May 14, 2020 by kaplanianreport

The Kaplanian Report – May 2020

ON THE BOEING FRONT

Status of Boeing Strategy Concerning the 737 & 787

Boeing believes it will resume 737 Max deliveries in the third quarter of 2020, with chief executive David Calhoun saying the company is progressing well through certification work despite challenges posed by coronavirus.

“We currently expect the necessary regulatory approval to allow Max deliveries in the third quarter,” Calhoun says on April 29. ”We are very confident that the process will conclude with the certification.”

Boeing is now working through what Calhoun describes as “a mountain” of documentation work. He says the certification pace has been hampered by the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced staff to work from home.

Boeing expects to resume 737 Max production this year at “low rates”. It does not specify initial production volumes, but says production will “gradually increase” to 31 aircraft monthly in 2021, with additional increases to follow.

As to the 787, Boeing has no immediate plan to restructure its 787 manufacturing footprint despite announcing a major cut in production. However, Chief Executive David Calhoun says Boeing will have time to review it manufacturing strategy in the coming years, as 787 production further declines.

On April 29 Boeing announced it will reduce 787 production from 14 aircraft monthly to 10 monthly this year-end then to seven monthly by 2022.

“Certainly, both lines will be running during the initial phase of reducing production to 10 787 monthly.” Calhoun says. ”We have not made any decision on the 787 production locations,” he adds of production requirements after 2020.

“We will have plenty of time to figure out exactly the way to go.”

Source: Boeing

ON THE AIRBUS FRONT

Airbus Sees More Pain in Commercial Market Through 3Q 2020

Airbus does not expect to have clear visibility of full short-to medium-term impact of the Covid-19 crisis until June. In a briefing for financial analysts the morning of April 29 to announce diminished first-quarter results for 2020, Airbus indicated that it will likely defer decisions on steps to right-size the business for another two or three months. This will allow more time to reassess the situation of its airline customers and also get more complete guidance from governments on steps to ease lockdown restrictions.

Group CEO Guillaume Faury told analysts that the greatest Covid-19 impact so far has been on its commercial aircraft business. Its short-term reaction has been to scale back production rates by around a third to 48 units a month, including 40 A320s, 6 A350s and 2 A330s. The A220 production line in Canada is expected to return progressively to a monthly output rate of 4 aircraft.

“The industry is now facing the gravest crisis in its history and we have a strong focus on matching production to demand and also cash containment,” Faury said.

Earlier in April Airbus announced that it is tapping government-backed payroll protection support schemes. This has resulted in around 3,000 being furloughed on close to full pay in France and a further 3,200 in the UK.

Airbus is deferring further decisions on possible workforce reductions until June, when it expects to have a clearer idea of reduced demand for airliners.

Source: Airbus

REGIONAL/BUSINESS JETS

Supersonic Jet Maker Aerion to Build Manufacturing Site In Florida

Supersonic business jet company Aerion will manufacture its in-development AS2 transport aircraft at a new facility in the Florida city of Melbourne, in the heart of the state’s aerospace cluster.

The company, currently based in Reno, intends this year to begin constructing in Melbourne a “global headquarters and integrated campus for research, design, build and maintenance” of the AS2, Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ office said on April 24. Aerion’s media representative confirms the plan.

The $300 million project will create a facility called “ Aerion Park” in a region of Florida known as the “Space Coast”, says the governor.

The Company intends to begin manufacturing AS2 there in 2023, and the site will employ 675 people by 2026.

“ Having evaluated a number of potential locations for our new home, we are excited to partner with Florida and Melbourne community to create a sustainable supersonic future,” says Aerion chief executive Tom Vice. Aerion has said it hopes to complete first flight of the 12- passenger AS2 in 2024.

Source: Aerion/Picture Aerion

OTHER AVIATION NEWS

AvioInteriors Seating Innovation Addresses Covid Concerns

Italian aircraft seat and cabin interior supplier AvioInteriors has released a concept for new seating solution designed to theoretically allow airlines to fill their middle seats amid Covid-19 concerns. Calling it a “kit-level solution”, operators can install on existing seats to make close proximity safer, the company’s Glasssafe and Janus products feature transparencies to create an isolated volume around the passenger to avoid or minimize the spread of germs between occupants.

The Company can supply a Glasssafe retrofit kit in opaque material or with different degrees of transparency. AvioInteriors designed the application with various executions and fixing systems that allow easy installation and removal and to allow for traditional seat-back magazine pockets and tables.

The Proposal for the second product, called Janus, features a center seat of a three-abreast layout positioned in the opposite direction, while passengers seated on the side seats, aisle, and fuselage continue to face in the forward direction.

As in the Glasssafe applications high shield that prevents breath propagation surrounds each Janus seat. But another advantage of the Janus setup is the middle seat passenger has unobstructed access to both armrests.

If approved the AvioInteriors products would allow airlines to generate 33 percent more revenue if regulators call for middle seats to remain empty. In fact, International Air Transport Association director general Alexandre de Juniac warned of the likelihood of higher airfares due to empty middle seat requirement.

Source: ainonline

Southwest Delays Deliveries of 59 737 Max to Post-2021

Southwest Airlines, among the world’s top Boeing 737 Max customers, has pushed back deliveries of 59 Max aircraft in response to the travel downturn caused by the coronaviris pandemic.

Previously, Southwest anticipated receiving 107 Max jets from Boeing in 2020 and 2021, including 62 aircraft that had been scheduled for delivery in 2020 and 45 scheduled for 2021, securities filing shows.

The airline provides few details about how many 737 Max aircraft it intends to acquire in 2020 and 2021, other than saying it expects to receive less than 27 jets from Boeing this year.

Those 737 Max are aircraft Boeing manufactured for Southwest after regulators grounded the type in March 2019. Boeing continued manufacturing the jets after grounding, storing the airliners until the grounding lifts.

Southwest is “still working on specifics of how many we want to take between now and the end of the year,” chief financial officer Tammy Romo says, during Southwest’s first-quarter earnings call on April 28. “We have fleet flexibility.”

News of the deferrals came the day Southwest reported a first-quarter loss of$94 million, reflecting the collapse of travel demand during the pandemic.

While some Max customers have cancelled orders in recent weeks, Romo says Southwest still prefers to take new jets.”Our preference is to get new airplanes from Boeing,” she says.

Romo adds that “Max’s 14% fuel savings (compared to 737NGS) is still very meaningful and significant”, despite tumbling fuel prices, which have eroded the financial value of efficiency.

Source: Southwest/Flightglobal

Delta to Retire Its MD-88, MD-90 Fleets in June

Delta Air Lines will retire the McDonnell Douglas MD-88 and MD-90 aircraft earlier than previously planned, with both aircraft types exiting the fleet effective June 2020.

The accelerated retirement schedule of both aircraft is a result of the Covid-19 pandemic as the airline reduces capacity systemwide.

Delta cut its overall active fleet by about half, parking more than 600 mainline and regional aircraft in the last two months.

The 149-seat MD-88 was previously set to retire by the end of 2020. As of February this year, prior to the coronavirus-driven fleet reduction, there were 47 MD-88s and 29 MD90s operating. Both aircraft operated across much of Delta’s domestic network and have been workhorses for the airline.

Delta continues to evaluate its broader fleet plan and will consider additional aircraft retirement to focus on a modern, more simplified fleet going forward.

Source: World Airline News

LATEST NEWS

Airbus has backed out of a joint venture with Thai Airways to build a new MRO campus at Thailand’s U-Tapao airport.

El Al Israeli flag-carrier has reached a sale-and-leaseback agreement with an unidentified foreign company covering three Boeing 737-800s.

American Airlines sets a company cargo record on a Boeing 777-300, the flight on April 15 broke American’s all-time record for freight volume, removing 115,349 pounds(52,321 kilograms) of soybean seeds.On one of American’s cargo-only routes from Buenos Aires to Miami.

Lufthansa is prematurely phasing out six Airbus A380 as part of fleet cuts across the airline group.

Rolls-Royce says it is aiming to bring the number of Boeing 787s on the ground for Trent 1000 engine modification reasons down to fewer than 10 by the end of the second quarter.

Silver Air a private jet management and charter company has added a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) with unrestricted charter access based in West Palm beach, Florida.

Boeing conducted a successful first flight of its second 777X airplane. Designated WH002 the second of four 777-9 flight test vehicles.

Qantas is putting Project Sunrise on hold, citing the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on air travel.

United Airlines will sell and lease back 22 planes to Bank of China(BOC) Aviation.The deal involves six Boeing 787-9s and 16 Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft.

German Government First A350 Airbus has transferred the first of three A350-900s for the federal German government to Hamburg for outfitting at the Lufthansa Technik facility on May 7.

Sources: United Airlines, Flightglobal, Boeing, Qantas, Rolls-Royce, American Airlines, Lufthansa, Airbus, El Al.

AIR CARGO

Air Freight Market Goes Into Overdrive

Damian Brett, the editor of Air Cargo News, outlines how the freight sector has been affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

While passenger airlines have heavily reduced their services over recent weeks, the air cargo market has gone into overdrive as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The sector is managing a huge capacity crunch as airlines have largely stopped operating the bellyhold services which make up roughly 50% of cargo capacity.

Consultant Seabury estimates that at the end of March, cargo capacity was down by around 35% compared with the year-ago figure.

The drop-off in demand lags the capacity reductions, as a result, freight rates have taken off.

Numbers from Tac Index show that rates an services from China/Hong Kong to Europe increased by 156% from March 2 to April 6.

On China/Hong Kong to North America an increase of 90.5% as recorded during the same timeframe.

So what of the coming months? There are some early signs that the situation is easing as carriers have started to re-activate parked-up freighters aircraft, passenger aircraft are being utilized as ad hoc freighters and containership operations come into play.

Lufthansa Cargo chief executive Peter Gerber says that while it is impossible to predict what the future holds, it could be the case that there are several spikes in cargo demand over the coming months as production plants in various countries come back on line.

The prospect of this outcome was also posited by logistics and parcels giant Deutsche Post DHL in recent business performance update.

“While the development of the business situation in China has been quite promising in the last weeks, Europe and North America are still in an earlier stage of the pandemic,” DP DHL said.

Source: Air Cargo News/Picture Cargolux

OTHER NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Lessors see no ( one-size-fits- all ) solution to help airlines through crisis

While aircraft lessors are agreeing to a number of rental deferral requests to help airline customers struggling through the coronavirus crisis, leasing executives stress there is no one size-fits-all approach being sought by airlines.

Speaking on May 6 during the Leasing Leaders on Aviation Crisis webinar, organized by FlightGlobal in association with IBA Group. BOC Aviation chief executive Robert Martin notes rapid funding action- including measures from governments-means some airlines have been more interested in, for example, sale-and lease-back activity.

“Clearly a lot of our customers were immediately hit and have asked for help, but it’s not one-size-fits-all,” he says.” Some airlines didn’t need liquidity because they already have access to liquidity in other ways. So actually they were more interested in doing purchase-and lease-back business, and we have done $5 billion of that since Covid started.”

“As we have addressed these issues, it’s clear to us you can tell the experienced airlines who have been through something like this before,” he says. For example, editing the speed with which North American carriers acted to improve their liquidity and that Chinese carriers tapped their domestic bond market.

Another lessor leader panelist on the webinar, chief executive of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Firoz Tarapore, concurs that there is no single response.

In publishing its first quarter results, the lessor says that at the end of April, it had granted rent deferral requests from 25 customers – an aggregate rent totaling 5% of annual revenue. It is also evaluating rent deferral request from 33 customers, the aggregate rent deferral for which totals 10% of annual revenue.

“It’s been a deliberate and corroborative approach to make sure we carefully balance the needs of our clients and our own needs to make sure we are here for our other customers tomorrow.” said Tarapore.

Separately another aircraft lessor, Avalon, in reporting its first quarter results said it has received requests for payment relief from more than 80% of its current owned and managed customer base.

Source: Flightglobal.com/webinars

Researched and Compiled by :

Ed Kaplanian Commercial Aviation Advisor

Contact – ekaplanian@msn.com

Editor: Lee Kaplanian

November 23, 2018 by kaplanianreport

Volume 5 Issue 12 December 2018 The Kaplanian Report

On The Boeing Front

The GE9X for the 777X is Entering the Closing Stages Of its Certification

The GE9X is ready for flight test in its definitive production configuration, the 105,000-lb.-thrust engine for the 777X twin jet, is about to enter the closing stages of an intense and broad-range process that began with the core tests in late 2015. The effort will clear it for the start of flight tests of the 777-9, the initial 777X-family variant in March 2019, followed shortly by certification of the engine itself.

The flight-test engine is already attached to the 747-400 at GE’s Victorville, California, flight-test operations facility, one of eight GE9X development units in the baseline program. A further batch of eight compliance engines, plus two spares, are also under assembly, with the first expected to arrive at Boeing’s Everett, Washington, plant for completion with buildup units and accessories prior to installation on the first 777-9. More on the process of the detailed testing will appear in my January report.

Source : AVweek/GE Aviation

ON THE AIRBUS FRONT

Airbus A330-800 Flies for the First Time

The first Airbus 330-800 took off on Tuesday, November 6, from Blagnac Airport in Toulouse for its maiden flight over southwestern France. The aircraft, MSN 1888, will perform the dedicated flight-physics tests required for the smaller variant of the A330neo family, launched in 2014 as a more fuel-efficient replacement for the A330-200.

Plans call for the Rolls-Royce Trent 7000-powered A330-800’s certification development to last around 300 flight-test hours allowing for planned EASA approval next year. Its sibling, the larger A330-900, recently completed its development testing and certification program, validating the A330neo family’s common engines, systems, cabin, and flight and ground operations.

An October 15 purchase agreement with Kuwait Airways for eight A330-800s gave Airbus a badly needed launch customer for the A330-800, whose previous initial customer, Hawaiian Airlines, canceled its commitment for six examples in favor of Boeing 787-9s in late February.

Firm orders for the A330neo topped 224 from 14 customers at the end of September, but all for the -900. Delta Air lines signed as a launch customer of the A330neo and TAP Air Portugal as a launch operator. Air Asia X remains the biggest customer. (as of this writing dated November 9) Air Asia X has yet to firm up a tentative order for 34 A330neo placed in July, and is considering switching some of those jets to narrowbody A321neos, the CEO of its Malaysian arm.)

A switch to narrow bodies would be a setback for Airbus’ A330neo program, which has been hit by a series of market losses to the rival Boeing Co 787.

Source : ainonline/picture Airbus.

REGIONAL/BUSINESS JETS

Embraer’s Bandeirante Marks Golden Jubilee of Flight

On October 26th, 2018, Embraer celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first flight of its Bandeirante turboprop twin—the company’s inaugural aircraft model. The ceremony recreated the October 26,1968, first flight of the regional turboprop from Brazil’s Sao Jose dos Campos Airport.

In two decades after entering production in 1969, Embraer manufactured 498 Bandeirantes. About 150 of these aircraft are still operating at airlines, air taxis, government entities, and air forces in the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

“The Bandeirante represented much more than an aircraft; it marked a new cycle of transformation for Brazilian industry. It represents a Brazil that is bold, capable of uniting competence, talent, and innovation,” said Embraer president and CEO Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva. ”This commemorative date offers us an opportunity to be grateful and celebrate the pioneers of Embraer and of the Brazilian aeronautical technology. Embraer today is a company that competes on equal technological conditions with the world’s largest because 50 years ago a group of engineers, designers, and pilots dared to bring to life an aircraft that became a legend.

Source : AINonline

Delta Received the First A220

On October 26th, Delta Airlines received the first Airbus A220-100; the ceremony was attended by executives from Airbus, Bombardier and Delta, as well as local leaders, at the joint Airbus-Bombardier assembly line at Montreal’s Miracle airport.

Guillaume Faury, president of Airbus’ commercial aircraft division, says the delivery could not have happened without an international “partnership that spans the Canadian, American and European aviation sectors”.

The aircraft will enter service from the airline’s New York LaGuardia hub on flights to Boston and Dallas/Fort Worth on January 31,2019. It will roll out to five other markets, including Detroit, Houston and Salt Lake City, through August.

Air Canada will join Delta as a North American A220 operator in 2019, and JetBlue Airways in 2020.

Source : Flightglobal/Picture Delta Airlines

OTHER AVIATION NEWS

Singapore Airlines to Fly Nonstop To Seattle/Tacoma

Seattle will become the fifth US city in Singapore Airlines’ route network and fourth to be served nonstop from Singapore when new flights are introduced next year.

The nonstop Singapore-Seattle/Tacoma flights are due to be launched on September 3, 2019. The airline will use the Airbus A350-900 on the route, fitted with 42 Business Class, 24 Premium Economy Class and 187 Economy Class seats.

The new Seattle flights will compliment Singapore Airlines’ existing services to the US cities of Houston, Los Angeles, New York (both JFK and Newark airports) and San Francisco.

Singapore Airlines will operate 53 flights to the US by December 2018, including 27 nonstop Singapore-US services. With the introduction of the new Seattle flights next year, total US frequency will increase to 57 flights per week.

Source : World Airline News/Picture Singapore Airlines

Boeing, Adient Joint Venture Advent Aerospace Starts Operations

In Mid October Boeing and Adient Aerospace announced their airplane seat joint venture is operational after securing regulatory approvals. The companies also appointed Alan Wittman as Chief Executive Officer and named the team that will lead Adient Aerospace in addressing the aviation industry’s need for more capacity and quality in airplane seating. Industry analysts forecast the commercial aircraft seating market to grow from approximately $4.5 billion in 2017 to $6 billion in 2018.

“ Adient Aerospace is now open for business, providing better customer and passenger experience with quality seats,” Wittman said. ”Our focus is comfort, craftsmanship and operational excellence that will differentiate our products and services, all while offering more choice and better meeting commercial airplane industry’s needs.”

Adient Aerospace CEO Wittman was most recently the director of Business Operations for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner program.

Source : Boeing

Virgin Australia on Track for 2019 737 MAX Delivery

Virgin Australia is on track to receive its first Boeing 737 Max aircraft in November 2019, and is not considering further delays to the deliver date.

In early 2017, the airline postponed the MAX deliveries, which were originally scheduled to begin in September or October of this year. The carrier now believes the revised 737 MAX timetable is appropriate and will not delay deliveries to boost its financial position, CEO John Borghetti said during a teleconference following Virgin’s annual general meeting.

The Airline is scheduled to receive 30 737-8s and 10 737-10s. The aircraft will primarily be fleet replacement, although some will also be for growth, Borghetti said.

The “economics…don’t make sense” to delay retirement of the airline’s 737-800s any, further, Borghetti said. The carrier does not want to be in a position of operating 25-year old aircraft and then facing a “tidal wave of capital expenditure”. Higher fuel burn and increased maintenance boost the cost of operating older aircraft, he said.

Regarding subsidiary Tigerair, Borghetti said the LCC’s transition from A320 to 737 will take three to four years. Tigerair operates 12 A320s, and four 737s have been transferred from Virgin Australia in 2016.

Source : atwonline/ Picture of 737 Max In Virgin Livery Boeing

LATEST NEWS

Switzerland-Based Vertis Aviation, the long-range charter specialist, has added a second Boeing Business Jet to its growing portfolio of large-jets available for international charter.

United Airlines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 787-10, making it the third global operator of the largest 787 variant and the first in the Americas.
S 7 Airlines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 on lease from Air Lease Corp., becoming the first Russian airline to fly the type.

AerCap took delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 and leased it to China Southern Airlines.

Shanghai Airlines took delivery of its first GEnx powered 787-9, its 100th aircraft.

American Airlines signed a firm order with Embraer for 15 E175 jets in a 76 seat configuration.

China Eastern Airlines took delivery of its first 787-9 Dreamliner. Previously the airline finalized an order for 15 787-9 Dreamliners.

Japan Airlines is planning to launch flights between Tokyo Narita International Airport to Seattle beginning March 31, 2019, its sixth North American west coast route.
Air New Zealand has taken delivery of its first A321neo, one of 20 of the re-engined A320neo family destined for the carrier.

AIR CARGO

Turkish Cargo Adds Ho Chi Minh to Its Freighter Network

On November 5th, Turkish Cargo announced it is adding freighter routes from Europe to Ho Chi Minh airport to its flight network. The new routes will be flown by the airline’s 777 freighters. Turkish has acquired three of the freighters in December 2017, and has two more on order from Boeing.

Turkish Cargo first established its presence in Vietnam’s capital in 2015, via twice-weekly flights between Istanbul and Hanoi using A330-200Fs. The Airline now seeks to expand its flight routes to Vietnam, because of shifting cargo trends between Asia and Europe.

Vietnam is gaining attention from manufacturing companies seeking to move operations from mainland China; it is over fears of negative impacts from the trade war between the United States and China.

This trend, coupled withHo Chi Minh’s status as Vietnam’s largest city and pre-existing trade links with Europe, further increases the city’s high export and cargo traffic potential.

Source : Air Cargo World/Picture Turkish Cargo

Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul News

Boeing Considering a 777-300ER Freighter

As one of its organic growth projects, Boeing is in the process of building a business case for a 777-300ER passenger to freighter conversion.

Boeing has invested in 215 organic projects to grow its services business, one of those is exploring a 777-300ER passenger to freighter conversion. ”We’ve been talking to customers about a market acceptance and pricing, and we’re in the midst of working the business case,” says Stan Deal, President and CEO of Boeing Global Services.

The robust global freight demand, and the subsequent need for cargo aircraft is “largely driven from an commerce explosion in the U.S.,Europe and China,” says Deal.

He says that around 2022, the 777-300ER “will be in a timeframe when it will be ripe for a conversion or a second life.”

Of the 215 organic projects, Deal says the 777-300ER Converted Freighter “is a big one.” The array of projects also spans upgrades to existing capabilities as well, such as the release of Jeppesen Flitdeck 4.0, which provides pilots, maps, charts and documents necessary for paperless flying.

Source: mro-network/ Picture Swiss

Continued Progress Under Boeing’s Predictive Maintenance Umbrella

Predictive maintenance is no single tool, but a set of tools and procedures aimed at a goal according to Boeing. ”For us, it represents an umbrella of activities to help operators turn unscheduled maintenance into scheduled activities,” summarizes Dawn Nozdryn-Plotnicki,

director of advanced analytics at Boeing. The analytics chief says “the approach is already well along, yet with new advances in bigger data, more powerful analytical methodologies and newer airplane designs, we continue to have more to do.”

Boeing’s predictive umbrella covers a range of actions: maintenance strategy; maintenance

planning, day-of-operations monitoring, execution, reliability analysis, maintenance and post-operations monitoring for feedback and improvement. Predictive maintenance alerts can influence both modification of aircraft design and scheduled maintenance, Nozdryn-Plotnicki notes.

There are many ways predictive maintenance can be achieved at individual airlines. For example, Boeing offers airlines self-service analytics, consulting services to address specific needs, digital solutions that include both analytics and expertise and turn-key maintenance, engineering, and supply chain program, Global Fleet Care.

The OEM has invested in further gains in designing the 737MAX and developing the 777X.

Another major investment is developing more algorithms and technology platforms to exploit

ever bigger and better aircraft data. Boeing’s predictive services are already widely used. For example, Airplane Health Management (AHM) conducts over two million calculations each hour for over 100 airlines flying 4,700 aircraft. And AHM is just one of the OEM’s predictive services.

Source : pro-network

Researched and Compiled

Ed Kaplanian Commercial Aviation Advisor

Contact – ekaplanian@msn.com

Editor: Lee Kaplanian

February 11, 2017 by kaplanianreport

Volume 4 Issue 2 February 2017 The Kaplanian Report

ON THE BOEING FRONT

Boeing Selects CTT for 777X Humidification Systems

CTT Systems has been selected by Boeing to provide the humidification systems for flight deck, crew rests and cabin zone A/B for the Boeing 777X aircraft. CTT will be tier-1 supplier to Boeing and the CTT products will be offered as supplier furnished equipment in the 777X catalog.

CTT Systems AB, headquartered in Nykoping, Sweden and listed on the Small Cap of OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm AB, is the leading provider of aerospace products for active humidity control: inside the aircraft cabin-for increasing humidity-and in aircraft structures- for preventing condensation.

Selecting CTT enables Boeing to bring humidification capabilities and performance from the 787 to the 777X and migrate to premium passenger cabins (zone A and B). In total, the Boeing 777X aircraft can be equipped with five humidifiers.

The 777X will be the largest and most efficient twin-engine in the world, with 12 percent lower fuel consumption and 10 percent lower operating costs than the competition.

CTT’s humidifier maintains relative humidity in the human comfort zone, 20 percent Relative Humidity. A higher humidity on long-haul flights reduces dry air related problems (e.g. fatigue, jet-lag, red eyes, dry skin, spread of virus diseases) and improves wellbeing and sleep. The humidifier is baed on evaporative cooling technology and uses a method that effectively precludes the transfer of bacteria.

Source : Arabian Aerospace/Boeing

ON THE AIRBUS FRONT

Airbus Prepares Beluga XL Core for Integration

Airbus has assembled the basic core airframe of the initial BelugaXL high-capacity transport designed to replace the A300-600ST logistics fleet.

The airframes, based on an A330-200 freighter with reinforcements, was assembled in December of 2016; but has yet to be mated with its nose or tail sections.

These sections will be added this year, the manufacturer states, as an 18 month integration process commences. Beluga XL program head Bertrand George says the final integration will be “a series of small steps”.

“The Number of holes to be drilled and fasteners to be installed is far bigger than on any other Airbus aircraft”. He says. “Sticking to schedule at each step is the key to being ready for first flight in 2018.”

Over the initial 12 months of the assembly, the airframe will be completed and fitted with mechanical and electrical components. The final six months will involve transferring the aircraft to a new station for Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engine installation and Ground testing.

Airbus is renewing the logistics fleet with five Beluga XLs to meet demand for A350 assembly. The Beluga XL will enter service in 2019.

Source : Flightglobal/Airbus

REGIONAL/BUSINESS JETS

MRJ Delay Confirmed; System Revision Cited

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the parent of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., has made official a further two year delay in the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) program.

Mitsubishi said on January 23, that the first delivery of the MRJ90 to Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) would be pushed back to mid-2020 from mid-2018; meaning first delivery will be nearly seven years later than what was planned in the program’s original timetable.

Four MRJ90 flight test aircraft are currently flying, with a fifth slated to join flight testing this year.

The Latest delay is necessary because of “revisions to certain systems and electrical configurations on the aircraft to meet the latest requirements for certification,” “the design changes will not effect aircraft performance, fuel consumption of functionality of systems” Mitsubishi said.

MRJ certification is now targeted for the second half of 2019.The company aims to achieve world class commercial aircraft development through integrated work between global and Japanese experts.

Source : Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp./Photo Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp.

OTHER AVIATION NEWS

GE9X Spools Up for Second Test Phase

Testing of the largest turbofan aircraft engine in history will enter a new phase later this year. Until now, GE Aviation has used the first engine to test (FETT) to validate design and performance assumptions.

With the second engine to test now in final assembly, GE is poised to begin a one -year cycle of trials required to earn airworthiness certification by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

Although based on the architecture of the GE90, the GE9X sets new boundaries for the industry in terms of size-notably its 134in (340cm) fan diameter-pressure ratio (a claimed 61.1 margin at top of climb) and application of new materials, including the spread of ceramic matrix composites (CMC) to turbine nozzle guide vanes and combust or liners.

It also improves on the strength of the carbon fiber construction of the fan blades, allowing GE to assign only 16 blades for each engine, despite a 6in wider diameter compared with the 22 fan blades found on the GE90.

Each new feature in the GE9X must be validated as being as safe or better than the proven engine technology already in service, while still meeting performance promises such as a 10% reduction in fuel burn against the GE90.

And it must be proved ready on a tight schedule: Boeing plans to begin deliveries of the first GE9X powered 777-9 by early 2020, which implies a system-level, Part 25 airworthiness certification in late 2019 and an engine-level, Part 33 certification in 2018.

Source : Flightglobal/GE Aviation

Southwest Jockeys with Norwegian for 737 Max Launch Title

Southwest Airlines chief executive Gary Kelly says the carrier will be the launch customer of the Boeing 737 Max “regardless of when we take the first delivery”, even as Norwegian prepares to be the first operator.

Kelly cites the Dallas-based carrier’s extensive involvement with Boeing on the development and testing of the latest generation of the venerable narrow body, as the rationale behind his comment during a quarterly earnings call today.

Southwest is the launch customer of the Max, placing the first order in December 2011. Norwegian placed its 737 Max order a month later in January 2012.

Southwest reaffirms that it will not debut the 737 Max 8 on scheduled flights until the end of the third quarter, when all its 737-300 and -500 aircraft, or classics, are retired. ”We don’t really need the 737 Max for flying until October 1,” says Kelly.

“Norwegian will now be the first airline to take delivery of the 737 Max, and will be the first airline in the world to operate this brand-new aircraft type,” spokesman for Norwegian says.

The jockeying between Norwegian and Southwest sets up a race between the two carriers to see who will take the first 737 Max, with the odds likely on the latter due to its placing the first order and heavy involvement in the program.

Lion Air, Norwegian and Southwest are all scheduled to take their first Max 8s in May, the Flight Fleet Analyzer shows. In addition,China Eastern Airlines, FlyDubai and WestJet are scheduled to take their first of the type before the end of September.

Source : Flightglobal

LATEST NEWS

Flynas, Saudi Arabia’s leading low-cost carrier, has signed an agreement with Airbus for 60 A320neo Family aircraft

Juneyao Airlines has announced an order for 10 Boeing 787-9s, comprising five firm orders and five options. The aircraft will facilitate the Shanghai-based carrier’s rapid international expansion.

SpiceJet sealed a deal worth $10 billion with Boeing for 100 737 Max aircraft.

Air Baltic, the Latvian carrier has received its second Bombardier CS300 aircraft after becoming the launch customer for the larger CSeries variant.

Trade Air, the Croatian Charter, carrier received its first Airbus A320, a former SATA international example.

Delta Airlines has taken delivery of its first US-built Airbus A321. The jet N314DN (c/n 7281),was delivered from Mobile, Alabama, plant to Minneapolis, St Paul last December.

Arik Air of Nigeria has scrapped a longstanding order for two Boeing 747-8Is, replacing it with a pair of Boeing 787-9s.

China Aircraft Leasing Group (CALC) signed a long term lease with Thai AirAsia for one Airbus A320, which is expected to be delivered this year.

Avolon, the Irish lessor, delivered one Boeing 737-800 to Malaysia-based Malindo Air. This is the forth Avolon aircraft on lease to Malindo.

Ukraine International Airlines has taken delivery of the first of six Boeing 737-800s, which are scheduled to join the fleet this year.

AIR CARGO

Crustaceans Crush 2016, Leading to 4.1 % Cargo Rise at Halifax

Thanks to a booming year for lobster, Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) saw substantial cargo growth in 2016, processing more than 33,000 tons of cargo, up 4.1 percent over 2015. An estimated US$187 million in seafood exports were shipped last year, an increase of approximately $40 million from 2015. As demand for lobster and other high-value seafood grows in markets such as Asia, Halifax Stanfield International Airport expects continued growth in seafood exports.

Yangtze River Express Airlines was the latest cargo carrier to add services to Halifax Airport and take advantage of the lobster export season earlier this month.

The Chinese carrier operated five 747-400 F cargo flights between Canada and China since the first of the 2016 calendar year.

Passenger numbers were up as well, and bellyhold cargo is an important part of the story. Compared to the previous year, the 2016 passenger numbers were up 5.6 percent, said Joyce Carter, Halifax International president and CEO. ”We are set to hit 4 million passengers in 2017.”

The airport is Atlantic Canada’s busiest full-service airport, with cargo connectivity to markets across Canada, the United States, the Caribbean Basin, Europe and Asia. The airport processes cargo worth more than $447 million each year.

Source : Air Cargo World

MRO NEWS

GECAS Asset Management Services Aquires 737NG Inventory

GECAS Asset Management Services has entered an agreement with Air Berlin to acquire the airline’s entire inventory of 737NG spares including both rotables and expendables.

“Most components will be available for immediate shipment to our customers,” says Stefan Hayes, global commercial leader for GECAS Asset Management Services.

“We will soon have everything,nose to tail,that an operator of this popular aircraft type needs.This purchase represents an exciting opportunity for GECAS AMS to continue our relationship with Air Berlin while bolstering our 737NG stock and increasing our service capability.”

The material will be located at Asset Management Service’s warehouse locations in the U.S.,UK and Singapore.

Source : MRO network.com

Qantas Unveils $30 Million Maintenance Hanger for Its A380s

Qantas Airways unveiled a new $30 million hanger at Los Angeles International Airport, big enough to hold and perform maintenance on its A380s.

The hanger, the only facility in the U.S. designed specifically to hold the behemoth plane, was touted as signaling the airline’s commitment to Los Angeles as well to travelers making long-haul flights between the US and Australia.

“This is a win-win opportunity,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility on Friday, January 27th.

The Hanger is 480 feet by 370 feet and 12 stories tall, big enough to hold four passenger jets.The facility replaces a smaller 1950s-era hanger.

Qantas flies 40 flights per week between Los Angeles and Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia, primarily using A380s and Boeing 747 jets.

Qantas Group Chief Executive Alan Joyce, said the new hanger will make maintenance 20% more efficient because it allows more planes to fit the facility at the same time. When Qantas wanted to work on an A380 in the old, smaller hanger, most of the plane would not fit inside, he said.

Joyce said that Qantas also plans to rent out the facility to other carriers at LAX.

Source : Los Angeles Times/ Photo Qantas

Researched and Compiled by : Ed Kaplanian

Commercial Aviation Advisor

Contact – ekaplanian@msn.com

September 15, 2015 by kaplanianreport

Volume 2 Issue 9 September 2015

ON THE BOEING FRONT

Spirit AeroSystems Celebrate the Completion & the Delivery of the First Boeing 737 Max Fuselage

Spirit AeroSystems announced it has completed the first fuselage as well as other components for the first Boeing 737 MAX. Spirit delivers approximately 70 percent of the 737 structure to Boeing including the fuselage, pylon, thrust reverser and engine nacelle at its Wichita, Kansas facility and the wing leading edges at its Tulsa, Okla. facility.

The first 737 MAX fuselage has arrived at the Renton site on Friday, August 21st.

Assembly of the first MAX is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2015 with the first delivery to customers scheduled for the third quarter of 2017.

The new 737 MAX will deliver 20 percent increased fuel efficiency to airlines versus the original Next-Generation 737. Boeing has already booked more than 2,800 firm orders with 58 different customers.

Source: Spirit AeroSystems/Boeing

Delta Retired the Very First Boeing 747-400 Built for A Commercial Airline

The wide body passenger jet (tail number N661) flew its final flight from Honolulu International Airport to Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

While it was the first 747-400 Boeing built for Northwest, it was the third to fly for the carrier because Boeing held on it for longer testing.

The Boeing 747-400 was the biggest model of the 747 family when it was released and is the best-selling aircraft Boeing jet. Boeing sold the first ones for about $150 million each.

Delta’s 747-400s were inherited by Delta, when the two airlines merged. It carries 376 passengers and cruise at about 560 mph, with a range of 7,400 miles.

Since it was delivered to Northwest Airlines it logged more than 61 million miles, enough to make 250 trips from the Earth to the moon.

It will move to Atlanta’s Delta Museum in early 2016.

Source: Minneapolis Biz Journal/Ed’s Research

ON THE AIRBUS FRONT

A350-900 Makes Moscow Debut as Aeroflot Continues Review

Airbus has debuted the A350-900 at the 12th Moscow air show (MAK-2015) at least three years ahead of the first delivery to the type’s only customer in Russia.

Airbus A350 test pilot Frank Chapman piloted the A350-900-MSN-001 from Toulouse,France landing on August 24th at the Ramenskoye airport that hosts the biannual air show.

The A350 arrives in Moscow as Russian customer Aeroflot continues to evaluate several details about its original order, including the timing and number of deliveries and current mix of 14 A35-900s and eight A350-800s.

Airbus cancelled the A350-800 program last year, Aeroflot remains one of the few customers that have not decided what to do with its order. But Aeroflot has vowed not to cancel the A350-900 order in full. Last year, Aeroflot expected to take delivery of the A350-900s between 2018 and 2020, but not does not discuss a timetable for the aircraft.

Supporting the carrier’s decision likely figured large in Airbus’ decision to bring the A350-900 to MAKS for the first time.

Source : Flightglobal/Airbus

BUSINESS/REGIONAL NEWS

Comac Working Toward November ARJ21 First Delivery Chengdu Airlines

Comac is working toward an internal target to deliver its first ARJ21-700 to launch customer Chengdu Airlines on November 28, 2015.

The date holds significance for the Chinese airframe since it marks the day the indigenous regional jet took its first flight back in 2008.

The Plan is for Comac to deliver two regional jets to Chengdu Airlines this year, which will then be put into commercial passenger service next February.

Vice Chief Designer at Comac said Comac is still working on making changes to the ARJ21 despite receiving type certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China(CAAC) last December. He adds that while these issues do not relate to the safety of the aircraft, they could affect the operational efficiency of the jet.

Examples include changes that need to be made to improve how the aircraft’s anti-icing system functions in the event of a single-engine operation, as well as to the warning system to help enhance pilot’s operational awareness and help them better anticipate possible flying situations.

Source : Flightglobal/Photo Comac

OTHER AVIATION NEWS

WestJet Adds First Widebody to Fleet with Delivery of Boeing 767-300 ER

WestJet has taken delivery of its first Boeing 767-300ER, adding a wide body aircraft to its fleet for the first time.

The Calgary-based low-cost carrier (LCC) has operated an all 737 fleet since its founding in 1996, and in 2013 launched a Bombardier Q400 regional subsidiary called WestJet Encore. The airline is slated to take delivery of four 767-300ERs over the next eight months, with the fourth expected to arrive just before it launches 767 flights to London Gatwick in May 2016.

The first has arrived at WestJet’s base in Calgary and will be used on flights between Toronto and Calgary for several months, the carrier said.

The next two 767s will arrive this fall,and WestJet will launch 767 flights between western Canada and Hawaii and between Toronto and Montego Bay for its winter schedule in December.

The airline’s 767s will seat 262 passengers, including 24 in premium economy, but will have no first or business class seats. The aircraft will be able to fly up to 11 hours.

Source : ATW/WestJet

Alaska to Take First 737 MAX 8 in 2017

Alaska Airlines plans to take delivery of its first Boeing 737 Max 8 early in late 2017.

The Seattle-based carrier will take delivery of its first 737 Max about six months after launch customer Southwest Airlines takes its first aircraft, says its vice-president of capacity planning John Kirby at the Boyd International Aviation Forecast Summit in Las Vegas.

“Boeing has indicated that it maybe ready a little early,” says Kirby.

Alaska previously anticipated its first 737 Max 8 in 2018. The airline has firm orders for 37 737 Max aircraft, including 20 737 Max 8s and 17 737 Max 9s.

Alaska operates a fleet of 143 737s, including 27 737-400s, 14 737-700s,61 737-800s and 41 737-900ERs.

Source : Flightglobal

Vietnam Airlines Drops its A380 Order

The Vietnamese government has dropped all plans to confirm options on four Airbus A380s it signed up for in 2009.

The Vietnamese flag carrier Vietnam Airlines cited “increased pressure of arranging capital for aircraft purchases” as a key factor, along with slow progress on the planned Long Thanh International Airport at Ho Chi Minh City-the only Vietnamese airport with enough capacity to handle A380 aircraft.

Vietnam Airlines also has reportedly scaled down its original plan to boost fleet size to 150 aircraft over the next five years, and will instead grow to just over 120 aircraft.

The airline which is scheduled to take delivery of eight Boeing 787-9s and 10 Airbus A350 XWBs up to 2019 said that “ the world economic situation is more difficult,” and “fierce competition in the aviation market place” were both reasons for opting out of the A380 deal.

This latest cancellation comes as an added blow for Airbus’s A380 program,which has seen several cancellations in Asia, including a significant six- aircraft order from bankrupt low cost carrier Skymark Airlines.

Source : ATW

LATEST NEWS IN BRIEF

Jet2 Budget carrier Jet2 has signed an order with Boeing for 27 737-800 aircraft. The deal marks the carrier’s first direct order with Boeing.

Emirates takes delivery of the 65th A380. Emirates A380s serve 34 destinations and has a further 75 on order.

Philippine Airlines is considering the acquisition or lease of eight 787 Dreamliners or Airbus A350 XWB aircraft.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has switched an order for six Boeing 787-9s to the larger 787-10 to better fit with its network plans.

Norwegian will lease two additional Boeing 787-9s, due for delivery in summer 2017, which it will use to extend its long-haul network.

China’s Bohai Leasing is in exclusive talks to buy Irish aircraft leasing firm Avolon for USD$2.64 billion, after raising its offer to put it ahead of a rival bidder.

Tyler IATA CEO and director general Tony Tyler will retire in June 2016 after serving five years in the position. Tyler’s retirement was announced on Aug.28 and the search for his successor has begun.

Malaysia Airlines has been granted an air operator’s certificate (AOC) by the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation under its new name Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB).

Mitsubishi Regional Jet( MRJ) test flight is scheduled for the latter half of October, Mitsubishi Heavy industries has announced.

Emirates and Boeing celebrated the simultaneous delivery of three 777s- two 777-300ERs and one 777 Freighter – marking the entry of the 150th 777into Emirates fleet.

Austrian Airlines Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines is preparing to receive the first of 17 modified Embraer E-195s.

BoraJet Airlines Turkish regional carrier has taken delivery of three Embraer 195s from the Regional aircraft Group of GECAS, the leasing and financing division of GE.

Air Cargo

Air China Cargo Began Freighter Service to Canada

Air China Cargo began its first scheduled freighter service between China and Canada on the 3rd of September, when Air China Cargo 777F touched down at Edmonton International Airport by the traditional gun salute, commemorating the carrier’s first scheduled stop at the western Canadian airport.

Air China Cargo will serve Edmonton six times each week, with a Shanghai-Edmonton-Dallas-Edmonton-Shanghai routing.

This is the first Freighter route between mainland China and the Canadian province of Alberta, and a key step in connecting the two economies. It’s also the only freighter service between Alberta and Texas.

Edmonton estimates that this new service will boost the GDP of the region by $31 million per year. Edmonton is situated near two business centers-the Nisku Business Park and the Leduc Business Park. It will provide opportunities for cargo businesses to work with Air China Cargo as well. The airport is also near major highways for easy truck transport.

Source : Air Cargo World/Air China

MILITARY NEWS

Northrop Delivers the 150th KC-10 Extender Aircraft to the US Air Force

Northrop Grumman has delivered the 150th KC-10 Extender air-to air refueling tanker aircraft to the US Air Force after providing major improvements.

The aircraft received product reliability improvements as part of its CF6-50 engine overhaul program,offering a 15-year high in engine fleet performance.

Northrop Grumman Technical Services weapon systems operations director Matt Emerson said : ”The delivery of the 150th KC-10 depot aircraft contributes to the critical mission requirements of the United States Air Force by ensuring that the KC-10 is operational when the customer need it.”

“ The aircraft was accepted with zero defects,further contributing to the company’s proven track record for helping the Air Force achieve the KC-10’s highest fleet mission capable rates in more than 16 years.”

The KC-10 Extender can refuel aircraft midair while transporting personnel,equipment and patients on overseas deployments and aeromedical evacuations.

Source : Airforcetechnology.com

US Navy Orders 13 P-8As, with Four for Australia

Boeing has secured a $1.49 billion contract from the US Navy for 13 P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, including the first four examples for the Royal Australian Air Force.

The deal covers nine aircraft for the USN and four for the Royal Australian Air Force, the company says.

“By working together since the early stages of the P-8A development, the US and Australia have created one airplane configuration that serves the need of both countries,” says Capt. Scott Dillon, the former’s P8 program manager. ”The Us and Australian P-8As will be able to operate with each other effectively and affordably for decades to come”, he adds.

In early 2014, Canberra approved an A$4 billion ($2.9 billion) allocation to acquire eight of the 737-derived aircraft, with options for four more. This allowed Boeing to place long lead-time orders for parts for the first four aircraft.

The P-8A will replace the RAAF’s fleet of Lockheed Martin AP-3C prions currently in their fleet.

Source : Boeing

Researched and Compiled by : Ed Kaplanian

Commercial Aviation Advisor

Contact – ekaplanian@msn.com

March 1, 2015 by kaplanianreport

Volume 2 Issue 2 February 2015

ON THE BOEING FRONT

GE Gears Up for Engine Tests of GE9X Parts

GE Aviation will shortly begin running a test engine equipped with a number of advanced-technology components that will feature on the GE9X powerplant destined for the Boeing 777X.

The parts include combustor liners, high-pressure turbine shrouds and nozzles made from ceramic matrix composite (CMC), next generation high-pressure turbine blades, and titanium-aluminide low-pressure turbine blades produced via additive layer manufacturing.

Set to get under way in the coming weeks at GE’s facility in Peebles, Ohio, the trials will be conducted using a GEnx test engine fitted with the new Parts.

GE is already utilizing CMCs for the high-pressure turbine shroud on the CFM International LEAP engines in partnership with Snecma, but the GE9X dramatically expands their deployment.

Meanwhile, tests will shortly commence on a second iteration of the compressor. These will be carried in Massa in Ital where GE has an oil and gas business and that is ready to fire up in the next week or so.

The CMC components are around 25% lighter than their metallic equivalents, says Matt Szolwinski head of the GE9X program, and additionally able to withstand much higher temperatures without the need for cooling.

First flight of the 105,000lb-thrust powerplant is scheduled for 2017 aboard GE’s 747-400 test aircraft.

Certification should follow around a year later.

Source : Flightglobal/GE Aviation

ON THE AIRBUS FRONT

A New Attraction in Toulouse For Aviation Enthusiasts: The Aeroscopia Museum Opens

Aeroscopia is located adjacent to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, putting it in proximity to Airbus’ home location-including the company’s headquarters and its A380, A350XWB, A330 and A320 Family final assembly lines. This enables visitors to look at Airbus’ current production activity while exploring aviation history at Aerscopia.

The museum features a collection of iconic aircraft displayed in its exhibition hall and paved grounds, including an A300B the landmark widebody twin-engine jetliner that launched Airbus-a “Super Guppy” outsized transporter used by Airbus to carry aircraft components during the company’s early days, and an Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic passenger airliner.

“Airbus’ contribution to Aeroscopia reflects the company’s great fondness for celebrating its roots and different phases of aircraft development and production over the years,” said Jacques Rocca, Airbus’ Deputy Head of Media Relations and Heritage, who also is a member of the museum’s technical committee.

Manatour, the company that offers tours of Airbus’ final assembly lines in Toulouse, manages Aeroscopia as well, Rocca explained, proving an exciting “two-faceted” experience for aviation buffs- with all tours of Airbus’ Toulouse production facilities now starting at the museum.

Source : Airbus/Airbus Photo

BUSINESS/REGIONAL NEWS

NetJets Europe Cleared to Fly Phenom 300s from London City Airport

NetJets Europe has clinched approval from the UK Civil Aviation Authority to Operate its Embraer Phenom 300 light cabin business jet at London City airport, in the heart of the UK’s financial community.

The Berkshire Hathaway-owned company is the largest operator at the site, responsible for over 50% of all business aircraft traffic. In 2014 alone, NetJET says it flew from City to over 370 destinations worldwide, with Paris Le Bourget one of the most popular routes.

NetJets placed an order in 2010 for 125 Phenom 300s-including 60 firm orders as part of a $17.6 billion order. The Operator has taken delivery of 35 of the seven-seat twinjets, five of which are based in Europe.

Source: Flightglobal/Photo Net Jets Europe

OTHER AVIATION NEWS

Delta is Bringing the Boeing 717 Back Home to California

Delta is upgrading its fleet on the Los Angeles to San Francisco shuttle, one of the most competitive routes in the country, by replacing most of its regional jets with the Boeing 717, an aircraft that never quite caught on but seems well-suited to this particular market. In a sense, the 717s will be coming home to where they where originally built.

Delta said it will introduce the 717s on eight of its 15 daily flights between California’s two biggest airports.

The 717s were the last commercial airplanes produced at the Long Beach, California plant that Boeing acquired when it merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing made 156 of them, closing out with a 2006 delivery to AirTran, which became the biggest customer for the 100 seat aircraft.

Delta announced in 2013 that it would take over the leases for AirTran’s 88 Boeing 717s from Southwest, which acquired AirTran but then decided it wanted to stick with a single fleet type, the 737. So far Delta has acquired 54 of the 717s.

Source: Ed’s Research

CFM Starts Leap-1A Flight Tests

CFM International has begun flight tests of its new Leap-1A engine destined for the Airbus A320neo narrowbody, the GE Aviation-Snecma venture confirms.

A modified Boeing 747-400 owned by GE is being used for trials of the 24,500-32,900-lb-thrust turbofan, which are taking place at Victorville, California.

It is the second of the Leap-series engines to take to the skies, following the maiden flight of the-1C for the Comac C919 in October 2014.

The -1B for the 737 Max will fly later this year, with assembly work on the initial flight -test engine under way at GE’s facility in Evendale, Ohio. Of the three Leap engines, the -1A and the -1C are broadly similar while the -1B is slightly smaller. The latter features a 69.5 in (176.5cm) fan with a 9.1 bypass ratio, against figures of 78 in and 11:1 for the -1 and-1C.

So far, CFM has conducted engine runs totaling 1,940h across 3,360 cycles using all three engine variants. It aims to have achieved 40,000h by service entry of the Leap-1A next year and 60,000h by the time the-1C enters service in 2018.

Source : GE Aviation-Snecma/Flightglobal

Scoot Takes Delivery of its First 787-9

Singapore-based low-cost carrier Scoot has taken delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 during a ceremony held at Boeing’s delivery center in Everett.

Scoot is a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. The aircraft, registered as 9V-OJA and named “ Dream Start” (MSN 37112), departed Everett on January 31st, arriving in Singapore on the Morning of February 2nd. It entered commercial service on February 5th flying from Singapore to Perth and Hong Kong.

Scoot’s 787-9s are configured with 375 seats, comprised of 340 economy-class seats and 35 premium seats. They are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. The airline plans to take delivery of six 787-9s by August, which will replace its fleet of six 777-200s. In addition, it will take three 787-8s by the end of the year, and plans to have an all 787 fleet of 11 aircraft by March 2016.Thereafter, the carrier will take delivery of two or three aircraft per year until early 2019, when it will have received all 20 on order.

Scoot chief executive Campbell Wilson says that the new aircraft is a major benefit to the airline’s long term strategy.

Source : Flightglobal / Boeing Photos

LATEST NEWS IN BRIEF

COMAC (Commercial Aircraft of China) has received an order for 20 C919s from Huaxia Financial Leasing company.

Chorus Aviation Canadian regional carrier has placed a firm order for 13 Bombardier Q400 turboprops worth $424 million after signing an amended capacity purchase agreement with Air Canada.

Transavia Air France-KLM Group’s low-cost operator ordered up to 20 Boeing 737-800s and revealed a new livery.

Asiana Airlines has signed a letter of intent(LOI) with Airbus for the purchase of 25 A321neo single aisle aircraft as part of its ongoing fleet modernization program.

Bombardier has completed flutter, cold weather and passenger-evacuation testing as CSeries flight tests pass the 900-hour mark enroute to the 2,400 hours required for certification.

Korean Air has ordered five Boeing 777-200 LR Freighters in a deal worth $1.5 billion at List prices.

Luxair to acquire more Q400s under a fleet renewal plan to increase capacity.

Airbus has officially written off the order for the first, and so far only,VVIP 380. Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud placed the order in 2007.

Greenpoint Technologies has delivered the first BBJ 747-8, thus becoming the first outfitter to hand over an executive version of Boeing’s newest four-engine widebody.

Mitsubishi Aircraft has released pictures of its flight test fleet in various stages of final assembly.

AIR CARGO

ANA & United Form Trans-Pacific Cargo Joint Venture

On December 1st, 2014 All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Lufthansa Cargo launched their Europe/Asia joint venture with first flights from Japan to Europe. And with that deal under its belt, ANA has turned its focus to the trans-Pacific lane, signing a similar agreement with US-based United Airlines.

The two carriers have filed antitrust exemption applications with US and Japanese regulatory authorities for a set up similar to ANA’s Joint Venture with Lufthansa Cargo.

Commenting on the filing, ANA described the proposal Joint Venture with United as one that would “create a more efficient and comprehensive trans-Pacific air cargo business network”. The carrier went on to say that trans-Pacific cargo Joint venture-the first of its kind between The US and Asia-would generate substantial service benefits for freight customers, and that “it would also enable United and ANA to compete more efficiently with other airlines that maintain a significant presence in both markets.”

As with Lufthansa Cargo agreement, under the proposed United agreement the two carriers “will be able to jointly manage trans-Pacific air cargo business activities including scheduling, pricing and sales.”

Like Lufthansa and ANA, United is a member of the Star Alliance, and if the trans-Pacific venture gains regulatory approval it could start of a broader Star Cargo Alliance. It will be interesting to see what happens.

In addition to a long-haul passenger fleet that includes fifty-four 777s and thirty-three 787s (with more on order), ANA operates ten 767-300Fs intra-Asia regional service. United does not operate freighters, but has a large fleet of wide body passenger aircraft, including seventy-four 777s and thirteen 787s (with more on order).

Source: CargoFact/ANA

The Great French-fry Airlift

Never let it be said that the airfreight industry will back down from a daunting humanitarian challenge. From any region of the globe, heroic cargo carriers can step up when needed to transport emergency medicines, shelters, fuel, personnel and … French fries?

Well, it’s not exactly on par with the Berlin Airlift, but air cargo companies have helped the nation of Japan end a crippling McDonald’s French fry shortage that had ravaged the country’s super-sized appetite for three weeks. The shortage, which forced the 3,100 McDonald’s restaurants in Japan to ration its dwindling fry supply and offer only small-sized portions since mid-December, finally ended to thanks to an emergency shipment of about 2,600 tons of frozen French fries in late December 2014.

According to a statement from McDonald’s Japan, the shortage arose from the ongoing slowdown due to labor dispute at seaports along the U.S. West Coast, which caused lengthy delays in the shipment of the restaurant chain’s signature side-dish in late 2014.

McDonald’s Japan also said about 1,000 tons of fries were sent via airfreight from East Coast ports and another 1,600 tons were shipped by seafreight. Beginning on Jan. 5, 2015, the small-size limit was removed at all locations and customers are again free to order large portions.

No information was provided about which air cargo carriers were used in the “airlift” or how much the shortage has affected sales for the restaurant giant’s Japanese operations.

While the island nation also grows some potatoes on its own, most of those are prepared and eaten fresh, the Associated Press reported. Most of the 300,000 short tons of French fries consumed each year in Japan are imported in pre-cut frozen form.

While the restrictions have been lifted, McDonald’s Japan cautioned its customers that the emergency shipment may not be enough to meet demand. “We will continue to monitor the situation carefully to do our best to ensure stable supply of potato products,” the company added.

Source: Air Cargo World

Researched and Compiled by : Ed Kaplanian

Commercial Aviation Advisor

Contact – ed@kaplanianreport.com