Aircraft Interiors Design & Cabin Systems engineering: 5 - 7 April 2011

SAS Group airlines flew 2.39 billion RPKs in August, a 7% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 4.2% to 3.07 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 2 points to 78.2%. Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.19 billion RPKs, a 6.5% increase, against a 3.4% rise in capacity to 2.76 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 2.3 points to 79.3%.

Boeing announced it has begun assembly of the 1,000th 767, a 767-300ER, at its Everett factory. Mechanics have loaded the wing spar into the assembly tool, it said. "This is an important milestone for the 767, which has continued to evolve and improve since entering service nearly 30 years ago," 767 Program VP and GM Kim Pastega said. "The 767 is a high-performing twin-aisle airplane that delivers nearly 99% dispatch reliability every day for more than 90 operators around the world."

The US Airline Pilots Assn. representing 5,200 US Airways pilots staged a protest yesterday at Philadelphia International to highlight the fact that their negotiations with airline management over a new, unified labor accord remain unresolved. In particular, the seniority lists of US and the former America West Airlines still aren't integrated five years after the carriers merged. USAPA President Mike Cleary said, "From the pilots' perspective, the carrier is operating as two separate airlines."