29 Apr 2019

North America Newsletter 29 April

Allegiant Files Application With U.S. Department Of Transportation To Offer Scheduled Service To Mexico Allegiant 22 April signaled its next phase of growth as the industry leader in offering affordable, non-stop flight options for leisure travelers by filing an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation to offer scheduled service between the United States and Mexico. Allegiant currently serves more than 450 domestic routes. This will be the company's initial venture into scheduled international service. Allegiant Announces Gregory Anderson As EVP & Chief Financial Officer Allegiant announced 26 April that Gregory Anderson has been appointed to serve as executive vice president and chief financial officer. He will also continue as the company's principal accounting officer, a role he has served since January, 2015, his became effective on April 23. Air Canada Updates Schedule Through July in Response to Ongoing Grounding of Boeing 737 MAX Aircraft To mitigate the impact, Air Canada has substituted different aircraft on 737 MAX routes, including flying routes with similar-sized or larger aircraft. The carrier has extended leases for three Airbus A320 and three Embraer 190 aircraft which were scheduled to exit the fleet. Air Canada is also accelerating the in-take of six Airbus A321 aircraft from WOW Air into its fleet. From 15 June Qatar Airways will operate one Airbus A330-200 on daily flights between Montreal and Barcelona and one Airbus A330-200 daily flight between Montreal and Paris. Beginning June 2, Omni Air International will operate flights with one Boeing 767-200ER aircraft between Vancouver and Honolulu and Maui. In a small number of cases, Air Canada has temporarily suspended service on certain 737 MAX routes where alternative aircraft are not presently available. Norwegian: Postponement of delivery of Boeing aircraft As previously announced in February 2019, Arctic Aviation Assets DAC, a subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA is continuing to reschedule part of its single-aisle aircraft order book with both Airbus and Boeing. Based on ongoing discussions Arctic Aviation Assets has reached an agreement with Boeing to postpone the delivery of 14 737 MAX aircraft originally due for delivery in 2020 and 2021. PW powered A319neo makes maiden flight The last of the A320neo variants, an Airbus A319neo test aircraft has completed its maiden flight powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF engines for the first time on 25 April. The A319neo took off from Toulouse at 12:30 and landed at 15:20. It was flown by a crew of five including Captain Philippe Castaigns, First Officer Shaun Wildey, flight test engineers Frank Hohmeister, David O’Nions and the Test flight engineer Cedric Favrichon. The aircraft, MSN 6464, will perform an extensive flight test campaign in order to achieve its certification with P&W GTF engines by Q4 2019. StandardAero Delivers PT6A-67D Engine Services to Alpine Air Express in Support of Super Freighter Program StandardAero announced entry onto the cargo aircraft market, the Alpine Air Express Beech 1900D Super Freighter. As a Designated Overhaul Facility (DOF) with Distribution rights for the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A family, StandardAero is delivering Alpine Air and its customers with responsive PT6A-67D support for its Super Freighter program. StandardAero Certifies New Seat Configurations for Embraer 135/145 Aircraft StandardAero, via its Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), was recently awarded a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for 30 and 42 seat configurations for Embraer EMB 145. The company had previously received an STC for a 30 seat configuration for the Embraer EMB 135. Both 30 seat configurations allow companies to use these aircraft for Part 135 operations. UAM Acquires Airbus 319 Universal Asset Management, Inc. (UAM) announced 24 April it has acquired a Airbus 319 airframe MSN (3043) formerly operated by Czech Airlines. WestJet gives guests greater Europe access WestJet announced 26 April that guests now have convenient access from Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) to seven cities in France, Italy and Greece through an expansion to its codeshare relationship with Air France. WestJet's service to Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) can connect on WestJet codeshare flights operated by Air France to Brest, Biarritz and Montpellier, France along with Italy's Venice, Milan and Rome and Athens, Greece. Future phases will expand WestJet codesharing on Air France operated flights via Paris to additional countries including Austria, Germany and Portugal. WestJet unveils its 787 Dreamliner maintenance hangar WestJet 24 April celebrated the opening of its new Dreamliner maintenance hangar at its hub at Calgary International Airport (YYC). The hangar accommodates one 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft or up to four 737 aircraft. Member of Parliament, Kent Hehr, City of Calgary Councillor, Jyoti Gondek, Calgary Airport Authority President and CEO, Bob Sartor, 1500 WestJet employees and members of WestJet's executive team were on hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. WestJet's $50 million investment in the 125,000-square-foot hangar is in addition to the airline's announcement that it will be the first Canadian airline to base its Dreamliner aircraft out of YYC Calgary International Airport. Acumen Aviation © 23 April 2019 All Rights Reserved.