Airbus, US Airways
US Airways exec: Airbus talking to us about re-engined A320. Airbus has
started talking to customers about possible re-engining of the A320, a
US Airways executive said Tuesday. Airbus and Boeing are expected to
decide this year whether to re-engine their single-aisle families. Kerr
reportedly said US Airways "might be tempted to talk to" Airbus about
delaying A320 orders if a re-engined A320 was on the horizon. Feb 23,
2010
NASA
Breakthroughs may finally lead to commercial use for VTOL aircraft.
NASA researchers are closing in on noise-reduction breakthroughs that
could lead to regional jet-size vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft
being used commercially. "We're talking about performance, noise,
efficiency and emissions," says Susan Gorton, NASA's principal
investigator on the subsonic rotary-wing project. Feb 23, 2010
France set to open
trial in 10-year-old Concorde crash. Nearly a decade after an Air
France Concorde crashed near Paris, a French court is seeking to
apportion blame. Safety at Charles de Gaulle Airport has been
questioned after investigators found that one of two routine runway
sweeps had been canceled on the day of the crash. But the main
controversy surrounds Continental Airlines: Investigators say a
titanium wear strip from a Continental DC-10 fell onto the runway and
was later struck by the Concorde, causing a chain reaction that led to
the crash. But lawyers for Continental say they have 28 witnesses who
saw the Concorde on fire before it struck the runway debris, and some
aviation experts fear that putting an airline on trial will have a
chilling effect that could lead to more such accidents in the future.
Proposed 2011 Pentagon budget continues themes of 2010. The
Pentagon's proposed budget for fiscal 2011 continues last year's trend
away from big-ticket weapons systems in favor of unmanned aircraft
systems and other equipment suited to current wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq. The budget also hints at priorities for fiscal 2012, including a
bomber and upgraded equipment for special operations. Feb 11, 2010
Proposed rotorcraft budget offers no funding for new
items. While the nearly $12.5 billion proposed in the U.S. Navy and
Army rotorcraft budget for fiscal 2011 provides funding for various
assets, the plan offers little for new items. The proposal lacks a
successor to the Kiowa Warrior fleet, and the only new aircraft for the
Navy is the heavy-lift CH-53K, which is still in development. Feb 11,
2010
Bombardier, Embraer
Good news for Bombardier and Embraer, big carriers increasingly rely on
smaller jets. This year, the two biggest carriers at Chicago O'Hare
will offer roughly two regional flights for every one mainline flight,
according to numbers compiled for the Chicago Tribune. Experts say
Chicago mirrors a larger trend toward smaller aircraft on shorter
flights. "We're matching the number of seats to customer demand," says
a spokeswoman for American Airlines, which, like United Airlines, has
reversed its mainline-to-regional ratio over the past decade at O'Hare.
Feb 11, 2010
Cessna Aircraft
Cessna may move some production work to Mexico. Textron, as part of an
ongoing effort to reduce costs, says it may close some Cessna metalwork
production lines in Kansas and Georgia and transfer the work to Mexico.
The company cut 8,000 jobs at Cessna in 2009, and Chief Financial
Officer Frank Conner said he expects Cessna to post a first-quarter
loss. Feb 11, 2010
Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines honors its first black pilot by naming new 737
after him. A black pilot who fought all the way to the Supreme Court to
be allowed to fly for a major airline had the rare distinction this
week of having a Continental Airlines jet named in his honor. Capt.
Marlon Green was honored in a ceremony in Houston more than 50 years
after he first approached Continental for a job. His six-year battle to
fly for Continental ended with a 1963 Supreme Court ruling that forced
airlines not to discriminate in their hiring. "We turned him down for
one reason and one reason only -- because of the color of his skin,"
Continental Chief Executive Jeff Smisek said in remarks as the airline
unveiled its newest Boeing 737, a white jet with Green's name painted
in navy blue near the nose. The other three Continental aircraft named
after individuals honor former CEOs Larry Kellner, Gordon Bethune and
Robert Six. Smisek acknowledged the airline's fight to keep Green out.
Smisek, also chairman and president, said he was "proud to be here
today representing my 41,000 co-workers. But I tell you there is part
of Continental's history of which I'm not proud. That happened over 50
years ago." The trailblazing black pilot died last year at age 80. His
brother, Jim Green, flew in from his home near Seattle for the ceremony
Tuesday. Feb 11, 2010
Singapore
Airlines says a Boeing 747-400 that arrived Tuesday at Changi Airport
saved about 11 tons of fuel and cut carbon emissions by 37 tons
during its flight from LAX. The savings were achieved through optimized
air traffic controls as well as maintenance initiatives, including a
detailed engine wash and airframe polish.
Flight SQ11 departed Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 31 and
stopped in Tokyo before arriving in Singapore's Changi Airport early
Tuesday. The aircraft used about 6% less fuel than normally required
for a similar flight.
The flight was part of the Asia and Pacific Initiative to Reduce
Emissions, or ASPIRE. The initiative is a partnership among carriers in
the region to cut greenhouse gases and become more environmentally
friendly, the airline said. SQ11 was ASPIRE's fifth green flight.
To be more fuel-efficient, the aircraft underwent a number of
maintenance measures, such as a detailed engine wash and airframe
polish, before the flight. The airline also worked with aviation
authorities in the U.S., Japan and Singapore to ensure optimal air
traffic conditions.
Boeing's new 787 flew for the first time last month, and flight testing
is under way on the first two jets. W. James McNerney, the chief
executive, said the plane was on track to meet its weight goals, an
aspect that had been a concern of analysts. "We don't anticipate any
major modifications to the airplane," Mr. McNerney said.
Boeing said it planned to fly its new 747-8 "in the near future." The
new version of its 41-year-old plane is longer, larger and can fly
farther than its predecessors. Boeing plans to deliver a handful of
both the 747 and the 787 by the end of this year.
Boeing might drop
787-3 as customers convert to 787-8. Boeing is said to be close to
dropping production of its 787-3, a shorter version of its 787
Dreamliner, due to decisions by its two Japanese customers, Japan
Airlines and ANA, to convert to the 787-8. With no remaining customers
for the airplane, a Boeing official said it would not be likely that
the company would proceed with the aircraft.
Boeing's next-generation jumbo jet could take its maiden flight early
next week, the company said. The 747-8, which shares a cockpit and
engine with the upcoming 787 Dreamliner, is slated to begin deliveries
late this year as a cargo model. Lufthansa will be the first customer
for a passenger version of the plane, scheduled for delivery in late
2011. The 747-8 passenger will seat in 450- to 550, depending if it is
confirgured in thre or two class, stretched 5.6 m (18.3 ft) from the
747-400 to provide 467 seats in a three-class configuration and a
14,815-km (8,000-nmi) range.
Airbus increases commercial jet prices by average of 5.8%. Airbus
says it has increased the list prices of its commercial jets by an
average of 5.8% to offset increasing material costs and the euro's
strength. The move represents the company's first price rise in two
years and it comes as Airbus faces cost overruns on its A400M military
airlifter program.
U.S. aviation regulators have ordered
inspections of emergency cockpit oxygen systems on roughly 1,300 Boeing
jetliners operated by
U.S. carriers, more than a decade after the manufacturer first warned
airlines that certain parts posed potential fire hazards.
Covering three separate Boeing models, from domestic workhorse 737
aircraft to the longest-range international 747 jumbo jets, rules
proposed by the Federal Aviation Administration call for checks of some
cockpit oxygen hoses that can catch fire if there is a short circuit in
a nearby electrical panel. The proposed inspections and fixes, released
at the end of last week, are expected to be embraced by foreign
regulators.
Starting more than a decade ago, Boeing received reports of problems
caused by current flowing through part of the stowage box for pilot
oxygen masks, which eventually can result in a hose melting or burning.
The initial incident was reported on a Boeing 757 in 1997. In response,
the company in 1999 issued its first round safety bulletins covering
757s and three other aircraft models, according to a Boeing spokeswoman.
CFM International today will move the first LEAP-X engine core to GE
Aviation's testbed at its Evendale, Ohio, facility to begin testing
within three weeks as the GE/Snecma joint venture aggressively develops
the new-generation powerplant it is marketing to Boeing and Airbus for
the eventual successor to the 737 and A320 families. CFM this week
showed reporters both the core and a "MASCOT" test engine comprising
composite three-dimensional modeling-designed LEAP-X fan blades
currently undergoing crosswind tests at GE's Peebles, Ohio, facility.
CFM said a baseline LEAP-X can be ready for certification by 2016 for a
possible EIS in 2018 and insisted that it will be far enough along in
development and testing by 2011-12 for the aircraft manufacturers to
make a decision.
Boeing mechanics and engineers are working round the clock to make sure
the new 787 Dreamliner, already two years behind schedule, makes
its first test flight before the end of June. The carbon composite
aircraft -- assembled near Seattle from parts made around the world --
was supposed to fly in the summer of 2007, but has been pushed back
four times by production problems and delayed by a two-month mechanics'
strike. Boeing has reshuffled its schedule a number of times, but says
it is on track to finally get the first 787 into the air sometime in
the second quarter, as promised in December. If the tests go to plan,
it will start delivering planes to airlines in the first quarter of
2010. That is crucial to Boeing, which gets the bulk of the payment for
a plane when it is delivered. Despite a few cancellations this year,
Boeing has 878 Dreamliners on order, worth about USD$140 billion at
list prices.
Boeing gave reporters a
rare glimpse of the 787 production plant on Thursday, where it has
eight of the aircraft in various stages of assembly. Two are for ground
tests only, and will never fly. The other six will form the fleet of
planes that Boeing will fly for a total of 3,500 hours over an eight-
or nine-month period to meet the US Federal Aviation Administration's
stringent certification. The first 787 scheduled to fly is the same one
that was rolled out in front of thousands of cheering Boeing employees
in July 2007, then hastily pulled back for more work. It is now
stationed in Boeing's paint hangar, where it has already been touched
up and had its fuel tanks washed out in preparation for the first
flight. Mechanics swarmed about the plane on Thursday, making checks
and adjustments inside and out.
Inside Boeing's massive wide-body plant at Everett, Washington, some 30
miles north of Seattle, there is a nose-to-tail line of 787s in various
stages of construction, set to become test flight planes. Workers glide
by on tricycles, making their way across one the world's biggest
buildings, which Boeing says could fit 911 basketball courts. Much of
the plane's structure is manufactured in Japan and Italy and flown in
enlarged 747 jumbos to be joined in South Carolina, then flown onto
Everett for final assembly. Boeing still won't say exactly when the
first test flight will take place, but industry-watchers believe it
will happen around the middle of June. If the tests go well, Japan's
All Nippon Airways is set to take delivery of the first production 787
in the first quarter of next year, nearly two years after the initial
delivery date of May 2008.
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