Aircraft & Propulsion

Airbus and Boeing commercial aircraft deliveries for 2017, sorted by most-recent delivery date.

Airbus and Boeing commercial aircraft gross orders for 2017, sorted by most-recent date of order placement with manufacturer.

Qatar Airways has decided to equip its incoming fleet of Airbus A321neos with CFM International Leap-1A engines, dropping an earlier commitment for the competing Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engine.

Air New Zealand is facing significant disruption in its international network because of problems with the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines on its Boeing 787-9 fleet.

Traditionally, Latin America is not a thriving spot for crossover jets, but several forecasters see this changing.

Scandinavian leisure carrier Primera Air has ordered two more Boeing 737 MAX 9s, taking the original order signed in May 2017 from eight to 10 aircraft.

Express freight specialist DHL Express has become the first operator to accept an Airbus A330-300 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) converted aircraft from Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), the joint venture between Singapore-based ST Aerospace and Airbus.

Aerolíneas Argentina took delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 Nov. 29 and flew the aircraft’s first commercial flight from Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza International Airport (EZE) to Mendoza in western Argentina Dec. 4.

Aircraft Briefs-Dec. 5, 2017

Japan Airlines (JAL) has entered into a strategic partnership with Boom Technology, taking purchase options on 20 Boom supersonic passenger aircraft.

Boom Supersonic, the U.S.-based Mach 2-plus airliner developer, has forged a strategic partnership with Japan Airlines. Virgin Atlantic and some undisclosed airlines have also committed to aspects of the concept.

LOT Polish Airlines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 and expects to have six aircraft of the type by 2020—all on long-term lease from US lessor Air Lease Corp. (ALC).

Las Vegas-based LCC Allegiant Air will focus on adding 30 Airbus aircraft between the end of 2017 and 2018 as it works under an accelerated schedule to retire its MD-80s.

Brisbane, Australia-based Alliance Airlines Services remains committed to its Fokker fleet and said buying new aircraft makes no sense for its operating environment.

UK-based LCC easyJet has signed a deal with Latvian ACMI and charter specialist SmartLynx Airlines to operate services out of Berlin Tegel Airport for almost three months, as the UK carrier seeks to acquire parts of insolvent airberlin’s operations.

Chinese aircraft manufacturer Aviation Industry Corp. of China (AVIC) forecasts the country’s airlines will need 6,103 new aircraft through 2036.

ATR is bolstered by FedEx order, which confirms for the manufacturer that new freighters—versus converted passenger aircraft—can be economical.

Airbus expects strong traffic growth in the South Pacific market will continue over the next 20 years, increasing the number of Australasian hubs ranked in the largest global categories.

American Airlines indicated it is well on its way to resolving the pilot-staffing situation related to holiday season flights, saying it is down to just “a few hundred” unassigned flights.

The regulatory clearance gives ATR access to the Canadian market in the 68-78-seat turboprop sector, which is currently dominated by Montreal-based Bombardier’s Q400.

Memphis-based FedEx Corp. has signed on to be the launch customer for a brand new cargo aircraft, the Cessna SkyCourier 408 turboprop produced by Wichita, Kansas-based Textron Aviation.

Airbus has begun final assembly of the first A330-800, the second member of the A330neo family.

Austrian Airlines will phase out its final Fokker aircraft—an F100—in December, marking the end of the Lufthansa subsidiary’s Fokker operations.

South Africa’s CemAir has finalized an order for two new Bombardier Q400 turboprops, which was announced at the 2017 Paris Air Show.

Drone collisions with aircraft will cause more impact damage than a bird strike of equivalent size and speed, concludes a study conducted for the FAA.