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WestJet ‘Christmas miracle’ video warms hearts on social media
Passengers landed in Calgary to find gifts they asked Santa for at baggage carousel Watch video
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 hijacked, official says
No motive established or demands made
(AP via CBC) Investigators have concluded that one or more people with significant flying experience hijacked the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, switched off communication devices and steered it off-course, a Malaysian government official involved in the investigation said Saturday.
No motive has been established and no demands have been made known, and it is not yet clear where the plane was taken, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media. The official said that hijacking was no longer a theory.
“It is conclusive,” he said.
He said evidence that led to the conclusion were signs that the plane’s communications were switched off deliberately, data about the flight path and indications the plane was steered in a way to avoid detection by radar.
14 March
Jeff Wise: If the Missing Plane Isn’t in the Indian Ocean, Where Could It Be Now?
(Slate) Where might he have gone? The possibilities are vast. So far, the assumption is that the plane is limited to a circle of about 2,000 nautical miles radius. But if its actual range were somewhat better than that, it might have reached quite a few countries with large sparsely populated areas and histories of ambivalence toward the West: Yemen, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, to name a few. It may seem hard to imagine landing a jet in a remote place without someone noticing. But consider Operation Eagle Claw, the aborted Iran hostage rescue mission back in 1980, in which the U.S. staged eight helicopters in the middle of the Iranian desert without anyone realizing (until one of them crashed and the mission was aborted, that is). As I reported earlier, though the 777 is a very large plane and usually lands at large, well-developed airports, it is actually capable of landing in much more primitive conditions, including a runway of hard dirt, a highway, or even (under the right conditions, and in the hands of a very skilled pilot) a paved strip of barely 3,000 feet in length—about the size of what you would find at a modest municipal airport in the United States.
If the plane were able to refuel and take off again—not likely, but not impossible, either—it could literally be anywhere in the world right now.
How the theory of the stolen jetliner got less crazy by the day
(Globe & Mail) he moment when the crazy theory started to tingle was when Malaysian officials divulged that military radar (not the civilian version that normally tracks commercial flights) had picked up an unidentified plane on a trajectory that would suggest MH370 had turned around and flown back west across the Malaysian peninsula before disappearing over the Strait of Malacca.
The Strait of Malacca has been one of the world’s most dangerous shipping lanes for centuries, because its geography makes it an ideal chokepoint for piracy. An airliner is a different kind of ship altogether, but could this be a coincidence? “I keep waiting for someone to tell us if this Malaysian thing is actually an audacious theft,” I wrote Tuesday in an online conversation with friends, after outlining the idea to coworkers.
Odd details kept coming in. Family said they could still make the passengers’ phones ring. The engines had continued to transmit data for hours after vanishing.
One of the best summaries to date: Jeff Wise: Malaysia Airlines mystery is one of the most bizarre incidents in modern air travel
Flight MH370 may not have even crashed
(National Post) As the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 stretches on with still virtually no reliable clues to work with, what began as a bizarre incident is beginning to look even stranger still. Commercial airliners have gone missing before, but only until their wreckage was found. MH370 seems literally to have vanished into thin air. But how could that happen? And what does it mean for a plane to disappear, anyway?
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 radar evidence suggests ‘sabotage’
(Thomson Reuters via CBC) ‘We are looking at sabotage, with hijack still on the cards,’ senior Malaysian police official says
Why Malaysia Airlines 370 Remains So Profoundly Mysterious, and Why a Better Black Box Wouldn’t Help
(The Atlantic) The absence of data about this flight is itself a significant data point.
U.S. Investigators Suspect Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane Flew On for Hours
(WSJ) U.S. investigators suspect that Flight 370 stayed in the air for up to four hours past the time it reached its last confirmed location, according to two people familiar with the details, raising the possibility that the plane could have flown on for hundreds of additional miles under conditions that remain murky.
Throughout the roughly four hours after the jet dropped from civilian radar screens, these people said, the link operated in a kind of standby mode and sought to establish contact with a satellite or satellites. These transmissions did not include data, they said, but the periodic contacts indicate to investigators that the plane was still intact and believed to be flying. Investigators are trying to determine, among other things, whether the plane may have landed in an unknown location at some point during the period under scrutiny, these people said.
As authorities scramble to analyze and understand all of the transmissions from the missing 777, the situation continues to change rapidly.
12 March
Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: What we know and don’t know
(CNN) As the search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jet entered a fifth day Wednesday, investigators remained uncertain about its whereabouts.
Here’s a summary of what we know and what we don’t know about Flight 370, which was carrying 239 people when it disappeared from radar screens over Southeast Asia.
(AP via CBC) Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 search marked by ‘confusion’ — Search for missing Boeing 777 widened to an area near the Andaman Sea
The $100,000 Device That Could Have Solved Missing Plane Mystery
Only once the wreckage is found, and the black box flight recorders are recovered, will we know what happened to Flight MH370. But there’s no good reason why this information has to be locked into boxes that go down with the plane. Indeed, the technology needed to stream crucial flight data to the ground is already on the market. It’s made by a Canadian company called FLYHT, and can be fitted to an airliner for less than $100,000.
2013
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.IATA
Airport World online
(Montreal Economic Institute/ November 2006) HOW TO MAKE THE CANADIAN AIRLINE INDUSTRY MORE COMPETITIVE : The airline industry has gone through plenty of turbulence over the last few years. Following a period of crisis caused by an economic slowdown in the United States …
30 September
Airlines introduce fees you might actually want to pay
(Globe & Mail) Unlike the first generation of charges, which dinged fliers for once-free services such as checking a bag, these new fees promise a taste of the good life, or at least a more civil flight.
Extra legroom, early boarding and access to quiet lounges were just the beginning. Airlines are now renting iPads preloaded with movies, selling hot first-class meals in coach and letting passengers pay to have an empty seat next to them. Once on the ground, they can skip baggage claim, having their luggage delivered directly to their home or office.
22 June
Changing face of air travel
Introduction of Westjet’s Encore and Air Canada’s Rouge should result in travellers seeing lower fares, better service and more point-to-point flying.
The air travel business has always been perilous in Canada, traditionally consisting of a few heavily travelled corridors, with the rest being long or short thin routes and uncertain service to remote locations.
In fact, this vast, sparsely populated country has been the graveyard of a plethora of carriers just in the last couple of decades (see related link Memories of carries gone bust).
Still, two new airlines are about to launch within a week of each other — WestJet Airlines Ltd.’s Encore on Monday, Fête nationale, and Air Canada’s Rouge on Canada Day.
Unlike past casualties, the betting this time is that these offshoots of Canada’s two largest airlines are on more solid footing — and face a kinder future. … Encore will deploy the first few of 20 Q400 76-seat turboprops it ordered from Bombardier Inc. in western Canada on Monday, and expects to roll out its service to eastern and central Canada about a year from now.
4 June
They lost out on ICAO, but this is something of a consolation prize
Qatar Airways to Host 70th IATA AGM
Air Transport Leaders to Converge in Doha in June 2014
(IATA Press Release) The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that Qatar Airways will host the 70th IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit. The event will draw the top leadership of the air transport industry to Doha in the State of Qatar from 1–3 June 2014.
30 May
Singapore Airlines to order $17 billion aircraft from Airbus, Boeing
(Reuters) – Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIAL.SI) agreed to spend $17 billion to buy 30 Airbus and 30 Boeing Co. aircraft, underscoring the airline’s bet on a pick-up in the struggling premium class market.
The significant orders announced on Thursday make Singapore Airlines (SIA) the long-awaited launch customer for a proposed stretched version of the 787 Dreamliner, boosting Boeing’s plans to offer a 320-seat aircraft designed in large part for crowded intra-Asian routes.
The move comes as SIA attempts a big strategy overhaul, pushing into the budget airlines segment and expanding its regional network.
22 March
Fast lane for Saudi air travelers?
(Israeli Homeland Security) Israeli security experts say that the u.s decision to allow Saudis to enter the country using a “fast lane” raises many questions. According to Fox news the Department of Homeland Security program intended to give “trusted traveler” status to low-risk airline passengers soon will be extended to Saudi travelers, opening the program to criticism for accommodating the country that produced 15 of the 19 hijackers behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. … Only an exclusive handful of countries enjoy inclusion in the Global Entry program — Canada, Mexico, South Korea and the Netherlands. According to the IPT, some officials are questioning why Saudi Arabia gets to reap the benefits of the program, when key U.S. allies like Germany and France are not enrolled; Israel has reached a deal with the U.S., but that partnership has not yet been implemented.
17 January
How Bad Are the Dreamliner’s Problems?
(The Atlantic) … repeated battery fires in the 787, and the subsequent grounding of the fleet by the FAA and other airlines and authorities around the world, are obviously terrible news for Boeing. But so far the defect appears to be specific and correctable — a problem with the lithium-ion batteries Boeing has chosen for the plane — rather than some mysterious, unbounded threat that could undo the 787 project as a whole. …
In addition to the carbon-fiber issue, the other “fundamental” question about the Dreamliner has been whether Boeing erred in outsourcing so much of the plane’s manufacturing and design. Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times went into this in depth in a celebrated article two years ago; I also address it in China Airborne. Even Boeing officials now concede that the company farmed out too much of the crucial work of making the plane. Thus it exposed itself to unexpected delays, problems in matching up parts and systems produced by different suppliers, design decisions that were out of its immediate control, and other challenges
Global regulators ground Dreamliners
(Financial Times) Boeing risks losing public confidence in 787 after spate of incidents raised questions about jet’s safety and reliability of electrical power system
2012
28 December
Hobbits take to the air in Air New Zealand safety video — Air New Zealand has set out to take passengers on a flight of fantasy in its latest in-flight safety video, enlisting hobbits, orcs and elves to urge passengers to fasten their seatbelts. Great branding!
Virgin Atlantic celebrates ‘gifted’ employees in glamorous new advert
To celebrate the launch of flights within the UK, Virgin Atlantic has released a new advert celebrating its employees that ‘fly in the face of ordinary’. Terrific send-up of adventure movie trailers!
24 December
Grant Bishop: Canada’s unfriendly skies: Why our airlines need competition
(Globe & Mail) We need more competition to discipline our airlines and their unions. Canadians should reflect on their experiences on our airlines whenever we hear our politicians argue that we need to protect our “national champions”. The shakedown that Canadian travellers face today is too high a price for maple leaves on tailfins.
6 December
The best news for IATA employees since the departure of Giovanni
Comment: can IATA move on following departure of its head of human capital?
(The Loadstar) IATA members and staff could finally see change sweep through the inscrutable organisation following the resignation of one of the old guard, Guido Gianasso, the head of ‘human capital’ and training.
Mr Gianasso, who worked closely with former chief executive Giovanni Bisignani, has been heavily criticised for creating a culture of fear in the airline association – an image not improved when he attempted to unmask and sue an employee who had savaged him anonymously on the whistle-blowing website, Glassdoor.com.
Reportedly responsible for sacking huge numbers of staff during his career, he is moving on to seek new opportunities in Asia.
The move marks the end of the ‘Italian era’ and ‘reign of terror’ at IATA, and will leave members hoping that the winds of change, promised when ex-Cathay boss Tony Tyler took over as CEO in mid-2011, will finally allow the association to modernise – and deliver value. … Under Mr Bisignani, the chief executive approval rating from staff was a stunning 0%. This has now risen to 57%, but change has not come fast enough, say staff. See also Il a supprimé 1000 emplois et craint pour sa « réputation »
27 October
Why Canadian airports are so expensive and inefficient
(Financial Post) Government taxes and fees have long carried the blame for the noncompetitive nature of Canadian airports and for the bleed of nearly 5 million passengers a year in search of cheaper flights south of the border.
But not everyone agrees taxes and fees are the primary source of what ails the air travel industry in Canada. Howard Eng, chief executive of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, which oversees the country’s busiest airport, Pearson International, is one of them.
Mr. Eng argues that while reducing various government fees — such as airport rents, security charges, and fuel excise taxes, will certainly help — the federal government would be better served focusing on a national strategy to increase the number of passengers flying to the country. This would include the elimination of red tape for passengers transferring onto other destinations, streamlining the customs process, and making the country a focal point for travel in emerging markets like India and China.
27 August
FEATURE-Congo’s new airlines brave riskiest African skies
* African infrastructure has not kept pace with growth
* Two new airlines set out to prove Congo market viable
* One of world’s worst safety records
* Booming mining sector offers business potential
By Jonny Hogg
KINSHASA, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Its tarmac littered with dozens of dilapidated planes, the airport in Congo’s capital Kinshasa makes clear the dire state of aviation even by Africa’s generally low standards.
The planes have been abandoned either as mechanical failures or by companies that went bust in a sector where a lack of proper infrastructure means pilots sometimes navigate with the help of Google Maps and sat-nav devices like those found in cars.
“Crazy things happen here. We have to stop those crazy things happening,” says Frenchman Jean-Marc Pajot, who with his new FlyCongo airline is setting out to prove there is a market for those determined to make it work.
15 August
Inside The Airline Industry
(aeronautx.net) There is no doubt that the airline industry has suffered from the economic woes of the country. That almost goes without saying; the more important question to begin examining is what will be the long-term impact of the recession of air travel? There are several factors at play that are going beyond just the cost of a barrel of crude oil and disposable income levels of travelers. There are some actual cultural changes that may wind up breaking the industry or, forcing it to reimagine the future of airline travel.
Who survived?
Over the past decade, many old school commercial airlines have disappeared. The rising price of crude oil and the fall in demand for air travel led to many traditional regional routes being cancelled. This means that many smaller airports have ceased accommodating commercial airlines and more travelers are now splitting their trips between air and auto. “Puddle jumping” has become a thing of the past for most business travelers as the cost of short flights is now equal to or exceeds bicoastal travel. For commercial airlines, it was simply no longer cost-effective to maintain these routes as on top of all of the economic pressures, the air fleets are all aging.
3 August
Why Nigeria’s aviation industry needs urgent rescue
The Guardian, Nigeria) The more one wants to refrain from discussing the issue, the more tempting it has become to write about the allegations, denial of threat to one of Nigeria’s respected aviation professionals.
Captain Dele Ore stunned stakeholders in the aviation industry with an allegation of threat to his life by the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah-Ogiewonyi in a telephone chat last week Friday.
This article is not to apportion blames, but one that could help to bring sanity to a sector that is in dire need of rescue.
26 July
Indian aviation in crisis: IATA
(Times of India) IATA is sounding the alarm bells for Indian aviation. IATA director general Tony Tyler said on Wednesday that “India’s aviation is in a multi-faceted crisis,” severely impacted by high costs and exorbitant taxes.
He also lamented the fact that in such a situation, the government had allowed the Delhi airport to hike charges by 346%. Indian carriers’ collective losses-cum-debt was Rs 1.32 lakh crore as of March 31, 2012.
“The financial situation of Kingfisher is dire and Air India is on government life support,” Tyler said, adding that the global aviation is concerned over the situation in India. He warned that though the country may be considering allowing foreign airlines to pick up stake in Indian carriers, “if critical domestic problems are not addressed, foreign investors will not be lining up to put their cash in Indian airlines… Under current circumstances, investors cannot see how they could ever see a return.”
5 July
Air France Flight 447: Pilot error, faulty equipment caused 2009 crash, investigators say
(AP via Toronto Star) A combination of faulty sensors and mistakes by inadequately trained pilots caused an Air France jet to plunge into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing all 228 people aboard in the airline’s deadliest ever crash, French investigators said Thursday.
Investigators are urging better instruction for pilots on flying manually at high altitudes and stricter plane certification rules as a result of a three-year investigation into what happened to Flight 447.
Airbus, manufacturer of the A330 plane, said in a statement that it is working to improve speed sensors known as pitot tubes and making other efforts to avoid future such accidents. Air France stressed the equipment troubles and insisted the pilots “acted in line with the information provided by the cockpit instruments and systems. …. The reading of the various data did not enable them to apply the appropriate action.”
But the Bureau for Investigations and Analysis’ findings raised broader concerns about training for pilots worldwide flying high-tech planes when confronted with a high-altitude crisis.
12 June
China ready to impound EU planes in CO2 dispute
(Reuters) – China will take swift counter-measures that could include impounding European aircraft if the EU punishes Chinese airlines for not complying with its scheme to curb carbon emissions, the China Air Transport Association said on Tuesday.
10 June
High oil prices and Eurozone crisis, key topics at World Air Transport Summit
BEIJING: High oil prices and the unresolved European debt crisis hitting the financial bottomline of the global aviation industry would be the major focus of debate at the World Air Transport Summit beginning here tomorrow.
The mega event, being organised by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on its 68th IATA Annual General Meeting, has brought together some 650 leaders of the global aviation industry, including airlines, aircraft makers and other service providers, for two days of intense discussions on the industry’s most important issues.
23 April
Hussein Dabbas Appointed IATA RVP for MENA
Amman – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has appointed Hussein Dabbas as Regional Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), based in Amman, Jordan with effect from 1 June 2012.
Dabbas has served as President and CEO of Royal Jordanian Airlines since 2009. That was the culmination of a career at the carrier that spanned over three decades during which Dabbas held various positions in the airline’s commercial departments. Dabbas takes over from Dr. Majdi Sabri who will retire from IATA after the leading the association in the MENA region since 2001.
10 February
Video: Canada’s changing airline industry landscape
BNN talks to Robert Deluce, CEO, Porter Airlines, about the changing Canadian airline industry landscape.
18 January
WestJet Regional Airline May Be Reality As Early As 2013
WestJet is considering launching a new short-haul regional airline — a move observers says would intensify competition with its chief rival, Air Canada and benefit travellers.
Few details were available on the proposed regional operation, other than that the Calgary-based company is thinking about launching it as early as 2013 using a fleet of approximately 40 smaller, turboprop aircraft.
“It’s going to represent or extra competition in many communities across the country where Air Canada’s the only game in town,” Robert Kokonis, president of AirTrav Inc., said Monday.