Airbus continues to discuss an A350 XWB powerplant with GE, Executive VP-Head of A350 Program Didier Evrard said last week at a briefing in Toulouse. Currently, the only engine available on the long-range aircraft is Rolls-Royce's Trent XWB. The A350 has garnered 362 orders from 22 customers and is scheduled to enter service (the -900) in 2013. Evrard said he had "no forecast" for the discussions and that the manufacturer is "waiting" for GE to design and offer an engine that meets Airbus's requirements.

Airbus announced yesterday in Toulouse a partnership with JetBlue Airways, IAE, Honeywell Aerospace and Honeywell's UOP subsidiary "to pursue development of a sustainable second-generation biofuel for use in commercial aircraft." The new venture will endeavor to develop renewal energy technology to convert vegetable- and algae-based oils into jet fuel. UOP already has developed "process technology to convert natural oils and greases to military jet fuel" as a drop-in replacement as part of a project funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the technology also wi

Airbus is targeting the end of 2010 for certification for its enhanced service goal package for A320 family aircraft. Originally certified to operate for 48,000 cycles/60,000 flight hr., the family has an initial enhanced target of 60,000 cycles/120,000 hr. and a second target of "as much as is economically feasible," Airbus said. A retrofit will be made available, Executive VP-Alain Flourens said at the manufacturer's Technical Press Briefing in Toulouse.

Airbus CEO Tom Enders and Executive VP Mario Heinen, head of the A380 program, insisted that delivery delays announced this week resulted from the "snowball effect" of previous A380 production holdups and are not a harbinger of further difficulties.

Alitalia reported a first-quarter pre-tax loss of €214.8 million ($333.1 million), 41% higher than the €152 million pre-tax loss in the year-ago period, citing higher fuel costs and lower traffic revenue as the main culprits. Total consolidated revenue slipped 0.4% to €1.06 billion, with passenger revenue dropping 4.8% to €784.9 million from €824.8 million a year earlier. Operating costs were down 3.9% owing to lower capacity but operating loss still widened 42.1% to €160.9 million from €113.3 million last year.

Mesa Air Group will do a phased shutdown of its Air Midwest subsidiary from May 23 to June 30. The Wichita-based regional, which has been in business for 43 years, operates a fleet of 20 B1900s serving 27 cities. Mesa said record high fuel prices, insufficient demand and a difficult operating environment factored into the decision to end service. Even with Essential Air Service subsidies provided by the US Dept. of Transportation, AM has been unable to achieve "sustained profitability" for several years, MAG said in a statement.

Airbus confirmed yesterday that "the plan to sell the plants which are not being carved out remains in place" despite the recent failure of negotiations with MT Aerospace regarding three German facilities (ATWOnline, March 28). Plant divestures have been cited as a key component of the company's Power8 restructuring plan. "Airbus expects to conclude the divestments in Filton and in Laupheim in the next few weeks," it claimed. Filton will produce the A350's fixed trailing edge assembly and Laupheim the crew rest areas.

Airbus yesterday announced the fourth delay to the A380 program, saying that transitioning from "low rate. . .Wave 1" production to "the full serial design and manufacturing process called Wave 2" will take longer than anticipated.