Indian private carrier Jet Airways is understood to have placed an order for 50 737 MAX aircraft from Boeing to expand its fleet as competition in the country’s airline market continues to heat up.
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A second program delay has dashed the small remaining hope of the Comac C919 entering service on schedule in 2016. The first flight of the 158-seat aircraft, delayed earlier this year by about nine months from the original target of June 2014, will not take place until the end of 2015, says the director of an expert committee that is advising the cabinet on the program. That leaves only one year for flight-testing to meet the already doubtful end-2016 target for first delivery.
Low-cost carrier (LCC) Jetstar is moving closer to winning approval for a Hong Kong-based affiliate, and is continuing to expand its Japanese joint venture, Jetstar CEO Jayne Hrdlicka says. Establishing the Jetstar Hong Kong operation is “progressing well,” Hrdlicka said during the Australia Pacific Aviation Conference in Sydney. An application for an operators’ license has been submitted to regulators, and it is expected to be officially announced during August. This will start the public comment process.
Etihad is within 6-8 weeks of finalizing a major aircraft order that it has been discussing with Airbus and Boeing, airline CEO James Hogan tells Aviation Week. Speaking on the sidelines of the Center for Aviation’s Australia Pacific Aviation Summit in Sydney, Hogan would not say which of the manufacturers the agreement will be with, or whether it will be a split order.
Kenyan authorities yesterday afternoon were slowly preparing the resumption of scheduled passenger and cargo flights at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, after a devastating fire Wednesday destroyed large parts of the international terminal.
While Malaysia-based AirAsia X is in the process of setting up new hubs for long-haul operations in Thailand and Indonesia, it may be some time before it establishes further overseas hubs, says the carrier’s CEO Azran Osman-Rani.
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A Boeing 737-800 operated by Lion Air struck cattle in a night landing at Gorontalo, Indonesia, on Aug. 6. Two of the 110 passengers aboard suffered minor injuries in the evacuation. Three cows were on the runway when the aircraft, registered PK-LKH, landed at 9:13 p.m., a Lion Air source says, unable to explain why the cows were there. When the landing gear hit one of the animals, the brakes were damaged. “One of the cows also became tangled in one of the rear [main] landing [gear], affecting the steering,” the airline says.
Demand for most current-technology aircraft and engine types remains solid, but a sluggish global economy and stagnant traffic growth mean lease rates aren’t expected to climb anytime soon, leasing executives report. “Rental levels are steady for current-generation passenger aircraft,” Aircastle CEO Ron Wainshal said on an Aug. 6 analyst call. “Lease market conditions are good. But absent a pickup in global GDP growth, we don’t see rents going much higher over the next year or so.”
Airbus and Boeing are again engaged in a serious dispute over comparative performance figures for the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747-8. Following a decision by the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to dismiss an Airbus claim over what the manufacturer considers to be misleading advertising content, John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers, says Boeing’s assumptions behind its performance claims are “as outdated and obsolete as the 747.”
Virgin America, well past a major growth phase and in the midst of a lull in aircraft deliveries thanks to a restructuring of outstanding orders, is “now poised to produce meaningful profitability,” President and CEO David Cush says. On Aug. 7 the airline reported its first-ever second-quarter profit, $8.8 million in net income, compared with a $31.8 million loss in the same quarter of 2012. Its year-to-date profit at the halfway point—$12.9 million—is also a first.
China Southern will market select WestJet flights connecting between Vancouver and Edmonton, Kelowna, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, Prince George, Calgary, Toronto and Regina under a code-share deal unveiled today. China Southern sees it as a logical extension of its growth strategy, citing as an example the airline’s recent move in June to boost its Vancouver frequency to daily. The two airlines have had an interline agreement since March of last year.
Results from an Australia Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) study have prompted the regulator to formalize revised standards for reinforced cockpit doors that take emergency access and egress into account. The July 31 notice of proposed regulation (NPRM) would address two situations: assistance from cabin crew when a pilot becomes incapacitated, and post-accident escape from the cockpit to the cabin. The changes would be incorporated in CASA’s Part 90, “Additional Airworthiness Requirements.”
Airbus is now near its full-year target to reach more than 1,000 firm orders in 2013. Having signed up firm commitments for an additional 175 aircraft in July, the European manufacturer is now at 932 gross firm orders, 892 net after cancellations, since the start of the year. Airbus’ original sales target was more than 700 aircraft, but management last month revised that upward in the face of strong demand in recent months.
South African domestic carrier Comair Limited is slowly returning its Boeing 737 fleet to regular service, after a total of 11 aircraft were temporarily grounded over the weekend. The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) decision came after it was determined that the aircraft had been flying with spindles that should have been replaced in August 2012. The airline is understood to have modified six of the 11 aircraft in question.
Deputy NASA Administrator Lori Garver, a policy lightning rod at agency headquarters as the Obama administration worked to shift U.S. human spaceflight from a government-run operation to a commercial venture, has resigned to take a job as general manager of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).
A strong showing by Gulfstream and Bombardier helped propel first-half general aviation billings to their highest levels since 2008, but the continued sluggishness at the light end of the jet market kept down business shipments overall, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s (GAMA) first-half shipment report. Even so, the piston market—usually a leading indicator of market recovery—is showing signs of a rebound.
Cost-conscious Norwegian is looking at opening a U.S. crew base either in New York or in Fort Lauderdale, the airline’s CEO Bjoern Kjos says. Norwegian plans to go ahead with the idea once it has taken delivery of its third Boeing 787 in October.
