Norway’s Wideroe says it expects the completion of the Bombardier program to extend the economic life of its Dash 8-100 aircraft by 50% to take 10 to 11 weeks per aircraft, based on the work is has completed or nearly completed on the first two aircraft with the Extended Service Program (ESP). Bombardier, meanwhile, says it still expects to sign up more customers for the program, which extends the economic life of the Dash 8-100 by 40,000 cycles to 120,000 cycles.
The aviation industry in Latin America and the Caribbean has doubled in eight years, but the region’s accident rate remains higher than the world average, and an active partnership of governments is needed to reverse this trend, said Tony Tyler, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Latam Airlines Group will change its product on short-haul flights to compete better with low-cost rivals in the region. Short-haul flights on both LAN Airlines and TAM typically have been full-service, as customers in the region have demanded. But this will change in the near term for short-haul flights, CEO Enrique Cueto said Nov. 15 during the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Panama City.
Chinese airframer Comac received a flurry of C919 orders this week at Airshow China 2012 in Zhuhai, but the numbers look less impressive when the purchasers and their reasons for buying the aircraft are examined. The latest orders comprise 20 aircraft for Hebei Airlines, 20 for Joy Air and 10 for GE Capital Aviation Services (Gecas). “It’s political. As government-owned enterprises, we need to support one another,” says a source from one of the customers that ordered C919s.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of November 14, 2012, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
Airbus has lost another customer for its A350-800, with Qatar Airways’ decision to revise its order for 20 of the type to larger variants. With this revision, Qatar now holds an order for 60 A350-900s and 20 A350-1000s. Qatar’s move shrinks the -800 the firm order backlog to 92 commitments. The version shares a similar fate as the -1000, which has so far received only 88 orders. Interest in the -1000 has suffered from a late redesign and a two-year delay in entry-into-service. The A350-900 backlog, however, totals 382 orders.
Specialists from the General Electric and Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance working with Australian investigators are focusing on a failed nozzle guide vane as the suspected cause of an engine shutdown on a GP7200-powered Emirates Airline Airbus A380.
Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) SilkAir has firmed up an order for 23 Boeing 737-800s and 31 737-8 MAX aircraft. SilkAir announced in August it had signed a letter-of-intent with Boeing for this number of 737-800 and 737-8 Max aircraft, and yesterday the airline disclosed it is a firm order. In the earlier announcement, SilkAir said the aircraft would be delivered in 2014-2021.
Air Berlin has announced plans to sell its frequent flyer program (FFP) and is launching another strategy review in a move to quickly improve its economic performance. CEO Hartmut Mehdorn, speaking during the carrier’s Nov. 15 third-quarter earnings conference call, said the review will not change any fundamentals of its business model.
A Boeing marketing executive yesterday challenged Airbus over its 20-year forecast for narrowbody aircraft, which Boeing believes is too low. Airbus is forecasting demand for about 19,500 new single-aisle aircraft from 2012 to 2031, or about 7,900 when excluding single-aisle aircraft in the 100- to 124-seat range. That is in line with the current production rate for narrowbody manufacturers, says Randy Tinseth, VP-marketing, for Boeing Commercial Aircraft.
Click here to view the pdf Nonstop Passengers Per Day Each Way, Orlando - Toronto Pearson Nonstop Passengers Per Day Each Way, Orlando - Toronto Pearson Air Canada Westjet Others 2007Q1 490 221
James Hogan, president and CEO of Etihad Airways, tells Aviation Week he will “stand by for the long haul” as Air Berlin attempts to revive its fortunes. Hogan’s commitment comes as reports surface that Air Berlin is about to announce a 10% cut in its workforce as part of a broader cost-cutting initiative. Details of the plan are expected to emerge today when the German carrier reports its third-quarter results.
Liebherr has agreed on the shares of development and manufacturing of aircraft systems allocated to Chinese industry in the Comac C919 program, while also seeing state companies as potential partners in customer services in China. A Shanghai facility to support Liebherr products is expected to open next year, says Francis Niss, president of Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation. At first, the facility will deal with Liebherr air management equipment but later will support customers’ Liebherr landing gear and flight-control systems.
US Airways has met with American Airlines unsecured creditors committee (UCC) to promote its merger plan for the two carriers. The Nov. 13 pitch, confirmed by two sources, was to be countered by American Nov. 14 with a separate proposal to exit Chapter 11 as a standalone company, the sources add. The two airlines are not publicly commenting on this latest development A spokesman for US Airways declined to comment, citing a non-disclosure agreement signed in September.
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GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes drew down domestic Brazil capacity by 8.4% in the third quarter and expects to keep it flat next year, although CEO Paulo Kakinoff says the company is looking for further cuts. GOL plans to retire up to 12 Boeing 737-300s in the next two years and will replace them with Boeing 737-800s, Kakinoff told analysts Nov. 14 during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. The change to larger aircraft will not increase capacity, however, because the company will reduce frequencies on the current route network.
ST Aerospace, which is trying to execute more total support packages for maintenance and engineering services, is gaining traction in the interior completion and refurbishment business, launched in February under the brand Aeria Luxury Interiors.
Hurricane Sandy directly cost Spirit Airlines about $3 million in lost revenue because of flight cancellations, but the low-cost carrier estimates the natural disaster will swell that amount by $30-35 million because New York and Atlantic City-area customers are focused on recovering from the damage instead of traveling. That is a sizable hit for an airline that reported about $342 million in operating revenue for the third quarter.
Inflight connectivity provider Gogo says its bandwidth boosting ATG-4 (air-to-ground-4) upgrade will be installed on about 500 airliners by the end of 2013, up from the 40 aircraft equipped today. Several changes, including a move to four directional antennas from two omni-directional (omni) antennas, will allow Gogo to increase its peak data rate to as high as 9.8 Mbps from 3.1 Mbps maximum with the legacy system that has been operational for the past four years.
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), a leading figure in aviation lawmaking, applauded the U.S. House of Representatives Nov. 13 approval of legislation that will limit the effect of the EU's proposed emissions trading system (ETS) on domestic airlines. Speaking after the vote, he added that the bill—which already has been approved by the U.S. Senate—is a guarantee in case a global emissions accord cannot be agreed within the one-year deferment offered by the EU Nov. 12.
All Nippon Airways’ (ANA) smaller affiliate airlines can still thrive despite competition from larger low-cost carriers, such as Jetstar Japan and AirAsia Japan, says ANA CEO Shinichiro Ito. One of the advantages enjoyed by Solaseed Air and Air Do is operating from Tokyo Haneda Airport, Ito says. AirAsia Japan, in which ANA is a partner, uses Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, which is farther away from the city than Haneda.
