Cessna Declares Speed War

On Friday, Cessna announced that it has raised the top speed for its Citation Ten to Mach 0.935, which would make it the fastest civil aircraft in service once certified. This eclipses the speed of its Citation X predecessor by Mach 0.015 and the currently stated top speed of the soon-to-be-certified Gulfstream G650 by Mach 0.010. Cessna attributes the speed increase to the Ten’s 7,034-pound-thrust Rolls-Royce AE3007C2 turbofans (more powerful than the X’s 6,442/6,764-pound C/C1s) and the… (ainonline.com) More...

FAA slaps Alaska Air with fines

WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal officials are seeking $655,125 in fines against Alaska Airlines and its Horizon Air affiliate for alleged safety violations, including failing to inspect a plane for cracks. The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that Horizon operated a Bombardier Dash-8-400 aircraft on 45 flights, while it failed to follow a safety order to check for cracked or corroded fittings on the engine housing. (travel.usatoday.com) More...

Jet Blue talks with Aer Lingus

U.S. airline JetBlue (JBLU.O) has spoken to the management of Aer Lingus (AERL.I) about the possible purchase of a stake in the Irish airline, the Irish Times newspaper reported on Monday, citing informed sources. The Irish government has said it is considering selling its 25 percent stake in the airline as part of a privatization drive required under its European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout. The stake is valued at about 115 million euros ($150 million) based on the Irish… (uk.reuters.com) More...

Boycott Spirit Airlines

As for the industry-leading rate of complaints, Baldanza said he's not losing sleep over it. 'If you ran a restaurant, and out of every 100,000 customers, 8 of them said they didn’t like your menu, would you change your restaurant?' he asked. 'Why don’t we interpret that 99.92 of all customers have no complaints? (www.dailymail.co.uk) More...

Would you give "Meet and Seat" a try?

KLM Airlines has launched a program that allows you to choose your seatmate based on their Facebook or LinkedIn profile, hopefully preventing those awkward boarding gate staredowns when you silently hope you're not beside the guy who's singing along with his iPod. The program, called "Meet and Seat," is available on flights between Amsterdam and New York and San Francisco and Sao Paolo, with hopes to add additional flights in the future. The New York Times notes that you… (now.msn.com) More...

Paying the national debt one passenger at a time.

Not to mention the $100 per flight "fee" (fees = taxes). We have airlines removing pilowing, blankets, magazines, even counting the number of peanuts in bags. All in the name of saving money, now we get to pay the national debt. (www.ainonline.com) More...

Never knew a C172S makes so much noise!

Residents who live around Santa Monica Airport will get no relief from aircraft noise because the City Council has shelved a controversial proposal to pay student pilots to practice elsewhere. The measure, which was rejected Tuesday night, would have offered flight schools at the airport $150 every time student pilots and their instructors moved to other airports in the region to work on takeoffs, landings and other maneuvers. The six-month incentive program was voluntary and would have set… (latimesblogs.latimes.com) More...

Broken first officer’s cockpit floodlight socket = $300,000 fine.

The FAA has been busy with proposed penalties for alleged maintenance violations. Two civil penalties were proposed for Delta Air Lines. The first case was for alleged failure to repair a chip on the radome of a Boeing 737. According to the FAA, Delta operated the 737 for 20 flights after an FAA inspector reported the chip damage while conducting a preflight inspection on Feb. 25, 2010. The FAA is proposing a $687,500 penalty. (www.ainonline.com) More...

Southwest Airlines flight aborts takeoff, blows 3 tires

DENVER (AP) - Southwest Airlines officials say the pilot of a Las Vegas-bound flight aborted takeoff from the Denver airport after a warning light indicated a fire onboard, causing three tires to blow out as the plane stopped abruptly. (www.usatoday.com) More...

TAG Aviation plans to cash in on the European Union’s emissions trading scheme

TAG Aviation is tapping its own experience of having to comply with the European Union’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) to provide support to other business aircraft operators in dealing with what remains a burdensome process. Through the new TAG ETS Solutions service, the Switzerland-based business aviation services group can provide a full turnkey package covering all requirements for monitoring, reporting and verifying carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as well as actually purchasing carbon… (ainonline.com) More...