Rolls-Royce's decision to halt work on the Trent 900 engine to deal with delays in the A380 program does not have immediate financial and employment reverberations, but those could, yet, come. The company says it will basically freeze Trent 900 work for a year, now that Airbus has pushed out deliveries another 10 months in its third program delay. The company has already built 28 of the powerplants, which are used on the bulk of the test aircraft currently flying.
Dispatch reliability of the Embraer 190 is still at a lower level "than we estimated," says CEO Mauricio Botelho. Part of the problem, he says, is having the proper level of spare parts availability. During the second quarter, Embraer pointed to 190/195 learning curve issues as part of the reason for a slide in its gross margin to 28.2% from 31.4% a year ago (DAILY, Aug. 15).
Following up on a pledge to branch out into other businesses (DAILY, Oct. 4), Comair won FAA certification to perform third-party maintenance work on Bombardier CRJ-200s and -700s at its Northern Kentucky hangar. Plans are also under way to win repair station certification for the airline's Orlando maintenance base in the coming months.
While EADS has estimated its earnings loss from A380 delays, Merrill Lynch analyst Charles Armitage warns the company has not revealed the extra costs it must absorb from other aircraft programs. The A350 relaunch could cost an extra EUR1 billion, while A400M cost overruns may cost another EUR1 billion, Armitage believes.
TAM on Dec. 15 plans to launch a second daily flight from New York Kennedy to Sao Paulo with an Airbus A330. The new flight "aims to meet increasing passenger demand" on the route begun by TAM in November 2005.
Named Kelly Ortberg to succeed Bob Chiusano as executive VP and chief operating officer-commercial systems at the end of this year. Jeff Standerski will replace Ortberg as VP and general manager-air transport systems.
Embraer's excitement over an aircraft order from first-time customer Northwest last week was tempered by the airframer's being forced to cut deliveries this year after supplier challenges caused shortfalls in Embraer 190/195 production.
You can now register online for AVIATION WEEK events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or contact Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) OCT. 24-26 -- MRO Europe, Amsterdam NOV. 13-15 -- Aerospace & Defense Programs, Phoenix
The Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) won a small victory in its campaign to push back the Oct. 10 implementation date of FAA's drug and alcohol testing rule after a court decided to delay the compliance date by 10 days to Oct. 20.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. last week outlined the parameters under which Washington-area aviation businesses can seek reparations for lost income stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and subsequent security restrictions.
Northwest is flying its first Boeing 757-200 retrofitted with blended winglets in revenue service. The aircraft (N536US) is operating primarily from the airline's hubs to long-haul mainland U.S. destinations. The airline has 45 757-200s in service, according to the Airclaims fleet database, but the carrier has committed to putting winglets on 10 planes.
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, wants the government to test UAVs' ability to patrol U.S. fisheries in his home state. "We've asked that they be tested in Alaska to determine whether or not they can play a significant role in maritime boundary enforcement in protecting our fisheries," Stevens said. The FAA has been reluctant to grant UAVs widespread access to the skies used by piloted aircraft until they are equipped with technology that can sense and avoid approaching aircraft.
Mesa's Hawaiian inter-island carrier Go can keep selling tickets after a bankruptcy court denied a request from Hawaiian Airlines to suspend Go sales for a year pending the outcome of a broader lawsuit Hawaiian filed against Go's parent company.
The New England states need to develop an airport system based on the location of passengers and with adequate facilities to allow airlines to evolve the range of services that provide the best mix of efficiency, convenience and reliability, according to a new report released by the New England Airport Coalition.
SR Technics expanded its CFM engine maintenance business with Cathay Pacific through a new five-year deal covering 18 additional CFM56-5C engines powering the carrier's Airbus A340s. The MRO already maintains 49 of the powerplants for the airline.
