Aviation Industry (incl Maintenance) 01 (Dec 08 - May 20)

[iam802]

Lufthansa Says Intercontinental Airline Mergers to Increase

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-2 ... -says.html

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, the German airline that acquired three European carriers last year, said industry mergers combining partners from different parts of the world will rise as companies seek higher margins.

“The trend toward consolidation will become more intercontinental in the next years than is currently the case,” Stefan Lauer, the head of Lufthansa’s subsidiary airline brands including Austrian Airlines and British Midland, told reporters in Frankfurt late yesterday. “It remains an exciting topic.”

Lufthansa, Europe’s second-biggest airline, bought Brussels Airlines as well as the unprofitable Austrian and U.K. units last year as traffic and fares slumped during the recession. Worldwide announced airline mergers total $12.8 billion in 2010, compared with $8.2 billion for all of 2009. Deals this year include UAL Corp.’s acquisition of Continental Airlines Inc. and Santiago-based Lan Airlines SA’s purchase of Brazil’s TAM SA.

The German carrier is confident of reaching earnings goals this year as some divisions beat forecasts, Lauer said, without being more specific. The Cologne-based company has a target for operating profit to exceed last year’s 130 million euros ($164 million) as sales increase.

Load factors, or the proportion of seats filled, are at the highest levels ever for European traffic from Lufthansa’s main Frankfurt hub, Lauer said.

[winston]

Maybe this should be in the Crap thread ..

Probe launched after China pilots falsified records

BEIJING - China said on Monday it is investigating the qualifications of the nation's commercial pilots after revelations that more than 200 of them had falsified their resumes.

The probe comes after 42 people died on Aug 24 when a Brazilian-made regional jet flown by Henan Airlines crashed at a small airport in north-eastern China's Heilongjiang province.

Fifty-four passengers and crew survived the crash, in which the plane missed the runway, sparking speculation that pilot error was to blame.

The investigation was launched by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the country's aviation regulator, the central government's news website said.

The resumes of more than 200 Chinese commercial pilots were found to have been falsified, the report said, with some of them embellishing their flight histories.

At least half of the pilots in question worked for Shenzhen Airlines, which owns Henan Airlines, the government report said. Investigators were looking into the possibility of pilot error in the Henan Airlines crash, it added.

Authorities have already ordered safety checks of the country's fast-growing civil aviation fleet of 1,300 planes in the wake of the disaster.

Last week, the aviation administration said it was looking for crash clues related to the plane's manufacturer, operator, crew, maintenance record, and with air traffic management and the airport authorities.

Authorities in central Henan province have also ordered the airline to change its name to prevent the crash from tarnishing the province's image. The company had previously been known as Kunpeng Airlines.

The accident occurred after the plane missed the runway and crashed into a field next to the airport, cracking the cabin and triggering an explosion and subsequent fire, state media reported earlier, citing an initial probe. -- AFP

[iam802]

Pretty big news.

Heard it on BBC as well.

Everything and anything can be fake.

[millionairemind]

Published September 10, 2010

Chinese pilots with faked resumes allowed to resume flying after retraining

(Beijing)

CHINESE pilots who had lied about their flying experience have been allowed to return to work after they took remedial action to make up their hours, according to the country's aviation watchdog.

Chinese media reported this month that a probe in 2008 had found about 200 pilots had falsified elements of their resumes.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China said they had found 192 pilots whose 'flying experience to different degrees did not accord with reality'.

Some had their licences revoked but others were given the chance to retrain and had been allowed to fly once more, the regulator said in a statement on its website (www.caac.gov.cn) late on Wednesday.

'Those pilots given compulsory retraining were, after a thorough inspection of their qualifications, allowed to resume their posts,' it said, without naming the airlines involved or how many pilots had been allowed back to work.

Following the incident, the regulator said it had tightened procedures to ensure the problem would not happen again, and that it would not tolerate such falsification.

The official Xinhua news agency said that with the rapid expansion of the aviation sector in China, 'airlines turn a blind eye to fake records since they are happy to see more pilots certified by the administrative agency'.

China's aviation industry was jolted by an accident in the north-east of the country last month in which 42 people died when a Henan Airlines jet crashed short of the runway.

Until that crash, there had been no other major accident as a result of stricter safety rules and relatively young fleets of mainly Western-made aircraft. -- Reuters

[kennynah]

they even have fake 大肉饱 by using cardboard to substitute as meat....what cant they fake...

i have been told by ordinary PRCs themselves that there aplenty unscrupulous vendors who will use dead cats/dogs/mice, who were usually strays and diseased, to sell their meats as venisons/pork/beef.... even they are wary about eating from unknown stalls...

such lofty ideals they have...but basic integrity they are very lacking in this area.... shameful....

[winston]

Not vested

Global airlines seen posting $8.9 bln profit in 2010

SINGAPORE, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The world's airlines are likely to post sharply higher profits this year at $8.9 billion, the global industry body said on Tuesday, more than three times previously forecast as the international economy rebounds.

Only three months ago, the International Air Traffic Association (IATA) had estimated its member airlines would collectively post 2010 profits of $2.5 billion. In March, it had forecast losses of $2.8 billion. [nLDE6560L6] IATA said the upward revision of the 2010 net profit came as the industry is seeing a faster than expected cyclical upturn in traffic and yields, reflecting a post-recession rebound and tight capacity.

It however said growth in traffic and capacity will slow down in 2011, resulting in lower net profit of $5.3 billion as yields and airlines' load factors come under pressure.

"The durability of this upturn is in increasing doubt in North America and Europe," IATA said in a statement, adding that Europe is the only region in which airlines are expected to keep making losses.

It however cut the forecast for Europe to a loss of $1.3 billion for 2010 from the previous estimate of a $2.8 billion loss.

"Asia Pacific airlines are the major beneficiary of a very sharp rebound in cargo markets and revenues. We have revised up forecast profits for this region to $5.2 billion and expect the highest profits here again in 2011."


Source: Reuters

[winston]

China

Not vested

DJ MARKET TALK:China Southern Most Affected By Fuel Price Hike-MS

1230 [Dow Jones] China airline stocks mostly lower after China raises fuel prices; ex-factory domestic jet fuel price raised by 4%.

"We believe the price hike will be marginally more negative to China Southern (1055.HK) due to its higher domestic fuel consumption (3.5 million-4.0 million tons per annum), followed by China Eastern (0670.HK) and Air China (0753.HK), which have relatively less domestic exposure," says Morgan Stanley.

Adds, assuming domestic jet fuel prices unchanged for rest of 2010, average domestic jet fuel price would arrive at CNY5,869/ton, 2.5% above house's 2010 assumption. Keeps China's airline sector at Inline.

China Southern down 0.5% at HK$5.81, China Eastern down 0.2% at HK$5.03, Air China +0.2% at HK$11.34.


Source: Dow Jones Newswire

[iam802]

Rolls-Royce scrambles for A380 engines

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AF0RP20101116

(Reuters) - Engine maker Rolls-Royce (RR.L) has asked Airbus (EAD.PA) to return some Airbus A380 engines from production lines so it can use them to replace faulty ones on airplanes already in service.

The Airbus A380 -- the world's largest passenger aircraft with an average list price of about $350 million -- has been hit by safety concerns after a Rolls-Royce engine partly disintegrated mid-flight, forcing a fully laden Qantas (QAN.AX) plane to make an emergency landing in Singapore on Nov 4.

...

[iam802]

Qantas A380 Sustained Worse Damage than First Thought

http://www.spiegel.de/international/wor ... 38,00.html

The exploded engine was scary enough. But in the days following the emergency landing of the Qantas A380 in Singapore, it has become clear just how dangerous the situation was. Multiple systems on the aircraft failed and a disaster was only narrowly avoided.

Rarely had so much flying expertise been assembled in one cockpit. A training pilot was sitting behind Captain Richard de Crespigny, who was completing his annual flight test. Sitting next to them was a third captain whose job was to supervise the training pilot. Together, the Airbus A380 operated by Australia's Qantas Airways had a total of 100 years of flying experience sitting in its cockpit.

Four minutes after takeoff from Singapore, that accumulated expertise was suddenly in great demand. At an altitude of 2,000 meters (6,560 feet), engine two of the double-decker aircraft exploded. The loud bang of the detonation had hardly faded away before 53 error messages appeared on the monitors.

Upon reading the matter-of-fact messages, the five pilots realized immediately how serious the situation was. Kerosene was leaking from two of the 12 fuel tanks, which meant that the plane could catch fire at any moment.

"It was unbelievably stressful. But in a situation like that, you have no choice but to keep on going," says Richard Woodward. The captain knows what he is talking about. He also flies the A380 for Qantas, is the vice president of the International Federation of Airline Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) and has looked after the crew since the near-catastrophe almost two weeks ago. "The crew has dealt with this situation extraordinarily well," Woodward reports. "They're like horseback riders who, after a fall, are eager to get back on their horses."

Failed to Activate

The men have given him their accounts of those dramatic moments in the air. There were no warnings before the engine exploded -- no change in oil pressure, no unusual vibrations, nothing. When the explosion occurred, the captain quickly pressed an emergency button that activates an automatic extinguishing system when there is an engine fire. But the system failed to activate. "It was clear to him at that point that there must have been more damage," says Woodward.

One of the training pilots ran back into the cabin, where he saw the holes in the wing caused by loose metal parts from the turbine. As a result, De Crespigny could not dump fuel properly to reduce the weight of the fully fueled aircraft for an emergency landing. He was also unable to pump kerosene from the back to the front of the aircraft, causing it to become increasingly unstable as kerosene escaped.

The incident raises serious questions for both engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce and Airbus. "How could there have been this much loss of function?" asks Woodward.

One of the two hydraulic systems failed and important connecting cables were severed, including those leading to the outer engine one. Although the pilot could still control the engine manually, it could no longer be shut off, so that firefighters had to smother it with extinguishing foam after the emergency landing.

Bad Brakes

"This raises the question of whether the aircraft is improperly designed," says Woodward. "Apparently certain connections are not redundant; or the two cables are positioned so close together that the shrapnel destroyed them simultaneously."

The aircraft manufacturer is defending itself against such accusations. The aircraft, says Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath, was "controllable until the landing," and the autopilot continued to function. "There are two separate hydraulic and electrical systems," Schaffrath adds.

But some of the brakes were no longer working properly. Luckily, the pilots were able to land in Singapore, which has a very long, 4,000-meter runway.

Another dramatic aspect of the emergency landing was that an anti-lock system also stopped working. Three tires burst when the plane touched down as a result, sending sparks into the air. "And that was with two holes in the tank!" says Woodward.

Very Conservative

At least the reason for the engine explosion is now clear. Last week, Rolls-Royce identified a defective part in the turbine, which caused an oil leak that led to the fire. Of the superjumbo jets delivered to date, 20 are affected by the problem, including three at Lufthansa. The defective engine part will gradually be replaced.

Qantas pilot Woodward is pleased that his company has made a "very conservative safety decision" to temporarily ground the A380. But he does wonder why the other airlines potentially affected by the engine defect are not taking similar precautions.

Lufthansa points out that it has such short maintenance intervals that dangerous oil leaks are bound to be discovered. But Woodward isn't convinced, saying: "Our plane had just returned from maintenance in Frankfurt, and the accident happened nonetheless."

[winston]

Corporate travel in Asia increases

Corporate travel in Asia has increased by about 20 per cent this year, compared with that of 2009.

HRG Singapore, an international corporate travel management company, said this is due to an improved business environment.

Executives who have travelled more for business this year, include those in financial, IT and pharmaceutical sectors.
HRG Singapore's Client Services Management head Joana Yap said: "We are seeing companies slowing easing up on their travel policy".

She said companies last year have been arranging for their staff to travel on the economy class instead of the business class.

"Now we're seeing companies reverting to the former trend, (which is) allowing travellers to be back in the premium classes.

"(The move came) a little faster than what we (had) expect(ed) because we thought that the corporate companies will still be very cautious.

"But I guess they're taking a step back to say, hey, the economy is really picking up, so let's reward our staff and put them in the premium class".

Business travel may be up but companies are still prudent with their spending.

More are now making their own reservations on the Internet, creating a boom for online service providers.

Hotels.com Asia Pacific president and managing director Johan Svanstrom said: "In Southeast Asia, you're probably looking at close to 40 to 50 per cent year-on-year growth rates for the past couple of years, and that goes for the online travel segment as a whole.

"The total travel market in Asia Pacific today, (including) leisure and unmanaged business (which is business doing their own bookings), is probably around S$230 to S$240 billion.

Low cost carriers, observers point out, are also taking off with more business travellers.

HRG said it expects the volume of corporate travellers using budget airlines to grow by about five per cent next year.

"This is definitely something that was unexpected a few years ago," Ms Joana said.

"These budget carriers are doing pretty well. They're adjusting to the needs. They're creating premium cabin, premium seats for these business travellers. Corporate companies are getting comfortable and we see that trend coming up pretty fast."

Aside from business travellers flying within Asia, observers also see more executives flying from Europe, the US and the Middle East into this region, to tap on the growing opportunities available out here.

In fact, industry players say some companies have increased their budget for business travels by about 10 per cent for 2011.

Source: Channel News Asia