Lee Cross

DALLAS - Southwest Airlines (WN) has announced its 12th US crew base at Nashville International Airport (BNA). The Dallas-based carrier will initially base 15-200 pilots from the second quarter of 2024. It plans to grow this number to 500-600 and between 500 to 700 flight attendants. The new base at BNA joins the carrier's other crew bases in Atlanta (ATL), Baltimore (BWI), Dallas (DAL), Denver (DEN), Chicago (MDW), Houston (HOU), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), Oakland (OAK), Orlando (MCO) and Phoenix (PHX). After launching services to BNA in 1986, the airline currently operates 166 daily departures on 57 routes. Southwest also plans to add four gates during Q4 2023

DALLAS - Royal Air Maroc (AT) has signed a US$300m deal with Air Lease Corporation (ALC) for the lease of five additional Boeing 737 aircraft. The agreement includes four CFM International Leap-1 B-powered Boeing 737-8s and a single CFM56-powered Boeing 737-800, forming part of the airline’s fleet renewal program. Deliveries will commence in 2024 and come from ALC’s current order book with Boeing. “ALC is pleased to announce this lease placement for five Boeing 737 aircraft with Royal Air Maroc,” said Steven F. Udvar-Házy, Executive Chairman of Air Lease Corporation. “We look forward to building our long-term relationship with RAM as they continue to modernize their fleet and grow their network, as well as maximize their competitive advantage with the most fuel-efficient aircraft in the market.” Royal Air Maroc (CN-RGE) Boeing 737-86N. Photo: Fabrizio Spicuglia/Airways. Royal Air Maroc Fleet Renewal Abdelhamid Addou, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Air Maroc, added,…

DALLAS - After significant cuts during the Covid-19 pandemic, the three largest airlines in the US have announced an expansion to their China services. The move follows last week's announcement by the Biden administration that the US and China had agreed to allow twice the number of passenger flights permitted to fly between the two countries. This will now see 48 flights per week permitted, 24 for US carriers and 24 for Chinese airlines, an increase of six-weekly roundtrips from October 29. Pre-pandemic, there were, on average, 340 flights per week. According to Reuters, American Airlines (AA) has said that its current four weekly services from Dallas Fort-Worth (DFW) to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) will increase to a daily flight from January. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines (DL) will increase its flights to PVG from Seattle (SEA) and Detroit (DTW) to ten per week. In a statement, DL said,

DALLAS - The joint venture between NASA and Boeing to develop a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration as part of NASA's Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project has moved a step forward after Boeing ferried an MD-90 aircraft from Victorville to nearby Palmdale for modification work. The aircraft, registration N931TB was initially delivered new to China Northern Airlines (CJ) in 1995 before moving to Delta Air Lines (DL) in 2011. It will now be converted into the X-66A demonstrator before ground and flight testing, which is expected to commence in 2028. Boeing, NASA and community leaders were at the Palmdale facility to welcome the jet's arrival. Boeing Chief Technology Officer Todd Citron said,

DALLAS - As the world continues to adapt to the growing trend of Artificial Intelligence (AI), South Korean scientists have unveiled a humanoid robot capable of piloting an aircraft. Named Pibot, the life-sized robot, measuring 160 cm tall and weighing in at 65 kg, is capable of gripping the controls, memorizing aircraft manuals, and even responding to emergency situations. It is fitted with multiple cameras capable of monitoring the aircraft's systems and operational conditions. PiBot from above. Photo: KAIST. What can PiBot do? Currently under development by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), researchers utilized AI chatbots such as ChatGPT to create ways for PiBot to learn the pilot manuals for various aircraft. The robot can then be changed onto an alternative airframe by clicking the type. It can also memorize worldwide Jeppesen aeronautical navigation charts, an impossible task for its human equivalent. PiBot can also communicate…

DALLAS - Ryanair (FR) has announced that it will open a two-aircraft base in Copenhagen (CPH) in December 2023. It is the airline’s second Danish base after Billund (BLL), which opened in 2021. The move comes almost ten years after the airline announced it would open a base in the Danish capital in 2014. With four aircraft, the CPH base opened in March 2015. However, a few months later, FR was forced to close the base following a dispute with local unions regarding terms and conditions for its staff. FR will create up to 100 direct jobs for pilots, flight attendants and engineers with a US$200m investment. In addition to the current 20 destinations served, four new routes will be added to Dusseldorf (NRN), Faro (FAO), Paris (BVA) and Warsaw (WAW). Frequencies to Gdansk (GDN) and Krakow (KRK) will also be increased. Ryanair is already the third largest operator in…

DALLAS - Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ)- based Porter Airlines (PD) has announced a significant expansion of its cross-border services to the United States. From November this year, PD will commence seven new routes to five cities across Florida. The flights will be operated using the airline's 132-seat Embraer E195-E2s. The new routes, all of which will initially be flown daily, include Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Fort Myers (RSW), Miami (MIA), Orlando (MCO), and Tampa (TPA). Porter will also launch flights from Ottawa International Airport (YOW) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Orlando (MCO). Porter's E195-E2 2x2 cabin. Photo: Embraer. Comments Kevin Jackson, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, PD said,

DALLAS - Spain's Air Nostrum Group has confirmed that it will double its commitment for Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) Airlander from ten to 20 aircraft. The group, parent of Iberia (IB) franchise partner Air Nostrum (YW) and owner of Hibernian Airlines in Ireland and Mel Air in Malta, initially reserved ten examples of the hybrid airship in June 2022. It has also become the first commercial airline partner in the Airlander 50 Development Partner Programme. HAV hopes to have the Airlander in service in the next five years and produce up to ten airframes annually by 2030. Potential routes earmarked for the type within the group include the Maltese island of Gozo, plus Sciliy, Tunisia, Libya and across Spain. Image: Hybrid Air Vehicles. Comments Tom Grundy, chief executive at Bedford-based Hybrid Air Vehicles, said,

DALLAS - China Southern Airlines (CZ) has posted a modest half-year profit for the first time since the pandemic. For the first six months, it reported an operating profit of CNY1.4bn (US$192m). Revenues were also up 76% to CNY71.8bn (US$9.8bn). The Guangzhou-based airline becomes the first of China's 'Big Three' carriers to post a profit after accumulating some of the most considerable financial losses from the pandemic. Air China (CA) and China Eastern Airlines (MU) have also reported that their losses have shrunk and increases in passenger revenues. First-half losses at flag carrier CA shrank to CNY3.45bn (US$473.2m) from CNY19.4bn (US$2.6bn). Shanghai-based MU saw profits decrease by around two-thirds to CNY6.3bn (US$864m). As COVID restrictions eased across the country, domestic travel has increased significantly. China Southern reported that it carried around 65 million passengers, a more than 50% increase on the same period in 2022. This was helped by a…

DALLAS — Today in Aviation, German charter carrier Hamburg International (4R) ceased operations in 2010, just after 12 years of operations. A group of businessmen who saw a gap in the German charter market founded the airline in July 1998. German conglomerate Scmider Kleiser Holdings provided the funding, taking a 51% stake. Private investors owned the rest. Flights commenced on April 28, 1999. Operations focused on routes from secondary German cities to popular European holiday destinations. These were flown on behalf of tour companies, including NUR, TUI, and Oeger Tours. The introduction of the Airbus A319 in January 2008 also coincided with the introduction of an updated livery. Photo: By Ken Fielding/https://www.flickr/photos/kenfielding, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32316386 Chilean Subsidiary Two Chilean businessmen formed a subsidiary known as Hamburg Chile Airlines in 2001. A Boeing 737-700 was leased from the German carrier. Flights between Santiago and several Caribbean destinations were operated on…