Hawaiian Drafts More Asia Flight Plans

HONOLULU, Feb. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Hawaiian Airlines took the next step in its growth strategy today by announcing new daily, nonstop flights between Honolulu and Osaka, Japan, its third new Asia destination in recent months. Subject to Japan government approval, Hawaiian's inaugural flight from Honolulu International Airport to Osaka's Kansai International Airport is scheduled for July 12, with the inaugural return flight from Osaka to Honolulu on July 13.

Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian's president and CEO, commented, "The response to our new Haneda service has been stronger than expected, and we have accelerated our plans to offer our authentic Hawaii travel experience to Osaka and Japan's second most populous region. Our new service will help meet strong travel demand from Osaka, and provide a welcome boost to Hawaii tourism."

Osaka customers will enjoy a customized presentation of Hawaiian's award-winning "Hawaii Starts Here" inflight service program that celebrates Hawaii's culture, people, and natural beauty, and also features new pan-Asian cuisine, Japanese entertainment options and special onboard products.

Hawaiian's new Osaka flights will add approximately 100,000 new air seats annually to Hawaii from Japan, the state's second-largest market for visitors.

In addition, Osaka's location in the Kansai region will significantly strengthen Hawaiian's ability to attract customers from Asia, with convenient flight connections from other cities in Japan, China and other countries in Asia. Same-day ground connections are also available to several major cities in Japan.

With a population of approximately three million residents, Osaka is the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and one of Japan's major economic and commercial centers. Osaka is the largest segment of the Keihanshin Area, which also includes Kyoto and Kobe, and represents the second-largest area in Japan by population with more than 18 million residents.

Osaka will be the third city in Asia that Hawaiian has introduced to its route structure in recent months, following the start of service to Seoul in January 2011, and Tokyo in November 2010.

Subject to Japan government approval, Hawaiian's Flight #449 will depart Honolulu International Airport daily at 2:10 p.m. and arrive at Kansai International Airport at 6:00 p.m. the next day. Return Flight #450 will depart Osaka daily at 9:30 p.m. and arrive in Honolulu at 10:50 a.m. the same day. (Osaka is 19 hours ahead of Honolulu and the flight crosses the International Dateline.)

The start of ticket sales for the new Honolulu-Osaka route will be announced in the coming weeks on Hawaiian's Japanese-language website at www.HawaiianAirlines.co.jp, and its English language website, www.HawaiianAirlines.com.

Hawaiian will initially operate the new Honolulu-Osaka flights with its Boeing 767-300ER aircraft seating up to 264 passengers, before introducing its new and larger 294-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft onto the route. Hawaiian is on schedule to welcome two new A330s to the fleet this year in the second and fourth quarter, along with three more A330s in 2012.

source:   http://www.prnewswire.com

United Air Operations Back to Normal

By: Susan Carey

CHICAGO—United Airlines, which abruptly grounded its 96 Boeing 757 jetliners Tuesday to perform checks on earlier modifications it made to air-data computers on the fleet, was nearly finished with the inspections Wednesday afternoon and its operations had returned to normal, according to a company spokeswoman.

The unit of United Continental Holdings Inc. discovered during a maintenance audit that it hadn't properly complied with steps required by the Federal Aviation Adminitration in checking the work on those computers, which take air speed, air pressure and other parameters in flight and input them into the auto-pilot system and other critical cockpit functions. The company therefore voluntarily grounded the fleet, although it said the computers were "fully functional."

United said it cancelled 15 flights Tuesday and put those passengers on other planes. Operations were normal on Wednesday despite the checks, which take 50 to 90 minutes, the spokeswoman said. The airline is working closely with the FAA on the issue, she said.

The FAA confirmed the grounding on Tuesday. If United had knowingly flown the planes when they were out of compliance with FAA airworthiness directives, it could have been liable for fines of $25,000 per flight.

source: http://online.wsj.com/

Qantas says engine blowout costs it $80m

Qantas Airways Ltd says negotiations with Rolls-Royce over compensation for the A380 engine explosion in November last year are progressing well.

"Those negotiations are moving forward quite well and both parties are keen to settle commercially rather than go down the legal path," Qantas chief financial officer Gareth Evans told media at the airline's half-year result presentation on Thursday.

Qantas said the engine explosion and subsequent grounding of its A380 fleet in November 2010 had cost it an estimated $80 million, with $55 million in the first half 2010/11 and $25 million in the second half.

The amount did not include the $100 million cost of repairing the damaged aircraft and engines, which were covered by insurance or existing contract arrangements with Rolls Royce.

In its 2010 accounts, Rolls Royce said the engine explosion had cost the company STG56 million ($A89.79 million) and it anticipated booking modest costs in the current year.

Mr Evans, asked about Rolls Royce's cost estimate, said Qantas was "not privy to how Rolls Royce undertook there accounting".

"It's up to them to undertake what numbers they put aside," Mr Evans said.

source:   http://news.ninemsn.com.au

AirAsia launches Paris flights, plans to buy A320 NEO

Low-cost Malaysian airline AirAsia is negotiating with European plane maker Airbus to buy its revamped A320 Neo and long-haul A330 aircraft, its chief executive said yesterday.

"We are actively discussing this product," AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes said, referring to the medium-haul A320 Neo, after talks with Airbus's chief executive Tom Enders and John Leahy, its top commercial executive.

Concerning the A330, "an announcement will be made on that soon, within two weeks," he added. "We are a big believer in the A330."

Airbus is planning to sell the A320, as the A320 Neo, with more fuel-efficient engines from 2016. AirAsia had already ordered 175 of these aircraft for delivery by that date and is now looking to upgrade the order to buy the new Neo version.

Fernandes was in Paris to launch a new Paris-Kuala Lumpur route operated by AirAsia's subsidiary AirAsia X. Its first flight from Kuala Lumpur landed on Monday at Paris's Orly airport.

source: http://www.smh.com.au

Small commercial plane crash kills 14 in Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — A small Honduran commercial airliner crashed Monday near the capital, killing all 14 people aboard, including a senior government official and a top union leader, authorities said.

The Central American Airlines plane was flying to the Toncontin international airport in Tegucigalpa when it crashed Monday morning in the town of Las Mesitas, about three miles (five kilometers) south of the airport.

The cause of the crash is being investigated, but there was fog in the area at the time. Tincontin airport is considered dangerous because of its short runway and surrounding hills.

The Let L-410 Turbolet was carrying two pilots and 12 passengers, including Assistant Secretary for Public Works Rodolfo Rovelo, United Workers Federation of Honduras leader Jose Israel Salinas and former Economy Secretary Carlos Chain, said airline manager Felix Pacheco.

"I'm destroyed, in shock, because of what happened," Pacheco said, adding that it was a regularly scheduled daily flight.

The government declared three days of national mourning in honor of the government officials killed.

A pilot survived the crash but died on the way to a hospital, firefighters spokesman Jaime Silva said.

The National Service of Civil Aviation said the accident happened a little after 8 a.m. (8 a.m. EST; 1300 GMT), minutes after air traffic controllers instructed the pilots to land.

Jorge Deras, mayor of the town of Santa Ana, near Las Mesitas, said he heard an explosion and ran to the crash site.

"We found many ... bodies strewn about," Deras said. "It's a tragic vision."

At least 10 planes have crashed in and around the Toncontin airport since 1989, when a Honduran commercial jet went down in April of that year, killing 131 people. Six months later, another jet of the same airline crashed killing 159 passengers.

Toncontin's short runway, old navigation equipment and neighboring hills make it one of the world's more dangerous international airports. It was built on the southern edge of hilly Tegucigalpa in 1948 with a runway less than 5,300 feet (1,600 meters) long.

source:  http://www.google.com

Passenger safety 'at risk due to cost cutting'

AIRLINE safety is being eroded as operators cut crew training time and other costs, a senior pilot trainer has warned.

Geoff Klouth, an A320 training captain with budget carrier Jetstar Airways, said a drop in training standards and checks had prompted him to make a submission to a Senate inquiry into airline safety.

"Safety margins that were a normal part of the aviation industries and which contributed to Australia's safety record have been and are being eroded to a point where airlines' safety can no longer be considered as a given,'' Mr Klouth told the inquiry in Canberra.

He said insufficient pilot and cabin crew training, poor rostering leading to increased fatigue and an overall reduction in resources were cause for concern.

Airlines had cut the training time for cabin crew and were relying more on cadet pilots to drive down their operating costs, Mr Klouth said.

Under the training system cadets effectively ended up paying an airline for their qualifications.

"The cadets at Jetstar I have just finished training, one of the cadets is getting paid in New Zealand dollars but is required to pay back his training in Australian dollars,'' he said.

The New Zealand currency has depreciated 6.4 per cent against the Australian dollar since June 30, 2010.

Mr Klouth said shortening the training time for cabin crew had implications for the operation of the aircraft and passenger safety.

"If you are crammed with six weeks' worth of knowledge in three weeks, it is inevitable that you are not going to be able to recall all the important pieces of information that you need to,'' he said.

Mr Klouth recommended to the committee that training for a commercial pilot's licence be a minimum of 1500 hours and all airlines should release their draft or final reports on safety incidents to the ATSB.

He has previosly raised concerns about some flight attendants completing their training without having operated on the A321 aircraft, leaving them unsure how to "arm" the doors.

"They have been unable to 'arm' doors. Arming the doors is necessary to allow for the automatic deployment of the emergency escape slide if the aircraft has to be evacuated,'' Mr Klouth said.

The increasing number of flight attendants who are based in Singapore and Bangkok yet operate domestically on international flights is also an issue of concern.

“The foreign based crew all speak English but the ability to be understood in an emergency is an aspect of their training that is not effectively assessed.”

He said that airlines are under increasing pressure airlines to cut costs.

“The CEO of Jetstar requires a 10 per cent reduction in the airline costs per year. In a safety sensitive industry this will result in a reduction of the safety margins that have contributed to Australia’s aviation safety record

source:  http://news.com.au

Virgin flyer arrested after bomb threat to cabin crew in Adelaide

AN EXCITED first-time flyer delayed a Perth-bound flight after telling cabin crew not to touch his bag of weapons and bombs, a court has heard.

While living on the streets in Melbourne for a year Jason Brown, 39, saved his disability pension to buy flights back to his home state of Western Australia.

But, Brown was arrested while his connecting Virgin Blue flight from Adelaide to Perth was preparing for take-off about 7pm on Monday night.

The Adelaide Magistrates Court today heard Brown was "jumping around, fidgeting and closely approaching the cabin crew and cabin manager".

Anna Brebner, prosecuting, told the court that when asked to move his bag, Brown said: "leave it there mate, it's got weapons and bombs in it".

"Ground crew were called onto the aircraft to escort him from it," she said.

Ms Brebner said the 125 passengers aboard the plane were delayed.

Stephen Law, for Brown, said his client had been unemployed and "living rough" in Melbourne before deciding to fly for the first time back home to "be with his parents" in WA.

He said he had a couple of drinks which had reduced his inhibitions and "inflated his excitement for returning home after all these years".

"It's the sort of joke which has well and truly been brought home to him," Mr Law said.

"It's the sort of thing that should not have been said in this current international climate."

He said Brown would again have to save for another flight to Perth.

In imposing penalty, Magistrate Joseph Baldino said Brown's threats may have been empty, but serious.

"It is certainly not a trivial threat by any imagination."

He fined Brown $3250 and ordered he pay court and prosecution costs.

source:  http://news.com.au