President Trump accused Iranian general Qassem Soleimani of planning “imminent and sinister attacks” Friday in his first televised remarks since thedeadly airstrike that killed the generalat Baghdad’s international airport.
“We took action last night to stop a war,” Trump said during brief remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “We did not take action to start a war.”
Without divulging details about what led to the early morning airstrike that killed Soleimani and nine others, the president said the United States “caught” the general “in the act and terminated him.”
“Soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion,” Trump added, saying that “what the U.S. did yesterday should have been done long ago.”
The killing of Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, marks a major escalation in the standoff between Washington and Tehran, which has careened from one crisis to another since Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and imposed crippling sanctions.
Senior State Department officials described the killing as a defensive strike supported by solid intelligence and claimed Soleimani was planning imminent attacks against United States interests and personnel in the region.
A Boeing [NYSE: BA]-built satellite called JCSAT-18/Kacific1 will provide affordable internet access and other communications services to underserved parts of Asia and the Pacific islands.
The satellite launched today from Cape Canaveral, Florida at about 7:10 p.m. It will enter service several weeks after on-orbit tests and moving to its final geostationary orbit position over the Asia-Pacific region.
Built on Boeing’s 702 satellite platform, JCSAT-18/Kacific1 has two separate payloads for two customers, SKY Perfect JSAT of Tokyo and Kacific Broadband Satellites Group of Singapore. The satellite will deliver internet services to a potential market comprising hundreds of millions of people in more than 25 countries, including remote islands in the Pacific and the far eastern part of Russia.
“JCSAT-18/Kacific1 is going to make a difference in the lives of millions of people throughout the Asia Pacific region,” said Chris Johnson, president, Boeing Satellite Systems International. “We are proud to support SKY Perfect JSAT and Kacific as they seek to bring positive change through connectivity in regions that have been traditionally underserved.”
JCSAT-18/Kacific1 is the 13th satellite Boeing has built for SKY Perfect JSAT and the first satellite built for Kacific.
JetBlue Founder David Neeleman Selects Salt Lake City as Headquarters for New Airline
America’s newest and perhaps most innovative airline does not yet have a name, or any airplanes. But it now has a headquarters.
David Neeleman’s startup will be based in Salt Lake City, where it plans to spend a capital investment of $3.2 million and create nearly 400 jobs over the next five years, according to local authorities. In return, the state offered tax rebates worth as much as about $1.1 million over five years.
“There’s a super strong technology base, and lower cost of living than California and some of the coastal areas,” Lukas Johnson, the airline’s chief commericial said in an interview. “We want to focus more on the technology aspect of the transportation side, and it makes a lot of sense. The tech sector is booming out here.”
Melbourne, Florida, November 25, 2019 – Embraer Services & Support announces the expansion of its Executive Jets Service Center at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (KFLL). As of November 1, Embraer has expanded its service capacity through a lease agreement with Jetscape Services for a dedicated hangar.
“We are thrilled with the added capacity to better serve our customers, whether they are based in the region or just traveling through Florida,” said Frank Stevens, Vice President, Global MRO Centers, Embraer Services & Support. “Our expansion in South Florida allows us to further elevate the customer experience for aircraft owners and fleet operators alike, in addition to creating 40 new high-tech jobs for the community.”
Embraer’s presence in Florida is strategic to its Executive Jets customers throughout the Southern United States, the Caribbean and Central America as well as to those whose travel frequently brings them through South Florida.
“We are proud to offer Embraer the infrastructure for their customer support expansion in Florida,” said Troy Menken, Jetscape President. “Since 2002 we have served customers from around the world with aircraft of all sizes, and we are confident that our ground support expertise will ensure that Embraer customers will enjoy a premium experience.”
Embraer’s owned service center in South Florida is also the base for the Embraer Airworthiness Management program, where customers can meet with the team to learn how the program can be customized to deliver peace of mind and drive aircraft value retention. The program provides customers with a dedicated Certified Airworthiness Manager to plan, coordinate, and monitor all maintenance and airworthiness requirements throughout the aircraft’s lifecycle.
The Embraer Airworthiness Management program ensures the full regulatory compliance of aircraft maintenance and records through MyEmbraer.com, in addition to providing negotiation and dispute resolution services with suppliers to maximize cost savings for the customer. Smoother operations are a key benefit of the program’s advanced planning service, especially for customers with a tight operational schedule.
About Jetscape
Jetscape is a full-service, boutique fixed based operator (FBO) at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (KFLL). We provide a private terminal for general aviation traffic, aircraft fueling services, and aircraft storage facilities. Founded in 2002, Jetscape has over 17 years of demonstrated success in providing customer service, aircraft ground support, and property management.
Jetscape operates on more than 21+ acres at FLL with more than 100,000+ square feet of combined hangar space. We serve a broad spectrum of aircraft ranging from small single-engine piston aircraft to the world’s largest cargo carriers and we are the exclusive U.S. Military and Federal Government contractor at FLL.
Our mission is to create an unforgettable customer experience that is second to none. We aim to provide a bespoke, state-of-the-art gateway for business and tourism, to be an employer of choice, and a model of efficiency. We are excited to be your provider of aviation services, to support your business needs, and to share in your vision for customer and employee experience. We look forward to your arrival.
NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) – A former British Airways executive who oversaw the carrier’s operations at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport has been indicted for accepting bribes to help a ground handling company win contracts, New York’s attorney general said on Tuesday.
The charges announced by Attorney General Letitia James against Steven Clark, who she said directed British Airways operations at JFK Terminal 7, arose from “Operation Greased Runway,” a probe into contracting and procurement at JFK.
John Kinsella, a former chief executive of Ground Services International (GSI) accused of making improper payments to Clark, was also charged in the case.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty, according to their respective lawyers. British Airways, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, was not charged.
James said Clark received more than $5 million and a secret 5% stake in GSI over several years from Kinsella, in exchange for promoting that company’s services.
According to court papers, payments were concealed from Britain’s flag carrier with fake invoices, and sometimes laundered through companies that Clark or Kinsella created.
James said Clark also received improper sums from another vendor, while Kinsella paid an executive who helped run JFK Terminal 1, which houses several airlines, to win his support.
Clark, 61, of New York, and Kinsella, 59, of Naples, Florida, were each charged with several counts, including bribery and money laundering, and arraigned before a New York state judge in Queens.
“Mr. Clark is innocent of the charges to which he pleaded not guilty, and expects to be vindicated,” Clark’s lawyer Kevin O’Brien said in a phone interview.
Kinsella’s lawyer Brian Legghio said his client was also innocent, looked forward to clearing his name, and had been awarded his JFK contacts on merit and based on his reputation. He said Kinsella sold GSI three years ago.
GSI agreed with James’ predecessor Barbara Underwood last December to a $12.3 million settlement related to the probe.
“Today’s indictment sends a clear massage to airline companies and airport vendors: pay-to-play schemes will not fly in New York,” James said in a statement.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York Editing by Tom Brown)
DES MOINES, Iowa, Nov. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — State and local officials joined executives from Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ: ALGT) today as the company announced plans to establish a two-aircraft base at Des Moines International Airport (DSM). The announcement heralds the leisure airline’s 20th base of operations, a $50 million investment which will locate two Airbus A320 aircraft in Des Moines, bringing at least 66 new, high-wage jobs to the community. The Las Vegas-based carrier will begin base operations at DSM on May 14, 2020.
“For Allegiant to select Des Moines International Airport as a base of operations is a historic day for Des Moines, our airport and the two-and-a-half million passengers who fly through our City each year,” said Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie. “The financial investment and well-paying jobs this brings to our community is significant and most appreciated. And to those flight crews and ground personnel who will be our new neighbors, we say thank you for flying Allegiant and welcome to Des Moines.”
Iowa’s capital city and the Greater Des Moines region are the core of one of the fastest growing areas in the Midwest. Home to more than 791,000 residents, the region is known for iconic festivals and events, sports and outdoor recreation opportunities, as well as a burgeoning business environment. In recent years, Des Moines has been named among the nation’s top places to live (US News & World Report, 2018) and top locations for business and careers. (Forbes, 2017)
“In many ways, today’s announcement is the culmination of a more than 15-year relationship between Allegiant and Des Moines International Airport, where we’ve steadily grown our operation to meet increasing demand,” said Keith Hansen, Allegiant’s vice president of government affairs. “Having locally-based aircraft and crews will open up a wide range of options for new service and more flights throughout the day. We’re excited to bring more opportunities for affordable, convenient travel, and expand Allegiant’s presence as a hometown airline for Hawkeye state residents.”
Allegiant began service at DSM in 2003 and currently offers eight non-stop routes – to Orlando-Sanford, St. Pete-Clearwater, Punta Gorda, Destin-Fort Walton Beach and Sarasota, Florida; Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona; Los Angeles, California; and Las Vegas, Nevada. Allegiant in 2018 carried more than 232,000 annual passengers through Des Moines, and is on track to eclipse that number in 2019.
“The Des Moines International Airport continues to play a critical role in the economic vitality of the region with this announcement,” said Kevin Foley, Des Moines Airport Authority Executive Director. “Iowans continue to prove travel is important to them and DSM is committed to growing air service in our market. Through this partnership with Allegiant, not only will we be adding jobs in our community, we will be opening the door for new destinations and adventures.”
Allegiant, which employs more than 4,300 team members across the U.S., plans to immediately begin hiring pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and ground personnel to support the operations. The majority of the new positions are expected to offer salaries that are more than double the state’s average wage. Interested applicants may apply online.
“Allegiant’s investment in Greater Des Moines will significantly contribute to the vibrancy of our rapidly growing regional economy,” said Jay Byers, CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. “The continued advancement of the Des Moines International Airport is one of our strategic priorities, and this expansion project will position DSM for multiple new destinations.”
SEATTLE, Nov. 8, 2019 – Boeing [NYSE: BA] last week delivered the first of nine P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) to the United Kingdom Royal Air Force (RAF). The United Kingdom is acquiring the multi-mission aircraft through the Foreign Military Sales process with the U.S. Navy. The P-8A Poseidon replaces the U.K.’s retired Nimrod aircraft.
Speaking to attendees at the delivery ceremony, Air Marshal Andrew Turner, deputy commander for Capability for the Royal Air Force, spoke of the “profound challenge” of enemy submarines threatening the U.K. and other nations. “P-8 is the key to solving this challenge on the surface, the sub-surface and in the waters of the North Atlantic. There is no place [for our enemies] to hide. We will make the oceans transparent and we will prevail.”
Boeing formally delivered the aircraft on Oct. 29 to the U.S. Navy during a ceremony at the Boeing Military Delivery Center in Tukwila, Wash. From Tukwila, the aircraft flew to the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, where U.S. Navy leaders officially turn the aircraft over to the United Kingdom. At JAX, Royal Air Force crew will work with the aircraft before flying it to the United Kingdom in January 2020. All nine P-8A aircraft will be based at Lossiemouth, Scotland.
As part of a collaborative program with the U.S. Navy, pilots and maintainers from the United Kingdom’s RAF have been stationed at Naval Air Station JAX since 2012. Called “Project Seedcorn,” the arrangement has allowed RAF members to fly the P-8A with Patrol Squadron Thirty (VP-30), the Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Fleet Replacement Squadron, to maintain their maritime patrol skills in advance of receiving the P-8A.
The P-8 is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations. In addition, the P-8 performs humanitarian and search and rescue missions around the globe.
INNOVIA APM vehicles carry twelve million passengers annually at Frankfurt am Main Airport – with almost 100 percent reliability
The system’s 25-year anniversary corresponds with Fraport’s opening of Terminal 2
Bombardier’s Frankfurt team celebrating the 25th anniversary of successfully operating and maintaining the INNOVIA APM fleet at Frankfurt Airport.
Today, global mobility solution provider Bombardier Transportation celebrates 25 years of fully automatic BOMBARDIER INNOVIA APM 100 people mover system’s operation at Frankfurt am Main Airport. The system and Fraport’s Terminal 2 opened on the same day 25 years ago. Since 1994, Germany’s first elevated passenger transport system called the SkyLine, has connected Terminals 1 and 2. With an average reliability of 99.83 percent, twelve million passengers and guests per year safely and comfortably arrive at their destinations in the terminals – around the clock.
“We’d like to congratulate our customer on this quarter century anniversary. We have a very successful and long-standing partnership with Fraport, which marks our joint success in moving millions of travelers between terminals at the Frankfurt Airport,” said Michael Fohrer, Head of Bombardier Transportation Germany.
“Fraport benefits from a high-performing turnkey transit system, which was not only manufactured by Bombardier, but also operated and maintained. I am grateful to all our committed and competent employees, without them this milestone would not have been possible,” emphasized Alexander Ketterl, Head of Sales and Delivery German cities at Bombardier Transportation.
Volker Maul, Head of the Bombardier team at Frankfurt Airport, can look back on the people mover system’s 25 years of service. “The excellent cooperation within our team and with our customer built the foundation for the system’s near 100 percent reliability. Bombardier’s operations and maintenance program is carefully designed to optimize system performance and ensure potential problems are identified and resolved before the service’s efficiency is compromised,” he explained.
Fraport’s fleet of 18 INNOVIA vehicles transport around thirty-five thousand passengers daily, on the 3.8 km route between departure terminals. During peak times, the trains depart every 90 seconds with each wagon carrying up to 60 passengers and their luggage.
In 1994, Fraport was the first German customer to invest in Bombardier’s driverless system, installed with the proven BOMBARDIER CITYFLO 550 signaling system. CITYFLO delivers the highest levels of safety while meeting customer demand for flexible, high-performance and cost-effective solutions.More than 30 Bombardier people mover systems are in successful operation worldwide, including urban areas such as Guangzhou and airports in London, Rome, Madrid, Phoenix, Dubai and Tampa among other cities.
WASHINGTON/HAVANA, Oct 25 (Reuters) – The U.S. government said on Friday it would bar U.S. airlines from flying to all destinations in Cuba besides Havana starting on Dec. 10 as the Trump administration boosts pressure on the Cuban government.
The U.S. Transportation Department said in a notice it was taking the action at the request of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “further the administration’s policy of strengthening the economic consequences to the Cuban regime for its ongoing repression of the Cuban people and its support for Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.”
The move will bar U.S. air carrier flights to any of the nine international airports in Cuba other than Havana and impact about 8 flights a day.
The prohibition does not impact charter flights. There are no foreign air carriers providing direct scheduled flights between the United States and Cuba.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in a tweet that his country strongly condemned the move and that it “strengthened restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba and its citizens’ freedoms.”
Rodriguez said sanctions would not force Cuba to make concessions to U.S. demands.
These flights carry almost exclusively Cuban Americans visiting home at a time when the Trump administration has drastically reduced visas for Cubans visiting the United States. Some 500,000 Cuban Americans traveled to Cuba last year.
The new measure takes effect soon before Christmas and New Year’s when Cuban Americans flock to the island for family reunions.
Further restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba would be aimed at squeezing the island economically and expanding Trump’s steady rollback of the historic opening to Cuba by Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama. The reversal, along with his pressure on Venezuela, has gone over well among Cuban Americans in South Florida, a key voting bloc in Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign.
Under Obama, the United States reintroduced U.S. airline service to Cuba in 2016. Pompeo said on Twitter on Friday that “this action will prevent the Castro regime from profiting from U.S. air travel and using the revenues to repress the Cuban people.”
According to U.S. officials, JetBlue Airways Corp flies to three destinations in Cuba in addition to Havana from Fort Lauderdale — Camaguey, Holguin and Santa Clara — and American Airlines flies to five Cuban cities beyond Havana from Miami — Camaguey, Holguin, Santa Clara, Santiago de Cuba and Matanzas/Varadero.
American Airlines said it is “reviewing the announcement and “will continue to comply with federal law, work with the administration, and update our policies and procedures regarding travel to Cuba as necessary.”
Jet Blue said it will “operate in full compliance with the new policy concerning scheduled air service between the United States and Cuba. We are beginning to work with our various government and commercial partners to understand the full impact of this change on our customers and operations.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson; additional reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Chris Reese and Sandra Maler)
Airbus and Spirit Airlines have agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding for the U.S.-based airline to acquire up to 100 A320neo Family aircraft. Spirit announced its intention to place firm orders for a mix of A319neo, A320neo, and A321neo to meet its future fleet requirements.
“This new order represents another milestone for Spirit,” said Spirit Airlines’ President and CEO Ted Christie. “The additional aircraft will be used to support Spirit’s growth as we add new destinations and expand our network across the U.S., Latin America, and the Caribbean. We look forward to working with our valued partners at Airbus to finalise our agreement.”
“The Airbus A320 Family has been a strong platform for the remarkable success of Spirit over the past several years,” said Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer. “The ongoing, enthusiastic spirit the airline demonstrates in our A320neo Family is most rewarding, and we look forward to playing a part in the Spirit team’s continued growth for many, many years to come.”
Spirit is a fast growing ultra-low-cost carrier in the Americas, based in South Florida.
Featuring the widest single-aisle cabin in the sky, the best-selling A320neo Family, comprising the A319neo, A320neo, and A321neo, deliver at least 20% reduced fuel burn as well as 50% less noise compared to previous-generation aircraft, thanks to incorporating the very latest technologies including new-generation engines and Sharklets. At the end of September 2019, the A320neo Family had received more than 6,650 firm orders from nearly 110 customers worldwide.
