, the aircraft features parallel hybrid-electric propulsion, up to 90 percent CO2 emissions reduction when using sustainable aviation fuel, 19 and 30 seat variants, and rear-mounted engines. The aircraft would reach technology readiness in the early 2030s, Embraer said. The aircraft range is 500 nm, and carbon emissions would be slashed 90 percent with SAF, and by 30 percent with jet-A1, Embraer said. The parallel hybrid-electric propulsion comes with an additional environmental benefit: 60 percent lower external noise. Energia Hydrogen Fuel Cell Embraer’s Energia H2 Fuel Cell E19-H2FC and E30-H2FC variants feature hydrogen electric propulsion, zero CO2 emissions, 70 percent lower external noise, and rear-mounted electric engines. The aircraft range is at least 200 nm. Embraer’s Energia H2 Fuel Cell E30-H2FC variant “As new propulsion technologies will be first applied on smaller aircraft, Embraer is in a unique position,” said Luis Carlos Affonso, senior vice president of engineering, technology and corporate strategy at Embraer, in a statement. “The 19- and 30-seaters are sensible starting points for focused studies since they are likely to present earlier technical and economical readiness. While the challenges of net-zero are significant, in less than 25 years our commercial aircraft have already reduced fuel burn and CO2 emissions by almost 50 percent on a seat/mile basis, using only conventional fuels and propulsion—I’m convinced net-zero is a goal we can reach.” https://www.flyingmag.com/embraer-unveils-plans-for-hybrid-electric-hydrogen-electric-aircraft/ Top Six Airline Trends For 2023 Include Safety Threats And More Buzz Around United The past two years have brought surprise after surprise to the airline industry. A pandemic that began in 2020 was followed by acute downsizing and then by a sudden surge in demand, which began in March 2022 and for which no one was prepared. Arguably, it took until Thanksgiving 2022 for U.S. carriers to catch up. What will happen in 2023? The past is not the future, but some clear trends emerged in 2022. Threats to the air safety infrastructure mounted. A vanguard pilot deal at Delta Air LinesDAL +0.2%, reached Friday night, probably changed the labor landscape. United Airlines edged into the glare of news and politics and potential designation as a hot stock, while “bleisure travel” emerged as a hot topic. And yet, it remains clear that for some global airlines, the post pandemic economy remains troubling. Here are the top six trends. Threats to Aviation Safety Will Continue U.S. commercial aviation provides what may be the safest transportation system in the history of the world, but two threats to the safety margin, from both outside and inside the industry, mounted in 2022. In January, 5G deployment by telecommunications companies suddenly became a scary issue, as Verizon and AT&TT -1.4% sought to install towers too close to airports. In June, they agreed to delay some implementation until July 2023 as airlines retrofit aircraft. The dispute shocked the airline industry, which had not envisioned that anyone would so blatantly place financial concerns ahead of safety concerns. “Airlines have been upgrading radar altimeters to improve their ability to tolerate interference,” the Air Line Pilots Association said in a recent press release. “The FAA is strongly urging airlines to complete the updates by July 2023, so that aviation safety can be assured when mobile wireless goes to full power at that time.” But it’s not so much the details that matter as the concept that safety is now negotiable. Just as alarming is the continuing push for single pilot commercial aircraft. Over 40 countries including Germany and the United Kingdom have asked the United Nations body that sets aviation standards to help enable single-pilot flights, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency has also been working with plane makers to determine how solo flights would operate. Dennis Tajer, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American pilots, recently told NBC News that single-pilot is a bad idea. “It is a soul-to-soul eye to eye contact with that other professional pilot that often makes the difference between really bad headlines or an uneventful flight,” Tajer said. United Airlines Will Lead the Industry in Generating Buzz It is worth noting that CEO Scott Kirby was among the approximately 300 guests invited to the state dinner President Biden hosted for President Emmanuel Macron of France on Dec. 1. United’s continued emergence as a player in the Biden Administration reflects the influence of Josh Earnest, once President Obama’s spokesman, now a United senior vice president. In particular, United has been a leading advocate for carbon neutral flight operations. But it’s hard to think that, in the end, United will be significantly more carbon neutral than its competitors. United “does spaghetti theory greenwash better than others,” said aviation consultant Bob Mann. “Throws a lot of it up on the wall, and sees what sticks. “I have always thought there to be no good result from corporations weighing in publicly on politics,” Mann said. “Why upset your customers and employees by taking a stand?” United May Also Lead the Industry in Share Price Gain Whatever United’s politics, it has been a clear stock market leader, and CowenCOWN +0.2% analyst Helane Becker calls it her top pick for 2023. United shares closed Monday at $45.03, down 1% YTD. Meanwhile, Spirit was down 46%, with American down 25%,Delta down 11%, Southwest down 10% and the S&P 500 Index down 17%. “United has the greatest exposure to the ongoing recovery in higher-margin international travel among US airlines,” Becker wrote in a recent note. “The carrier has more lie-flat seats than all other US airlines combined and its hubs position it well to capture spending by high-net-worth consumers.” Additionally, she said, United “has a strong liquidity buffer that should allow it to continue paying down debt and navigate any macro choppiness.” Bleisure Travel Might Still Be a Thing in 2023 During 2022, the combination of business with leisure travel into bleisure travel emerged as a popular subject for analysis. Presumably, bleisure passengers travel at midday instead of the start and end of the day; travel midweek instead of Friday and Monday; fly to Bozeman to work remotely and also ski, and sit in Delta Comfort or Main Cabin Extra or United Premium Plus, because they can. In October, Southwest CEO Robert Jordan said he sees the changes but ”What I think we want to be careful with is trying to decide that this is forever.” And consultant Mann said, “I will be shocked if 'bleisure' makes it into Webster's dictionary.” Labor Peace Will Follow the Delta Pilot Deal Most pilot groups have been in contract talks for years. Talks have moved slowly partly because in pattern bargaining, every participant watches every other participant. Nobody wants to be first. The risk of making deals too soon were clear in 2022. United ALPA leadership was attacked because in June, it tentatively accepted a 14.5% pay raise within 18 months. Then American offered 17%, soon raised to 20.4% over three years. Still, in October American pilots recalled their negotiating committee, which had tentatively agreed to cap the potential match with peers. Late Friday, Delta ALPA reached an agreement in principle with the carrier, after three and a half years of negotiations. The deal would provide an immediate 18% pay raise and a cumulative raise of 34% after three years, plus multiple work-life balance improvements. “Assuming an endorsement by Delta’s MEC, we anticipate AAL, UAL & LUV pilot negotiations to meaningfully accelerate, potentially removing the entirety of the industry pilot overhang by mid-year 2023, and thereby significantly improving the market’s labor cost confidence for at least the next four years,” JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker wrote on Monday. Recovery Will Be Tougher for Foreign Carriers Than for U.S. Carriers. Generally, U.S. and major European airlines look to be in a good spot, with high demand and reduced capacity, while carriers of Asia – particularly China – have yet to recover. Ishka, a London-based global aviation information and advisory business, says that nearly the entire global airline industry could be threatened by the combination of inflation, high fuel prices, the strong dollar and deteriorating consumer confidence. “There are major macroeconomic challenges that is driving uncertainty, particularly in Europe,” said Siddharth Narkhede, Ishka senior analyst Narkhede said in an email. However, he said, “The North American and major European airlines have the benefit of relatively stronger balance sheets and liquidity so they are relatively better positioned to face the challenging economic environment.” The International Air Travel Association said Tuesday it expects the global industry to earn a $4.7 profit in 2023 after three years of losses that declined to $6.9 billion in 2022. “The expected profits for 2023 are razor thin,” said Willie Walsh, IATA director general, in a prepared statement. “But it is incredibly significant that we have turned the corner to profitability.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/tedreed/2022/12/06/top-six-airline-trends-for-2023-include-safety-threats-and-more-buzz-around-united/?sh=7ff7071e37e8 Cathay Pacific Signs Agreement To Train Cadet Pilots In Phoenix The flag carrier recently partnered with AeroGuard for its flight training programs. As part of its recovery and growth plan, Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific has signed a new long-term agreement with one of the US's most prominent global flight training academies, AeroGuard Flight Training Center. The collaboration will see Cathay Pacific send several hundred new pilots to the US annually for training. Celebrating the new partnership between a respected airline and a renowned flight school was Joel Davidson, Chief Executive Officer of AeroGuard, as he highlighted: "AeroGuard is extremely proud to announce this partnership with Cathay Pacific, one of the most respected airlines in the world, known for their high quality and professional standards. As the aviation industry rebounds globally following the pandemic, AeroGuard plans to train hundreds of future pilots for Cathay Pacific." AeroGuard has training programs for everyone The pilot training will occur at the Deer Valley Airport Flight School in Phoenix, Arizona. Over there, AeroGuard will support Cathay Pacific with two different types of career-focused flight training programs, one for those joining the flag carrier with no prior flight experience and another for licensed pilots looking to convert their credentials to the Hong Kong standard. However, before flying out to Phoenix, the student pilots will complete ground school classes at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. After that, it's plenty of flight training with AeroGuard, as the student pilots will fly using the academy's fleet of Piper Archers and Piper Seminoles. They will also gain experience and be prepared through unlimited access to two RedBird Simulator devices for varied methods of practice and mastery. To further maximize their skills as an aviator, the student pilots are also exposed to a mix of controlled, primarily Class B-E, and uncontrolled airspace, such as Class G. And not forgetting the runways, as the flight school in Phoenix offers access to parallel runways for maximum arrival and departure efficiency and a wide variety of over 150 instrument approaches and procedures surrounding the airport. We'd love to see you on Instagram - follow us here! Filling up the pipeline for Cathay Pacific Once the student pilots have graduated from their training with AeroGuard, they will return to Hong Kong and back to Cathay Pacific for their line training, after which they will be awarded their wings and begin operational deployments. Although flight training at AeroGuard's Phoenix campus is possible for more than 350 days a year, these new Cathay Pacific flight training programs are expected only to take the student pilots approximately 10 months to complete. Despite the quick timeframe to becoming a licensed pilot, these programs do not compromise on safety while still helping to fill the airline's pilot staffing needs. Cathay Pacific plans to train over 1,000 cadet pilots by 2025 and wants to increase capacity yearly to meet the growing travel demand expected within Asia. The airline's General Manager for Flying, Tim Burns, emphasized: "We're incredibly excited to partner with AeroGuard to provide our cadet pilots with the opportunity to learn and gain valuable flight experience at such a premier flight training school. This partnership with AeroGuard will help us maintain a strong pipeline of talent that will enable us to continue to provide the exemplary standards of service and operational excellence that underpin the Cathay Pacific brand." In fact, Cathay Pacific's first batch of student pilots completed their ground school training in Hong Kong earlier this month and just recently started their training at AeroGuard. Additional classes will be planned throughout 2023 and beyond, and the flag carrier will continue opening up recruitment drives to attract more cadet pilots. Bottom line With a proven history of over one million flight hours of training experience and graduating over 7,000 cadets, AeroGuard seems to be the ideal partner for Cathay Pacific. It would also be quite a memorable training journey for the student pilots to gradually hone their flying skills in Phoenix. Hopefully, the flag carrier will be able to ramp up its capacity in line with the filling of its pilot staffing pipeline so that these new cadets will eventually have plenty of destinations to fly to after earning their wings. https://simpleflying.com/cathay-pacific-signs-agreement-train-pilots-phoenix/ New Heat Treatment Makes It Possible to 3D Print Blades for Jet Engines, Gas Turbines For a wide range of fabricated materials, 3D printing is increasingly a more efficient and cost-effective way to make parts than conventional methods. The way metals form during the printing process, however, has thus far prevented them from being used in a variety of especially high-stress applications, such as wind turbines and jet engines. But that could be about to change. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently detailed a new heat treatment process that alters the structure of 3D-printed metals, making them stronger and better able to withstand extreme conditions. The metal 3D printing process generally results in tiny grains just tens or hundreds of microns across on the metal’s surface, which makes them susceptible to what’s known as “creep,” or metals deforming in high temperatures or under mechanical stress. In a printed jet engine turbine blade, for example, that would mean lower fuel efficiency or a shorter lifespan. MIT researchers, however, successfully treated printed metal components with a form of directional recrystallization — a decades-old technique in which metals are passed through extremely high temperatures at precise speeds. After fine-tuning the temperature and speed — 1,235 degrees Celsius and 2.5 millimeters per hour, to be specific — the method turned the tiny grains on 3D-printed nickel superalloys into much larger and sturdier “columnar” grains. In addition to realizing the environmental and cost benefits of 3D printing, MIT engineers noted that the technique could allow for the production of new, more thermally efficient turbine architectures that produce the same amount of power using less fuel. MIT aeronautics professor Zachary Cordero said the team envisions a future in which jet engine manufacturers print and heat-treat components at large-scale additive manufacturing plants. https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/new-heat-treatment-makes-it-possible-to-3d-print-blades-for-jet-engines-gas-turbines/ LOT’s Embraer jet fleet reaches 41 aircraft Polish carrier is one of the most traditional customers of the Brazilian company, operating all versions of E-Jets LOT Polish Airlines is part of Embraer’s history. It was the Polish carrier that debuted the first E-Jet in the world, an E170 received in 2004. Since then, more than 1,700 of them have been delivered in the world, making the Brazilian manufacturer a reference in the segment. Almost two decades later, Embraer jets continue to be fundamental for LOT to the point that the company has expanded its fleet, which includes all 1st generation versions. At the end of last month, for example, LOT put into service the 12th E175 in its fleet, an aircraft that flew in Italy and was leased by Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC). With that, there are 41 Brazilian jets in its fleet – six E170, 12 E175, eight E190 and 15 E195. Of these, eight aircraft were incorporated from 2021 to now, an expansion of 24%. LOT still has two E175s that are at the service of the Polish government, but it has also transferred four of these planes to Air Canada in the past. The situation, however, has changed. The Polish flag carrier has focused on meeting the growing demand for routes in Europe and the E-Jets have proven to be crucial due to their capacity, which allows them to serve a variety of destinations. As a result, the company is withdrawing its Dash 8-400 turboprops from service, from which it operated 12 planes. To reinforce the fleet, an E175, an E190 and six Boeing 737 MAX 8, recently leased from Air Lease Corporation and which were associated with Blue Air, a Romanian company that closed its doors, should still arrive. While managing to expand its capacity with second-hand aircraft, LOT continues to analyze proposals for new jets for up to 150 seats. Airbus is offering the A220 while Embraer tries to sign up for the new E2 family, but a decision has yet to be announced. https://www.airdatanews.com/lots-embraer-jet-fleet-reaches-41-aircraft/ FAA Document Fraud Case Ends with Prison Time Cole Allan Peacock, 30, was sentenced to 37 months of incarceration for submitting fraudulent records to the FAA, including an attempt to register a stolen Bombardier Learjet 55 in August 2020. A man with a history of criminal behavior and who pleaded guilty in July to making numerous false statements on documents to the FAA, including a failed attempt to fraudulently register a stolen business jet, has been sentenced to 37 months of incarceration. Cole Allan Peacock, 30, also must serve three years of supervised release. Court documents show that in July 2019, Peacock made false statements on an application for an FAA student pilot certificate. Although he had previously been convicted of multiple criminal felony offenses, the application did not disclose that criminal record. A month later, Peacock forged an FAA flight instructor’s signature authorizing him to serve as the pilot-in-command on multiple flights, including flights with passengers. In August 2020, Peacock submitted fraudulent records to the FAA to register a stolen Bombardier Learjet 55. In June 2021 he was indicted by a grand jury in the U.S. federal court for the Southern District of Florida. According to AIN research, between 2013 and 2019, Peacock was variously convicted of credit card fraud, grand theft, resisting arrest with violence, bomb threats, assaulting police officers, passing fake checks, felony impersonation of a public official, and misdemeanor reckless driving. He served jail time for some of these crimes. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2022-12-05/faa-document-fraud-case-ends-prison-time Flight Operations Quality Assurance Analyst Indianapolis, IN US ID JR-003892 Category Flight Operations Quality Assurance Analyst Schedule Full time POSITION PURPOSE Processes day-to-day raw data using Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) and program Ground Data Replay Analysis System (GDRAS). Creates weekly and monthly deliverables in addition to working with Gatekeepers and other members of FOQA and FOQA Management Team (FMT). ESSENTIAL DUTIES To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. • Supports the FOQA Program Manager with daily administration of the FOQA efforts to ensure analysis of flight data for improved flight safety. • Oversees data collection process of aircraft fleet in conjunction with Maintenance and Engineering. • Performs data analysis, root cause analysis, and determines corrective actions of digital flight data to determine adverse events for trends in flight and maintenance operations. • Coordinates, develops, verifies and validates aircraft specific event definitions. • Prepares flight operations trending analysis charts and reports. • Compiles and presents FOQA data summaries for use by senior management, regulators, pilots, and union officials. • Performs specialized studies and fulfills special data requests. • Creates safety and FOQA department publications. • Prepares reports, presentations, and statistical data required to keep the FOQA community informed. • Reviews corrective action responses to inspections and internal evaluations findings for adequacy. • Maintains FOQA database, write database queries, program new FOQA events, and manages documentation supporting these functions. • Communicates with other airlines FOQA departments, governmental and academic institutions regarding FOQA. • Performs other duties as assigned. REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability necessary to perform this job. EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE. • Bachelor’s degree in aviation, flight technology, engineering, or related area or a combination of education and experience. • Holds Commercial Pilot Certificate • Basic understanding of aircraft systems and/or Part 121 aviation operations. • Previous work experience in quality control, maintenance, operations, safety or a combination of these areas (preferably in 14CFR Part 121 air carrier operations). • Previous experience maintaining and enhancing corporate safety standards and safe operation practices. • Extensive working knowledge of Microsoft Office Programs, including spreadsheet and database applications. • Strong work ethic, ability to work in a fast-paced environment and a positive attitude toward teamwork. PREFERRED EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE • At least 3 years related experience. • Additional certifications: Dispatch, Airframe and Powerplant and/or ATP license. • Basic computer programming and statistical methods experience preferred. • Prior experience with Sagem AGS or equivalent GDRAS platforms is preferred. LANGUAGE SKILLS Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public. REASONING/PROBLEM SOLVING ABILITY Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables. Proven project management and analytical skills. Ability to handle numerous projects at one time and meet deadlines. Self-motivated and able to work with minimal supervision in support of the Safety Department. DECISION MAKING Makes day to day decisions used to support strategic direction. Decisions often require some thought and are somewhat structured. Decisions tend to be short term and usually moderate cost. PHYSICAL DEMANDS The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an associate to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Able to move about the work environment. Frequently required to stand, walk, sit, talk and hear. WORK ENVIRONMENT The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an associate encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Typically not exposed to extreme environmental conditions. TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS Travel up to 10% of the time, including overnight stays. Curt Lewis