Aircraft & Propulsion

Detail design of the MA700 is complete, and work has begun on most of the structure at Avic’s civil-aircraft factories.

Scottish regional carrier Loganair plans to increase the use of jets in coming years, as existing turboprop aircraft are retired.

Boeing has pushed back an announcement over pursuing the New Midsize Aircraft (NMA) until sometime in 2019, but increasingly, financial analysts are seeing the new aircraft as a fait accompli.

TAP Express CEO Valter Fernandes used the podium at MRO Europe in Amsterdam to call for action on long aviation lead times, saying the industry has lost its edge because innovation is too slow and expensive.

New Chinese regional carrier Genghis Khan Airlines has formally signed a contract with the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) for ARJ21 regional jets, confirming plans to begin flying early next year.

China’s Juneyao Airlines has taken delivery of the first of five Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

Aircraft Briefs-Oct. 15, 2018

Russia’s S7 Airlines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX on lease from Air Lease Corp., becoming the first Russian airline to fly the type.

Kuwait Airways placed a preliminary order for eight Airbus A330-800s in a much needed deal for the struggling widebody program.

While engine delivery issues have been gradually easing up, the company has faced customization challenges that explain the lack of progress overall on the highest-capacity members of the A320neo family.

Lufthansa Group is making another shift to its regional airline portfolio by transferring its Airbus A319s from Lufthansa mainline to Lufthansa CityLine, starting in 2019.

New Canadian ultra-LCC Jetlines said delivery of its first two aircraft is on schedule for “early” second quarter 2019 following the second set of advance lease payments to Dublin-based lessor AerCap.

Boeing’s output continued to rebound from the summer as 86 commercial aircraft were delivered in September to 31 airlines and eight lessors—up from 60 deliveries in August and 40 in July—achieving an output pace of 2.9 aircraft per day.

GE’s oldest widebody engine family enjoys a comeback amid buoyant cargo market and reengining study.

Airbus and Boeing commercial aircraft deliveries for 2018 year-to-date, sorted by most-recent delivery date.

Airbus and Boeing commercial aircraft gross orders for 2018 year-to-date, sorted by most-recent date of order placement with manufacturer.

French Polynesian carrier Air Tahiti Nui took delivery of its first Boeing 787-9, via lease from Air Lease Corp.

GE hits halfway mark in engine certification program as delivery of first production-compliant GE9X to Boeing nears for 777-9.

Flight-testing the world’s largest engine requires precise control and a thorough buildup approach, says GE Flight Test Operations chief test pilot Jon Ohman.

EgyptAir has formally put two Airbus A321s and 12 Embraer 170s up for sale, as it presses ahead with its fleet renewal.

Singapore LCC Scoot took delivery of its first Airbus A320neo, beginning the airline’s narrowbody fleet renewal.

Lufthansa Group subsidiary Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has added three Saab 2000 turboprops to its fleet, wet-leased from Slovenia-based Adria Airways, and will end the wet-lease of one Austrian Airlines Bombardier Q400, all as of Oct. 28.

Airbus is completing its ongoing leadership transition by naming Guillaume Faury its new CEO.

Airbus delivered 67 commercial aircraft to 25 airlines and 13 lessors in September, about 2.2 aircraft per day, up 29% from August, and nearly returning the Toulouse-based manufacturer to its prolific 2.7 aircraft-per-day output of June and July.

The first Airbus A220-100 (formerly Bombardier CS100) the European manufacturer plans to deliver to Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines made its first flight Oct. 6, marking another step toward entry into service of the small narrowbody with a major carrier.