Rolls-Royce has won a $350m contract from Hawaiian Airlines to deliver Trent 700 engines to power five Airbus A330 aircraft. The order includes TotalCare long-term services support. The aircraft, to be delivered from 2013 to 2015, will add to the airline’s current fleet of five Trent 700-powered A330s and another 12 to be delivered.
Astronics Corporation, a leader in advanced, high-performance lighting, electrical power and automated test systems for the global aerospace and defense industries, has acquired privately-held Ballard Technology, an Everett, WA company that designs and produces avionics interface solutions for defense and commercial aerospace applications. Astronics acquired all of the stock of Ballard for $24m in cash. An
Boeing intends to build the new 737 MAX in Renton, Wash., pending approval of an early contract extension with the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM), the union representing hourly employees in Washington, Oregon and Kansas. As part of an effort to improve their relationship, Boeing and the IAM have been discussing the
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted 330-minute extended-range, twin-engine operations (ETOPS) approval to 14 CFR Part 33.201 for the GEnx-1B engine, which will power the Boeing 787 aircraft. The GEnx-1B engine completed all requirements to achieve 330-minute ETOPS, including a demanding 3,000-cycle ground endurance test in April. The FAA approval confirms the engine
Airbus has completed the first flight of the ‘Sharklet’ wing-tip devices on the company’s A320 development aircraft (MSN 001). This milestone marks the start of the early flight-test campaign to capture data for fine-tuning the flight laws, as well as for certification and performance validation. Sharklets are around 2.5 metres tall and will replace the
The United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) has exercised two renewal options for AAR to provide airlift support in Afghanistan through October of 2012. The first option has a value of $99m and is part of a task order awarded to AAR in October, 2010. The second option has a value of $51m and is part
An A320 Full Flight Simulator (FFS) has been put in place in Venice (Italy) at the SuperJet International’s Training Center. The A320 FFS is an EASA (JAR-FSTD A) fully compliant Synthetic training device. The FFS has been transferred from Alitalia Training Center in Rome to the SuperJet International Training Center in Tessera (Venice), close to the International Marco
Finnair plans to reduce the size of its narrow body fleet by four aircraft in autumn 2012 as part of its earlier announced savings program of €140m. The reduction will bring significant savings and will be implemented by optimizing the airline’s flight schedules and network. Finnair expects to realize a significant boost in narrow body aircraft utilization
AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, has finalised the transaction with Bell Helicopter Textron for the acquisition of the 609 tiltrotor programme. All legal and regulatory approvals have now been successfully completed. The development of the AW609 tiltrotor programme is now moving forward under full AgustaWestland control with civil certification expected in late 2015, early 2016 and deliveries
SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC) has signed a Tailored Support Package (TSP) contract with Airbus to maintain Singapore Airlines’ additional fleet of fifteen A330-300 aircraft being acquired from Airbus. SIAEC is a member of the Airbus Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) Network established in 2005. The Airbus MRO Network ensures that Airbus’ customers receive maintenance services
