AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*DELTA AIRLINES announced yesterday that it has eliminated the SkyMiles mileage expiration, creating a new industry-leading benefit for all members. This program change is effective for all accounts as of January 1, 2011, and makes Delta the only major US carrier without mileage expiration.

*DELTA AIRLINES and AMERICAN AIRLINES are raising the price of some tickets favored by business travelers up to $120 per round trip. Fare experts said Delta started the increase on Monday and was matched by American. It's the 2nd big increase in fares in as many weeks. Airlines eliminated many flights when oil prices were high and the economy was weak, thus giving them power to raise fares now that planes are more crowded and the travel demand is rebounding

*UNITED AIRLINES temporarily grounded its entire fleet of Boeing 757s yesterday afternoon to perform "further operational checks". A United Spokesman said a recent modification to the 757’s air data computers required the additional inspection. The carrier said it hoped to have the entire fleet back in operation later today. In the meantime, the carrier warned of possible delays and cancelations. According to media reports, United discovered yesterday that it hadn't properly complied with a 2004 FAA A.D. in checking the air data computers, which monitor air speed, air pressure and other critical parameters.

*At least 4 airliners trying to land at Reno, Nevada, yesterday, were forced to divert due to high winds in the region. According to media reports, a US AIRWAYS flight attempted to land twice, but had to go-around and finally divert to Las Vegas because it was running low on fuel. The reports said that several passengers became nauseated and ill due to heavy turbulence associated with the winds in Reno.

*ALLEGIANT AIR said it will temporarily suspend its twice-weekly Duluth-Orlando US service beginning May 2 because of rising jet fuel costs and a summer lull in travel. The carrier promised that the service will be up and running again by Thanksgiving, but an exact start date isn’t on the Allegiant schedule yet. The Duluth-Las Vegas service will not change.

*Irish budget carrier RYANAIR said it will slash its operations at Girona, near Barcelona, Spain, because its 5 year expansion plan at the Airport has fallen through. At the end of this month, the carrier will take 5 aircraft out of Girona, axe 18 routes and reduce frequencies on a further 17. It was only in December that Ryanair announced that it would expand its Girona hub over 5 years, basing up to 10 aircraft at the Airport at the start of the summer 2011 season. However, the carrier now says that the new Catalonian Government "has refused to honor" the 5 year agreement, which was established under the previous Government.

*Despite a request from Poland for its return, Russian investigators in Moscow said that the wreckage of the POLISH AIR FORCE presidential Tupolev TU154, and its black boxes, are pieces of evidence in the ongoing investigations, and that they will not be released for sending back to Poland at this time. Russia said that once Russian courts pass a verdict on the cause of the April 10, 2010, crash in Smolensk, Russia, the wreckage will be sent back. According to media reports in Poland, the government of Poland had requested that the wreckage be sent back to Poland, prior to the 1 year anniversary of the crash.

*Israeli carrier ISRAIR has purchased 2 ATR 72-500 turboprops. An Israir spokesman said the aircraft will be delivered this spring and will be deployed on domestic routes to the Red Sea resort of Eilat, as well as to destinations in the Mediterranean region. Israir currently operates its European charter flights using 2 Airbus A320s.

*The new Tunisian government had put the former presidential aircraft, an Airbus A340-500, up for sale. Registered as TS-KRT, it was delivered on November 30, 2009, however the 4 engined jet saw little use, as the majority of former President Ben Ali's foreign journeys were taken in a state-owned Boeing BBJ. All profits on the sale will be returned to Tunisia.

*AIRASIA is negotiating with European plane maker Airbus to buy its revamped A320 Neo and long-haul A330 aircraft. AirAsia said the are a "big believer in the A330" and expect to make a decision on the A330 within 2 weeks. Airbus is planning to sell the A320, as the A320 Neo, with more fuel-efficient engines from 2016. AirAsia had already ordered 175 of these aircraft for delivery by that date and is now looking to upgrade the order to buy the new Neo version.

*QANTAS plans to deploy larger widebodies, including Boeing 747-400s, on several Australian domestic routes as part of a plan to increase capacity to Perth. Starting in May, the carrier said it will operate 6 weekly services on the Sydney-Perth route using 747-400s. Services on internationally configured Airbus A330s, which have more premium seating, will increase from 3 to 5 weekly. On the Brisbane-Perth route, the carrier plans to introduce domestic wide-body A330-200s on 7 services a week. In addition, it will upgrade 6 services on which it uses Boeing 737s to widebody operations. 3 internationally configured A330s will also be added to the airline's Melbourne-Perth service.

*Rolls Royce issued a brief statement in regards to an incident onboard an AIR EUROPA A330 on Sunday, February 13, in Madrid, Spain. The A330 had to make an emergency return to Madrid after the crew shut down the right hand engine due to excessive vibrations. Upon arrival back in Madrid, parts of the right engine cowling were missing, as seen in photo above. Rolls Royce, the maker of the engine, said yesterday that 1 fan blade was found missing and the trailing blade was missing 50% of its height. There is damage in the inner and outer skin of the engine intake, however all blade material appears to have been contained in the engine. The aircraft itself suffered no damage, however it remains out of service for repairs.

*A 68 year old man, who struck a teenager onboard a SOUTHWEST AIRLINES flight on December 28, 2010, pled guilty yesterday to battery in a US Court in Boise, Idaho. The Boeing 737 had just taken off from Las Vegas, and was bound for Boise, when the man reportedly struck the teenager in his head for not turning off his iPhone. The man, who was arrested upon arrival in Boise, said he did not punch the teen as the media reported, but "tapped him on the arm to get his attention". Either way, the judge ruled that the man had overreacted and overstepped the bounds by taking on the role reserved for cabin crew. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail, 57 of these suspended, and ordered to pay $275 in fines and court costs.

*The General Civil Aviation Authority of the UAE (GCAA) has released its Final Report into an incident involving an AYK AVIA Ilyushin IL76TD at Sharjah, UAE, on October 19, 2009. On that date, the crew of the Cargo Flight had to reject takeoff from Sharjah after severe vibrations were felt thru the airframe. In their Final Report, the GCAA said rejected takeoff and the vibrations were from the fracture and disintegration of the left hand aft wheel due to progressive undetected fatigue stress. The cause of they the fracture was undetected was not determined.

*UNITED AIRLINES Flight 306, an A319, had to make an emergency diversion to Grand Junction, Colorado, yesterday, February 15, due to smoke indication in the aft cargo hold. The A319 landed safely and was met by Emergency Services. No trace of heat, smoke or fire was found and the aircraft was released about 4 hours later to complete its flight to Baltimore, Maryland.

*EASYJET Flight 2177, an A319, had to make an emergency landing in Dortmund, Germany, yesterday, February 15, after the crew shut down the left hand engine. The engine failed with a loud bang and passengers reported vibrations of the airframe. The A319 landed safely and was removed from service for repairs.

*OLT OSTFRIESISCHE LUFTTRANSPORT Flight 882, a Fokker 100, had to make an emergency diversion to Hamburg, Germany, yesterday, February 15, after the cockpit windshield cracked.

*FRONTIER AIRLINES Flight 226, an A318, had to make an emergency return to Denver, Colorado, on Monday, February 14, after suffering a bird strike to its left hand engine on takeoff. The A318 suffered minor damage in the incident and was removed from service for repairs.

*AEROFLOT Flight 747, an A320, was involved in a loss of separation with RUSLINE Flight 4820, a CRJ200 on service for URAL AIRLINES, on Monday, February 14. According to The West Siberian Transport Prosecution Office, the 2 airliners were involved in a dangerous loss of separation at 33000 feet and near Krasnojarsk, Russia. The Office, which is investigating, did release details, nor did they specify how close they came to colliding.

*A passenger was removed from a VIRGIN BLUE flight, prior to its departure from Adelaide, Australia, on Monday, February 14. According to media reports, when a 39 year old man was told to store his carry-on under the seat in front of him, he told the Flight Attendant, "leave it there, maybe it's got weapons and bombs in it". The man was removed from the flight and arrested. Reports today say that man is homeless and a schizophrenic. He had been saving his disablity payments to fly home to Perth to re-unite with his parents and had already flown from Melbourne to Adelaide without incident. The man was fined over $3000 and released from jail yesterday.

*AIR CANADA Flight 1039, an A320, had to make an emergency return to Toronto, ON, Canada, on Sunday, February 13, after they could not retract the flaps after takeoff.

*EMIRATES Flight 60, a Boeing 777, began to takeoff without clearance from Hamburg, Germany, on Sunday, February 13. The crew of Flight 60 was cleared to line up on runway 23 and then wait as traffic was landing on the crossing runway 15. However, the crew started their takeoff roll and were immediately ordered to stop. The crew complied, but not before penetrating the protected area of runway 15. The tower then had to order SAS Flight 649, a CRJ900 arriving from Copenhagen, to go-around. The Emirates 777 was cleared to depart a few minutes later and the SAS CRJ landed on its 2nd approach. The incident is under investigation.