Summary: Guest Edward (Ned) Russell is an airline reporter at Flightglobal. We talk about the American Airlines / US Airways merger and the DOJ antitrust suit. Also, the CSeries in China, airline capacity increases on the West Coast, and airline strategy based around considerations like anciliatory fees, airfare pricing, new more efficient aircraft, and route planning. We also get an update on the Delta refinery. Ned has been a reporter for seven years, covering aviation throughout but only full-time since 2012 with Flightglobal. Prior to joining Flightglobal, Ned wrote for Project Finance Magazine in New York and FinanceAsia in Hong Kong. He began his writing career with a profile of the then brand new Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok for Airliners Magazine. Follow Ned on Twitter as @e_russell. The Week’s Aviation News: American Airlines’ record profit could hurt merger plans AMR Corporation Reports Third Quarter Net Profit Of $530 Million, Excluding Reorganization And Special Items Bombardier identifies Chinese company as secret buyer of CSeries aircraft Two Boeing 747s almost crash midair after all four pilots failed to follow instructions UK Airprox Board report [PDF] FBI Investigating Laser Pointer at LGA FBI assigns terrorism unit to investigate laser attacks on pilots David Vanderhoof’s Aircraft of the Week: The Mooney M20, report provided by listener Tilman Hierath from the above the ground blog. Post photo above is of a M20L PFM that Tilman took at his home base of Strausberg (EDAY), just outside of Berlin, Germany. It is one of the very rare Mooneys with a Porsche engine. In this week’s Australia Desk: It’s that time of year again and we’re not just meaning Spring’s inevitable hayfever allergy attacks: Yes, it’s the Qantas AGM once again! Joyce forecasts red for Qantas this year as yields are expected to drop 3% across the board (no sign of increases in travellers post election). Speaking of kangaroos, flying and red: a roo hopped into one of Melbourne airport’s concourse shopping areas, forcing Steve to ask if he’d just skipped through security. At least Qantas has been able to get another shiny new 737-800 for their fleet, making it their 68th so far. Scoot is going to start flights between Singapore and Perth with introductory fares of $88 plus taxes, fees and ancillary charges which no doubt will include baggage, check-in (with or without sabre), seating, food, drink, air, etc. etc. etc. Find more from Grant and Steve at the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast, and follow the show on Twitter at @pcdu. Steve’s at @stevevisscher and Grant at @falcon124. In this week’s Across the Pond segment: This week we talk to Matt Falcus about his new book Airlines of the USA, which charts the history of the majority of the airlines that have plied their trade in the USA from the start of aviation flying through to present day. The book lists the mergers and losses of some of the greats and also manages to tell the story of the smaller airlines as well. See Matt’s Airport Spotting blog. Find Pieter on Twitter as @Nascothornet, on Facebook at XTPMedia, and at the Aviation Xtended podcast. Mentioned: NYCAviation.com FAA webpage: Laser Hazards & Effects Reaching for the Skies – The Adventures of Flight (Episode 02) [Air Venture at 4:45, Bob Hoover at 19:11, Captain Brian Walpole at 40:40.] Mysterious arrows protect aviators Opening and closing music courtesy Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at www.brotherloverocks.com.
