Aerospace Diary

AINALERTS  »  SEPTEMBER 5, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS September 5, 2013, 11:20 AM Mumbai-based Baron Aviation has launched Baron Eagle, a jet card that will provide members the benefits of the company’s mixed fleet of nine business jets and helicopters, including the Challenger 604, Falcon 2000, Global Express, Hawker 750,  AS355N  and Bell 412 and 407. As India’s rupee, and its economy, faces downward pressure, “We found this the right time to introduce the jet card,” Rajeev Wadhwa, chairman and  CEO  of Baron Luxury and Lifestyles, told  AIN . “While India is not short on billionaires, people aren’t making business jet purchases at this time. Since the aircraft is not a performing asset, people don’t want it to be sitting in their books.” Wadhwa said he hopes to sign some 100 jet-card members over the next three months. By the end of the first year, he expects the aircraft to have completed 5,000 ho...

AVIATION INTERNATIONAL NEWS  »  SEPTEMBER 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Despite tough times, India’s Nirma Group took delivery of an AgustaWestland GrandNew light twin outfitted in full VIP configuration. September 4, 2013, 3:10 AM Even as the presence of helicopter  OEM s doubled in India (to 10 from five), double-digit growth in its civil helicopter fleet in the seven years preceding 2011 gave way to negative growth last year when the fleet reduced from 293 to 266. High operational costs, exacerbated by a depreciated rupee that fell 35 percent in the past 40 months, are posing challenges for the industry. “It’s a cumulative result of lack of optimum utilization, safety performance, infrastructure constraints and regulatory issues,” said K. Sridharan, president of the Rotary Wing Society of India ( RWSI ). The cost-related issues of the helicopter industry range from micro to macro even as the  RWSI  has call...

Posted by Neelam Mathews Sept 2, 2013 Singapore Airlines has launched a brand new campaign today - 'The lengths we go to.' In these times of service getting a backseat- this is refreshing for those who savor memories of airlines giving attention to people first. The global campaign, which will run on television, print and digital platforms,turns the spotlight on the lengths to which the Airline goes to make every customer feel special. It is the culmination of a wide-ranging review which started a year ago, aimed at focusing the Airline’s marketing communications on the attributes that set it apart from the rest of the industry. Customers across different age, income and gender groups were interviewed as part of the review, which was conducted with creative agency TBWA, says SIA,

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ _________                                                              August 30, 2013 PRESS BRIEFING BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS ON SYRIA Via Conference Call 1:20 P.M. EDT      MS. HAYDEN:  Hi, everyone.  Thanks for joining us on what we know is a busy day.  We are doing this call on background with senior administration officials to talk to you about the documents you just received -- the U.S. government assessment of the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons on August 21st.      The call is on backgro...

Neelam Mathews Aug 31, 2013 They say history repeats itself along with all the mistakes. Now it seems the US might once again be putting its internal security at risk with its decision on military intervention on Syria following its chemical weapons attack. Even as Secretary of State John Kerry explained why military action against Syria was justified, the Heritage Foundation slammed the decision saying it lacked strategy and would not deter Syria to act again, leading to a spiral of violence and escalation of civil war. On Kerry’s remark: “And history would judge us all extraordinarily harshly if we turned a blind eye to a dictator's wanton use of weapons of mass destruction ………,” Brett Schaefer, Jay Kingham Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs, Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, said in a concall: “A lot of this is based on emotion that Secy Kerry is playing on.” It is also clear now that Kerry’s reference to many countries willing to support the US were “exa...