Sikorsky works agree to 10 %

As late as noon on Thursday 12th, Sikorsky were offering 1.75% annual pay rise, a $1,000 ratification bonus, an increase of $4 in the pension multiplier to $69, a 10¢ increase in the hourly contribution to the cash balance pension, a $2 per year increase in the allowable Savings Plan matched contribution, a $25 increase to the allowable un-matched contribution to the Savings Plan, a $1 per week increase in the allowable
contribution to the Individual Medical Account, and no improvement to the Voluntary Separation Option -
Mid afternoon on Thursday, Sikorsky raised their offer to a General Wage Increases averaging 2% annually (2.0/2.0/1.5/2.5 over the four years of the contract), a $1,500 ratification bonus that can be deposited into the Savings Plan or Health Savings Account in $250 increments matched at 50%, a $7 increase to the pension multiplier (to $72), an annual $2 increase to the maximum matched Savings Plan contribution, a $25 increase to the maximum un-matched Savings Plan contribution, a 20¢ per hour increase on the cash balance pension contribution, a $3 increase to the allowable contribution to the Individual Medical Account, and no improvement to the Voluntary Separation Option.
Late Sunday afternoon, Sikorsky workers voted overwhelmingly (2098 to 66) in favour of a new four-year deal that includes 10% wage increases over the life of the contract, $4,000 in signing bonuses ($2,000 paid in each of the first 2 years), a 15% increase in the pension multiplier and a 20% increase to the cash balance pension.  This had been negotiated by Local 1150 of the Teamsters union and voted for at two meetings - Toyota Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford, Connecticut and Eissey Campus  Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
The contract takes effect Monday and culminates two weeks of negotiations well ahead of the February 14th expiration of the current contract, which covers 4,500 employees.

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AW-109s taken by Philippines Navy

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Navy on Friday announced the arrival next week of the first three AgustaWestland AW-109 helicopters, which would boost the naval forces' search-and-rescue (SAR) capability.
"With its forward looking infrared (FLIR), the AW-109s have a more enhanced SAR capability than any of our existing aircraft. Also, it is fitted with a night vision gear making it very ideal to conduct missions during the night-time," Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic said.
Fabic said the FLIR uses an imaging technology that senses infrared radiation.

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Bomb threat Air France Jet in Caracas

CARACAS: Authorities in Venezuela evacuated an Air France jet poised for takeoff to Paris late Saturday after French officials warned of a potential bomb threat.

“We received information from French intelligence services... on an explosive believed to be planted aboard to be detonated on a Caracas-to-Paris or Paris-to-Caracas flight,” Justice Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres told state television.

The flight had been set to take off from Maiquetia International Airport, which serves Caracas, at 2355 GMT, but was cancelled.

A team of 65 local intelligence experts was set to search the jet carefully as well as the airport terminal, Rodriguez Torres added.

“We are going to search this aircraft inch by inch. And then the flight will be rescheduled,” he said.

“So we apologise to passengers, but it is our duty to protect lives.” (AFP)

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American Airlines Orders 30+40 CRJ 900s for bombardier

Bombardier (BBA, Montréal Trudeau) has signed a firm purchase agreement with American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) to acquire thirty CRJ-900 NextGen aircraft with options on an additional forty. The order is the first between American and the Canadian manufacturer. Based on list prices, the firm order contract is valued at approximately USD1.42billion and could increase to approximately USD3.38billion should the forty options be exercised. The aircraft will be operated by US Airways (US, Phoenix Sky Harbor) subsidiary PSA Airlines (JIA, Dayton James M. Cox).

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Yemen says U S drone struck a wedding convoy killing 14

drone mistakenly targeted a wedding convoy in Yemen's al-Baitha province after intelligence reports identified the vehicles as carrying al Qaeda militants, two Yemeni national security officials told CNN on Thursday.

The officials said that 14 people were killed and 22 others injured, nine in critical condition. The vehicles were traveling near the town of Radda when they were attacked.

"This was a tragic mistake and comes at a very critical time. None of the killed was a wanted suspect by the Yemeni government," said a top Yemeni national security official who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to talk to media.

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A350-1000 approaches end of concept phase

Airbus is to freeze concept work for the A350-1000 by the end of this month, and shift to a more detailed design stage in the new year.
Chief executive Fabrice Bregier says 2014 will be a “very busy year” for the -1000. He says the airframer is “ramping down” design teams from the -900 so that it will have sufficient resources to develop the larger twinjet.

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EI AI Airlines planning to Transport up to 140,000 to Ukraine next year

The El Al airline company expects to transport between 135,000 and 140,000 passengers on the Kiev-Tel Aviv route in 2015, including clients of its new low-cost subsidiary UP.
"We plan to finish this year with an increase of about 10%. Speaking of absolute numbers, it will be about 76,000 passengers by the end of the year. The booking dynamics is positive," El Al’s general representative in Ukraine Oleg Maksimov said at a press conference on Monday, the CFTS correspondent reports.
He added that the airline company received a new Boeing 737-900 aircraft in October this year and received another one last week.

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MI-171 Helicopter Parts for Sale

S. No.	PART NUMBER	ITEM DESCRIPTION	QTY	CONDITION
1	AP-34B	AUTO PILOT	2	NE
2	DTPR	TESTER FOR FUEL SYSTEM	1	NE
3	KO-3	OPTICAL QUADRANT	1           -
4	KP-5	TESTER FOR 21A-6 TEMP INDICATORS	2	NS
5	URH-64(ACCESSORY OF URH-64)	EXTENSION CABLE FOR THERMOCOUPLE	1	NS
6	PAP-33	TEST UNIT FOR SNP-1	2	NS
7	R-333 (MO-62)	DIODE BRIDGE	1            -
8	R-33 (2 UNITS)	RESISTANCE BOX	1	NE
9	IAD-2	INSTRUMENT FOR ADJUSTMENT	1	NE

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AIR MALTA WET LEASES AIRCRAFT TO SKY AIRLINE

Air Malta has agreed to wet lease an Airbus A320 to Chile’s Sky Airline.
This is the sixth wet lease agreement between both airlines since 2007.
Air Malta’s Chief Commercial Officer Philip Saunders commented: “We are very proud to have been chosen once again by Sky Airlines of Chile. This is another confirmation of the excellent relationship we enjoy. It is also a sure sign of the airline’s confidence in the professionalism of our crews and the quality of our aircraft.”

The aircraft will increase Sky Airline’s capacity during the peak southern hemisphere summer and is expected to operate from Santiago in Chile to airports in Peru, Brasil and Uruguay. The plane will again re-join Air Malta’s fleet in early March, in time for the airline’s busy summer season.

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PIA REQUEST FIVE AIRCRAFT APPROVED

The government has approved a Pakistan International Airlines’ request to lease five new aircraft, although it has turned down a request for a further five. Operating new equipment will enable the airline to continue to cut its financial losses that have accumulated to Rs267.8 billion. PIA’s board of directors has approved acquisition of six A320s and four A319s aircraft on dry lease.
The government has directed that the lease period of the four aircraft earlier acquired on wet lease may be extended so that a pool of at least 10 aircraft could be maintained. It also authorised PIA to initiate the bidding for five additional aircraft which may be inducted by June 15, 2014.

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Fake Russian Pilot license concerns : Kazan Crash

As they examine last month's Kazan airport crash, investigators in Russia have launched a wider study into fake pilot licenses.
It's possible, they say, that not every Russian airline pilot possesses legal documentation. Specifically, they believe that the Kazan International Airport crash - in which 50 people were killed - involved such a pilot.
What's more, according to Vladimir Markin - representing the Investigative Committee - these fake licenses could have been issued at Russian aviation agency-approved sites.
IATA's (the International Air Transport Association) and other group's statistics show that there's one air accident death among every 4.7 million passengers flown worldwide. In Russia, that share grows to one passenger per every 1.2 million flown.

Kazan Airport Crash

The Kazan airport crash occurred on 17 November and involved Flight 363 - a Tatarstan Airlines Boeing 737 twin-engined airliner. The 50 fatalities total included 44 passengers, all of whom had earlier boarded the aircraft in Moscow.
Initial crash factor studies focused on two issues: local weather conditions - these apparently poor - and fuel quality, with the possibility of low-grade product having been used. Markin stresses that there is now evidence to suggest the Boeing 737's pilot was given his fake license at a now-defunct pilot training facility. To date, no criminal charges have been pressed in relation to the Kazan International Airport crash.

Fake Russian Pilot Licenses

The fake Russian pilot license issue previously emerged in September 2012, when investigators were looking into the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster. This involved a Yak-42 airliner, on board which was the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team. All but one of the 45 people being flown lost their lives and, one year on, Markin asserted that neither the pilot not co-pilot "had...undergone the necessary training to fly this type of aircraft." Operator Yak-Service's deputy head, Vadim Timofeyev, was later charged with having breached air safety legislation.
"Investigators continue to look at the circumstances in which the crew of the crashed jetliner were trained," Markin said in a statement on the latest incident. "The investigators have doubts about the legality of the activity of the said aviation training centre, which was liquidated."

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Two S92s five Years BP Contract wins by Bristow

Bristow will provide helicopter support for BP's offshore installations to the West of Shetland and in the East Shetland Basin commencing in July 2015 with two sole-use Sikorsky S-92 aircraft based at Sumburgh Airport in Shetland.
Following a competitive tender process Bristow Helicopters Ltd has been successful in securing a significant new contract to provide helicopter services to BP Exploration Operating Company Ltd. The contract is for a five year term, with an option to extend, and has a value around £125million.

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Airline passenger traffic to surge +31% to 2017 forecasts IATA

INTERNATIONAL. The world’s airlines will see a +31% increase in passenger numbers between 2012 and 2017, according to a new forecast just released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The IATA Airline Industry Forecast 2013-2017 shows that, by 2017, total passenger numbers are expected to rise to 3.91 billion—an increase of 930 million passengers over the 2.98 billion carried in 2012.

Demand is expected to expand by an average of +5.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2013 and 2017. By comparison, global passenger growth expanded by +4.3% CAGR between 2008 and 2012, largely reflecting the negative impact of the 2008 global financial crisis and recession. Of the new passengers, around 292 million will be carried on international routes and 638 million on domestic routes.

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Rolls- Royce welcomes Kwait Airways selection of A350 Aircraft

Rolls-Royce welcomed a decision by Kuwait Airways to order ten Airbus A350-900 aircraft, which are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.
The new A350s will be the first Trent-powered aircraft to go into service with the airline.
Bruce Blythe, Rolls-Royce, Senior Vice President Customers - Civil Large Engines, said: “This decision marks a new era in our relationship with Kuwait Airways and we look forward to delivering the Trent XWB, the world’s most efficient engine flying today.”
The Trent XWB, specifically designed for the A350 XWB, is the largest-selling Trent engine ever, with more than 1,600 already sold. It powered the A350 XWB to its first test flight in June.
Rolls Royce press release

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Lockheed Martin and US Navey strengthen international alliance with Helicopter acceptance

The Royal Australian Navy accepted the first two MH-60R helicopters from the U.S. Navy in a ceremony  at the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] facility in Owego, N.Y.
“The advanced anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capabilities of the MH-60 Romeo are a game-changer in shifting the advantage from the submarine to the helicopter, which is essential in today’s maritime security environment,” said Rear Admiral CJ Jaynes, program executive officer for Air Anti-Submarine Warfare, Assault and Special Mission Programs, which oversees the U.S. Navy’s H-60 program office. “We are excited to extend our partnership with the Royal Australian Navy through the delivery of these advanced helicopters.”

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