July 13, 2020 - No. 051 In This Issue Can You Afford to Self-Insure Business Aircraft Maintenance? FTS makes good on China IFC promise; looks to engage other markets Qantas stores aircraft at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville 4 Flight Attendants Taken To Hospital After Spirit Airlines Flight United Airlines warns that up to 36,000 staff risk layoffs Nigeria needs more aircraft maintenance facilities - NCAT AAV In Conversation with Stéphane Fymat of Honeywell Broke pilots 'forced to skip meals' want airline dissolved JetBlue to Move Operations From Long Beach to LAX SpaceX test-fires rocket for South Korean military satellite launch this week Can You Afford to Self-Insure Business Aircraft Maintenance? PARTNER CONTENT - Should you buy a maintenance plan to cover your business aircraft or helicopter? It's a question operators should ask themselves from time to time. The answer is: it depends. Fixed-cost maintenance plans are a godsend when something goes wrong with your engines, avionics or critical mechanical and electronic components. These programs can help you avoid expensive surprises, manage your maintenance budget and keep your aircraft in mission-ready condition. Like similar programs for your house or car, maintenance plans for your aircraft protect you from the unexpected, enable you to proactively predict maintenance costs and spread out the projected cost of repairs over the course of a year. Self-insurance is another strategy if you're willing to assume the risk of covering 100 percent of your repair costs on an out-of-pocket basis. Consider this approach only if you know your aircraft very well, keep up with scheduled and preventive maintenance, and have years of maintenance-cost data available for analysis. Then you can do a pretty good job of estimating the annual cost of scheduled and unscheduled events so you can compare projected costs against the fixed cost of a maintenance plan and budget accordingly. Even if the costs of both options compare favorably, many operators choose to mitigate risk with a maintenance plan, which above all provides peace of mind for owners, operators and directors of maintenance. What's important is that you make an informed decision on whether to sign up for a plan and which program to choose. That means doing your homework, starting with determining your needs and risks, and checking out available programs. Working with our customers, we've found that many operators find it difficult to accurately estimate the cost of planned and unplanned events so they can build an adequate maintenance budget. Consider your aircraft's age, since the needs of older aircraft are significantly different than newer ones. The more you know about your aircraft and the historic cost of maintenance, the better you'll be able to evaluate the potential savings offered by a plan. Many plans are available for business aircraft and helicopters. With continuous advancements in aircraft technology, sophistication and reliability, maintenance plan providers are keeping pace by changing programs to meet the needs of today's operators. For example, Honeywell recently introduced a usage-based element that rewards operators for putting less stress on their propulsion engines. It's a good idea to investigate available programs, compare them side-by-side and ask providers for information specific to the aircraft you're considering enrolling in a maintenance program. Here are some questions you should ask maintenance plan providers to help you evaluate their specific program: How long have you been providing maintenance plans for business aircraft like mine? What exactly does the program cover? Is an upfront buy-in payment required to join the program? What are the copays and plan limits? What resources are available to prioritize parts and service? What program options or upgrades are available? What statistics can you share on potential savings? Armed with this information, you'll be able to evaluate the available programs and determine the best course of action for your particular operation and aircraft. For more information on maintenance plans and to learn more about Honeywell's full line of offerings, drop us a note on the accompanying form. https://www.aviationtoday.com/2020/07/13/afford-business-aircraft-maintenance-plan/ Back to Top FTS makes good on China IFC promise; looks to engage other markets In the fall of 2018, China-backed FTS Technologies announced it would equip Qingdao Airlines' fleet of Airbus A320 family aircraft with its XStreamSAT-branded Ka-band inflight connectivity hardware. Fast forward to today, and the system is now live, supporting broadband transmissions for passengers on a single A320. FTS says it is now working to accelerate equipage on the rest of the Chinese carrier's 25-strong A320/A321 fleet, and is eyeing opportunities in other markets. The launch of Internet service on Qingdao is a remarkable achievement for Beijing-based FTS, which is a relative newcomer to the inflight entertainment and connectivity scene. It marks the culmination of a "relentless team effort" by FTS, satellite operator China Satcom, service provider China TDT Link and other partners, says the firm. The XStreamSAT system, which received double airworthiness certification this spring from both the US FAA and China's CAAC, comprises a cabin wireless network, MODMAN (modem manager), a satellite antenna system, radome and adapter plate system. Israeli firm Gilat in a statement says it provided the modem. For the China market, XStreamSAT has been optimized to connect with China Satcom's ChinaSat-16 (CS-16) Ka-band high-throughput satellite. Given that the Chinese government favors home-grown technology, FTS appears well positioned to capture market share in China. But FTS reveals it is also eyeing opportunities outside the region. The company states: Following the successful launch on Qingdao Airlines, FTS has announced to the world that it is now a serious contender in the inflight connectivity solution provider space and looks forward to engaging global airlines and markets on a wider scale. To realize its vision of fully connected digital aircraft, FTS says it is also progressively introducing other applications in areas such as flight operations, flight safety, aircraft maintenance, and cabin crew services. In the meantime, FTS management is celebrating the launch of Internet service with Qingdao. The carrier's XStreamSAT-equipped A320 on 7 July hosted a live inflight broadcast event on a flight between Qingdao and Chengdu. Passengers aboard the flight were able to connect to the Internet, as well as access wireless entertainment. "On the debut flight, passengers connected to the onboard wireless network using their own mobile devices and were treated to a galore of over 2,000 entertainment selections, curated inflight shopping catalogue with over 500 items (supporting online payment), flight map and of course, the high-speed Internet access," says FTS, whose kit also supported a two-way live video communication between the flight and ground audiences. Though various news agencies are reporting that the XStreamSAT-fitted Qingdao A320 is China's first aircraft to offer high-speed Internet services to passengers, the truth is that multiple Chinese operators have trialed IFC though the years, from homegrown air-to-ground (ATG) solutions to Global Eagle's Ku-band service. In 2017, Global Eagle fitted a 9 Air Boeing 737-800 in conjunction with Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services Co. But none of these IFC offerings have seen widespread adoption in the sizable, but as-yet-largely-untapped domestic Chinese airline market. And none hold the distinction of exploiting the ChinaSat-16 Ka-band high-throughput satellite, which is capable of serving 80% of the flight routes in China, according to US satellite operator Viasat, which also plans to support IFC in China. "Our success is hinged on a multi-talented, multi-cultural team comprising of people who are professional, passionate and dedicated to providing technical excellence and unrivaled service to our customers," notes FTS, which hired long-time industry veterans to aid in its market entry. https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2020/07/11/fts-makes-good-on-china-ifc-promise-looks-to-engage-other-markets/ Back to Top Qantas stores aircraft at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville VICTORVILLE - The first of a dozen Qantas A380s have left Down Under and have landed at the airliner graveyard at the Southern California Logistics Airport in the High Desert. The Australian long-haul airline is parking its A380 Airbus fleet at the Victorville airport while its international flying is in hiatus while many in the airline industry are asking whether the A380s will ever leave the graveyard again, Simple Flying reported on Tuesday. On July 6, the Qantas aircraft "VH-OQE Lawrence Hargrave," operating as "QF6001," left Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport and flew nonstop to Victorville. The 13,150-kilometer or nearly 8172-mile transpacific hop that crossed the International Date Line took just under 14 hours to complete before landing at 11:02 a.m. the same day in Victorville. The plane has sat idle in Melbourne since mid-March after operating a commercial flight from Los Angeles. As of July 7, the 11 remaining Qantas A380s were grounded at several locations, including two in Melbourne, three in Sydney, three in Los Angeles, two in Dresden and one is in Abu Dhabi. While no-one was expecting the Qantas A380s to take to the air and fly passengers anytime soon, Qantas boss Alan Joyce further dampened any expectations in a news conference in late June, saying, "The aircraft are being put into the Mojave Desert, where the environment protects the aircraft because we have the intention at the right time to restart them, but that is a considerable amount of time away," Joyce added that "The A380s have to remain on the ground for at least three years until we see those international volumes brought back. There is a potential to bring all 12 A380s back, but there is a potential to bring less than 12 back." COVID-19 has also seen Qantas resetting its messaging. The future scenario Qantas now paints for its A380s and international flying is in general rather gloomy, Simpl Flying reported. "We think international will take a long time - nothing this next financial year- and next July, we may start to see some international services and that will only get us to 50% the following year," said Joyce. But with no resumption of A380 services on the horizon, the pace of relocating the planes to Victorville could pick up, Simple Flying said. Located about 145 kilometers or 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles on the site of the former George Air Force Base, SCLA is known as a graveyard, but also as an extensive maintenance and logistics hub. In April, Popular Mechanics reported that pilot Bryan Keith left the Santa Clarita area and took his Grumman Tiger for a low altitude tour of SCLA, where he saw over 400 airliners in long-term parking due to the decrease in passenger flights amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary maintenance, storage, and dissemble business at SCLA is ComAv Technical Services, which provides asset management, technical services, integrated aviation solutions, engine management, and airframe disassembly for up to 500 aircraft. They also have hanger space for 20 large aircraft, Simple Flight reported. Two Boeing 747-8 planes destined to operate as Air Force One are at SCLA. One has been there since early 2017, the other since 2019. Both are undergoing modifications to bring them up to Air Force One specs. The parking of the Qantas A380s at SCLA is part of significant changes at Qantas. The airline's last Boeing 747 is leaving in mid-July. An airline that was synonymous with big planes is now boasting A330s and Boeing 787-9s as its big capacity planes. For more information, visit www.qantas.com. https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20200711/qantas-stores-aircraft-at-southern-california-logistics-airport-in-victorville Back to Top 4 Flight Attendants Taken To Hospital After Spirit Airlines Flight Four Spirit Airlines flight attendants were taken to hospital on Friday after a Spirit Airlines flight from Minneapolis reported a medical emergency. The Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-200 was performing flight number NK-614 from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) when the incident occurred. According to The Aviation Herald, the aircraft holding registration number N695NK was descending towards Baltimore when ten minutes before landing, a ground stop was implemented at BWI. With oxygen masks on, the pilots landed the aircraft safely on runway 10. Subsequently, they taxied to the apron where emergency services were ready waiting. The incident was not related to COVID-19 The BWI Marshall Airport Fire and Rescue Department was waiting for the aircraft. This was after it was told that there were sick individuals on board the plane. When responding to requests from local media Spirit Airlines told CBS Baltimore channel 13: "It's important to note there is no evidence this incident has any connection to COVID-19, and none of the Guests and Spirit Team Members showed any symptoms of COVID-19. Out of an abundance of caution, first responders transported four flight attendants for evaluation. None of the Guests needed medical attention." Light-headed Video from a news helicopter at the scene showed fire personnel wearing what appeared to be hazmat suits entering the plane as it arrived at the gate. CBS Transport Correspondent Kris Van Cleave tweeted that the four flight attendants had complained of feeling light-headed. Additionally, they were being taken to a local hospital for evaluation. None of the other passengers on the flight needed medical attention. However, according to Spirit spokesperson, they were issued with travel credits. Spirit went on to say that the aircraft will undergo maintenance and receive a thorough deep cleaning. It could be related to the auxiliary power unit (APU) Over the past few years, there have been numerous incidents of Airbus narrow-body planes reporting fume events across multiple airlines. Several years ago, Airbus said that a failure to clean environmental systems following leaks could be the cause of odors in the cabin. It suggested that "a clean APU means clean cabin air." According to the manufacturer, one source of in-service contamination events reported on the A320 fleet is the APU. This results from either internal leakage or re-ingestion of oil following external leakage. However, it is worth noting that a noticeable cabin odor can be generated from ingesting only a minimal amount of oil. Overall, these type of events seems quite scarce, given the number of flights every day. Nonetheless, this and other fume related incidents need to be addressed by airlines to make sure they do not occur at all. https://simpleflying.com/spirit-airlines-flight-attendants-hospitalized/ Back to Top United Airlines warns that up to 36,000 staff risk layoffs United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) has sent warnings of possible layoffs to 36,000 employees, more than a third of its workforce, with the final decision about their future employment due early next month, Business Insider has reported. According to slides from a town hall meeting with employees filed by the airline, United is planning to send all Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notices to affected staff by mid-July. The changes would become effective from October 1, 2020, the day after the expiration of job protections under the terms of the federal CARES Act support. The layoffs could affect 15,000 flight attendants, 11,000 customer-service and gate agents, 5,500 maintenance workers, and 2,250 pilots, among others. United's total workforce currently numbers around 98,000 persons. The WARN Act obliges companies to give workers a 60-day notification about any planned layoffs, in most cases. United underlined that the issuance of a WARN notice to an employee does not necessarily mean that he or she will be laid off but only that their job "may be affected through involuntary furlough". In a separate development, India's newswire ANI has reported that United Airlines has filed a request with the Ministry of Civil Aviation to restart scheduled flights to Mumbai Int'l and Delhi Int'l. Currently, India's ban on all international services is valid through the end of July, although Air India (AI, Mumbai Int'l) is allowed to operate repatriation flights, including to the United States. The US Department of Transportation (DOT) recently alleged that Air India has effectively been carrying revenue passengers on repatriation charter flights, thus creating market imbalance against US airlines. United has, for now, been allowed to operate three repatriation charters on the New York Newark-Delhi route in July, although passengers will only be carried from India to the United States. https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/93016-united-airlines-warns-that-up-to-36000-staff-risk-layoffs Back to Top Nigeria needs more aircraft maintenance facilities - NCAT The Rector of the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, Captain Mohammed Abdulsalami, has highlighted the need to establish more aircraft maintenance facilities in Nigeria. Speaking on Friday in a webinar, Abdulsalami decried the high cost of maintaining an aircraft in the country. He added that several airlines had been forced to go abroad to conduct maintenance, repair, and operations on their airplanes. He said, "There are very few MROs in Africa. There are about two in Northern Africa, two in Eastern Africa and the one in Southern Africa. We have had to take aircraft to other parts of Africa and beyond the shores of Africa for maintenance at great cost. "For an aircraft the size of Boeing 737, we cannot paint it in Nigeria; we have to take it abroad. Painting is very basic. Airlines spend lots of money in major checks like C-checks and, D-checks at great cost. This increases the cost of running an airline." He said a process towards bridging the gap had begun. "On the part of the Nigerian government, we have started the process. We appointed transaction advisers, outlined business case and the procurement. Hopefully, we should have MRO established in Nigeria," he added. The NCAT boss said the aviation school adopted a virtual model of operation in line with the current pandemic to educate its students. Abdulsalami said the school was teaching theoretical subjects for now. He said, "We picked subjects that could be taught online. That is the knowledge-based ones. I will give you an example like aviation law. That one has no practical subjects. It is one we can conveniently do online." "This is temporary until we reopen. In the long term, we have to look at the situation and conduct some of the training programmes virtually. We would examine when we would re-open." https://punchng.com/nigeria-needs-more-aircraft-maintenance-facilities-ncat/ Back to Top AAV In Conversation with Stéphane Fymat of Honeywell Asian Aviation Editor Matt Driskill is In Conversation with Stéphane Fymat, vice president and general manager of the Unmanned Aerial Systems and Urban Air Mobility business unit at Honeywell Aerospace. The UAS business develops new products and serves as a systems integrator for both airframe makers and operators in this fast evolving market. Its area of responsibility spans aircraft systems like avionics, electric and hybrid electric propulsion and thermal management; flight services such as unmanned air traffic management; and ground operations services such as predictive maintenance analytics. Fymat joined Honeywell in 2017 and previously led the marketing and product management team at BendixKing, Honeywell's avionics brand for general aviation aircraft. There he oversaw the development of new products, new technology partnerships and the acquisition of TruTrak Flight Systems. Before joining Honeywell, Fymat held leadership roles in software companies Infrascale and Passlogix, and also founded Smartplane, an aerospace software company. He also serves on the board of directors of the Perlan Project, which designs high-altitude gliders. Fymat holds a master's in business administration from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in aerospace and mechanical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. https://asianaviation.com/aav-in-conversation-with-stephane-fymat-of-honeywell/ Back to Top Broke pilots 'forced to skip meals' want airline dissolved A story is told of a director of a local airline who was so angered by his pilots demands that he dismissively branded them 'prima donnas'. Pilots have been known globally to ground airlines if their most feeble demands are not met by managers. The national carrier, Kenya Airways (KQ), has had its fair share of fights with its pilots. Their demands are almost always met, even when in instances they cede ground and settle for less. If pilots of big carriers like KQ are treated with kids gloves by their managers, then the opposite is true for those employed by smaller airlines. Such an assertion can be sufficed by a row that has been simmering between DAC Aviation, a small airline, and its pilots. The dispute is threatening to bring down the Wilson Airport-based carrier, which has been servicing major contracts across African countries including delivering essential goods and personnel for United Nations agencies. Correspondence between the airline and its pilots paints a picture of struggling employees who have to endure months without pay, and have to keep fighting off people they owe money. The pilots want DAC Aviation liquidated so that they recover their money. Some ten pilots have made a statutory demand - in-line with the Insolvency Act - requiring the company to pay salary arrears totalling Sh15.28 million (Sh3.76 million in local currency and another Sh11.52 million ($107 780) in US Dollars. One of the pilots with the airline said there are more than hundred pilots, crew and ground handlers who are suffering but have shied from taking on the carrier. They are are afraid of repercussions not just from DAC, but also from other airlines based at Wilson, who might be reluctant to engage them in future if they learn of their antagonistic behaviour with their current employer. "The sum of Sh3.76 million plus the sum of $107,780 claimed by them cumulatively as being the amount due to them through and by their service contracts as by the date aforementioned," said the pilots in June 5 through their lawyers Muumbi and Co Advocates. "Take notice that within 21 days after service of this notice on you... you must pay to the following creditors (list of pilots) ... failure to pay the afore-stated amount shall result in the above creditors applying filing for a liquidation order against your company and all other legal actions consequent thereto." They would later in June 2020 gazette their intention to institute liquidation proceedings against DAC Aviation to recover the money owed to them. DAC's pilots could be in financial trouble, at least going by correspondence between them and their employer seen by The Sunday Standard. In November last year, a team deployed to Mali wrote to the Director of Operations in Nairobi notifying him that they would down their tools due to delayed salaries. Other than the bed and breakfast that the firm was paying for its employees servicing a contract for the European Commission for Humanitarian AID (ECHO), the employees complained of failure by the firm to pay them subsistence allowances. Without regular pay and allowances, and in a foreign country, the pilots narrated how they have struggled to choose between eating either lunch or supper. In the email sent out by one of them, the pilots noted that their families back in Nairobi are enduring financial hardships and continue to pile up debts. Their medical cover, too was not up to date, and family members had to pay cash in hospitals. "Couples are fighting over the phone over money," said John Kavulu one of the pilots who had been deployed to Mali in an email to Ramesh Peshavaria the Director of Operations. "We will deliver the C-208s planes to Bamako for maintenance on Saturday November 16... once in Bamako, the entire Mali team has decided that we will not be operating until we are paid our full September and October salaries." In another correspondence, a pilot complains that he was denied leave during which he had planned to go and sell his car to sort out some of his debts Another pilot noted the duress he was under owing to lengthy delays in processing his pay, noting that the airline was driving him to a point where he could not fly safely. "I have worked a whole year without leave... I have not been paid (arrears) for 10 months amounting to $24,200 (Sh2.4 million). I have not been given full salary for the last three months amounting to $6,000 (Sh636,000)," said Stevenson Kibara in an email to human resource office in Nairobi on January 8, 2020. "I have alerted the company that I cannot continue to operate under these conditions due to stress and fatigue and wish to stop operating immediately and stop placing the lives of my fellow crew and clients in jeopardy." Captain Kibara would go on to quit employment on March 3. Different pilots wrote to management pointing out the heavy stress levels the teams were under, making it risky to operate aircrafts. The correspondence with the pilots is littered with such statements as "team is cranky... and worst of all, our employer does not have the courtesy to address us over these issues" and "we have been working with crew that is stressed and fatigued making the aircraft hazardous to both the safety of crew and client". A number of pilots have since quit the airline after what they said was failure by the company to address their concerns. They left the firm in a dicey situation where it could not find immediate replacements and in turn, failed to meet its end of the agreements it had with the major humanitarian organisations. This has come at a heavy cost for the firm, which cited a revenue loss of $2.5 million (Sh265 million) from the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) and $800 000 (Sh82.4 million) from WFP. On Friday last week, engineers too threatened to down their tools. The director of maintenance for DAC AMO (Approved Maintenance Organisation) told his engineers to go home until they are paid. The engineers also want the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) to revoke the licence of DAC's AMO for failure to pay them. Such licences are given to airlines to service their aircraft. The firm said it is partly unable to pay salaries owing to this revenue loss, which it directly blamed on the pilots, noting that had they been on duty as required, the firm would have made money and met its obligations to them. In an affidavit filed in court fighting the liquidation proceedings, Fredrick Opot, Chief Executive DAC Aviation, accused the pilots of abandoning their work stations and in several instances, leaving DAC Aviation's clients stranded, actions that resulted in contract cancellation and subsequent revenue loss. "Their singular actions have economically sabotaged the applicant's (DAC Aviation's) financial position," said Mr Opot. The airline also said the amount of money that the pilots are seeking from the company has been exaggerated and should first be decided by the Employment and Labour Court. "The debts specified in the statutory demand are disputed by the applicant (DAC Aviation) on substantial grounds including the fact that they are excessive and unproven and that they are claims tied to heavy financial losses borne by the applicant," said Clive Mshweshwe the DAC Aviation lawyer in documents filed in court on June 30. "This was as a result of serious breaches by each of respondent (pilots) of their individual contracts which are matters that ought first to be adjudicated by the Employment and Labour Court." He continued: "Being that the current financial strain being experienced by the applicant (DAC Aviation) has been significantly and directly contributed by the said respondents (pilots), the intended action by the respondents is demonstrably made in bad faith and calculated to embarrass the applicant contrary to the principle of the Insolvency Act which is intended to allow a company... whose financial position is clearly healthy to continue to operate as a going concern so that ultimately it may be able to meets its financial obligations to its creditors in full or at least to the satisfaction of those creditors." Employee obligations The documents filed in court further say that before February 2020, DAC Aviation had strived to meet all its obligations to its employees, although noting that there are instances where there were delays. It further said the coronavirus pandemic has had a heavy toll on the company. The firm, however, said it is keen to settle all the money owed to pilots and other creditors. "Operations were significantly affected by the imposition of Covid-19 travel restrictions in the aviation industry in Kenya and all the other counties in which the company operates, which in turn has negatively affected the company's cash flow. This is a factor well beyond the company's control," Noted Mr Mshweshwe. "Its intention to meet the debts once its financial position improves upon lifting of the restrictions is clear. The respondents - pilots - are well aware of the challenges being faced by the aviation industry and therefore their current actions are unreasonable and unwarranted." DAC Aviation Kenya is affiliated to DAC Aviation of Canada. Ownership records at the registrar of companies show that Emmanuel Anassis owns a single share in the Kenyan outfit, while Canada-based DAC Aviation International owns 999 shares. Kenya Revenue Authority last year said it had opened a tax assessment of DAC Aviation's operations with a view to determining "suspected profit shifting through creative accounting." https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001378444/broke-pilots-forced-to-skip-meals-want-airline-dissolved Back to Top JetBlue to Move Operations From Long Beach to LAX JetBlue (B6, JBU), an airline that has been serving Long Beach Airport (LGB) since 2001, has stated that it will consolidate its operations to LAX in October. The airline has had a large presence in the greater Los Angeles area with flights to Ontario, Burbank, Long Beach, and the city's main airport. However this plan will involve transitioning of its employees from its largest base to LAX in an effort to conserve resources and allow for future growth in new markets. Effective October 7th, all flights, crews, and maintenance bases from LGB will move to LAX. Currently, the airline operates 15 daily flights from Long Beach and has 20 daily flights from LAX. Come October, the airline expects to add to their 35 total flights out of LAX with new international destinations in Mexico as well as other transcontinental services to the east coast. The airline has a goal to expand to more than 70 daily flights by 2025. There however has been some turbulence recently between JetBlue and LGB, beginning with the airport's denial of international flights. Airport and community officials were concerned over the creation of additional air traffic, increased air pollution, and reduction in nearby property values because of noise. JetBlue has long been guilty of hogging underused slots and has been reprimanded by Long Beach Airport, in which competitors such as Southwest were quick to snap up the free gate slots. In a recent statement made on Twitter, airport director Cynthia Guidry stated: "We will always be grateful for the investment JetBlue made in our community and the tremendous service they offered our passengers. We understand that the aviation industry - now more than ever - is constantly changing and airlines nationwide are making difficult business decisions to stay competitive in light of the pandemic. We expect strong interest in the (takeoff and landing) slots as they become available." JetBlue however, is optimistic regarding the future of its operations, as they believe their new services from LAX will open opportunities to fly to Mexico and other Latin American destinations. JetBlue's head of revenue and planning, Scott Laurence, said: "The transition to LAX, serving as the anchor of our focus city strategy on the West Coast, sets JetBlue up for success in Southern California. We continue to seize on opportunities to emerge from this pandemic a stronger competitive force in the industry." http://aeronauticsonline.com/jetblue-to-move-operations-from-long-beach-to-lax/ Back to Top SpaceX test-fires rocket for South Korean military satellite launch this week The SpaceX rocket that launched the company's first astronaut mission for NASA last month fired up its engines once more Saturday (July 11) in a test that sets the stage for the launch of South Korea's first military satellite this week. The Falcon 9 rocket ignited its nine first-stage Merlin engines briefly in a so-called static fire test at Space Launch Compex-40 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The standard SpaceX rocket test clears the way for the planned launch of the Anasis-II military communications satellite for the South Korean government on Tuesday (July 14) at 5 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT). "Static fire test complete - targeting July 14 for Falcon 9 launch of ANASIS-II from SLC-40 in Florida," SpaceX wrote in a Twitter update. The same Falcon 9 first stage launched NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station on Demo-2, SpaceX's first-ever crewed spaceflight, on May 30, SpaceX added. The rocket test occurred the same day as a planned SpaceX launch of a different Falcon 9 rocket carrying 57 Starlink internet satellites and two BlackSky Global Earth-imaging satellites form the nearby Pad 39A launch site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX called off that launch on Saturday morning citing the need for more rocket checks. Built by Airbus Defence and Space, Anasis-II has been billed as South Korea's first military satellite and is designed to "provide secured communications over wide coverage," according to Airbus. The new satellite is based on Airbus' Eurostar E3000 satellite platform and will be launched into a geostationary orbit, Airbus added. Geostationary orbits allow satellites to maintain a position over the same part of Earth at an altitude of about 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers). According to Spaceflight Now, Anasis-II was formerly known as KMilSatCom. Until this mission, South Korea has relied on civilian-owned and international satellites for communications needs, Spaceflight Now added. https://www.space.com/spacex-test-fires-rocket-for-korean-military-satellite-anasis-2.html Curt Lewis