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LATEST NEWS
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Monday, February 8th, 2021
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WestJet has announced a dual investment in sustainable air fuel producer Wastefuel. As the only private aviation company to invest in the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), WestJet has a acquired a stake in WasteFuel in addition to agreeing to purchase 100 million gallons of SAF over the next ten years.
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Currently the two companies have partnered with Prime Infra and are developing a plant in Manila, Philippines, which is due to begin production of SAF in 2025, which will then be shipped to the Unites States and distributed throughout the NetJets’ network.
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“As the leader in private aviation, NetJets is deeply invested in advancing sustainability across the industry. After launching our expanded Global Sustainability Program last year, the opportunity to invest in the production of SAF with WasteFuel was a natural next step,” said Brad Ferrell, Executive Vice President of Administrative Services. “The biorefinery tackles the dual environmental problems of the global waste crisis and sustainable fuel; and we’re excited to take this step toward improving accessibility to SAF in the aviation industry.”
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At full capacity, annually, the biorefinery should be able to convert one million tons of municipal waste into 30 million gallons of SAF that will burn at least an 80 percent reduction in carbon compared to fossil-fuel based aviation fuels. WasteFuel’s SAF has a Carbon Intensity (C.I.) of 0 compared to an average C.I. of 41 for alternative SAFs and a baseline of 89.4 for non-renewable aviation fuel.
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“Our waste can be our fuel. Our partnership with NetJets and Prime Infra marks the beginning of a bold new era in travel — the beginning of the hard work of making aviation truly sustainable.” said Trevor Neilson, Chairman and CEO of WasteFuel. “Solid waste management remains a major problem in the Philippines, especially in urban areas like Metro Manila, which generates around 10,000 tons of garbage per day. A biorefinery that will convert solid waste into SAF will make a big impact in reducing solid waste and ensuing environmental and health hazards, landfill emissions, and fossil fuel use. An added bonus, it will create jobs for the local community,” said Guillaume Lucci, President, Prime Infra.
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GE Aviation and Etihad Airways have partnered to launch GE’s 360 Foam Wash, a groundbreaking jet engine cleaning system, to optimize performance of Etihad’s GE90 and GEnx-1B engines on its Boeing 777 and 787 fleets.
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Working with Etihad as a launch partner for the Etihad Greenliner program to innovate, develop and test aviation decarbonization technologies, GE has awarded Etihad technical licenses to use GE’s patented 360 Foam Wash system on its GE90 and GEnx-1B aircraft engines. These technical licenses allow Etihad Airways to perform the engine foam wash on its fleet of 777 and 787 aircraft completely in-house.
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GE’s 360 Foam Wash is an alternative to the water wash method, and restores engine performance leading to reductions in fuel consumption. The process involves injecting a specially-formulated, proprietary solution that removes dust and dirt particles in the engine. The system is self-contained, allowing it to be used inside maintenance hangars or outdoors.
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The airline’s collaboration in the trial process was important to the product’s development, contributing to GE’s data collection and analysis, and improving reliability of 360 Foam Wash equipment.
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After several months of intensive negotiations, Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has concluded that Aeropers pilots’ association (Aeropers) is unwilling to commit to adequate contributions in response to the current crisis. “Without substantial contributions and an expanded scope of action during the coronavirus crisis, we believe it would be irresponsible from a corporate and a business perspective to retain the present collective labor agreement,” explains SWISS Chief Operating Officer Thomas Frick.
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SWISS is therefore keeping to its original demand of negotiating a new collective labor agreement for its cockpit personnel. To this end, the company has served ordinary notice to terminate the present CLA on March 31, 2022, the first possible date for doing so, and invites Aeropers to enter into negotiations in good time on a new collective labor agreement. SWISS initiated negotiations with the Aeropers pilots’ association in August 2020.
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Like the rest of the global airline industry, SWISS has been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In the first nine months of 2020 the company sustained an operating loss of more than CHF 400 million and saw its passenger numbers decline by around 70%. On top of this, the company is currently drawing on a state-backed bank loan facility of up to CHF 1.5 billion which it plans to repay as soon as possible.
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In response to these developments, SWISS has subjected itself to a rigorous cost-saving program. Substantial cost economies are essential in all corporate areas. And with these aims in mind, crisis agreements extending over several years have been concluded with the company’s social partners for its ground and its cabin personnel.
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Delta TechOps teams have completed the first engine maintenance visit of a Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engine from a Delta A330-900neo at its state-of-the-art Technical Operations Center in Atlanta.
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The repair marks the first of many Trent 7000 engine repairs to come through Delta TechOps’ maintenance facility. While this first engine came directly from Delta’s fleet, Delta TechOps will perform maintenance on Trent 7000 engines from airline customers around the world.
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Prior to the engine visits, TechOps’ Assembly Shop, Repair & Support group, Engineering and many other teams spent months preparing for the build, part repairs and engine test. This included aviation maintenance technicians and inspectors visiting the Rolls-Royce shop in the U.K. for special Trent 7000 training (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic).
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During the past few years, TechOps has made significant investments to further enhance maintenance capabilities, especially for next-generation engines that feature higher efficiency and less fuel burn. These major projects include the conversion of aircraft hangar bays into a new engine shop, development of a hot section repair shop, construction of the largest MRO test cell in the world and an additive manufacturing shop.
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Low-fare carrier Frontier Airlines will establish a crew base at Tampa International Airport (TPA) opening in May 2021. Approximately 250 flight attendants and 140 pilots will be based at TPA this year with that number expected to increase in the future. Additionally, the airline announced its intention to open a crew base at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in late 2021.
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Both markets have become increasingly important destinations for Frontier with anticipated growth in routes in and out of those cities during the course of 2021. Frontier currently offers nearly 20 nonstop routes from Tampa International Airport and more than 15 nonstop options from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, with a wide range of additional flight connection opportunities within Frontier’s domestic and international network.
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Rolls-Royce and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) have agreed to expand their partnership in India for collaboration in two significant areas – expanding the supply chain for both Civil and Defence Aerospace and establishing an authorized maintenance center for Adour Mk871 engines to support Rolls-Royce's global customers. Through these new collaborations, the two companies will build on their rich partnership of over 60 years, wherein Rolls-Royce engines have been ‘made in India’ and supported by HAL under license from Rolls- Royce.
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Rolls-Royce and HAL have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish an Authorized Maintenance Centre for Adour Mk871 at HAL to support international military customers and operators. HAL already has the capabilities and capacity to support a larger customer base, with over 30 years’ experience in MRO of the Adour engines in India, under license from Rolls-Royce.
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The two companies have also signed a ‘Letter of Intent’ (LoI) to work towards making Adour Mk871 engine parts in India for several international customers. In addition, HAL has recently been awarded new business with Rolls-Royce to supply forgings including shrouds, cases and seals for Rolls-Royce’s Trent family of engines and for the Pearl 15 engines. These parts would be manufactured at HAL’s Foundry and Forge Division at its state-of-the-art facility in Bengaluru.
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Inflite The Jet Centre (ITJC), part of the Inflite Group of companies, based at London Stansted Airport, welcomed Steve Bull to its management team as Senior Sales and Business Development Manager. Bull joins from TAG Maintenance SA where he was customer support director, responsible for customer support interface and dealership agreements (on Bombardier and Dassault business jets), based at Farnborough Airport. Prior to that he held senior roles at Signature Aviation-owned H+S Aviation and sister company Dallas Airmotive.
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The appointment coincides with the merger, effective March 1, of the Excellence Aviation (EASL) Part 145 with Inflite The Jet Centre’s Part 145. ITJC acquired the Bombardier-focused MRO business in February 2019, widening its portfolio beyond Embraer and Boeing BBJ support. Excellence Aviation CAMO activity will continue separately, with Steve Hughes at its helm as Head of Airworthiness.
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