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Study: Supersonic transports to challenge noise, emissions standards
Supersonic transports (SSTs) under development could produce substantial noise pollution throughout projected global route networks and pose major challenges for aviation carbon-emissions reduction efforts within two decades if new environmental standards are not introduced, an International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) study concludes. The study, made public Jan. 30, models a 2,000-aircraft SST fleet serving 500 likely routes in 2035 based on current subsonic networks.
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Boeing embeds more workers at CFM, suppliers to boost production
Boeing is embedding more employees at factory sites of engine-maker CFM International and its suppliers as the aircraft OEM tries to help its supply chain overcome narrowbody production rate ramp issues that linger from 2018, even as industry looks to boost manufacturing again this year.
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Boeing's 2018 profit hits $10.5bn as production soars
A record number of aircraft deliveries and a rapidly expanding aircraft services business lifted Boeing's net profit up 24% year-on-year in 2018 to $10.5 billion.
The results punctuate a year during which Boeing undertook a number of high-profile projects, including 777X development, hiking 737 production, tackling significant supply-chain issues and studying a potential new aircraft known as the New Mid-market Airplane (NMA).
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Etihad and LHT partner to stimulate aircraft modification market
Etihad Airways Engineering and Lufthansa Technik have formed a tentative partnership – alongside engineering specialists EAD Aerospace and Envoy Aerospace – to establish common standards for and promote development of supplemental type certificates (STC) for aircraft modifications.
Dubbed the “Independent Aircraft Modifier Alliance” (IAMA), the collaboration’s objective is to address “customer concerns with regard to documentation, data availability and a worldwide customer support network” for modifications based on third-party STCs, says LHT.
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Delta TechOps completes its first Trent 1000 shop visit
Delta Air Lines’ maintenance division has completed its first overhaul shop visit of a Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine.
R-R says that the Delta TechOps started work on the powerplant – an option on the Boeing 787 – in late 2018, and that the overhaul shop visit represented an “opportunity to learn more about the engine”.
LinkAirlines
Hawaiian’s 2018 profit down 29.5% as competitive capacity grows
Faced with competitive pressure in key markets, Hawaiian Airlines plans to introduce several products and services, including basic economy fares, in 2019. The carrier outlined its goals for the year during its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings call. Hawaiian reported a full-year net profit of $233.2 million, down 29.5% from $330.6 million a year earlier.
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Air New Zealand lowers profit guidance on softening demand
Air New Zealand has downgraded its profit guidance because of softening demand, prompting the airline to launch a wide-ranging review of its business.
The carrier now projects it will report a pre-tax profit of NZ$340-NZ$400 million ($233-$274 million) for the full fiscal year through June 30. This is down from its previous forecast in August of a pre-tax underlying profit of NZ$425-NZ$525 million.
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ANA finds no engine failure in 787-8 dual shutdown
All Nippon Airways (ANA) has concluded there was no engine failure following a Jan. 17 incident in which both engines on a Boeing 787-8 shut down after it landed at Japan’s Osaka International Airport.
ANA flight NH985 was arriving from Tokyo Haneda Airport with 109 passengers and nine crew members on board. After touching down on the runway and deploying the thrust reversers to slow the aircraft, pilots noticed that both Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines had shut down. The 787 completed rolling out and came to a stop about 8,000 ft. down the runway, according to media reports.
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Ryanair’s O’Leary: More airline acquisitions possible
On the heels of Ryanair’s acquisition of Austria-based LaudaMotion, the Irish LCC sees the potential to add more airlines to its current group of three carriers. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary outlined the company’s growth outlook with ATW in Vienna. “Two more airlines could be possible. We’ll see what comes up,” he said. “If there are other opportunities which have a 20- to-50 aircraft fleet, like LaudaMotion, we are interested.”
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Flybe rejects call for a general meeting
UK regional carrier Flybe has rejected a demand for a general meeting from Hosking Partners, which manages 18.72% of Flybe’s shares on behalf of several investors.
Hosking Partners is questioning how Flybe’s board accepted and recommended a Jan. 11 offer of £0.01 per share, at a time when the company was trading at £0.16 per share, closing the door to rival bids. They also want to know why Flybe entered a binding agreement to sell its operating businesses by Feb. 22, under a deal that shareholders were unable to vote on.
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Hainan Airlines nets $99 million in government support in 2018
China’s Hainan Airlines and its subsidiary carriers received CNY667 million ($99 million) in government support in 2018, primarily as subsidies for aviation services.
The amount was equivalent to 20% of the airlines’ net profit for the year, the company said in a Jan. 29 Shanghai Stock Exchange report.
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Aeroflot Group traffic up 11% in 2018
Russia’s Aeroflot Group carried 55.7 million passengers in 2018, up 11% year-over-year (YOY). International traffic grew 9.7% to 24.7 million, while domestic traffic increased 12.3% to 31 million. Passenger load factor decreased 0.1 point to 82.7%. RPKs were up 9.9% to 143 billion; ASK increased 10.1% to 173 billion.
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Chinese cargo airline seeks approval for Zhengzhou-based operations
A Chinese company has applied to operate as a cargo airline based at the north-central city Zhengzhou, where the government is striving to build an air-freight industry.
The company proposes to use Boeing 737 aircraft, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a public notification of the application.
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Vietnam Airlines to take 12 leased A321neos in 2019
Vietnam Airlines is scheduled to receive 12 Airbus A321neos from lessor California-based Air Lease Corp. this year, boosting the carrier’s existing fleet of this type.
The airline received the first of the 12 A321neos leased from ALC on Jan. 28. This is the airline’s fourth A321neo, after deliveries began in November. More are expected to arrive “in the coming weeks,” Vietnam Airlines said.
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Ryanair Spanish cabin crew vote for union recognition
Ryanair’s Spanish cabin crew have agreed to be represented by the SITCPLA and USO unions, allowing negotiations to begin toward a new collective labor agreement (CLA) with the Irish LCC.
SITCPLA and USO said 99% of Ryanair’s directly employed Spanish-based cabin crew voted in favor of representation, after 12 “intense and productive” assemblies across the airline’s Spanish bases.
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US carriers cancel flights as extreme cold hits Midwest
US airlines canceled hundreds of flights on 30 January as record-breaking cold temperatures descended upon the Midwest USA.
Flight tracking website FlightStats.com reports airlines cancelled more than 2,500 US flights as of mid-afternoon on 30 January. The website does not specify how many of those flights were cancelled because of weather.
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Air Vanuatu starting Melbourne service
Air Vanuatu plans to start a Port Vila-Melbourne service on 17 June.
The carrier says the service will be operated on a thrice-weekly basis with Boeing 737-800s.
It adds that Qantas will codeshare on the route, which takes effect on the same date.
LinkAirports
Wood you believe it !
Vancouver International Airport’s expanded International Pier D will boast its own forest of towering Western Hemlock trees, writes Joe Bates.
With its Totem poles, a giant jade canoe and its own aquarium, Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is already one of the world’s best loved gateways for its unique sense of place, and its ambience designed to encapsulate British Columbia’s land, sea and sky is about to become even more pronounced with the creation of its very own forest inside Pier D.
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Changi Airport exceeds the 65 million passenger mark in 2018
Changi Airport’s growth continues as three new airlines and seven new city links are added to the portfolio at the hub airport.
Singapore’s Changi Airport registered a strong performance in 2018, handling a record 65.6 million passenger movements (up 5.5 per cent) for the year with 386,000 landings and take-offs (up 3.4 per cent). Airfreight throughput increased by 1.4 per cent and reached 2.15 million tonnes in 2018.
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Sphinx International Airport begins trial run with EgyptAir
Sphinx International Airport, which is due to begin full operations in 2020 to ease the congestion of Cairo International Airport, has begun a trail of 30 flights between late January and early February.
It has been announced that the new airport in the outskirts of Cairo, Sphinx Airport (SPX) will be operated by EgyptAir. The airline will operate domestic flights between the 25 January and 9 February, in a trial period which will see 30 flight scheduled to other domestic airports.
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Robots may soon be parking cars at Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport is set to trial robots to park passenger’s cars in the long-stay car park at the South Terminal. The trial is due to take place over three months in conjunction with technology provided by Stanley Robotics.
In a planning application to Crawley Council, Gatwick Airport state that they will be using robots to park passengers cars to increase capacity.
LinkMilitary
Leonardo sees US Navy favoring single-engined trainer helicopters
Leonardo’s pitch for the US Navy’s TH-XX helicopter trainer replacement competition will focus on what it said is the affordability of its light-weight, single-engined TH-119 helicopter.
Based on the commercial AgustaWestland AW119, the Italian company said the helicopter’s simple and rugged design, as well as its single engine, make it the most practical and cost efficient aircraft for training naval aviators. The USN posted its request for proposals on 28 January, asking for 130 helicopters to replace its legacy fleet of Bell TH-57B/C Sea Ranger trainer helicopters. The contract award is anticipated in the first quarter of the government 2020 fiscal year.
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Boeing Defense turnaround helps company post record $101bn sales
Boeing’s revenue reached a record $101 billion in 2018, partly helped by a turnaround in the company’s defence unit, which won several large contracts thereby reversing more than a decade of declining sales.
Boeing Defense, Space & Security’s revenue grew to $23.2 billion last year, rising 13% from the year prior, the company said in a financial filing. Though, the division’s profit declined 27% to $1.59 billion for the year.
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ANALYSIS: Boeing plays catch-up with KC-46A deliveries
When US Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson's aircraft was grounded because of smoke in the cockpit, causing her to miss the delivery ceremony for the first Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker, the snag seemed to be par for the course for the programme.
The US Air Force's KC-X aerial refuelling tanker replacement effort has been marred for years by ethics scandals, billions of dollars in cost overruns and delays. And despite the celebrations at Boeing's assembly line in Everett, Washington – and Wilson’s eventual arrival and then departure the next day on one of two KC-46As bound for McConnell AFB in Kansas – the tanker's trials and tribulations are not completely over.
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Aviation Quote
The vast majority of the shuttle program was a success. We learned so much about how a reusable spacecraft interacts with its environment, how it ages—and what to design next time.
- Col. Eileen Collins, two time shuttle commander and member of NASA's Advisory Council. Popular Mechanics, April 2011.
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