Lion Air dan Garuda Bakal Tambah Pilot

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Perusahaan penerbangan PT Lion Mentari Airlines akan menambah jumlah pilotnya untuk mengimbangi kenaikan armadanya. "Kami menargetkan akan menambah 200 orang pilot setiap tahun untuk mengimbangi pertambahan armada," kata Edward Sirait, Direktur Umum Lion, Jumat (16/12/2011).

Saat ini, Lion telah memiliki 600 orang pilot. Seperti diketahui, November lalu Lion Air baru saja memesan 230 unit pesawat Boeing 737 Maxs produksi Boeing Co. Rencananya, pesawat ini akan mulai didatangkan tahun 2017.

Edward mengatakan, hingga pemberlakuan ASEAN Open Sky tahun 2015 nanti, Lion memprediksi kebutuhan karyawan baru akan mencapai 22.000 orang, termasuk engineer dan pilot. Selain menambah armada, tahun depan Lion juga berniat memindahkan sekolah pilot Wings Flying School (WFS) yang saat ini berlokasi di Cirebon ke Kalimantan atau Sulawesi. Pemindahan lokasi ini dikarenakan trafik penerbangan di Jawa sudah padat.

Alhasil, tempat latihan calon pilot pun terbatas. Saat ini, WFS dapat mencetak sekitar 100 orang pilot dalam setahun. Setelah dipindahkan, Lion berharap WFS bisa mencetak 300 orang pilot dalam setahun.

Selain Lion, PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk (GIAA) juga tengah berencana menambah pilot. Menurut Emirsyah Satar, Direktur Utama Garuda, pihaknya akan merekrut sekitar 400 pilot hingga 2015. Di saat itu, Garuda berniat mengoperasikan 154 unit pesawat. Saat ini Garuda telah memiliki 1.000 orang pilot.

Kebutuhan pilot yang tinggi juga diakui oleh Bobby Mamahit, KepalaBadan Pengembangan Sumber Daya Manusia Kementerian Perhubungan. Menurutnya, kebutuhan pilot di Indonesia mencapai 800 orang per tahun. Sementara Sekolah Tinggi Penerbangan Indonesia Curug hanya mampu menghasilkan 120 orang pilot per tahun.

Walau ditambah dengan sekolah penerbangan swasta yang bisa mencetak 300 orang pilot per tahun, kebutuhan pilot belum tercukupi. "Karena itu, kami akan menjadikan Bandara Polonia, Medan sebagai basis sekolah penerbangan baru setelah Curug," kata Bobby.

source: kompas.com

Boeing: FAA certifies 787 with Package B engines

Boeing has obtained US FAA certification of the 787 with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 Package B engines, capping a seven month flight test programme for the enhanced 70,000lb thrust turbofan.

Package B upgrades include a modified low-pressure turbine design, relocation of the intermediate pressure compressor bleed off-take ports and improved aerodynamics for the fan outlet guide vanes.

Launch customer All Nippon Airways, will be the first to receive the engines, which Flightglobal has reported will bring specific fuel consumption to within 1% of the original specification.

European Aviation Safety Agency regulators approved the Package B version of the engine earlier this month.

source: flightglobal.com

7,000th Airbus Aircraft Delivered

Airbus announced today that the European plane maker delivered its 7,000th aircraft, an A321, to US Airways – the airline that operates the largest fleet of Airbus aircraft in the world. This milestone comes just two years after the delivery of Airbus’ 6,000th aircraft.

The 1,000th Airbus delivery was an A340-300 that went to Air France in 1993, nineteen years after the first Airbus aircraft was delivered – an A300B2 also to Air France, in 1974.

The 2,000th delivery was six years later in 1999. It took half that time, just three years, to get to the 3,000th delivery in 2002 and three more years to reach 4,000 deliveries.

The tempo went up another notch taking Airbus only two years to hand over its 5,000th aircraft, an A330-200 to Qantas in December 2007. The 6,000th Airbus was an A380 which was delivered to Emirates in January 2010.

By the end of the year, US Airways will operate a fleet of 93 A319s, 72 A320s, 63 A321s and 16 A330s. The airline also has firm orders for additional 58 A320 Family aircraft, eight A330 aircraft and 22 A350 XWBs on backlog.

Photos – The 7,000th Airbus aircraft



Photos: (c) 2011 Airbus S.A.S.

source: flightstory.net

7000th Boeing 737 Delivered

The 7000th Boeing 737 built was delivered yesterday to Dubai-based flydubai. This Next-Generation 737-800 has been equipped with the new Boeing Sky Interior.

“It is incredible to be delivering our 7,000th 737. We thank flydubai and all our customers who have made the 737 the world’s most popular jet airliner,” said Beverly Wyse, vice president and general manager of the 737 program. “This success is due to the years of expertise that thousands of employees continue to build into every Boeing 737 used in private, government and commercial service.”

In November 2010, flydubai had the distinction to be the first airline in the world to offer passengers an enhanced onboard experience with the brand new Boeing Sky Interior.




The 737 is the most produced large commercial jet airliner in history and continues to hit the record books as the program produces airplanes at record rates. The gap between each record delivery is shrinking. It took Boeing 4 years 8 months between the 4,000th and 5,000th, while the gap between the 5,000th and 6,000th delivery was 3 years and 2 months. The 7,000th delivery is just 2 years and 8 months after the 6,000th. With 737 production rates increasing incrementally to a record 42 airplanes a month in the first half of 2014 the gap will continue to close.

The 737 MAX is the new-engine variant of the B737 and builds on the strengths of today’s Next-Generation 737. Powered by the new CFM International LEAP-1B engines, the 737 MAX reduces fuel burn and CO2 emissions.

With more than 5,400 airplanes in service, the 737 represents more than a quarter of the total worldwide fleet of large commercial jets flying today. More than 358 airlines in 114 countries fly 737s.

Photo: (c) Boeing
source: flightstory.com