CommercialBoeing lists new order for 80 737sBoeing has added orders for 60 737 Max and 20 737NGs to its order backlog and attributed them to at least one unidentified buyer. Though Boeing declines to confirm the customer’s identity, details about the transaction point to a recently announced order by China Eastern Airlines. A 13 June filing on the Hong Kong stock exchange shows China Eastern has signed a purchase agreement with Boeing for a total of 80 737s, including both 737 Max and 737-800 aircraft.
LinkFiring up of first Leap-1B strengthens Boeing-CFM bondThe latest episode in one of the longest and most successful marriages in civil aerospace got under way on 13 June at an engine test facility near Paris. CFM International fired up for the first time the Leap-1B for the Boeing 737 Max at partner Snecma’s Villaroche site. As the sole propulsion supplier to the program, CFM has a backlog of over 4,000 engines for the more than 2,000 re-powered twinjets on order, and is continuing a relationship of over three decades, during which the GE/Snecma joint venture has built almost 14,000 CFM56-7 and -3 engines, beginning with the 737-300 in the early 1980s. The Leap – like the CFM56 – is not, of course, exclusive to the 737. CFM is also pushing on with certification efforts for two other variants of the engine: the Leap-1C version, which will be the only option on the Comac C919, and the Leap-1A, which will compete with the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G on the Airbus A320neo family. While it has enjoyed a monopoly position on the 737 since 1981, CFM’s tussle for market share on the Neo continues its long rivalry with International Aero Engines – in which P&W is a partner – on the Airbus single-aisle family.
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Virgin Atlantic to implement Google Glass strategyVirgin Atlantic is to permanently implement Google Glass at London Heathrow airport following a successful six-week trial. The airline’s chief executive Craig Kreeger revealed his decision to move forward with the technology at the SITA airline IT summit in Brussels. “We are still working [on this project] and don’t yet have a definitive date,” he says. “It will be rolled out beyond Heathrow to other check-in facilities. All we’ve done for the moment is look at the data and decide to go ahead.”
LinkDutch Ship Begins Mapping Ocean In MH370 HuntDutch engineers this week started a months-long survey to map uncharted deep-sea terrain at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, the next step in the search for the wreck of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. A survey ship from Dutch engineering company Fugro, carrying 40 crew and technicians, began mapping an area larger than the Netherlands, about 1,600 km (1000 miles) east of the northwest coast of Australia. The search for the lost plane is being coordinated by the Australian Transportation Safety Board and is expected to cost AUD$60 million (USD$56 million) over the first year. "It's a rough area," Rob Luijnenburg, strategy director at Fugro, which usually conducts surveys for oil and telecommunications companies, said.
LinkThai Airways Board Members To ResignFive board members at Thai Airways will resign to allow the ruling military to reshuffle and restructure the loss-making carrier hit by weak tourism after several months of domestic political unrest. Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong will stay as chairman of Thai Airways to help turn around the state-controlled airline after the junta refused his resignation. "Head of the military council and the airline's board don't want me to resign and they want me to help improve the airline which is in critical condition," Prajin told reporters.
LinkNew Mexico City Airport Plan For 6 RunwaysMexico is reviewing design plans for a new MXP120 billion peso (USD$9.23 billion) Mexico City airport which will eventually have six runways and should begin operating by 2018, according to people familiar with the plan. The new hub is due to replace the overstretched Benito Juarez Airport and would be built on the area of the Texcoco lake bed nearby, said two people with knowledge of the project. The current airport, Latin America's second busiest after Sao Paulo's Guarulhos, exceeded maximum operating capacity more than 50 times in 2012, and a new one has been discussed for years. "This situation implies a loss of competitiveness to foreign airports and on some occasions, security risks," President Enrique Pena Nieto's transport development plan says. A handful of consortiums have submitted bids to design the airport, including one fronted by British architect Norman Foster and Fernando Romero, son-in-law of Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, the billionaire's spokesman Arturo Elias said. A winner should be announced in July, the sources said.
LinkRolls-Royce To Return GBP£1 Bln To InvestorsAero-engine maker Rolls-Royce on Thursday said it would buy back shares worth GBP£1 billion (USD$1.69 billion) instead of making any major acquisitions. The company said it was on track to return to earnings growth next year, reassuring investors whose confidence was shaken by a cut in profit guidance in February and an engine order cancellation this month. The buyback, equivalent to about 5 percent of the company's GBP£19 billion market capitalization, will be funded partly by proceeds from the GBP£785 million disposal of its gas turbine unit to German conglomerate Siemens, agreed in May.
LinkAmerican to send Embraer 175s to Compass AirlinesAmerican Airlines Group announced plans to send 20 Embraer E175s to Compass Airlines, a new regional carrier for American. "We are looking forward to Compass operating these new aircraft to provide an exceptional travel experience to American's customers connecting to our extensive global network," said Kenji Hashimoto, senior vice president of regional carriers at American.
LinkWeather sensors help airlines with accurate forecastsSouthwest Airlines has equipped 87 of its aircraft with weather sensors to gather data on severe weather that can lead to cancelled flights. The sensors provide more up-to-date information than the National Weather Service, which sends out weather balloons twice a day. Rick Curtis, Southwest's chief meteorologist, said the weather sensors helped Southwest accurately predict the effects of a storm during the week of Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, UPS has outfitted 25 aircraft with the devices, and American Airlines is receiving real-time turbulence reports.
LinkFAA: Houston NextGen Metroplex will improve travel efficiencyNew flight routes in and around the southern half of Texas will save airlines millions of dollars in fuel costs, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. JetBlue CEO Dave Barger noted that the NextGen progress was good news, but added that airlines need more progress at a faster pace.
LinkAirlines, consumers oppose TSA revenue grabTransportation Security Administration fees are set to increase in July from $2.50 for a non-stop flight, or $5 for flights with connections, to a flat $5.60 each way. TSA's proposed definition of a one-way flight is encountering opposition from airlines and consumers as it would raise billions more dollars on the backs of airline customers than Congress intended. Victoria Day, a spokeswoman for Airlines for America, said A4A "strongly opposes" the TSA's proposal because it "will disproportionately hurt consumers from small and rural communities who must often use more one-way trips to reach their final destination."
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