For the second time in a week, the Federal Aviation Administration has announced that it has proposed fining American Airlines for aircraft maintenance violations.

The FAA revealed Thursday that it sent a letter to American last week proposing a $300,000 civil penalty for the maintenance lapses, which could have endangered the aircraft, flight crew and passengers.

American Airlines maintenance workers, the FAA said, failed to properly document a malfunctioning speed indicator on an MD-82 jet in February 2009.

Not knowing about the defective indicator, crews flew the plane five times, including at night and in inclement winter weather. Such flights are allowed under American’s FAA-approved procedures, but only in daylight and clear weather.
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Emirates Airlines has issued a strong warning to Airbus not to delay the introduction of the A350.

“We have clearly told Airbus that we will not accept again what they did to us with the A380,” Emirates Airlines President Tim Clark told The Daily at the ITB tourism exchange in Berlin. He pointed out that unlike in the case of the A380 – which was two years late – Emirates Airlines has alternatives to buy elsewhere: “All I have to do is pick up the phone and order more Boeing 777s,” Clark stressed. He showed concerns that the schedule could already begin to slip. “We have told Airbus numerous times that in our view they should build in more margin in terms of time and performance parameters, but they wanted to have it their way. Now they are already eating into margins,” Clark criticized.
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British Airways expects to lease up to 22 aircraft from eight airlines in order to maintain services during a planned cabin crew strike this month.

It will use the aircraft to supplement its short-haul schedule from London Heathrow, and allow it to operate, overall, about 30% of its short-haul schedule over the initial strike period.

British Airways expects to carry 60% of booked passengers during the three-day strike from 20-22 March, adding that a number of other customers will be offered alternative British Airways flights or services on other carriers.
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An American Airlines jet scraped a wingtip and partially veered off the runway while landing in poor visibility Sunday night at Charlotte, N.C., and federal air-safety regulators are looking into why it took the carrier four hours to notify them about the event.

While none of the crew or the 110 passengers aboard Flight 1402 was injured, the Federal Aviation Administration is treating the event as an accident. On Monday, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said American’s timing in notifying the agency “is part of the investigation.” (continue reading…)

Taking advantage of down market prices, United Airlines said on Tuesday it placed a $10 billion-plus order for 50 wide-bodied jetliners divided between Airbus and Boeing Co, in a bid to slash fuel costs and emissions.

United, a unit of UAL Corp, has letters of intent to order 25 of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners and the same number of A350 planes from its European rival Airbus, part of EADS, following a six-month contest. The carrier also has future purchase rights for 50 of each aircraft.
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United Airlines announced on Tuesday that it has ordered 25 Airbus A350XWB aircraft and 25 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and has future purchase rights for an additional 50 of both types of aircraft.

These orders follow a six-month request for proposal process, resulting in agreements with both Airbus and Boeing that allow United to meet its financial and operational objectives.
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Qatar Airways has said it completed the first trial of a commercial passenger flight in an aircraft powered by a fuel made from natural gas.

The journey from London Gatwick to Doha took over six hours and was operated with an Airbus A340-600 aircraft using Rolls-Royce Trent 556 engines, said a statement late on Monday.
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German airport operator Fraport AG said a court has cleared its €4 billion ($5.7 billion) plan to expand Frankfurt’s main international airport, the final step allowing a fourth runway and third terminal to be built at Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s main hub.
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Hawaiian Airlines has hired 100 employees in recent months and plans to add 170 more by early next year to meet the company’s growth needs as it prepares for the first of its new Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
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