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Cross the Pond 2010 - Full |
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Event organizers with VATSIM's Cross the Pond 2010 have announced that all 450 slots for the westbound leg of the event are full. Users not signed up are encouraged to check the Cross the Pond site for any cancellations.
Cross The Pond is a bi-annual event which takes place on...
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Turkish & Boeing Complete Deal for 737s |
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Posted by SkyBlueNews on Tuesday, March 09 @ 06:38:35 UTC (2 reads)
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Boeing and
Turkish Airlines have
completed a deal for 20 next-gen 737 aircraft: 10 737-800s plus 10
737-900ERs. At list prices, the aircraft are worth a total of $1.6
billion. The sale was originally announced in early February.
Cabins aboard the new
aircraft will be fitted with Boeing’s new Sky Interior design, which is
based on the interiors which will be found on the 787 Dreamliner.
Boeing says the
aircraft had already been accounted for in their online order book, but
were assigned to an unidentified customer.
The new aircraft will
join 61 assorted 737 types in the Turkish fleet, including 51 737-800s,
seven 737-700s and four 737-400s.
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Allegiant Air Buys 6 757-200's |
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Posted by SkyBlueNews on Tuesday, March 09 @ 06:37:37 UTC (4 reads)
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LAS VEGAS, March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Allegiant Travel Company (Nasdaq:ALGT - News) today announced it has signed a forward purchase agreement to acquire six Boeing 757-200 aircraft. The introduction of the 757 aircraft will enable Allegiant to expand its leisure travel strategy into Hawaii with flights to be operated by Allegiant Air, LLC, its airline subsidiary.
Allegiant plans to take delivery of these aircraft and place them in service with Allegiant Air on the following schedule:
* Two aircraft delivered within the next two months to be placed into service in the fourth quarter of 2010
* One aircraft delivered in November 2010 and another in January 2011 to be placed into service in the first half of 2011
* Two aircraft delivered in the fourth quarter of 2011 with planned in-service dates in the first half of 2012
The six 757 aircraft are sister-ships and have been in service with a single European operator since original delivery from Boeing.
The aircraft come equipped for extended twin-engine operations (ETOPS), as required for long overwater flights.
Allegiant expects to spend between $75 to 90 million through 2012 acquiring and preparing this fleet for service. While Allegiant is able to acquire and prepare the aircraft for cash, it believes it will finance some portion of the purchase.
Allegiant is acquiring this fleet with the express purpose of serving Hawaii, a major leisure destination that it cannot serve with its existing MD-80 fleet. Allegiant Air expects to launch service to Hawaii once appropriate regulatory requirements have been met.
Allegiant CEO & Chairman Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. commented, "Hawaii is the most prominent U.S. leisure destination currently un-served by Allegiant and our small city customers have been requesting this service. We are very optimistic about our ability to exploit the large third party ancillary revenue opportunity we believe exists in Hawaii. We expect the sale of hotels, rental cars, and many attraction and activities popular withHawaii visitors will provide a very meaningful contribution to the success of the service."
"The 757 is a new aircraft type for Allegiant but we otherwise see this program as consistent with our existing business model," Allegiant President and CFO, Andrew C. Levy, stated. "This transaction will enable Allegiant to extend to Hawaii its strategy of serving large leisure destinations from smaller cities with no existing nonstop service."
Allegiant Air currently operates 46 MD-80 aircraft and the 757 program will not affect its MD-80 growth plans. Allegiant expects to have 54 aircraft in service by the end of 2010 – 52 MD-80 aircraft and two 757 aircraft.
About the Company
Las Vegas based Allegiant Travel Company (Nasdaq:ALGT - News), is focused on linking travelers in small cities to world-class leisure destinations such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Orlando, Fla. Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla. and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Through its subsidiary, Allegiant Air, the Company operates a low-cost, high-efficiency, all-jet passenger airline offering air travel both on a stand-alone basis and bundled with hotel rooms, rental cars and other travel related services. ALGT/G
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Latest News: Cross the Pond 2010 - Full |
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Posted by SkyBlueNews on Tuesday, March 09 @ 06:35:49 UTC (23 reads)
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Event organizers with VATSIM's Cross the Pond 2010 have announced that all 450 slots for the westbound leg of the event are full. Users not signed up are encouraged to check the Cross the Pond site for any cancellations.
Cross The Pond is a bi-annual event which takes place on VATSIM
(Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network). The event features a mass
Oceanic crossing, with full ATC coverage, from the United States &
Canada, to Western Europe. Cross The Pond is one of the highlights of
the VATSIM event calendar, and an occasion looked forward to by pilots
and controllers alike every year.
This year the Westbound event is taking place on Saturday 27th March
2010. Departure slots will be available for five hours, starting at
1100z, from four featured airports in Europe. Arrivals will filter into
three airports in North America throughout the evening.
Departure Airfields
- Cologne
Bonn (EDDK/CGN)
- London
Heathrow (EGLL/LHR)
- Amsterdam
Schiphol (EHAM/AMS)
- Dublin
(EIDW/DUB)
Arrivals
- Detroit
Metro (KDTW/DTW)
- Washington
Dulles (KIAD/IAD)
- New
York John F. Kennedy (KJFK/JFK)
Pilots can expect full ATC coverage for the duration of their crossing;
slots can be booked from the "Pilot" section of this website. There are
450 available slots in total, and these will open on March 1st.
It is essential that all pilots participating in the event read, in its
entirety, the Pilot Briefing material. This explains the procedures
being implemented for the event.
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(comments? | Latest News | Score: 0) |
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Latest News: Flight Attendants Want Combat Training |
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Posted by SkyBlueNews on Tuesday, March 09 @ 06:33:21 UTC (13 reads)
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The federal government has made clear its strategy for cracking
down on potential terrorist attacks in airplanes: more sophisticated
scanners and increased scrutiny of passengers at crowded airports.
But now the nation's flight attendants say the government needs to
ratchet up security measures inside airplanes.
The Assn. of Flight Attendants has been lobbying Congress for the last
month or so to adopt its strategy for stronger counter-terrorism
measures. The group hopes that lawmakers will include money to put some
of their ideas into action under an upcoming funding bill for the
Federal Aviation Administration.
The group, which represents more than 55,000 attendants at 20 airlines,
wants to implement a four-point plan:
* Institute mandatory hand-to-hand combat training for all crew members.
* Equip flight attendants with portable communications devices so they
can speak to the pilots during emergencies.
* Standardize the size of carry-on luggage so that flight attendants
can look for suspicious passengers instead of struggling with oversized
bags.
* Shut down onboard wireless Internet during high-threat periods to
prevent terrorists from communicating with collaborators on the ground.
"For better or for worse, once the cabin doors close, the flight
attendants are the last line of defense," said Corey Caldwell, a
spokeswoman for the association.
She pointed out that combat training for flight attendants is now
voluntary, with employees who take it attending the lessons on their
own time.
A portable communications system would have allowed flight attendants
to talk with the pilots during the attempted attack on a Northwest
Airlines flight on Christmas Day, she added. On that flight from
Amsterdam to Detroit, a Nigerian national allegedly tried to ignite an
explosive hidden in his underwear.
The nation's airlines have not agreed on a maximum size for carry-on
luggage because the overhead bins vary in size according to airplane
model. The group suggests the standard size be no bigger than 22 inches
by 9 inches by 14 inches -- the same limit already in place at
American, Continental and Delta airlines. Virgin America, Southwest and
Hawaiian airlines allow bigger carry-on bags.
"By having uniform standards, everybody would be on the same page," she
said.
As for shutting down the onboard Internet, she said the Transportation
Security Administration would determine when the airlines are at a high
risk for a terrorist attack.
Caldwell said the association has not come up with a price tag for the
changes and is not seeking raises for flight attendants as part of the
deal.
"We are not taking on more responsibility," she said. "We just want
more tools to make the plane safer."
Reading possible terrorists' clues
When it comes to airport security, an Israeli company has proposed an
intriguing technology designed to read the minds of would-be terrorists.
WeCu Technologies (as in "we see you") claims it has devised a method
to identify airline passengers with bad intentions by reading the
reactions of passengers to certain "stimuli."
In the system being tested in Israel, projectors at airport terminals
would flash different images associated with a certain terrorist group
or symbols that only a would-be terrorist would recognize.
The assumption is that people cannot hide their reactions to certain
images, just as anyone might react to a photo of a close relative
suddenly appearing on a wall. The technology would use hidden cameras
aimed at the passing face to capture and analyze even the most subtle
reactions. Even an averted glance or a slight increase in heart rate
could signal a passenger's intentions.
If the cameras pick up suspicious looks or movement, the passenger can
be pulled aside for further screening.
"One by one you can screen out from the flow of people those with
specific malicious intent," WeCu Chief Executive Ehud Given told the
Associated Press.
Looking beyond the on-time rates
Because of a steep drop in passenger demand, most airlines are running
fewer flights, and as a result are getting in and out of airports on
time.
Statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation show that the
nation's airlines have the best overall on-time arrival rate since 2003.
But that doesn't make a difference to FlyerRights.org, an airline consumer rights group that issues an annual airline
report card based on different statistics.
In a report card issued last month the group handed out nearly three times as many F's as A's.
According to the FlyersRights report card, JetBlue, Comair and Delta
airlines were among 11 carriers that received the worst marks for
on-time performance, while Alaska and Hawaiian were among four that
earned A's.
One set of grades was based on the frequency of flights being delayed
more than three hours. The group graded each airline based on delays
per total flights. So, JetBlue got an F for having one flight delayed
for every 2,776 flights, while Alaska earned an A for one
three-hour-plus delay for every 137,322 flights.
New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport won the dubious
distinction of having the most flights -- 195 flights -- delayed more
than three hours.
An airline's on-time performance has taken on new importance since
federal regulators adopted penalties last year for airlines that leave
passengers stranded on the tarmac too long.
Under new federal regulations that take effect next month, airlines
must give passengers the option to disembark if a flight is stuck on
the tarmac for more than three hours. Airlines that fail to comply
could be fined up to $27,500 per passenger. That could amount to $5.5
million for a jet carrying 200 people.
Most airline representatives are tight-lipped about how they plan to
avoid the fines.
But at least one major U.S. airline has devised detailed plans for
every airport to ensure that passengers are unloaded from the plane
before the three-hour mark, according to an airline representative. He
asked not to have himself or his airline identified because he was not
authorized to speak on the subject.
In cases in which a delayed plane cannot pull back to the terminal
because of congestion, he said, the passengers could be asked to climb
out of the plane via a portable staircase onto the tarmac. This could
be a nasty scene at Kennedy airport in the dead of winter, he said.
"It's going to be pretty ugly."
Source: The Los Angles Times
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