Follow Sky Blue Radio on
   
Login
Nickname

Password

Don't have an account yet? You can create one. As a registered user you have some advantages like theme manager, comments configuration and post comments with your name.
Quick Com's

Only registered users can shout. Please login or create an account.
Cross the Pond 2010 - Full
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...


Read More...
Flight Attendants Want Combat Training
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...


Read More...
VATSIM Ireland Featured on TV Program
Posted by SkyBlueNews on Tuesday, March 09 @ 06:41:43 UTC (7 reads)

Ireland's national broadcaster, RTE, filmed the flight deck of PC Pilots Ireland owner's Terry McGee and Ian Broni as part of the ongoing series Capital D a program that covers different events around Greater Dublin and the people involved. The crew filmed Terry and Ian as they conducted a flight online with VATSIM between Dublin (EIDW) and Shannon (EINN), this past Saturday March 6th. In support of the event, the friendly staff from VATEIR were online, and staffed both airports fully.  

Further information available from VATSIM and VATEIR forums, www.vatsim.net

(comments? | Score: 0)
Turkish & Boeing Complete Deal for 737s
Posted by SkyBlueNews on Tuesday, March 09 @ 06:38:35 UTC (2 reads)

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.

(comments? | Score: 0)
Allegiant Air Buys 6 757-200's
Posted by SkyBlueNews on Tuesday, March 09 @ 06:37:37 UTC (4 reads)

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

(comments? | Score: 0)
Latest News: Cross the Pond 2010 - Full
Posted by SkyBlueNews on Tuesday, March 09 @ 06:35:49 UTC (23 reads)

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


  1. Cologne Bonn (EDDK/CGN)

  2. London Heathrow (EGLL/LHR)

  3. Amsterdam Schiphol (EHAM/AMS)

  4. Dublin (EIDW/DUB)


Arrivals

  1. Detroit Metro (KDTW/DTW)

  2. Washington Dulles (KIAD/IAD)

  3. 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.

More information: http://ctp.vatsim-uk.org/

(comments? | Latest News | Score: 0)
Latest News: Flight Attendants Want Combat Training
Posted by SkyBlueNews on Tuesday, March 09 @ 06:33:21 UTC (13 reads)

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


(comments? | Latest News | Score: 0)
Jukebox


FS In Focus hosted by Jeff 'JT' Turner, interviewed David Klain (President) and Terry Scanlan (Vice President) of Vatsim on December 5th 2009. Sky Blue Radio is pleased to announce that a jukebox has been setup and the audio files has been split up into the sections of questions posed by JT.

Click on the link below and select the audio file of your choice.


Start the Sky Blue Radio jukebox


Your Account
private messages
your profile
comments
logout/exit
Advertising

Voz Powered News

Survey
IF we were to have a convention. Would you come if

It was in the United States
United Kingdom
Europe
Australia
Canada
South America
Everywhere else



Results
Polls

Votes: 140
Comments: 0

Anti-Spam

Site Concept by: Janez Erjavec

 

Sky Blue Radio by Corporate Radio Services

Need to contact us?  Email us at info (at) skyblueradio (dot) com


Copyright © 2004 - 2010, Sky Blue Radio 
is produced in association with Corporate Radio Services.
All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. The comments are property of their posters.