The Week in Brief 28 July 2011

Virgin Australia opened its new Brisbane Airport lounge this week. The 200-seat lounge (pictured) is just the first step in a complete Brisbane terminal revamp for the airline.    

   

    

NASA astronaut Dr Greg Chamitoff will talk in detail about the last flight of the space shuttle Endeavour the University of Sydney on 2 August. Entry is free, but pre-registration is essential via www.sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas    

    

     

Earlybird registration for October's prestigious Safeskies conference in Canberra closes tomorrow (29 July): www.safeskiesaustralia.org    

    

          

A special task force has been set up to review a number of aspects of the safety regulation of general aviation in Australia. CASA has established the task force to look at general aviation pilot licensing, air operator's certificates and relevant safety requirements. The task force will initially focus on aerial agriculture, "because this is a vibrant sector of general aviation with a wide range of safety issues that need to be considered".    

    

    

Contractors in the US have been told to stop work on critical airport modernization projects after Congress failed to pass legislation on Friday
giving the FAA the authority necessary for work to continue. Dozens of 'stop work orders' have been issued for major projects designed to build and modernize control towers and other aviation infrastructure from coast to coast. “Unless Congress acts quickly, more work on projects critical to our nation’s aviation system will come to a halt. Work is stopping on construction and planning projects, NextGen system testing, and airport certification.  The list goes on and on and this is just the beginning,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt.

 

French accident investigators will release a third interim report tomorrow into the loss of the Air France A330-200 over the South Atlantic two years ago. T

    

    

   

Australian advanced materials company Quickstep has advised that it has received its first Purchase Order to manufacture parts for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, marking the first contract in what is expected to be a 20-year-plus manufacturing program. The purchase order covers production of Group 1 components for the F-35 over the next 12 months, as scheduled under the Long Term Agreement signed with principal subcontractor Northrop Grumman in February 2011.    

    

 

ICAO president Roberto Kobeh Gonzales has made a point of congratulating Garuda on the vast improvement in its safety and service over the last few years. "Four years ago the level of compliance with international airline safety standards in Indonesian airlines was around 50 per cent," he said in Jakarta last week. "Now it has improved to 80 per cent... There have have been so many tremendous changes at Garuda, it's as if I'm visiting a different company this time round."    

    

 

There's little doubt about the direction Boeing is taking to counter the Airbus 'neo' revamp of its single-aisle product, with the US manufacturer reporting that it expects to finalise configuration for a re-engined 737 within four weeks. The final decisions are around the size of the CFM International Leap-X engine that will power the variant. The delay is related to the fan size in the engine which may require a nose gear lengthening to allow for the 43 cm clearance required beneath the nacelle.    

    

 

There's a move afoot in the US to make compliance with the upcoming European emissions trading scheme illegal for US carriers; with the proposed legislation claiming that the ETS "directly unfringes on the sovereignty of the United States". It's an initiative of only two congressmen, but it's getting nods of approval from some industry leaders so it could well gain further traction.