AirAsia Japan is dead. Again. The second iteration of the ASEAN discount carrier’s operation in Japan ceased operations on Monday, bringing an end to the three year run the carrier flew from its base at Nagoya.
Airplanes and Airports
Two major takeaways from FAA Administrator Dixon’s 737 MAX test flight
On Wednesday morning Steve Dickson, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, took Boeing’s 737 MAX for a test flight. Following the successful flight Dickson repeatedly stated, “I like what I saw” from the progress, particularly in how the MCAS system was revised. But that optimism must be tempered against a few very real remaining challenges in getting the aircraft back into commercial service.
Breeze Airways resets launch plans, again
Launching an airline is far from easy. Doing so in the midst of a global health pandemic ups the challenge factor significantly. Breeze Airways is making significant progress in its planning, with additional funding secured and FAA milestones reached. It also has a new plan for what the operations will look like when they launch.
Redundant switch failure causes degraded controls on Pilatus PC-24
Modern aircraft generally are designed with many redundancies built in. Testing and managing what happens when those systems both fail, however, does not always get sufficient attention. And in the case of the Pilatus PC-24 a dual failure on a data communications bus led to some interesting results in flight.
JetBlue extends service suspensions at seven cities
With demand still lagging JetBlue will delay the restart of service to seven Blue Cities currently suspended. All seven were previously slated to resume service on 6 November 2020. Four of the airports will now restart in April 2021 and two remain suspended indefinitely. Just one will reopen later this year.
United Airlines introduces at-airport COVID testing for SFO-Hawaii flights
As the largest carrier between the mainland and Hawaii United Airlines has a lot to gain by increasing passenger numbers to the islands. Quarantine restrictions limited the viability for most visitors over the summer but a new policy allowing passengers with a negative COVID test to skip the quarantine could help boost traffic. United will soon offer testing at San Francisco International Airport to help meet that requirement.
Pushing the Single European Sky forward
Europe mostly eliminated borders on the ground, allowing for the smooth passage of people and goods, but in the skies the story is very different. Switching between 37 service providers and 63 ATC centers results in inefficient flight routings, longer trip times, increased delays, and excess fuel burn causing surplus carbon emissions. After years of debate the Single European Sky (SES), addressing these issues, is set to move forward.
Airbus pushes hydrogen as the future of green travel
Airbus has grand plans for a zero emissions commercial aircraft to be carrying passengers by 2035, and hydrogen is the key component. The aircraft manufacturer unveild a trio of concept planes that will displace electric or kerosene-powered models a few decades hence.
Lufthansa to park A380s, A340-600s
Facing a revised demand forecast roughly half of what it previously anticipated, Lufthansa will move its remaining A380s and A340-600s into long-term storage. The carrier expects that they will “only be reactivated in the event of an unexpectedly rapid market recovery.” The move affects eight A380 and ten A340-600 planes.
Air India losing money on 90%+ of its routes
Just how bad were things for Air India, even before the market collapsed in early 2020? According to the Minister of Civil Aviation the carrier lost money on 319 of the 340 routes it operated globally. Only 6% of the carrier’s network operations met costs for the twelve months from April 2019 through March 2020.