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Boeing CEO: NMA timeline for 2025 entry into service ‘has not changed’
Boeing’s chief executive recently said that despite 737 MAX and other issues, the US manufacturer’s overall timeline for a potential new midmarket aircraft (NMA) “has not changed” and Boeing would expect a 2025 entry into service. If so, new reports from several financial analysts and industry consultants suggest Boeing better have started working on it last year.
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Airbus-Bombardier partnership renamed
The Airbus-Bombardier joint venture that is producing the A220 officially changed its name to the Airbus Canada Limited Partnership June 1.
"Over the course of the coming weeks, the new name will be applied to the limited partnership’s documentation, materials and branded items,” Airbus said.
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Pratt & Whitney reduces life limits for A220, E190/E195-E2 engines
Pratt & Whitney has reduced life limits on PW1500G and PW1900G geared turbofan (GTF) high-pressure compressor (HPC) front hubs after excessive corrosion was discovered during a routine overhaul, and the FAA plans to mandate the change.
The US agency, in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published May 31, said Pratt discovered corrosion on a front hub “during a routine engine overhaul.” It was found beneath anti-corrosion coating.
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Extended-range 'A321XLR' available by 2024: Airbus
Airbus says it could deliver an extended-range “A321XLR” derivative within five years, but is yet to formally confirm the status of the project.
Speaking at the IATA AGM in Seoul, Airbus chief commercial officer Christian Scherer hinted at plans for “extended-range versions [plural]” of the A321 in its single-aisle line-up.
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AIRBUS 50: Mapping out the future
Airbus is coming to the end of intense programme of flight testing and development for new and derivative airliners that began a decade ago with the A380. The impending void in the Airbus product-development (PD) road map raises the question many are asking – what’s next?
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Moody’s sees bright future for Boeing and 737 Max
Boeing and its troubled 737 Max will recover from the crisis engulfing the company thanks to Boeing’s fundamental underlying financial strength and unceasing demand for narrowbody aircraft, according to a new report from Moody’s Investors Service.
“We expect a full recovery of the company's currently strong financial profile as underscored by key credit metrics no later than early 2021 – as long as the grounding ends in 2019,” says Moody’s in a 31 May report.
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OPINION: Boeing needs a stronger production system post-slowdown
A creaking supply chain unable to keep pace with ever-more-demanding output rates meant that even before the grounding of the 737 Max, Boeing's narrowbody line was enduring some form of crisis.
LinkAirlines
Wizz Air FY profit up 6% on fleet, network expansion
Wizz Air said it may be able to seize on opportunities to gain market share as a tough operating environment hurts its competitors as the fast-growing Central and Eastern European LCC unveiled full-year results that showed a rise in profit and passenger numbers.
The Budapest-based carrier, which has been rapidly expanding its fleet and network in recent years, said passenger numbers for the year to March 31 rose 16.7% to 34.6 million in the year to March 31.
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IATA AGM 2019: Ethiopian CEO says brand still strong despite MAX crash
Ethiopian Airlines remains a “very strong brand” although the financial impact on the airline of the crash of one of its Boeing 737 MAXs and the subsequent grounding of the MAX is not yet known, the carrier’s chief said.
Speaking to ATW on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Seoul June 2, Ethiopian Airlines group CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said, “Our brand is still very strong. But so far we have not calculated all of the [financial] effects, including having our four remaining737 MAXs grounded,” he said.
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IATA AGM 2019: Eastar Jet and Jeju Air to launch Busan
South Korean LCCs Eastar Jet and Jeju Air announced they will begin non-stop flights from Busan to Singapore.
The two airlines, together with Singapore’s SilkAir, Changi Airport Group (CAG), Korea Airport Corporation (KAC) and Busan Metropolitan City signed a MOU May 31 to promote the growth of trade, business and tourism between the two cities.
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IATA AGM 2019: Delta wants common regulatory approach on MAX service return
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian is urging airworthiness authorities to take a common approach in the ungrounding of the Boeing 737 MAX fleet.
“It is very important that regulators unite regarding the safety of the MAX,” Bastian said on the sidelines of IATA AGM in Seoul June 2.
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IATA AGM 2019: Fiji Airways shelves A330neo plan
Fiji Airways has decided against plans to order Airbus A330neos, instead opting to add two A350s while keeping its A330ceos longer.
The airline was previously attempting to sell its six A330-200s and -300s, purchasing A330neos to replace them, Fiji Airways CEO Andre Viljoen told ATW June 2 on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Seoul.
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ANALYSIS: SriLankan prepares to rebuild
Before the country was plunged into crisis by the Easter Sunday attacks, Sri Lanka's flag carrier completed work on a new five-year plan for submission to its government shareholder. The plan already appeared unlikely to command immediate political attention, in an election year, and will now of course lie further down the list of priorities.
"We will definitely have to revisit the business plan that was submitted, based on the growth projections of the tourist arrivals," states SriLankan Airlines chief Vipulla Gunatilleka.
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JAL eyes deeper ties with Malaysia Airlines
Japan Airlines is eyeing areas of further co-operation with Malaysia Airlines, which could include a potential investment in its struggling Oneworld partner.
The two carriers recently signed a memorandum of understanding and have applied for regulatory clearance to establish a joint venture on Japan-Malaysia routes, but JAL president Yuji Akasaka says that he expects that to expand further.
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Thai Smile to be Star Alliance connecting partner
Thai Airways subsidiary Thai Smile will become Star Alliance’s second connecting partner by the end of the year, joining Shanghai-based Juneyao Airlines.
The airline will add another 11 unique destinations to the alliance network. Cirium’s Fleets Analyzer shows that Thai Smile flies 20 Airbus A320s to 26 destinations in Asia.
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Eastar counts the costs of Max grounding
As airlines across the world count the cost of the ensuing grounding of the Boeing 737 Max, Eastar Jet, South Korea’s first carrier to take delivery of the type, has been forced to pause the launch of some new routes.
Eastar assistant manager Daniel Woo says that the airline's two 737 Max 8s would have been the ideal aircraft for longer routes in its network, such as Singapore-Busan, as well as Seoul-Phu Quoc.
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Near-catastrophic E190 upset traced to misrigged aileron cables
Portuguese investigators have found that an Embraer 190’s aileron cables had been incorrectly rigged before a ferry flight during which the pilots experienced severe in-flight control problems.
The Air Astana aircraft had undergone scheduled maintenance at the OGMA facility at Alverca do Ribatejo before its departure for Almaty, via Minsk, on 11 November last year.
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Ethiopian will be 'last' airline to resume Max flights: chief
Ethiopian Airlines will be the last airline globally to resume flights with the Boeing 737 Max once it has been certified to return to the skies.
Speaking at the IATA annual general meeting in Seoul today, Ethiopian chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam told reporters that the African carrier will only restart flights with the type "after the regulators decide and when we see airlines start flying it", adding: "We will be the last one".
LinkAirports
Climate-change activists target Heathrow summer shutdown
Climate-change protesters have threatened to shut down London Heathrow airport over the summer in a bid to force the UK government to cancel planned expansion of the hub.
Extinction Rebellion says it plans to carry out "non-violent direct action" on 18 June that would prompt the closure of the airport for a day, and would escalate efforts in July if demands were not met.
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Plaza Premium group launches meet-and-greet service at DFW
The Plaza Premium Group has launched its Allways meet-and-greet service in the US market at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).
It describes the launch as a key milestone in its US expansion plans, with the company aiming to follow up the move with the opening of a Plaza Premium Lounge at the Texas gateway in 2020.
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No flights at Kuusamo Airport mid August as Finavia renovates runway
Runway resurfacing is required at Kuusamo Airport to repair damage caused by the extreme winter weather in Finland.
Finavia has announced that there will be no flights to or from Kuusamo Airport for three weeks in summer 2019 as the runway is to be resurfaced.
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Hong Kong Airport Authority outlines its ‘Airport City’ vision
Hong Kong International Airport is planning a transformation from city airport to ‘Airport City’ to ensure the airport can facilitate the expected exponential passenger growth.
Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) has outlined its vision and strategy to transform Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) into an ‘Airport City’ in a report titled “From City Airport to Airport City” which has recently been released.
LinkMilitary
GAO denies ATEC protest on UH-60 and AH-64 engine replacements
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has denied Advanced Turbine Engine Company’s (ATEC) protest of the US Army's selection of GE Aviation's T901-GE-900 for its Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP).
ITEP is the US Army’s engine replacement programme for the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters.
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Japan receives first E-2D Advanced Hawkeye
The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) has taken delivery of its first Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) aircraft.
“Northrop Grumman’s longstanding partnership with Japan is beginning a new chapter with the delivery of the first Japan E-2D,” says Northrop Grumman’s Jane Bishop.
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Aviation Quote
To the possible enquiry as to the probable character of a successful flying machine, the writer would answer that in his judgment two types of such machines may eventually be evolved: one, which may be termed the soaring type, and which will carry but a single operator, and another, likely to be developed somewhat later, which may be termed the journeying type, to carry several passengers, and to be provided with a motor.
- Octave Chanute, Progress in Flying Machines, 1894.
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General Trivia
1. A British pilot holds the world record for having flown the most different types of aircraft, 487. He also holds the world record for having made the greatest number of carrier landings, 2,407. Unfortunately, not enough pilots know this remarkable pilot's name. What is it?
2. A pilot knows the maximum cruise speed and climb performance of his airplane when flown at maximum gross weight. He is curious to know, however , how this performance could be affected if the gross weight by 25 percent. How can her determine this during flight without actually overloading the airplane?
3. What is the largest, heaviest, most-powerful, piston-engined airplane ever produced?
4. A pilot over the 48 conterminous states flies along a parallel of latitude until he reaches his destination, which is 10degrees of longitude east of his departure point. If the time of sunset at the departure airport is 0020 UTC, what is the time of sunset at the destination airport?
5. True or False, each of two major US airlines have had well-publicized, major accidents involving the same type of airliner on the same day?
6. A most inspiring radio report was transmitted by a World War 2liaison pilot on 23 FEB 45. He transmitted matter-of-factly, "Target Area One Two Three Peter. One flag. Red, white and blue." Where was this target area?
