Archive for January 2015

Brazil’s Gol Said to Mull Turboprops on Regional-Air Subsidy

Bombardier Q400 NextGen 86 seat aircraft

Brazil’s Gol airline is considering adding turboprops to its all-jet fleet to take advantage of a new law subsidizing flights to small cities, two people familiar with the matter said. Talks are under way with European turboprop maker ATR, said the people, who asked not to be identified because details are private. Sao Paulo-based Gol…

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Japan’s Skymark to stop flying Airbus A330 in favor of Boeing-only fleet

skymark 737 800

Skymark Airlines said it will stop flying Airbus A330 jets in favour of a single-model fleet of Boeing Co 737 aircraft to cut costs after the discount carrier filed for protection from creditors late on Wednesday. “We will stop using the A330s from February,” Skymark’s chairman, Takashi Ide, told reporters at a news conference in…

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Russian Military Jets ‘disrupted UK aviation’

Russian Tu-95

Russian military planes flying near UK airspace caused “disruption to civil aviation” on Wednesday, the Foreign Office has said. It said the two Russian planes did not enter UK airspace, but the manoeuvres were “part of increasing pattern of out-of-area operations” by Russia. The planes were “escorted” by RAF jets “throughout the time they were…

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Malaysia Declares MH370 An ‘Accident’, Airline to Proceed With Compensation

Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800

Malaysian officials have officially declared the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 an accident more than 10 months after the Boeing 777 aircraft vanished on March 8. The declaration rules out the possibility that there might have been survivors among the 239 people aboard. But it also paves the way for the airline to pay…

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Improving Ground Travel Is The Only Way To Disrupt The Airline Industry

Generic airplane takeoff

I traveled close to 24,000 miles by air in 2014. During that time, I’ve encountered an industry with an irritating and archaic business model—mundane booking processes, a barrage of fees, inconsistent customer service experiences, and a mode of transportation in need of a breath of fresh air. So how can a business really change the…

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Airline flights Resume in The Northeast After Blizzard

Airport snow blizzard

Airline flights were picking up across the Northeast Wednesday morning as airlines looked to restart their schedules following a major winter storm. More than 625 flights were canceled nationwide as 7:20 a.m. ET, according to flight-tracking service. FlightAware. But that was a dramatic improvement from Tuesday, when more than 4,750 flights – roughly 15% of…

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Skymark Air Files for Bankruptcy After Airbus A380 Deal Flops

Skymark A380

Skymark Airlines Inc., Japan’s third-largest carrier, filed for bankruptcy protection after running short of cash, hastening the downfall of a low-fare airline and its growth ambitions that climaxed in an ill-fated purchase of six Airbus A380 superjumbos. The carrier filed at the Tokyo District Court with 71 billion yen ($603 million) in liabilities, according to…

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The new space race: SpaceX vs Boeing

Elon Musk and SpaceX

SpaceX and Boeing plan to build space “taxis” that can American astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017, and both companies appeared together at a NASA press conference Monday to unveil updates in the space agency’s commercial crew carrier competition. NASA has awarded Boeing $4.6 billion and SpaceX $2.6 billion to develop and operate…

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Bombardier Learjet 85

Learjet 85

In mid-January, Bombardier announced a “pause” for an “indeterminate period” in the Learjet 85 program, interpreted by some market analysts as permanently shelving the project. In light of Montreal’s taking a pre-tax special $1.4 billion write down that represents nearly 90 percent of development costs, as well as announcing a cut of 1,000 jobs at…

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Air India Considering Order for Fleet Of Boeing 737 Max for Expansion Plan

Air India airplane tail

Air India Ltd (AI) is reportedly considering a fleet expansion and may place an order for Boeing 737-Max planes. A source with knowledge on the developments revealed the news to Bloomberg. The new order, if placed, will not replace the current fleet of Boeing 737s, but add to it. Indian carries are mulling over expanding…

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Impending Blizzard Causes 5,200 Flight Cancellations

Flights cancelled

Air travelers faced chaos Monday in the Northeast, thanks to a major winter blizzard that grounded thousands of airline flights even before the first snowflakes had fallen in the region. Airlines reacted to a major snowstorm that’s expected to wallop parts of the Northeast by cancelling more than 5,200 flights through Wednesday. Of those, at…

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American Airlines Receives New Composite Boeing 787

American Airlines 787

Last week, American Airlines became the second US carrier to take delivery of the next-generation Boeing 787 aircraft. The aircraft principally uses composite material in its construct, making it lighter weight and less expensive to fly than earlier-generation widebodies. So far, United Airlines has been the only other US carrier to receive a 787. Forget…

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