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US Airways Made Loss In 2008, Sees Capacity Dip

 

January 7, 2009

US Airways said on Wednesday it will report a loss for 2008, and forecast lower flight capacity for this year as more recession-hit people stay at home.

 

The US number 6 airline suffered alongside other carriers with high fuel prices for most of last year and is now grappling with a dip in demand as the global economic slowdown takes its toll.

 

US Airways did not quantify the loss it expects to report for 2008. Industry analysts expect a loss of USD$1.77 billion, chiefly due to large fuel and hedging related losses in the second and third quarters.

 

For this year, the airline said domestic mainline capacity will be down by between 8 and 10 percent while total mainline capacity, including international services, will be down 4 percent to 6 percent.

 

US Airways, like other carriers across the world, has been pulling flights from its schedule to counter volatile fuel prices and a reduction in demand for flights.

 

(Reuters)

 

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SAS And Danish Union Agree Savings Deal

January 12, 2009

Scandinavian airline SAS and its Danish Cabin Attendants Union (CAU) said on Monday they had reached an agreement on cost cuts for the troubled airline after months of negotiations.

 

CAU said in a statement that a breakthrough was reached on Sunday evening concerning savings but that the particulars of the deal would be released when "the final details are in place".

 

SAS spokeswoman Elisabeth Mazini confirmed the airline and the union had reached an agreement, but said specific issues remained to be resolved before the parties would divulge details of the deal.

 

SAS, half-owned by Sweden, Norway and Denmark, regularly negotiates with dozens of unions, but the Danish flight attendants have gone on strike several times in recent years over what they say are attempts to worsen their working conditions.

 

Loss-making SAS posted a 12.5 percent year-on-year fall in December passenger traffic on Monday and said it expected to cut capacity further this year.

 

Like other airlines, SAS has been forced in recent years to contend with overcapacity and competition from budget rivals.

 

(Reuters)

 

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SAS December Traffic Down 12.5 Percent

 

January 12, 2009

Scandinavian airline SAS posted a 12.5 percent year-on-year fall in December passenger traffic on Monday and said it expected to cut capacity further this year.

 

The airline, half owned by Sweden, Norway and Denmark, said its yield in November was up 3.3 percent and it forecast the yield for December would improve slightly and be positive compared with a year earlier.

 

November was the latest month for which figures on yield were available.

 

SAS said its passenger load factor fell 1.7 percentage points year-on-year to 64.8 percent in December.

 

State flag-carriers such as SAS have been struggling for years with overcapacity and competition from more nimble, no-frills airlines. While oil prices have come down from their lofty heights last year, the global financial crisis still represents a massive challenge.

 

SAS said its Profit 2008 initiative to boost revenue and cut costs was on track.

 

"Capacity reductions of 10 percent as announced earlier are gradually taking effect," it said. "More capacity cuts are likely to be implemented in 2009."

 

(Reuters)

 

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Union Deal To Save SAS USD$182 Mln

 

January 14, 2009

Scandinavian airline SAS said on Wednesday it had struck a deal with unions which would yield annual savings of about SEK1.5 billion kronor (USD$182 million) and help it toward restoring profitability.

 

The loss-making airline said the new collective agreements for its employees included pay cuts for pilots and senior management, as well as adjustments in working hours, pensions and other expenses.

 

"The next few years may be highly demanding for the aviation industry, but with competitive costs and productive cooperation, we will survive this period," SAS chief executive Mats Jansson said in a statement.

 

State flag-carriers such as SAS have been struggling for years with overcapacity and competition from no-frills airlines and, while oil prices have eased in recent months, the fallout of the financial crisis has left the outlook far from rosy.

 

SAS has launched several cost cutting schemes to help it return to profitability while selling off businesses outside its core Scandinavian airline operations.

 

Last month, SAS said it had reached an initial deal to sell a majority stake in its loss-making Spanair unit and earlier on Wednesday, it announced the divestment of its stake in AeBal, which operates flights for Spanair, with a capital loss of about SEK200 million.

 

SAS said the new agreements reached with unions entailed a cost cut in relation to previous collective deals of about 12 percent, of which about one third was related to salaries and two thirds linked to items such as working hours.

 

The airline said the salaries for its pilots, chief executive and other members of the group's management would be cut by 6 percent.

 

"They still have to prove that it works and that the agreement for the working hours will materialise in reality," Nordea analyst Finn Bjarke Petersen said.

 

"I think we still have to remember that the cost gap is approximately SEK4 billion. This is only helping fractionally. There is still a long way to go."

 

SAS has estimated it has a cost gap of SEK4 billion compared to relevant benchmark carriers.

 

SAS, long tipped as a takeover candidate, said last year it was evaluating structural possibilities. In September, sources said that Germany's Lufthansa was in talks to buy it and this week French daily La Tribune reported that Air France KLM considered SAS as an "interesting" opportunity.

 

"I still see Lufthansa as the prime candidate to buy SAS. If they're really interested, SAS turns itself into a better takeover target by cutting costs," said Karsten Sloth, analyst at Jyske Bank.

 

(Reuters)

 

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All on US Airways plane are safe -- within 5 minutes of crash landing

 

Brendan McDermid / Reuters

 

Passengers stand on the wings of a U.S. Airways plane after it crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York. The Airbus carrying more than 150 passengers and crew reportedly struck a flock of birds after taking off from LaGuardia Airport.

155 passengers and crew are rescued from the icy Hudson River in New York. One passenger suffers two broken legs, but no other serious injuries are reported.

 

 

January 16, 2009

Reporting from New York -- After a stricken US Airways jet made an extraordinary emergency landing in the Hudson River on Thursday, a flotilla of commuter ferries, water taxis and other boats plucked all 155 passengers and crew -- many shivering as they stood on the plane's wings -- to safety in as little as five minutes.

 

It was the charmed culmination to what could have been a tragic flight after the Airbus A320 lost power over New York and glided into the icy river.

 

"I believe we've had a miracle on the Hudson," Gov. David Paterson said of the landing, executed by a veteran pilot who runs a safety consulting business on the side.

 

US Airways Flight 1549 had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport en route to Charlotte, N.C., when federal officials said it might have flown through a large flock of Canada geese, sucking some into its engines. As it dipped down near the George Washington Bridge and skimmed south along the edge of Upper Manhattan, scores of people watched in horror from nearby high-rises.

 

"It completely just hit the water full-force, never bounced or anything like that, and came to a relatively quick stop," said Robin Roberts of "Good Morning America," who saw the plane's crash landing from her apartment window and described it for ABC News. "But it never -- it didn't skim along the water. There was very little trauma to the aircraft. . . . still can't believe what I saw."

 

 

more photo and interesting story at

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/f...0,6150182.story

 

 

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Probe under way in jet's 'miracle' splash landing

FAA says N.Y. near-disaster appears to be 'an accident'; birds eyed as cause

 

msnbc.com staff and news service reports

updated 5:42 a.m. ET Jan. 16, 2009

NEW YORK - Everything about the fate of US Airways Flight 1549 seemed like a million-to-1 shot — a flock of birds crossing a jetliner's path and taking out both engines, a safe landing in the Hudson River.

 

It was a chain of improbability. Birds tangle with airplanes regularly but rarely bring down commercial aircraft. Jet engines sometimes fail — but both at once? Pilots train for a range of emergencies, but few, if any, have ever successfully ditched a jet in one of the nation's busiest waterways without any life-threatening injuries.

 

No wonder Gov. David Paterson called it "a miracle on the Hudson."

 

As amazement turned to questions, a team of 20 National Transportation Safety Board investigators began looking into how Thursday's bizarre near-disaster happened.

 

US Airways chief executive Doug Parker said in a statement it was "premature to speculate about the cause." Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said there was no immediate indication the incident was "anything other than an accident."

 

If the accident was hard to imagine, so was the result: a cool-headed pilot maneuvering his hobbled jetliner over New York City and landing it in the river with an impact one passenger described as little worse than a rear-end collision. Besides one victim with two broken legs, there were no other reports of serious injuries to the 155 people aboard.

 

"You're happy to be alive, really," 23-year-old passenger Bill Zuhoski said.

 

US Airways Airbus A320, bound for Charlotte, N.C., took off from LaGuardia Airport at 3:26 p.m. Less than a minute later, the pilot reported a "double bird strike" and said he needed to return to LaGuardia, said Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

 

Church said the controller told the pilot to divert to an airport in nearby Teterboro, N.J. It was not clear why the pilot, identified as Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III of Danville, Calif., did not land there and headed for the Hudson instead.

 

'Controlled chaos'

Passengers quickly realized something was terrifyingly wrong.

 

"I heard an explosion, and I saw flames coming from the left wing, and I thought, 'This isn't good,'" said Dave Sanderson, 47, who was heading home to Charlotte from a business trip. "Then it was just controlled chaos. People started running up the aisle. People were getting shoved out of the way."

 

Then came an ominous warning from the captain: "Brace for impact because we're going down," according to passenger Jeff Kolodjay, 31.

 

Some passengers prayed. Vallie Collins, 37, tapped out a text message to her husband, Steve: "My plane is crashing." For a desperate half-hour, he was unable to get in touch with her to learn that she had survived.

 

Onshore, from streets and office windows, witnesses watched the plane steadily descend off roughly 48th Street in midtown Manhattan.

 

"I just thought, 'Why is it so low?' And, splash, it hit the water," said Barbara Sambriski, a researcher at The Associated Press, who watched the water landing from the news organization's high-rise office.

 

The 150 passengers and five crew members were forced to escape as the plane quickly became submerged up to its windows in 36-degree water. Dozens stood on the aircraft's wings on a 20-degree day, one of the coldest of the winter, as commuter ferries and Coast Guard vessels converged to rescue them.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28688215/

 

more photos: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28688358/displ...rstry/28688215/

 

The Aircraft: A320-214 (N106US)

 

glad that all safe! :)

 

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Plane intact. Good credential for A320. Probably sales will spike up. :D

I wonder if the pilots would still have been branded retards just before hitting water :D

Such a refreshingly pleasant outcome when all survives a crash

Though I'm certain all would have preferred if incident had not occured in first place

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thanks for the video!!.. that was a remarkable life saving!!.. anyway the flight's captain was Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, a former United States Air Force captain who, during his military career, served as a fighter pilot and flew F-4 Phantom II's from 1973 to 1980. After leaving the Air Force, he began a career as a pilot for Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and later US Airways after PSA was acquired by that airline.

 

 

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Pix shows prior to crash-landing, both engines were not ripped-off by birdstrikes as reported by media.

 

1232118858ktiyzybwz3.jpg

w800.png

 

 

vo.ny.river.plane.removal.NY1.384x216.jp

 

 

NewYork_PlaneCrash3.jpg

Edited by Denny Yen

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US Airways Airbus Ditches In New York River

 

January 16, 2009

A US Airways jet with 155 people on board ditched in the frigid Hudson River off Manhattan after apparently hitting a flock of geese on Thursday and officials said everyone was rescued.

 

"We've had a miracle on the Hudson," New York Governor David Paterson told a news conference, calling the pilot a hero for landing the Airbus A320 plane in the fast-moving river.

 

"The pilot somehow, without any engines, was able to land this plane... without any serious injuries," Paterson said.

 

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg lauded the pilot for ensuring all those on board, including a baby, were safe.

 

"The pilot did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river and then making sure that everybody got out," Bloomberg said, noting that the pilot was calm enough to walk through the plane twice after landing to ensure everyone was out.

 

The pilot of Flight 1549 was Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger of Danville, California, according to his wife. Sullenberger is a former Air Force fighter pilot with 40 years flying experience, according to the web site of a safety company he founded.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating reports the plane hit a flock of birds after taking off from New York's LaGuardia Airport.

 

Witnesses saw the plane glide in low for an emergency landing, kicking up a cloud of spray in the river, which runs to the west of Manhattan island.

 

US Airways said 150 passengers and five crew were aboard the plane, headed for Charlotte, North Carolina.

 

Shortly after takeoff, the pilot radioed flight controllers that he had hit birds, law enforcement sources said.

 

Mark Wilkinson, a commercial pilot waiting for takeoff at LaGuardia shortly after the crash, said the ground controller told him the plane had sucked a bird into an engine after takeoff.

 

A passenger said that a few minutes after takeoff he heard what sounded like an explosion. "The engine blew. There was fire everywhere and it smelled like gas," said Jeff Kolodjay, from Norwalk, Connecticut.

 

He said the pilot told passengers to brace for impact. After the aircraft ditched, he said, "People were bleeding all over. We hit the water pretty hard. It was scary."

 

"You gotta give it to the pilot, he made a hell of a landing," said a visibly shaken Kolodjay, who climbed onto a life raft with other passengers and was rescued from there.

 

Eight ferries and water taxis rushed to rescue passengers, some of whom lined up on the half-submerged plane's wings wearing yellow life vests, before police boats arrived.

 

Bloomberg said most passengers were plucked directly from the plane and very few were completely soaked. Police divers pulled people out of the water and searched the plane, which remained afloat and was eventually towed to shore.

 

"We saw the plane halfway submerged," said Detective Michael Delaney. "One woman was just holding onto the side of a ferry boat, trying to get onto the ferry, but was unable to make it. We pulled the woman up on the boat."

 

Aviation experts said that landing a commercial jet on water without the plane breaking apart was extraordinary.

 

"A water landing is typically even more destructive than a ground landing. It is amazing an Airbus jet was able to land in the river without breaking up," said Max Vermij, an air accident investigator with Accident Cause Analysis of Ottawa, Canada.

 

He speculated that the plane would have hit the water at a speed of about 140 knots. "Typically the wings and engines would break off on impact, water would plow into the jet and tear apart the fuselage."

 

At St. Luke's Roosevelt hospital in Manhattan, some passengers arrived with one elderly couple still wearing their life preservers.

 

Bank of America said 23 of its staff were on the plane and all were safe and accounted for.

 

Reuters employee Alex Whittaker, who was on the 22nd floor of the company's Times Square building, said "I saw the plane coming in very low but under control, it splashed down in the water. Once it cleared it was still floating on its belly.

 

"The doors opened and we could see life rafts and we could just about see a few people climbing out onto the water."

 

Nick Prisco was driving on the highway by the river when he saw the incident. Having lived through the September 11 attacks, the sight of a plane flying so low revived memories of the 2001 assault on the World Trade Center by hijacked airliners.

 

"It was bizarre, it was surreal. I thought it was a terrorist attack," he said.

 

A Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman said there was no indication this incident was linked to terrorism.

 

The FAA says bird and other wildlife strikes to aircraft annually cause well over USD$600 million in damage to US civil and military aviation and over 219 people have been killed worldwide as a result of wildlife strikes since 1988.

 

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash and should be able to determine the cause, through inspection of the jet's engines and analysis of cockpit voice and data recorder information.

 

(Reuters)

 

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Birds Pose Serious Threat To Planes - FACTBOX

 

January 16, 2009

Aviation authorities are investigating whether a flock of geese was responsible for bringing down a jet carrying more than 150 people in New York on Thursday. All the passengers were rescued after the pilot made an emergency landing on the Hudson River.

 

The following are some facts about the dangers birds pose to aviation.

 

-- Damage by birds and other wildlife striking aircraft annually amounts to well over USD$600 million for US civil and military aviation and over 219 people have been killed worldwide as a result of wildlife strikes since 1988.

 

-- Birds have posed a danger as long as people have been flying. The first recorded bird strike was by Oliver Wright, who wrote in his diary that his plane hit a bird, probably a red-winged blackbird, over Ohio in September 1905.

 

-- Birds are not the only wildlife problem for aircraft but they do account for 97 percent of wildlife strikes. Other animals that have hit planes during take-off or landing include deer, coyotes, bats and alligators.

 

-- Waterfowl (31 percent), gulls (26 percent), and raptors (18 percent) represented three quarters of the reported bird strikes causing damage to US civil aircraft, 1990-2007.

 

-- Over 760 civil aircraft collisions with deer and 250 collisions with coyotes were reported in the United States, 1990-2007.

 

-- Birds are a particularly serious hazard at airports near water. New York's LaGuardia Airport, where the plane in Thursday's accident took off, has tried many methods over the years to disperse birds from the area around the airport. Noise cannons are most common but birds are thought to become resistant, or even excited by the noise over time.

 

(Reuters)

 

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Pilot, Out Of Options, Steers Jet To Hudson River

 

January 16, 2009

Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger was out of options at 3,000 feet (920 metres) on Thursday when he intentionally and calmly steered his crippled US Airways Airbus A320, fully loaded with passengers, toward the Hudson River.

 

A former Air Force fighter pilot with 40 years of flying experience -- including gliders -- Sullenberger's Airbus apparently struck a flock of birds moments after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport, knocking out both engines.

 

The jet is designed to fly with one engine out. But a dual bird strike that kills both power plants, if confirmed by federal transportation investigators, is virtually unheard of in US aviation.

 

Flight 1549 was running about 30 minutes late when it lifted off from LaGuardia shortly before 3:30 pm EST (2030 GMT) bound for Charlotte, North Carolina, with 150 passengers and five crew aboard, the FAA said.

 

Within minutes, word came back to New York controllers from the cockpit that a bird strike had knocked out both of the CMF-56 series engines.

 

According to details pieced together from air traffic controllers and aviation officials with knowledge of the harrowing moments above New York and New Jersey, it seemed as if the entire incident of several minutes passed in a flash, demanding that Sullenberger employ every bit of his years of experience.

 

According to controllers, an "eerie calm" defined controller and cockpit communications as options dwindled. Return to LaGuardia? Too far. Land at small Teterboro Airport across the river in New Jersey? The plane wouldn't make that either. An audacious river landing was the only option, an official of the controllers' union said.

 

"That was pretty much it," said Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). "It was very clear to our controllers that he was going to make an attempt at the Hudson."

 

Radar showed the nearly 10-year-old jet making a series of tight turns to left to head down the river, flying low over the George Washington Bridge.

 

As Sullenberger, from Danville, California, set the plane down in the river, it kicked up a tremendous splash.

 

His co-pilot was not identified. Three flight attendants aboard were credited with safely evacuating the plane and getting passengers into life vests and onto partially submerged wings and rafts, the union representing those workers said.

 

(Reuters)

 

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Despite NY Crash, US Air Travel Getting Safer

 

January 16, 2009

Despite the crash on Thursday of a US Airways jet in New York's Hudson River, airline travel in the United States is safe and has been getting safer, aviation officials and experts said.

 

The accident was the second serious one involving a major airline in the past month but also the second in which no one was killed. More than 150 passengers and crew escaped the US Airways A320 that plunged into the river after takeoff from nearby LaGuardia airport, but it floated long enough to allow passengers to escape.

 

-- In December 2008, 112 people got out of a Continental Airlines plane that ran off a runway and caught fire in Denver.

 

-- The last fatal US crash was in August 2006 when a Comair jet crashed and burned in a Kentucky field, killing all 50 people aboard. Investigators said the pilots used an unlighted runway.

 

-- Virtually all aviation fatalities involve small private planes, statistics show.

 

-- Aviation experts say that luck has something to do with increased survival rates but that crew training, aircraft design, cockpit advances and safety precautions in combination can prevent deaths.

 

-- Jim Hall, the former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said aviation authorities and airlines have learned painful but important lessons from past crashes about technology, mechanical problems, engines and fuel-fed fires, weather, crew behaviour and training.

 

-- US airlines fly more than 600 million people each year. While many safety incidents are minor and do not make headlines, investigators and safety advocates have grown more concerned in recent years about the potential for runway collisions due to increased congestion.

 

-- US safety investigators expressed concern last month about some airlines discontinuing a safety programme that encouraged pilots, mechanics and dispatchers to voluntarily report safety incidents. The Federal Aviation came under fire last year for lax safety inspection procedures at several airlines.

 

(Reuters)

 

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New York Hails Pilot Who Landed Jet On River

 

January 16, 2009

New York feted its latest hero, the pilot who landed a distressed US Airways jet on the Hudson River, saving all 155 on board in what experts called a masterful job under life-or-death pressure.

 

Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger had yet to appear in public a day after he brought the Airbus A320 to a textbook emergency landing on Thursday on the river between New York City and New Jersey in what New York Governor David Paterson called "a miracle on the Hudson."

 

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the pilot could not speak publicly until he finished providing information to federal investigators, who plan to interview Sullenberger on Saturday.

 

The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating reports that the plane lost power in both engines when it struck a flock of birds shortly after taking off from New York's LaGuardia Airport, NTSB board member Kathryn Higgins told a news conference.

 

The jet was tethered to a sea wall down river, its left wing sticking out of the water. It was mostly intact but Higgins said both engines had become detached and were presumed to be on the bottom of the river.

 

Divers and sonar equipment were tracking the course of the plane after it ditched in the river near midtown Manhattan, Higgins said. Investigators plan to pull the plane out of the water and retrieve the flight data recorders.

 

Sullenberger, 57, a former US Air Force pilot and air safety consultant, steered the crippled jet over the densely populated city and brought it down on the river, warning passengers to "brace for impact."

 

"Hemingway defined heroism once as grace under pressure and I think it's fair to say that Captain Sullenberger certainly displayed that yesterday," said Bloomberg, who will present the crew with a ceremonial key to the city.

 

"This is a story of heroes, something right out of a movie script," said Bloomberg, who also honoured police and fire department rescuers and ferry operators who rushed to the aid of passengers.

 

A flight attendant broke a leg, but most people were unharmed except for suffering from the cold. Ferries rescued passengers from the wings, where they stood in -6 degrees Celsius (20 degrees Fahrenheit) weather, their feet dipping into water of 5 degrees C (41 degrees F).

 

As the plane began sinking, Sullenberger walked the aisle twice to make sure no one was left behind, Bloomberg said.

 

"After the crash, he was sitting there in the ferry terminal, wearing his hat, sipping his coffee and acting like nothing happened," one police source told the New York Daily News.

 

"He looked absolutely immaculate," a rescuer told the newspaper. "He looked like David Niven in an airplane uniform," the rescuer said, referring to the debonair British actor. "He looked unruffled."

 

Paterson said an anonymous person had offered to donate USD$10,000 toward building a statue to the pilot.

 

"He's very controlled, very professional," his wife, Lorrie Sullenberger, told reporters on Friday. "He's a pilot's pilot. He loves the art of the airplane."

 

Air traffic controllers said an "eerie calm" defined controller and cockpit communications as options dwindled. The plane lacked the power to return to LaGuardia or land at small Teterboro Airport across the river in New Jersey, an official of the controllers' union said.

 

Radar showed the nearly 10-year-old jet making a series of tight left turns to head down the river, flying low over the George Washington Bridge before Sullenberger, from Danville, California, set the plane down in the river, kicking up a tremendous splash.

 

(Reuters)

 

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Singapore Air To Cut Flights To China, India

 

January 16, 2009

Singapore Airlines (SIA) will reduce the numbers of flights to China, India and Australia in response to falling passenger numbers, the Straits Times reported on Friday.

 

Citing a circular issued to travel agents, the paper said affected destinations included Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Mumbai, New Delhi, Sydney and Brisbane.

 

The Singapore flag carrier will also cut the number of services to London and Zurich.

 

Overall, the reductions represent just under 3 percent of the total number of flights operated by SIA, the Straits Times said.

 

"We do not want to be flying half-empty planes around the world any longer than we have to, because it increases our cost burden at a time when we can least afford to," the paper quoted SIA spokesman Stephen Forshaw as saying.

 

SIA said on Thursday it filled 65.8 percent of the space available on its planes for passengers and cargo in December, down from 70.7 percent a year ago.

 

(Reuters)

 

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Turkish Air 2008 Passenger Numbers Up 15 Percent

 

January 16, 2009

Turkish Airlines (THY) said on Friday its passenger numbers rose 15 percent to 22.5 million in 2008 from 19.6 million a year earlier, as it continues to expand to new destinations.

 

The Turkish flag-carrier said in a statement that available seat kilometres rose 11.3 percent to 46.3 billion and revenue passenger kilometres rose 12.9 percent to 34.1 billion.

 

The Istanbul-based airline has plans to buy up to 105 wide-bodied and single-aisle aircraft from Airbus and Boeing. It has extended the tender deadline to January 19 at the request of the manufacturers.

 

The company, partly owned by the Turkish state, signed a deal last month to buy a 49 percent stake in Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation flag-carrier BH Airlines.

 

THY said international business class passenger numbers rose 23.2 percent in 2008, while international transit passengers were up 41.3 percent.

 

The load factor rose 1.1 percentage points to 73.8 percent last year, while landings rose 11.5 percent to 189,949 and cargo-mail increased 8.7 percent to 199,006 tonnes.

 

(Reuters)

 

Well done THY !!! :drinks:

 

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Additional info; third T7(VT-JEF) has been flown from Mumbai to Bristol at 15th of Jan as ferry flight.New T7 will be join the fleet after painted for THY livery.

 

Turkish Airlines is catched a good wind for growing up but in the backscene, there is a preparation for privatization. Actually THY's privatization is long story since 1990s. until end of 1980s THY was working typical government association like as Russia or similiar countries. At early years of 90s, general manager has been changed to proffesional management instead traditional persons who are coming from inside of company. In the middle of 90s a big changed has begun from all THY divisions especially customer service on board also company personal's productivity.During in thees years of 1990s, Turkish airlines fleets get their shapes with new planes. At that time desicions were serious part of Turkish airlines master and future plans.Early years of 2000, Turkish airlines grew up from 30 planes to 70-80planes year by year and they were "youngest" fleet in Europe with 1.1-2 years old avarage for a long time. After middle of 2000s Turkish airlines (also with effect of joined to Star Alliance) reached 125 aircraft except new ones. New future plans are raising the value of Turkish airlines in the market, so it does work as well in privatizitaion.

 

discussable desicion for a one of brillant airlines.

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It's a miracle, no doubt. At 3,000 feet the speed would not have been more than 200kts before the engines failed and maybe just 160 kts after the failure going down to 140kts rapidly. How did he manage to make those sharp turns without losing much height and speed? Unbelievable!

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bravo to the pilbravo to the pilot for his heroic effort.. :clapping: .just cant imagine how a flock of birds could effect a big plane...i believe there must have some sort of resistance mechanishm...i remember replying to a same thread here last week...or was i replying on another forum :huh:

 

p/s just made me thinking, do we have any rivers near our KLIA?

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bravo to the pilbravo to the pilot for his heroic effort.. :clapping: .just cant imagine how a flock of birds could effect a big plane...i believe there must have some sort of resistance mechanishm...i remember replying to a same thread here last week...or was i replying on another forum :huh:

 

p/s just made me thinking, do we have any rivers near our KLIA?

 

we've got the straits of malacca!

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we've got the straits of malacca!
good one :rofl: sorry, i forgot....haha....hope that day would never come....

 

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Crashed US Airways Jet Raised From Hudson River

 

January 18, 2009

Salvage experts worked with federal and local officials on Saturday to hoist onto a barge the US Airways passenger jet that made a miraculous landing in the Hudson River this week.

 

Straps attached to giant cranes were used around the fuselage and wings of the Airbus A320 which sat in the Hudson River at Battery Park since its crash landing on Thursday afternoon several miles upriver.

 

The plane was to be towed away for examination by investigators probing the accident in which all 155 passengers and crew survived, most escaping serious injury.

 

The National Transportation Safety Board said one engine was still attached to the plane, contrary to earlier reports that both engines had come apart, while the one still missing might have been located by sonar.

 

NTSB officials also conducted interviews with the plane's pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, co-pilot and other crew members on Saturday.

 

"We could not be more happy that we got everyone off the airplane safely," NTSB spokeswoman Kitty Higgins quoted Sullenberger as saying. He praised the crew's professionalism in handling the crash.

 

Higgins said Sullenberger was asked during the emergency about landing the crippled plane at New York's LaGuardia Airport, where it had taken off from minutes earlier, or another airport, and he replied: "We can't do it. We're going to be in the Hudson."

 

That was the last communication from the plane.

 

The pilot and co-pilot both spotted a flock of birds just before the emergency, and Sullenberger told investigators that he suddenly saw the plane's windshield filled with birds and then smelled "burning birds," Higgins said.

 

Records showed a time lapse of about five minutes from takeoff to impact, she said.

 

Crowds of onlookers turned out by the Hudson on a frigid afternoon to witness the complex operation, which was delayed several hours due to ice buildup in the river and around the plane.

 

People posed for pictures in the foreground of the semi-submerged plane, saying it was history and an experience they wanted to document.

 

The salvage operation, in which the plane was raised slowly and deliberately in order to allow for water to drain out, extended into the night. Officials said it would continue until the plane was removed from the water and moved onto the barge.

 

Authorities said the flooded craft weighed around 1 million pounds (500 tonnes).

 

(Reuters)

 

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'Double bird strike' suspected in Hudson River landing incident

 

Monday January 19, 2009

A preliminary US FAA report released Friday said a US Airways A320-200 "made a forced landing on the Hudson River after striking birds and losing engine power" moments after taking off from New York LaGuardia.

 

Flight 1549 was on its way to Charlotte but wound up ditching in the river. A National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. spokesperson told the Associated Press that Capt. Chesley Sullenberger III, 57, reported a "double bird strike" less than a minute after taking off.

 

Images of all 150 passengers and five crew evacuating safely were broadcast around the world and Sullenberger and copilot Jeff Skiles were hailed as heroes for their work in safely bringing down the aircraft, after which the cabin staff successfully carried out the evacuation. The flight crew was scheduled to meet with investigators late Friday or Saturday, and meanwhile were "safe and doing well," according to US Chairman and CEO Doug Parker.

 

The only serious injury reported was to one woman who suffered two broken legs. Around 80 others were treated for hypothermia and minor injuries. The aircraft remained in the water Friday afternoon, tethered to a ferry pier on the southern part of Manhattan and mostly submerged. A crane and barge reportedly were being brought in to salvage the plane.

 

US said the CFM56-5B4/P-powered A320 was completed on June 15, 1999, and entered service with the carrier on Aug. 2, 1999. It was on lease from Wells Fargo Bank Northwest and had flown 25,241.1 hr. over 16,299 cycles. It last underwent an A check on Dec. 6, 2008, and a C check on April 19, 2008.

 

According to AirSafe, Thursday's flight was the first controlled ditching of a commercial jet since May 1970, when an ALM DC-9 on its way from New York JFK to St. Maarten executed a water landing after three missed approaches and an attempted diversion to St. Croix. Twenty-three of the 63 people onboard were killed. In October 1963 an Aeroflot Tu-124 diverted to Leningrad with a landing gear problem and ran out of fuel. It landed in the Neva River. All 52 onboard survived.

 

A more recent event involved an attempted water landing that went awry. In November 1996, an Ethiopian Airlines 767-200ER crashed while attempting to ditch during a hijacking. The aircraft had run out of fuel and the cockpit crew reportedly was battling a hijacker for control as it hit the water wingtip first and broke up, killing 125 of the 175 on board. It did not appear to be configured for landing.

 

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Investigators confirm bird strike, past compressor problem on ditched A320

 

Wednesday January 21, 2009

The US Airways A320 that ditched safely in New York City's Hudson River following a bird strike last week previously had suffered a compressor stall on one of its engines, investigators said.

 

A US National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson told reporters Monday that maintenance records of the nearly-10-year-old aircraft revealed the stall occurred on Jan. 13. The pilot on that flight will be interviewed by investigators.

 

NTSB also said that the flight data recorder confirmed that the aircraft lost power in both engines simultaneously following the bird strike. "The captain makes a radio call to ATC calling mayday and reports that they hit birds, lost both engines and were returning to LaGuardia," the Safety Board's Kitty Higgins told reporters. She added that the FDR showed that the aircraft reached 3,200 ft. before losing power.

 

Meanwhile, US has sent $5,000 to each of the 150 passengers onboard Flight 1549, which was scheduled to fly to Charlotte, to compensate them for lost luggage.

 

The A320, sans the left engine, was lifted from the Hudson and taken to a New Jersey marina over the weekend. NTSB will disassemble the aircraft for further examination while a search for the engine continues.

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Lufthansa Cabin Crew May Start Warning Strikes

 

January 18, 2009

Lufthansa flight attendants could stage warning strikes in the next few days and weeks over a pay dispute, the Independent Flight Attendant Organisation (UFO) union said on Sunday.

 

UFO broke off a third unsuccessful round of negotiations on Friday. The union is calling for a wage and benefits rise of 15 percent for 12 months for around 16,000 employees at Lufthansa and other group airlines. :blink:

Lufthansa on Friday upped its offer to a rise of up to 10 percent from 9.1 percent. The package includes better work conditions and profit sharing.

 

The German airline called on UFO to return to the negotiating table and face up to "economic realities".

 

Passenger numbers have dwindled as the financial crisis has escalated, prompting Lufthansa in October to cut its 2008 operating profit goal to EUR1.1 billion euros (USD$1.46 billion) from a previous estimate of around the 2007 level of EUR1.38 billion.

 

A union dispute would come at an inauspicious time for the carrier. In previous wage rounds, the announcement of warning strikes led to a decline in bookings. It was still unclear at the weekend to what extent and how Lufthansa was bracing for possible cabin crew action.

 

"Obviously, we always try to reduce the impact on passengers," a company spokeswoman said on Sunday.

 

(Reuters)

 

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Thai Air Seeks USD$545 Mln Working Capital

 

January 19, 2009

Thai Airways said on Monday it was seeking THB19 billion baht (USD$545 million) in loans from state-owned banks as it needed working capital after being hit by the recent closure of Bangkok airports.

 

"We have problems with cash flow because we lost THB19 billion in cash during the closures of the airports," acting President Narongsak Sangapong said. "So we need that amount to support our cash flow."

 

Narongsak denied reports by local newspapers that the national carrier needed THB35 billion for cash flow.

 

The reports sent shares in Thai Air -- already hurt by the global crisis and by the airport closures late last year by political demonstrators -- down 5.8 percent on Monday to THB6.50, the lowest since they listed in 1992.

 

(Reuters)

 

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EU Clears Interim Financing For Austrian Air

 

January 19, 2009

The European Commission approved EUR200 million euros (USD$266 million) of government-backed bridge financing for flag carrier Austrian Airlines (AUA), the EU executive said on Monday.

 

The decision does not affect AUA's sale to Lufthansa in a deal under which Austria will assume around EUR500 million of AUA's debt, and which also needs approval by the Commission.

 

"The aid will be in the form of a guarantee on loan facility... to keep the company operating until the commission can take a position on another issue involving possible state aid linked to its privatisation," the Commission said in a statement.

 

Lufthansa on December 5 signed the purchase of the 42-percent state stake in AUA. It plans to take it over fully for up to EUR377 million once Brussels approves the acquisition.

 

(Reuters)

 

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SAS Wins Multi-Year StatoilHydro Deal

 

January 19, 2009

Scandinavian airline SAS said on Monday it had won a three-year contract from StatoilHydro for air travel worth NOK500 million kroner (USD$73 million) per year, with the possibility of a two-year extension.

 

The airline said in a statement the deal applies to StatoilHydro's global operations.

 

"This is the largest air-travel agreement ever signed in Norway," SAS said.

 

(Reuters)

 

 

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