AvNews: 10/11/17

Updates

MH370

Ocean Infinity will be paid millions if the search turns up with any trace of the aircraft.

A US company will be pay between 20 million to 70 million US dollars from Malaysia if any trace of the missing plane is found within 90 days of the beginning of the new search.

Malaysia’s deputy transport minister has accepted an offer from the company to search around 25 thousand square kilometre area.

Australia will be providing assistance for the search nearby the seabed exploration it will not contribute to the reward fee if the plane is found.

The company will focus on the seafloor which has been identified by the experts as the next most likely location to find MH370.

United 747

United Airlines flew their last Boeing 747 for the last time. They carried a domestic flight on the iconic jump jet a specially scheduled farewell flight from San Francisco to Honolulu. This will end the iconic aircraft's 47-year long journey with United

United rolled out a throwback theme for the flight with crew donning the 1970s era retro uniforms and serving 1970s inspired menu options. In-flight entertainment option was hail from the 1970s. It was part of an effort of the airline to recreate the atmosphere passenger would of experience on United first ever 747 flight in 1970 which also flew San Francisco to Honolulu.

The aircraft was delayed due to an issue with the air conditioning system.

The aircraft was ferried back to SFO the next day and the flown into Victorville where it now awaits its fate.

Air France A380

The Air France A380 which diverted to Goose Bay has returned to France.

Major News

Fuel spill at Jackson Atlanta Airport.

More than 1,000 gallons of jet fuel was sipped on Thursday at around 10:15 am at ATL. According to the fire department at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport, a plane at Gate E-33 was being refuelled when the hose connection came undone. The Delta aircraft resumed normal operation around 2:30 pm.

As a precaution passengers and people were evacuated from the area near the domestic gates. No injuries were reported.

According to Delta spokesman Michael Thomas:

“An issue developed with a fuel-servicing unit”

“Boarding of a nearby aircraft was halted as a precaution and the area closed off while containment efforts were put in place,” said in a statement.

Early retirement

Singapore Airlines to retire the first A380 (9V-SKA) and to store it in France next week). After 10 years of operations, the first ever A380 delivered to Singapore Airlines will be doing a ferry flight to Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées airport in France.

Before leaving the fleet, the aircraft will be painted all white. Upon arrival, all four engines will be retired and returned to Rolls-Royce for leasing to another operator.

The aircraft, which first flew on October 25, 2007 on the Singapore-Sydney route, will make its last flight commercially between London Heathrow and Singapore.

It’s really sad to see such a huge airline retiring such a young aircraft. Its the end of an era.

The second Singapore Airlines A380 to be retired will be 9V-SKB so catch it while you can!

Missile targets Riyadh Airport.

Yemeni Rebels on Saturday targeted King Khalid International Airport with a ballistic missile.

Luckily the missile was intercepted over the northeast Riyadh, the Saudi Ministry of defence said in a statement.

Riyadh airport tweeted that it had not been affected

"Travelers across King Khalid international airport in Riyadh, we assure you that the movement is going on as normal and usual, and trips going according to time," the airport said on Twitter.

Jetstar undergoing major refurbishment.

The Aussie airline is planning to have a major reconfiguration of their planes in their fleet. Over a twelve day period, all the cabins will be stripped apart so that overhead bins, galleys, and toilets can be rearranged with the fuselage cut into to add extra windows for a new row.

Jetstar Airways CEO Dean Salter said in a statement:

“Part of the process is stripping out the cabin, but also cutting into the fuselage to add to extra windows to make sure that every seat row and customer still has that window outlook.”

Surprisingly the passenger experience should stay the same. For those who are concerned, the legroom will remain identical across the fleet and instead passengers can enjoy a new slimline leather seat and larger overhead bins.

This overall will allow the airline to add six seats on their aircraft which ultimately will lower cost and lower fares and more passengers. The airline reports that this program will allow for around 600,000 extra passengers every year without any aircraft addition.

Who said seals don't like airports.

While this is not the first time that a wildlife has wander onto airport runways every now and then. Workers from an airport in Utqiagvik in Alaska were surprised when they saw a 450-pound seal laying on the runway!

Scott Babcock a foreman the Wiley Post-Will Rogers Memorial Airport he saw a large animal on the airfield on Monday.

He said in a statement to ABC news:

“It was very strange to see the seal. I’ve seen a lot of things on runways, but never a seal,”

The airport staff are not allowed to handle or haze marine mammals so they had to wait for wildlife control to arrive and safely help it on its way back to the sea. North Slope Borough Animal control went to the airport and moved. the seal using a heavy duty snow blowers and a sledge.

Sneaking into an airport’s apron.

Ever wondered how you can get onto the airport apron. Well, this man did and he got in.

A man uses the baggage carousel to sneak onto the tarmac at Miami Airport. The man who remains unidentified appeared to be using his cell phone while passing through a vacant security checkpoint on Saturday. He then jumps onto the baggage conveyor with his cellphone still held to his ear.

In another video, the man is seen sprinting across the tarmac with multiple workers at the airport chasing him. He was tackled to the ground where airport staff held him until police arrived. The Guatemalan man had been involuntarily committed for mental health reasons just days before the incident.

Another one….

At 20:30 local time, reports started emerging that Hamburg airport was closed because unauthorized people were running on the airfield.

All flights were holding or diverting to nearby airports.

Police confirmed at least two people escaped deportation custody and ran on the airfield at Hamburg airport.

Flights resumed at 21:46 local time.

Evacuation at Schipol airport.

An evacuation took place at DHL sorting centre in Amsterdam famous Schipol airport. Officials said the facility was evacuated after a suspicious package was tracked to the building. A spokesman said :

“There has been an evacuation after tracking a shipment that was not trusted”.

“It happened in Schiphol where the sorting of the packages takes place.”

Passengers in the concourse were not evacuated and flights were not affected.

A spokesman from the bomb squad said one of their dogs had alerted them to a potential threat.

"When one of the dogs sits down, we assume he has found something that does not belong”.

"Then the protocol with being put into operation and a radius of 50 metres will be cleared around the object," he said.

A stronger partnership

All Nippon Airways announced the expansion of its codeshare agreement with Vietnam Airlines, providing additional benefits to its ANA Mileage Club members. ANA has been cooperating with Vietnam Airlines on codeshare flights and has introduced a Vietnam Airlines cabin attendants as in-flight service assistance on ANA flight. The newest partnership forms part of the strategy of commercial and capital partnership between the two companies.

"ANA announces the expansion of its codeshare agreement with Vietnam Airlines, providing additional benefits to its ANA Mileage Club members."

Since the second half of 2016, ANA has been cooperating with Vietnam Airlines on codeshare flights and mileage programs and has introduced Vietnam Airlines' cabin attendants as in-flight service assistants on ANA flights. The newest expansion forms part of the strategy of the commercial and capital partnership agreement between the two companies.

From October 29, 2017, codeshare flights from Hanoi to Siem Reap in Cambodia and from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City will be added, allowing ANA Mileage Club members to accrue miles on all Vietnam Airlines operated flights on those routes.

In addition, since September 1, 2017, mileage accrual was expanded to all flights operated by Vietnam Airlines on the codeshare routes. Previously, mileage accrual was only possible on Vietnam Airlines flights with an ANA flight number.

To celebrate the first anniversary of the codeshare and frequent flyer partnership, we have introduced a “Bonus Miles Campaign” between October 1 and December 31, 2017 for Business Class passengers travelling on ANA and Vietnam Airlines international flights between Japan and Vietnam*. In addition, ANA Mileage Club members can earn double miles during the campaign period, on all Vietnam Airlines operated flights on the codeshare routes.

ANA will continue working to enhance its network and services, to deliver increased customer satisfaction, and to contribute to the future growth of both countries Japan and Vietnam" ANA said in a press release

British Airways Status Report

There are a bunch of news concerning the UK national carrier so we’ll just say it all over here to simplify your reading.

• British Airways hints to disturb its loyalty program in 2018.

British Airways may be moving award bookings through its Executive Club to dynamic pricing, shifting the way that loyalty program members redeem free tickets. The move may render an already-troubled loyalty program to something even less competitive for elite flyers. — Grant Martin.

The parent company of British Airways suggested that changes will be coming to the way the loyalty program members book away tickets.

This new pricing ward system has been in some US airlines model like Delta.

• British Airways to bring back second meal

According to British Airways CEO:

“We will upgrade catering so that everyone has better snacks and, on longer flights, everyone has a full second meal”

• Reviving British Airways glory days

Two years after Alex Cruz was named chief executive and chairman, he has revealed a £4.5 billion improvement program following some bad setback in 2017 including the costly computer meltdown, cabin strikes, the decision to axe free meals on short-haul flights and to squeeze more passengers a major improvement program was needed.

He said :

“The glory days are coming back,”

“I firmly believe that our best days lie ahead.”

The investment will go to procuring 72 aircraft, upgrading 128 existing planes, better training staff and most importantly rolling out the best Wi-Fi in the sky. He also committed the airline to installing seat power points in all cabins and improving long-haul catering in economy.

Passengers are expected to have lower fares, better service and new destination.

He admitted that the national carrier learned some hard lessons this year.

Island Air Status Report

Island Air shut down this Friday after 37 years of flying. Hawaii’s second largest airlines filed for bankruptcy protection on October 16th after its aircraft lessor attempted to repossess the company's remaining Q400 aircraft for nonpayment. The airline lost money every quarry for the past four years.

"Island Air has taken every measure possible to avoid this tremendous hardship to its passengers," said David Uchiyama, Island Air president. "Island Air appreciates the loyalty and support their customers, management, employees, and vendors have shown the airline, especially during the last few weeks of this bankruptcy process."

"I want to thank Island Air for its decades of service to our communities," Gov. David Ige wrote in a statement. "The closure will have a tremendous effect on 400 employees and their families, and the state will be working with Island Air to help the employees apply for unemployment insurance and provide assistance with job searches and training opportunities." a spokesman said.

The airline said in a statement. If you have any inquiries on refunds contact your credit card company.

Hawaii's largest airline, Hawaiian Airlines, will honour Island Air tickets for the next week on a standby basis.

Eurowings expansion

Eurowings, Lufthansa's low-cost subsidiary, wants to triple its long-haul fleet in 2018.

In a press release, Eurowings said that it will have a total of 21 long-haul aircraft at the end of 2018. Is not yet known which aircraft they are looking into. Four of these aircraft will be based at Dusseldorf Airport in the summer of 2018

Eurowings started its first ever long-haul route on November 8th.

Several routes from Düsseldorf have already been announced:

• DUS – Punta Cana EW1140 (started 08NOV, 2x weekly)

• DUS – Varadero EW1130 (starting 11NOV, 1x weekly)

• DUS – Puerto Plata (starting 14DEC, 1x weekly)

• DUS – Cancun (starting 18DEC, 1x weekly)

• DUS – Orlando (starting 18DEC, 2x weekly)

• DUS – Miami (starting summer 2018)

• DUS – New York JFK (starting summer 2018)

• DUS – Los Angeles (starting summer 2018)

• DUS – Fort Myers (starting summer 2018)

The low-cost carrier wants to start long-haul flights from Munich in April and from Berlin in the summer of 2018 potentially reviving some Air Berlin flights.

The company currently have 6 Airbus A330-300 and one leased Boeing 767.

Central airports in Poland.

Poland has approved to build a central airport for as much as 35 billion zlotych by 2027. This would reverse a strategy based on expanding smaller regionals ports with the help funds by the European Union.

The airport will be most likely located in central Poland between Warsaw and Lodz, the biggest cities. It will be capable of serving as many as 100 million passengers per year three times as much Poland needs under the approved plan.

This plan poses risk for the 14 regional airports built or refurbished over the last decade with EU funds.

Aircraft News

737 Family:

• WestJet took delivery of their fourth 737 MAX 8 (C-GRAX) this week.

747:

• It’s been officially confirmed that the president's new Air Force One aircraft is the 747-8. The USAF has placed the order for two 747-8 that were supposed to be delivered to Transaero.

A350:

• Malaysia Airlines first A350 flew for the first time earlier this week.

ATR:

• FedEx will purchase thirty ATR 72-600Fs making them the first airline to buy the freighter ATR-72.

Embraer:

• Emirates takes delivery of its first Embraer Phenom 100EV aircraft in Dubai

Emergencies

Hawaiian Airlines emergency

The flight from Everett’s Paine Filed to Seattle International airport was carrying only crew on board. It was flown for maintenance work.

Passengers waiting to board another flight witness the incident and some record it with their smartphones.

There were no injuries according to an airport spokesperson. The aircraft experienced a left engine issue on final approach. The left engine caught on fire upon landing and was extinguished by the A333 extinguishing system and the local fire officials.

However according to The Federal Aviation Administration "Experienced a right engine flyer fire upon landing. The fire had already been extinguished by the time fire crews arrived at the aircraft." The FAA is still investigating what caused the fire.

Hit by an air bridge.

A Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, registration LY-BBT, landed at Riga International Airport on Friday. Passengers from the inbound flight from Turku Airport were disembarked when the plane was hit by an air bridge while it was towed to the parking.

The Canadian plane was sent for maintenance.

Ryanair flight hit by pack of dogs:

A Ryanair flight was taking off from Rhodes Airport in Greece around 10 pm local time when the aircraft was hit by a bunch of dogs on the runway.

The captain became aware of the incident. Because the 737-800 was at V1, it had to take off. It stopped at FL40 and returned to the airport. EI-EBV landed safely and got the go to continue its flight.

For those curious about the dogs, no information has been revealing about their conditions after the impact.

Avro RJ-85 engine failure

An SA Airlink Avro RJ-85 operating flight SA8103 Harare to Johannesburg was involved in an accident after making an emergency landing at O.R> Tambo International Airport.

While en route one of the four engines suffered an unconfined failure which then caused damage to its adjacent engine.

Special

Chine Aviation Supplies places large order for Boeing planes.

China Aviation Supplies leases planes to Chinese airlines, they said it agreed with Boeing to buy 260 737s and 40 777 and 787s. The deal is valued at $38 billion.