Jamie Fly Aviation

Med-view is determined to capture substantial part of the market in the coming year In an industry that is plagued with harsh business environment and and competition. There will always be carriers who will act as catalyst for upheavals. This blog is going to look at six airlines that will be the talk of the aviation industry in Nigeria. Some of them will pose a new threat to their competitors in capturing a share of the market, some others are reaching a point where either way is possible and others are under the threat of going out of business as a result of financial distress or political interests. Wherever they fall on the spectrum, the fact still remains that they will be the talk of the Nigerian airline industry in the coming year.  Dana Air: Still smarting from a plane crash involving one of its aircraft and after having its operating license restored back to it by the Federal Government despite public outcry, The airline is struggling to go back into service. The a...

Dana Air will have to redeem its image after after loosing an airplane in a crash in June Generally, 2012 was a challenging year for the Nigeria airlines as they were financially stressed. Some of them rocked the industry on the good side, others did on the bad side. Wherever spectrum they fall into, the fact is they kept the industry on its toes and were the talking points of the industry. Dana Air: On June 3, a Dana Air McDonnell Douglass MD 83 aircraft operating as flight 992 crashed into a residential building at Iju Ishaga after both engines flamed out killing all the 153 on board as well as some others on ground. The crash led to wide spread condemnations from the general public over the use of unserviceable airplanes and negligence on the part of the airline. There were allegations questioning the airworthiness of the ill fated aircraft as it was reported that the crashed plane was involved in an incident with its previous owner, Alaska. The same airplane in 2010 was inv...

Air Canada: Air Canada will make an aggressive push into new international markets next year—if all goes as planned. The carrier is awaiting government approval to begin non-stop Toronto-Istanbul service on June 4, as a gateway to Turkey, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa through a code-share with Turkish Airlines. This expansion could prove particularly valuable for Air Canada as competition stiffens on its home front, where WestJet's planned new regional operation could significantly undercut Air Canada's fares. Although Air Canada remains confident that its hold in domestic markets will remain strong, the new international markets could be important to its fortunes in 2013. Chile and TAM: The merger of Chile's LAN Airlines and Brazil's Grupo TAM in 2012 created Latam, one of the world's largest carriers by market capitalization, and furthered airline consolidation in Latin America. Latam expects demand to remain strong throughout South Americ...

Delta purchased a refinery as a hedge against rising oil prices In a constantly changing and competitive airline industry, there are some carriers that serve as a catalysts for upheavals. Here are the list of 25 airlines that will rock 2013. These airlines are poised to make advances by being a challenge to their competitors. some will influence the industry as they disintegrate others may be reaching a point where either outcome is possible. Wherever the spectrum lies, the airlines will be the major talk of 2013. Delta Airlines: Delta Airline's purchase of a Pennsylvania oil refinery is a hedge against rising crude oil prices and high fuel prices. The purchase of the refinery is expected to fetch the airline $300m in savings. Also the airline's purchase of 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic is expected to give the airline more access to London Heathrow Airport. The airline is at the forefront of the shake up in the US regional airline industry where it wants to pull out 200 ou...

In my last post I talked about the issue of age in relation to safety and the trend by the government to ban aircraft types involved in plane crashes from the country's aviation industry. Recently the House of Representatives in a session passed a resolution calling for the sack of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Harold Demuren for professional negligence. They recommended the revocation of his professional license as well as criminal prosecution for criminal negligence. They called for the revocation of Dana Air's operating license as well as phasing the MD83 out of the Nigerian aviation industry due to the fact that the NCAA does not have a certified engineer type rated on the MD83. I was dazed when the National Assembly misled Nigerians to belief that the Nigerian aviation sector is weak, that NCAA allows unfit aircraft to fly as well as negligence caused the Dana plane to crash. The report on the Dana crash by the National Assembly is a distortion of fact m...

Like most previous air crashes in Nigeria, the crash of the Dana Air McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operating as flight 992 that killed 153 people on board the plane and several on ground has raised the controversial issue of age and safety of aircraft operating in Nigeria as many tried to rationalize the cause of the crash. It is happening even when the Accident Investigation Bureau is yet to conclude its investigation to the cause of the crash Dana Air MD-83. Photo Credit Airliners.net  The National Assembly also lent its voice to the discourse. The three day hearing on the inquiry to the crash also helped in fueling the controversies as regards the age of airplanes operating in Nigeria in relation to safety. In the hearing both houses shamefully displayed gross ignorance on the subject. During the discourse on the issue of age on the online blogs, newspaper articles and social networking sites, i cringed when i saw the way the commentators were displaying highest level of ignor...

Where are the start-up airlines? Start up airlines battle the challenges of rising fuel prices, lack of airport gate and competition from the major carriers. With the big carriers cutting routes and increasing airfares, this should be the ideal time for start up airlines to set cut rate fares and serve smaller airports that are eager for more flights as in the case of Southwest Airlines in 1971 and Jetblue in 2000. It is not so today as rising fuel prices has eaten deep in the airlines' profit and also the smaller airports have low passenger traffic thus leading to cutting routes by the major carriers on grounds that they are unprofitable. In this reality airlines must fly full planes to make a profit. How would a start up airline set cut rate fares in the face of expensive fuel and unprofitable airports? They would have to contend with the major domestic carriers who have taken over almost all the airport gates. Investors are now scared and wary of lending to an airlin...

Here lies N106US at Carolinas Aviation Museum Photo Credit: Flight Global The Airbus A320-214 registered N106US (MSN 1014) now lies at Carolinas Aviation Museum. The airplane operated as US Airways Flight 1549 and nicked named 'miracle of Hudson' is now on permanent display since June 10 2011 Wing section Photo Credit: Flight Global In January 15, 2009, the aircraft was on its scheduled flight from La Gaurdia Airport in New york when it ingested some Canadian Geese. Captain Sully had to ditch the aircraft into Hudson river. Everyone on board the aircraft survived. The exhibit of the aircraft celebrates all the factors that led to the successful ditching of the aircraft without a loss of life as well as the experience of the crew.It also exhibits the safety of the A320 as it is equipped with extended over water certification. The A320 is one of the few in US Airways' fleet equipped with the safety certification. It is equipped with life vests and raft for every pa...

LOT Polish's new Boeing 787 leaving Everett for Poland. Photo Credit: Boeing LOT Polish Airlines has just taken delivery of its first Boeing 787. It is the first airline in Europe to take delivery of Boeing's newest plane

Developed in the 1970s and implemented in the 1990s. The glass cockpit has a lot of advantages for pilots. Technically referred to as Technically Enhanced Cockpit, it refers to series of flight management computers that can be programmed to fly an aircraft A Glass cockpit for an Airbus A320. Photo credit: Airliners.net A glass cockpit for a B777. Photo credit: Airliners.net A glass cockpit for a B737-800. Photo credit: Airliners.net A glass cockpit is a new technology in an airplane that features series of electronic or digital displays on an LCD screen as opposed to an analogue cockpit that features gauges or dials. Glass cockpits are easier to read and much more accurate than their analogue counterpart. Advantages to Pilots? Though pilots still use the T formation scan to cross check. The glass cockpit makes this checks easier and reduces stress and fatigue on the part of the pilots and it is less likely that a critical gauge will be missed. Again, they have fewer bre...

Some airline executives are saying a combination of retirements, airline expansion, and an imminent change in FAA rules that could set a minimum of 1,500 hours for first officers will create a pilot shortage, but CBS news analyst Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger said the airlines are employing "scare tactics." In a story in Sunday's Wall Street Journal , Dan Garton, CEO of American Eagle, said the impact of the FAA's proposed new first-officer rule "is going to become much more visible when regionals have to decrease their flying" for lack of pilots. The airline may have to eliminate service to some smaller cities, he said. Sullenberger said on CBS on Monday that airline executives are crying wolf, with the aim to pressure the FAA into reducing the first-officer requirements in the final version of the new rule. Photo Credit: Hipster Travel Guide "This [rule change] is not a surprise to anyone," Sullenberger said. He adde...

Ahead of its scheduled operations in Africa, Fastjet has unveiled its livery The new livery on their A319. Photo Courtesy of flighglobal.com

Ice has always being a major factor in flight safety and it has contributed to plane crashes. Ice affects the performance of an aircraft and when there is a build up of it in the wing profile of the plane it increases its drag and causes it it to stall and then crash. Examples are the Air Florida Flight 90 of January 13, 1982 and, American Eagle Flight 4184 and the Air Ontario crash at Dryden Airport in 1989 the list goes on and one. The Federal Aviation Administration has made it mandatory for every aircraft to be deiced before take off whenever there is snow. icing occurs during flights and it is also important that pilots check their if their aircraft is deiced before take off.   H anger Warm Up The best method for aircraft deicing may not be the most practical, especially at smaller airports. If possible, warm the airplane up in a hangar, and, as the ice melts, wipe the wings with a towel or chamois to avoid re-icing when the plane leaves the hangar. Then, apply a thin, pr...

Towing the Airbus A380 is labor intensive and strssful