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| Jat Airline |
The management of Serbia’s national carrier has denied claims that the airline is on the brink of bankruptcy as speculated in some Serbian tabloids after yesterday’s cost cutting measures were announced. The airline’s management has said business is as usual and is reminding that 2008 will, in passenger terms, be the most successful year since 1990. The airline did confirm it will be decreasing its fleet however they remind people that this is done every winter due to the decrease in frequencies and that the 2009 summer season is already in the planning stages. It has been confirmed that 2 B737-300’s will be leased to an airline in Africa.
Some media have also started questioning if yesterday’s announcement of cost cutting measures is genuine and have actually been introduced to decrease costs. They suggest that Jat’s management is actually preparing the airline for an unsuccessful privatisation and that way it will be able to fire as many as 800 people under the explanation it is due to the financial state of the airline. Further adding to the argument is an announcement less than a month ago from Jat’s CEO that the airline will have a healthy profit by the end of December 2008.
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| Jat airline denies bankruptcy |
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| Jat airline |
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| Jat Airways |
Jat Airways, Serbia’s national airline which is currently on sale has found itself in a financial crisis as airlines around Europe go bankrupt on a daily basis with XL and most probably Alitalia becoming the latest victims. Jat Airways CEO Saša Vlaisavljević has outlined the new cost cutting measures stating that the airline is facing “the biggest crisis in its 81 year history” and is asking the government for help. The new cost cutting measures are outlined below:
EMPLOYEES: More than half of Jat’s employees working in the airline’s offices outside the country have been returned back to the airline’s headquarters in Belgrade. Many offices have been closed with official Jat ticketing agents only staying open only at airports. Jat has a unique network of worldwide offices including Toronto, New York, Chicago, Beijing and Sydney. The office in Dubai recently closed its doors and all sales have been left to Jat’s station manager at the airport. Employees got even worse news today when it was announced that 800 people will lose their jobs which would bring Jat down to 1.000 employees. On top of this employees, including the airline’s CEO and directors will get a 15% pay cut starting October.
FLEET: From October 25, 2008 (when the winter season begins) Jat will ground many of its aircraft in order to reduce costs. Jat will operate with a fleet of 9 aircraft – 6 Boeing 737-300’s and 3 ATR72’s. Jat currently operates with a fleet of 16 aircraft (10 B737-300’s, 5 ATR-72’s and 1 B737-400).
CATERING: Even the airline’s Jat Catering agency will not be speared. Catearing will be reduced by more than 50% meaning that there will be less food and beverages (which are for now still all free of charge) offered on flights. Jat’s CEO is asking for understanding from passengers.
PRIVATISATION: Adding to the crisis is practically no interest in the purchase of the company. The Serbian Privatisation Agency will, in late September, release the list of airlines interested in purchasing Jat while an opportunity for companies to make offers for the purchase of the airline will end in mid October. Reports suggest there have been no offers sent in signalling a failure for the privatisation.
Jat Airways managed to survive the 1990’s when all international services were cut, plenty of aircraft sold and thousands of staff fired as the UN imposed sanctions and war broke out across the Yugoslavia. It even survived the 1999, 78 day, bombing of its country and hub. Will the airline survive the 2009 global economic crisis remains to be seen. The signs for now are not pointing in a positive direction.
Note: Soon the blog will publish Jat’s new winter schedule and all the changes that will come with it. This will be followed by all the other national airlines from the EX-YU region.
One common weight and balance problem involves moving passengers from one seat to another or
shifting baggage or cargo from one compartment to another to move the CG to a desired location. This also can be visualized by using a board with three weights and then working out the problem the way it is actually done on an airplane.
Solution by Chart
The CG of a board can be moved by shifting the weights as demonstrated in Figure 2-10. As the board is loaded, it balances at a point 72 inches from the CG of weight A. [Figure 2-11]
To shift weight B so the board will balance about its center, 50 inches from the CG of weight A, first determine the arm of weight B that will produce a moment that causes the total moment of all three weights around this desired balance point to be zero. The combined moment of weights A and C around this new balance point, is 5,000 in-lb, so the moment of weight B will have to be -5,000 lbin in order for the board to balance. [Figure 2-12]
Determine the arm of weight B by dividing its moment, -5,000 lb-in, by its weight of 200 pounds. Its arm is -25 inches.
To balance the board at its center, weight B will have to be placed so its CG is 25 inches to the left of the center of the board, as in Figure 2-13.
Having completed a season of heli skiing, I believe based at Mount Cook, is the AS350D AStar
ZK-HYW2 , c/n 1420. A late 1981 production helicopter which joined Rick Lucas Helicopters on 17-02-1995. Resting up at Helipro today.
Bell 206B JetRanger II
ZK-HTX , c/n 1616 started work in the Orient in February 1975, returning to the States in 1981 and imported into ZK land and listed with Farm Helicopters at Ardmore on 27-06-1984. It is a resonably recent arrival down Canterbury way, being registered to Rural Helicopters (Canterbury) Ltd of Harwarden on 11-03-2008. Here it is at Helipro today.
ZK-HFJ3 c/n LN027 is one of three NOTAR's on the field at the moment.It is a 1992 model and has spent time, following export from the US, in Denmark and Belgium before returning to the US. It came onto the NZ register on 15-02-05 with Oceania and went to Alpine Hunting Adventures at Franz Josef (Hence HFJ). Seen today at Heli-Maintenance.
Across the fences at Skysales was the Hughes 369E ZK-INO. See blog below.
On Tuesday, Embraer announced the sale of the first Embraer 195 jet to Montenegro Airlines. The agreement with the national airline of Montenegro also includes purchase rights for two more aircraft of the same model. Montenegro Airlines already operates an Embraer 195 under a leasing contract. The value of the deal, at list price, is US$39.5 million, and could total US$118.5 million, if all of the purchase rights are exercised. The Embraer 195 for Montenegro Airlines will comfortably seat 116 passengers in a single-class layout, and delivery is expected in 2009. The company plans to use the new airplane for key markets in Europe, including routes to cities like London and Moscow.
Last June, Embraer delivered the first E195 jet to Montenegro Airlines through a leasing operation carried out by GE Commercial Aviation Services. This leasing contract includes another aircraft of the same model for delivery next year that will increase the airline's fleet to three Embraer 195s by mid 2009. Andrija Lompar, the Minister of Transport, maritime affairs and telecommunications of the Republic of Montenegro, stated, "Next year, with three new Embraer E-Jets in the fleet of this national airline, it will continue the expected passenger growth trend, entering new markets and introducing more destinations, thus making a quality contribution to economic development". The Embraer 195 is the largest and newest aircraft of the modern four- member Embraer 170/190 family of E-Jets, and entered revenue service in September 2006. In June 2008, the E-Jets had logged 847 firm orders and 827 options. Today, over 400 aircraft in operation have surpassed 1.5 million flight hours.
New MD500E S/N:0580E ZK-INO imported by the NZ MD Distributor Skysales Aviation. Carried US reg N9080F with MD Helicopters. Test flown from Christchurch 17.09.08
This equation can also be rearranged to find the amount of weight to shift to move the CG to a desired location:
It can also be rearranged to find the amount the CG is moved when a given amount of weight is shifted:
Finally, this equation can be rearranged to find the total weight that would allow shifting a given amount of weight to move the CG a given distance:
Solution by Formula
Rearrange this formula to determine the distance weight B must be shifted:
The CG of the board in Figure 2-10 was 72 inches from the datum. This CG can be shifted to the center of the board as in Figure 2-13 by moving weight B. If the 200- pound weight B is moved 55 inches to the left, the CG will shift from 72 inches to 50 inches, a distance of 22 inches. The sum of the moments about the new CG will be zero. [Figure 2-14]
When the distance the weight is to be shifted is known, the amount of weight to be shifted to move the CG to any location can be determined by another arrangement of the basic equation. Use the following arrangement of the formula to determine the amount of weight that will have to be shifted from station 80 to station 25, to move the CG from station 72 to station 50.
Moving weight B from +80 to +25 will move the CG 22 inches, from its original location at +72 to its new location at +50 as seen in Figure 2-13. 
