This week at APEX in California, we thought we would give our readers a peak at a product that would make their group experiences safer. And so, we contacted Web Barth, a long-time industry expert and asked him if we could provide a bit more information about a product that will make a trade show much safer – a face mask with some unique characteristics. The product that Web features is presently being used by flight crews and flight attendants  on Jordanian, and other Middle Eastern airlines.We were curious to know more and asked Web to tell us a little bit about the patented masks he will introduce to our industry this week during APEX. Since we knew little about his product,  Fine Guard Masks, we asked why his product has been developed for aviation: “Our particular brand the BreatheEasy Mask™ combines a very thin 99,9% protective material designed for athletes with the comfort of their conventional and popular ear loop design. This product is fully and patented with an international patent by a company called LIVINGUARD® of Switzerland, and as you might guess, I hunted for a product that would help anybody who flies on a plane!” We next had to ask how his masks differ from others available in today’s marketplace and he told IFExpress: “The reason being, the patented technology of the mask is a coating on the fibers of the fabric, which causes it to maintain a positive charge. Interestingly, this solution protects from any kind of airborne virus Covid, SARS, the flu, HIV, Delts Variant, Ebola, etc.“

IFExpress asked Web what different technology was featured in the BreathEasy and he told us: “Interestingly, this product is fully and patented on international patent by a company called LIVINGUARD® of Switzerland. My client has an exclusive manufacturing license with LILVINGUARD. We at VirExit have exclusive marketing and sales representation for all airlines and airports in the world. You can find Fine Guard masks available on Amazon today. They have sold about 10  million masks in 100 different countries.”

• Time to Plan for Restart – Health Travel Apps Expected to be Popular

IATA | Geneva| March 9, 2021–

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced results from its latest poll of recent travelers, revealing growing confidence in a return to air travel, frustration with current travel restrictions, and acceptance of a travel app to manage health credentials for travel.

Travel Restrictions

• 88% believe that when opening borders, the right balance must be struck between managing COVID-19 risks and getting the economy going again
• 85% believe that governments should set COVID-19 targets (such as testing capacity or vaccine distribution) to re-open borders
• 84% believe that COVID-19 will not disappear, and we need to manage its risks while living and traveling normally
• 68% agreed that their quality of life has suffered with travel restrictions
• 49% believe that air travel restrictions have gone too far

While there is public support for travel restrictions, it is becoming clear that people are feeling more comfortable with managing the risks of COVID-19.

People are also feeling frustrated with the loss of freedom to travel, with 68% of respondents indicating their quality of life is suffering as a result. Travel restrictions come with health, social and economic consequences. Nearly 40% of respondents reported mental stress and missing an important human moment as a result of travel restrictions. And over a third have said that restrictions prevent them from doing business normally.

“The top priority of everybody at the moment is staying safe amid the COVID-19 crisis. But it is important that we map a way to being able to re-open borders, manage risks and enable people to get on with their lives. That includes the freedom to travel. It is becoming clear that we will need to learn to live and travel in a world that has COVID-19. Given the health, social and economic costs of travel restrictions, airlines should be ready to re-connect the world as soon as governments are able to re-open borders. That’s why a plan with measurable milestones is so critical. Without one, how can we be prepared for restart without an unnecessary delay?” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

Future Travel Trends

 

• 57% expect to be traveling within two months of the pandemic being contained (improved from 49% in September 2020)
• 72% want to travel to see family and friends as soon as possible (improved from 63% in September 2020)
• 81% believe that they will be more likely to travel once they are vaccinated
• 84% said they will not travel if there is a chance of quarantine at destination (largely unchanged from 83% in September 2020)
• 56% believe that they will postpone travel until the economy stabilizes (improved from 65% in September 2020)

Survey responses are telling us that people are becoming more confident to travel. Those expecting to travel within a few months of “COVID-19 containment” now account for 57% of survey respondents (improved from 49% in September 2020). This is supported by vaccine rollout which indicates that 81% of people will be more likely to travel once vaccinated. And 72% of respondents want to travel as soon as possible after COVID-19 is contained to see friends and family.

There are some headwinds in travel trends. About 84% of travelers will not travel if it involves quarantine at destination. And there are still indications that the pick-up in business travel will take time with 62% of respondents saying they are likely to travel less for business even after the virus is contained. That is, however, a significant improvement from the 72% recorded in September 2020.

“People want to get back to travel, but quarantine is the showstopper. As testing capacity and technology improves and the vaccinated population grows, the conditions for removing quarantine measures are being created. And this points us again towards working with governments for a well-planned re-opening as soon as conditions allow,” said de Juniac.

IATA Travel Pass

• 89% of respondents believe that governments need to standardize vaccine and testing certificates
• 80% are encouraged by the prospect of the IATA Travel Pass App and would use it as soon as available
• 78% will only use a travel credential app if they have full control over their data

Travel health credentials are already opening borders to some countries. IATA believes that such a system needs global standards and the highest level of data security.

The survey produced very encouraging data indicating traveler willingness to use a secure mobile phone app to manage their travel health credentials. Four of five people surveyed would like to use this technology as soon as it becomes available.  They also expect that travel health credentials (vaccine or test certificates) must comply with global standards—a work that is still in progress by governments.

Survey respondents also sent a clear message on the importance of data security.  Some 78% of travelers will not use an app if they are not in full control of their data. And about 60% will not use a travel credential app if data is stored centrally.

“We are designing IATA Travel Pass with the traveler in mind. Passengers keep all the data on their mobile devices, and they remain in full control of where that data goes. There is no central database. While we are making good progress with numerous trials, we are still awaiting the global standards for digital testing and vaccine certificates. Only with global standards and governments accepting them can we maximize efficiency and deliver an optimum travel experience,” said de Juniac.

Alexandre de Juniac’s comments to the media
Air Traveler Response to COVID-19 11-Country Survey details (pdf)
Travel Pass Update presentation (pdf)
Listen to the teleconference (mp4)

Abu Dhabi Airports Launches Rapid Covid-19 Testing

•  In-airport laboratory facilities provide Covid-19 PCR test results in approximately 90 minutes
• All arrivals from all destinations (except transit passengers) to benefit from free rapid testing
• Rapid testing service launched in partnership with Pure Heath, the region’s largest laboratory operator, and UAE-based Tamouh Healthcare
• Introduction of new testing process for arriving passengers is a reflection of Abu Dhabi Airports’ commitment to ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of passengers, staff and visitors while facilitating air travel procedures

Abu Dhabi Airports, in partnership with Pure Health and Tamouh Healthcare, has launched rapid free Covid-19 PCR testing for all arrivals, except those in transit, with results provided in around 90 minutes. The new state of the art RT-PCR lab offers testing within Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) to facilitate air travel procedures and support quarantine tracking procedures.

Designed to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of travelers and staff at Abu Dhabi International Airport, the new Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing process is free for arriving passengers and offers results in approximately 90 minutes. The laboratory has the capacity to test more than 20,000 travelers and staff per day.

The establishment of the PCR testing laboratory falls in line with the directives and vision of His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Airports, to contain the spread of Covid-19 while continuing to deliver a smooth and seamless travel experience at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Shareef Hashim Al Hashmi, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Airports, said: “Through partnering with Pure Health and Tamouh Healthcare, Abu Dhabi International Airport is now able to offer travelers state-of-the-art rapid testing services delivered by a dedicated laboratory facility. The introduction of the RT-PCR Covid-19 testing is a milestone achievement in our ongoing efforts to facilitate the safe resumption of international air travel and support the recovery of the aviation industry.”

“That we now offer a dedicated PCR testing laboratory within the airport is testament to our commitment at Abu Dhabi Airports to continuously innovate and look for new ways to deliver a safe, smooth and seamless travel experience for all our passengers. The new rapid testing facility at Abu Dhabi International Airport, developed in partnership with many of our stakeholders, will not only enable passengers to confidently travel to Abu Dhabi, but significantly enhance the efficiency of our operations while supporting global efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19,” added Al Hashmi.

All passengers arriving at Abu Dhabi International Airport through both terminals 1 and 3 will be tested at the AUH PCR testing facility. Results of the Covid-19 tests will be shared by SMS and WhatsApp, as well as being available on the Alhosn mobile application. Passengers can leave the airport once they have finalized the PCR test processes.

Passengers who receive a negative PCR test and are arriving from the list of ‘green’ countries outlined by the government of Abu Dhabi, will not have to self-isolate. Those arriving from countries not on the ‘green’ list will have to self-isolate for a period of ten days, and will require a quarantine wristband fitted at the PCR testing tent attached to the airport.

Passengers transiting through the airport will not be tested prior to departing for their final destinations.

The lab, being developed and operated by Pure Health – the region’s largest laboratory operator – and the healthcare and passenger facility, being developed by UAE-based Tamouh Healthcare, will have the capacity to test more than 20,000 travellers per day. The 4,000 square metre facility will operate around the clock with up to 190 staff.

The launch of rapid Covid-19 testing services follows Abu Dhabi Airports’ introduction of a comprehensive range of health and safety measures at Abu Dhabi International Airport, including a specially trained team of Wellness Ambassadors equipped to support passengers by answering common questions relating to keeping healthy during travel, encouraging social distancing, and providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

In addition, the airport has deployed touch-less elevator technology, SterixEco Gates sterilization tunnels, thermal scanning cameras, as well cameras with facial recognition capabilities that alert staff if passengers or visitors to the airport are displaying symptoms of Covid-19 or not wearing facemasks.

Check out the link for the latest Covid-19 information at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

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Satcom Direct Begins Airborne Validation of Plane Simple™ Ku-band Tail Mount Antenna System

One year after announcing the launch of the Plane Simple™ Satcom Antenna Systems, Satcom Direct has begun rigorous airborne testing of its advanced technology, purpose-built Ku-band tail mounted antenna system.

The transition from development to ground assessment to the aerial testing phase aims to validate the full performance capabilities of the Ku-band terminal. Inflight trials will also confirm the system’s integration with the SD ecosystem of hardware, software and supporting ground infrastructure. The antenna, which is now equipped on SD’s Gulfstream aircraft, will be stretched to the limits of its capabilities while providing empirical feedback about its functionality in an aerial environment.

“It is our company philosophy to always bring products to market that we have validated internally, and we are in a unique position to have the ability to undertake system testing on our own aircraft which gives us direct performance feedback,” says Satcom Direct Founder and CEO, Jim Jensen.  “The aerial validation is the next step in becoming a single source provider of end-to-end connectivity solutions for business and government operators worldwide, which will streamline the connectivity ownership experience and customer support services.”

The aerial testing follows successful completion of intense drive testing completed in Melbourne, Florida using a customized mobile platform. SD’s investment in the hardware series is satisfying the broadening segment of the business aviation sector’s appetite for flexible, reliable, cost effective connectivity solutions. The Plane Simple tail-mounted antenna system will support super-mid to large-size jets and is being developed in partnership with Germany-based QEST, Quantenelektronische Systeme GmbH, a worldwide market leader in innovative aeronautical antennas.

“Aviation is moving toward a digital industry, and data is the foundation for informed decision making by operations, finance and maintenance departments. It is essential that we can offer powerful connectivity solutions to a much broader business aviation audience which also support enhanced data management and analytics. The start of our inflight testing within a year of announcing the hardware expansion highlights just how committed we are to meeting these market needs,” concludes Jensen.
The Plane Simple Ku-band antenna is the first in a series of antenna systems being developed by SD.  As a Value-Added Manufacturer (VAM) and service provider (SP) for Iridium Certus, SD is also designing and manufacturing a Plane Simple antenna system for compatibility with the new network offering from Iridium, while also providing the service direct to the business aviation community. The company is aiming to launch a Ka-band variant tail mount antenna in 2022, followed by an electronically steered, fuselage mounted phased-array antenna which will deliver high-speed connectivity via upcoming LEO constellations.

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Suspension of  Retaliatory Tariffs

US agreed to temporarily suspend all retaliatory tariffs on direct exports from UK resulting from the Airbus dispute in a new joint approach to longstanding trade conflict over aerospace tariffs; this follows UK’s decision to suspend Boeing tariffs against the US from January. – Source: Speednews

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Other News

• “All us engineers or retired engineers always look at math as a baseline of our education. Why? Because all our education was based on, or explained with, math. Obviously, if your education experience occurred a while ago, it is interesting to review it … I guess? Anyway, here are 17 equations that probably had a part in your education  … and yes, it may be a bit challenging. Keep up, that is the message here!” – TJW
• This is a big deal. Why? Aviation competition … but find out what CRAIC is first:  CRAIC Plans 3 Versions Of Its New Widebody: The ‘CR929’ – Simple Flying

Happy New Year and Goodbye 2020!!

Phew, 2020 is over and what a year it was, but unfortunately, not in a good way for the majority of humanity.

As 2021 becomes commences, the aviation transportation industry is experiencing a myriad of changes. Terms like ‘recovery’ or ‘reset’ will be popular; however, the phrase ‘industry redesign’ could easily be the biggest deal. The world of public transportation may have to add the words like ‘caution’, ‘immunity’ and ‘contact-less’ to their title as COVID- 19 and its mutations affect everything we do while we travel. Unlike issues with older aircraft interiors, poor inflight food, slow inflight data rates, or malfunctioning IFE; passenger health & welfare will inevitably dominate our profession for sometime, despite the development of COVID-19 vaccinations. This is especially true as the virus continues to evolve and mutate, which is clearly the case.

Additionally, some airlines, like jetBlue have re-scaled their transportation solutions by redefining their aircraft size.  As of this month (January 2021), jetBlue has 267 airplanes in service, with remaining orders for 142 jetliners. Despite having 11,000 workers that have taken a voluntary leave, the airline obviously feels that the passenger capacity of their aircraft fleet needs to be reduced as well. Consequently, they have ordered some 70 A220-300’s which will each seat 130 passengers, the first of which is now flying. And IFExpress is certain other carriers may well follow suit in the very near term.

Clearly, the future of aviation transportation is changing. While electric vehicles are somewhere on the horizon, better passenger isolation with improved inflight environments just may be the new ‘big deal’ if the flight transportation market is to return to its previous scale and job market size. Furthermore, in the USA, we expect our passports to be more health communication oriented and it is possible that a traveler’s COVID-19 health status could be added to them, especially if it provides immunization information, in fact, this is exactly what Israel is developing in their new ‘green passport’.

Inflight entertainment & communication is important; however, for 2021 immunization is the key and the correlating availability of  traveler health data will be what enables the air travel industry to rebound. Stay Tuned! (Editor’s Note: By the way, when/if you do get a COVID-19 immunization shot(s), you might want to keep a copy of that info in your passport – we certainly will!)

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Viasat & Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines has selected Viasat’s industry-leading, next-generation Ka-band satellite in-flight connectivity (IFC) solution for more than 300 mainline narrow-body aircraft, including both new delivery and retrofits on A321ceo, 737-900ER and select 757-200 aircraft. Delta expects to bring the Viasat technology onboard these aircraft starting summer 2021, with Delta having the option to add additional fleets.

Delta will be upgrading its current IFC system to Viasat’s more advanced Ka-band satellite-powered technology to provide all customers with enhanced and reliable in-flight internet capabilities—including faster, more consistent connections and an ability to stream all types of entertainment and popular over-the-top content—to any internet-ready device, gate-to-gate. The Viasat/Delta relationship will lay the groundwork toward a true full, fast and free in-flight internet experience as well as future enhancements and personalization on customer seatback screens.

“We are constantly looking for new ways to delight our customers and offer an unparalleled onboard experience,” said Bill Lentsch, chief customer experience officer, Delta. “In working with Viasat, we gain the tools needed to deepen customer interactions and bring us closer to delivering more personalized in-flight content as well as an ability to consistently provide free, fast, streaming Wi-Fi in the future.”

“Delta is committed to optimize the customer journey, and we’re committed to helping them build a foundation toward a better in-flight internet and entertainment experience,” said Rick Baldridge, president and CEO, Viasat. “We have a proven in-flight connectivity solution that is high-quality, streaming-capable and can scale to meet Delta’s growing customer demand. We’re proud to be part of their connected ecosystem.”

Delta’s aircraft will be outfitted with Viasat’s latest Ka-band IFC system, and will be compatible with Viasat’s complete fleet of satellites, including Viasat’s first-generation spacecraft and partner satellites; its second-generation spacecraft ViaSat-2, and the forthcoming ViaSat-3 class of satellites, which are expected to offer global coverage with nearly eight times more capacity than Viasat’s current fleet—which means even more enhanced connectivity and streaming services to keep up with expected increases in demand.

For more information on how Delta plans to accelerate the future of in-flight connectivity, check out the Q&A with Delta’s Director of Brand Experience In-Flight Entertainment & Wi-Fi, Ekrem Dimbiloglu – found in Delta’s News Hub.

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Boeing News

Qatar Airways Cargo took delivery of three Boeing 777 Freighters as the airline continues to build its cargo division with the world’s largest and most capable twin-engine freighter. The milestone also marks the 200th 777 Freighter to be delivered.

The triple delivery comes as air freight is playing a pivotal role amid the COVID-19 pandemic – including transporting newly approved vaccines – and is projected to increase more than 4% over the next two decades.

With the arrival of the trio of 777 Freighters, Qatar Airways Cargo now operates 24 of this airplane model along with two 747-8 Freighters. As one of the leading air cargo carriers in the world, Qatar’s dedicated freighter fleet serves more than 60 freighter destinations worldwide via its world-class Doha hub and also delivers freight on the belly-hold deck of passenger aircraft to an extensive network.

“With the arrival of these new freighters, we are injecting more capacity in the market which is very much required during the pandemic. The added capacity will also enable us to support the logistics around the COVID-19 vaccination, which is projected to be one of the greatest logistical challenges for the industry,” said Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker. “With our investments in innovation and fleet, we are able to fulfill our customers’ logistical requirements and facilitate the continuity of global trade.”

The 777 Freighter can fly 4,970 nautical miles (9,200 kms) and carry a payload of 224,900 pounds (102,010 kg). The airplane’s long range translates into significant savings for operators like Qatar Airways Cargo as fewer stops reduce landing fees, congestion, cargo handling costs and delivery times.

“During these challenging times, Qatar Airways Cargo has been transporting humanitarian relief and medical goods to those in need, and we are proud that their growing fleet of 777 Freighters is supporting such a commendable effort,” said Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president, Commercial Sales and Marketing, The Boeing Company. “We deeply appreciate our long-standing partnership with Qatar Airways and their confidence in the 777 Freighters as the backbone of their expansive global air cargo operations.”

The 777 Freighter is now Boeing’s top selling freighter. Customers from around the world have ordered 242 777 Freighters since the program began in 2005, including a record 45 units in 2018. Boeing, the market leader in air cargo aircraft, provides more than 90% of the dedicated freighter capacity around the world, including new production and converted freighters.

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Other News

If you have never head of Claude Shannon, do be surprised, especially if you are an electrical engineer. Claude Shannon in 1948 determined a mathematical communication theory and; “he laid the foundation for the entire communication infrastructure underlying the modern information age.” In the wonderful article by Davis Tse in Quanta Magazine lays out the story: “Today’s information age is only possible thanks to the groundbreaking work of a lone genius”. Below is the link to the article which contain the summary of his technology and link to his thesis/paper on the subject of his communication theory. Noted Tse: “Before Shannon, the problem of communication was primarily viewed as a deterministic signal-reconstruction problem: how to transform a received signal, distorted by the physical medium, to reconstruct the original as accurately as possible. Shannon’s genius lay in his observation that the key to communication is uncertainty. After all, if you knew ahead of time what I would say to you in this column, what would be the point of writing it?” If you want to see some data on a genius who never won a Nobel Prize check out the article: How Claude Shannon’s Information Theory Invented the Future | Quanta Magazine Further, Tse goes on: “This single observation shifted the communication problem from the physical to the abstract, allowing Shannon to model the uncertainty using probability. This came as a total shock to the communication engineers of the day.”

And finally, here is another source about the man and his brilliant solutions.

(Editor’s Note: If you don,t like mathematics, you might not want to check out Shannon’s communication theory report and graduate thesis … just read the article by Tse. And, if you don’t think this subject has anything to do with IFEC, remember, data communication is involved with connectivity in a big way.)

Season’s Greetings

For most of us 2020 has been a tumultuous and turbulent year both professionally and personally. In an effort to contain and control the spread of COVID-19 we’ve all had to adapt the way we perform and deliver our services and live our day-to-day lives. The result has been physical distancing but in a way this common, shared experience has brought us all closer.

The IFExpress team thanks our readers for your continued support and we look forward to a time when our industry can once again gather together to discuss new concepts and product developments in person. In the meantime, we wish you and your loved ones all the best this holiday season.

May 2021 bring you health and prosperity,

Patricia Wiseman, Editor & Founder of IFExpress

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TURKISH TECHNIC

Turkish Technic has completed the design, production and certification process of its new server and wireless access point (WAP) products, the backbone of in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems. This also marks a new milestone of in-house production in aviation sector for Turkish Technic following the production of its aviation seats and galley. Turkish Technic’s new server and WAP surpass the competition with the features such as easy integration with various software applications and providing flexibility in determining equipment configuration according to current system requirements.

Providing the option of storing media (movies, videos, newspapers, magazines etc.), internet access and sharing the content with the passengers abroad the aircraft, servers act as a media source to transform air travel into a fun experience. Developed and produced by Turkish Technic, the products are customized according to the market needs and equipped with new features. Both the server and WAP are a step up from the IFE & Connectivity market competition. The new server provides 6 TB of data storage, which is 3 times bigger than its counterparts. The WAP has 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz dual band radio.

On the launch of new connectivity products, General Manager of Turkish Technic Ahmet Karaman stated that: “During these challenging times that affect aviation and the whole world, our commitment to improve our software and hardware capabilities continues.

Being a leading MRO company in the world, we work to improve our service quality as well as the product range. With an aim to provide best connectivity products in the market, our team continues to bring their best efforts forward to achieve that goal. After developing and producing our aircraft galley and seats, we now add our servers and WAP products to the list. We would not be able to do all this without the passion and commitment of our people. I thank them for their tireless efforts and cooperation.”

Developed by the highly skilled and dedicated experts and engineers at Turkish Technic, the server and WAP are designed to meet all advanced communication needs of its customers. With their full function tests and trials in extreme conditions complete, the server and WAP are approved by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

 

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MOMENT

Moment, French on-board digital solutions provider, is currently working on a trial with French aviation group Amelia (by Regourd Aviation) to implement Moment’s Flymingo box aboard its planes. 

Created in 1976, the Group is based in Paris and has strong French, European and African footprints. The Group is specialized in business, corporate and regional travels on 19 to 72-seat aircraft, operating 19 aircraft in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, offering charter, scheduled flights and ACMI services.

In 2019, Regourd Aviation created the brand Amelia, uniting its activities under one banner. The Group’s airline, Amelia International, conducts short-haul domestic flights between Paris and two cities in France: Rodez and Clermont Ferrand. In line with this recent accomplishment, Amelia decided to partner with Moment to provide its customers with an unparalleled digital journey aboard its fleet.

Therefore, Moment deployed its Flymingo box, a portable Wireless IFE solution, along with its digital platform allowing for a seamless digital passenger experience. This solution offers Amelia’s customers the chance to access a wide range of content, including entertainment, but also, to read the news and receive information related to their flight; a tailor-made experience for Amelia’s clientele which consists mainly of business passengers, and vacationers on the weekends.

Amelia originally being a private aviation company, the goal was to reach a premium target and to elevate the experience on board, by providing a digital platform that is user friendly and that the company could personalize according to its passengers’ different preferences.

The health crisis the world is facing today emphasizes the importance of the contactless in-flight experience, which is why Moment’s offer is optimal. The digital interface is accessible via passengers’ own devices, and grants them access to all the information they previously would have in paper aboard the plane.

“We are beyond excited to work on this trial with a leader in W-IFE solutions such as Moment. We wanted to partner with a company that could guarantee we would attain our vision for a one-of-a-kind digital experience for our customers; that is exactly what we found with Moment’s Flymingo box.” announced Alain Regourd, President of Amelia.

Tanguy Morel, CEO of Moment said: “We are thrilled to begin this trial with Amelia, and we hope it will be the beginning of a great working relationship as partners.” He adds: “We were involved in providing the company with a personalized experience to satisfy the needs of its passengers. With Flymingo box, Amelia will offer a reliable solution, ensuring access to entertainment like never before.”

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Alaska Airlines Boosts 737 MAX Orders and Options to 120 Jets

Boeing nd Alaska Airlines announced that the carrier is buying 23 more 737-9 airplanes, building on its original order and an agreement last month to acquire new 737-9s through lease. The new deal brings Alaska Airlines’ total 737 MAX orders and options to 120 airplanes, which will give the fifth largest U.S. carrier the scale, efficiency and flexibility to expand as air travel recovers. Alaska Airlines, a longtime Boeing 737 operator, placed an order for 32 737-9 jets in 2012 as part of its fleet modernization program. The 737-9 is a member of the 737 MAX family that is designed to offer more fuel efficiency, reliability and flexibility in the single-aisle airplane market. Last month, Alaska Airlines announced it is expanding its commitment to the 737 MAX program by leasing 13 new 737-9s while selling some A320 jets it had taken on through its acquisition of Virgin America.

The new agreement announced on 12/21/2020 will add 23 firm orders for the 737-9 and more options for future purchases. In all, Alaska will have 52 options which, if fully exercised, would take the carrier to as many as 120 737 MAX airplanes. The airline said the deal moves it toward a more efficient, all-Boeing mainline fleet that will “enhance the guest experience, improve operational performance and support the company’s growth.”

Alaska Airlines and Boeing leaders announced the agreement during a signing ceremony at Boeing’s delivery facility in Seattle, flanked by a new 737-9 that will be among the first such jets to be operated by Alaska Airlines. In observance of COVID-19 restrictions, both companies limited attendance at the event and addressed the pandemic that has severely affected air travel, expressing confidence in the fundamental strength of the industry and long-term passenger demand.

“Alaska Airlines has done a tremendous job of weathering the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, and is well positioned to return to its growth trajectory and strengthen its standing as one of the top U.S. airlines. With Alaska’s industry-leading reputation for safety, sustainability and customer service, we are honored they have chosen to invest in their future with a significant purchase of additional Boeing 737 airplanes,” said Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “We are grateful for Alaska’s trust and partnership. Our team is focused on delivering their first 737 MAX jets and helping ensure a safe and seamless entry into service.”

Alaska Airlines says the 737 – equipped with new, more fuel-efficient engines and improved aerodynamics – will use 20% less fuel and reduce emissions by 20% per seat compared to airplanes it replaces. The airline will configure the jet with 178 seats in a three-class configuration. The plane can fly 3,550 nautical miles, about 600 miles more than its predecessor. This additional capability will allow airlines to offer new and more direct routes to passengers. Every airplane will feature the new Boeing Sky Interior, highlighted by modern sculpted sidewalls and window reveals, LED lighting that enhances the sense of spaciousness and larger pivoting overhead storage bins.

Learn more about Alaska’s confidence in the safety and certification of the MAX at alaskaair.com/737MAX.

(Note: AEROMEXICO, who has 6 737 MAX aircraft on its books, is expected to reinstate 737 MAX operations out of Mexico City this week.)

Also from Boeing:

Boeing and the University of Arizona put an age-old technique, thermal disinfection, to use in the fight against COVID-19. Researchers validated that applying heat to surfaces, especially on hard-to-clean flight deck equipment, effectively eliminates SARS-CoV-2.

Results indicate that the virus can be destroyed by more than 99.99% after three hours exposure to temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) and will still effectively kill more than 99.9% of the virus at 40-degree Celsius temperatures (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

“Passenger and crew safety are our top priorities — that extends from the cabin to the flight deck,” said Michael Delaney, who leads Boeing’s Confident Travel Initiative (CTI) efforts. “Thermal disinfection could deliver another valuable tool to destroy COVID-19 on sensitive and difficult-to-reach components that protect pilots.”

Boeing completed the testing as part of its CTI effort to support customers and enhance the safety and well-being of passengers and crews during the COVID-19 pandemic. This testing was conducted in a protected laboratory environment at the university using flight deck parts and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, this fall.

“We’re basically cooking the virus,” said Dr. Charles Gerba, University of Arizona microbiologist and infectious disease expert. “Thermal disinfection is one of the oldest ways to kill disease-causing micro-organisms. It’s used by microbiologists in our laboratory every day.”

The flight deck is one of the most challenging areas to sanitize using traditional chemical disinfectants. In areas with sensitive electronic equipment, heat has the ability to disinfect without adverse effects from cleaners. The flight deck is designed to withstand temperatures up to 160 degrees Fahrenheit (about 70 degrees Celsius), which makes thermal disinfection a safe, practical and effective sanitization method.

As air travel is fundamentally disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, Boeing and the University of Arizona continue to test recommended cleaning methods in a lab against SARS-CoV-2 and other similar viruses to further validate their efficacy.

And Lastly:

Boeing has entered into a 25-year lease agreement with the Jacksonville Aviation Authority to grow its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations at its Cecil Field site, located at Cecil Airport. Under the agreement, the Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA) will construct and lease to Boeing new facilities on approximately 30 acres located on the northeast side of Cecil Airport, near Boeing’s existing MRO site. The new construction will eventually house Boeing’s on-site operations and include nearly 270,000 square feet of hangar space and more than 100,000 square feet of office and support shop space. Construction work by JAA will begin in fall 2021 with a planned commencement of operations date in January 2024.

(Editor’s Note: If you are wondering about flying on a plane in the COVID time-frame, here is one article that touts masks – Risk of COVID-19 exposure on planes ‘virtually nonexistent’ when masked, study shows – ABC News and here is the TRANSCOM Study that supports mask testing on aircraft – you probably should read it.)

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM INMARSAT’S CONFIDENCE TRACKER

American flying habits are set to drastically change for the long haul, with nine in ten Americans not expecting to return to their previous travel routines once the COVID-19 pandemic is over. The survey reveals a number of fascinating insights, including:

• 43 per cent of American passengers planning to travel less often by any means and a third (36%) expecting to fly less.
• US passengers are the second most likely globally to have already flown during the COVID-19 pandemic, with half (50%) of those surveyed in the US having taken at least one flight.
• 71% US passengers are satisfied with the aviation industry’s response to the crisis.”

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OTHER NEWS

• We at IFExpress want to thank the world of health professionals who risked their lives (and will continue to do so) to help with a solution to the COVID anti-virus problem … and especially to those who paid their lives for our health! And while we are on the subject, you might want to see what Bill Gates has done – The Gates Foundation, COVID-19, and the race for a vaccine
• Stay tuned to the ultra secure, quantum internet-based communications China is developing from their 2016 satellite they launched. You see, the communication is non breach-able and this will be the future of secure communications … a quantum internet. China Reaches New Milestone in Space-Based Quantum Communications – Scientific American
• Got Wi-Fi? Well, you can be hacked, say the folks at Ben-Gurion University! Here is the paper on it. “In this paper, we show that attackers can exfiltrate data from air-gapped computers via Wi-Fi signals. Malware in a compromised air-gapped computer can generate signals in the Wi-Fi frequency bands. The signals are generated through the memory buses – no special hardware is required”
• Ugh-oh! Seattle Times report: “Democrats and Republicans in U.S. House and Senate committees reached agreement in down-to-the wire negotiations a week ago on a bill tailored to address the FAA’s oversight failures in its original certification of the MAX.” Stay Tuned.

FlightPlan: Aviation Leaders Debate Solutions to Rebuild Passenger Confidence in Industry’s Largest Live Broadcast Event

Leaders from across the global aviation industry came together for a live broadcast on November 11th, which explored strategies to accelerate recovery and future growth in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. FlightPlan: Strategies for Recovery, hosted by Inmarsat Aviation and the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX), saw over 50 industry voices exchange views on the present and future of aviation.

Six months on from the hugely successful first FlightPlan broadcast event in April, with aviation still in the depths of one of its most extreme crises to date, the industry’s largest-ever virtual assembly returned to connect leaders on the digital stage once again. More than 3,500 viewers tuned in from almost 90 countries worldwide for a series of live debates, interviews and analysis.

Summarizing the day’s events, Philip Balaam, President of Inmarsat Aviation, commented: “FlightPlan is a unique platform that brings together the aviation industry during this difficult time to share views, exchange best practice and strategize for the future. Yesterday’s edition attracted record audience numbers in comparison to our inaugural FlightPlan broadcast in April and we are delighted that so many leading voices participated. Together, we reflected on the challenges faced in 2020, the progress made to date, and of crucial importance, the trends that will guide the next phase of recovery.

“A wide range of initiatives have already been executed to make flying viable and safe – from an overhaul of cleaning protocols to greater social distancing across the passenger journey. Under different circumstances, many of these changes could have taken years to introduce. The next phase will delve even further into the passenger mindset, ensuring that consistent policies, measures and technologies are implemented to restore confidence in airline travel. While many hurdles still lie ahead, the single most overwhelming sentiment expressed during FlightPlan was one of optimism.”

A particular highlight of the day was the launch of Inmarsat’s ‘Passenger Confidence Tracker’, the world’s largest survey of airline passengers since the pandemic began. Reflecting the views and attitudes of almost 10,000 respondents from 12 countries, it revealed that 83 per cent of air passengers expect their travel habits to change in the long-term as a result of COVID-19.

Reflecting on what the industry can take from the study in order to rebuild confidence, Niels Steenstrup, Inmarsat Aviation’s Senior Vice President of Inflight Business, told viewers: “The fundamental message is about consistency. Passengers want to be able to board a plane anywhere and be confident that the same hygiene practices are being followed. They want a consistent set of safety standards around the world, and more consistency on quarantine rules.

He continued: “Worries about flying are all too often a result of inconsistencies and lack of assurance about what they will be met with at the airport, on the plane or at the destination. Co-operation between nations will undoubtedly help restore passenger confidence.”

Agreeing with Steenstrup, Peter Harbison, Chairman of CAPA Centre for Aviation, added that “a harmonious and standardized way for looking after passengers” is needed. “The biggest problem is the unilateralism we have seen develop,” he said.

Another key theme of the day was the growing relevancy of trust and reputation. Robert Carey, Chief Commercial and Customer Officer at easyJet, said: “In an economic downturn, customers want value and a brand they can trust.” This is supported by data from the ‘Passenger Confidence Tracker’, which finds 44 per cent of passengers believe reputation is now a more significant factor when choosing an airline than it was pre-pandemic.

“Trust is super critical for any brand, but certainly for those that have a safety component like airlines,” agreed Anton Vidgen, APEX President and Air Canada Head of Brand Experience. “It was important before the pandemic and it’s especially important during the pandemic.”

There was a clear focus throughout FlightPlan on the importance of digital solutions as a short-term solution to boost confidence and safety, through reducing touchpoints and interactions throughout the journey experience.

Gustavo Nader, Thales’ Head of Strategy, IFE and Connectivity, noted a growing trend for traveler autonomy, enabled by digitization. “Travelers are increasingly reliant on self-directed resources to get information about their travel experience,” he said. “Airports and airlines will be required to accelerate their digital transformation in a way that increases the independence of the traveler and reduces their reliance on touchpoints and interactions.”

Airline leaders echoed this, arguing that the pandemic has accelerated their digital transformation plans. Vidgen noted that Air Canada has already adopted touchless bag check and is exploring innovative technologies from biometrics to automatic gate boarding. Implementing touchless technologies throughout the journey, he believes, will ensure “that customers feel confident and can serve themselves as much as possible”.

Matt Klein, CCO of Spirit, noted another shift in passenger habits: the uptake of ancillary services. “The Spirit business model, with optionality of services, is working. There is a lot of value for guests with that and our ancillary revenue generation numbers are back where they were last year,” he stated. Research from the Passenger Confidence Tracker supports Klein’s comments, with value added services – such as extra legroom and free baggage – becoming increasingly important to passengers in 2020.

Despite the deep challenges facing aviation as a result of the pandemic, FlightPlan speakers expressed positivity in how the industry has adapted at speed, and shared optimism for the recovery phase. Perry Cantarutti, SVP Alliances, Delta Air Lines, commented that “we’re learning to realize that we can’t let it [COVID-19] conquer our ability to live our lives and run our businesses, but we have to be able to do that in a safe way”. He noted that growing travel confidence in the US domestic market in particular is an “encouraging” sign.

According to Andrés Castañeda, CMO and CXO, AeroMexico, the pandemic has led the airline – and the wider industry – to identify ways to be more agile in the future. “We can change our processes and policies faster than we ever thought we could,” he said. “With COVID, we need to reimagine how we operate to bring trust back to customers. That has been a silver lining of the past eight months.”

Ben Smith, CEO of AirFrance KLM reiterated this, stating: “The crisis has forced us to be more agile. It’s forced us to really try and be a step ahead of our competitors”. He ended with a note of optimism for the industry: “People have family and friends around the world. People like holidays. People have businesses. That’s not disappearing. If borders are open, they will come back.”

While acknowledging that passenger habits will have changed, easyJet’s Carey shared the sentiment that the appetite for travel will not dissipate. Reflecting on the passenger of the future, he said: “Are they going to interact with us [airlines] differently? Absolutely. But the brands set up to win are going to have a really bright future.”

All interviews and content aired at FlightPlan are available to view on-demand via https://flightplan.wavecast.io/

The ‘Passenger Confidence Tracker’ report is available to download free-of-charge here.

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Panasonic Avionics

Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic) announced the appointment of Hernan Abbes as Vice President, Global Sales.

In his new role, Hernan will play a pivotal leadership role in driving business growth and nurturing strong relationships with new and existing airline customers. He will report directly to CEO, Ken Sain, and have worldwide responsibility for developing and implementing strategic sales initiatives across Panasonic Avionics’ range of products, services and solutions.

Hernan will oversee efforts to strengthen customer relationships, listen to and understand customer needs, propose innovative solutions and share the voice of the customer feedback within Panasonic. As a member of Panasonic’s senior leadership team, he will also participate in strategy formulation and key decisions across the business.
Hernan assumes his role with a deep knowledge of Panasonic, its people and its customers, having joined the business in 2011 as an Account Manager for the Americas region. He progressed quickly upwards through a series of sales roles, and was appointed Regional Vice President for the Americas and Oceania in 2019.

Ken Sain, Chief Executive Officer of Panasonic Avionics Corporation, says: “Hernan is a valuable addition to Panasonic’s senior leadership team, and a skilled and proven executive who is passionate about customers, meeting their needs and exceeding expectations. Under his leadership, I have no doubt that our company will elevate our responsiveness and customers will benefit from his expertise and dedication.” Hernan Abbes, Vice President, Global Sales of Panasonic Avionics Corporation, says: “I am truly excited about my new role, and look forward to leading Panasonic’s team of incredibly talented sales executives. Our industry is facing challenging times but with the skill of our people and the strength and innovation of our services and solutions, I am confident that Panasonic will continue to grow as the provider of choice for airlines across the globe.”

Hernan Abbes’ started his career at Boeing, and then at Raytheon, as an electrical engineer developing wiring diagrams and cable assemblies, before he took a role at Thales Avionics as an installation engineer. He later transitioned into a Senior Account Manager role for Thales’ Latin America region selling In-Flight Entertainment and avionics. He has also held roles as a consultant to Gogo and a strategic account manager at Carlisle Interconnect Technologies.

Also from Panasonic:

Panasonic announced Qatar Airways as the launch customer for its new EcoFW 10” inflight entertainment (IFE) upgrade program. The seatback IFE monitors on the airline’s fleet of 37 Boeing 777 aircraft will be updated with Panasonic’s new EcoFW 10” monitor upgrade – creating a next-generation HD passenger experience while extending the life of the fleet’s IFE system, and reducing operational costs.

Panasonic’s IFE upgrade program, which can be achieved on an aircraft during routine overnight maintenance, includes the installation of a new passenger entertainment server. This provides passengers with a wider range of content and helps to modernize the airline’s offering and keep up-to-date with the demands of changing consumer preferences. This also enables the airline to achieve faster media loading times – all without any increase in weight, and with dramatically improved reliability levels.

The first aircraft from Qatar Airways’ 777 fleet has completed its IFE upgrade this week. This commitment from Qatar Airways marks the latest milestone in a longstanding partnership with Panasonic, which first started in 2000. A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Best Airline’ by the 2019 World Airline Awards, managed by Skytrax. Headquartered in Doha, the airline was launched in 1997 and is the national carrier of the State of Qatar. Qatar Airways Oryx One in-flight entertainment system offers passengers up to 4,000 entertainment options, from the latest blockbuster movies, TV box sets, music, games. and much more.

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IATA

Here is an article from the folks at IATA with an evolution of the distribution impacts: “The potential size of the delivery is enormous. Just providing a single dose to 7.8 billion people would fill 8,000 747 cargo aircraft. Land transport will help, especially in developed economies with local manufacturing capacity. But vaccines cannot be delivered globally without the significant use air cargo.”

IATA – The Time to Prepare for COVID-19 Vaccine Transport is Now

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Boeing

Boeing and Allen University announced today a new $1.5 million partnership to establish the Boeing Institute on Civility at Allen University. The Boeing Institute will be a national hub for teaching and provide programming aimed at advancing civil discourse in America and across the globe.
“The Institute on Civility will become a powerful catalyst for helping to promote thoughtful, civil discourse,” said Boeing President and CEO David Calhoun. “Empowering students and the broader community to debate public issues with civility and respect is an important step on the journey to developing lasting societal solutions.”

“The reach of The Boeing Company is particularly compatible with the university’s aspiration to demonstrate that service to the greater good does not stop in one’s own community, but has the obligation to be expansive,” said Allen University President Ernest McNealey. “While the Institute is the centerpiece of the Waverly Project, all aspects of it will confidently pursue a better future and honor those who did so in the past.”

“I want to thank Dr. McNealey, Mr. Calhoun and Bishop Green for their support of this Institute on Civility. We are at an inflection point in this great country and we must learn to share our lives together,” said Congressman Jim Clyburn (S.C.-6). “This Institute means a whole lot to me, this institution, this state and this nation.”

Boeing funding will support the renovation of the historic Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital, which will house the Institute once construction is complete. The Institute will include a memorial to honor the nine victims of the 2015 Mother Emanuel AME Church tragedy in Charleston, S.C., and be the home to the South Carolina African American Hall of Fame.

Today’s investment builds on Boeing’s commitment to advancing racial equity and compliments the company’s recent $10 million investment in similar causes. Over the last five years, Boeing has invested more than $17 million in organizations to expand access and address inequities for communities of color across South Carolina.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We expect the FAA to formally unground the Boeing 737 MAX this week, most likely middle to end of the week after voting by the house say some sources. We note that the plane won’t start flying right away: Airline storage is one issue, there will be new training effort, and, of course, updating each aircraft with new software in the flight control system. Good Luck Boeing!

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Other News

• Want to know more about why the jet engines are never painted on the front end? Why the front of the Jet Engine is NEVER painted.. – YouTube
• Want a list of some great technical books (2 completed here…) and this list is really good! 26 of the Best Science Books of All Time
• A Mediterranean GPS dark hole: When it comes to GPS, planes are flying into a dark hole over the Mediterranean. | Fortune
• We have been waiting for a Crown Jewel in cryptography and it just may be here – indistinguishability obfuscation (iO for short) – Computer Scientists Achieve ‘Crown Jewel’ of Cryptography | Quanta Magazine And yes, this aint IFEC but just may eventually show up in aviation!
• Who owns Intellectual Property? The Future of Intellectual Property – YouTube
• Bored? Wasting time? Need school or education to keep sane? They are free as well! Here are 160 solutions from HarvardX – Harvard University | edX
• And speaking of colleges, we just found out who owns the most BOSE stock – MIT is new majority owner of Bose – The Boston Globe
• We wonder if any of the best 202 movies will be shown on planes? 50 Best Movies of 2020 (So Far) – Top New 2020 Films of the Year

Geneva | September 9, 2020–The International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged governments to begin careful planning with industry stakeholders to ensure full preparedness when vaccines for COVID-19 are approved and available for distribution. The association also warned of potentially severe capacity constraints in transporting vaccines by air.

Preparedness

Air cargo plays a key role in the distribution of vaccines in normal times through well-established global time- and temperature-sensitive distribution systems. This capability will be crucial to the quick and efficient transport and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines when they are available, and it will not happen without careful planning, led by governments and supported by industry stakeholders.

“Safely delivering COVID-19 vaccines will be the mission of the century for the global air cargo industry. But it won’t happen without careful advance planning. And the time for that is now. We urge governments to take the lead in facilitating cooperation across the logistics chain so that the facilities, security arrangements and border processes are ready for the mammoth and complex task ahead,” said IATA’s Director General and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac.

“Delivering billions of doses of vaccine to the entire world efficiently will involve hugely complex logistical and programmatic obstacles all the way along the supply chain. We look forward to working together with government, vaccine manufacturers and logistical partners to ensure an efficient global roll-out of a safe and affordable COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Facilities:  Vaccines must be handled and transported in line with international regulatory requirements, at controlled temperatures and without delay to ensure the quality of the product. While there are still many unknowns (number of doses, temperature sensitivities, manufacturing locations, etc.), it is clear that the scale of activity will be vast, that cold chain facilities will be required and that delivery to every corner of the planet will be needed. Priorities for preparing facilities for this distribution include:

• Availability of temperature-controlled facilities and equipment – maximizing the use or re-purposing of existing infrastructure and minimizing temporary builds
• Availability of staff trained to handle time- and temperature-sensitive vaccines
• Robust monitoring capabilities to ensure the integrity of the vaccines is maintained

Security: Vaccines will be highly valuable commodities. Arrangements must be in place to keep ensure that shipments remain secure from tampering and theft. Processes are in place to keep cargo shipments secure, but the potential volume of vaccine shipments will need early planning to ensure that they are scalable.

Border Processes:  Working effectively with health and customs authorities will, therefore, be essential to ensure timely regulatory approvals, adequate security measures, appropriate handling and customs clearance. This could be a particular challenge given that, as part of COVID-19 prevention measures, many governments have put in place measures that increase processing times. Priorities for border processes include:

• Introducing fast-track procedures for overflight and landing permits for operations carrying the COVID-19 vaccine
• Exempting flight crew members from quarantine requirements to ensure cargo supply chains are maintained
• Supporting temporary traffic rights for operations carrying the COVID-19 vaccines where restrictions may apply
• Removing operating hour curfews for flights carrying the vaccine to facilitate the most flexible global network operations
• Granting priority on arrival of those vital shipments to prevent possible temperature excursions due to delays
• Considering tariff relief to facilitate the movement of the vaccine

Capacity

On top of the transport preparations and coordination needed, governments must also consider the current diminished cargo capacity of the global air transport industry. IATA warned that, with the severe downturn in passenger traffic, airlines have downsized networks and put many aircraft into remote long-term storage. The global route network has been reduced dramatically from the pre-COVID 24,000 city pairs. The WHO, UNICEF and Gavi have already reported severe difficulties in maintaining their planned vaccine programs during the COVID-19 crisis due, in part, to limited air connectivity.

“The whole world is eagerly awaiting a safe COVID vaccine. It is incumbent on all of us to make sure that all countries have safe, fast and equitable access to the initial doses when they are available. As the lead agency for the procurement and supply of the COVID vaccine on behalf of the COVAX Facility, UNICEF will be leading what could possibly be the world’s largest and fastest operation ever. The role of airlines and international transport companies will be critical to this endeavour,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.

The potential size of the delivery is enormous. Just providing a single dose to 7.8 billion people would fill 8,000 747 cargo aircraft. Land transport will help, especially in developed economies with local manufacturing capacity. But vaccines cannot be delivered globally without the significant use air cargo.

“Even if we assume that half the needed vaccines can be transported by land, the air cargo industry will still face its largest single transport challenge ever. In planning their vaccine programs, particularly in the developing world, governments must take very careful consideration of the limited air cargo capacity that is available at the moment. If borders remain closed, travel curtailed, fleets grounded and employees furloughed, the capacity to deliver life-saving vaccines will be very much compromised,” said de Juniac.

Airline Forum 2020:Virtual exchange accelerates the transformation to the “New Normal” of aviation

One of the largest airline IT conferences gathers representatives of 70 airlines | Despite the challenges faced by the airline industry, Lufthansa Systems presents cutting-edge innovations and welcomes new customers.

Around 500 users will come together today at the 13th edition of the Airline Forum, the airline IT user conference organized by Lufthansa Systems. The Airline Forum unites around 70 airlines from all over the world who successfully use the ground operations solutions and commercial solutions from Lufthansa Systems. This year’s installment of the Airline Forum entitled “Transforming into the ‘New Normal’” will see the user community meet in a fully virtual format for the first time in the event’s long-standing history. Coming together on a digital platform, the participants will learn about the latest developments in the portfolio offered by the airline IT specialist that will help airlines to navigate through the crisis and return to the skies.

The use of modern technologies and a solid data basis will be key for the industry to get back on track after the global standstill of air passenger traffic. Data analyses, machine learning algorithms, other artificial intelligence (AI) methods and cloud solutions will enable airlines to make better and faster decisions in a constantly changing market environment. At the Airline Forum, Lufthansa Systems presents its latest innovations that enable airlines to transform their business to this “New Normal”. Faced with the need to optimize capacity utilization and recover from the economic downturn, industry players will benefit from the latest developments such as the optimizers for hub restructuring in network planning and scheduling, the enhanced functionalities for easier interaction between crew members in NetLine/Crew and the New Demand Indicators (NDI) Dashboard.

Due to the challenges arising in the wake of the global pandemic, airlines now more than ever appreciate the benefit of such innovative solutions. “Despite the difficulties faced by the industry, we were able to attract several new external customers recently and are particularly proud to welcome Air Transat, the Air Transport Services Group (ATSG), NEOS and Pegasus Airlines at the Airline Forum,” said Olivier Krueger, CEO of Lufthansa Systems. “The first-hand feedback provided by our airline customers at the conference will contribute directly to the continual improvement of our solutions, which is why the close exchange with our user community is vital for a sustainable recovery and the successful future of our industry.”

This years’ edition of the Airline Forum features a high-profile keynote speech and a broad range of expert-led sessions covering all topics that move airlines most in the current situation. Olivier Krueger and Dr. Thomas Wittmann, both CEOs of Lufthansa Systems, will kick-off the event with their opening remarks, and they are pleased to welcome Dr. Roland Schütz, EVP and CIO Lufthansa Group Airlines and Digital Initiatives, as keynote speaker. In his presentation, he will provide insights into the role played by IT in times of COVID-19. Attendees can choose their own individual program from eight product tracks and 48 product sessions. Dedicated breakout sessions will help create an informal environment, where all participants have the opportunity to connect with product experts and users from other airlines.

On the path to recovery: digital event formats drive customer dialogue in the “New Normal”

The pandemic is accelerating the adoption of digital ways of engaging that reduce the number of in-person events and facilitate remote exchange with customers. Responding to the need for social distancing while enabling close customer interaction, Lufthansa Systems launched an online conference series back in April. Called “Let’s talk about IT”, this conference series features Lufthansa Systems experts openly sharing their expertise to support airlines in adapting to the new circumstances faster and more efficiently. After eight editions, the virtual events season continued with the Lido User Group Conference 2020, an industry-leading flight operations solutions user conference, which took place virtually with more than 380 attendees from 110 airlines.

“We are delighted to see so many of our customers participate in our virtual events. Even though the format is different, these events continue to deliver tangible benefits for our customers,” said Dr. Thomas Wittmann, CEO of Lufthansa Systems. “Meeting industry colleagues and exchanging ideas has always been an important foundation of our business – whether in-person or on a digital platform. In these turbulent times, we are doing our best to facilitate remote interaction, maintaining a close dialogue with our customers and preparing them for the full restart of the airline business.”

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FlightAware

FlightAware announced that United Airlines has integrated its predictive data tool into the airline’s operational toolset to help decrease the instance of preventable delays; reduce missed passenger connections; and help prevent flight cancellations. FlightAware operates the world’s largest flight tracking and data platform, fusing thousands of data sources around the world to provide the most accurate and comprehensive flight tracking intelligence. Over half of all estimated arrival time (ETA) predictions for U.S.-based airlines are now powered by FlightAware data.

“It is more important than ever that United operates at the highest levels of efficiency to ensure our customers have a seamless travel experience,” said David Kensick, Managing Director of Network Operations Control, United Airlines. “By leveraging data from FlightAware, we are further able to accurately time our operations to provide reliable service and minimize any disruptions to our schedule.” United will utilize FlightAware’s data throughout its operations, including the United.com website, the United mobile app, gate displays and in all internal operational systems. Predictive data will also be used in United’s Connection Saver tool, which automatically scans flights for customers who are making tight connections to determine if the connecting flight can be held without inconveniencing other customers. With the new fully integrated solution, United will further increase its ETA accuracy and consistency. FlightAware receives data from air traffic control systems, ground stations and satellite networks across the globe. This data is combined with FlightAware’s proprietary AI models and algorithms to provide the most comprehensive flight tracking solutions to airlines. “We’re proud to offer a level of accuracy in our predictions that will enhance operational capabilities at United, and help improve the travel experience,” said Daniel Baker, FlightAware CEO.(FlightAware.com)

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GOGO

Gogo Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has adopted a Section 382 Rights Plan (the “Plan”) to preserve and protect Gogo’s ability to utilize its large net operating loss carryforwards (“NOLs”) and other tax assets.

As of December 31, 2019, Gogo had approximately $580 million of federal tax NOLs, $430 million of state tax NOLs and $196 million in federal interest expense carryforwards which could be used in certain circumstances to reduce its future tax liability. The purpose of the Plan is to protect Gogo’s ability to use these tax assets, which would be substantially limited if Gogo experienced an “ownership change” as defined under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code. In general, an ownership change would occur if one or more of Gogo’s shareholders who are deemed to be owners of 5 percent or more of its shares under Section 382 collectively increase their aggregate ownership of Gogo’s shares by 50 percentage points or more (measured over a rolling three-year period). Under the Plan, Gogo is issuing one Right for each share of its common stock outstanding at the close of business on October 2, 2020. Shareholders are not required to take any action to receive the Rights. Gogo intends to submit the Plan to a vote of its stockholders at its 2021 annual meeting. The Plan will expire on the day following the certification of the voting results for Gogo’s 2021 annual meeting, unless Gogo stockholders ratify the Plan at or prior to such meeting, in which case the Plan will continue in effect until September 23, 2023, unless terminated earlier in accordance with its terms.

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IATA

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for the development and deployment of rapid, accurate, affordable, easy-to-operate, scalable and systematic COVID-19 testing for all passengers before departure as an alternative to quarantine measures in order to re-establish global air connectivity. IATA will work through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and with health authorities to implement this solution quickly.

International travel is 92% down on 2019 levels. Over half a year has passed since global connectivity was destroyed as countries closed their borders to fight COVID-19. Some governments have cautiously re-opened borders since then, but there has been limited uptake because either quarantine measures make travel impractical or the frequent changes in COVID-19 measures make planning impossible. The economic cost of the breakdown in global connectivity makes investing in a border-opening testing solution a priority for governments. The human suffering and global economic pain of the crisis will be prolonged if the aviation industry—on which at least 65.5 million jobs depend—collapses before the pandemic ends. And the amount of government support needed to avert such a collapse is rising. Already lost revenues are expected to exceed $400 billion and the industry was set to post a record net loss of over $80 billion in 2020 under a more optimistic rebound scenario than has actually unfolded.

IATA’s public opinion research revealed strong support for COVID-19 testing in the travel process. Some 65% of travelers surveyed agreed that quarantine should not be required if a person tests negative for COVID-19.

Passengers’ support for testing is evident in the following survey results:

• 84% agreed that testing should be required of all travelers
• 88% agreed that they are willing to undergo testing as part of the travel process

In addition to opening borders, public opinion research also indicated that testing will help to rebuild passenger confidence in aviation. Survey respondents identified the implementation of COVID-19 screening measures for all passengers as effective in making them feel safe, second only to mask-wearing. And, the availability of rapid COVID-19 testing is among the top three signals that travelers will look to for reassurance that travel is safe (along with the availability of a vaccine or a treatment for COVID-19).

IATA’s call is to develop a test that meets the criteria of speed, accuracy, affordability and ease of use and that could be administered systematically under the authority of governments following agreed international standards. IATA is pursuing this position through ICAO, which is leading efforts to develop and implement global standards for the safe operation of international air services amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The evolution of COVID-19 testing is progressing rapidly on all parameters—speed, accuracy, affordability, ease of use and scalability. Deployable solutions are expected in the coming weeks. “By calling for the establishment of a global approach to COVID-19 testing for all passengers before departure we are sending a clear signal of aviation’s needs. In the meantime, we are gaining practical knowledge from the testing programs that already exist as part of the various travel bubble or travel corridor initiatives around the world. We must continue with these valuable programs which move us in the right direction by building testing experience, facilitating essential travel and demonstrating testing effectiveness,” said de Juniac. COVID-19 testing before departure is the preferred option as it will create a “clean” environment throughout the travel process. Testing on arrival dents passenger confidence with the potential for quarantine at destination in the event of a positive result.
There will be many practical challenges to integrating testing into the travel process establishing the protocols to safely manage large-scale testing across all industry stakeholders. “The ICAO process is critical to aligning governments to a single global standard that can be efficiently implemented and globally recognized. Airlines, airports, equipment manufacturers and governments will then need to work in total alignment so that we can get this done quickly. Each day that the industry is grounded risks more job losses and economic hardship,” said de Juniac.

IATA does not see COVID-19 testing becoming a permanent fixture in the air travel experience, but it will likely be needed into the medium-term for air travel to re-establish itself. “Many see the development of a vaccine as the panacea for the pandemic. It will certainly be an important step, but even after an effective vaccine is globally recognized, ramping up production and distribution is likely to take many months. Testing will be a much-needed interim solution,” said de Juniac.

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Other News

• Here is a note we found by Elizabeth Young: “Good news! My latest book (mystery) has just been released. “Finding J. Hubbard” is a missing person story, with some of the same characters as in my earlier novel, “Do You See Him Now?” It’s available via as a paperback and eBook on Amazon, B&N, and all other popular on-line sites. Will be in some local bookstores soon. Please see my web site for more information”. (Editor’s Note: Congratulations!)
• Okay next, if you are into the universe star system, you need to see this incredible report on the universe size differences … and, there is an app so you can take it with you or explain it to your kids – sorta! The Big and the Small — Wait But Why And, since we have mentioned outer space, did you know that radiation levels on the moon are some 200 times that on earth? Radiation on the Moon Is Alarmingly High, Study Shows | IE This may change a few things!
• If you like science and the periodic table even better, you need this periodically tabled shirt! Periodic table I only use sarcasm periodically shirt, hoodie, ladies tee And yes, here is a link to a picture of the fellow with it who sold us!!!
• Here is a little info on US airport commercial service requirements for COVID-19 protection for the state of Washington.
• Another reader sent us a suggestion that the coronavirus vaccines should be tested on politicians first: The quote: “This logic is indisputable … If they survive, the vaccine is safe. If they don’t, the country is safe.” Hmmmm?

Boeing-developed portable wand will inactivate viruses and bacteria on airplanes

Seattle, WA | September 22, 2020–Boeing [NYSE: BA] entered into a patent and technology license with Florida-based Healthe® Inc. today under which Healthe will manufacture an ultraviolet (UV) wand designed to sanitize airplane interiors. Boeing designed and developed the UV wand as part of the company’s Confident Travel Initiative (CTI) to support customers and enhance the safety and well-being of passengers and crews during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The UV wand is designed to be more effective than similar devices. It quickly disinfects surfaces on an airplane and further strengthens other layers of protection for passengers and crew,” said Mike Delaney, who leads Boeing’s CTI efforts. “Boeing spent six months transforming an idea for the wand into a working model, and Healthe will now take that prototype and make it available to the world at large.”

Healthe will produce and distribute the commercial wand, helping airlines and potentially others combat the coronavirus pandemic. The technology could be available for airlines in late fall. The device is an addition to sanitizing and protective measures already in place, which include the use of high-efficiency particulate air filters that trap more than 99.9% of particulates and prevent them from re-circulating back to the cabin.

“We are proud to be assisting Boeing as they work with their partner airlines to enhance in-cabin plane sanitization efforts. This could also benefit schools, hospitals, offices, wherever pathogens go,” said Abe Morris, Healthe executive chairman. “As we ramp up deployment of our cutting-edge UVC and Far-UVC 222 light solutions across many sectors, this new commercial-grade wand will be another powerful tool in the sanitization arsenal to protect passengers against the spread of harmful viruses.”

The UV wand uses 222 nanometer UVC light. Research indicates 222 nanometer UVC inactivates pathogens effectively.

Using the self-contained apparatus that resembles a carry-on suitcase, crews can pass UV light over high-touch surfaces, sanitizing everywhere the light reaches. The UV wand is particularly effective in compact spaces and sanitizes a flight deck in less than 15 minutes.

As part of CTI, Boeing solicited feedback from multiple industry sources, which aided in quickly validating this technology. Etihad Airways was the first to evaluate the device, and the UV wand was demonstrated on the Etihad 787-10 ecoDemonstrator airplane on Aug. 21.

The mission of Boeing’s Confident Travel Initiative is to be a leader in the global effort to provide passengers and crew a safe, healthy and efficient travel experience.

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, and global services. As a top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries and leverages the talents of a global supplier base. Building on a legacy of aerospace leadership, Boeing continues to lead in technology and innovation, deliver for its customers and invest in its people and future growth.

Healthe is the technology leader in developing and deploying sanitization, circadian and biological lighting solutions that inactivate viruses and bacteria in the air and on surfaces, regulate the body’s internal clock, boost performance and enhance sleep. Its mission is to harness the power of light to create a safer, more productive and healthier environment.  Learn more at www.healtheinc.com and connect on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Neptune Beach, Florida | September 22, 2020–There are enough things to worry about these days, clean air, free from COVID-19 inside your home shouldn’t be one of them. Connecting World Merchandise, an innovative global wholesaler, and Airocide, a company that produces NASA-developed technology, today announced a partnership to expand the availability of Airocide, which is an FDA-approved air sanitizer that is clinically proven to eliminate airborne pathogens, including bacteria, mold, fungi and viruses to make your space safe.

“One thing I’ve figured out, if it’s good enough for NASA then it’s good enough for me,” said Pro Football Hall of Famer, Bobby Bell – Connecting World Merchandise director of promotions. “I feel safe in my space knowing that my air is being cleaned by the same technology NASA uses to guarantee the safety of their astronauts.”

Designed by NASA scientists, Airocide purifies toxins in the air that can worsen symptoms of asthma or allergies. Instead of filters, the device uses nanotechnology to oxidize pathogens at a molecular level, via two catalytic reaction chambers. It eliminates harmful bacteria and mold spores from the air. This is why it has been a critical part of high-quality health care for nearly 20 years. It is used in hospitals and other health care facilities all over the world to prevent infections that come from airborne sources. In addition, Airocide looks like a piece of modern art, complete with discreet touch controls.

“This exclusive NASA-developed technology has undergone 12 years of testing in space, in hospitals, in operating rooms, in schools, in dental offices, in laboratories, in food processing and packaging plants and other bio-sensitive environments,” said David Ghelerter, Chief Science and Technology Officer of Airocide “The bottom line is NASA had a problem and Airocide was the answer – we provide 99.999% pathogen free fresh air on the first pass and we’re FDA approved.”

We are roughly six months into the COVID-19 global pandemic and in that time-frame our industry, and many others, have witnessed some radical and dynamic shifts. As we know, the leisure and family holidays have almost been eradicated with COVID. The air travel industry prior to the pandemic hummed along with business travel accounting for approximately 60% – 70% of all airline revenue, but perhaps the greater worry is the shift to webinars, ZOOM, Skype and many other forms of internet meetings, which may turn out to be the bigger sucker-punch, resulting in the cancellation of business travel with longer fiscal consequences. And some analysts are predicting that it will take a little more than 3 years for business travel to begin to rebound.

In the meantime, there is no end in sight from the move to remote work. Over the past few months many major companies have announced some form of permanent or long-term work-from-home scenarios. COVID-19 has shown and convinced companies such as REI, Ford, Twitter and others that their employees are capable of performing their jobs at home, and may even be performing better. The result is a massive reduction in the corporate office footprint. The uptick is these companies will save huge leasing costs and their employees will be thrilled they no longer face heinous daily commutes, but what will be the ancillary costs – and there will be inevitably be some. And one of these may well be a reduced need for business travel.

As with any crisis, the longer it goes on the more we learn. And often, our initial attempts to improve a process or make a situation safer are either in vein or are proven to be ineffective, or possibly counter productive, over time. In the case of the pandemic and airlines, one such circumstance may turn out to be the changes which were implemented in the boarding process. In an effort to minimize close contact between passengers, several U.S. carriers and some international carriers, began to board their flights from the rear of the jetliner to the front. New research is now indicating that it may actually do the opposite! Scientists from the USA have recently found that starting the boarding process from the back rows actually increases the amount of time spent by passengers milling about in the aisles to load bags in the overhead compartments prior to taking their seats.

But the boarding procedure is merely one example of how airlines are stumbling to make travel safe during COVID-19, and lure back passengers. Inconsistent policies in regards to leaving the middle seat vacant are also being instituted and so far there is no scientific evidence to back the benefit and/or necessity of doing so. Needless to say, there are large holes in both the data and the research, which inevitably bogs down the path forward. We are experiencing a situation where there is a vast amount of expert opinions but there is a scarcity of good data to back them up. And we are dealing with a leery, fearful public.

Another area that is a source of confusion and concern for the passenger is cabin air quality and the air filtration system on an airplane. As many of us in the industry know, the air in the cabin of an aircraft is passed through filters that are equal to those used in hospital operating rooms, thus there seems to be minimal danger of infection from circulated air but this is not common knowledge to the average passenger. However, the risk is in the cabin long before the air is recirculated. When we talk, cough, or sneeze respiratory droplets are released which will go to the passenger next to you long before they get circulated through the jetliner’s air filtration system. In fact a government-funded 2012 study concluded that between 3 – 20 passengers on a flight of four hours onboard a twin-aisle that were seated near a person with influenza would most likely become infected – and the flu is thought to be less contagious than COVID-19. The study also showed that if passengers wore N95 masks (high quality masks worn by medical workers in dangerous environments but not widely available to the general public) that the odds of infection dropped to nearly zero. The study did not analyze the benefits from wearing cloth face masks but the researchers predict they would decrease the likelihood of contracting the virus but not be as effective a N95.

A more recent 2018 study that was published by the National Academy of Sciences stated that there was a ‘high probability’ that passengers seated within one row of a traveler with influenza would be infected on a trans continental flight.

The aviation industry in the U.S.A. has been adhering to the advice of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and so far there have been ‘no known cases’ of infection from COVID-19 onboard U.S. flights. The industry has been nimble in their reactions to a rapidly evolving situation and has been working in conjunction with medical experts on decisions pertaining to cleaning and operational procedures. No-contact check-in is another example. But needless to say the issue begs for more research. Enforcing the necessity of wearing masks, plane disinfecting and other safety procedures are all logical, but unfortunately there is currently no solid evidence to show that these precautions will overcome the risks of the tight environment of the jetliner cabin.

Lastly, since 2015 the Government Accountability Office has been calling for a plan to respond to a pandemic scenario but so far government agencies have been unwilling to draw up a formal plan for the aviation sector.

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SmartSky Networks

SmartSky Networks has filed a federal lawsuit against its former radio contractor, Wireless Systems Solutions LLC (WSS), after terminating the WSS contract and asserting that WSS misappropriated SmartSky’s intellectual property. SmartSky’s lawsuit alleges improper actions by WSS, two related entities (DAG Wireless LTD and DAG Wireless USA), and three of their senior leaders.

“We have pledged to defend our intellectual property vigorously because it is critical to our success. In this situation, WSS failed to complete what it was contracted to do for SmartSky.  Simultaneously, we believe WSS attempted to sell our product as its own, including through an alter-ego company formed after we began working with WSS yet involving the same people,” said Ryan Stone, SmartSky President.

“This activity has caused a delay in SmartSky bringing our next-generation WiFi network to the aviation market,” Stone said. “We’re transferring WSS’s former work scope to contractors who have performed well for us in the past on other aspects of our program.”

SmartSky recently closed on more than $40 million in additional equity funding, $10 million in new debt, and now expects to launch its network in 2021. Demand is increasing for connectivity on aircraft, and SmartSky believes there is plenty of runway for innovation in this space.

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Gogo

Gogo Inc.commented on the disclosure that certain affiliates of GTCR, a leading private equity firm, have acquired a 14.8% interest in Gogo’s common stock.

“We welcome GTCR’s interest in Gogo and look forward to an ongoing and constructive dialogue as we execute our strategic plan,” said Oakleigh Thorne, Gogo’s President and CEO. “We believe GTCR shares our vision for Gogo and the opportunity to continue to create value for all shareholders.” “We believe Gogo’s decision to focus on its leading business aviation business will create a stronger company that is well-positioned to grow in an attractive market,” said Mark Anderson, Managing Director at GTCR. “We look forward to supporting Gogo as it completes the sale of the commercial aviation business and seeks to capitalize on the compelling opportunity in business aviation.”

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Some Stumbling Blocks with Facial Recognition

An audit of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the GAO found facial recognition programs fell short in a few areas:

• Performance tracking. Although the tech accurately identified over 90% of those exiting the U.S. by air, it didn’t consistently photograph all travelers—and there’s no mechanism to alert officials when the technology misses minimum requirements.
• Partner audits. CBP can conduct audits on all of its partners, but as of May, it had audited just one of more than 27 airlines.
• Clear communication. U.S. citizens and eligible non-citizens can opt out of facial recognition, but CBP consistently failed to make that known.
• According to CBP officials, a t the end of 2019, out of 16 million passengers scanned, facial recognition helped identify seven “impostors”.
• Zoom out: Facial recognition technology still has many issues and glitches, which include racial and gender biases. And the probability of a false positive are very high.

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Other News

• If you are an earphone addict like we are, keep your eyes open for the coming next generation of in-ear headphones (No wires) –
  Bose announces $279 QuietComfort Earbuds and $179 Sport Earbuds – The Verge
• US DOT reports 18 US airlines carried 21.4m pax in July, down 73% vs July 2019, but up 30% from 16.5m in June 2020. – source: Speednews
• If you are curious about the western fires in the USA, here are some pictures. And yes, we are smoked out! Western wildfires rage in California, Oregon and Washington – in pictures | World news | The Guardian

Galgus, new member of the WiFi Alliance

The WiFi Alliance is a global organization in which the main players related to this wireless technology participate, whether they are operators, hardware manufacturers, or software developers.

It is also the benchmark certifier for WiFi technology, having completed more than 50,000 certifications since 2000. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates those products capable of offering a user experience according to their expectations of WiFi connectivity.

For Galgus, this membership is a recognition of its technology – patented in Europe and the USA -, that is used daily by more than a million people around the world and, in addition, it’s an endorsement for its WiFi4EU projects: the European Commission’s plan to provide WiFi connectivity to municipalities throughout Europe. A project in which Galgus has already deployed its technology in around twenty locations.

WiFi is the main option to connect to the Internet. Thus, more than half of the Internet traffic is done using this wireless connection technology. A technology that, in these times of pandemic and a new normal, is playing a fundamental role, offering users the possibility of working, studying, and enjoying themselves remotely. For businesses that need faster internet connection, they can switch to a SD-WAN network.

Since last July 1, Galgus is a member of the main international organization for WiFi technology, being one of the few Spanish companies that have achieved it to date.

The WiFi Alliance (www.wi-fi.org) is responsible for leading, developing, and adopting the standards agreed by the WiFi industry. To do this, it fosters collaboration between member companies, thus promoting innovation in this field.

WiFi Alliance importance is appreciable when reviewing its list of member companies. Thus, global giants such as Apple, Intel, Microsoft, Facebook, Nokia, or Samsung; telecommunications operators such as Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, or Orange or manufacturers such as Acer, Logitec or Motorola, are part of this organization.

Galgus CEO and Co-Founder, Jose González, points out that “for our company, having been admitted as members of the WiFi Alliance is a recognition of the development in WiFi technology that we have been making for more than six years. This achievement is comparable to the patents that our products have obtained in the US and Europe”, adding: “This is something that gives not just added value for our brand but also for our clients and society”.

This membership represents a reinforcement in Galgus’s commitment to its consolidation as a reference provider in the European Commission’s WiFi4EU (WiFi for Europe) program. A project, with which the European Union wants to promote WiFi connectivity for citizens in public spaces such as parks, squares, official buildings, libraries, health centers, museums, etc. To achieve this, it has provided a budget of 120 million euros between 2018 and 2020 that will be allocated to the deployment of state-of-the-art WiFi equipment in public life centers.

To date, and within the framework of this pan-European project, Galgus has deployed its WiFi solution in around twenty locations throughout Spain. “It’s great to feel that we are helping to bridge the digital divide in so many places. With digitization, the business, development, and growth opportunities for these towns will undoubtedly grow exponentially”, Gonzalez stressed.

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British Airways

British Airways’ award-winning on board magazine, High Life, is moving online to ba.com and will offer access to content for customers before, during and after a flight.

Created with publishing house, Cedar, the magazine will also include a new section for Business Life which will replace the current on-board paper versions of both publications.

Each issue will include monthly audio stories, photo experiences and live panels so customers can experience the magic of travel on the go wherever they are in the world. The magazine will continue to feature first person stories from travel experts and carefully curated guides for exploring cities across the world.

As well as trusted travel content, High Life digital will keep customers updated with any changes to the airline’s customer experience and route network. The new digital format also means that the airline can update content in real-time with any developments in this Covid-19 era.

The magazine will be emailed to five million Executive Club customers every month and customers can download the magazine on board, using the airline’s in-flight WIFI for free. This airline definitely has one of the best WiFi services a business could have.

High Life will also continue to offer British Airways’ partners and advertisers new opportunities to reach the airline’s customers with products and offers, through BA media*

Hamish McVey, British Airways’ Head of Brand and Marketing said: “Our High Life magazine has been a source for travel inspiration for our customers for nearly half a century. When we trialled moving High Life online at the beginning of this year, it was a great success.

“We know our customers value technology and a contactless journey, especially in the current climate, so we are delighted to now be able to provide over five million customers a month with digital High Life.  We hope this new digital magazine will help customers plan their holidays with our expert holiday guides, as well as provide the latest information as we make important changes to our customer experience.”

Clare Broadbent, Cedar’s CEO said, “High Life online is now here: online, on email, and on board through your personal device, bringing wonderful and trusted travel inspiration to bigger audiences than ever before. With High Life’s mix of expert writers, photographers and audio-visual storytellers sharing the latest travel ideas from around the world, we can’t wait to help travellers to dream, plan and take off in 2020 and beyond.”

The airline’s on-board magazine, first took to the skies 47 years ago in 1973 and has provided British Airways’ customers with inspiration ever since. The magazine has document significant milestones in the airline’s history including the launch of Concorde and the A380, as well as featuring cover stars such as Sir Paul McCartney, Tracey Emin, Idris Elba and HRH The Prince of Wales.

Click here to visit High Life

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Satcom Direct

Satcom Direct (SD), the business aviation solutions provider, has achieved a significant milestone for its FlightDeck Freedom® datalink service by activating its 2,000^th aircraft. The head-of-state customer signed for the service to take advantage of its unique configuration options, ability to integrate third-party flight planning services, evolving compliance support, and the streamlining of flight crew and ground operations workflow.

Specifically designed for business and military aviation, FlightDeck Freedom® features an open architecture design to support every type of avionics and datalink-capable airframe and can be customized to meet each customer and/or aircraft platform’s mission needs.  On launch in 2007 it was the first datalink service to give customers the freedom – hence the name –  to select, upload from, and communicate with preferred third-party trip planning services and today is still the only datalink service provider with a comprehensive offering of flight planning options.  FDF also continues to be the only service that supports flight deck and cabin communications enabling crew to monitor connectivity and troubleshoot issues in real time to better manage passenger expectations.

In addition, FDF enhances operational safety through direct delivery of automated notifications including hazardous weather, route and security alerts, and supports real time aircraft and fleet tracking worldwide, which can be monitored from the ground and in the air. The unique GeoNotification feature details when aircraft are approaching a defined geographic area which may affect connectivity or be defined as sensitive airspace.

Integrated with SD Pro®, the digital flight operations management system, data shared through FDF synchronizes flight crew with ground operations keeping team members informed about aircraft performance in real time to support improved flight operations, budgeting and maintenance scheduling.  FDF also supports fleet compliancy with FANS, ADS-C and CPDLC to meet evolving Air Traffic Control safety requirements and the changing landscape of business aviation operations.

“Our focus is to always enable our customers to manage their flights and operations using the services, products and systems that best suit their needs. FDF was one of our first services built using open architecture to allow integration of third-party services. Reaching this milestone demonstrates the market’s hunger for integrated services that streamline the workflow. As the digitization of aviation continues to evolve, we will continue adapting and modifying our products to meet the changing requirements of flight crew, ground operations and the business aviation infrastructure,” says President of Satcom Direct Business Aviation, Chris Moore.

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ASM

Aircraft Systems and Manufacturing, Inc. (ASM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of JANA, Inc., announced it has achieved FAA Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) after completing the extensive application and preparatory effort coordinated through the FAA’s Delegation Systems Certification Office. This appointment allows ASM’s ODA unit to conduct an array of aircraft design certification functions and approvals typically provided by the FAA.

This designation enables ASM to directly provide certification approvals for avionics and aircraft system integration solutions for Part 25 aircraft, functions which are typically conducted by the FAA’s Aircraft Certification Service. This provides aerospace companies with a much shorter path to certification as it bypasses the lengthy wait times often associated with submitting documents to the FAA for review and approval.

“This is a big step forward for us as an organization,” says ASM President Edward A. (Ean) Niland. “It not only shows the faith that the FAA has in our people and our processes, but it allows us to streamline the STC certification process for the airlines, MRO’s and equipment OEM’s that we work with, which is as important in this current business climate as it ever has been.”

Pete Chilsen, ASM’s Vice President of Sales, believes that the company’s new designation will provide much needed relief to certification project timelines for companies throughout the aviation industry. “Our designation as an ODA allows us to offer our customers a much higher level of service than we ever could have before. It gives aircraft owners, operators and integrators a new path toward expedited certification, which has been a serious issue for many of them in the past few years. The sheer volume of new and supplemental aircraft type design certification programs continues to increase, and we are proud to be able to offer our services to supplement the diligent efforts of the FAA.”

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Airbus: August In Review

Airbus’ 2020 gross orders by August 31st totaled 370 aircraft with net orders of 303,  after the year’s cancellations. The company registered 1 new order for an ACJ320neo and no cancellations in August.

In August, Airbus delivered a total of 39 aircraft spread out between  35 A320 Family aircraft including the first A321neo to Gulf Air, two A330 including the first A330-900 to Portuguese carrier Orbest and two A350.

Airbus’ backlog of aircraft remaining to be delivered as of August 31st stood at 7,501 comprising  524 A220s, 6,091 A320 Family aircraft (including 6,034 A320neo Family), 319 A330s (including 285 A330neo Family), 558 A350 XWBs and nine A380s.

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China Eastern Airlines Uses Big Data From ‘Clear Your Plate’ Initiative

“Wow! You finished all your food. Well done, little handsome,” a stewardess said to a little boy on flight MU5427 of China Eastern Airlines (China Eastern) on August 18. The praise aroused a round of warm applause from other passengers.

The occasion described above was actually a common scene on flights of China Eastern since the company actively joined the nationwide “Clear Your Plate” initiative 2.0 against food waste in China with actual practice.

China Eastern has asked flight attendants to verbally remind passengers to not waste food and take only what they need, and added labels with the words “‘Clear Your Plate’ initiative” onto the packages of in-flight meals.

Besides in-flight friendly reminders of the initiative, China Eastern has also put up eye-catching signboards bearing slogans such as “Take as much as you need, and say ‘no’ to food wastage”, as well as “Strictly practice thrift and oppose waste” in its VIP rooms at airports across the country.

Moreover, the company has taken advantage of big data in in-flight meal preparation and established an effective food preparation scheme as part of the efforts to curb food wastage.

According to relevant statistics, the system can save about 100 kg to 150 kg of food materials on a daily basis for the in-flight meal processing workshop of China Eastern in Shanghai alone.

In order to make sure the amount of food prepared for each flight is reasonable, China Eastern’s catering staff now pay real-time attention to flight information and changes in passengers’ seats through the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system of the company, and adjust the amount of food for flights timely before delivery.

Recently, China Eastern launched an innovative “souvenir-like” snack for long-haul flights which are not during breakfast or dinner time, substituting home-made exquisite cakes, bread, fruit and desserts kept in lunch boxes or bags for the previous airline snacks, so that passengers can take the snacks away if they could not finish them on the plane.

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OTHER NEWS

• JetBlue made a good list of “Things to Do” and “Things to Bring” for your next flight … and yes, there is some good destination info as well! Travel Checklist | JetBlue
• If you are into the Bradykinin hypothesis you will like this one! A Supercomputer’s Covid-19 Analysis Yields a New Way to Understand the Virus | Elemental
• United Airlines now plans to furlough 16,370 workers (6,920 flight attendants/2,850 pilots) in 4Q20, when federal payroll support expires. United Airlines to cut 16,370 workers, many more going without pay – Reuters
• Drones are becoming a big deal. And yes, sooner or later they will impact the future of passenger flight. Here is a look inside a factory DroneDJ: A rare look inside a DJI factory – check it out! – YouTube

Chicago | August 10, 2020–  Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, today announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

Read Full Release

While the economy seems to be slowly picking up, recent breakouts seem to tell us that a vaccine is the most important thing that can happen – worldwide! But the question is when? Everybody is affected and passenger travel is one of the worst victims. Airlines everywhere are suffering, laying off workers and in the USA future layoffs seem inevitable. For example the following layoffs are what we are hearing if US airlines don’t get any additional funding from the US government: Alaska Airlines said they will be sending out some 1,600 notices soon (4,200 nationwide and it is reported that the majority of these numbers will be from flight attendants); United has 3,900 pilots at risk if assistance is not provided. Furthermore, not long ago they warned some 35,000+ employees of the risk of potential layoffs; and American is looking at some 25,000 furloughs as well. One big question is what the Governments will do for airlines worldwide. More importantly, if a vaccine for COVID-19 is created, how long will it take to get dispersed, and resultantly, how long will it take for the air market to return? One report predicts 2024! Air travel not expected to recover until 2024

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GOGO

As part of its continued cost reduction initiatives to align the scale of its organization with current demand for aviation connectivity services, Gogo is eliminating 143 fulltime positions, predominantly from the Company’s Commercial Aviation business.

“As the pandemic continues to impact commercial airline travel, we are taking additional actions as part of our comprehensive 16-lever strategy to reduce costs. Based on our current expectations of the scope and timing of a recovery in the industry and our Commercial Aviation business, reducing our workforce has become a necessary step. We do not take this action lightly, but we believe it is critical in our efforts to preserve our financial flexibility, while maintaining the quality of our service and relationships with our customers,” said Oakleigh Thorne, Gogo’s President and CEO.

The reduction in force will take effect on August 14, 2020, and represents approximately 14% of the Company’s overall workforce. In addition to the reduction in force, Gogo will continue certain furloughs and maintain the salary reductions that were previously implemented. In keeping with the previously announced 16-lever plan to reduce costs, Gogo will continue to pursue non-personnel cost-savings levers, including renegotiating terms with suppliers, delaying aircraft equipment installations, deferring purchases of capital equipment, reducing marketing and travel expenses, and eliminating non-essential spend.

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ASTRONICS

Astronics Corporation Reports 2020 Second Quarter Financial Results

• Sales for the quarter were $123.7 million with bookings of $61.5 million
• Net loss was $(23.6) million, after goodwill impairment charges of $12.6 million
• Adjusted EBITDA was $9.2 million, or 7.4% of sales
• Cash from operations was $18.3 million for the quarter, $41.5 million year-to-date

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AIRBUS

AIRBUS had €1.14b net loss in 2Q20 (vs €1.2b profit in 2Q19) on 55% lower revenues; Commercial Aircraft lost €1.9b (vs €1.2b profit) on 65% lower revenues. Employment remains flat from Jan 1.

AIRBUS says commercial aircraft are now being produced at rates under new production plan announced in April; however, it is further dropping A350 rate from six to five per month for now. It adds that 145 commercial aircraft could not be delivered as scheduled in 1H20 due to COVID-19.

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BOEING

The company reported second-quarter revenue of $11.8 billion, GAAP loss per share of ($4.20) and core loss per share (non-GAAP)* of ($4.79), primarily reflecting the impacts of COVID-19 and the 737 MAX grounding (Table 1). Boeing recorded operating cash flow of ($5.3) billion.

“We remained focused on the health of our employees and communities while proactively taking action to navigate the unprecedented commercial market impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Boeing President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun. “We’re working closely with our customers, suppliers and global partners to manage the challenges to our industry, bridge to recovery and rebuild to be stronger on the other side.”

In the second quarter, Boeing restarted production operations across key sites following temporary pauses to protect its workforce and introduce rigorous new health and safety procedures. Despite the challenges, Boeing continued to deliver across key commercial, defense, space and services programs. The company also resumed early stages of production on the 737 program with a focus on safety, quality and operational excellence. Following the lead of global regulators, Boeing made steady progress toward the safe return to service of the 737, including completion of FAA certification flight tests.

To align to the sharp reduction in commercial market demand in light of COVID-19, the company is taking several actions including further adjusting commercial airplane production rates and reducing employment levels. “The diversity of our balanced portfolio and our government services, defense and space programs provide some critical stability for us in the near-term as we take tough but necessary steps to adapt for new market realities,” Calhoun said. “We are taking the right action to ensure we’re well positioned for the future by strengthening our culture, improving transparency, rebuilding trust and transforming our business to become a better, more sustainable Boeing. Air travel has always proven to be resilient – and so has Boeing.”

The latest Boeing NPRM on the 737-8 and 737-9 (737 MAX) aircraft.

(Editor’s Note: Boeing had $2.4B net loss in the second quarter this year, but less than in 2019 ($2.9B in the same quarter last year) and we note they have $326B backlog. Watch for the B737 to build slower, as well, while the goal will ultimately be some 30 per month. Also, Boeing reports the 747-8 will end in 2022. Further, we expect the company to shut down production of the 787 Dreamliner in Everett because of the slow-down and move existing production to South Carolina, no doubt because of demand and reduced labor costs. Be prepared, there will be more job cuts!)

 

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COMING ATTRACTION

Next week we will deliver our readers a report on an amazingly small, incredible sounding BOSE product that you might consider getting for your family as you are all staying at home during COVID-19. And, yes, if you can’t send one of your youngsters to school, you have an audio out.

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OTHER

• We were pretty impressed with jetBlue cabin cleaning innovations – Safety from the Ground Up | JetBlue
• With air travel a bit at issue, we have another solution. If you are going to take a US road trip we found this article valuable for new vehicle trippers – see what you think! 47 Money-Saving Tips for a Cheap Road Trip Across the USA | Two Wandering Soles
• For some time, we have viewed a lot of technical reports on cosmology and the age of the universe, and frankly, we have not understood what we found. However, here is an excellent summary with a lot of graphics (32 of them) and see if it make a little more sense – The Cosmological Crisis – Album on Imgur
• If you were wondering about the declining global passenger traffic – how about -91.3%! ACI World data reveals catastrophic impact of pandemic on global traffic – ACI World
• If you live in the US, you might think things are going downhill. This article has the same view – ”Now, even the absolute finest pillars of American exceptionalism in industry are under deep threat.” Check out what TC has to say here: ‘Made in America’ is on (government) life support, and the prognosis isn’t good | TechCrunch
• Miss airline food? Airline Food For Sale. No Plane Ticket Required : Coronavirus Live Updates : NPR
• Got any good ideas for low weight electrical storage batteries with higher power efficiency? Here is why: “But the biggest challenge in electrifying propulsion is energy storage. Current batteries have a fraction of the energy density of aviation fuels. That is why all-electric propulsion is starting with small, short-range air taxis—with typically an hour’s flight endurance. Even hybrid-electric aircraft are starting with shorter-range regional aircraft.” – Graham Warwick – Aviation Week

Today’s image is ANA’s A380 with the Orange Honu Livery. It made us smile and thought our readers would enjoy seeing it as well.

PXCOM

PXCom luanches Sanitized Travel-dedicated apps for IFEC platforms. It is a proven fact that keeping the middle seat empty is nonsense both economically speaking and from an overall hygiene standpoint. It has been widely debated over the past few weeks.

However, inflight social distancing can be organized. Once again, PXCom brings to the market evidence that inflight servers can be used far beyond plain entertainment, by launching the In-Cabin Mobility Management (IC2M by PXCom) software suite dedicated to dramatically improve the inflight social distancing.

Such suite is formed of 4 modules that the airline can choose either separately or in a bundle:

• Toilets Queuing Management to avoid passengers gathered around the restrooms,
• Overhead bin access regulation to ensure minimum distance as a passenger wants to access to its personal belongings
• Disembarkation Process, to organize a guaranteed social distance as the passenger leave the aircraft.
• Muti-chat: Passenger chat to avoid passengers from different rows physically connecting to discuss and also, passenger to cabin crew chat to minimize surface contact.

“Our customers are really excited about these capabilities, as we anticipate a 60% drop down of unmanaged in-cabin movement” states Cyril JEAN, PXCom CEO, “Of course all these digital services are fully customizable in order to integrate each of our customer’s management rules in consistency to its product experience.”

Empty the seat back pocket

Earlier in 2018, Marketplace analyzed over 100 samples on 18 flights, finding mold, staph and potentially harmful pathogens. It is not about proven or non-proven contagion threat; it is all about the trust factor and passenger’s concern for their health and safety.

To respond to this passenger expectation, PXCom has also launched the digitized safety & hygiene card.

Upon his first connection, the passenger is displayed a swipeable safety and hygiene card, in his desired language, which content is directly bound to the aircraft he is seating in. Thanks to PXCom technology, the content of this interactive card is managed from the cloud-based back office and can be updated as often as the hygiene measures evolve, through the media content update process.

At the end of the swipe, the passenger can either acknowledge and be redirected to the homepage of the IFE GUI or jump into the destination airport’s specific hygiene measures.

This innovative offering complements solutions from PXCom that are already flying for inflight mag digitization, interactive meals menu cards and onboard shopping catalog, that are also ancillary revenues generators.

Of course, air regulations still require the safety card to be physically present onboard the aircraft, but thanks to PXCom solution, cabin crew can be informed in real time about which passenger has not been through the card, offering such passenger to be provided with printed copies.

Trust is the new currency

Among the airline community, everybody has been largely informed that flying is still highly secure when it comes to contamination risks whenever passengers and cabin crew wear masks. But beyond the airline professionals, casual passengers are widely frightened by the idea of being contaminated during their flight.

As a result, PXCom Post-Covid solutions not only bring new capabilities for inflight hygiene, but they are also highly valuable assets that help airlines in regaining passenger confidence.

Easy to roll out on the w-IFE/IFC platforms, as any PXCom solutions, these new digital services are compliant with any seatback screens platform.

Definitely, an important differentiating marker in an ever-tougher period.

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GOGO

Gogo Business Aviation hit 3,000 daily flights late last week, showing strong signs of recovery from the COVID-19 related single-day low-point of 378 daily flights in mid-April.

“I’m encouraged because we’re seeing several positive trends taking shape in the market,” said Sergio Aguirre, president of Gogo Business Aviation. “We’ve strived to be a good partner with our customers to get through a very difficult time together, and we’re now in the midst of a measurable recovery as flight activity increases.”

Business aviation hit a low point in mid-April when many aircraft owners chose to park their aircraft and 30 percent of Gogo Business Aviation’s accounts chose to reduce their spending through either account suspensions or service-plan downgrades.

Since that time, however, nearly 60 percent of Gogo’s suspended customers have reactivated their service, with approximately 80 percent reverting to their original service plan.

The number of flights flown with active Gogo service onboard has continued to increase, reaching 3,039 flights last Thursday, close to Gogo’s pre-COVID average of 3,500 flights per day. Gogo is actively working with customers to reactivate service quickly as flying activity increases, and installations of new AVANCE L5 and L3 are on the rise.

“I’ve been amazed with the level of productivity and engagement our employees have delivered to help our customers, and the company, get through this unique and challenging time,” Aguirre added. “And from an innovation standpoint, we have several positive developments that will be released in the coming weeks that will make your Gogo inflight experience even better.”

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SITA

The global air transport industry is grappling with one of the single biggest challenges it has ever faced: how to recover from a historic decline in air travel, caused by COVID-19. While travel restrictions are starting to ease, and the ATI is beginning to remobilize, no-one knows exactly what the next few months will bring. What is clear, however, is that the industry will need to be able to adapt to a new – and changeable – operating environment; one that requires operators to keep passengers feeling safe and reassured, keep flights to time, and meet sustainability targets – all on a tightened budget.

Digitalization is vital here. Airlines and other businesses are going to need the flexibility, adaptability and automation offered by digital transformation to ride out the pandemic’s fall-out, adjust their business models and succeed into the future. To help them do it, they’ll need the right mix of solutions and expertise on their side – digitalizing to adapt to the needs of the future.

Many airlines are facing restart with a scaled back and more scattered workforce. They are also weighing up a lot of big unknowns: which routes should be reopened and when, depending on country restrictions? How many passengers will return, and how quickly? Which aircraft should fly or be grounded? And what size flight and cabin crew will they need to serve them?

Airlines are facing all these questions, while knowing the rules could change from one day to the next. Digitalizing technologies and innovations enable enhanced air/ground connectivity, communications and operational efficacy, and pool the latest real-time information, to support informed and timely decision-making. These prime resources help airlines flex and adapt to changing needs. While ideally being fast and simple to deploy, and intuitive to use, digital tools can also streamline routine tasks through automation to minimize workload.

Such solutions are very much the remit of SITA FOR AIRCRAFT, SITA’s connected aircraft domain of expertise.
Digitalizing to work smarter and leaner is the key. SITA has developed a suite of connected applications and services, and technological capabilities that help airlines work in this more flexible, adaptive, automated and collaborative way. They help bring enhanced operational- and cost-effectiveness, while giving greater visibility over the ‘live’ nose-to-tail operation – whether that’s around situational weather events or restrictions, identifying the least cost-routing channels available for ACARS messaging, the status of passenger, cargo and aircraft health, or fueling requirements.

With the SITA crew applications, airlines can ensure passenger safety and satisfaction onboard, while alleviating paper-based processes to make flights more sustainable.
Their cabin connectivity solutions, meanwhile, give passengers the low-touch autonomy they desire, enabling them to use their own devices to surf, stream, and pay and verify, contact-free.

And, for all of SITA’s solutions and services, they strive to work closely with customers to develop flexible business models that can readily adapt to reflect needs as they change.
“We’re here to help you through.”

SITA FOR AIRCRAFT is proud to play a part in advancing the flexible, agile solutions that can support their customers through this challenging time. They are 100% dedicated to the industry and its success and are here to help it navigate the right path to recovery.

Find out more by exploring their website.

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AIRBUS

Following an extensive two-year flight test program, Airbus  successfully concluded its Autonomous Taxi, Take-Off and Landing (ATTOL) project.In completing this project, Airbus has achieved autonomous taxiing, take-off and landing of a commercial aircraft through fully automatic vision-based flight tests using on-board image recognition technology – a world-first in aviation. In total, over 500 test flights were conducted. Approximately 450 of those flights were dedicated to gathering raw video data, to support and fine tune algorithms, while a series of six test flights, each one including five take-offs and landings per run, were used to test autonomous flight capabilities.

The ATTOL project was initiated by Airbus to explore how autonomous technologies, including the use of machine learning algorithms and automated tools for data labeling, processing and model generation, could help pilots focus less on aircraft operations and more on strategic decision-making and mission management. Airbus is now able to analyze the potential of these technologies for enhancing future aircraft operations, all the while improving aircraft safety, ensuring today’s unprecedented levels are maintained.

Airbus will continue research into the application of autonomous technologies alongside other innovations in areas such as materials, alternative propulsion systems and connectivity. By leveraging these opportunities, Airbus is opening up possibilities for creating new business models that will transform how aircraft are developed, manufactured, flown, powered and serviced.

The rapid development and demonstration of ATTOL’s capabilities was made possible due to a cross-divisional, cross-functional, global team comprising of Airbus engineering and technology teams, Airbus Defence and Space, Acubed (Project Wayfinder), Airbus China and ONERA under the leadership of Airbus UpNext.

Also From Airbus:

Airbus plans to further adapt to COVID-19 environment. Airbus announced plans to adapt its global workforce and resize its commercial aircraft activity in response to the COVID-19 crisis. This adaptation is expected to result in a reduction of around 15,000 positions no later than summer 2021. The information and consultation process with social partners has begun with a view to reaching agreements for implementation starting in autumn 2020.

The commercial aircraft business activity has dropped by close to 40% in recent months as the industry faces an unprecedented crisis. Commercial aircraft production rates have been adapted accordingly. Airbus is grateful for the government support that has enabled the Company to limit these necessary adaptation measures. However with air traffic not expected to recover to pre-COVID levels before 2023 and potentially as late as 2025, Airbus now needs to take additional measures to reflect the post COVID-19 industry outlook.

Following the in-depth analysis of customer demand that has taken place over recent months, Airbus anticipates the need to adapt its global workforce due to COVID-19 by approximately:

● 5,000 positions in France
● 5,100 positions in Germany
● 900 positions in Spain
● 1,700 positions in the UK
● 1,300 positions at Airbus’ other worldwide sites

These figures include the Airbus subsidiaries Stelia in France and Premium AEROTEC in Germany. However, they do not include approximately 900 positions stemming from a pre-COVID-19 identified need to restructure Premium AEROTEC in Germany, which will now be implemented within the frame of this global adaptation plan. The details of this COVID-19 adaptation plan need to be finalized with social partners.
While compulsory actions cannot be ruled out at this stage, Airbus will work with its social partners to limit the impact of this plan by relying on all available social measures, including voluntary departures, early retirement, and long term partial unemployment schemes where appropriate.

“Airbus is facing the gravest crisis this industry has ever experienced,” said Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury. “The measures we have taken so far have enabled us to absorb the initial shock of this global pandemic. Now, we must ensure that we can sustain our enterprise and emerge from the crisis as a healthy, global aerospace leader, adjusting to the overwhelming challenges of our customers. To confront that reality, we must now adopt more far-reaching measures. Our management team and our Board of Directors are fully committed to limiting the social impact of this adaptation. We thank our governmental partners as they help us preserve our expertise and know-how as much as possible and have played an important role in limiting the social impact of this crisis in our industry. The Airbus teams and their skills and competences will enable us to pursue our ambition to pioneer a sustainable future for aerospace.”

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OTHER NEWS

• Interested in the decay of US travel the last few months?
  TSA checkpoint travel numbers for 2020 and 2019 | Transportation Security Administration
• Yes there is US legislation introduced to increase travel – really! Congress Introduces Bill to Incentivize Domestic Travel | Luxury Travel Advisor
• Milt Glaser prepared “Ten things I Have Learned” and they are just great – Ten Things I Have Learned — R / D Have you learned some too?
• Air Travel May Never Be The Same! Airbnb CEO: Travel may never be the same – Axios

Dublin | June 22, 2020– The “Passenger Air Transport Industry 2020-2030 – COVID-19 Impact and Recovery Assessment” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.

This report covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional and country breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends and strategies for this market. It traces the market’s historic and forecast market growth by geography. It places the market within the context of the wider passenger air transport market, and compares it with other markets.

The global passenger air transport market is expected to decline from $641.8 billion in 2019 to $628.8 billion in 2020 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -2.1%. The decline is mainly due to economic slowdown across countries owing to the COVID-19 outbreak and the measures to contain it. The market is then expected to recover and grow at a CAGR of 8% from 2021 and reach $765.1 billion in 2023.

Asia-Pacific was the largest region in the global passenger air transport market, accounting for 30% of the market in 2019. North America was the second largest region accounting for 30% of the global passenger air transport market. Africa was the smallest region in the global passenger air transport market.

Mobile technology and applications are becoming a latest trend in passenger air transportation industry. Passengers are using mobile-enabled applications to book their tickets and manage their journey. Passengers want personalized information about their flight, their baggage and how to find their gate directly on their mobile device. Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines are providing these mobile apps to book a flight ticket.

Report Scope

• The market characteristics section of the report defines and explains the market.
• The market size section gives the market size ($b) covering both the historic growth of the market, the impact of the Covid 19 virus and forecasting its recovery.
• Market segmentations break down market into sub markets.
• The regional and country breakdowns section gives an analysis of the market in each geography and the size of the market by geography and compares their historic and forecast growth. It covers the impact and recovery trajectory of Covid 19 for all regions, key developed countries and major emerging markets.
• Competitive landscape gives a description of the competitive nature of the market, market shares, and a description of the leading companies. Key financial deals which have shaped the market in recent years are identified.
• The trends and strategies section analyses the shape of the market as it emerges from the crisis and suggests how companies can grow as the market recovers.
• The passenger air transport market section of the report gives context. It compares the passenger air transport market with other segments of the air transport market by size and growth, historic and forecast. It analyses GDP proportion, expenditure per capita, passenger air transport indicators comparison.

Key Topics Covered

1. Executive Summary

2. Report Structure

3. Passenger Air Transport Market Characteristics

3.1. Market Definition

3.2. Key Segmentations

4. Passenger Air Transport Market Product Analysis

4.1. Leading Products/Services

4.2. Key Features and Differentiators

4.3. Development Products

5. Passenger Air Transport Market Supply Chain

5.1. Supply Chain

5.2. Distribution

5.3. End Customers

6. Passenger Air Transport Market Customer Information

6.1. Customer Preferences

6.2. End Use Market Size and Growth

7. Passenger Air Transport Market Trends And Strategies

8. Passenger Air Transport Market Size And Growth

8.1. Market Size

8.2. Historic Market Growth, Value ($ Billion)

8.2.1. Drivers Of The Market

8.2.2. Restraints On The Market

8.3. Forecast Market Growth, Value ($ Billion)

8.3.1. Drivers Of The Market

8.3.2. Restraints On The Market

9. Passenger Air Transport Market Regional Analysis

9.1. Global Passenger Air Transport Market, 2019, By Region, Value ($ Billion)

9.2. Global Passenger Air Transport Market, 2015-2019, 2023F, 2025F, 2030F, Historic And Forecast, By Region

9.3. Global Passenger Air Transport Market, Growth And Market Share Comparison, By Region

10. Passenger Air Transport Market Segmentation

10.1. Global Passenger Air Transport Market, Segmentation By Type, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2019, 2023F, 2025F, 2030F, $ Billion

• Domestic Air Passengers
• International Air Passengers

10.2. Global Passenger Air Transport Market, Segmentation By Class, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2019, 2023F, 2025F, 2030F, $ Billion

• Business Class
• Economy Class

11. Passenger Air Transport Market Metrics

11.1. Passenger Air Transport Market Size, Percentage Of GDP, 2015-2023, Global

11.2. Per Capita Average Passenger Air Transport Market Expenditure, 2015-2023, Global

Companies Mentioned

• American Airlines
• Delta Airlines
• UnitedContinental
• Deutsche Lufthansa
• Air France KLM

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/syslym

 

June 23, 2020–

Our global air transport industry is grappling with one of the single biggest challenges it has ever faced: how to recover from an historic decline in air travel, caused by COVID-19.

While we’re seeing travel restrictions starting to ease, and the ATI beginning to remobilize, no-one knows exactly what the next few months will bring.

What is clear, however, is that the industry will need to be able to adapt to a new – and changeable – operating environment; one that requires operators to keep passengers feeling safe and reassured, keep flights to time, and meet sustainability targets – all on a tightened budget.

Digitalization is vital here. Airlines and other businesses are going to need the flexibility, adaptability and automation offered by digital transformation to ride out the pandemic’s fall-out, adjust their business models and succeed into the future. To help them do it, they’ll need the right mix of solutions and expertise on their side.

Digitalizing to adapt to the needs of the future

Many airlines are facing restart with a scaled back and more scattered workforce. They are also weighing up a lot of big unknowns: which routes should be reopened and when, depending on country restrictions? How many passengers will return, and how quickly? Which aircraft should fly or be grounded? And what size flight and cabin crew will they need to serve them?

Airlines are facing all these questions, while knowing the rules could change from one day to the next.

Digitalizing technologies and innovations enable enhanced air/ground connectivity, communications and operational efficacy, and pool the latest real-time information, to support informed and timely decision-making. These prime resources help airlines flex and adapt to changing needs. While ideally being fast and simple to deploy, and intuitive to use, digital tools can also streamline routine tasks through automation to minimize workload.

Such solutions are very much the remit of SITA FOR AIRCRAFT, SITA’s connected aircraft domain of expertise.

Digitalizing to work smarter and leaner

We have developed a suite of connected applications and services, and technological capabilities that help airlines work in this more flexible, adaptive, automated and collaborative way.

They help bring enhanced operational- and cost-effectiveness, while giving greater visibility over the ‘live’ nose-to-tail operation – whether that’s around situational weather events or restrictions, identifying the least cost-routing channels available for ACARS messaging, the status of passenger, cargo and aircraft health, or fueling requirements.

With our crew applications, airlines can ensure passenger safety and satisfaction onboard, while alleviating paper-based processes to make flights more sustainable.

Our cabin connectivity solutions, meanwhile, give passengers the low-touch autonomy they desire, enabling them to use their own devices to surf, stream, and pay and verify, contact-free.

And, for all our solutions and services, we strive to work closely with customers to develop flexible business models that can readily adapt to reflect needs as they change.

We’re here to help you through

In my new role heading SITA FOR AIRCRAFT, I am proud to play a part in advancing the flexible, agile solutions that can support our customers through this challenging time. We’re 100% dedicated to this industry and its success – and are here to help it navigate the right path to recovery.

Find out more by exploring sita.aero/aircraft

Honeywell working to protect people returning to work and public places with individual personal protective equipment kits

Phoenix, AZ | June 2, 2020–Honeywell is helping provide a safer and healthier travel experience with new Honeywell Safety Packs designed to better protect airline passengers and crew while flying.

• March quarter 2020 GAAP pre-tax loss of $607 million or $0.84 per share
• March quarter 2020 adjusted pre-tax loss of $422 million or $0.51 per share
• Delta ended the March quarter 2020 with $6.0 billion in unrestricted liquidity

Atlanta, GA | April 22, 2020– Delta Air Lines reported financial results for the March quarter 2020 and outlined its response to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

“These are truly unprecedented times for all of us, including the airline industry. Government travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders have been effective in slowing the spread of the virus, but have also severely impacted near-term demand for air travel, reducing our expected June quarter revenues by 90 percent, compared to a year ago,” said Ed Bastian, Delta’s chief executive officer. “Delta is taking decisive action to prioritize the safety of our employees and customers while protecting our business and bolstering liquidity. I am especially proud of the incredible work the Delta people are doing to keep our nation’s airways open, playing an active role in the fight against the virus.”

Bastian continued, “I would like to thank the President, members of Congress, and the Administration for their bipartisan support of the Payroll Support Program under the CARES Act, which recognizes the important role the airlines play in the U.S. economy. The Payroll Support Program will help safeguard Delta jobs while positioning our nation for recovery.”

Response to COVID-19

Network and Customer Experience

To address the challenges of COVID-19, the company is taking the following actions:

• Making significant capacity reductions for the June quarter versus prior year with total system capacity down 85 percent, including domestic down by 80 and international capacity down by 90 percent
• Adopting new cleaning procedures on all flights, including fogging on all aircraft overnight and sanitizing high-touch areas like tray tables, entertainment screens, armrests and seat-back pockets before boarding
• Taking steps to help employees and customers practice social distancing, including blocking middle seats, pausing automatic upgrades, modifying our boarding process and moving to essential meal service only
• Extending 2020 Medallion Status an additional year, rolling Medallion Qualification Miles into 2021, and extending Delta SkyMiles American Express Card benefits and Delta Sky Club memberships
• Giving customers flexibility to plan, re-book and travel including extending expiration on travel credits to two years

Community Response

Delta and its 90,000 employees are taking an active role in our nation’s fight against the virus by:

• Offering free flights to medical professionals fighting COVID-19 in the hardest-hit areas of the U.S.
• Chartering international cargo-only flights to provide healthcare workers with materials needed to do their jobs
• Operating charters and specially approved scheduled flights to nations around the world to repatriate more than 28,000 people displaced by the virus to the U.S.
• Manufacturing tens of thousands of face shields and masks at Delta Flight Products to aid healthcare workers
• Partnering with the U.S. military to develop and manufacture secure, sterile transport pods at Delta TechOps, which will safely transit infected personnel to hospitals and medical centers
• Donating over 200,000 pounds of food to hospitals, first responders, community food banks, and organizations including Feeding America

Expense Management

The company expects June quarter total expenses to decline by approximately 50%, or $5 billion, over prior year due to reduced capacity, lower fuel and cost initiatives, including:

• Parking more than 650 aircraft
• Consolidating airport facilities, with temporary concourse and Delta Sky Club closures
• Instituting a company-wide hiring freeze and offering voluntary leave options with 37,000 employees taking short-term unpaid leave
• Reducing salary expense through pay reductions for executive management and reduced work schedules across organization

Balance Sheet, Cash and Liquidity

Delta’s top financial priority remains preserving cash and enhancing liquidity. Accordingly, the company has taken the following actions:

• Raised $5.4 billion of capital since early March, including securing a $3.0 billion secured term loan, closing $1.2 billion in aircraft sale leasebacks, issuing $1.1 billion in AA, A and B tranches of our 2020-1 Enhanced Equipment Trust Certificates (EETC), and funding $150 million in private aircraft mortgages to enhance liquidity and satisfy maturing obligations
• Drew down $3 billion under existing revolving credit facilities
• Reduced planned capital expenditures by more than $3 billion, including working with original equipment manufacturers to optimize the timing of our future aircraft deliveries and deferring aircraft mods, IT initiatives, and ground equipment refreshment
• Extended payment terms with airports, vendors and lessors
• Suspended shareholder returns, including the Company’s stock repurchase program and future dividend payments

CARES Act Relief

The company expects to receive relief from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act in the following forms:

• Payroll support of $5.4 billion, comprised of $3.8 billion of direct relief and a $1.6 billion low-interest, unsecured 10-year loan. Delta has already received $2.7 billion of these funds and expects to receive the remainder over the next three months. As consideration, the U.S. Treasury will receive warrants to purchase over 6.5 million shares of Delta common stock at a strike price of $24.39 with a 5-year maturity
• Eligibility for $4.6 billion in secured loans, if the company chooses to apply and accept funds

“With the significant impact of COVID-19 on Delta’s revenue, we were burning $100 million per day at the end of March. Through our decisive actions, we expect that cash burn to moderate to approximately $50 million per day by the end of the June quarter,” said Paul Jacobson, Delta’s chief financial officer. “The decade of work we put into the balance sheet to lower debt and build unencumbered assets has been critical to our success in raising capital and we expect to end the June quarter with approximately $10 billion in liquidity.”

March Quarter Results

Adjusted results primarily exclude the impact of mark-to-market (“MTM”) adjustments.

• Adjusted pre-tax loss of $422 million or $0.51 per share
• Total revenue of $8.6 billion, down 18 percent versus prior year, with total unit revenue down 13 percent
• Total expense decreased $450 million driven by lower fuel, partially offset by higher revenue- and capacity-related expenses, with non-fuel unit cost (CASM-Ex) up 9 percent compared to prior year
• Fuel expense decreased 19 percent relative to March quarter 2019. Delta’s fuel price for the March quarter of $1.81 per gallon included a $29 million benefit from the refinery
• At the end of the March quarter, the company had $6.0 billion in unrestricted liquidity

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections or strategies for the future, may be “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections and strategies reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements.  These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the material adverse effect that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on our business; the impact of incurring significant debt in response to the pandemic; possible effects of accidents involving our aircraft; breaches or security lapses in our information technology systems; disruptions in our information technology infrastructure; our dependence on technology in our operations; the performance of our significant investments in airlines in other parts of the world; the restrictions that financial covenants in our financing agreements could have on our financial and business operations; labor issues; the effects of weather, natural disasters and seasonality on our business; the effects of an extended disruption in services provided by third parties; the cost of aircraft fuel; the availability of aircraft fuel; failure or inability of insurance to cover a significant liability at Monroe’s Trainer refinery; the impact of environmental regulation on the Trainer refinery, including costs related to renewable fuel standard regulations; our ability to retain senior management and key employees; damage to our reputation and brand if we are exposed to significant adverse publicity; the effects of terrorist attacks or geopolitical conflict; competitive conditions in the airline industry; interruptions or disruptions in service at major airports at which we operate; the effects of extensive government regulation on our business; the impact of environmental regulation on our business; and the sensitivity of the airline industry to prolonged periods of stagnant or weak economic conditions; uncertainty in economic conditions and regulatory environment in the United Kingdom related to the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties that could cause differences between actual results and forward-looking statements is contained in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2019 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2020. Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which represent our views only as of April 22, 2020, and which we have no current intention to update.

 

There may be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel as there are signs that the aviation industry has seen the bottom of the crisis and started the slow recovery. Readers will see a report from IATA reflecting this uptick. We also note in Other News an article from the New York Times that talks about when epidemiologists will be willing to undertake 18 everyday activities, including flying. – definitely worth the read!

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IATA

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that demand for air services is beginning to recover after hitting bottom in April. Passenger demand in April (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs), plunged 94.3% compared to April 2019, as the COVID-19-related travel restrictions virtually shut down domestic and international air travel. This is a rate of decline never seen in the history of IATA’s traffic series, which dates back to 1990. More recently, figures show that daily flight totals rose 30% between the low point on 21 April and 27 May. This is primarily in domestic operations and off of a very low base (5.7% of 2019 demand). While this uptick is not significant to the global dimension of the air transport industry, it does suggest that the industry has seen the bottom of the crisis, provided there is no recurrence. In addition, it is the very first signal of aviation beginning the likely long process of re-establishing connectivity.

“April was a disaster for aviation as air travel almost entirely stopped. But April may also represent the nadir of the crisis. Flight numbers are increasing. Countries are beginning to lift mobility restrictions. And business confidence is showing improvement in key markets such as China, Germany, and the US. These are positive signs as we start to rebuild the industry from a stand-still. The initial green shoots will take time—possibly years—to mature,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

IATA calculated that by the first week of April, governments in 75% of the markets tracked by IATA completely banned entry, while an additional 19% had limited travel restrictions or compulsory quarantine requirements for international arrivals. The initial flight increases have been concentrated in domestic markets. Data from late May show that flight levels in Republic of Korea, China and Vietnam have risen to a point now just 22-28% lower than a year earlier . Searches for air travel on Google also were up 25% by the end of May compared to the April low, although that’s a rise from a very low base and still 60% lower than at the start of the year.
“For aviation, April was our cruelest month. Governments had to take drastic action to slow the pandemic. But that has come with the economic cost of a traumatic global recession. Airlines will be key to the economic recovery. It is vital that the aviation industry is ready with bio-safety measures that passengers and air transport workers have confidence in. That’s why the speedy implementation of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) global guidelines for safely re-starting aviation is the top priority,” said de Juniac.

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SITA

SITA has made several changes to its executive management team responsible for SITA’s product portfolios. These appointments come at crucial juncture as the air transport industry begins the difficult task of restarting operations after a lengthy shutdown due to the COVID-19 crisis.

David Lavorel, previously CEO of SITA FOR AIRCRAFT, has been appointed to head SITA AT AIRPORTS AND BORDERS, SITA’s airport and border solution portfolio. A key focus in 2020 will be to support SITA’s airline and airport customers to implement smart solutions to accommodate new passenger processes required to ensure the health and safety of travelers and employees. SITA is well placed to support the re-engineering of the passenger journey and to manage rapidly changing requirements at the border with the delivery of new solutions such as SITA’s cloud-based, open API platform, SITA Flex.

David will replace Matthys Serfontein, who will be retiring from SITA after 13 years. Sébastien Fabre, previously VP Airline & Airports Portfolio, will replace David to head SITA FOR AIRCRAFT. As airlines globally begin to resume flights, they will increasingly turn to SITA FOR AIRCRAFT to deliver new operational efficiencies such as faster turnarounds while extracting the full benefit of modern connected aircraft.

Barbara Dalibard, CEO, SITA, said: “Ensuring strong leadership of our key business areas is especially important as we look to support the industry as it begins to return to the skies. After more than a decade proving themselves highly capable of driving innovation while ensuring continued customer satisfaction, Sébastien and David are perfectly placed to steer the business through the new challenges and deliver solutions that help support the industry’s recovery.”
The new appointments came into effect from June 1, 2020.

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Airbus

Airbus’ 2020 gross orders by May 31st totaled 365 aircraft and net orders stood at 299 aircraft. The Company registered zero cancellations in May and no new orders. During the month, 24 deliveries were achieved from the A220, A320 and A350 XWB aircraft families. Business in May brings the overall total orders logged by Airbus since its creation to 20,407 commercial aircraft, which includes 642 A220s, 15,572 A320 Family aircraft, 1,819 A330s, 930 A350 XWBs, and 251 A380s. In May, Airbus delivered two A220-300 to Air Canada and 18 A320 Family aircraft including the first A320neo to Wizz Air. For Airbus widebody aircraft, four A350 XWBs were provided in both A350-900 and A350-1000 configurations. Airbus’ backlog of aircraft remaining to be delivered as of 31st May stood at 7,621, comprising 527 A220s, 6,199 A320 Family aircraft (including 6,139 A320neo Family), 322 A330s (including 287 A330neo family), 564 A350 XWBs and nine A380s.

More News from the company: Airbus named Anand Stanley as President Airbus Asia-Pacific, effective 1 July 2020. Based in Singapore, Anand Stanley will lead the strategy and future positioning of Airbus and its divisions across the region. In this role he will have responsibility for commercial aircraft sales and customer affairs, group-wide government affairs, industrial and joint venture partnerships, as well as the local operations at Airbus sites across the region. Anand Stanley reports to Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of International, and will work closely with the Heads of Region for the Airbus Helicopters and Defence and Space divisions who are co-located at the company’s Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore.

Anand Stanley joined Airbus in 2018 as President & Managing Director of Airbus India, where he has overseen the Airbus business development and advanced the company’s position with key stakeholders, including customers, government agencies and industry partners. Prior to joining Airbus, Anand Stanley held senior positions in the civil aerospace, defence and helicopter markets, as well as in strategic management and M&A planning, having worked with the Linde Group, UTC, Pratt & Whitney, Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky. Over his career he has worked extensively internationally, with more than two decades of involvement in Asia and the Pacific region.

“Anand has brought a wealth of experience to Airbus and managed the company’s operations in India with very positive results,” said Christian Scherer. “His proven track record makes him the right choice to lead Airbus in the key Asia-Pacific market. We know that we can count on Anand to focus on supporting our customers in these most challenging times, while developing further our position as the leading partner for the aerospace sector in the region.”

Anand Stanley has an MBA from the University of Virginia-Darden in the US, a Bachelors of Engineering from Andhra University, as well as a postgraduate degree from IMI-Delhi.Anand Stanley succeeds Patrick de Castelbajac, who is leaving Airbus.

“On behalf of all of us at Airbus, I would like to thank my friend Patrick for his contribution and strong engagement during his years with Airbus and wish him all the very best in his personal and professional future,” added Christian Scherer.

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Boeing

The Boeing Order Book at the end of April placed some 4,633 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft on order, with some 387 delivered to date.

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Other News

• When 511 Epidemiologists Expect to Fly, Hug and Do 18 Other Everyday Activities Again – The New York Times
• Last week we wrote a little piece on the Falcon9 rocket used in SpaceX’s launch. The folks at Ars Technica did a great piece on the folks who made it happen – Forget Dragon, the Falcon 9 rocket is the secret sauce of SpaceX’s success | Ars Technica
• Are you familiar with a “helicopter airline”? Why Helicopter Airlines Failed – YouTube
• Windows XP outdoor image (“Bliss”) has a lot more development info than you ever thought of – and, you won’t believe the cost or the history! How ‘Bliss’ Became The Most Famous Photograph Ever Taken – Digg
• Did you know that SpaceX has been involved in the rocket launch business for 10 years? Looking Back at 10 Years of Falcon 9 Launches | SpaceX’s Falcon 9
• In an aviation article found in DAILY PNUT, Dave Epstein wrote about COVID-19: “It’s worth noting that countries more successful in fighting the disease — like Germany, New Zealand and Taiwan — are all run by women.”
• In a recent article in The New York Times, the average US respondents on flying gave these statistics as to when they would fly.  Now: 7%, Summer: 12%, Fall: 13%, Winter: 15%, Next Spring: 16%, and in +1 year: 37%. OUCH!
• Attention Passengers: Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Wear While Flying – Post Fun

Global passenger traffic declined by -55.9% year-over-year in March

Montreal | June 5, 2020–Airports Council International (ACI) World reports that global passenger traffic declined by -55.9% year-over-year by the end of March as a result of the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic. This followed a drop of -10.7% in February.

Global passenger traffic experienced an overall drop of -22.7% for the first quarter of 2020. The 12-month rolling average for the global industry entered negative territory, recorded at -3.1% by month’s end.

The effect on the freight industry were not yet as significant in March, with global volumes declining by -14.4% compared to March 2019 and resulting in a -6.9% drop for the first quarter of 2020. The global 12-month rolling average continued to be negative at -3.8% by the end of the month.

ACI collects and analyses data from a significant sample of airports that provide regular reports on monthly passenger and air freight statistics, forming part of the world’s most comprehensive source for airport data.

“The second week of March was a turning point for the reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic as national governments implemented strict confinement measures which brought the industry to a virtual halt,” ACI World Director General Angela Gittens said.

“While the crisis’s impact on passenger traffic was mostly in the Asia-Pacific in February, March figures showed its spread across the world, affecting both domestic and international markets.

“Global freight volumes have not been affected to the same extent as passenger traffic. The need to move time-sensitive shipments and vital supplies, including urgent medical supplies, and goods to support the global economy, helped the freight industry avoid the level of declines in demand experienced by the passenger traffic segment.”

Passenger traffic

Global international and domestic markets posted unprecedented declines falling by -62.4% and -50.6% respectively. The 12-month rolling average for the international segment was recorded at -2.6% and the domestic segment at -3.4%.

Among major regional markets, Asia-Pacific continues to be the most impacted with declines of -77.6% in March for its international market and -54.4% to its domestic market. The Middle East recorded a loss of -58.6%.

North America and Europe were also badly affected by the ongoing crisis losing more than half of their international traffic in March (-50.4% and 60.1% respectively). Those significant losses brought the 12-month rolling averages to -7.7% for Asia-Pacific, -1.1% for North America and -1.8% for Europe.

Africa’s gains in the first two months of 2020 were erased by significant losses in March (-46.0%) bringing its total passengers’ figures for the first quarter to -11.1%. Latin America-Caribbean’s good performance in the beginning of the year was offset by a loss of -41.1% in March compared to the prior year.

Freight volumes

The international freight market moved significantly into negative territory in March with a loss of -15.7% compared to the slight gain of +0.4% in February. For the third consecutive month, domestic freight continued its downward trend reaching -11.1% for the month down from -2.4% in February and -4.4% in January. As a result, total freight figures for March as well as the 12-month rolling average posted significant declines at -14.4% and -3.8% respectively.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has started to appear in all major freight markets. The global double-digit decline posted in March was mostly driven by Asia-Pacific (-17.2%) and Europe (-16.4%). North America, on the other hand, recorded a less significant drop of -6.6% in total freight volumes mitigated by a relatively modest decrease in its domestic traffic of -1.6%. North America’s international freight market, however, showed signs of weakness in falling by -13.8% for the month of March.

The Middle East (-17.9%), Africa (-20.8%) and Latin America-Caribbean (-23.4%) posted declines in line with major markets for March 2020.

Around the globe many governments have started the slow and cautious steps toward opening their economies. In the aviation sector, we have seen a slight up tick in the number of individuals traveling and have heard and/or seen the various reports of some flights experiencing 90% capacity, causing angst in many of the travelers (and probably the flight crew as well). There are several links in today’s Noted Elsewhere section of IFExpress addressing this very issue. We also are seeing the airlines, their employees, and airports grapple with how to safely resume operations. This includes spooling up for more self-check-in kiosks, temperature tests by TSA, increased sanitizing and disinfecting efforts both in the airport and on the plane, social distancing at the gate and while boarding, as well as, the requirement for passengers to wear masks during boarding and on the flight. Add to the scenario the discussion of requiring immunity passes and at airport testing for COVID-19 and all of the sudden we are easily facing a 4 hour process from check-in to boarding the airplane – even for a short domestic flight. What is crystal clear is that for the foreseeable future the journey is going to be laden with pitfalls, filled with stress and be as far from our dream of the seamless travel experience as you can get.

The challenge we face is how to address these issues. The quicker we can build traveler confidence in the airport/travel process the faster our industry will rebound – that’s a no brainer. This will take not only familiarity with the new procedures and faith that they work, but from a personal perspective, they need to be somewhat standardized. Over the past nineteen years, nothing has irritated me more, and made traveling more stressful, than the different TSA requirements from country to country – and this is coming from a person who has traveled a lot! In other words, there needs to be collaboration and agreement on the various processes and requirements on a global scale in order to build back confidence.

The other items that will drive recovery in our industry are agility and innovation. The companies, whether they are airlines, IFEC suppliers, OEMS or airports; that are forward thinking and grasp this opportunity to not only embrace new technologies but implement them will be those that not only survive but maybe thrive. AI, block chain and big data have long been technology buzz words and topics at numerous industry conferences but now is the time to leverage those technologies in order to operate more efficiently and make every decision and dollar count.

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Reader Opinion

Recently, several aviation aficionados had a back-and-forth dialog about the state of the industry, particularly the challenges Boeing is, and has been, facing. IFExpress was given permission to publish their opinions as long as the correspondents remained anonymous. The following is a portion of that communication.

Initial Comments:

“I worked at Boeing for over 20+ years, mostly during the 70’s and 80’s. At that time, the company was run by engineers and pro-technology folks. There was a dynamic shift in corporate philosophy when Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas.

Matt Stoller recently wrote: “Similarly, Boeing once made great planes, now it has great connections and big bailouts, an engineering powerhouse turned into a financial engineering powerhouse.” Further, in 2019 he wrote this article that really comes to point today.

Today, Boeing is run in Chicago & New York by ‘money managers’, the tech equity has vanished – and unless the tekkies take over, it just might be something else in the future!”

Response:

“I agree with your sentiment as well as Matt Stoller’s detailed coverage.

I think there is another perspective which typically is not found in aviation trade publications or general business journals like the WSJ.  And the subject and focus of that perspective is “character” and by that I mean good character, truth, integrity, and honesty driven from the top down to the shop floor.  Once the accountants and the money managers took power, the technical concerns were secondary.  Technical issues were dismissed and, if not dismissed entirely, there was a cost number put on the issue and they called it a “risk factor”.

Remember the Pinto?  After a couple of Pintos crashed in fiery and deadly accidents, the plaintiff’s lawyers, through discovery of Ford’s internal memos, found that the Pinto fuel tanks were subject to explosions upon impact.  Ford knew this.  The Ford design and test engineers raised their concerns internally.  The accountants, the lawyers, and the actuaries ran the calculations comparing the cost of fuel tank design fixes versus a payout in a lawsuit.  The design fix lost because it was calculated to be cheaper to pay the judgement or settlement.  I saw a photo of a young man who survived his Pinto rear-ender and his face looked like a mud slide of flesh.  Yes, he won a few million dollars from Ford but his face still looked like a mud slide of flesh.  I’ll never forget his photo.

The decisions that Boeing made on the MAX-8 design showed total dedication to the cost-benefit calculation rather than doing the design safely and properly and not one concern for 346 dead airline passengers.  Shame!

This attitude bleeds over to other design projects as well.  I know for a fact that the 787 was managed in the same way.  Thank God there have been no crashes (that I know of) but I know design economies were forced on engineers for the forward landing gear as well as (some) cabin systems.  How do I know?  Because I was in the meetings.

This is where the obsession with quarterly earnings growth leads to trouble and Boeing plays the game to meet or beat the earnings target each time and not care so much for the quality or safety of the product.  With respect to the Max-8 debacle, I hate to say it, but I see very little indication that Boeing has learned a lesson from this sorry episode.

Boeing needs a visionary leader who drives the principle of “Always Do the Right Thing” and not cut corners and mislead the customer (and traveling public).  Do this and the stock market will respond favorably.”

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Boeing

On May 14, 2020 Boeing appointed Mike Delaney to lead the company’s Confident Travel Initiative, effective immediately. Working across the industry, Delaney’s team will work to develop new solutions to help minimize air travel health risks amid the COVID-19 pandemic and drive awareness of health safeguards already in place. Delaney brings 31 years of Boeing experience to the role, including previous executive leadership positions in airplane development and engineering, and currently serves as vice president of Digital Transformation at Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “As air travel slowly begins to resume and restrictions ease around the globe, health and safety remain our top priorities for our teams who design, build and service the airplanes and all those who fly on them,” said Boeing President and CEO David Calhoun. “Mike’s deep technical expertise, leadership skills, industry knowledge and great passion for our customers make him uniquely qualified to lead this effort.”

The Confident Travel Initiative team will work with airlines, global regulators, industry stakeholders, flying passengers, infectious disease experts and behavioral specialists to establish industry-recognized safety recommendations. The team is also advising operators on existing, approved disinfectants that are compatible with the airplane flight decks and cabins and testing other sanitizers. “Our commitment to ensuring the health of airline passengers and crews is unwavering,” said Delaney. “We’re working with partners to enhance aircraft cleanliness procedures and identify other areas to further reduce the risk of airborne illness transmission.”

Boeing’s effort will build on the industry’s enhanced safety approaches – including enhanced cleaning, temperature checks and the use of face coverings – and promote the proven systems already in place to help maintain cabin cleanliness. One such system is the air filtration system present on all Boeing airplanes. The air filtration system incorporates High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters similar to those used in hospitals and industrial clean rooms. HEPA filters are 99.9+% effective at removing particulates such as viruses, bacteria and fungi before air is recirculated back to the cabin. Boeing continues to research and evaluate new technologies to enhance safety, including ultraviolet light disinfecting systems and antimicrobial coatings for high-touch surfaces. The company is working with academics, health experts and learning institutions worldwide to field studies and facilitate research on reducing the potential of disease transmission on airplanes. “Air travel is coming back,” said Delaney. “As that happens, we want passengers and crews to board Boeing airplanes without hesitation.”

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Museum of Flight Pathfinder Award

Congratulations Bob Bogash! He has just won the latest Seattle Museum of Flight Pathfinder Award, and while many readers have not met or even heard of Bob, we wanted to tell you a little about him as he has worked with us, he also contributed information, pictures and aviation news for all our readers in IFExpress – and yes, he lives and breathes flying!

First the award: “The Museum of Flight’s Annual Pathfinder Awards honors individuals with ties to the Pacific Northwest who have made significant contributions to the development of the aerospace industry. Pathfinder Award recipients are selected by The Museum of Flight, the Pacific Northwest Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and representatives of other aviation and aerospace organizations and companies throughout the Northwest.”

Here is Bob’s website and if you like aviation history, this is for you.Bob’s efforts in bringing older planes and aviation history to the museum may be hard to beat because aviation is his life, even while retired.

Why Bob Won: “Bob and others set a goal to bring the B-52 from Paine Field to The Museum of flight. In the process the B-52 was disassembled and trucked to the museum. The wings, rudder, elevator, vertical and horizontal stabilizers were removed. The whole plane was cleaned and repainted. It was quite a sight being trucked into its present site. Bob had a major role in seeing this happen. Bob’s actions to bring the B-52 to be the centerpiece for the Welcome Home Vietnam Veteran’s Park was 50 years late, but it brings a lump to my throat when I go by it and realize we were finally thanked for our service. For Mr. Bogash’s action in helping to bring the B-52 as a centerpiece for the Welcome Home Vietnam Veteran’s Park and giving us a special place to honor men like Marvin Shields, he will always hold a special place in my heart. I strongly recommend Mr. Bob Bogash for a Pathfinder Award. (This was a recommendation by a museum docent.)

Noted Bob; “As I’ve mentioned before, recognition by one’s peers is far more important to me than a plaque on the wall. And for that, I thank you sincerely. You are the folks I admire, and so your support is all the more humbling. It’s now 55 years since I first became involved with the hatchling Museum Of Flight and became increasingly devoted to expanding its collection with some great and deserving historic aircraft. I take great pride in walking around the campus and seeing so many of the fabulous airplanes I worked so hard to acquire over so many years — and recalling all the travails involved in bringing them to their present state of glory – and to have flown three on their final flights!” Bob went on: “Maybe, these airplanes will be my contribution to that wondrous world of aviation that I love so much and which has wonderfully loved me back.”
Congratulations Bob!

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Other News

• Perhaps a virtual travel experience just might be what you need while cramped up in your present living arrangements: Virtual Traveling: How to Tour the World While Still Social Distancing – Thrillist
• As you may know, folks are working from home, but what you might not know is that half of them like it! Working During COVID-19: U.S. Employees Embracing Remote Work Survey Report | The Grossman Group And yes, it is a free report.
• Status of upcoming vaccines, drugs and other treatments in the battle against COVID-19 Also, Decoding COVID-19 | NOVA | PBS (Note: This video is not easy to watch, but, it is real.)
• And finally, if you think travel will come back in a year, or so, you might want to view what the folks at IATA say: “We don’t expect 2019 levels to be exceeded until 2023.” Interestingly, the U.S. President said: “The airline industry is in good shape. We’ve been able to save the airline industry which would have been devastating if that happened.” We will see.

Commerce subcommittee to hold hearing tomorrow on role of aviation in mitigating the spread of COVID-19

Washington DC | March 3, 2020–  Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, sent letters to major airlines and airports asking for their plans of action in response to the rapidly spreading coronavirus (or SARS-CoV-2, abbreviated as COVID-19) and its effects on commercial aviation and the traveling public. To date, there have been nine coronavirus deaths in Cantwell’s home state of Washington.

The letters come one day before the committee’s Subcommittee on Aviation and Space will hold a hearing on the role of the aviation industry in containing the spread of COVID-19.

“Since COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, China late last year, the virus has spread to a number of countries throughout the world, including the United States, by air travel,” Senator Cantwell wrote to major airlines. “This spread has raised understandable concerns by public health officials and the traveling public about measures that can be taken to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 through air travel.”

Senator Cantwell also wrote, “…we want to work with U.S. air carriers to fully understand and mitigate risk to air carrier personnel and the traveling public.” 

In her letters, Cantwell requested specific information regarding pandemic response plans, aircraft and airport cleaning policies, existing protocol for notifying passengers when any serious communicable disease is detected, and flight cancellation policies when a passenger suspects that they have a serious communicable disease.

Senator Cantwell questioned the airlines and airports on the impact to consumers, asking them to detail their policies “for notifying other passengers on a flight or within a terminal where COVID-19 or other serious communicable disease is detected in a person transiting the facility.” 

The full text of the letters can be found HERE and HERE.

Today’s image is of three Boeing Dreamlifters that were carrying eye goggles and face shields from China to the United States.

Since the last issue of IFExpress our industry is continuing to try to find a tenuous path forward. Many airlines are converting passenger cabins into cargo friendly environments (see the story below from Carlisle IT) in an effort to get their assets back flying. We are also seeing how the airlines are moving forward in regards to passenger transport: the requirement for wearing face masks onboard, loading from the tail-forward, etc. As the weeks unfold, we will begin to see what the new ‘normal’ may start to look like. IFExpress is leading off with an feature from Laurent Safar, CEO of Adaptive Channel (an IFE and digital press CSP) regarding what a post-COVID-19 world may mean for inflight magazines.

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The Future of Inflight Magazines in a Post-Coronavirus World

By Laurent Safar, CEO of Adaptive Channel

2020 has not been – and will, most likely, not be – the year that any of us expected. Of course, I’m referring to the COVID-19 pandemic that has effectively shut down all aspects of the travel industry, with the aviation industry being particularly hard hit.

Although the CARES Act in the US (and other international governmental aid packages) offers airlines a lifeline in these financially-challenging times, no airline will come out of this unaffected – but some will be facing a much better financial outlook, post-Coronavirus, than others.

What are the factors that will decide which airlines are most successful, post-virus?

This can be answered in one word: innovation.

Now is the time for airlines to establish their post-Coronavirus operational strategy so they will be ready when the demand returns. Airlines must dig deep and truly think outside-of-the-box when it comes to how they will fulfill passengers’ needs, while cutting costs and boosting revenue.

New Priorities

The current crisis will accelerate all digital transformations that are already underway. Like the travel industry, COVID-19 has caused significant changes to the retail industry; specifically, the need for online shopping as a replacement to brick-and-mortar stores, both because of consumers’ increased vigilance about potential contagions and government shut-down of non-essential businesses, now, customers visit websites like Raise everyday, in order to have the best shopping experience.

Although it’s impossible for us to travel digitally (until Captain Kirk makes that possible!), the aviation industry can learn quite a bit from the way the switch to digital happened, almost overnight, in the retail industry.

As in the retail industry, post-Coronavirus travelers will expect a very different travel/inflight experience. Health and safety will be front-of-mind for passengers and, they will be looking to airlines to implement strategies to protect them from potential contagions that they may encounter while traveling; as such, inflight amenities and services will need to be considered and updated to address passengers’ health-related concerns, post-Coronavirus.

It’s common knowledge that an airline cabin can contain many different contagions. While most passengers assume the bathroom and seats would have the most germs, the truth shows that many surprising places – like the seat pocket, seatbelt, tray table and fan nozzle – actually have a great deal more bacteria, perhaps because the obviously dirtier places are cleaned/sanitized regularly by crew.

A Canadian study showed that “Seat pockets are extremely dirty, with a high aerobic count, mold, coliforms, and E.coli found on various samples.”

If that’s not enough, a study by Auburn University, showed that “MRSA germs could survive for up to 7 days on seat pocket cloth.” As well, “cold and influenza viruses can survive for hours on fabric and tissues, and even longer (up to 48 hours) on nonporous surfaces like plastic and metal,” making the seat pocket – and the glossy inflight magazine that comes out of it, a potential health liability.

So how can airlines provide for their germ-conscious passengers in a post-Coronavirus world?

First, it’s important to put yourself in your germ-conscious passengers’ shoes; you’ll quickly see that the airplane and seats could be perceived, by passengers, as a possible cesspool of germs – and your airline must act today to ensure that you’re ready to greet these passengers – with their new needs and wants – when the industry picks up again.

Today’s passengers will want some pretty big changes: of course, more regular disinfection must be a priority post-virus – including the seat, seatbelt, tray table and seatback pocket – even during short turnarounds. Another very important way to significantly decrease passengers’ exposure to contagions, is to eliminate hard copy inflight magazines and, instead, share the same content via a digital magazine. The switch from hard-copy newspapers to digital newspapers, readable on the same device as digital magazines, is another way to offer passengers the press content that they want, both inflight and in the lounge, from the safety of their own device (via the airline’s mobile app or a web portal in lounges).

A recent Future Travel Experience article agreed: “ – passengers may be more wary of touching inflight entertainment (IFE) screens and may turn to their own devices en masse. There could be an opportunity here for airlines, or more specifically airline apps. Airlines may have more success in convincing passengers to use their apps if it adds value at every touchpoint – from checking in and navigating through the terminal, to controlling IFE and even interacting with cabin crew – creating a real opportunity for them to promote relevant ancillary services through their mobile apps to an almost captive audience.”

If you’re still not convinced about the value of digital press content in a post-Coronavirus world, here are some other key benefits to this innovative strategy:

BOOST ANCILLARY REVENUE

Digital press content gives airlines incredible insight into passengers’ interests, needs and wants. The content-rich nature of newspapers and magazines gives airlines the opportunity to mine data that will improve their ability to deliver targeted, compelling ads more effectively to the right passenger, at the right time – drastically improving an airline’s travel retail conversion rates, by leveraging up-selling and cross-selling opportunities.

CUT COSTS

Eliminating hard copy press is also a great way to cut airlines’ operational costs; by eliminating the extra weight that hard copy newspapers and magazines add to each flight, airlines will experience a significant cost reduction on fuel. “According to research from Boeing, removing the weight of print newspapers and magazines equates to an annual savings of over $4.5 million for a fleet of wide-body aircraft operating 1,000 flights per day.”

As well, offering digital press eliminates the logistical costs associated with providing hard copy newspapers and magazines, giving airlines another way to decrease their operating costs, during this very difficult time.

SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT, ONE FLIGHT AT A TIME

Today’s passengers are also very environmentally conscious, giving airlines who prioritize improving their overall environmental impact a significant financial advantage when appealing to travelers. By eliminating paper waste from hard copy newspapers and magazines (and the weight associated with them) onboard, airlines use less fuel on each flight, decreasing the airline’s overall carbon dioxide (CO²) emissions and improving their carbon footprint – and, as a result, making their airline much more attractive to potential guests.

It’s A Brand New (Digital) World

As you can see, the change from hard copy inflight magazines and newspapers to digital press will improve your PaxEx and NPS, create new ancillary revenue opportunities, offer valuable ways to cut logistical and operational costs, give your airline a financial advantage over other airlines who aren’t prioritizing improving their environmental impact and, most importantly, it will reassure health conscious travelers of their safety during their flight.

Airlines worldwide have already started implementing the switch to digital press inflight because they recognize their passengers’ general discomfort with touching anything they don’t know is completely clean and sanitized; we expect to see many more forward-thinking airlines adopting digital press, through their IFE solution, in the coming weeks and months – after all, it will be an operational imperative for all airlines worldwide during the very – slow- Coronavirus-impacted travel market – and beyond!

About Adaptive

Adaptive is an experienced inflight entertainment (IFE) and digital press content service provider (CSP) for the global aviation industry. Adaptive’s industry-leading IFE solution, ACES, delivers curated IFE content in multiple languages, encompassing diverse, globally relevant media at touchpoints throughout the entire customer journey: before, during and after the flight.

More information can be found at adaptive-channel.com or by email at contact@adaptive-channel.com.

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Carlisle Interconnect Technologies (CIT) Is Making The Passenger Cabin Cargo Friendly

Carlisle Interconnect Technologies (CIT), a division of Carlisle Companies Incorporated (CSL), is pleased to announce special missions and temporary passenger cabin reconfigurations for airlines seeking to move more cargo on their passenger aircraft. Tenencia, a CIT company and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Design Organization Approvals (DOA), and Production Organizations Approvals (POA) holder, offers turnkey kit design, procurement, installation support as well as regulatory approval services to give airlines greater flexibility in optimizing their aircraft.

“We are committed to helping our customers and the aerospace industry navigate these uncertain times,” said Jeff Behlendorf, director of product management, integrated products at CIT. “Our expertise in cabin reconfiguration and aircraft certification enable airlines to quickly pivot and adapt to evolving market conditions, which call for additional methods of transporting critical goods while the industry experiences a low demand for passenger travel.”

CIT offers a full-range of capabilities for minimal or more complex configurations, including:

• Rapid development and EASA DOA approval of complete cabin reconfiguration and new cargo Layout of Passenger Accommodations (LOPA)
• Special missions support, including patient transport
• Cargo restraint and net installation
• Floor cargo loading evaluation
• Cabin seat removal to reduce wear and tear on the passenger interior
• Cockpit equipment and avionics modifications

These capabilities are part of CIT’s nearly 80-year history of providing the highest quality aircraft modification packages using Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) for airlines, avionics manufacturers, and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) partners. The company is also a member of the Independent Aircraft Modifiers Alliance (IAMA), an alliance of leading companies in the avionics industry that are committed to common standards for documentation and quality of STCs. This new offering helps airlines meet evolving fleet needs in today’s challenging environment.

For more information, please contact Tenencia via email.

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Airbus

Airbus logged net orders in April for nine commercial aircraft from its A320 product line from Avolon. By April 30th, Airbus’ gross orders in 2020 totaled 365 aircraft. After cancellations the net orders stand at 299 aircraft. During the month, 14 deliveries were made from the A320, A330 and A350 XWB aircraft families. Business in April brings the overall total orders logged by Airbus since its creation to 20,407 commercial aircraft, which includes 15,572 A320 Family aircraft, 1,819 A330s, 930 A350 XWBs, 642 A220s and 251 A380s. In April, 12 A320neo Family aircraft were delivered. For Airbus widebody aircraft, one A350 XWBs was provided in the A350-900 configuration; along with one A330ceo. Among the month’s notable deliveries was the first 100% e-deliveries to Pegasus Airlines. Airbus’ backlog of aircraft remaining to be delivered as of 30th April stood at 7,645, comprised  6,217 A320 Family aircraft, 529 A220s, 322 A330s, 568 A350 XWBs and nine A380s.

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Boeing

Three Boeing Dreamlifters Transport PPE to South Carolina for COVID-19 Recovery Efforts Across the State:

• Boeing transported more than 150,000 protective eye goggles and face shields as part of the company’s ongoing COVID-19 airlift efforts
• Partnered with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to deliver the goggles and face shields to frontline health care professionals in the MUSC Health system
• PPE to be used by MUSC Health care team members to assist with statewide COVID-19 community testing and outreach efforts, which are critical to recovery and a staged economic revitalization

Three Boeing Dreamlifters Transport PPE to South Carolina for COVID-19 Recovery Efforts Across the State – May 11, 2020

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Other News

• Aviation Week has written a very good summary of the Aerospace Industry and it is an excellent COVID-19 related piece! Aerospace Industry Reshaping Begins To Deal With COVID-19 Effects | Aviation Week Network
• With Viasat inflight connectivity applications being reduced by lack of flying passenger traffic, we were wondering it the satcom connectivity is being used for other applications? If you have heard of any communication refocus we would love to hear from you?
• Perhaps you need this for home, office, and your next flight – Office for iPad is getting mouse and trackpad support later this year – The Verge Assuming, of course, you have a “next” flight!
• Here is a bit more about the history of flying – The Dream of Flying: How Airplanes Came to Be
• Did you know graphene can be a conductor or a super insulator? Researchers map tiny twists in magic-angle graphene – News Info Park
• If you are interested in Coronavirus and airplanes, check out this story and be sure to read the comments by readers! Are Airline Cabin Changes Needed For COVID-19 Protection? | Aviation Week Network And, if travel and Coronavirus will affect tourism The future of tourism in the coronavirus era: Asia may hold answers to what’s ahead | CNN Travel
• Thirteen airline bankruptcies, so far!! UPDATED (8/5/20) – The 2020 airline bankruptcy list is open — Allplane

 

 

 

• Abu Dhabi International Airport’s cargo facilities fully operational, processed 7,315 cargo flights in March
• Etihad Airways repatriation and humanitarian flights departing from Abu Dhabi International Airport
• Comprehensive health and safety measures implemented across all Abu Dhabi Airports facilities in response to global COVID-19 pandemic

Abu Dhabi, UAE | May 11, 2020–Abu Dhabi Airports is supporting global efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring the safe, secure and efficient transport of essential supplies and equipment through Abu Dhabi International Airport, in addition to facilitating a number of repatriation and humanitarian flights.

Abu Dhabi International Airport is the primary gateway to Abu Dhabi and a key global transit hub for passengers and airfreight, offering connections to the world’s key markets. Its specialist cargo facilities offer significant capacity for transhipments and the efficient handling of time and temperature-sensitive goods.

Shareef Al Hashmi, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Airports, said: “This is a critical time for the aviation sector and our nation as we come together to combat the global COVID-19 pandemic. We are committed to ensuring the health and safety of our employees, stakeholders and passengers as we continue to operate our airports and facilities in order to provide our communities and healthcare centres with the goods and equipment they need.”

“We do not take this responsibility lightly and have mobilised special teams to enhance our cargo operations and facilitate the necessary repatriation and humanitarian flights departing from Abu Dhabi International Airport. I am especially proud of our employees’ continued dedication and commitment during this challenging time,” added Al Hashmi.

Waleed Salem Al Hemeiri, Acting Deputy Chief Operations Officer of Abu Dhabi Airports, said: “Abu Dhabi International Airport has implemented a range of special measures across its cargo and passenger operations, including workforce cluster management, thermal imaging cameras at key transit areas, free COVID-19 tests for passengers and employees and roster realignment to ensure the continued safe and efficient management of vital supplies and repatriation flights.”

“We are coordinating with all relevant authorities, partners and suppliers at Abu Dhabi International Airport to bolster the UAE’s efforts to protect public health and maintain the integrity of our operations,” added Al Hemeiri.

Cargo and airfreight

Cargo operations at the airport are ongoing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, facilitating the supply of vital equipment and goods to communities and healthcare facilities across the UAE and the world. During the month of March, the airport processed 7,315 cargo flights and 51,885,686 million kilograms of cargo, handling on average more than 1,800 flights and 13 million kilograms of cargo per week.

Over the past month, the UAE capital’s cargo hub experienced heavy import cargo volumes, mainly made up of commodities like facemasks and medical supplies, in addition to traditional airfreight items and an increase in perishable traffic, especially meat.

Logistics operators and cargo carriers such as Etihad Cargo have increased operations, making use of available capacity during the airport’s reduced passenger flight schedule. Its freighter network has introduced capacity to countries including India, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea and other destinations. Additionally, Etihad Cargo’s freighter network from Abu Dhabi offers flights to Riyadh, London, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Repatriation and humanitarian flights

Following the suspension of all commercial passenger flights to and from the UAE on 26 March 2020, Abu Dhabi International Airport has facilitated a number of repatriation and humanitarian flights for Emiratis returning to the UAE as well as expatriates and foreign nationals departing for their countries of origin.

Etihad Airways has been operating special flights from Abu Dhabi to London, Zurich, Brussels, Tokyo, Dublin, Amsterdam, Melbourne, Seoul, Singapore, Manila and Jakarta. In addition to enabling passengers reach their desired destinations, the flights are utilising their belly-hold capacity to transport critical cargo.

Prioritizing health and safety

Abu Dhabi Airports is coordinating and collaborating with all relevant authorities including the Abu Dhabi Government, General Civil Aviation Authority, Department of Health, and Ministry of Health and Prevention to ensure every available precautionary measure is being taken to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of its employees, stakeholders and passengers.

The robust set of precautionary measures include thermal screening at passenger and staff entrances, free COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing for passengers and employees, workforce cluster management and regular risk assessments in coordination with Etihad Airways medical teams, enforcement of social distancing guidelines and roster realignment to ensure ample staffing at all times, in addition to the frequent sterilisation of workspaces and common areas throughout Abu Dhabi International Airport’s facilities.